May 31, 2018 by Nicole Collins Cleaning out the kitchen never tasted so good! Don’t you love it when you look at some leftover ingredients, knowing they don’t have much life left to live, and you magically have a fantastic idea for how to spare them? Does that ever happen to you? That’s not just me, right? Either way, just smile and nod. It’s safer that way. Ok, so you guys know how I feel about pizza. But, do you know how I feel about breadsticks? Well, why don’t you let me tell you… I LOVE BREADSTICKS. Like LOVE them in a possibly unhealthy way. Since I’m not a huge pizza eater, I’m picky about the pizza I do eat. If I’m eating out, my preferred restaurant is Pizza Hut. The sauce is perfec

May 27, 2018 by Nicole Collins I'd say I've been on a breakfast kick lately, but that would be a lie. I'm always on a breakfast kick. I'm sure you guys have figured that out about me by now. I pretty much want breakfast 24/7. I actually think I eat more breakfast for dinner than I eat breakfast for breakfast. And, don't even get me started on brunch! I LOVE BRUNCH SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! And, I am so superdy duperdy excited that more and more local restaurants are hopping on the brunch train with special weekend menus and extended brunching hours. I remember a time where the only place to get breakfast in the afternoon was Bob Evans. Not that I'd ever snub some Bob Evans' sausage gravy, but i

May 24, 2018 by Nicole Collins Here in Maryland, we like Old Bay on EVERYTHING! And, I mean EVERYTHING. It’s totally a thing! Besides the usual suspects like crabs and shrimp (duh); we put it on pizza, on french fries, on potato chips. We even put it on ice cream! I used to work with a girl that used to carry a can of Old Bay with everywhere she went. She kept it in her car so that she could have Old Bay 24/7. I used to think it was the funniest thing! But, whenever I wanted to spruce up my lunch, she’d always be my first stop. I still take for granted that Old Bay is not a common spice everywhere in the country. Most states sell it now, but what good is it if you don’t know what to do with

May 20, 2018 by Nicole Collins I'm making good on a promise today, guys! A couple of weeks ago, I told you I had an amazing Strawberry Avocado Toast recipe for you. Well, today is the day I finally share it! I held on to this a little while longer than I originally planned, because I figured you guys might need a break from all of the strawberry and avocado we had during Cinco de Mayo week. Not like anyone could ever need a break from strawberries or avocados. But, I gave it a little extra time just in case. I don't usually do the grand reveal of what we're making til a few more random thoughts in to the post, but I've got something that I need to tell you guys. And, of course there's a stor

May 18, 2018 by Nicole Collins If we could eat spring, this is what it would taste like! And let me tell you, after one bite of today’s sammie, you’re going to wish we could eat all of the seasons. Here’s some real talk for you today. I know you guys love that. Confession: sometimes, I worry that I’m going to run out of recipe ideas. Actually, oftentimes I worry that I’m going to run out of recipe ideas. I REALLY stress myself out about this too. I feel like I have to have 2-3 new recipes on the agenda every weekend. I even build it in to my schedule to give myself a weekend off here and there, but I still feel the pressure to create. I just don’t want to let you guys down! In the spirit of

May 14th, 2018 by Nicole Collins I need you guys to fact check me today. So, I heard or read or saw somewhere once that your taste buds change every 7 years. Anyone know if that’s true? I mean, I guess I could get on the Google machine and try to find the answer myself. But, what fun would that be? I sure hope it’s true, because I feel like I tell people that fun fact a lot. And, I definitely live by it hoping that I’ll like things that I don’t like or justifying how and why I like things now that I used to hate. Please be true useless piece of information! Do you guys have any foods that you wish you liked? Are there any foods that you watch people eat and think “man, I wish I could partici

May 11, 2018 by Nicole Collins I’ve been sitting on today’s recipe for a hot minute. I promised you another Disney inspired recipe this week, and I'm totally delivering on that promise! Well, this recipe was inspired by a burger I had at Animal Kingdom when I went to Florida last year! I told you...a hot minute! Those that know me well know that my memory is not great. I didn’t always used to be this way. But, there’s just a lot of stuff that I’m responsible for remembering on a day to day basis. So I think my brain, for real, starts to reject information. I can just picture the little workers in my brain holding up a “sold out” sign, turning away any new information. But this burger, I reme

