We recently hosted a barbecue for a group of our friends. On the menu that evening were applewood smoked pork chops with jalapeño apricot chutney to pair with Bush’s Texas Ranchero Grillin’ Beans. Ole’s here to show you how easy it is to transform your everyday charcoal grill into a smoker for the pork chops. People who know me know that I live for cooking outdoors, and they are usually most curious about the ribs and pulled pork or briskets that I make on my smoker because... more

4 thick-cut pork chops 4 cups water 275 grams of kosher salt (weight really is the best method here) 250 grams of brown sugar 1 teaspoon rubbed sage 1 teaspoon thyme 2 cloves garlic crushed 12 cups of very cold water or ice equivalent 1 1/2 cups jalapeño apricot chutney, recipe below Heat 4 cups of water in a saucepan and dissolve salt and sugar, adding sage and thyme along the way. Add mixture to a bowl with a lid or a large zip-top bag and add garlic and enough cold water or ice to make one gallon.... more

Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at GoodLife Eats this morning about a certain Roasted Potato and Spinach Frittata and striving for grace during moments of stress, and I’m excited to welcome Tara from Unsophisticook to Food For My Family where she shares one of her go-to grilled vegetable recipes in easy foil packets : Much like Shaina, I place a high priority on feeding my family wholesome and healthful meals. This can be challenging with five... more

Getting ready to grill for a group? We have you covered, with tips for preparing, a free barbecue e-cookbook and downloadable printables to keep you organized. Oh, and we may also throw in a pretty snazzy giveaway as well. We’re getting ready to host a backyard barbecue this weekend, and we have been busy prepping, planning and playing with recipes. Hosting a barbecue can be overwhelming. In fact, any kind of get-together at your house can be a cause of stress with the cleaning, cooking... more

Our Eat Well, Spend Less series continues! This month we’re looking at food storage options, and I am specifically breaking down what we do as a family with a small kitchen area and virtually no extra storage space. While we do keep a well-stocked pantry and we love buying in bulk, we need to be conscious of our lack of space, too. There are six people in our family, which means quite a few hungry mouths on a daily basis. While I’ve talked before about how we love purchasing food... more

Today I’m hosting Kitchen Tip Tuesdays for Tammy of Tammy’s Recipes while she’s away on vacation. If you have a favorite kitchen tip of your own, please feel free to link back and link up down at the bottom. Thanks! We no longer own a nonstick pan. Not a single one. It just isn’t something we found necessary. In fact, we found the cocktail of chemicals in the majority of nonstick cookware rather unnecessary, and so quite a few years ago now, we replaced them all with... more

We’re working with Barilla Pasta and Piccolini TV to make a series of Kids Cooking videos. I’m excited to be a part of this project and hope you’ll subscribe over there and follow along with us as we make our way through the summer season. Speaking of summer, we’re also grillin’ up a storm now that it’s warm out, and we’re getting ready to host a smoky party for friends and neighbors this week. I was stuck in the airport in Phoenix this last week. My luggage... more