You see, piccata is made with a fair bit of lemon juice and capers, making the dish taste tart. Until recently I have been of the opinion that chicken piccata is somewhat of a polarizing dish: you either love it or hate it. I once tried lemon chicken at a friend’s party and… quite disliked it. The acidity and the bitterness were overbearing. Perhaps, that’s what caused me to stay away from anything that has chicken and lemon in the name....

Deck the halls with boughs of holly—and a mug of easy hot chocolate— fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! To me, there’s nothing more holiday than spending a chilly December or January afternoon watching a Hallmark holiday moving while sipping on a mug of easy hot chocolate. Trust me, I know How to Make Hot Chocolate. To date, I have a number of homemade and easy hot chocolate mixes under my belt, such as this Crockpot Hot Chocolate and French Hot Chocolate....

Packets of store-bought hot chocolate mix were a fixture in our home growing up and eventually followed me to college, where I “cooked” steaming mugs for friends by boiling water in my fire hazard of a hotpot. It didn’t matter which hot chocolate brands I tried. My hot chocolate attempts always ended the same way: me, poking at stubborn lumps of sugary cocoa floating on top of milky water, attempting to get the mix to dissolve smoothly....

No need to wait until peach season! This Frozen Peach Bellini is made with frozen peaches and is just as delicious. Perfect to toast the New Year in grand style! As 2017 approaches its end, I’m feeling all kinds of emotions. I’m excited for 2018 and everything the future will bring, but I’m just not ready to let 2017 go yet. This year was the best year of my life, because it brought me our wonderful little girl (that is now my whole world)!...

Hi, beautiful humans! This is Lola, the little devil English cocker spaniel who is the apple of my parents’ eyes and also the furry vacuum at Olivia’s Cuisine headquarters. If you’ve been following my mommy’s blog, you’ve probably seen me here a few times, talking about some doggy stuff. It has been a while though, so I thought I would pop in here and show you some fun things to do with your dog in the summer....

While it’s tempting to load my list with big-ticket items—the camping trip Ben and I have been talking about for years but have yet to take, riding a ferry across Lake Michigan—I want to focus on small, everyday activities too. Summers here in Wisconsin are precious and brief. Rather than wait for a one-time weekend camping trip, I’m challenging myself to live the summer high life in one little way each day....

When the question is, “should I?” healthy carrot cake responds with a resounding “YES!” Nuts? Of course.Pineapple? Absolutely.Spices? Mandatory (for this Pumpkin Sheet Cake too).Coconut? Not even a question.Raisins? Let’s go there. This healthy carrot cake recipe took one look at the kitchen sink and said, “Of course, we are including that.” Carrot cake (including in the form of Carrot Cake Cupcakes) will forever be one of my favorite desserts—it’s homey, signals that spring is near, and is an excellent excuse to eat irresponsible levels of cream cheese frosting....

Chocolate crackles are a retro Australian childhood favourite that date back all the way to the 1930’s! They were a MUST at birthday parties when I was growing up (along with fairy bread) and I was known to eat my fair share. These days I don’t have the stomach for the traditional chocolate crackle recipe. For those who didn’t grow up with them - they are made with a block of copha (vegetable shortening), icing sugar, cocoa powder, coconut and rice bubbles/krispies....

With Pumpkin Energy Balls, Pumpkin Overnight Oats, and Healthy Pumpkin Cookies all vying for attention, it’s easy to wonder if a simple loaf of pumpkin bread is really what you should be rushing to make when the seasons turn. Let me put it this way: if you haven’t baked this healthy pumpkin bread recipe yet, you can’t even call it fall. This is the BEST healthy pumpkin bread recipe you’ll ever make!...

While everybody is obsessed with green everything for St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sitting here, sipping a glass of this creamy homemade Irish cream and feeling really proud of myself. There’s something magical about making your own booze or liqueur. It’s the same with making bread or cheese from scratch. It’s an extra step from just liking to cook, that feeling of “I care so much about food/drinks that I made this with my bare hands, even though I could have gone to the store to get something similar”....

Today I’m showing you how to cook sirloin steak in the oven! I’m a big fan of cooking steaks on the stove and then finishing them in the oven — I do this with other cuts too, including filet mignon and New York strip. This one has a little extra richness from the butter, and always comes out perfectly cooked. But that’s not the only reason to love this top sirloin steak recipe....

Since many fruits are naturally higher in sugar, anyone on a low carb or ketogenic diet needs to think carefully about what works on their personal keto fruit list. Pomegranates are a popular fruit, but are pomegranates keto friendly? How high are pomegranate carbs? Let’s answer those tricky questions here, and talk about ways you might be able to make pomegranate keto friendly. New to counting carbs or keto? Learn the keto diet basics here and grab my printable keto cheat sheet system to make it easy....

Spaghetti squash is one special pasta alternative. Unlike other squash varieties such as butternut and pumpkin, its long strands make it the perfect choice for veggie pasta dishes. But, is spaghetti squash keto? Get the definitive answers here, including carbs in spaghetti squash and delicious ways to have spaghetti squash on keto. Wondering about other keto foods? Take a look at the carb counts in this lengthy keto food list, or use some simple keto cheat sheets to get started....

Be sure to check out my Slow Cooker Sausage Gumbo recipe for another amazingly easy way to cook up juicy sausage. The cooking process might be a bit longer in the crockpot, but you just can’t beat that classic sausage and gumbo flavor. Can we all just agree that using the air fryer method for cooking is the best? It doesn’t really matter the type of sausage that you use as this cooking method works perfectly with all different kinds of sausages....

One of our favorite local restaurants does a weekly “KFC night” as in Korean Fried Chicken. One full order of chicken is supposed to feed four people, but Ben and I always manage to polish off the entire thing on our own. It is too good to resist. Today’s air fried Korean fried chicken wings are inspired by our local KFC night, with the twist of the air fryer....

I’m here to fulfill your dreams of keto apple pie! Yes, you might have thought that a low carb apple pie was impossible. But it’s not! Your day just got a little sweeter. 😉 And there is a secret to this keto apple pie filling – it’s made from yellow squash! Yes, you can have your veggies AND your sugar-free apple pie all in one delicious bite. If putting summer squash in pie filling sounds a little strange, don’t be deterred....

You know I love anything pizza, right? And because I know many of my readers do too, I have new one to add to your arsenal – a keto chicken crust pizza recipe! This low carb chicken pizza crust has only FOUR ingredients (plus salt), and is one of the easiest things you can make. Making a chicken crust pizza keto is very straightforward, because all the ingredients are naturally low carb....

I love mangoes! I haven’t really put much thought into “what’s my favorite fruit”, but I think Mango is a strong candidate. One thing I have to say, though, is that mango in Brazil is a thousand and two times better than here in the States. :( Sorry, American friends! And I even tried searching for the mango that I like (the one that is orange, really sweet and soft inside and green and red on the outside) to no success!...

Traditionally, fried chicken wings are floured or battered and then pan-fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds that nice, crispy exterior that many enjoy. But let me offer you an alternative. How about intensely flavorful and fall-off-the-bone tender fried chicken wings? Here is my quick and easy pan fried chicken wings recipe that everyone in my family enjoys, especially the kids. These pan fried wings win by a wide margin over many other fried wing recipes we tried....

Are you a leftover person? Because I am! Perhaps it just comes with the territory of being a food blogger, but I will always vote for lunch leftovers over a cold sandwich. This quick and easy pork stir fry is my latest leftover obsession (as is this Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe). It’s easy to pack, can be reheated in a microwave, and will keep you full all afternoon....