Silas once ate a third of this casserole standing at the counter, straight out of the pan, and then asked me when dinner was ready. Dinner was the casserole. He had just eaten it. We both stood there in silence for a second, and I knew right then this recipe was a keeper. This green … Read more
Silas has a rule about casseroles. If it comes out of the oven looking beige, he gets suspicious. If it comes out beige and mushy, he quietly pours himself a bowl of cereal. So when I told him I was making chicken broccoli rice casserole, I got that polite nod people give when they’ve been … Read more
Chicken Salad With Canned Chicken: A single can of chicken now makes the lunch Silas asks for most, and I still can’t believe I ignored it for years. We travel full time, which means rented kitchens with one dull knife and a spice shelf holding half a bag of salt. Canned chicken has saved us … Read more
A bowl of soup should not make a grown man go completely silent at the dinner table. But that is exactly what happened the first time I served this corn chowder to Silas. He ate half the bowl without saying a word. Then he looked up and asked if I had ordered it from a … Read more
Pasta Fagioli Recipe is the cheapest bowl of comfort you’ll ever make, and it somehow tastes like it simmered all afternoon at an Italian grandmother’s stove. I first made it in a rental kitchen with exactly one decent pot and a very questionable knife. Silas wandered in halfway through, lifted the lid, and asked what … Read more
Three ingredients. Five minutes of work. A kitchen that smells like a taco truck by dinnertime. That’s crockpot salsa chicken, and it’s what I make when my brain is completely fried. Silas and I have cooked in a lot of rental kitchens over the years. Some had one dull knife and a single sad pan. … Read more
This chicken bacon ranch casserole disappeared from my baking dish in about eleven minutes, and I’m still a little offended. Silas went back for thirds. I had to fight for my own leftovers like a stranger at a buffet. It’s creamy, cheesy, smoky, and loaded with tender chicken. It also takes about an hour from … Read more
Most vegetable beef soups taste like they gave up halfway through cooking. The broth is thin, the beef is chewy, and the vegetables have turned into soft little ghosts. I made that soup for years and kept blaming my stove. It turns out the problem was when I added the zucchini. Once I fixed that … Read more
French onion soup has a reputation for being fussy. I believed that for years. Silas and I ordered it every single time we saw it on a menu, and we both assumed it needed some kind of secret chef training. Turns out it needs onions, a little patience, and a working broiler. This is the … Read more
This vegetable beef soup with hamburger passes with flying colors. It’s thick, hearty, and packed with so many veggies that I stopped counting after the first handful. The first time I made it, I dumped everything in the pot at once. The potatoes turned to mush, the peas turned gray, and Silas politely called it … Read more