It seems fitting that my first recipe post in my new format would introduce Soup Group. These precious people will be regulars here on the blog. For the last 2 years our small group has consisted of our youth group leaders. It’s a time to connect, plan for the following week and pray for our…
Dinner
Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad
We are currently on a salad binge here at the Blandford house. Currey and I just returned from an incredible anniversary trip (more on that in posts to come). We spent a wonderful week touring New England. As we were planning our trip, we spent a lot of time looking into restaurants in each city…
Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
While I don’t jump on the weight loss bandwagon every January, I do tend to crave salads this time of year. I enjoy the holidays and all the food that comes with them so by the first couple of months of the new year my body seems to crave fresh produce and lots of greens….
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friends, I have made this Chicken Tortilla Soup so many times that I’ve lost count. And I take pictures of it every time. What I’ve realized that this soup is not very photogenic. Because I couldn’t get beautiful pictures of this soup, I debated posting it at all. But you need this Chicken Tortilla Soup…
Pot Roast
Like most people I know, I tend to enjoy certain foods during certain times of the year. After the holidays, with endless sweet treats and decadent meals, we regularly juice and try to eat healthy. During the summer months, we tend to grill out and eat lots salads, when fresh produce is abundant. As soon…
Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Growing up, my family would visit P.F. Chang’s any time that we traveled. It was always fun to explore a new city and we loved finding a P.F.Chang’s along the way. We didn’t have one in the town where I grew up so it was always a special treat to enjoy Mongolian Beef or Crispy…
Asian Ramen Cabbage Salad
For the last 6 years, I’ve done a weekly bible study called Bible Study Fellowship. If you are looking for a study to help your faith grow or to learn how to better study the bible, BSF is worth checking out. It’s an interdenominational bible study and there are groups that meet all over the world….
Summer Chopped Salad
Have you heard of Door to Door Organics? It’s a company that delivers organic fruits and vegetables to your front door. What makes this great is that the customer picks how often to get boxes and what size box to get. The order is easy to customize too. I get an email 5 days before…
Hill Country Pizza
It’s hard for me to believe but it’s been 2 years since we got a call from my parents telling us they’d be moving to Lubbock. And not only were they moving to a new town but they’d both be beginning new careers helping start a new campus of the church I grew up in. …
Ramen Stir Fry
Have you ever been to one of those restaurants where you make your own stir-fry? I still remember the first time I ate at a place called Stir Crazy. My mom and I had come to Illinois to look for an apartment before I started grad school. This trendy style of restaurant had yet to…
Bacon Jam and Arugula Pizza
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been in a bit of a blogging funk. We’ve been eating really basic meals and I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen creating anything interesting. For all of you that believe we continually eat gourmet meals, please find peace in knowing we eat Kraft mac and cheese at…
Ampersand Burger
Can I tell you that I have an incredible love of cheeseburgers? Like, if I had to eat one meal forever, it’s likely that a great burger and fries would be my pick. Burgers remind me of summer time cookouts and evenings spent with friends. A burger is a classic staple that can be made…
Chicken and Dumplings
I’ve spent the week in the kitchen. I hadn’t cooked in 9 days while I’d been in Haiti and I was aching to create. I had spent the trip living with 11 other people, which was a stretch for my introverted self. While I dearly love everyone that I traveled with, I was craving time…
Corn, Black Bean and Quinoa Lettuce Wraps
Since my last couple of posts have been desserts, I figured it was about time for a dinner recipe. If only we could all survive on cake! As a family, we really are always working toward healthy eating and these corn, black bean and quinoa lettuce wraps are so delicious you’ll forget they are also…
Black Eyed Pea Chowder
Happy New Year! Whether you decided to have a quiet night in or go out on the town, I hope that your New Year’s Eve was grand. We spend New Year’s with the same group of friends every year. We enjoy a wonderful dinner together and it’s a kid friendly night. It’s my favorite holiday…
Chicken Pot Pie
Our paper chain that’s helping us countdown to Christmas tells me there are just 2 days to go. My how the time has flown! I still have presents to wrap and groceries to buy but we decided to spend tonight in as a family. It’s bitterly cold, as in the single digits, and I was…
Tomato Basil Soup
When I started writing this blog I read countless articles and blog posts about blogging. Things like how to blog so that people want to read your content or how to take pictures and use lighting. What I found so interesting was that almost everything I read talked about how much you would grow and…
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
We were shocked to see our first snowflakes today. To say I was unprepared is an understatement. The temp dropped significantly and I didn’t even wear a coat while we were out today. Thankfully I grabbed coats for my kids and I was able to convince Blythe it was a good day to wear socks….
