Naptime Everyday: Recipes for Everyday Cooking and Baking

I am so happy that I finally have a reason to make spritzer cookies year-round. I am not sure why, but to me they’ve always been exclusively for my Christmas cookie platter. All the disks I have are in Christmas shapes so that is the only time I’ve ever made them. However, now OXO has gone and improved upon the everyday cookie press, as only they can, and they’ve made a whole suite of disks with fall shapes. Triumph! Spritzer cookies for every season!

Looking for new ways to enjoy old favorites is an ongoing challenge for me. Sometimes it really isn’t about the food, but the way it is presented. This is true for my family for everything from vegetables to pasta to even your basic French fry. I rarely fry at home so when I make them I often turn to a simple bag of frozen ones. With minimal ingredients they are just as good as fresh ones I’d make at home, plus, they can be served so many different ways.

Fall salads are my favorite because I can load them up with strong flavors to match our favorite roast chicken or soups. To give mine a little kick, I use slices of fresh pear, thin slices of red onion, chunks of Arla Dofino Gouda, sweet caramelized pecans and a mix of dark green lettuces and spinach. I toss it all with a homemade vinaigrette and serve it up in big heaping bowlfuls. To show you just how easy it is to prepare this gorgeous salad I’ve prepared a little video for you!

There is no limit to the amount of apples I want to cook/eat/bake this time of year. We’ve even been working double-time to acquire them. I’ve been buying them up at the grocery store and farmer’s market, and picking them straight from the source. I would worry that we are drowning in apples if I didn’t have some many things to make with them. So far I’ve revisited a few old favorites and made this new one. It is a simple apple loaf studded with a brown sugar streusel. But instead of being flavored with chopped apples throughout, the apples are spread in one even layer near the top of the loaf. So when you cut into it and find the apple layer it is like a sweet little surprise inside.

One of the few kitchen appliances I’ve never purchased is a rice cooker. I am pretty good at cooking rice on the stovetop so it never seemed crucial to have one. Would we eat more rice if I had one at the ready all the time? Probably. So when Panasonic asked me to test out a SR-DF101 rice cooker and participate in their #RiseandShine Better Breakfast Month I figured it was a good idea. It was the perfect opportunity to finally test this appliance everyone loves and see just how versatile it is.

This year I started a fantastic partnership with Arla Dofino because I love their cheeses. They are naturally delicious and align perfectly with my mission of incorporating good food into my family’s life every single day. Back-to-school is one of the busiest times of year and Arla Dofino totally gets that. To make naturally delicious meal planning a part of your new routine and add any wholesome Arla Dofino cheeses to your shopping list and cook up some great food. Better yet, enter this sweepstakes for the chance to take home a semester’s worth of Arla Dofino cheeses – perfect for snacking or packing into school lunches! SIGN UP HERE

I am still getting used to quinoa. It is a not a food I grew up eating. In fact, I didn’t really try it until maybe five years ago. It wasn’t because I was purposely trying to avoid it, it was just so off the beaten path. And, to be honest, I didn’t think I’d have time to master it given that I was still on baby #1 and trying to get quick meals on table. Fast forward a few years and now I am braver and more intrigued. I like quinoa. It serves a great backdrop to lots of flavorful healthy foods and can be used in so many dishes. I still, however, look for recipes using quinoa for ideas on what to make. I am not a pro at whipping up amazing quinoa salads with no guidance whatsoever. So when I saw this recipe on Megan’s website I knew I had to try it. It was full of flavor and green vegetables and perfect for getting on the table in a jiffy.

Not only does back-to-school season necessitate lots of new lunchbox packing ideas, it also calls for easy, family-pleasing weeknight meal recipes. My family loves pizza in all shapes and sizes, so we took our love for pizza one step further this fall with these cool pizza pockets. I use fresh store-bought pizza dough from our local pizza parlor, lots of naturally delicious Arla Dofino cheese, pizza sauce and any other toppings we want to try.

I am busy stocking up the fridge with goodies for the lunchbox and yesterday I made one of my daughter’s new favorite things: tapioca pudding. It is a dessert we stumbled on by accident. She tried it at a friends house and adored it. She instantly feel for the rich vanilla flavor and interesting texture. In fact, initially she thought it was some kind of warmish ice cream until I explained it was pudding. Perfect for the lunchbox and easy to make I was eager to recreate it at home. It is ideal for tucking into a lunchbox for a sweet and hearty snack.

I can hardly believe I am saying this, but it is time to think about easy weeknight dinners for school nights. It doesn’t seem possible that the start of school is barely two weeks away! This is a good time of year to review some of your favorite family dinners and find a bunch of new recipes to try. Adding new recipes to the repertoire keeps everyone at the dinner table interested in trying new foods, while weaving in family favorites lends element of comfort to your routine. To help you get started, here is a great new recipe we love that uses naturally delicious Arla Dofino Gouda cheese. It is a fun twist on everyday macaroni and cheese and comes together with ease on a weeknight.

I’ll admit, I first learned of hasselback potatoes from a Pinterest picture. While I rarely let Pinterest dictate my menu, I do like turning to it for ideas from time to time. I am accustomed to grilling vegetables but I have never grilled a potato whole and was so intrigued by the idea. Frankly, it never occurred to me to try it even though I am always popping potatoes into the oven to accompany meatloaf in the winter. The cool thing about this recipe is that not only it is a snap, but it a really stunner presentation-wise. It always draws a little extra attention because it is just so fun to look at.

This is a super simple recipe that we enjoyed on Martha’s Vineyard over vacation. I love it because it reminded me of my favorite Watermelon Goat Cheese Salad recipe. It has the same components of the sweet fruits (peach and tomato), warm herbs, and tangy cheese. The burrata is a new one to me as a salad cheese. I usually lean toward goat, feta, or blue, but the silky burrata worked beautifully. The milky mozzarella oozed into the crevices of the chopped tomatoes and enveloped the peaches. There was just a little bit of it in each bite and the trifecta of flavors was summer perfection.