Chrissy Teigen's Cheesy Jalapeño Tuna Noodle Casserole

So, I'm the kinda girl who goes to the library and comes home with a stack of cookbooks so high they'd be dangerous if they fell on somebody. When I can carve out some time, I'll grab a pad of sticky tabs and start paging through. Every once in a while, I come across a book that I must (MUST!) have in my personal collection pronto. Chrissy Teigen's cookbook, Cravings, was one of those books.

I'm not going to go into depth about the book...yet—but that's because I want to do a dedicated review post on it (in fact, I'm so enamored of it that I'm contemplating a Julie and Julia-style cook-through). But I did think that this month's Fish Friday Foodies theme, fish in a dish, was the perfect opportunity to try one of the recipe I had bookmarked in it.

Lamb Shanks w/ Einkorn & Potatoes | #EinkornExperiment

It's hard to believe that we're already midway through March, but today is the 15th, and that means it's time for another update on the Einkorn Experiment! Since I talked about einkorn flour three months in a row, I wanted to switch things up and share my latest experience with the whole einkorn wheat berries this month.

Rosemary and Sundried Tomato Meatloaf Sandwiches | Fudge and Jury

Welcome to the tlc book tours stop for Fudge and Jury! Fudge and Jury is book 5 in the Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander—and it's a cozy mystery, which you might know is one of my favorite ways to escape when I have a little time to myself (fun, quick, easy reads).

The logical thinker in me cringes at the thought of starting a series anywhere but at the beginning, but there's not enough time in the day or days in the week for me to read everything I'd like, so I threw caution to the wind and went into this book blind. And while I know there are background and character-building elements of the story that I missed, it still made sense as a stand-alone book.

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings | Love Literary Style

If I could describe Love Literary Style in a few short words, I'd say it is a fun, meta romantic comedy. Yes, I said meta. I rarely say meta, because for some reason it bothers me—I think because it was way overused in the last few years. But also because I don't think I completely understand how to use it properly. Although in this case, I'm pretty sure that I've gotten it right. That's just to say, that if I'm using the word, it's for a legit reason (and somehow, "legit" doesn't bother me).

This rom-com, written by Karen Gillespie, not only follows the traditional rom-com formula, it also explains that formula in the book, since one of the lead characters, Laurie Lee is a romance writer. Our other lead character, Aaron Mite, is a college professor who has spent the last 5 years writing his novel.

Pot Roast Bouquet | Gilmore Girls Coffee Klatch

I don't know whether to be proud of or horrified by myself right now. I binged over 2 seasons of Gilmore Girls in the past week. I know that I only "need" to watch an average of 3 episodes a day to stay on track, but last week was dreary and rainy and...well...it just sort of happened. But here's the thing—I'm going to run into some busy weeks pretty soon with Halloween, Thanksgiving and 2 birthdays (mine included) between now and Black Friday. Which means I'll probably have weeks that I'm struggling to find time to watch, so really, I'm just staying on top of things.

Two-plus seasons in quick succession means there's been an up and down rollercoaster of boys, men, food, and teenage hormones and angst flling up the last 7 days. The funny thing is, the recipe that I made was actually pulled from one of my first episodes of the week. But it was so funny, and inspiration struck so hard that I had to make it.

Creamed Chicken in a Mashed Potato Nest inspired by June

Today I'm happy to be hosting a TLC book tour stop for the new Miranda Beverly-Whittemore novel, June. This is my first encounter with Beverly-Whittemore, but it left me with the desire to read her previous novels. June is the story of 25-year old Cassie, a photographer living in New York City who just found out that her beloved grandmother, the woman who raised her, has passed away...from cancer that Cassie never knew she was battling.

Grandma June left her a modest inheritance as well as her home in the small town of St. Jude, Ohio. The home is actually a huge old mansion called Two Oaks that has fallen into disrepair over the years, and since Cassie's life seems to have fallen into that same state, she envelops herself into the sadness of the old place.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This month's Progressive Eats menu takes a stroll down memory lane from each of its contributors. Lana from Never Enough Thyme challenged us to cook up a bit of nostalgia and comfort food from our childhood. At first I wasn't sure which way to go since I've already made so many of my childhood favorites like Chicken a la King, Chicken Corn Chowder, Chicken Pot Pie, and Chicken Noodle Soup. But then I remembered something that I hadn't shared yet that holds a special place in my heart—Chicken Cordon Bleu.

I guess I didn't realize it before now, but there seems to be a theme to some of my favorite childhood foods. I was going to suggest that chicken was easy to come by back then until I realized that a couple of those dishes actually originated from a can. But not this one. Chicken roll-up night was always a favorite in our house, and us kids were always tasked with pounding out the chicken breasts as thin as we could get them without ripping them (much).

Chicken Pot Pie

I love it when the second Wednesday of the month rolls around, because that means it's time for another round of the Blogger CLUE Society (more about this at the bottom of the post). Our theme this month is potatoes, and the blog I was assigned to do a little clue hunting on was none other than Cake Duchess, written by my friend Lora.

I came back several times to dig for potatoes on Lora's blog, changing my mind about what I was going to make every time. At first I thought I'd make her Purple Cauliflower and Potato Gratin, but apparently this isn't the time for purple cauliflower in my markets, because there was none to be found. Sure, I could have made it with white cauliflower, but that wouldn't have been as fun.

Next, I had my heart set on making something that I haven't made in a few years—homemade gnocchi. But not just regular gnocchi, potato and butternut squash gnocchi! There was a butternut squash sitting on my table, potatoes in the potato bin (and by potato bin, I mean a makeshift box that I keep in a dark spot in the kitchen). I even dusted off my gnocchi paddle. And then I just didn't.

Spicy Chili Mac

The Tao of Chili Making

Chili will have a list of ingredients so long that it makes your head spin. It can't be helped. 

Don't even try making a small batch of Chili. It is impossible.

No matter how hard you try, two batches of Chili will never turn out the same. 

Learn it. Practice it. Embrace it. Hey, you can't make this stuff up. Except I totally did. But that doesn't make it any less true.

I mean it when I say embrace it, though - I've never met a (giant) pot of chili that I didn't like. From mild to fire-breathing, from shredded beef to ground chicken, from 15-bean to no-bean, from green to white to red...I like 'em all.