Here is the final recipe from my April trip to Chicago. It comes, once again, from Half Baked Harvest, and as usual, slightly altered to use what is available.

I was visiting Max and his parents in Chicago at the end of last month and tried a few new recipes for Mom and Dad, aka Marissa & Jeff.

This first one was from the Half Baked Harvest blog. It could not have been quicker or easier. Also, delicious, so I’ll be making it again and adding in diced chicken breast or thighs for added protein.

Oh, and May the 4th be with you!

One thing about me, with the exception of holidays, I rarely make a recipe twice, let alone 3 times in the span of a few weeks! This recipe is now a family favorite. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t often use ground chicken. Ground turkey, all the time, so I may be a bit sick of ground turkey. Ground chicken seems to taste milder to me. It carries other flavors better. I don’t know, I’m just all about ground chicken right now. Then there’s the richness of the dish; cream cheese, Parmesan, mozzarella, pesto; all the good stuff! Give this a try and let me know if it becomes a part of your meal rotation.

I often prefer cooking chicken thighs over chicken breasts. Thighs are juicy, more flavorful, and don’t dry out. I use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs most often.

The thing I don’t like about using skin-on chicken pieces is all the extra skin that is left on when you bring them home from the store.

Use your kitchen shears to trim off all that extra skin and discard.

This dish comes together in a snap, it only takes about 15 minutes to prep and is in the oven for about 45 minutes while you prepare the rest of the dinner. I like to serve the thighs and their rich herb sauce over couscous.

When you use the side of your chef’s knife to lightly smash the garlic cloves, you are looking for each clove to break up slightly, making each clove come apart into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. You don’t want to obliterate them, use a light touch.

You can purchase the pancetta at Trader Joe’s. It comes in a convenient 4-ounce package and is already diced into the perfect size. Simply open the package and scatter over the chicken when called for.

Have you or someone in your house made banana bread during the last many weeks of quarantine/staying home? I bet if not, you know someone who has. Baking, in general, has been one of the main activities people have had in common, but for some reason, banana bread appears to be number one on the list of things to make.

I finally got on the bandwagon yesterday. After returning home from my daily walk, I preheated the oven, began gathering up the ingredients when I realized I didn’t have butter in the refrigerator, only frozen in the freezer. It may be spring in most of the country but here in Arizona, summer is in full swing. We’ve hit the 100’s so it is important to only use the oven in the morning before the temperatures get out of hand.

What to do about the frozen butter??? I didn’t have time to wait for it to come to room temperature as needed for most baking recipes. The answer? Use the large holes of a box grater and grate that rock-solid frozen block.

Be careful as you get near the end, the warmth of your hands will warm up the butter and may cause it to slip. Keep turning it as you grate it to prevent that from happening.

And then when you get down to the last little bit, stop grating and use a knife to cut it up. I don’t want to be responsible for any flaps of skin being taken off anyone’s hands!

You then have the option of spreading out the shavings and leaving them out to quickly come to room temperature or you can put it in the mixer before adding any other ingredients (as I did) and beat it into submission.

My other tip for this basic banana bread is to use my favorite honey-flavored Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I love sour cream, but for sweet recipes, I always sub out with the Greek Gods Honey Yogurt.

And if you were wondering if I might already have a banana bread recipe on this site … I mean, how could I not? This blog is over 10 years old after all. Here is the link to a very fancy banana bread recipe. Today’s is basic and basically delicious!

I saw this “recipe” on the stories of one of my favorite accounts to follow on Instagram, Cottonstem. If you’re on Instagram, I highly recommend you follow Erin. She is adorable, down-to-earth, extremely talented and creative.

Recipe writers and developers never include the simple small pantry items in recipes when they say things like “2 ingredient recipe,” so I’m not going to. You will need cornstarch, but I’m not counting that. Ditto with the tap water. And since you can eat this with a fork instead of in sandwich form, I’m not including the bread in the ingredient count either. All’s fair in love and cooking!

Connor came over to make me dinner on Mother’s Day. I pulled a bowl of this chicken mixture out for him to sample while he was chopping and dicing. He loved it and said, “Dang it, this is better than what I’m making for you!” As I type this, while he cooks, I can’t say if he is right or not. All I know is that I will love what he makes for me no matter what it is! Just having him here is all I need. Marissa and I connected on Facetime. All a mama wants is to see or be with her babes on Mother’s Day. The best gift is their love and presence.

Is there anything better than only using one pot or pan to make an entire meal? I think not. I made this for our Cinco de Mayo buffet.

I’m using a couple of my favorite seasoning blends from Trader Joe’s. Don’t worry if you don’t have them, there are suggested substitutions you can use instead.

One Skillet Mexican Beef, Bean, and Rice Casserole

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 small jalapeño, cored, seeded and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning Blend (or chili powder)
• 1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s Everything but the Elote Seasoning Blend (or ground cumin)
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 can refried black beans
• 1 can pinto beans, with liquid
• 1 can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes with green chilies, with juices
• 1 cup frozen (thawed) corn kernels
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• Garnish suggestions: thinly sliced green onions, diced red onion, shredded lettuce, sliced mini peppers, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Heat a large skillet and add the oil, when oil is hot add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeño and garlic and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the ground beef and cook until the beef is browned, stir in the taco seasoning and the two Trader Joe’s seasoning blends.

I have so many margarita recipes on this blog. Margarita cocktails and margarita desserts, but I’ve yet to post the basic classic margarita recipe. You’ll find the full list of all the previous recipes at the bottom of the post. Be prepared, there are many!

I made the classic last night for Cinco de Mayo, sometimes you forget how great simple can be.

On April 28th, I posted a recipe for Fresh Italian Herb Salt. In the comment section, Linda G. posed this question, “Why is there a 3-week storage time limit? Does the moisture cause it to break down?” Her inquiring lead me to test drying out the salt to find if that would make it pantry safe and extend its shelf life.

The answer is yes, you can spread the salt out on a baking sheet, leave it out in the dry summer sun for a day (longer or inside if it is humid in your area) and it will dry and be able to be kept in the pantry and not have an expiration date. In the photo below, the jar on the left is the fresh salt that needs to be refrigerated and the jar on the right is the pantry-safe dry salt.

Seriously, why am I not posting a cocktail recipe every Friday?!? While we’re all staying home, classic cocktails with new names, like the Quarentini are popping up all over the place.

This cocktail is my spin on the classic Zombie, tweaked and swirled to become a Zoombie. If you’re not on the phone with friends and family in FaceTime, you’re on your computer with friends and family in Zoom. Zoom Happy Hours have been the thing to do for weeks now. So please feel free to forward this recipe to your friends so that y’all can mix up a batch in your own kitchens and enjoy it together.

I enjoyed the Zoombie earlier this week with two dear friends who came by for a much-needed Social Distancing Happy Hour. By the way, the appetizer you see in the photos above is Zucchini Crostini. It is always a hit!