Delicious, delicious cornbread.

There is no possible way to make homemade cornbread without butter. Embrace it. If you wanted to eat well - you wouldn't be making cornbread in the first place, right? Right.





Homemade Cornbread - From Scratch!

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1.5 cups buttermilk (lowfat works fine)
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal (you can grab this in bulk bins at Sprouts or Whole Foods as well)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

This is best made in a cast iron skillet - if you don't have one, it's not the end of the world, you can use a 9" baking dish or a 9" cake pan if you're truly desperate.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, sugar and salt and whisk together until well combined. In another small bowl, microwave the butter until completely melted. Butter the bottom of your baking dish (or pan) with just a little bit of the melted butter. Pour the rest of the melted butter into the buttermilk mixture, being careful not to scramble your eggs and mix until thoroughly combined. Add in the cornmeal, flour and baking soda and mix with whisk until mixture is mostly smooth. Pour mixture into the pan/dish/skillet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes before checking. Mine generally takes about 25 minutes to cook and get golden brown on top. It's difficult but let it cool before you serve it!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Good news. You know all that marinara you made a few recipes ago? We have a use for it! I love stuffed bell peppers. I use them to clean out my fridge when I've gone a little postal with produce and ground meat. Seriously. I love Sprouts. When there's a sale on bell peppers, I just can't help myself.





Mr. Travis's Stuffed Bell Peppers (they can't all be named after me!)

• 4 bell peppers, red or green (tall ones work best!)
• 1/4 cup, dry bread crumbs (italian, regular, whatever)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 1/3 cup, grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound, lean ground chicken/turkey/beef/sausage (any work here!)
• salt
• pepper
• marinara

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown up the meat until 75% done - then add chopped onion and chopped bell pepper. Mix together until everything is 100% cooked - should take roughly 10 minutes from start to finish. If you see any pink - keep cooking! Empty the skillet into a bowl and let it cool off until you can touch it. Add Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and 3/4 cup of marinara sauce. Stir together and set aside.

Cut the top off each bell pepper. Take 1 bell pepper and "stuff" it with the meat/onion mixture. It's okay if you overstuff it - it's actually better that way! Stand the stuffed pepper up in a casserole dish or Dutch oven. Repeat until all peppers are in the dish. Pour 1-2 cups of marinara sauce on and around the peppers. Sprinkle the peppers with additional Parmesan cheese if you would like :) Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, checking every 10. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. These stay hot for quite awhile!

Time for Some Veggies

After my ode to peanut butter and chocolate the past few days, I feel the need to impart some healthier recipes. Call it guilt. Call it the fact that I'm reasonably sure after the past few days that I am at least 1/8th Reese's Peanut Butter Cup now. I'm going back to Crossfit tomorrow consumed with guilt and ready to take my 800m unlimited runs as punishment. These roasted veggies are a real time saver for my household during the week - it makes a pretty decent amount and the leftovers reheat really well. Delicious with a rotisserie chicken from the store when you're not in the mood to cook the next day. :)

Roasted Vegetables*

• 2 red bell peppers


• 1 green bell pepper


• 1 sweet yellow onion


• 1 bunch asparagus


• 7-8 red potatoes


• 1 head broccoli


• 1 tablespoon salt


• 1.5 teaspoons pepper


• Extra virgin olive oil (enough to drizzle, not drown)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop all the vegetables into 1-1.5" pieces. In a large shallow baking dish or on a large cookie sheet (must have sides to it!), place all the chopped vegetables in a single layer. Sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper (they take more than you think they need, trust me!) and drizzle with olive oil. At this point you get dirty - toss the vegetables together with your hands to coat. Rearrange back into a single layer and pop the tray in the oven. Every 15 minutes, take a spatula and "shake up" the vegetables, so they do not stick to the tray or burn! Anywhere from 45 minutes - 1 hour depending on how you like your veggies and they're done! How easy was that?

*The secret to this recipe is - there is no secret. Whatever veggies you have will work here - squash, broccoli, carrots/baby carrots - whatever. This is the easiest side dish AND it's delish!

Getting ready for grilling!

Aaron's birthday is coming up and in honor of that fact, I intend to char some meat on the grill. Not just meat, but my famous corn on the cob which if it's 20 below or you don't have a grill can also be made in the oven. I'm handy that way.

Kelly's Garlicky Corn on the Cob

• 6 ears of corn - sans anything but corn & cob - no silk, etc.
• 1 stick of room temperature butter
• 2 minced cloves of garlic (or more, depending on love of garlic)
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional also depending on love of garlic)
• Aluminum foil - 6 pieces, enough to wrap the corn in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or grill to medium). De-husk and de-silk the cobs of corn. In a small bowl, mix together the soft butter, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined. On a sheet of aluminum foil, place 1 cob of corn. (here's where it gets messy since I generally use clean hands for this part). Slather cob of corn in the garlic butter mixture, coating all sides. Roll the corn on the cob up in the foil. Repeat with other cobs of corn.

If using oven - place corn directly on the rack in the oven. Rotate every 6-8 minutes, rotating until 25-30 minutes cooking time. If using grill - place foil-wrapped corn directly on the grill, reducing the heat to medium. Roll the corn, rotating to a different side every 3-4 minutes for a total of about 15 minutes. Check the corn by gripping the foil with tongs and slowly unrolling. When the corn is a dark yellow/lightly browned ( a few darker spots never hurt anyone either) - it's ready and delicious. Give it a few minutes to cool off or you'll burn your tongue!

A little prep work is necessary

I think gingerbread cookies aren't just for Christmas. They require a bit of prep work as you have to chill the dough for at least a few hours (or overnight if you have the time). However, your neighbors will be jealous by the lovely, lovely scents coming out of your kitchen.





Gingerbread Cookies - makes 18 cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 dark corn syrup
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

In a medium saucepan, stir together butter, brown sugar, and dark corn syrup over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture into a large mixture bowl, and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, stir in the egg and vanilla until smooth and combined.



In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Once combined, mix into the wet mixture in 1/3rds until combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible.



Preheat oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until about 1/4" thick. Dip cookie cutters into flour and press out shapes. Gently lift off the board and place on unbuttered cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cookies are firm. Let them cool and decorate if you wish - or just devour!

Easy Dessert For When You Don't Have All Day

I love to bake, but I don't have all day sometimes. Our lovely friends, Shelly and Jerome come over for dinner quite often and I like to have something for us all for dessert. This one is delicious and simple. I think you'll find it on the menu rotation quite a bit. :) Serve it with some vanilla ice cream.

Baked Apples

• 4 Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, cold
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core the apples and peel a ring of the core off the center of each apple. In a small bowl, mix together the butter and the brown sugar until combined. Stuff each apple with 1/4 of the mixture and sprinkle with the cinnamon and chopped pecans.

Stand each apple up in the baking dish and add water to the pan (just enough to cover the bottom of the dish). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Warning: Do Not Eat This Alone

I warn you not to eat this alone because you will eat the whole loaf. A guest will at least add a sense of shame if you ignore the main course and eat all the bread instead. Plus, you'll have to share. Or kick them out and wolf it all down. ;)

The Most Delicious Homemade Garlic Bread

• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 1 teaspoon, garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 loaf of French bread

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the butter, garlic salt, rosemary, thyme, basil, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Cut the french bread in half, length-wise. Spread the butter mixture equally on both insides of the bread. Feel free to add as much extra Parmesan cheese to the bread as you want - it's delicious.

Place the bread halves crust-sides down on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned.