Slow Cooker Herb Stuffing

Why is stuffing primarily a Thanksgiving dish? I mean, it uses up leftover bread (extra points for that, for sure) and is a truly delicious and filling side dish. I am totally an advocate of year-round stuffing. For Thanksgiving dinner this year, I was busy cooking other things, so I tossed all of this in the slow cooker (Stirring occasionally? I think I can handle that) and let it do its thing. This recipe was inspired by A Year of Slow Cooking & fills a 4-quart slow cooker. Enjoy & happy Thanksgiving!

Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes

It's Thanksgiving time again, which means wanting to make all the food, but really not having enough time to do so. If you remember, last year I made cheddar and cranberry cream cheese biscuits and a leftover Thanksgiving pizza. This year, I'll be making my (in)famous hash brown casserole, a holiday couscous salad, homemade stuffing, and these incredibly decadent slow cooker scalloped potatoes. I adapted this recipe from An Oregon Cottage and it makes an entire 4-quart crockpot full of cheesy potatoey goodness. Enjoy!

Best Food Blog - Two Years in a Row!

Tuesday night was the annual Mobbies award ceremony and I am psyched to say that I won for Best Personal Twitter and Best Food Blog! EEEEEEEEEEEE! Thank you thank you thank you to anyone & everyone who voted for me! I was up against some serious competition for both categories (and I urge you to check out all of the other blogs; they're so great!). So, yes, I am completely overwhelmed with how much I love y'all right now.

Winner's Circle (Photo taken by Steve Ruark)

Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

Lasagna is a huge comfort food for me. This was a great way for me to get rid of some extra produce in my fridge while at the same time filling my belly with delicious pasta. This recipe is based off one from smitten kitchen (whom I love!) and will make one 9x13" pan.

Homemade Vegan Sushi

Let me dispel some myths for you, quickly. First off, vegetarians & vegans can totally eat delicious sushi. Second, rolling your own sushi at home is actually not that difficult! Once you get everything chopped & ready, you can make a bunch of rolls quickly & easily. Before last night, I had never made my own sushi, but my friend was having a sushi party (which is an amazing idea, by the way) and it really got me out of my comfort zone. We all brought tons of ingredients (veggies, fruits, crushed wasabi peas, fish, tofu, cream cheese, etc.) and went at it! Below is a really simple recipe to get you through your first roll. Once you do that, go crazy & see what kind of new sushi recipe you can come up with! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili

I made some chili for a friend's work competition early last month. It was super-easy, since I just put it in my slow cooker all day and let it go. To make it stand out amongst the competition, I used cocoa powder (think mole sauce) and three different kinds of beans (since I wasn't using any meat). This recipe makes about five full servings.

It's Mobbies Season!

It's that time of year again: Mobbies season! For those that aren't aware, The Mobbies are an annual Baltimore Sun-promoted social media and blogging competition. Last year, I was lucky enough to win Best Food Blog (woooooo!). This year, I've been nominated again!

If you have a moment, please click through the link, log in (you can do it through Facebook, if that's easiest for you), and vote! Everyone can vote once per day between now and November 19th to choose your favorite blogger out there. Here's what I've been nominated for:

Best Food Blog -- Let's Give Peas a Chance
Best Personal Twitter -- @annmariebrok

Click on the image above or follow this link and vote today!

Please feel free to vote for me in any or all of these categories; it'd be much appreciated!

xoxo,
Ann Marie

Brie Pastry Bites

This is the easiest & most delicious appetizer I've made in a long time (probably since my last brie appetizer). There are a lot of ways to make this a little more homemade than I did, but honestly, if you're going for quickness & convenience, I suggest sticking to this recipe. It makes 16 servings and is loosely based off of this recipe from Tablespoon.