Appetizers

Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa

June 14, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This recipe for Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa is a light and refreshing dish that comes together in minutes!

Don’t you love it when a recipe comes together and it never once requires you to heat up your hot oven or stove? Now that we’re in the middle of June, that’s certainly something I can appreciate. During these dog days of summer my preference is to have light and refreshing options during the day for lunch, and firing up the grill outside for anything else that needs cooking. My kitchen is my work space, and I always prefer to keep it a sweat-free zone if I can!

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Our Ultimate Backyard BBQ Picnic

June 3, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AnytimeIsPickleTime #CollectiveBias

Last month my husband built an amazing back porch bed swing as a gift for me for Mother’s Day. It’s not very often that I know what to ask for for Mother’s Day, but this year I knew I wanted a special designated place for me to sit and watch my babies play in the backyard together and enjoy the warm summer air. Now that we have a place to sit, our porch swing has become the center of many family stay-cations as we venture “out back” to fire up the grill and have our weekly barbecues and picnics!

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Cajun Seared Scallops

May 22, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be sharing a recipe for Cajun Seared Scallops, I would’ve thought you had absolutely lost your mind. To tell you the truth, I’ve never been a seafood lover. Getting over the smell of fresh seafood has been a lifelong struggle for me. (Every time I catch a whiff I think someone just opened a can of cat food.) But with a little bit of gentle encouragement from my husband, I’ve turned things around just a tad.

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BBQ Egg Rolls with Alabama White Sauce

April 29, 2019 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This post is sponsored by Farm Rich. All opinions expressed within this post are 100% my own.

Did you know that May is National BBQ Month? It seems perfectly fitting, seeing as how the temperatures outside during the month of May are always perfect for getting (and eating!) outside and firing up those grills. My husband and I are big time barbecue fans. In fact, we love it so much that we served it at our wedding (which just so happened to be in May!). The smell of slow cooked BBQ has a way of instantly making me think of the sweet summertime, and my household will be celebrating National BBQ Month to the fullest with this fun little appetizer that’s loaded with flavorful BBQ goodness!

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Irish Twice Baked Potato Bites

March 1, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

With St. Patrick’s Day quickly approaching, I recently decided that this season would be a great time to dig up a few of my roots and learn a thing or two about Irish culture and cuisine. Though I’ve never personally had a genetics test done, my older sister went through the process a few years back and discovered that nearly 50% of our roots point straight to the beautiful country of Ireland. This was really no huge shock to us, as both my sister and I are rather fair complected. The fact that my Grandmother’s maiden name was McGillick was also a pretty good indicator that we might have a tad of Irish in us, too. While I know very little about my ancestors from this particular part of the world, I have picked up a few cultural tidbits over the years that make me look forward to wearing a little green to bring the luck of the Irish my way each St. Patrick’s Day!…

Spicy Saltine Fire Crackers

January 18, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

Just as I can count on the sun to rise in the east and set in the west, I can count on the beautiful people at my church to come up with a reason – any reason at all – to have a finger food/potluck supper at some point each month. My favorite are the months where there are holidays, because I can safely bet we’ll be eating more than once! You won’t ever hear me complain about that, because you know I love to cook AND eat!

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Touchdown Taco Egg Rolls

December 10, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FlavorYourWorld #CollectiveBias

Where does the time go, y’all? Can you believe we’re just 15 days away from Christmas day? The holidays always have a way of sneaking up so quickly, and this month my kitchen has been overflowing with all sorts of holiday making, baking and tasting! I’ve made cookies and candies a-plenty, but this past week I made a sharp turn from all of the sweet confections and jumped right back into game-day mode!

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Cranberry Jalapeno Christmas Dip

November 28, 2018 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

‘Tis the season for all things cranberry! You know it truly is the most wonderful time of the year when those beloved cranberries start making an appearance in holiday recipes! Cranberries are one of my favorite things to cook with – especially during this time of year. Once my favorite supermarket starts rolling these bad boys out onto their produce shelves, I buy them in bulk and keep them stored away in my freezer so I can use them in recipes all year long!

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Cajun Dirty Rice Egg Rolls with Creole Dipping Sauce

November 8, 2018 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CookingWithOdoms #CollectiveBias

As we’re quickly approaching the end of the year, I’ve already begun to map out a few of my personal goals to carry with me into the new year that encourage new culinary endeavors that have previously been a little bit foreign to me. It’s no secret that southern-style cooking is something that I love and am very familiar with, but it’s always fun to mix things up a bit and bring a new cultural element into my cooking. Particularly, I want to create more dishes that are not only inspired by other cultures, but fuse multiple cultures together to create really, really awesome food.

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20 Healthy Halloween Snacks for Kids

October 5, 2018 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

These 20 Healthy Halloween Snacks for Kids are a fun way to add a bite of nutrition to your Halloween season!

Yesterday I shared an alarming statistic in my Healthy Halloween Smoothie Roundup about the amount of candy Americans buy each year for Halloween. Even though Halloween is a celebration of all things scary, the commercial side is all about the sweets! Now I’m not going to act like I’m not of fan of sugary confections, but I do try my best to ensure that there is a healthy balance of sweet foods as well as health-conscious options in my family’s diet – especially during this time of year.
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