Kitty Deschanel

When we crave ice cream, what comes to mind tends to be an unhealthy, albeit delicious, pint from the grocery store. Unfortunately, even the ones that market themselves as 'wholesome' are often full of chemicals. (I'm looking at you, Bluebell , with your phony baloney almonds.) Great news - it doesn’t have to be this way. Peanut Butter Banana Nice Cream   It looks so indulgent, doesn't it? But this homemade ice cream has a secret... It’s possible to create ice cream, or “nice cream,” out of whole ingredients and make it taste just as good (or better!) than the unhealthy junk from the store. What's a nice cream?   A nice cream is like an ice cream that is healthy. You don't need an ice cream maker and it comes together in minutes. Instead of thickening with cream, nice creams get their thick, creamy texture from frozen fruit. Bananas are the most popular fruit for making nice cream. With fresh bananas and good-for-you ingredients, it won’t leave y

This reader-favorite recipe is *almost* as popular as my Cake Mix Cookie Bars recipe .  When making Cake Mix pancakes , the scrumptious possibilities are endless. Red Velvet cake mix pancakes. Chocolate cake mix pancakes. Butter Pecan cake mix pancakes. Funfetti cake mix pancakes. (Yes, Funfetti cake mix pancakes!) With this 2-ingredient recipe, you can turn your favorite cake mix into your favorite pancakes. Pancake making at its finest. Cake Mix Pancakes Personally, I think my funny napkin is the icing on the (pan)cake. It's Sunday morning and you're planning to do all the things today - scrub those grody baseboards, polish your quartz countertop that was supposed to be low maintenance but actually isn't at all, sort through the disaster that is the freezer.  While on your superhuman kick, you think I'm going to make my family pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes - the best pancakes ever. I may even serve them as breakfast in bed! You pu

I slaved over these homemade crepes all day. Just kidding! My secret ingredient? Prepackaged crepes, which taste just as good, if not better, than homemade. Ham and Cheese Crepes For something so simple, don't these look so fancy? I have a fantastic recipe for you today. But first, behold the 50 calorie giant cookie...   Giant YUM! And only 1 measly gram of fat. Can you believe it? Best of all, with the help of your toaster oven, these mega-cookies crisp up in less than ONE minute! Prepackaged crepes, where have you been all my life? Of course, you can also devour these  Frieda's French Style Crepes (or other prepackaged crepes) as they are intended, with a fruit or mascarpone filling. It couldn't be easier to fancy up a crepe.  Filling them with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows before their party on the stove or in the toaster oven gives you smores crepes. Blueberries and whipped cream (skip the toaster oven!) is also yummy. But h

You're in for a treat. Today I'm sharing my best canned cinnamon roll hacks and improvements for turning store-bought cinnamon rolls, like the Pillsbury Grands ones or even the store brand, into something special.  Dry cinnamon rolls? No thank you. They need to be OOEY and GOOEY. That's just Cinnamon Roll 101. All of these ideas keep Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls soft, company-worthy, and delicious. These are also great for taking homemade cinnamon rolls up a notch, but what a pain that is. With these better-than-homemade canned cinnamon roll hacks, you'll never bother to bake them from scratch again. Test out some of these ideas tomorrow. Won't it be nice to dig into a mouthwatering cinnamon roll for breakfast? You can't get a better start to your day than that. Canned Cinnamon Roll Hacks Actually, make that 11 easy ways to improve store-bought cinnamon rolls: you can top them with homemade coffee whipped cream . Yum! Nope, make that 12 canned cinnam

See this lovely Pinterest graphic? I'd appreciate your sharing it, partly because this Enchilada Rice recipe is amazing and partly because these Pinterest graphics don't just make themselves. Mostly because I am unable to share this recipe myself, as I seem to have locked myself out of my Pinterest account. (Oops!) I'm posting TWO Instant Pot recipes in a row? That should tell you just how yummy this Instant Pot enchilada rice recipe is. Also, both recipes contain quinoa. That should tell you just how much quinoa I bought when it was on clearance for 50 cents per pound. ( Last week's Instant Pot recipe for Cranberry Oatmeal can be found here.  It's my favorite breakfast, assuming chocolate cake is not an option. It usually isn't.) This recipe makes a big batch (6 cups), which is perfect because you're going to want to eat it for lunch and dinner, day after day. Ready to learn how to make my Creamy Enchilada Rice in your Instant Pot? I'll tell

*Do not add chia seeds - see note at the end of this recipe. In response to my popular Instant Pot Explosion blog post, I've had a few blog readers ask for my oatmeal with quinoa recipe, which is made in the Instant Pot. This seems a bit odd...you guys aren't trying to recreate that gooey mess in your own kitchens, right?  My recipe does make delicious, foolproof Instant Pot oatmeal. It's only for patient people though. Whatever you do, do not manually release the pressure valve at the end of the cooking cycle! This recipe is also great in a Crock Pot, though that method takes longer. I like to set the temperature to Low before bed. What a hearty, indulgent breakfast to wake up to!  I've been cooking up batches of my Oatmeal with Quinoa for years, long before I'd heard of the Instant Pot, and have even gifted the dry ingredients to health-conscious friends and family, who've suggested I sell this. Shark Tank, here I come! Oatmeal with Quinoa Featured