recipe

Y’all. I love thumbprint cookies. Love them. I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe here until now! This is another recipe that was originally on my food blog and I’m excited to finally be sharing it on Frugal Novice, too.

When I was pregnant with E, I craved three things: bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-stuffed jalapeños, beef (steak, brisket, burgers, you name it and I craved it), and thumbprint cookies.

Since I had gestational diabetes, though, I had to really watch my sugar intake, so that meant virtually no cookies throughout my pregnancy. Insert frowny face.

I apparently talked a lot about thumbprint cookie withdrawal, because after E was born I had several friends and family members that brought me boxes of them from a favorite local bakery. If that’s not a sign I am surrounded by amazing people, I don’t know what is.

I decided that since thumbprint cookies rank up so high on my favorite cookie list I really ought to work on figuring out how to make them at home.

To me, chocolate is the perfect balance to the mild flavor of thumbprints, so I paired an extra-chocolaty buttercream with the cookies. C, our five-year-old, declared that they definitely needed sprinkles. Of course they did! Genius.

What you end up with is a light, crunchy cookie and a sweet, center. A perfect, colorful cookie combo that can’t help but make you smile.

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We are almost always busy in our house, and I’m sure many of you can relate. Because of this, we’re always on the lookout for quick, healthy, and delicious meals our whole family can enjoy even on the busiest of nights. PastaFits has graciously given me three 20-minute meal recipes to share with you today that I can’t wait to try!

Easy Campanelle with Greens and Pancetta

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. campanelle
• 8 oz. mustard greens, tough stems removed, roughly torn or chopped
• 6 oz. pancetta, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup/1 oz. sliced garlic
• 4 tsp./~½ oz. lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp./1 oz. toasted pine nuts

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the campanelle according to package directions. Two minutes before its ready, add the mustard greens. Cook for the last two minutes. Drain and reserve.
2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat has rendered and the meat is golden and crisp. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic and starting to brown.
3. Toss with the reserved pasta and mustard greens. Heat through and drizzle with lemon juice. Divide between 4 bowls and sprinkle with pine nuts.

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In doing our menu planning for the week, Brian and I were reminded of a favorite recipe that we haven’t made in a while – chicken tacos with spicy avocado tomatillo sauce. I added it to our menu for the week, and decided it was perfect timing to share with you, too.

We make tacos quite a bit in our house, but we can tend to fall into a rut of ground beef, shredded cheddar and lettuce. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the classic taco fare, but we’re starting to have more and more fun coming up with a variety of taco fillings – and this chicken taco with avocado tomatillo sauce is a winner. It is so, so good.

How good, you ask? The kids complimented me on the chicken. They ate the chicken without complaining. At all. 

I know, I know – now you understand how amazing this recipe is.

It’s pretty, too, isn’t it?

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This week’s recipe is SO simple but it’s also one of my very favorite treats I’ve ever made, so it seemed perfect to share for Mini Chef Mondays. My kids love these, and think it’s a lot of fun helping me make them.

What is this treat, you ask? Imagine eating a Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patty/Tagalong, and it being even better.

Yup, friends. I’m confidently proclaiming that these are better than Girl Scout cookies.

Peanut butter stuffed, chocolate coated pretzels. SO good.

I mean, chocolate and peanut butter? Amazing. Chocolate and pretzels? SO good. All three together? Perfection.

We were immediately hooked, and I think you will be, too.

The recipe just requires two ingredients:

• Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
• Chocolate Almond Bark

Melt the chocolate almond bark in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Make sure not to overheat the chocolate or it will seize up. You can vary the amount for this recipe easily; I used one square and was able to cover 20 pretzels.

Dip each pretzel into the melted chocolate and place it on wax paper to dry.

Eat. And try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Good luck with that.

Enjoy!

I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 10 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started, plus how to link up!
Join our facebook group to find even more recipes and share recipes too!

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well!

1. Frozen Yogurt Fruit Bark Recipe // Courtney’s Sweets
2. Ham & Egg Cups // Momma Lew
3. Yogurt Dipped Frozen Banana on a Stick // Baby Loving Mama
4. Bacon Egg and Cheese Pretzel Bites // We’re Parents
5. Tips for Planting a Kids Vegetable Garden // Eating Richly Even When You’re Broke
6. Pastelillos de Carne (Puerto Rican Meat Turnovers) // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
7. 18 Mother-Child Bonding Activities // Step Stool Chef
8. Broccoli Mac and Cheese Bites // Vegging at the Shore
9. Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteaks // O’Boy! Organic
10. Chocolate Milk Mini Fudge Pops // Can’t Google Everything

If you haven’t planned your Easter menu yet, don’t fret! Here are some ideas for beautiful meals to put on the table.

