I have officially found the best marinade for grilled chicken, hands down! It is so scrumptious and full of TONS of flavor!! The best part is that the marinade uses staple ingredients that I always have on hand. 

The recipe calls for apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, which gives the chicken a delicious zing! The seasonings even it out for a grilled chicken that is out of this world and so quick to whip up! 

During the nice weather months, I love to go for bike rides! I have a trail near my house, and after a nice, long ride, this chicken is often on the menu, as I'm looking for lean protein and veggies to complete the workout :)

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (includes marinating time)
Marinating Time: 1 hour (if desired)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

1. (Optional) Gently use a meat tenderizer tool to tenderize each side of your chicken breasts. This is simply to break the surface of the chicken breasts, so as to allow to marinade to really soak in!
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and cover. Refrigerate for 1 hour to marinate.
3. Preheat your grill to medium. Grill chicken on each side for about 8-9 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken.
4. Serve and enjoy!!

​Source: Spend with Pennies

I just love summertime when you can grill the most delicious food! My mom always makes the BEST hamburgers with the most perfect combination of seasonings!

One of our favorite burgers is topped with a slice of American cheese and barbecue sauce. The thicker the barbecue sauce, the better!

Another favorite combination is my mom and dad's creation - "The Marko Burger!" 

​To make a "Marko Burger," use the same hamburger ingredients as below in the directions. (85% lean ground beef, 1/4 t. salt and 1/2 t. onion powder). Now, top it off with my mom's incredible angel hair coleslaw! Combine 2 Tablespoons sugar, 2 Tablespoons white vinegar, 1/3 cup mayo, salt and pepper to taste. Add a bag of angel hair cabbage and stir occasionally for at least a half hour to an hour, so that the flavors really blend together and the cabbage softens. My mom said that it may seem like not enough dressing at first, but there is plenty! When ready to eat, lightly toast a kaiser roll to give it a good, toasty crunch! Add your burger, a slice of American cheese and a healthy portion of coleslaw. You've now had the world-famous (maybe someday) "Marko Burger!!"

The burger below is my personal favorite, and the slice of pineapple adds such a delicious pop of flavor! On nights when we are making a super quick meal, my go-to teriyaki sauce is Lawry's Teriyaki. However, you can use a homemade teriyaki glaze like the one I included below! 

Comment below to tell me what your favorite burger toppings are! I'd love to try some new ones :)

Yield: 3 - 1/3 pound burgers

Burger Ingredients:

• 1 pound 85% lean ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Teriyaki Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 Tablespoon teriyaki sauce
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Additional Ingredients:

• Pineapple rings (1 for each)
• Hamburger buns (can't forget those!!)

Directions:

1. To make the glaze: (or skip and use a bottled teriyaki glaze, like Lawry's!) Combine all ingredients and stir until brown sugar is dissolved. Place in a small saucepan and stir over low heat, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. For the burgers, sprinkle onion powder and salt on top of the ground beef. Mix with your hands (you have to get messy for them to be delicious!) and divide the ground beef into 3 equal parts. Form into patties.
3. Preheat the grill to medium-low. Cook the burgers for about 7-8 minutes on each side. Brush some of the glaze over each burger before placing on the hamburger buns. Top with a slice of pineapple and add more glaze, to taste.
4. Enjoy!!

Do you ever have a recipe that you love and then for some reason, you can't find a major ingredient in the store anymore? That's exactly what happened to this recipe! We used to eat these incredible and easy beef skewers all the time, and we could no longer find the Doña Maria mole sauce! It was so sad! The funny part was that the original recipe didn't even call for mole sauce. It called for chili paste which we couldn't find in the first place! However, mole sauce has chili peppers, so my mom thought it would work as a substitution. Boy, did it! :)

As I was scanning through my recipes to find favorites that I should post on here, I came across this one! After searching Walmart and our local grocery store, I found the Doña Maria mole sauce in both stores! So of course, we had to have this for an early Father's Day dinner last night. It brought back so many memories and it was just as good, if not BETTER than we remembered!! What's even better is that these skewers only require a few minutes on each side to be done!

Check out the picture below for the exact mole sauce that we use (there are two different labels from when the company updated the look). I am sure you could use another type of mole sauce, but we love this one so much that we don't want to change!

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (included marinading time)
Active Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds flank steak, sliced thin (we like to freeze and cut while still frozen, to make it so much easier!)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 teaspoons mole sauce (or chili paste)
• 2 Tablespoon light brown sugar
• Wooden or metal grill skewers

Directions:

1. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, mole sauce and brown sugar.
2. Marinate the beef in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Meanwhile, soak wooden skewers in a bowl of water so that they don't burn up on the grill.
3. Preheat the grill to medium. Thread the beef onto the skewers, allowing the beef to be fairly spread out.
4. Grill the meat for about 2 minutes on each side, or until it starts to brown. A little bit of charring gives a TON of flavor! 
   
5. Enjoy!
   

Source: Adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe 

This is my last strawberry post, I SWEAR! But, I figured I would go out with a bang! This recipe for strawberry ice cream is totally a home run! You know that question, "If you could pick any food on the planet to taste the same but have zeros calories?" My answer would be ice cream in a heartbeat.