May 8, 2018 by Nicole Collins Meat! I got so excited about Cinco de Mayo week last week that I forgot to talk about our no meat April challenge! What did you think? Did any of you follow along with me? Did you even miss the meat? I did. Ok, here’s the thing…I’ve always been a “want what I can’t have” type of person. That trait can be put in the same category as the “tell me to do something, and you can go kick rocks; but ask me to do the same thing, and it’s no problem” category. I guess it’s the rebel side of me that wants to come through despite me being a goody goody 98% of the time. Or, maybe it’s the control freak side of me that wants to have the opportunity to make my own decisions. E

May 5, 2018 by Nicole Collins Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! After cooking and celebrating all week, we've made it to the grand finale. It's Sangria Saturday!!! It's time to siesta and fiesta! We've earned it! Not like cooking and eating totally easy and delicious food is really hard work. But, if we have to pretend that it was to feel like we've earned some party time today, so be it. Do you guys have any fun celebrations happening today? What's on the menu? Or, are you feeling more siesta than fiesta. It's cool either way! I've got a couple of things on the agenda for today. I think my first stop might be the farmer's market. I haven't totally decided yet. But, I'm really feeling like spending som

May 4, 2018 by Nicole Collins Welcome to Friday…Fajita Friday! We’ve made some pretty delicious stuff already this week, and today is no different. We’ve also done a pretty good job of keeping it healthy this week. And again, today is no different! We’re keeping it super simple today…just a handful of ingredients but tons of flavor! Just the way I like it! Truth be told, fajitas are rarely my first choice. I’m a taco girl through and through. I don’t know why I differentiate, because a fajita is practically a taco anyway! I mean, think about it. Fajitas generally consist of a few main ingredients: a protein, a pepper/onion mix, and a flour tortilla. Sometimes, there’s rice involved. Sometime

May 3, 2018 by Nicole Collins It's Tostada Thursday! Originally, today was going to be Taquito Thursday, but things don't always go as planned. Here's a real dose of reality when it comes to blogging...not everything I make comes out perfect. I know! Can you imagine anything I touch not being perfect?!?!? HAHAHA...I made myself laugh out loud on that one. Anyway...when I thought we were having Taquito Thursday, I had this grand plan for Southwestern Breakfast Taquitos. I was so sure about these taquitos, too. I made a whole batch last Sunday morning. But, if I'm going to be perfectly honest, I wasn't really into it while I was making them. And, you could totally tell that my heart wasn't in

May 2, 2018 by Nicole Collins Today, we celebrate Guacamole Wednesday! Now, I know that this doesn't stick with the whole alliteration theme we've got going on this week, but hear me out. Do you guys mind if we pretend, just for today, that the “G” is silent in guacamole? Because, if that was the case, guacamole would be pronounced like “wockamole”. And, then it would work. That's how I've been justifying walking around calling it Wockamole Wednesday...by pretending I can't see the “G”. Wockamole Wednesday! Wocka wocka wocka! Fozzy bear, anyone? Anyway, just smile and nod for me today; and let me have this. For the quick and easy guacamole recipe I'm giving you today, you can throw me this l

May 1, 2018 by Nicole Collins Happy Taco Tuesday! I know I told you yesterday that Margarita Monday was my favorite day of the week, but I think I want to rescind that statement. It's Taco Tuesday. Taco Tuesday, for sure. I eagerly await the day that Taco Tuesday becomes a national holiday, so we can have every Tuesday off for stuffing our faces with tacos. You guys with me? Think I'm aiming a little too big on this one? A girl can dream... Meanwhile, I am desperately waiting for the weather to warm up. Spring is certainly in no hurry this year. So, at the first sign of “not totally freezing”, I had to break out my grill. I have to hold on to the little glimmer of hope that it's not going to