Summer Recipes

Chicken Scampi Recipe Review (Is it Better Than Olive Garden?)

I’ve always been a fan of shrimp scampi. Paul not so much. Since shrimp has never been his favorite, I started looking for a recipe that would capture those bright, buttery, lemony flavors while still being something we’d both enjoy. That’s how I landed on this Chicken Scampi from Cooking Classy. It turned out to […]

Easy and Delicious Strawberry Shortcake Sheet Cake for Summer Time

I’ll admit it, desserts are usually the part of cooking that makes me the most nervous. I don’t really consider myself a baker, and sometimes recipes that look beautiful also look intimidating. That’s one of the reasons I decided to try this Strawberry Shortcake Sheet Cake from Celebrating Sweets. It looked like the perfect summer […]

Easy Potluck & Picnic Ideas I’d Actually Bring

Summer seems to have a way of filling up the calendar. Whether it’s family reunions, church picnics, neighborhood BBQs, pool parties or last minute cookouts almost every invitation comes with the same question: “Can you bring something?” Over the past several months, I’ve reviewed quite a few recipes that would fit right in at a […]

An Honest Review of The Pioneer Woman’s Tequila Lime Chicken

This week, I decided to try The Pioneer Woman’s Tequila Lime Chicken, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Ever since we added a grill to our backyard, I’ve been looking for recipes that make the most of it, and this one seemed like the perfect fit. Bright lime flavor, a simple marinade, […]

An Easy Ground Beef Dinner for Low Energy Nights

One of my favorite kinds of recipes to review is the kind that makes me wonder, “Why haven’t I been making this all along?” That’s exactly how I felt about these Korean Ground Beef Rice Bowls from The Recipe Critic. Sometimes, after a long day, I don’t want to spend an hour in the kitchen. […]

Easy Pasta Salad for Cookouts and Potlucks

Most of the recipes I review are main dishes, but every now and then it’s nice to remember that the sides can steal the show too. With summer officially here, I wanted to try a recipe that would be perfect for backyard cookouts, family gatherings, or those last minute invitations where you’re asked to “just […]

Breaking In the New Grill with Ribeyes and Potatoes

Every month, Paul gets to choose a recipe for me to review. Usually that means he picks a specific meal, challenges me to make something new, and then enjoys giving his official opinion afterward. This month, however, he had a different idea. Instead of choosing a recipe, Paul chose a cooking method. Specifically, he chose […]

Pesto Rigatoni: A Fresh and Easy Summer Dinner

Most of my recipe reviews come from websites, but this time I decided to pull a recipe from a cookbook. The cookbook was The “I Don’t Know How to Cook” Book by Mary-Lane Kamberg, and the recipe that caught my eye was Pesto Rigatoni. I chose it for a pretty simple reason: it looked easy, […]

The Recipe Reality Check