Honey & Herb Roasted Chicken with Autumn Squash

This Honey & Herb Roasted Chicken with Autumn Squash recipe is a delicious way to usher in the fresh & warm flavors of the fall season...

This recipe first appeared on the Bridgeport Farmers Market Let's Get Fresh site.

I am on a mission once again this outdoor farmers market season to show you all how you can create a delicious recipe purchasing mostly locally grown & raised produce and meats at your local farmers market. I started this locally inspired recipe series in the summer of 2017, and I am thrilled to be continuing the series this year as well. Each month I will be sharing a recipe here to the blog inspired by and featuring some of my own personal favorite fresh & local finds from my local market. 

For the month of September, I am sharing my last recipe post of the outdoor market season- this juicy and flavorful Honey & Herb Roasted Chicken with Autumn Squash. This roasted chicken recipe is a delicious way to usher in the fresh & warm flavors of the fall season. 

I am going to share a little secret with you all that I just recently learned myself- if you roast a chicken upside down, you will end up with the most moist & juiciest chicken breast that you have ever tasted. I know it seems weird to roast a chicken with the breast side down, but do trust me on this one, folks. Give it a try with this recipe. I guarantee that you won't regret it. 

Roasted Beet & Strawberry Buttermilk Skillet Cake

This Roasted Beet & Strawberry Buttermilk Skillet Cake combines sweet, roasted beets with locally grown strawberries in a moist & buttery buttermilk cake...

This recipe first appeared on the Bridgeport Farmers Market Let's Get Fresh site.

I am on a mission once again this outdoor farmers market season to show you all how you can create a delicious recipe purchasing mostly locally grown & raised produce and meats at your local farmers market. 

I started this locally inspired recipe series last summer, and I am thrilled to be continuing the series this year as well. Each month I will be sharing a recipe here to the blog inspired by and featuring some of my own personal favorite fresh & local finds from my local market. 

For the month of June, I am sharing a delicious summer dessert recipe with an unexpected ingredient- roasted beets! This Roasted Beet & Strawberry Buttermilk Skillet Cake combines sweet, roasted beets with locally grown strawberries in a moist & buttery buttermilk cake. 

Top with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream or some homemade whipped cream, and you have an impressive dessert to serve at your next summertime get-together...

Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola

Studded with sweet dried strawberries & mini chocolate chips, this easy to make Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola only tastes like a decadent treat... 

I am a BIG fan of the chocolate and fruit combos for Valentine's Day (or any day really ;) ). Cherries with chocolate? YES! Strawberries and chocolate? Heck yeah! 

Chocolate covered strawberries are just synonymous with Valentine's Day, am I right? So I decided to take a cue from this popular sweet treat for this time of year and transform it into a tasty & healthy granola perfect for pouring milk over, serving over top of your favorite yogurt, or for putting into pretty glass jars for easy gift giving. 

Typically I bake my homemade granola, but for this Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola I broke out my trusty cast iron skillet. I have been wanting to try and make a skillet granola for a while now. 

The cook time for a skillet toasted granola is about 1/3 of the usual baking time for granola. And the results? Whoa! I was not disappointed in the slightest with this skillet granola. :)

Studded with sweet dried strawberries & mini chocolate chips, this easy to make Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola only tastes like a decadent treat... 

Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake

A thick buttermilk pancake is studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds & baked to a golden brown in your cast iron skillet in this Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake...

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Want to know the quickest way to make pancakes that will feed the whole family? Bake up a delicious puff pancake in your trusty cast iron skillet! :) 

While I love making stacks of homemade pancakes for my family, let me be honest for a second- it gets a little time-consuming standing there flipping pancakes. 

Christmas morning is just one of those mornings when you do not want to be stuck in the kitchen any longer than you have to, am I right? 

I mean, there are presents to open, and warm mugs of coffee and cocoa to be sipping on, and everyone knows that A Christmas Story is playing ALL day on TBS. Who wants to miss Ralphie modeling his pink nightmare bunny PJ's because you are standing over a hot griddle? ;)

This Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake is my lazy Christmas morning solution for you all. You just bake up one giant pancake, cut it into slices, and voila! 

Christmas morning breakfast is ready, and everyone gets to eat at the same time. I must admit that this was my first time making a puff pancake, and now I want to kick myself for waiting so darn long to give it a go.

A giant buttermilk pancake studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds- how could you possibly go wrong with this on Christmas morning? :)

10 Cast Iron Dessert Recipes for Thanksgiving

Break out your cast iron skillet & bake up a dessert that is meant to be shared with one of these 10 Cast Iron Dessert Recipes for Thanksgiving...

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

It's no secret that I love my cast iron skillets. But did you know that my love affair with cast iron began because of desserts? ;) 

It was the huge brownies, and perfect cakes, and giant cookies that I saw being baked up in them that finally convinced me that I needed a cast iron skillet in my life. 

A little over one year ago, I bought my very first one and never looked back. In fact, I have added two more skillets to my cast iron family since then. 

Cast iron is so versatile. I use mine for everything from homemade mac & cheese to deep dish pizza to perfectly baked cakes. And I love that they can easily go from the stove top to the oven. 

