Home Cookin'

Simple Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies

January 8, 2019 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

Affiliate links may be included throughout this post at absolutely no cost to you.

Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I can’t help but think Valentine’s Day gets robbed of the attention that it deserves. There’s just ONE day to celebrate love, but wouldn’t it be just lovely to celebrate love for longer than just a day? Just as people start putting out their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, I start putting out my Valentine’s Day decorations before the month of February has arrived. Maybe it’s a little cliche, but I really do love love, and having sparkly hearts assorted throughout my home always makes me smile!

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Cajun Dirty Rice

January 2, 2019 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

Let’s talk a bit about Cajun food, shall we? Over the last few years, I’ve really taken a liking to Cajun inspired foods. The blends of spices and the deeply rooted heritage woven into the recipes marries together to make some pretty interesting foods, and I am a huge fan of the creole flavor goodness! As my interest in the cuisine has grown, I hasn’t taken me long at all to realize that dirty rice is a staple dish in the Cajun culture, and it comes with good reason!

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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 Pepper Jelly Sticky Wings + Simple Holiday Planning Hack

December 7, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

I received compensation in exchange for my honest review. However, all opinions expressed are completely my own. I only promote what I truly love!

Have you ever gotten an idea that sparked another idea, that quickly sparked a third idea and just continued to grow from there? It’s not at all unusual for me to fall down a rabbit hole of ideas when I’m putting together my shopping list each week. With the holidays in full swing, I’ve been busy planning out the meals we’ll be sharing around our table with family members traveling in from Tennessee. Every time I’m hosting people in my house, be it family members or friends, I always want to be certain I’ve got two things covered: good eats & sweet treats!

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Cranberry Jalapeno Christmas Dip

November 28, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

‘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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Cheesy Pumpkin & Chicken Taco Bake

November 19, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This recipe for Cheesy Pumpkin & Chicken Taco Bake is sponsored by Rico’s. All thoughts and opinions expressed are completely my own.

Earlier last week, I had an overwhelming desire to break out the Christmas decorations, blast my favorite holiday station on the radio and trim up the tree with all the bells and whistles. This was quite unusual for me, because I’ve always been one to stick to my guns about not decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving is over. No shame at all if that’s your thing! I just really love Fall decor and all things pumpkin-y, so I savor it for as long as I possibly can!

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How I’m Fueling My Way Through the Holidays With 2 Simple Swaps!

November 16, 2018 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This post was sponsored by Green Giant as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

We’re finally here, you guys! We’re in the home stretch of days until Thanksgiving day, and I’ve been busy putting my final touches on the menu and nailing down all of the sides we’ll be serving during our annual family feast. Thanksgiving in the south can be a little over-the-top sometimes. We love to break out Grandma’s old cookbook and pick out our family’s favorite recipes to eat, but if you’re not careful you’ll end up with 7 casseroles, 4 types of potato salad, 2 lbs of giblet gravy , 47 slices of cornbread and 14 different desserts for a family of 5 to try to devour. I’d love to tell you I’m exaggerating, but I’m really not!

And that’s just for one meal, you guys! It’s not at all uncommon to have multiple Thanksgiving meals with different families over the span of a few days. And don’t even get me started on the leftovers! It’s all well and good, but there’s only so much turkey and cranberry sauce that I can enjoy. I hate having that miserably-full feeling at every meal, and honestly – it’s often hard to come by a Thanksgiving menu that is filled with dishes that contain the proper nutrients we need to be fueling our bodies with.

Sure, we have our “vegetables” on the table, but they’re usually covered up with layers of butter, cheese, cracker crumbs and condensed soup and thrown in a casserole dish. It’s not exactly the best way to get in those veggies, so this year I’m making it a point to swap out a few traditional recipes with one that are loaded with vegetable goodness and served in a way that will speak to my southern family’s heart!…

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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17 Halloween Freakshakes You Need in your Life

October 24, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

They’re all super freaks, super freaks, they’re super freaky!

If you didn’t read that intro to the tune of Rick James’s “Super Freak” – go back and try that again. Now you’re going to have that song stuck in your head all day long. Might as well head to the store and pick up some creepy candy, a pint of ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup so you can enjoy one of these ah-mazing Halloween freakshakes while you channel your inner super freak, right? 😉

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Spicy BLT Pizza with Sargento Shreds

October 18, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sargento® for IZEA Worldwide. All opinions are 100% mine.

As far as food goes, there are few things more comforting to me than a fresh, homemade pizza loaded with your favorite toppings. When my husband and I were in college, we both worked together at a pizza chain to help pay for our engagement rings and wedding expenses. I didn’t work there long enough to move on to the “make line” where we actually got to assemble the pizzas for customers, but I did learn a few techniques about what goes into making a pizza really great. My husband, on the other hand, stayed until he graduated from college. He became an assistant manager and was a boss at making the best pizza and calzones I do believe I’ve ever tasted. Aside from the heart that goes into making a pizza from scratch, the one ingredient that ties it all together and makes it so comforting is definitely the cheese – no doubt about it!

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