Egg and Cheese Quesadilla

Most of the time, I think of quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches as the same thing on different breads. Lately (because we got 200 tortillas for $1) I've been trying out new combinations and techniques with the quesadilla. This particular quesadilla had

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Plopp Chocolate

Nobby's Nuts Smoked Bacon 

Blueberry Scone

The Bread Garden makes a bunch of tasty treats that you can buy for half price after 4 p.m. I got this Blueberry Scone and was pleased when it wasn't

Navy Beans with Ham Shanks

Thanks to my dad for submitting this. He made it by
Adding a shredded carrot and diced leek for flavor. A small shredded potato to thicken and a dash of balsamic vinegar for earthiness.

Piel De Sapo

One day, when I was shopping for some produce to juice, I came across this melon. I had never heard of Piel De Sapo before, but I was intrigued. While it looked like a small watermelon, upon picking up it up, it was firm yet soft to the touch, I smelled it and got a few wafts of sweetness. So I did what anybody does these days when they have a question; I googled it.

A & W Rootbeer Float

When I was a kid, my dad would take me to an A & W occasionally. It was always a special treat to me, and it wasn't always because of the food. I thought that it was really cool that you could order from and eat in your car while it was parked in their parking lot. Plus, it was really cool when they would bring your food out on a tray WHILE ROLLERSKATING!

Vegetarian Tacos

Vegetarian tacos are something that my older sister, Amber recommended to me once. This is a great meal to make quickly. All that you have to do is

Giant Soft Pretzel with Cheese

There are several origins to the invention of pretzels. What all of them hold in common is the church. Italians claim that the 'pretiola'  was invented by one of their monks as a reward to kids that have memorized their prayers. The Germans claim that the 'Brezel' was invented by bakers. Regardless, both the Germans and the Catholic Church still hold strong ties to the food today

John's Ice Cream

John's Ice Cream is less than a mile from my house. Occasionally, we will walk with the kids to get some ice cream. It is always by there request. On this particular day, as a reward for Tate's good behavior, I gave him the option to go anywhere to do anything he wanted. After I shot down going out to eat without the girls at 3:30 in the afternoon, he chose to go to John's. I actually tried to talk him out of it and go to a different place. I find that John's menu is too large and confusing to find what I want. The prices are also more expensive than driving farther away and going to a Dairy Queen. Although John's is only one of two

Airliner Pizza

Nearly every single Sunday for two and a half years, I went to the Airliner for their $1 slices of pizza. It was a staple of my college life. Each week, a group of my friends would meet here without fail and without calling each other first. One thing about going to the Airliner was that you never knew what

Produce #100 Fried Plantains

There is no botanical distinction between a plantain and the (cavendish) banana. Due to their high starch content, plantains are not usually eaten raw, but used for cooking. When I cut through the peel, I was surprised to see that

National Dishes #86 Falafel

Falafels are not a food that I am incredibly familiar with. Usually if I was at a place that served them, they usually opted for another food that they offered such as a gyro. When I was looking for good vegetarian meals, I kept coming across falafels. I had several revelations making this food myself. First,

Cereal Crusted French Toast

One day, the kids couldn't decide if they wanted to have French Toast or cereal for breakfast, so I decided to combine the two and it worked out even better than I had expected. First,

Quinoa and Soyrizo

Last year, during my vegan week, I tried quinoa for the first time. Since then I've made it several times, always stuffed inside a pepper. This was the first time that I reversed it and stuffed the pepper inside the quinoa. After the success of the Soyrizo Pizza,

Egg Salad Sandwich

If you are like a lot of people the day after Easter, you are looking for things to do with your dozens of hard boiled eggs. To me, the most logical thing besides deviled eggs is to make some egg salad sandwiches.

Cake Baked Inside An Eggshell

When I saw a picture of this on Pintrest, I knew that it would be the perfect activity to do right before Easter. Conveniently, eggs have become a much larger part of my diet once I became vegetarian. For about two weeks, a drill with a small bit has been sitting on our kitchen counter. Any time that I made something with eggs, I would carefully puncture the egg with the drill and pull away an opening to the egg.

Soyrizo Pizza

Since I've started this blog, I have found myself wandering around grocery stores and looking at packages that are unfamiliar to me. This is how I've been able to cross several things (Dolma, Chicken Tikka Masala, Pocky, SPAM, Wasabi Peas) off of my lists. This is also something that I've been doing to get ideas for vegetarian food. That is when I came across this:

Foods To Eat Before You Die #13 Biscuits And Gravy

I have always loved biscuits and gravy, but have had a difficult time making a good batch myself. It has never been an issue with the biscuit, but always the gravy. This was the first time that I was happy with how the gravy ended up, which is convenient because it was one of my last meals before my two months of vegetarianism. To learn how I made the gravy, click for more.

Dehydrated Fruit Snacks

One day, we went to my in-laws to pick through some of their stuff before they had a garage sale. When I saw the food dehydrator, I was immediately interested but hesitant. I was hesitant because if I took it, it would be another kitchen device that we might rarely use and need to find cupboard space for. For my first time using the machine, I decided to try a variety of foods, to test out which ones I liked.

Eat Before You Die #55 Macaroni and Cheese

I don't know a single kid that doesn't like macaroni and cheese. If, as a parent, you don't like it, there is no reason to make it from a box. Make it in a way that you will like it, too. Anybody can boil a noodle, but people get caught up on making the cheese sauce. Start with

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This was my very last meal before I became a vegetarian for two months. When Leigha was looking in the freezer, she noticed that we still had the bones from the Turducken, so she made a stock from them. Even though we didn't have any chicken to put in the soup, we figured that the broth should be flavorful enough. So to compensate, I decided to make

Chicken Wings

In the days before my two months of vegetarianism, I had been loading up on my meats. These are sesame chicken wings with

Jimmy Jack's Barbecue

As a disclaimer, I would like to say that it annoys me when people say barbecue when they mean grilling. It is like the difference between champagne and sparkling white wine. To most, there is no difference, but there is. To qualify as barbecue, it must involve smoke and low (generally indirect) heat. I personally own a smoker and have created several of my own recipes for spice rubs. If I rotated between eating barbecue and pizza every day, everyday I would swear that I was eating my favorite food. One good thing about living in a college town is that there are 22 pizza places for a city of roughly 68k. One bad thing about living in Iowa is that my options are much more limited for barbecue (3). Even more so if I am looking for QUALITY barbecue. Jimmy Jack's makes good barbecue, regardless of where you live.