Classic Seven Layer Bars
A couple of months ago I posted my own take on Seven Layer Bars. Alex enjoyed them, but he decided he wanted me to make classic Seven Layer Bars, just like he’d had as a kid. So I decided it was time to try and make a very classic bar recipe. This recipe will feed a small army! Since it is baked in a 9x13 pan it is the perfect dessert to take to a party, potluck or event where you want to wow the crowd.Alex remarked that this recipe was very different from my last one, but just as good. He said it definitely did the job of being exactly what he remembered as a little kid eating these. You can really wow your audience by taking them back to their childhood with these.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:202]Source: Allrecipes.com
Yesterday I showed you how to make your own 
This is one of the easiest pizza recipes I’ve ever made. You basically just combine the ingredients and knead until everything is mixed and you have a ball of dough. I wasn’t sure about this working at first so I was actually really surprised when it worked as well as it did. The crust is very soft and fluffy once baked. This is not one for people who like cracker thin crusts or even really big fluffy crusts. Since you’re using self-rising flour it will rise, but not so much as if you’d used yeast.You will need to use plain greek yogurt for this recipe. If you use one of the flavored yogurts your crust will not taste right. However, if you’re making a dessert pizza I would suggest you use something like a vanilla greek yogurt to give your pizza a more complex taste.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:201]Source: The Food Network Magazine, March 2016
Self-Rising flour is not something I typically keep on hand. I normally don’t need it since my recipes are typically complex. However, sometimes you have a very simple recipe, just one or two ingredients and you need self-rising flour. Here is a recipe for those times when you need self-rising flour and you don’t really want to purchase a whole bag. Also, check back tomorrow for a recipe that uses this flour blend!!!Self-rising flour is a flour blend that doesn’t need yeast or any other leavening agent in order to rise. It is typically called for in recipes that are very simple, just one or two ingredients. However, it is not something you can substitute for regular flour in any recipe since it will mess with the levels of leavening in the recipe and could potentially ruin whatever you are baking. Really only use this if expressly called for in a recipe in order to keep your baked goods turning out correctly.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:200]
I don’t often paint my nails since 
Unfortunately the polish didn’t even last 24 hours before chipping (on my toes). Typically I can get at least 3-4 days from a pedicure before it chips, most of the time up to a week. This polish didn’t even last 24 hours, and I wasn’t even doing anything. I was walking in flip-flops and sitting on a plane. Nothing that should have chipped my nails, and unfortunately it has only gotten worse over the last few days.One other thing I also don’t really like, is the fact that in all my research I haven’t found a great way to remove this nail polish other than acetone nail polish remover. I don’t really want to use that (I also don’t have any at my house) so I’ll probably just let this nail polish wear off.
Sadly I can’t really recommend this product to you in any capacity. If you’re looking for a Free nail polish that is easily accessible that is the only thing this particular nail polish has going for it. If you have any suggestions for toxin-free nail polishes I should try leave the suggestions below or on one of my social media platforms!
This is one of our favorite grill meals to make. Not only is it really easy with just two ingredients, it is super tasty too. It is also a great meal for summer nights since you use the grill instead of the oven! I typically start with frozen chicken breasts, cover them with the dressing then let it marinate for about 24 hours. If you start with unfrozen chicken breasts you can marinate for about 4 hours before they’re ready.You need to make sure to use Zesty Italian Dressing. I’ve tried both types of dressing and the zesty really just kicks the recipe up a notch. If you use regular Italian Dressing the flavor isn’t quite as good. Don’t worry though, the zesty doesn’t make it spicy, it just give the flavor a more complex note.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:199]
Alex is actually always asking me to make asparagus in the spring. I finally decided it was time for me to figure out how to make it for him. We both enjoy garlic so I decided this was the best flavor to add to the asparagus since it certainly wouldn’t ruin it. Even though I didn’t love this recipe, it wasn’t actually bad. I just didn’t really like the flavor of the asparagus. However, Alex absolutely loved this! So if you’re an asparagus fan, you will probably enjoy this.This is a very easy recipe and will add a great bit of spring flavor to your meal. One thing I struggled with was knowing when the asparagus was actually done cooking. Since I’d never cooked it (I’m not even sure if I’d had asparagus before this) I had no idea what I was actually looking for to know when it was done. Thankfully I had guests over who cook asparagus all the time and helped me figure it out. What I discovered is that the asparagus turns a brighter green as its cooking. You want to wait until it is pretty bright green and tender.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:198]
In addition to trying to find cleaner makeup and skincare brands, I’ve been looking into green/nontoxic cleaners. Pond and Rory really love to lick things (the floor, walls and windows) so I’ve been searching for cleaners I don’t feel guilty using around them. Frosh is a European based brand that uses less toxic cleaning chemicals, is cruelty-free and environmentally friendly.Frosh’s dish soap is the first thing we tried. I was incredibly tired of trying all sorts of dish soap and still covering our dishes in toxic chemicals. We’ve been using the free and clear dish soap and it is fantastic! Not only is it free of most toxic chemicals found in dish soap, it also works really well. They have a few other types of dish soap, but those contain parfum and colorants.We’ve also been using the Lemon Toilet Bowl Cleaner. This is an absolutely incredible product. We’ve been in the process of remodeling a bathroom so that toilet isn’t used on a regular basis. This leads to a lot of build-up and this product removed it all after just a few minutes of soaking.The last product I’ve been testing out is their PH Neutral Universal Cleaner. This is a super concentrated, multi-purpose cleaner. In order to use it correctly you do need to mix it with water before you use it to clean. It does a great job of getting gunk off my counter. It also makes an absolutely fantastic floor cleaner.I would highly suggest these three products. I would love to see Frosh come out with more free and clear versions of their products in the future but I will continue to use the great products they currently have!