Jalapeno Bacon Burgers with Guacamole
I’ve been a bit in a recipe writing rut. I’ve felt uninspired and frustrated that I’m not doing much creating in the kitchen. Sure, I’ve been cooking because we all have to eat but I haven’t made a recent recipe that I impressed myself with (read that as I don’t like sharing recipes that you…
Steak and Gorgonzola Pizza
Remember when I wrote about attending my first blog conference? Once of the best meals that I had on that trip was at a restaurant called Reserve in Kansas City. I never expected such an amazing meal from a restaurant inside a hotel but I still dream about those shrimp corn dogs. They were seriously…
Loaded Nachos
I’d be the first to admit that I love to celebrate all milestones but birthdays are my favorite celebration. One of our students recently had her birthday so we invited her to dinner to celebrate. Kelsey is one of our students that has become like family. In addition to being one of Blythe’s favorite babysitters,…
Oven Roasted Ribs
If you are on Pinterest or read any other food blogs, you know that everyone is on a pumpkin and apple kick in celebration of fall. While we’ve finally had our first couple of cooler days, I am just not ready to hop on the fall flavor bandwagon. I’m not ready to let go of…
Strawberry Feta Salad with Candied Pecans
One of our favorite stories to share about our first date was the meal that Currey saw me devour. You see, I wasn’t too sure that this relationship would go anywhere. We lived hours away from each other, we were going to different schools and I was still slightly bitter that he had dumped my…
Meatball Panini
Since starting this blog, I have made a point to become a more adventurous eater, especially when we are out to eat. I’m a creature of habit and I eat the same entree at each restaurant we frequent. Go Roma after church, I’m eating Chicken Parmesan. Quick lunch at Jimmy Johns, always a Slim 5. …
Avocado and Grilled Corn Quinoa
One of the questions that I’m most frequently asked is how we haven’t packed on the pounds since I started this blog. The reality is that we eat between 18-20 meals a week at home and many of them aren’t worth sharing. Although I make a mean pb&j, I’m not going to bore you with…
Brown Butter Sage Gnocchi
The first time that I remember having gnocchi, we were at a nice Italian restaurant in Chicago. When Currey ordered, the waiter corrected his pronunciation of the dish. It’s one of those stories that we still laugh about although as I type this I realize it doesn’t sound very funny. I don’t remember what gnocchi…
Grilled Romaine Salad
Remember the Guy’s Night that we hosted? Currey had a friend that came over and was raving about a salad that he had just enjoyed. Seriously, I’ve never heard such ravings about a salad. He and his wife had just eaten at Flour + Wine and they highly recommended the restaurant. Currey and I decided…
Mac and Cheese Hot Dogs
Happy 4th of July!! We started celebrating a little early with lots of festive gear. We enjoyed this wonderful lunch treat today. If you are looking for a last minute and super easy recipe to enjoy on the 4th I’ve got you covered. As soon as this vacation was planned, I was put in…
Mango Avocado Quinoa with Grilled Chicken
Have you enjoyed an avocado yet this summer? Oh my goodness! At our house, we are convinced that avocados are exceptionally good this year. I’ve decided that one of my goals this summer is to eat my body weight in avocados. Trust me, I’m well on my way! I’ve been making different varieties of guacamole…
Philly Cheese Steaks
Last August Currey and I got to take a weeklong road trip together. Two friends of ours from high school were getting married 5 states away and they asked Currey to perform the ceremony. Currey was thrilled to do the wedding and I began planning out a week long, kid free vacation. I spent excessive…