If you already own a cast iron skillet or need a reason (or maybe 10) to finally buy one, then you are going to love the recipe collection that I am sharing with you all today. 

I searched some of my favorite food blogs and found 10 Cast Iron Dessert Recipes for you all that would be perfect for Thanksgiving! :) 

From cakes to pies to huge cookies made for sharing, you are sure to find a skillet dessert that would be perfect for serving up at your fall feast next week...

Caramel Peanut Butter Cup Skillet Cookie

This delicious Caramel Peanut Butter Cup Skillet Cookie -stuffed with peanut butter cups and gooey caramel- may be big enough to share, but that doesn't mean that you have to...

I have to admit it, you all- I was late to the game as far as embracing my cast iron skillet goes. Way back in the day, I was given one as a wedding day gift and promptly turned up my nose to it. What was I supposed to do with that awkwardly heavy thing anyways?? I pretty much had no cooking or baking skills to speak of at the young age of 19 (Yikes! That is how young I was when I married my first husband.), and I was definitely completely unaware of all the absolutely fabulous dishes you could make in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Maybe if had known about the perfectly fried chicken and the buttery, flaky biscuits and the mother of them all- a huge skillet cookie- I would have felt differently back then. ;) 

Fast forward about 16 years later, and I was finding myself researching and asking for cast iron skillet recommendations from friends and fellow food bloggers. And why the change of heart? Well, I think it may have had a little more to do with my stomach than my heart, but I started seeing all these amazing dishes made in cast iron skillets popping up all over some of my favorite food blogs. The more cast iron recipes I saw, the more I started to come around to the idea of owning one myself. But the kicker for me was all these huge, gooey, amazing skillet cookie recipes I kept coming across! I wanted to make them all. 

So, of course one of the first things that I made in my brand new cast iron skillet was a bigger than my face skillet cookie! This Caramel Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie is packed with chopped peanut butter cups, gooey caramel, and chocolate chips. It is certainly big enough to share, but I promise to just look the other way if you decide to keep this big delicious cookie all to yourself... ;)

Pan Seared Salmon with Asparagus & Sweet Potato "Rice"

I am partnering with Mazola Corn Oil today to bring you all this heart healthy & flavorful recipe for Pan Seared Salmon with Asparagus & Sweet Potato "Rice"...

This Pan Seared Salmon with Asparagus & Sweet Potato "Rice" is a heart healthy powerhouse dish, folks. From how it is cooked to each and every ingredient in this, there isn't one thing about this delicious recipe that isn't good for your ticker. ;)

Which is great news since February happens to be American Heart Health month! 

Keeping my heart healthy and heart disease at bay has always been a concern of mine. My grandfather on my dad's side died when I was less than a year old from a heart attack. Though I met him, I really have no memories of him. 

And growing up, I watched my father make strides to stay healthy and active. Having had both of his parents die before the age of 50, he was determined to not give his genetics any additional help. 

Staying active and eating healthy, leading a healthier lifestyle, and keeping the "bad stuff" in moderation was something I learned to do in my life early on.

When Mazola Corn Oil reached out to me to develop a heart healthy recipe to share with you all for American Heart Health month, I was more than eager to get on board. I did the research and made sure to pack this fresh & flavorful dish with plenty of the heart healthy good stuff- salmon, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, walnuts, asparagus, and Mazola Corn Oil...

Vanilla Glazed Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits {& A #VanillaWeek Giveaway}

A big thank you to Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Bob's Red Mill, Silpat, Quirk Books and Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar for providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #VanillaWeek. All opinions stated below are my own.

If anyone has a Hardee's nearby or has been to one before, you all probably already know about their amazing cinnamon raisin biscuits. Flaky buttermilk biscuits flecked with raisins, and then drizzled with a simple vanilla glaze.

These biscuits are the only thing you will find me eating from Hardee's (the rest of their menu pretty much grosses me out- sorry Hardee's), and they are also the only baked goodie with raisins in them that I will eat. I am not usually a fan of raisins baked into things. 

Cinnamon raisin biscuits also hold a certain nostalgia for me. When I was little, my mother was a stay-at-home mama until I was about 6 or 7.  One of her first jobs outside of the home was at our local Hardee's in town. She would usually work the early morning shift and would be the one making, rolling, and baking these tender, flaky biscuits. Often she would come home with a few for us. :)

And when I was pregnant with my son over 15 years ago, these biscuits ended being one of the rare times that a "I have to it now!" pregnancy craving hit me. I remember waking up my now ex-husband at 5:00 in the morning to run out and get me some. Of course, our local Hardee's didn't open until 6. But he was out the door by 6:15 and came back home with a dozen for me.

The Hardee's in town has long since closed. There is still one open across town, but why hop in the car to pick some up when you can bake your own at home in the same amount of time? ;)

This homemade version of cinnamon raisin biscuits comes pretty darn close to their Hardee's counterpart. Fluffy and sweet with a hint of cinnamon and just the right amount of raisins, and then topped with a delicious vanilla glaze...