Healthy(ish) Strawberry Mini Muffins

Strawberry Mini Muffins

I don’t need to be the one to tell you that things have been nothing short of crazy lately. Some of you have endured more pain and hardship than I’ll ever know, especially these last few months. First, COVID-19 quite literally made the world stop in its tracks. Neil and I were both fortunate enough to keep our jobs and work from home, and although balancing our family’s schedule proved to be ever stressful, I am thankful we had the opportunity to do so and remained healthy throughout. The silver lining gifted to us during this pandemic has been time with our daughter, who is 14 months (How has it been that long? Time is so weird.). I never thought we’d get to spend so much time together as a family, and for that I feel overwhelmingly blessed. Sweet moments with Quinn have kept us ever optimistic and grounded as tragedy continues to spiral throughout the world.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Pumpkin bread

Neil says this recipe is one of my top three desserts of all time. That’s high praise coming from a guy that doesn’t really like desserts. Back in 2015, we did a sponsored post in collaboration with Cuisinart and featured a recipe that makes two mini loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread. They’re delicious and adorable but most of the time I don’t want two loaves. I researched pumpkin bread recipes and realized almost every recipe on the internet make TWO loaves! I don’t want two loaves. I want one loaf. I also don’t want 1/4 of a can of leftover pumpkin puree sitting in the fridge this holiday season next to an opened half-used bag of chocolate chips. So, I created my own recipe that solves all of those problems. ONE loaf! A whole can of pumpkin! And yes… A WHOLE BAG OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS.

Stone Soup Cottage

Neil and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary earlier this month. I know, we’re not newlyweds. Just roll with it. To celebrate, we went to Stone Soup Cottage in Cottleville. You should know that after we go to a new restaurant, we usually write an email review of the place to my parents. After sending this one, I thought, “Huh. This is pretty much a blog post.” SO, here ya go. Our review of Stone Soup Cottage (spoiler alert: A++++)

Warning: All of these pictures were taken with my iPhoneXS and get progressively worse as the sun set.

After driving about 40 minutes we arrived in Cottleville. We had never been to Cottleville, but it reminded us of Hermann. Cute little main street town with shops and restaurants. We drove through that, then through a more residential part of the town, and then up a winding driveway onto the Stone Soup Cottage property.

Stuffed Shells

Finished Shells

I love lasagna. My dad’s epic lasagna featuring Neil’s bolognese sauce is probably one of the best recipes on the blog. But sometimes, I just don’t have the time (or energy) to make it. Recently I’ve discovered a way to get the flavors of lasagna to our table in way less time. Now introducing: stuffed shells.

Brush Creek Valley Farms (Recipe: Ribeye Steak with FLAVOR TOWN)

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Brush Creek Valley Farms. The Newlywed Chefs received product and financial compensation for this post, however, as always, all opinions are 100% our own.

We are excited to announce our new partnership with Brush Creek Valley Farms! You might have seen a few posts on our Instagram stories featuring their products, and we are excited to tell you all about this farm. This post is also super special because at the end, there is a recipe for a ribeye steak with a sauce we lovingly named “FLAVOR TOWN.” Believe it or not, that portion of this post is written by none other than NEIL. (gasp) If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you know that’s kind of a big deal.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bites

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bites

Remember when school started in the fall? Ya know, leaf changing, scarf wearing, apple season fall? Guess those days are long gone. It’s still 100° outside and ready or not, it’s that time of year: BACK. TO. SCHOOL. Back to busier schedules, carpooling, early bedtimes (and earlier alarm clocks), meal planning, and snacks on-the-go. As you boldly step into the new school year, we have an easy snack that might help prevent becoming hangry circa 4:00pm. The idea for this recipe actually came from drinking our daily protein shakes.