How to Make Vegetable Stock

Learn how to make vegetable stock! Perfect for using in soups, sauces, risottos, and more, this homemade broth is super flavorful and easy to make.

The other day, I was making vegetable stock with veggie odds and ends I’d accumulated throughout the week. As I stood in the kitchen, savoring the delicious aroma wafting from my stock pot, I realized that I had yet to share my method for how to make vegetable broth on the blog. I have over 80(!!) soup recipes on here, and another soup season is right around the corner. Suffice it to say, this vegetable stock recipe is long overdue. I’m so excited to share it today because I believe that vegetable stock is something that everyone can and should…

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San Marzano Pizza Sauce

This San Marzano pizza sauce is perfect for Margherita pizzas and more. Made with 5 simple ingredients, it's fresh, flavorful, and easy to make!

I love my classic pizza sauce recipe, but when I’m making a Margherita pizza or another Neapolitan-style pie, this San Marzano pizza sauce is a must. Made with 5 simple ingredients, this sauce is similar to pizza sauces I’ve enjoyed in Italy. It’s slightly thinner than typical American pizza sauce, and it has a sweeter, fresher flavor. Unsurprisingly, I love to make this sauce with San Marzano tomatoes. This variety of plum tomatoes is grown in a specific part of southern Italy near Naples, and it’s known worldwide for its sweetness, intensity, and mild acidity. It gives this easy, no-cook…

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Honey Butter

This honey butter recipe is delicious on cornbread, dinner rolls, muffins, and more! With just 3 ingredients, it's creamy, flavorful, and easy to make.

Where has honey butter been all my life?! It’s light and fluffy, smooth and creamy, and filled with sweet, rich flavor. And it’s not just delicious – it’s easy to make, too! You only need 3 ingredients, 5 minutes, and some basic kitchen equipment to whip up this recipe. What are you waiting for? How to Make Honey Butter This recipe is SO darn simple to make. It starts with 3 basic ingredients: unsalted butter, honey, and sea salt. Let the butter come to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. Many honey butter recipes ask you to use a…

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60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas

Busy week? These meal prep ideas are here to help! With tips and recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they make eating healthy, delicious meals easy.

Recipes / cooking basics

Is anyone else trying to get in a new meal prep routine this fall? Jack and I took some time off last week for an end-of-summer trip to Michigan. It was so fun and relaxing, but when we got back, I realized just how busy the next few months are going to be. Thankfully, I have a full arsenal of healthy meal prep ideas to help us get through it. 🙂 In case you’re also having a busy fall, I’m sharing over 60 of my healthy meal prep ideas today. They include meal prep recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,…

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Summer Fruit Platter

Learn how to make a gorgeous fruit platter for your next party or gathering! Piled with fresh fruit, cheese, olives, and nuts, this fruit tray is always a hit.

summer

How pretty is this fresh fruit platter?! It’s a colorful combination of fruits, cheeses, spreads, and snacks that I’ve been absolutely loving lately. I’m sharing it today because it would be a fantastic last-minute appetizer for a Labor Day party or cookout, but honestly, it’s a great easy dinner idea, too. On warm nights when I’m not in the mood to cook, I slice up some fresh fruit, grab a handful of herbs from the porch, and pile them onto a fruit and cheese platter like this one. Jack and I savor the sweet, juicy fruit with the rich, salty…

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28 Easy Summer Appetizers

These easy summer appetizers will be a hit at your next cookout or BBQ! They include creative crudité platters, delicious dips, and more.

summer

When I sat down to write this summer appetizers post, I glanced over at the calendar I have hanging on my wall. September already? How did that happen?! We might be nearing the end of the season, but I hope you still have a BBQ, cookout, or casual get-together left in store. In my book, at least, there’s not much that beats catching up with family or friends on a warm afternoon or evening. And if it just so happens that there’s a plate of summer appetizers nearby, well, that’s even better. These easy summer appetizers include crudité platters, dips,…

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Fresh Tomato Sauce

Learn how to make tomato sauce at home! Made with fresh tomatoes, this simple, flavorful recipe is perfect for serving on pasta, pizza, and more.

For me, making this homemade tomato sauce recipe is one of the highlights of late summer. Like bruschetta or a good Caprese salad, it’s something I only make at this time of year, when fresh tomatoes are sweet, juicy, and abundant. This tomato sauce has a slightly looser, chunkier texture than my traditional marinara sauce, and its flavor is sweeter and fresher. If you have a garden full of tomatoes, it’s a great way to use them up, but even if you don’t, I hope you’ll try it. You can toss it with pasta or zucchini noodles, spread it on…

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Blistered Shishito Peppers

Looking for a fun summer appetizer or snack? Make these blistered shishito peppers! Tender, charred, and topped with sesame oil, they're always a hit.

appetizers / snacks & dips

I love the simplicity of this blistered shishito peppers recipe. It relies on just 3 main ingredients – shishito peppers, salt, and sesame oil – but it’s still flavorful, satisfying, and totally addictive. You might think you’re going to eat one pepper, maybe two, but before you know it, you’ll have devoured half the pan! Um…yes, I’m speaking from experience. If you’re not familiar with shishito peppers, they’re small, thin-walled peppers that are traditionally used in Japanese and Korean cooking. These days, you can often find them at farmers markets in the US and at major grocery stores like Whole Foods…

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Herb Compound Butter

These herb compound butter recipes will add bold flavor to the simplest dishes. They're delicious on corn on the cob, toast, potatoes, and more!

cooking basics

I have a new favorite cooking project: making compound butter! In the summer, I’m always hunting for different ways to use the herbs we grow on our back deck. When I’ve blended up a million batches of pesto and tossed together fifteen pasta salads, I start to wonder, “What next?” I thought to make these compound butter recipes when I was dreaming up ways to serve corn on the cob. I imagined slathering it with butter and sprinkling it with herbs, but then I thought, “Why not put the herbs in the butter?” First, I experimented with chives and dill. The…

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Caprese Skewers

These Caprese skewers are such a fun summer appetizer! Topped with a tangy balsamic glaze, they're light, flavorful, and fresh.

summer / appetizers

Last week I shared this cherry tomato pasta recipe, and now I’m onto these Caprese skewers… If you couldn’t tell, I’m having a moment with cherry tomatoes. I love how many different varieties are available at this time of year – some are round and yellow, others are oblong and speckled with red. Still others are purple, orange, and green. When I see all these shapes and colors at the farmers market or grocery store, I can never resist bringing home some of each. They’re just so darn pretty (and delicious, too!). You can toss them into a salad, top…

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Balsamic Reduction (Balsamic Glaze)

Want to add sweet and tangy flavor to a salad, appetizer, or side dish? Make this balsamic reduction! You just need 10 minutes and 1 basic ingredient.

cooking basics

Since it’s the season for all things Caprese (find my salad recipe here and my skewer recipe here!), I thought I’d go ahead and share a simple balsamic glaze recipe too. This punchy reduction couldn’t be easier to make, and its sweet and tangy flavor is the perfect accent for seasonal ingredients like basil and tomatoes. That being said, this balsamic glaze recipe can come in handy at other times of year, too. You can toss it with Brussels sprouts in the fall, drizzle it over roasted acorn squash in the winter, and serve it with ruby red strawberries in…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.