I Love a Latte Dip! Chocolate Espresso Dip

A day for dipping

Dip day is a tradition in my office. I'm not certain how it came about, but the responsibility was handed down to me when the dip day founder left our company. It's a big responsibility to keep the tradition going.

In the hopes of increasing engagement, team themes were encouraged. My team was set up in the kitchen so our theme was barista dips. Someone made a chai latte dip, someone else made a pumpkin spice dip, and there was even a cannoli dip. I thought long and hard as I munched on some chocolate covered espresso beans when it hit me!

If I could remember where I got the dip recipe from, I would credit the author but I found a print out of it in my recipe box.

Easy, Instant Apple Crisp the Perfect Recipe for Fall

My oldest is not a big fan of food. When he discovers something he really likes, I try to make it or buy it for him. In fact, if it wasn't for him, I would have never learned how to make sweet potato pie. His latest obsession is apple dumplings.

Last year, I took the kids to Patterson's Fruit Farm on a whim. It was here he tried his first apple dumpling. He hasn't had one since. When we went this past weekend, apple dumplings are pretty much all he hoped to get from the trip. But, the bakery had sold out by the time we made our way there. Before you feel bad, he left with a half dozen of fresh, hot apple cider doughnuts.

Mess-Free BBQ Salmon + #CurbsideConvenience Grocery Shopping at Giant Eagle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CurbsideConvenience #CollectiveBias

I have a secret. I hate grocery shopping. It is my least favorite chore. It's right up there with doing dishes and cleaning the bathtub.

I don't know about you, but I spend less when I shop online. I look for deals and compare prices. For years I wished grocery shopping online and picking it up was a possibility. And then it happened! Giant Eagle Curbside Express came to the rescue! If this was a fairy tale, Giant Eagle would be the godmother.

With a few clicks of my magic mouse, I can order off of our shopping history, weekly ads, or search for items. Giant Eagle even has recipes with ingredients ready to add to your online basket.

5 Simple #GrillNGear Ideas for Summer Grilling with Giant Eagle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillNGear #CollectiveBias

Summer is so close and we are ready for it! Northeast Ohio has been giving us little tastes of warm weather. And by little, I mean a day here, a day there, and then a cold snap.

The weather has never dictated grilling in our family. It's not hard to persuade the Husband to grill in a snow storm. Grilling, for him, is a labor of love. He gets up at the crack of dawn and finishes before it's time to eat. Not only do we get to enjoy the fruits of his labor, but his time, too!

My job is refreshments and dessert. I also take on the shopping and Giant Eagle makes it easy. They have everything we need to make our summer grilling seem effortless.

While I watch the Hubs grill Certified Angus Beef bacon and cheddar patties, I'm sipping on cold brew Lipton ice tea over shaved ice. And, my Farmhouse Dark Chocolate Chip and Breyers ice cream cookie sandwiches are chilling in the freezer.

This is the life.

5 Simple #GrillNGear Ideas for Summer Grilling with Giant Eagle

Easy #MerryMeals! Festive BBQ Baked Chicken Recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MerryMeals #CollectiveBias

On more than one occasion, my biggest accomplishment during the busy holiday season has been getting dinner on the table. This includes making a dinner that everyone enjoys and we all sit down to eat.

That feeling of accomplishment is quickly replaced with dread. As in, dreading to have to do it all over again the next day.

A friend graciously offered her mom's go-to BBQ chicken recipe for me to try. Always up for a new recipe, I accepted. As I read the ingredients, I realized that it was essentially a cocktail sauce with onion and sugar. This new recipe got even easier!

I headed off to our neighborhood Giant Eagle to pick up what I needed.

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When I entered, I was greeted by a happy display of our favorite crackers. My kid loves Ritz crackers and nothing beats cheese on Triscuits. It also gave me an idea for Ritz Cracker topping on the chicken. Dinner was sounding better.

Lemony Cool Lemon Bar Cookies + a printable

This winter might not be so bad if we actually had a winter with pretty white drifts of snow. Instead, it's been cold. So very, very cold. We've been cooped up in the house and missing the sunshine. So, it seemed like a perfect day to make something lemony. Lemons just smell like summer. Fresh, bright and they even look like little suns.

As it happens, I also volunteered to bake for a bake sale at the school. You know what that meant? I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all! What I did not plan on was how much the husband would like these light and lemony cake cookies. Thankfully, I had doubled the recipe so there was plenty to go around.

I should have known he would like them. He seemed too eager when I asked him to pick up the cake mix and cool whip at the grocery store.