With today's amazing technology and kitchen gadgets, making ice cream has never been easier! This recipe starts off with a cream and egg yolk step that I think truly makes homemade ice cream to die for. I typically don't make ice cream unless it is a custard recipe with tempered egg yolks. While it may seem a little daunting, it's really very simple if you take your time and follow the steps one-by-one.

Once the ice cream is almost set in your ice cream maker, you can choose to make it your own! The original recipe did not call for the chocolate fudge or mini chocolate chips, but life is short, and I felt like adding a little pizzazz!

Check out pictures of my little taste-testers after spaghetti night :)

Total Time: A little over 7 hours (includes freezing and chilling times)
Churning Time: 40 minutes (20 minutes for each batch)
Chilling Time: 2 hours (in fridge) and at least 4 hours (in freezer)
Active Time: 30 minutes

Yield: about 2 quarts

Before you begin, make sure you follow your ice cream maker's instructions! Most likely, the ice cream maker's bowl must be frozen!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups half-and-half
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (or you can use the "caviar" of 1 whole vanilla bean)
• 9 egg yolks (Need a recipe to use up the egg whites? Check out my S'mores Macarons!)
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 3 drops pink food coloring (optional)
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate fudge topping (divided)
• 1/4 mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings (divided)

Directions: 

1. Stir together the half-and-half and sugar in a medium stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the vanilla, and heat the mixture until it is hot but not boiling.
2. In a separate medium bowl, vigorously whisk the egg yolks until they start to lighten, about 2 minutes.
3. Very slowly, pour a small ladle of the hot half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks and whisk constantly. Gradually add another small ladle and continue whisking. Repeat several times, then pour the egg yolk mixture into the stockpot with the remaining half-and-half mixture. (The purpose of doing this is to slowly temper the egg yolks, so that they come to the temperature of the half-and-half without cooking the eggs).
4. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, until the liquid starts to thicken and coat the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Add a few drops of pink food color, if you desire, and whisk to fully incorporate.
6. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl with lid. (It's okay if there are a few chunks! That's what the strainer is here for!) Add the heavy cream and stir gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
7. Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. You may also leave some chunks of strawberry, if you would prefer!
8. When ready to churn the ice cream, pour the strawberry mixture into the cream mixture and stir to incorporate. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and follow the directions that are provided to you.
   1. For my Cuisinart ice cream maker (which I love!), my machine will run for 15-20 minutes.
   2. I did need to split the recipe and run the ice cream maker two times, but thankfully I have two frozen ice cream bowls!
9. In the final minute of churning, you may add 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips and/or 2 Tablespoons fudge topping. Pour the ice cream into a freezer ice cream container. As you pour, you may layer in some more fudge topping, and if you're feeling a little wild, add some Oreos! Mmmm.......
10. Freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. Enjoy!!

​
Source: The Pioneer Woman

I know I've been on a strawberry kick lately, but why not? Now is the perfect season for strawberries, and once you find good ones, you might as well make strawberry EVERYTHING!! :)

We try making several strawberry recipes during the off-season, but it's never the same. The strawberries that we found in Smicksburg are hands down the BEST! Just look at how vibrant and red those beautiful berries are! And the photo was taken with no filters on my iPhone :)

For this next recipe, I thought I would do an awesome take on a family tradition recipe. During black raspberry season, (so soon!!) it is a requirement that we have black raspberry cookie pie. Check out that recipe here! 
Black Raspberry Cookie Pie

This recipe is identical except for the black raspberries. We use the same proportions and amount of sugar with the strawberries as we do with our black raspberries. I hope you enjoy this different take on a family favorite! 

You guys. I just ate TWO of these muffins. Hence why I went on Weight Watchers because I have ZERO self-control when it comes to sweets! 

After I posted the strawberry cake recipe on Facebook this week, I had requests for a strawberry muffin recipe that we love to make! A good friend of ours shared the recipe with my mom after she was raving about it a few months ago! Of course, we've made these muffins a billion times since! They are just that good!
In fact, we might slightly fight over them. It's up to you to determine whether I'm kidding or not ;)

My father-in-law has become very close with some Amish friends who live in Smicksburg, PA. He likes to visit often, and one of my favorite times of year is when he brings back a full flat (8 quarts) of gorgeous strawberries! The strawberries are as bright red as can be with hardly any white inside. They are tiny and even come with the little green stems on top. I don't think we could find better strawberries anywhere else!

Total Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 30 minutes
Active Time: 30 minutes

​Yield: 1 dozen (I made two in my pictures above)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups strawberries, diced
• 2 Tablespoons Turbinado (also known as Demerara) sugar
• 2 teaspoons flour

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and mix well.
5. In a small measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk mixture to the butter mixture. Do not over-mix! If using a stand mixer, remove the bowl from the stand and gently fold in the strawberries, reserving 1/2 cup strawberries to place on top.
6. Prepare a 12-muffin pan with cupcake wrappers. Fill each wrapper to the top with batter and top each muffin with reserved strawberries. Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar on top - don't skimp!
7. Bake for 30 minutes, turning the tray halfway. The muffins will be done when they are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
8. Enjoy!!