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In a food rut?  Feel like breaking out the grill but don’t want anything too complicated or too same-old, same-old?  Then try this Honey Sriracha Orange Chicken!  Wow everyone with the name, blow them away with the flavor!  It is simple enough for a weeknight family meal but sure to thrill your guests at your next grill-out!

Repeat after me:  “Asian food does NOT have to be hard.”  Sure, as with any food tradition, there are plenty of recipes out there that require a great deal of time, skill, or both, and an expert cook in search of a true gourmet challenge may want to attempt them once in a while.  But you don’t HAVE to be a brilliant master chef or endure an intense labor of love to put together a delicious Asian-style dish.

I found this recipe to be incredibly easy to follow, and the results were delicious.  That juicy blend of sweet and spicy really hit the spot, and it was great for getting me out of that food rut that I had fallen into recently–yes, it even happens to me, sometimes.  (It was also a great excuse to break out the grill on a pleasant summer evening during the workweek.)

Recipe courtesy of RecipeGirl

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Quick Tip: Add more sriracha if you like your food hot and spicy!

Carrot cake is, simply put, a classic dessert well-suited for all ages and all occasions. It is simple enough to make for quiet enjoyment with the family, but it serves 12-16 and is sure to be a big hit at any party. The smooth carrot flavor and sensual cream cheese frosting are plenty sweet enough to satisfy even the most candy-craving of kids but well-balanced enough to keep even the more mature adults coming back for more.

When I think of carrot cake, two very different memories come to mind. The first is the usual summer visit to Chappy’s restaurant on the Gulf Coast. The entrees were decent there, though a bit up and down, but Chappy rarely failed to hit the desserts out of the park. No matter how big the meal I had just eaten, it was hard to resist that slice of carrot cake when that dessert cart rolled around (they always made a big spectacle out of that). The other memory is of Christmas. Though Mother didn’t exactly bake all the time (I think that she got a bit over-saturated with baking when she was young–her mother had started her baking cakes for bridge parties when she was only about nine years old), she often would make a carrot cake for the holidays, and it was the perfect treat with a strong cup of coffee when the Christmas visit at my grandmother Lolly’s house was dragging on just a bit too long for me to keep my eyes open easily.

The great thing about this cake is, you don’t have to be a champion baker to put one together. And though you do have to invest a little time, it isn’t exactly an all-day event, either. It is gourmet and large enough to make a great party dessert, yet it is simple enough to make at home for whatever private occasion you like.

Recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes

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Quick Tip: You can make this cake in a bundt pan.

Break out the Crock-Pot again because we’ve found another perfect recipe for it! This creamy Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup is surprisingly easy to prepare and is great for all seasons. Pair with a heavier main course for a large dinner or with a simple sandwich or salad for a lighter, refreshing lunch.

In a pinch, anyone can grab a bit of tomato soup in a can and warm it up with some milk. But why settle for that, when homemade tomato soup like this is so much more savory and mouth-watering–and did I mention easy to prepare? Make a quick run to the store for the ingredients, break out your blender and slow cooker, and get cracking! You won’t regret it, I promise!

Recipe courtesy of A Duck’s Oven

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Quick Tip: Everyone knows soup gets better the next day, so make sure you’ll have enough for leftovers!

Finally! The Secret To Great Goulash Is Revealed!

It may vary a bit from the traditional recipe, but this goulash by Paula Deen is yummy for people of all ages, good for your next potluck or for a nice family meal.  It requires minimal prep (maybe 15 minutes’ worth) and cooks in about an hour and a half. What the Crock-Pot offers in convenience and versatility, a solid, well-seasoned Dutch oven offers in style, durability, and quality of cooking.  For those one-pot meals that require a moderate to high amount of heat, you can’t go wrong with a Dutch oven.

It holds the heat well and distributes it evenly, making your job as cook quite a bit easier than it otherwise would be.  My Dutch oven has been in my mother’s family for several generations and is still going strong.

I can’t say that I have ever had goulash in it before now, though–at least not that I can remember.  When I came upon this recipe, I figured, why not give it a try?  Hard to go wrong with ground beef and macaroni, right?

Original recipe by Paula Deen; shared by The Food Network

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Quick Tip: Serve this savory one-pot meal with crisp, lettuce salad and rustic artisan bread.

Love chicken pot pie but aren’t so fond of the crust? Or maybe you don’t mind the crust, but your little ones do? Want something tasty and easy to make? Try this.

When I was little, I loved the flavors in the pot pies that Mother brought home from the freezer section at the supermarket. (My favorite brand was Marie Callender’s.) For a long time, I wasn’t very fond of the crust, though (it didn’t help that the edges of the crust burn so easily on those frozen ones if you cook them in the oven, as intended). Once I got a little older, I came to like the crust more. But when I would ask Mother, “Why don’t you make something like this yourself?” she usually would say something along the lines of “Well, pastries just aren’t my strong suit. All that effort it would take to make a good crust, I’d just rather do something else.” And this was from someone who had no qualms about spending two hours standing over a stove to get a roux for gumbo just right, the old fashioned way.

Even some really good cooks just aren’t very confident about certain aspects of baking. And some people (children especially, I guess) just aren’t crazy about the crust on a pot pie, even if they like everything in it and love how it tastes otherwise. Solution:  drop that crust and break out your slow cooker.

Original Recipe The Rehomesteaders

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Quick Tip: Mashed potatoes are the perfect side dish for this!