The smell of the cake mix made me feel a little happier. I decided to make these because I love lemon bars. The thing is, I've never made lemon bars. They look too complicated and have a lot of steps; never mind having to grate lemons.

3 Boozy Cookie Recipes from Me to You!

As I get ready for the kids' annual cookie party, I wanted to take a moment and look back at some of my favorite boozy cookie recipes.

I try to make one up for the adults who attend, but I don't like to do the same one twice. I'm really excited to share my next cookie with you, but until then here are three of my favorites.

If you are not a fan of the boozy bit, substitute alcohol with a flavored creamer or water.

Monster Munch Cereal Party Mix Recipe

My go-to recipe for bake sales is typically Chex mixes. I've grown tired of the same old cookies and brownies. I'm hoping that others have, too. I have no idea if it's true, but I'll continue to make them for every bake sale until someone complains.

I've made pumpkin pie, snickerdoodle, and apple pie Chex mix and for Christmas one year I made Rudolf popcorn mix. Now, I'm adding Monster Munch Crunch to my arsenal of bake sale goodies.

I've had a hankering for Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, but not enough to buy a box so I thought I would start with that cereal. As I walked into the grocery store, I spotted Count Chocula and grabbed that since this is for Halloween and all. I also added M&M's, Cheerios, and pretzels to balance it all out. The final touches were white and orange candy melts plus pumpkin shaped sprinkles.

My bowl is big, but not big enough for all that cereal! I made the cereal mix in three batches using 1/3 of all the cereal, 1/3 of the M&M's, 1/3 of the sprinkles. and a few handfuls of pretzels for each bag of candy melt. I repeated this three times and each time I added the mix to the mix that was drying.

Salted Caramel Cider Dip Recipe Featuring #FlavorsOfFall from @GiantEagle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FlavorsOfFall #CollectiveBias

I'm not certain when it happened, but somewhere along the line fall became a season to celebrate.

Special drinks and foods to welcome the turning of the leaves while dressed in layers of scarves and cute boots. I can't tell you how happy I am because I don't just love fall for fall's sake, I was born in the fall so this time of year is worth celebrating! And, what makes a party a real party - the dip of course!

For the last several years, I've spent Halloween bundled on my porch with a few close friends, drinking wine, grazing, and passing out candy while the kids go trick or treating with the hubs.

This year, I bringing a new dip to the table - Salted Caramel Cider Dip which was inspired by Giant Eagle's Flavors of Fall.

Summer Cookin' Basil, Corn + Blueberry Pico de Gallo

My favorite summer fruit is blueberries. I love everything about them from the smell to the taste.

It's such a lovely fruit to use in desserts, smoothies and just to eat out of a bowl. Last week, blueberries were on sale so I snatched up several pints to take advantage of the deal.

I washed them right away in a vinegar and water bath, split the batch up - some to eat, some for later, and the rest to freeze. I love to eat frozen blueberries in the summer!

I'm also trying my hand at container gardening this summer. Tomatoes, banana peppers, and a handful of herbs are growing nicely in milk cartons on my front porch. Basil is one of the herbs I have plenty of and happen to really like the taste of it with blueberries. I started searching Yummly and Pinterest for ideas.

My Dei Fratelli Salsa Scramble Recipe + a Diet Story

I was given a jar to facilitate this post. Opinions are my own.

This past April, I decided to commit myself, once again to losing weight.

I also decided that I would try that little fad diet plan from Miami, again. I have so much weight to lose and I want to be a good example for my little one.

Last one from the #rockhall induction kick off party. #humansofcleveland #thisiscle #happyincle #myrockhall #rockhall2015

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Apr 11, 2015 at 6:31pm PDT

The first time I followed this low-carb, low-fat, high fiber diet plan was right after I had my oldest. I lost a lot of weight on it and kept it off for a few years. I gained it all back these last few years; especially the last two. I just could not stop eating everything.

Hello, I'm a binge eater.

Tasty Homemade Tomato Soup Plus ‪#‎TuttorossoRecipes‬ #Inspiralized

I was provided products shown to facilitate this review and host a sweepstakes. 

Sweepstakes is after the jump. Opinions are my own. 

Did you know that April is Grilled Cheese Month?  Taking my cue from that, the monthly moms who potluck group agreed to go along with a grilled cheese party! I will have more on that tomorrow, but in the mean time...

What goes best with grilled cheese? Tomato soup of course!

Tomatoes are a pretty big deal in our household. From fresh to canned, I cook with them often. When I was asked to do a review for Tuttorosso Tomatoes it was easy to say, "yes!" because I use them in my cooking already.