Check out Stunning Main Courses for Easter Dinner

by Foodie Editor at Mode

Our kids love lemon, so it’s a go-to flavor profile whenever I’m considering what dessert I should make. You might remember us making lemonade cake a while back! Well, this time we decided to make lemon bars with an added treat – blackberry drizzle.

These lemon bars are perfect for spring & summer – they’re light, bright, and cold. They’re easy to whip up, too!

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We love pizza in our house – it’s one of the foods that all three kids will actually eat and enjoy, and it’s easy (which means a lot on a weeknight, amIright?)

Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have an alternative to an old standby, so we like to make what we call mini pizza pot pies as a fun twist on our typical fave.

I’ve shared this recipe several years ago, but thought it deserved to be resurfaced for Mini Chef Monday because it’s a perfect mini-sized meal for your mini chef to eat and to help make with you!

We made these when we had friends over for dinner one night – they have two kids, too, so it was the perfect dinner choice. My friend Kristi used two sizes of plastic cups to cut out rounds of pizza dough – a larger round went into the bottom of the muffin tin, and we used the smaller one to top it off. This is a great and easy way for you to let your kids help prep – you can cut the dough without any sharp knives needed!

Another thing that’s great about this recipe is that you can use a variety of combinations to fill the pizzas. You could do ground beef mixed with pasta sauce, spinach, pepperoni, or a mixture of the three, along with shredded mozzarella to add that cheesy goodness.

Once all the pizzas are filled, top off the dough and fold the tops and bottom together to get a nice seal. Use kitchen shears to snip a small slit in the top and allow steam to escape while baking.

Bake at 350 degrees until the dough on top is golden brown, let cool for a bit, and they should pop right out of your muffin tin. Don’t they look delicious?

And each one is filled with all sorts of flavor:

Perfect for adults & kiddos alike!

These would be great for grab & go dinners, because it would be incredibly easy to eat these while you’re out and about. They make nice leftovers, too – just pop a couple in your lunch bag and you’re all set at work the next day!

Is your mouth watering yet? Here’s the recipe so you can go home and make these tonight:

Ingredients:

• Pasta sauce
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pizza dough, either store-bought or homemade
• Pepperoni
• Any other ingredients you’d like to add! Red peppers, onions, olives, and mushrooms could all be great additions.

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using a plastic cup, cut out a round of pizza dough to press into the bottom of a well in your muffin tin – there should be a little dough overhanging the edges so you can crimp it with the top layer of dough to seal! Put dough out for as many of the pizzas as you’d like to make.
3. Fill your pizzas with whatever combinations of ingredients sound best, making sure to include sauce and cheese either in between layers or on the top so you have flavor and so your pizza isn’t dry. Don’t pile your ingredients any higher than the top of the muffin tin.
4. Use a smaller plastic cup to cut out a smaller round of pizza dough, and place this on top of your creation, and fold the edges from the bottom layer over, pressing to seal the two rounds of dough. Using kitchen shears, snip a small slit in the top of each one to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake your pizzas about 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Enjoy!

As always, I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started and how to link up!

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts – and we would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts ( this can be a kid-friendly recipe, or a recipe you made with your kiddo) with us each week, too!

Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen.

1. Healthy Mac and Cheese Recipe // Courtney’s Sweets
2. Original Rice Krispies Treats // Momma Lew
3. Chocolate Dipped Sundae Marshmallows // Baby Loving Mama
4. Homemade Chicken Meatballs // We’re Parents
5. Alphabet Snack H is for Hippo // Eating Richly Even When You’re Broke
6. Peep S’Mores Bites // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
7. Teach Your Kids to Cook THIS Spring Break // Step Stool Chef
8. Easy to Make Hamantaschen // Vegging at the Shore
9. Turn Recipes into Memories with a Keepsake Cookbook // Mom’s Messy Miracles
10. Whole Wheat Pretzel Bites // O’Boy! Organic
11. Carrot Cake Dip with Easter Bunny Chips // Can’t Google Everything

I’m sure you won’t be shocked to learn that my three year old daughter, E, loves pink and purple. Purple is her very favorite right now, because Sofia the First wears a purple dress, and E thinks Sofia hung the moon.

We incorporate pink & purple into her clothing, her accessories, her bedding, and even her food. Ice cream and suckers are chosen for what color they are, with no thought whatsoever given to flavor. We’ve even made purple waffles for breakfast before, and that gave me the idea to give another food the “princess” treatment – bread!

