Every once in a while our house gets inundated with 6-8 year olds. It’s great. Penelope has a little gang of friends that she parties with, they bounce around from house to house on their bikes scavenging for tasty snacks and things to do. I tend to keep a closed pantry policy most days, but every once in a while I bust out the popcorn maker and make a giant batch of popcorn and send them outside. It gives them something to do, something to eat and it’s incredibly easy/cheap to make. It’s also very allergy friendly as well (unless using peanut oil).

For some reason I thought that kettle corn was a tricky recipe with a tricky process, until last week. It’s not. Now that I’ve figured it out, I’m off to experiment with other flavors.

I found this recipe on How Does She?, a recipe for stove top kettle corn. Below is my adaptation for cooking corn with a regular popcorn maker. This would not work for a hot air popper. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Kettle Corn Recipe

Makes about 6 cups of popcorn | For popcorn maker adapted from How Does She?

• 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 3-5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• dash of salt

The coconut oil in this recipe makes a huge difference with the flavor. It’s incredibly delicious. A MUST add in my opinion.

Turn on the popcorn maker so the spinner is rotating, but the lid is off. Put coconut oil in the popcorn maker and wait for it to melt to an oil-like consistency (takes a minute or so). Add the popcorn kernels THEN the sugar. Replace the cover and allow the corn to pop until you hear a 1-2 second pause between pops. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle salt overtop. Serve. 

You may want to add more oil and more sugar for a more caramelized, intense flavor.

Measuring bowls c/o Red Envelope. 

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a recipe here! Gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve had the energy to really cook. Or do much of anything. Turns out the prenatal vitamin I have been taking for the last 4 months contained absolutely zero iron. After switching to a different brand last week, I’ve actually had a lot more energy to do things! It’s amazing how great I feel now that my body isn’t starving for iron. A little PSA: If you’re preggers, don’t use chewable prenatal vitamins, none of them have iron. 

For the last 4 months, we’ve made a little family tradition of going out for breakfast/brunch. We have a couple of favorite spots we like, both offering stuffed French Toast on the menu. Our favorite is Eva’s (it’s served with the most delicious blueberry compote) with Lazy Day Cafe at a close second.

Saturday we didn’t feel much like going out, so I searched for a recipe and found something that comes close to Eva’s, but with strawberries and raspberries.

This is based off of Kneaders’ stuffed French Toast, but with a couple adjustments.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Serves 6, Prep Time 15 minutes, Cook time 15-20 minutes

• 1 loaf cinnamon bread*
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 pint strawberries, diced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• lemon zest (optional)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• butter
• heavy cream
• raspberries and strawberries
• your favorite syrup

Using a mixer (hand or regular) whip the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold strawberries and lemon juice until incorporated. Set aside.

Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla in a dish. Set aside.

Whip the heavy cream. Set aside.

Heat your frying pan to medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of butter.

If your loaf of bread is not sliced, cut thick slices (about 1 1/2 times a normal slice), then cut a pocket into the middle of the bread and fill with strawberry cream cheese. If your bread is pre-sliced, make little sandwiches with a generous amount of strawberry filling inside.

Dip the whole “sandwich into the egg mixture, coating it evenly. Then place in the frying pan with the melted butter. Fry both sides until egg is completely cooked and browned(I like the toast a dark brown on the edges). Serve with whipped cream, strawberries, raspberries and syrup.

*If you don’t have cinnamon bread on-hand, don’t fret! Make a little cinnamon mixture with the following ingredients: 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon flour. Spread a thin mixture on the inside of the bread, then prep as directed above.