Cauliflower Poppers 3 Ways: Buffalo, Honey BBQ, & Cheesy Jalapeño

Ah, the super bowl. The best snack-eating, commercial-watching, couch-potato-ing day of the year! Oh yeah, and the football too. I'm not a huge sports fan, if you couldn't tell, but I mean no disrespect. There absolutely is something electric about game day that draws even the non sports-watchers in. For me, there is a certain level of excitement and camaraderie about it that I miss from watching games with my dad growing up. If nothing else, it's fun to hang out with good friends, eat yummy snacks, and pretend to be part of the sports community for a day. This year I'll be eating these delicious cauliflower poppers and rooting for whichever team my dad is rooting for - it's my little nod to him - love you, dad! I hope you'll give these a try and let me know what you think!

Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes with Black Beans & Olives

Have you ever bought a bag of potatoes, but couldn’t think of anything to do with them? Of course not! You can do practically anything with potatoes! Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew (sorry, I couldn’t resist). They can be initially time consuming, but if you bake them in advance, you can quickly make roasted potatoes, homemade French fries, potato salad, and now these delicious twice baked potatoes. You’re welcome.

I got the idea for these from a cheesy bread recipe my mom used to make when I was a kid. She would scoop out the inside of a long piece of French bread, mix it with cheddar cheese, red onions, olives, and mayonnaise, then put it back in and bake it until bubbly and delicious. It was always the first thing to go at any party, and I thought it would be easy to adapt to twice baked potatoes. I was planning to make them ahead of time for dinner tomorrow, but we ended up eating most of them tonight. I think that means they’re blog worthy!

Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cheese on Sliced Pugliese

The other day I was in the grocery store, wrestling to make my way through the hordes of holiday shoppers picking up their last minute Christmas dinner items (I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who waits until the last minute - high five, guys!), and I noticed these really wonderful looking, golden pineapples. 

This triggered a memory of a recipe I had seen recently for a baked, rice stuffed pineapple dish, and I immediately thought wouldn't that be the perfect side dish to bring for Christmas dinner?! I had visions of presenting this perfectly prepared dish, oohs and awws abounding as I placed it directly in the center of the table (ha!), so into the basket it went along with all my good intentions...then in a bag...then on the counter where it took up residence - long past the holiday festivities. My good ole friends Lazy and TV convinced me that it was too much trouble! (Perhaps it's time to make some new friends in the new year?)

Anyway! There was a point to this story, which was that I needed to do something with this miserable pineapple that I bought before it turned to mush on my kitchen counter. So it got demoted from Christmas side dish extraordinaire, to a sweet and spicy grilled cheese! Sorry pineapple!

Magically Disappearing Guacamole

If there’s one thing I love about get-togethers, it’s all the yummy appetizers I don’t normally take the time to make at home. One of my favorites is guacamole.

Now let me make this clear, I’m referring to the real stuff here, not the pre-packaged, store bought “guacamole,” which I regrettably bought several months ago. I put it in quotes because, unbeknownst to me, it wasn’t actually guacamole. In fact, I don’t think it even contained avocados in any form. 

After pulling back the lid and seeing the weird, goo-like consistency glaring back at me (it was almost frightening…almost), I realized the container actually read “guacamole flavored dip,” which could mean any number of things in the tricky marketing world. Even worse than the consistency were the ingredients listed on the back, half of which I could not pronounce, and all of which were not very tasty.

So long story short, I decided to find a recipe and make my own, and I’ve never looked back…I’m afraid to; that goo was the stuff of food-lovers’ nightmares!

Easy Avocado Jalapeno Spread

One of my all-time favorite snacks has to be toasted bread with avocado mashed up on top, and maybe a sprinkle of coarse salt and pepper. The crunch of warm, toasted bread with creamy, smooth avocado is delightful in its simplicity. Its rustic nature appeals to me, and I also take a certain amount of pleasure from smashing the avocado into all the nooks and crannies (that's not strange, right?). 

Of course, I’m an avocado lover to begin with, often sneaking it straight out of its shell before my fellow avocado-loving husband realizes he’s not getting his fair share, so maybe it’s just me. Either way, I recently tried adding in bits of chopped jalapeno, so I thought I would let you in on my little secret – it turned out delish!