Pinterest Win? Rudolph Snack Mix Recipe

I saw this on Pinterest




Kettle corn, cinnamon candies, and edible eyes with chocolate and pretzels! I am so in!

Making Rudolf mix for C's holiday party tomorrow. It's missing edible eye balls but he thought that was gross anyhow. Not sure if it truly captures the Rudolph idea but it tastes pretty good. #tastetheseason #entry #food #Christmas fun

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:35pm PST

It's National Cookie Day! Holiday Cookie Exchange + Recipe Link-Up

Happy National Cookie Day! (yes, it's real)

One of the best things about blogging is meeting new people and feeling part of tribe. I am lucky to belong to a special tribe that started with the SITS Girls and expanded to include some wonderful ladies this past year. Inspired by the Christmas season and our love of cookies, we decided to do a cookie exchange, across the miles.

The cookies I got were Oh My Yum! Sugar Cookies and peanut butter kisses from Amber at Life the Way Amber Views It. I knew they were coming and was still delighted and surprised when they arrived.

Apparently, the key to packing cookies to ship is not just to pad the box but to include a slice of bread to keep them moist and boy did that trick work. They were moist, a little crumbly, and wonderful.

Check out the cookies I got today from @deflepchik! My #sitsblogging tribe is doing a #holiday #cookie exchange and this is a small sample of the box she sent me. They are very tasty! Thank you!!! #bohoblogess #cookieexchange #food #love #instafood #Christmas

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:08pm PST

Her recipe can be found on her blog and be sure to check out the rest of the cookie exchange below.

Feel free to join the fun and include the link to your favorite cookie recipe. Want to join our tribe? Check us out on Facebook.






Join our tribe on Facebook and on Instagram for a photo challenge this December!

Our #sitsblogging tribe #bohoblogess trying a #photochallenge #photooftheday for #december #bohochallenge #fun. Join us! #instagood

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Nov 11, 2014 at 9:22am PST

Kahlua and Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

Continuing my quest for a great cookie improved with a bit of my favorite libations may I present - Kahlua and Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie!
 
I've been making this recipe since 2003 and found the recipe on AllRecipes.com. This cookie has never let me down. It's a super simple cookie - a little plain but full of flavor. The original recipe calls for almond and vanilla extracts but I replaced them with Kahlua. It is a very subtle flavor and there is hardly any in there to worry about feeding them to the ankle-biters.

Yes, Icebox Overnight Oats Oatmeal is Possible

It is all over pinterest and even HuffPost - cold oats in a peanut-butter jar, but does it work?

And, why am I jumping on this post your oats bandwagon? Because it is NaBloPoMo and I needed to write about something tonight, before midnight, so I can count today.

This is what's going on in the fridge tonight - ice box oatmeal. I wonder if this will really work... #breakfast #instafood #instamood

A photo posted by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:06pm PST

All About the Apple Pie Chex Mix Recipe

Despite the reminder at the start of the week, I still forgot that I wanted to bake for the school fall festival. As I scanned pinterest for easy ideas, in the early morning hours the day of, I came across a whole lot a of candy corn inspired treats including a Chex mix one. 

I hate candy corn but love check mix. I really think Chex is the best cereal. I've never actually had a bowl for breakfast but I do love a good Chex mix (here and here). 

Vanilla Chex, Cinnamon Chex, freeze dried apples, and more cinnamon

Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my never ending quest to find the perfect booze inspired chocolate chip cookie, I would like to present - Kahlua and chocolate chip.

I am not really on a quest to find the best booze in a cookie recipe, I just seem to always have just enough liquor left over to add to my baking and today is no different.  I had intended to make Bailey's chocolate chip cookies but it seems we have Kahlua this go around.  Not sure why we have Kahlua but I would like to thank the fine country of Mexico for combing coffee and rum together in one bottle.  And, probably who ever brought Kahlua to our house. 

In this recipe, I used just enough white sugar to make them a little crispy (and that gorgeous light color) plus I recommend under cooking to keep them from getting too hard.  If you would rather have a softer cookie, replace the white with light brown sugar.

Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips

When I moved away from home my mom gave me one thing - a Betty Crocker cookbook. It was the best gift my mom ever gave me.  I could not cook to save my life but I could bake and that cookbook was my baking bible.

The chapters on breads and cookies are so worn that the pages fell out.

Into the Storm at Skyzone

What do you do when the "best tornado movie ever*" comes out a week before your kid's birthday and he is obsessed with weather, specifically tornadoes?

A. Take your kid and a few of his friends to see it
B. Be teased by your significant other for thinking this is a good idea
C. Scrap the group movie, take kid and his friends to SkyZone, and let the the significant other take kid to the movies.