It's Not About Nutrition

Tender, juicy, and slow-cooked to comfort-food perfection — with no oven stress, no dry meat, and no wrestling a 15-pound bird. Let me tell you — I love Thanksgiving, Sunday dinners, and big family meals, but I do not love battling a whole turkey. All that thawing, lifting, flipping, and praying the breast doesn’t dry out before the legs finish cooking? No thank you. So I started slow cooking just the turkey breast — and I’ve never looked back. It’s easier, juicier, and makes just enough for a small crowd (or a week’s worth of sandwiches if it’s just you …

A cozy, one-pot wonder with tender chicken, creamy potatoes, and herby goodness — all slow-simmered in a wine-kissed broth. You ever have one of those days where your bones are cold, your to-do list is long, and the only thing that sounds good is something warm, hearty, and just easy? Yeah, this stew gets it. It’s the kind of meal you throw in the slow cooker early in the day and then just… go live your life. Somewhere between afternoon laundry and “what’s for dinner,” your house starts smelling like you’ve been cooking all day (which, technically, you have — …

A Southern-style hug in meat form. Tender, savory, and swimming in the kind of gravy that practically begs for mashed potatoes. You know those meals that just feel like “home”? This is one of ’em. I still remember the first time I had Salisbury steak — it wasn’t fancy. It came on a divided plate with a side of instant potatoes and a plastic fork. But that gravy? That gravy stuck with me. I knew right then and there I needed to make a better version someday — and baby, this is it. These are juicy, seasoned beef patties (kind …

Bold, beefy, just a little spicy — and the kind of meal that makes everyone around the table happy to be home. Let me tell y’all a little something. This soup? It’s not just dinner. It’s what you make when you need dinner to do the most — warm everyone up, stretch a pound of ground beef, and make the whole house smell like comfort. I threw this together on a chilly afternoon, with laundry in the dryer and not a single clue what we were gonna eat that night. And I swear, by the time my husband walked through …

Creamy. Cheesy. Full of love and not a lick of effort. Feeds a crowd, fixes a mood, and always gets scraped clean. Okay. I’m gonna be honest with you. This ain’t a glamorous dish. You won’t see it on a cooking show with someone zesting a lemon while saying “elevated comfort food.” What it is… is dang good. Like, second-helping, scrape-the-bowl, everyone-asks-who-brought-it good. And the best part? You basically dump everything in the slow cooker and walk away. No peeling. No chopping. No complicated steps or weird ingredients. You toss it all in, give it a stir, and a few …

Let me tell you something that might make you smile — this recipe isn’t fancy. It’s not trending on TikTok. It doesn’t call for smoked paprika or artisan broth. What it is, though? Reliable. Sweet. Savory. And, bless it, it basically cooks itself. I first tasted Catalina Chicken sometime around 1998, at my neighbor Judy’s house during one of those chilly fall evenings when the windows fog up and the dog refuses to leave his blanket. Judy served it over Minute Rice (remember that stuff?) with buttered peas on the side. I don’t know if it was the sauce or …

You ever have one of those days where your brain’s just… tired? Not bad, just done.Laundry’s halfway folded, the dog tracked in mud (again), and you opened the fridge only to be met with half a bag of potatoes and a lonely stalk of celery? That’s the day this casserole was born. I call it Kitchen Sink Casserole because it’s got a little bit of everything—carrots, rice, beef, cheese, the works. It’s not fancy, but let me tell you—it’s exactly what my tired soul needed that day. And the best part? It’s made in the crockpot, which means I tossed …

It was one of those mornings — cloudy, kids already up, coffee barely brewed — and I opened the fridge just starin’ like it was gonna talk back to me. We had folks comin’ over for brunch, and I hadn’t planned a darn thing. But sitting there? A leftover hunk of cornbread, a pound of breakfast sausage, and a half-used jar of salsa verde that had been hangin’ out on the fridge door longer than it probably should’ve. You ever just throw a bunch of things together and cross your fingers? Well, darlin’, that little moment of desperation turned into …

I didn’t plan this recipe. Honestly, I was standing in my kitchen one Tuesday night—still in my work pants, hair in a messy bun, staring at a chicken breast like it had all the answers. I had bell peppers getting wrinkly in the crisper drawer, leftover rice from who-knows-when, and a jar of salsa I bought on a whim. Out of sheer “I just can’t order takeout again” desperation, I threw it all in a baking dish, made a quick queso sauce (because we’re not savages), and crossed my fingers. Forty-five minutes later? Magic. The house smelled like one of …

You know how sometimes you just need dinner to feel like a warm blanket — nothing fancy, just something that fills your belly and calms your nerves? That’s exactly what this casserole is for me. I first made it on one of those evenings where the fridge was looking half-empty, the day had run long, and I honestly didn’t have the energy for “real cooking.” I had some cooked rice, mushrooms that were hangin’ on for dear life in the crisper drawer, and a block of white cheddar begging to be used. Thirty minutes later, I had a bubbly, golden-topped …