Just~One~Donna

It seems that homemade snack mix has been around since the dawn of time.  You know the snack mix I am talking about.  It's the one made with those little squares of rice, corn, and wheat cereal that you bake in the oven.  It's a delicious and addictive addition to festive gatherings of all kinds. You might be tempted to take the easy way out and buy a pre-packaged mix from the store.  Don't do it.  I beg you.  I've yet to find a premade mix that is worth the money. The key to a tasty homemade snack mix is in the seasonings and the yummy stir-ins.  First, I like to use more butter than is usually recommended.  Using more butter ensures all the tasty bits get coated with the seasonings.  I also tend to have a heavy hand with the flavorings.  If you have been visiting Just One Donna for a while you know I like flavor in my recipes.  This snack mix is no exception.  I use Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika.

Applesauce is a perfect complement to a pork dinner. I always have a pork tenderloin on hand in my fridge for a quick weeknight dinner.   A pork tenderloin roasts in about 20 minutes and if you buy one of the marinated options there is absolutely no prep time required.  That can be a real lifesaver when you are running behind and need to get dinner on the table.  One of the ways to make your pork tenderloin dinners your own is to serve them with homemade applesauce. A Homemade Applesauce Recipe This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  When you shop through these links you help to support the costs to publish this blog. Homemade Applesauce Homemade applesauce tastes so much better than any jarred sauce you will purchase and takes so little time to make that you will never buy applesauce again.   September and October are the best times of year to make your own fresh applesauce as so many delicious apples come to market.   You can have the applesauce cooking on

Donna's Caprese Grilled Chicken is a quick, easy, and delicious recipe that you can whip together after work, but feel like you are indulging yourself.  It is a perfect weeknight dinner because it can be ready in less than thirty minutes.  All you need to do is have your ingredients ready to go. Add a drizzle of honey balsamic reduction before serving to make this a very special dinner that seems fancy but is so very quick and easy. Donna's Grilled Caprese Chicken with Honey Balsamic Reduction This recipe pays homage to Caprese salad, with the addition of roasted red peppers.  The recipe came to be one summer when our tomatoes were starting to be ready for picking.  I wanted a dinner that was quick, fresh tasting and would showcase our delicious tomatoes.  My hubby loved it, my sons loved it, and ever since it has been on our regular menu rotation. I always keep boneless chicken breasts in my freezer, all ready and pounded thin so they are ready to go.  They

All the talk of Christmas in July this month has started me thinking about Christmas and traditions. Family traditions play a big part in creating a family's identity.  They enrich and give color to a family and my family is no different. Does your family have cherished traditions? You might have traditions for celebrating birthdays.  Do you have specific clothes that have become part of your family's traditions? Weddings, christenings, and Christmas often include specific items that are worn by family members.  We've never done it, but many families dress in the same pajamas for Christmas morning. One of my family's Christmas traditions is hand-knitted Christmas stockings. Hand-Knit Christmas Stockings, A Family Tradition My mom started the hand-knitted Christmas Stocking tradition for my siblings and me.  She made each of us our own, huge, wonderful Christmas stocking that was always filled to the brim with surprises by Santa. Over the years, the trad

Do you have a recipe box?  I have been collecting recipes from a variety of sources for many, many years.  Those recipes are stashed in multiple places.  One of those places is a small metal file box that is overflowing with index cards, scraps of paper, and clippings from various magazines and newspapers. Today's grilled potatoes recipe is one of the recipe gems from the collection in my recipe box, just in time for the summer grilling season. Awesome Grilled Potatoes You'll love this favorite grilled potato recipe.  It is genius in its simplicity.  A little butter, onion, lemon, and chicken bouillon combine to make a delicious side for your next grilled dinner.

What goes with sushi as a side dish? Occasionally, we like to have take-out sushi for dinner. When we do, I will make either this  fried rice  recipe or these Asian Vegetables as a side dish.   I particularly like these Asian Vegetables as the side dish because I leave the veggies in big enough chunks to make them easy to eat with chopsticks. After all, chopsticks are part of the fun of eating sushi for dinner! Vegetable Side Dish for Sushi or Chinese Take Out (This post contains affiliate links) The Best Asian Vegetables My vegetable preferences for this side dish are broccoli, zucchini, red bell pepper, and onions.  This is not a traditional Asian vegetables side dish. It is a simple, but delicious, mixture that is easy to whip up while the sushi is being fetched. The Asian flavor in this vegetable dish comes from a simple and easy-to-prepare sauce.

Are you a cauliflower lover?  Cauliflower is a vegetable I make infrequently. That's because I am very picky about the quality of any head of cauliflower I buy. I want my cauliflower to be pristine white, with no hint of dark spots anywhere on the head. A Head of Roasted Cauliflower It's not very often I find heads of cauliflower that look fresh enough for me to buy.  This week I did find a beautiful little head.  It weighed just over a pound. That head of cauliflower was so pretty that the cashier at the grocery store commented on it.  We began talking about roasting cauliflower.  That conversation spurred me to think of how I might roast my beautiful cauliflower.