I call this Princess Bread because it incorporates pink & purple, and because my daughter will instantly love bread that sounds like it’s something Sofia would eat! This is a typical sandwich bread recipe, but you could put strawberry or grape preserves on it for added princess flair. And imagine how fun it’d be to surprise your child with this bread on her sandwich at lunch!

Here’s how to make Princess Bread with step-by-step pics – and the recipe itself will be shared below!

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Maybe it’s because we just had Valentine’s Day, but when I was trying to think what we should make for Mini Chef Monday this week, chocolate was involved in every idea I had. Ultimately, though, I settled on super soft double chocolate chip cookies (try saying that five times fast) because they’re easy to pack in the kids’ lunches throughout the week – and they’re chock full of chocolate flavor.

They’re really easy to make, and E was eager to help as always. The batch we made creates 24 small cookies, but you can easily double this if you want more. I like this smaller batch, because it really doesn’t require much in the way of ingredients. You’re likely to have all of this on hand at any given time, so you can get your chocolate fix at a moment’s notice.

If you need an endorsement for how good these cookies are, they made two boys stop playing Minecraft to come over for a taste!

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Ahh, ravioli. If you read my recent post about our basil fettuccine recipe, you know we love making pasta. That’s probably our favorite, but we like to venture out into trying other recipes, too. The fettuccine was originally shared on my old food blog, as was the ravioli I’m sharing with you here today.

My favorite ravioli has always been four cheese. I mean, combining cheese and pasta – two amazingly delicious things – is pretty much the pinnacle of flavor, right?

Well, we figured out a way to top that.

Pesto.

Yes, my friends, that’s right. Forget spooning pesto on top of the pasta.

That’s for amateurs.

We put the pesto right in the filling.

And it. is. fabulous.

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I’m a little giddy about this recipe because it combines three things I adore – basil, garlic, and pasta. Brian and I have made semolina pasta dough for years now, but hadn’t ever tried flavored pasta until 2014. It was a bit of an experiment, but it worked out beautifully and we now have an addition to our pasta repertoire that we’ll have made again and again.

I shared this recipe first on a food blog I ran for a while, but since most of my focus is on Frugal Novice, it only seemed fitting to share it here, too.

This basil & garlic fettuccine is flavorful – you don’t even really need more than a light butter sauce to go along with it – and the flecks of basil in the dough really make the pasta pretty, too.

As with so many recipes, homemade pasta was one of those things that seemed really overwhelming to me until we gave it a try. Several years ago our friends Kit and Peter came over one Saturday with their pasta machine, and we were immediately smitten with the process (and end result!) of making pasta from scratch. You know you’ve found kindred spirits when you have friends who want to spend the weekend cooking!

Making homemade pasta is something we really enjoy doing, and the kids love to help with it, too. We have a pasta machine we purchased and absolutely love. It’s hand-cranked and easy to set up wherever you’d like to use it – we just mount ours to the dining table – and it comes with an attachment that lets you cut the pasta, too. I would highly recommend buying one if you think you’ll make pasta more than a couple of times (you will, by the way – it’s addicting!).

Here’s what our pasta machine looks like – and you’ll also get a glimpse of our sweet yellow lab/golden retriever, Sally. She likes to hang around under the table when we make pasta because  she knows we’ll inevitably drop a piece here or there. Smart dog.

Making pasta from scratch is really fun to do with friends, too – we make the dough ahead of time and then when friends come over we do the rolling and cutting with them. Fresh pasta cooks really quickly, so we’ll just have the sides, sauce (if we’re using any), and bread all taken care of ahead of time, and then once our group finishes the pasta we can get to cooking it – and eating it – almost immediately.

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Our kids are kind of obsessed with macarons right now, and to be honest, I am too. They hadn’t even heard of them until a recent episode of the Kids’ Baking Championship on Food Network, where the contestants had to come up with unique macaron flavors. We all watch the show together each week, and that episode had us all talking about what flavor combinations we thought would be best. Our 8 year old mentioned he’d never tried one, so we made it our mission to find a macaron bakery on an upcoming trip to Dallas.

Macaroons! Err…. macarons! Either way, delicious. #yum #macarons #chocolate #instafood

A photo posted by Christi (@frugalnovice) on Jan 30, 2016 at 1:18pm PST

We discovered JOY Macarons, and had a field day picking among the many flavors they offered.

We bought half a dozen, started sampling, and then went back to buy a dozen more. We were hooked. In fact, while we were still in Dallas I ordered a silicone mat with a macaron template on Amazon so we could make our own macarons at home.

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