Introducing The Fresh Kitchen

Before I was married, I had zero interest in cooking. At one point I even lived in an extended stay hotel months at a time for work. Instead of using the room’s stove top, I pretty much lived on takeout everyday. But then I had Baby J, and we made the decision for me to stay at home with him, at least until he’s in school (unless we homeschool, but that’s another story). Home cooked meals became part of the “job” for me. I wanted to prepare healthy meals for myself and my family, and meals that taste good. I still use ingredients like sugar and butter, but our diet consists of 90% (or higher) unprocessed* foods.

Just a few weeks ago, my friend Nicole Elizabeth launched her revamped site, The Fresh Kitchen. Over the last couple of years, she’s really helped me to become a better cook. These are the three things I love the most about her site and recipes:

  1. She breaks down the recipes for everyone to understand.
  2. Her recipes are from scratch.
  3. She takes decadent, fancy-sounding foods and makes the recipes approachable for home cooks.

Here are a few screenshots from her site:

Looks amazing, doesn’t it?! If you’re interested in not just recipes but learning how to be a better cook, I encourage you to check out Nicole Elizabeth’s site, TheFreshKitchen.com today!

*When I talk about processed foods, I’m not including items like milk, butter, roasted nuts, canned fish, oatmeal, or frozen veggies. All of these are PROCESSED but still good for you. When I say processed, I mean store-bought crackers, chips, breads, frozen meals, most cereals, Hamburger Helper type meals, etc.

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RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip #gameday

Confession time- I don’t like team sports. I’d rather go hiking or skiing than play a football game or watch March Madness. But, if there’s going to be food, count me in! Tailgating parties have the best comfort food for me, and hot wings or buffalo chicken dip are at the top of my game day food list.

Frank’s® RedHot® sauce is celebrating its 50th birthday, and I received some RedHot swag because of it as well as two free product coupons. I used one of my coupons to purchase RedHot’s Hot Buffalo Wings sauce. Then I made this delicious, RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip!

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 oz.) package Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup Blue Cheese or Ranch salad dressing*
  • 1/2 cup any flavor Frank’s RedHot Sauce
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cans (12.5 oz each) premium chunk chicken breast in water, drained**

*After spending some summers and winter holidays in Buffalo, NY, I became a huge fan of the traditional buffalo wings and celery dipped in blue cheese. That’s why I chose to use the blue cheese salad dressing and the Hot Buffalo Wings sauce. However, I did use mozzarella instead of blue cheese, because I already had a huge bag in the fridge.

**I couldn’t find any 12.5 oz cans of chicken, but I did find and use 10 oz cans. It was still plenty of chicken.

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish or casserole dish. Stir until smooth.
2. Mix in salad dressing, Frank’s RedHot sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken. If the chicken chunks are bigger than you like, use a fork to chop them up.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. I served mine with homemade crackers, carrots, and celery.

Recipe notes:

This dip was super easy to make and so delicious! You can also make this in the microwave or slow cooker. To reduce calories, use neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese and low-fat salad dressing instead of regular. For more tips, visit FranksRedHot.com.

FLASH Giveaway!

Giveaway starts at 4pm EST 2/19 (today) and ends at 11:59pm EST 2/21 (Friday). US only.

  • Frank’s RedHot Back-pack
  • Frank’s RedHot Drink Coozie
  • Frank’s RedHot Keychain
  • Frank’s RedHot Blinking Hot Lips
  • Frank’s RedHot Magnet
  • Coupon for product

If you agree to the terms and conditions listed directly below, keep scrolling and enter to win!

Terms & Conditions: Sweepstakes open to residents of the continental US. Must be 18 years or older. Void where prohibited by law. Two entrants allowed per household. Odds of winning depend on total number of eligible entries received. Once winner has been selected and emailed, winner will have 24 hours to respond or new winner will be selected. Winner’s name may be posted on this blog and other social media and Web sites. My Life: A Work in Progress is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Sweepstakes not associated with Facebook or any other social media platform. Entrance into the sweepstakes indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Note: I received complimentary coupons for Frank’s RedHot sauce and some other promotional items but was not otherwise compensated for this post or giveaway.
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Pretzel ROLO Hearts #ValentinesDay #KidFriendly

These pretzel ROLO hearts are fun and easy to make…so easy, that your kids can help! Each “heart” is made from a pretzel, ROLO chocolate, frosting, and sprinkles. Toddlers can help by placing the chocolates on top the pretzels. Older children can add the frosting, and everyone can enjoy sprinkling their creations with Valentine’s Day colors.

Supplies:

  • parchment paper
  • heart shaped pretzels*
  • frosting
  • sprinkles (red or pink)
  • ROLO chocolate

*I used mini pretzels by Snyder’s of Hanover. These pretzels are more heart shaped than other brands, and they also are thick, so they hold onto their shape even when the chocolate melts.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Cut and place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Arrange your pretzels on top of the sheet and parchment paper. How many pretzels you need depends on how many ROLOs you buy.

Next, place one ROLO on the center of each pretzel. When your oven is heated, put the pretzels in for about 5 minutes.

You want the ROLOs to melt. If they melt too much, and the caramel starts to spread out away from the pretzel (like in the photo below), that’s fine. Just wait for the hearts to cool; then you can break the caramel parts off, leaving your hearts intact.

Once your hearts are out of the oven, wait for them to cool. The melted ROLOs will have a circular indentation in the top. Fill these with your frosting. I used a cream cheese cookie icing that came in a squeeze pouch.

Before your frosting hardens, sprinkle your sprinkles over top.

And you’re done! Just wait a few minutes before eating, to make sure that the chocolate and frosting have completely hardened.

What are some of your favorite kid-friendly Valentine’s Day treats?
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