Giuseppepaolo

I know you've seen the boxes at the market. I mean, they've been around for longer than you and I have been alive. (So glad I can say that. They may not card me at the market anymore, but I'm still younger than Krusteaz.) Although, age is a huge plus when it comes to product. They must be doing something right. Besides making a reliable product, they keep up with the times as well. They know what we like. They know that when the weather cools we like seasonal flavors such as pumpkin and cranberry. They also know that we are more and more conscientious about what we eat. They have gluten free mixes as well as organic. Although I'm going to be specifically talking about the fun seasonal flavors, I did want to let you know that there are other options. Not that long ago, a big ole package full of 10 boxes of Krusteaz mixes, a cool tote, an oven mitt and a selfie stick arrived at my door. Yes, I now own a selfie stick. I have to admit that I did need to read the directions ...

I'm so excited to be teaming up with Sunday Supper and Gallo Family Vineyards to celebrate Valentine's Day. This year Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday which is kinda fun. It can be an all day event and not limited to just a nice special dinner. Valentine's can start with a lazy morning of brunch in bed along with a glass of sweet wine. I'm not talking about a full fledged brunch. Sometimes it's nice to have a delicate treat that doesn't require utensils. Finger food can make us feel indulgent and decadent. We all deserve to experience that every now and then. These aren't doughnut holes and they aren't cream puffs. These little gems are deep fried biscuits, that once bitten into expose a delightful filling of cream cheese and strawberries. When you deep fry biscuit dough, it becomes a wonderful thing indeed. Crispy, crunchy on the outside and delicious and puffy on the inside. The perfect little host for tasty surprises. Strawberry Love Bombs  ma...

Filling, tons of flavor and a very hearty breakfast. I love breakfast burritos but the ones I usually eat are loaded with potatoes. And meat. This time I went a different route (inspired by my very health conscious youngest daughter). There are more vegetables in this burrito than anything else. I did not miss the potatoes (and I happen to love potatoes). Although there are sweet potatoes in that mass pile of veggies. I didn't even miss the meat. much. Well, if I think about it too much.....naaa. I'm not that bad. This breakfast was perfect for another reason besides being a satisfying breakfast. It gave me the opportunity to clean out the crisper. And that's exactly what I did...I grabbed everything I could find that I thought would go well together and started chopping away... Leeks, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, jalapenos. (I wish I had some zucchini). All thrown into the sizzling pan with olive oil....sauteed, then some minced garlic thrown in....oh, and a...

If you love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, you will love this breakfast. If you love cheese, you will especially love this breakfast. If you love natural, non GMO, whole grain products, you will REALLY love this breakfast. If gluten-free is something you need or desire....got you covered in that option as well. Let's talk about Van's Natural Foods for a minute here. Van's Foods are no stranger to this household. My daughters have been enjoying their gluten-free waffles for quite some time now (blueberry is a favorite). I love that I can pronounce every ingredient. Plus....they're kosher, all natural, egg free, dairy free, corn free. Getting samples and coupons for Van's Foods was so much fun! They have a whole line of gluten free snack bars and gluten-free crackers and chips (totally yummy!) and so much more. Here's a reminder of what I did with the their snack bars... I Heart Chocolate Are you pumped to possibly win coupons to help you discover the wond...

What do you do when your husband brings home Pandoro (traditional Italian sweet yeast bread) and you forget to eat, serve or otherwise do anything with it during the holidays? You make bread pudding. Crazy good bread pudding. Maybe because you feel guilty for ignoring the Pandoro. Or maybe you think it might deserve to be treated a little special. Ooor...maybe you're just craving cinnamon rolls and are too lazy to make them. Cinnamon Roll Style Bread Pudding Inspired by Cinnamon Roll Bread Puddiing Printable Version 10 oz of large dice Pandoro (about 7 cups) 2 tsp ground cinnamon 4 large eggs 2 cups milk 3/4 cup heavy cream 1/3 cup Amaretto or any nut flavored liqueur 1/2 cup sugar plus more for garnish 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chopped pecans Cinnamon Roll Glaze (recipe to follow if you don't have one) Preheat your oven to 350' F. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the diced bread and arrange in a 2 quart casserole dish. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add t...

Before we talk about the Giveaway, let me just Do you ever have one of those days...where you wonder if you shouldn't have even stepped foot in the kitchen that morning? Saturday ended up being a day of discoveries. I discovered that my dishwasher door is being weird...it's sticking shut while the handle that you squeeze to unlock it just sorta disappears into itself. I also discovered that my oven takes foreeeeeeeeeever to heat up to the proper temperature. As in, after the preheat phase.... and the required 45 minute baking time, the temp was 100' below the needed 350'F mark. That happened as I was baking this delicious coffee cake. I opened the oven door as the timer went off...toothpick in hand, ready for the plunge (do you know that this is probably the only reason I own toothpicks?) and I stopped breathing...in total disbelief as I tugged on the rack and witnessed the soppy center sloshing around. My mind raced....did I set the timer right? Forget to put in an ing...

It's that time again....time to Spotlight a new amazing cookbook. I'm sure most of you are acquainted with the author in some form or another. She's a fellow blogger (I love when this happens!) by the name of Meagan Micozzi. She has an amazing blog (of course) called Scarletta Bakes She's been giving away some amazing stuff lately so I highly, highly recommend that you give her visit and see if you can win something. So...she has this new cookbook, The New Southwest and I'm here to tall you about it...during the next 3 weeks. Aaaaaaand (this is a BIG and) during the 3rd week, I'll be giving this cookbook away to one of you lucky people. But let's explore a little. See what's inside. I mean, you never buy a cookbook without browsing through the pages first, right? So for this week, Mushroom and Leek Migas is on the menu. It's typically a breakfast dish but how many of you love to eat breakfast for dinner? I'm a huge fan, that's for sure. Whic...

I went to school in a little town on the outer fringes of the Los Angeles County. Tucked into the foothills is a (what was called back then) junior high school named Mt. Gleason. I spent 7th, 8th and 9th grades there. Elementary school ended at 6th grade in those days. High school was a 3 year program and started at 10th grade, not 9th like it does now. In fact, if you were in high school for 4 years, it was because you screwed up and you'd get teased for being in the "four year program". Anyways, back to jr. high. I loved the selection of electives....art, choir, play productions, stage crew, typing, drafting, etc etc. As in introduction to these electives, us 7th graders got a "sample" version of our chosen 4 classes throughout the year. I spent several weeks in each...Cooking, Sewing, Agriculture and Play Productions (or was it drafting? Maybe play productions came later). What fun! These were the classes I looked forward to each day. They made history, Engli...

I love pistachios. Actually, I love most nuts (this is not a reflection of my personality). Out of all the nuts out there, I wonder why the pistachio has it's own muffin? I mean...you never hear about peanut muffins, or almond muffins...or even cashew muffins. hmmm...interesting. (sorry, I don't have an answer for this. I can't even find anything about the origin of pistachio muffins. And yes, I did Google it). It wasn't until very recently that I even tasted a pistachio muffin. I mean...within the past few months. You know when you hear about or see a certain food and you have a mental idea of what it's all about? And for some reason it just doesn't mesh with your mental taste buds? That's how it was for me. I thought it was odd that the muffin is green. Mentally, I assumed there were artificial flavorings involved. Some things, I just can't do artificially. Nut extracts are among them. Thank God that's not the case here. Once I tasted them...and di...