Sweet Potato Soup with Crisp Prosciutto

Are you a leftovers fan? I’m not. Not at all.

There’s just something that happens to leftovers once they enter my refrigerator. They change somehow and become completely inedible to me. It happens with even my favorite foods… They enter the “cold zone” and are never the same.

I don’t like to be wasteful, though… And, I also bad making my husband eat all of the leftovers (though, he doesn’t have the same issues that I have). So, I tend to re-purpose my leftovers. For reasons I can’t understand, when I view leftovers as ingredients instead of just food to be reheated, I have no trouble using them up. It makes no sense, I realize.

Cocoa Cardamom Espresso Roasted Almonds

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner, hopefully you’ve already finalized your menu and are well on your way to a spectacular dinner! If not, you can always check out last week’s Friday Favorites for my collection of favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

Now that dinner’s taken care of, let’s talk about a fun snack for your guests to nibble on when they arrive. I always like to have a few bites and snacks available to keep everyone occupied while I’m cooking dinner and getting everything together.

Lately, one of my favorite snacks is roasted almonds. Almost everyone I know loves to munch on nuts (and they’re not so filling that they’ll spoil your dinner!), but I prefer to make my own than buy a can of pre-seasoned nuts. By roasting my own almonds, I have the opportunity to get a bit creative with fun flavors.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables (WFMW)

Sometimes I get so caught up in worrying about the main dish that I’m making for dinner that I tend to neglect the sides. Can you relate?

With Thanksgiving around the corner, you’ve probably already thought about the perfect recipe for a roast turkey and may have already settled on the perfect stuffing, too. But, if you’re much like me, you may have neglected to worry about what vegetables to make. Unfortunately, they don’t prepare and cook themselves.

So, this week, I thought I’d share my super simple recipe (if you can really call it a recipe) for Balsamic roasted vegetables. It’s my go to recipe for vegetables in the fall and winter (and once in a while the spring and summer, too!)… It’s easy to throw together and can just hang out in the oven while your other dishes are cooking/baking. Plus, it’s a favorite with my family and friends. In fact, my husband actually gets excited when he sees me prepping roasted vegetables. Who would have thought?

Krispy Peanut Butter Truffles

News flash… Halloween is only 3 days away!! Yikes… Are you scared?

Ok, so that’s probably really only news to me. I’ve been out of it lately. Last weekend, my hubby and I took a nice long weekend trip to Boston for my birthday. It was fantastic to get away, and I love visiting Boston… But, it got me out of my usual routine a bit, and I’ve had trouble recovering. So, the fact that Halloween is a few short days away escaped me entirely, and I have yet to do anything festive… Until this morning, that is.

I’ve been somewhat exhausted and not feeling great ever since we got home, but this morning I woke up feeling much better… And, I was feeling somewhat inspired to whip something up in the kitchen. Thought I’m not a big Halloween person (I’m more pumpkins and leaves than ghosts and goblins), I couldn’t let the holiday pass without doing something, right? Tonight is the Trick-or-Treat night in our neighborhood, too, so I figured I’d get in the mood by making some easy treats.

Though I was feeling inspired, I hadn’t really prepared for any Halloween treats, so I had to work with what was in the pantry. I have yet to develop the skill to imagine pantry items and have them magically appear without a trip to the grocery store. I need a personal shopper. Anyway, I pulled out a few of my favorite pantry staples and the bag of fall colored M&Ms that I bought a few weeks ago thinking I’d “make something” and the result was these krispy peanut butter truffles. I’m calling them “truffles” because I can’t think of a better name (balls, bites, treats…. blah). Whatever you want to call them, they are quite tasty (and dangerous to have around… I’ve been snacking on them this afternoon, so I need to give them away ASAP).

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