This is a salad a family friend made when I was just a kid. It’s continued to be a favorite of mine over the years. Sometimes I’ll make this with rotini or tri-color rotini, but spaghetti is still my favorite way to make it.

I found this recipe in the Feb/March 2011 issue of Simple & Delicious. I’ve made it a couple times and it is absolutely delicious! I love the sausage and shrimp, but I’d seriously be happy with just the rice…it’s that good. This recipe has great, great flavor with just the right amount of heat.

I love frosted sugar cookies, so when I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I needed to try it. The recipe didn’t disappoint – these bars are great and I really love the frosting. Note: I found another recipe on Pinterest that was basically this same recipe doubled and baked in a 13×18-inch pan.

This is one of my favorite salads. This isn’t really a ‘recipe’ yet, but I want to at least get the general idea down in writing since I generally have to do a google search every time I want to make it. I also love that my son, who ‘doesn’t like broccoli’, devours this stuff.

I found this recipe in the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of Simple & Delicious. I lightened it up and we thought the parfaits were great. Next time I’ll add a drop of green food coloring to the cream cheese mixture.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Pfeffernusse Cookies. I BELIEVE they’re a traditional German cookie meaning ‘Pepper Nuts’. What I DO know is it wasn’t Christmas at our house growing up until Mom had made a big batch of Pfeffernusse. And now my husband is hooked on them so it looks like they’ll continue to be a Christmas tradition in our house as well…one I’m happy to carry on. This recipe makes a very large batch of cookies, but they freeze really well. P.S. My mom says these are best when ‘aged’ a week or two.

It seems like every time I make cut-out cookies I have to do a Google search for a recipe…so I’m saving this for future reference. This made a pretty good tasting frosting, it was easy to spread, and it hardened up enough so I could stack the cookies I frosted.

Another Simple & Delicious recipe (Aug/Sept 2011 issue). We’ve already had this a couple times and I think it’ll become a regular at our house. It is so yummy! I love that it comes together quickly, which is great when you get home from work and need to get supper on the table in a hurry. It’s filling plus the leftovers reheat well the next day for my lunch!

This is a Simple & Delicious recipe (Aug/Sept 2011 issue). They were really easy to make. I made them for a group of friends and they were a hit. They aren’t overly lemony…even my husband, who isn’t a fan of lemon desserts, said they were great.

I’m not a huge fan of applesauce, but I love pears. When I discovered pear applesauce at Trader Joe’s I was a happy girl, but the closest TJ is more than 400 miles away. Needless to say I was thrilled to see this recipe in the Aug/Sept 2011 issue of Healthy Cooking magazine. It’s so easy to make and so yummy! (PS…I snuck in a 3rd pear!)