Alex has been wanting to try different types of pizza recently. We’ve both grown sick of our typical pepperoni and mozzarella pies so I thought this would be a great way to spice up a pizza without really going too crazy.One thing I discovered while making this, was that it really is better if you coat the chicken with buffalo sauce before you put it on the pizza. It would also be fantastic if you could cook the chicken with the buffalo sauce and really get the flavor to bond with the chicken. I often make buffalo chicken in the crockpot so I decided just to set some aside in the freezer next time we want this dish.You can use any type of crust you’d like on this pizza. We used a semi-thick crust. I think it would actually be the best if you were to use a super thin crust and just lighten up when adding the toppings. This would really give you a chance to experience all the flavors and provide another texture in the finished product.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:196]
We had some asparagus leftover in our fridge and I just had to do something exciting with it. Alex has been requesting stir fry for several weeks so I thought I’d use the asparagus to make just that. This was actually a very easy recipe to make. I had dinner ready in under an 45 minutes from start to finish and that included the marinate time for the beef.The beef is best if you marinate it overnight to give it a full flavor. If you don’t have time though, you can just quickly marinate it for 15-30 minutes. I don’t often have steak on hand so I used a chuck roast for this recipe. Just make sure the beef is very thinly sliced especially if you use a roast or some other typically tough cut of meat.This recipe really doesn’t smell the best when you’re making it. Alex wasn’t very excited to have it for dinner since it was pretty stinky, however when he finally did sit down to eat it he said it was actually incredible! The flavors blend nicely together, especially the beef and asparagus. Don’t let the smell fool you, it is way better than is smells![amd-yrecipe-recipe:195]Source: Adapted from 
We decided that we were tired of our typically pizza crust so we want to experiment with a thin crust version. I searched high and low for a version that actually looked easy to make. I really hate letting dough rise, especially when I’m pressed for time. This recipe doesn’t require any time for rising, however it doesn’t hurt especially if you’d like fluffier crust.You can use whatever toppings on this crust you like. Alex and I typically prefer pepperoni and sausage so that’s what I’ve put on. You just want to make sure that you don’t load the pizza up with too many toppings. Since the crust is thin you need to make sure it’s not going to fall apart under the toppings when finished.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:193]Source: Adapted from 
Alex has been requesting different Chinese dishes for dinner the last few weeks. I’ve been trying to accommodate as many of them as I can since I haven’t been home for dinner too much. I’ve also been trying to make as many crockpot dishes as possible since I can just set it and forget it.This dish was gone very quickly. Alex absolutely loved it and he had it for lunch for the next three days! He said it had fantastic flavor, and was even great reheated. The red pepper flakes had just a slight bit of heat to the overall recipe, if you don’t want any sort of spicy you can just leave them out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:192]
Alex and I love to have tacos for dinner. With this being such an easy recipe, I can set it in the crockpot and forget all about it and we have a fantastic dinner ready at the end of the day!I typically use my own 
I decided that I wanted to make another trifle in my beautiful trifle dish. I received the dish as a wedding present and have only had a chance to use it once before. I thought Easter this year would be the perfect time to put together a new recipe.Originally I wanted to put together a Triple Berry Cheesecake Trifle, but when I went to the grocery store they only had strawberries on hand. So I decided to simplify and just make it a Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle. You really could substitute any sort of berry or berry combination for the strawberries in the recipe and I think it would still be fantastic.This recipe received rave reviews from the Easter guests. Alex said he especially loved the thick slices of strawberry mixed throughout the dish. You can make this recipe even if you don’t have a trifle dish. Simply use a deep sided bowl and layer as you would with a trifle dish. You just won’t be able to see the beautiful layers the same way, but it will still taste the same![amd-yrecipe-recipe:190]
My Dad makes the absolute best Calzone in the world. After much practice I feel like I’ve finally come close to an acceptable mastery of this recipe. This is the same recipe that my Dad uses so it has the potential to be absolutely incredible.I believe the keys to making this recipe amazing is in the fact you don’t use marinara sauce in the calzone and the cheese sauce. The cheese sauce is what really makes this recipe delicious. You should include it in the calzone and also on top of the finished product. This make it super cheesy and will delight your taste buds.Typically I make a loaf of pizza dough in my bread maker. This provides an excellent base for this recipe and also makes prep pretty easy. If you don’t have a bread maker you can simply make (or purchase) your favorite bread dough to use. Be sure to sprinkle it with plenty of garlic salt to really amp up the flavor.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:189]
Alex has been bugging me to make fajitas for months now. I just never seemed to have time or all the ingredients into order to make these. I finally just sat down and made them even though I didn’t have all the traditional ingredients called for. Alex absolutely loved them though and couldn’t get enough!I actually used thinly sliced rump roast for this recipe and it turned out fantastic (see Mom, you actually can use roast for this!) I know typically you use some sort of steak but I didn’t have it in my freezer and I didn’t have time to run to the store to get any. The key was to marinate the very thinly sliced beef overnight in the spice mixture in order to give it great flavor.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:188]
This recipe is super easy and quick to prepare and when you’re finished you’ll have an excellent meal. I personally love ravioli and this is a great way to enjoy it.I pretty much always use frozen ravioli for this recipe. However, I boil and drain it before I throw together the finished baking dish. I love using a mixture of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. I really feel like this makes the finished dish pop with flavor. Make certain to cook until the cheese is bubbly and brown.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:187]