Jolene's Recipe Journal

We're big football fans here, and we're even bigger fans of football food!  Ever since my son was little, we've always had special game day meals.  Nachos are a staple, and so are mini corn dog muffins .  This year I decided I wanted chili, and I've been testing out a few recipes. This Spicy Touchdown Chili caught my eye because in addition to the usual ingredients, it also has bacon!

I've found some great new recipes during #NationalOatmealMonth.  First I made Honey Oat Pan Rolls , then Overnight Cherry Almond Oatmeal. When I was searching for recipes to make for this month's Muffin Monday, I found these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins from Cheryl B. on the Taste of Home website.

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day! Did you know that chocolate cake wasn't even a thing until 1847?  I had no idea!  It seems that chocolate was primarily used for drinking prior to that. Now I love a good cup of hot chocolate, but I can't imagine a celebration without chocolate cake!

If someone had said to me five years ago that I'd be hosting an event for National Peanut Butter Day, I'd never have believed it.  My son was EpiPen required peanut and tree nut allergic.  On the rare occasion we had peanut butter in the house for my husband's work lunches, it was like watching a sci fi movie, with haz mat suits, bleach spray and multiple washings of utensils.

Today is National Cheese Lovers Day! When I think of cheesy foods, the first thing that comes to mind (and my absolute favorite) is pizza.  I was flipping through one of my Taste of Home cookbooks and spotted these Waffled Pizza Bites.

Here in the New England, we are anticipating a winter storm that's supposed to be a whopper.  That means a good bit of time out in the cold, snow blowing and shoveling, and one of the things that makes that tolerable is knowing I can come inside to a nice warm bowl of soup.

Up until a year ago, I was a die-hard coffee drinker.  A change in my eating habits also led to one in my drinking habits as well, and I've actually found quite a few teas that I enjoy. One of them is an apple spiced version, but it's not always available at my grocery store.  I searched the Taste of Home site and found this version from Susan W.

January is #NationalOatmealMonth and also #NationalSlowCookingMonth, so when I chose my recipe for this month's Fantastical Food Fight, I looked for something that was both.  The call out was for overnight oats, and while I'm a big fan of the version done in the fridge, the slow cooker versions are pretty great too!

January is a time when many people make the decision to eat healthier.  I personally made that decision in October 2017, and I've lost 50lbs!  Now if you are a follower of the blog, you know I'm not eating all healthy 100% of the time, I'm a big believer in enjoying everything in moderation.

The Winter Warm Up series continues today, and I've got some amazing cocoa to share with you! 99% of the time, when we want cocoa, we make it from a packet.  But then there are the time that I make it from scratch and I wonder, why don't I do this all the time?

This month I'm joining in on the Improv Cooking Challenge hosted by Nicole from Cookaholic Wife! Each month she gives us two ingredients as a starting point, what we make is up to us.  For January, these ingredients are oats and honey.

When the temperatures drop, nothing quite hits the spot like a warm beverage! I had extra crystallized ginger left over from Christmas cookie baking, and I've started collecting recipes to use it in.  One of them was this Hot Ginger Coffee from Taste of Home.

January is National Oatmeal Month!  I've been eating oatmeal almost daily for about a year  now, and I'm still surprised at how many great ways there are to change it up.  I was surfing Pinterest and came across this Irish Oatmeal Brulee recipe from Taste of Home and immediately put it on the menu.