assya

A couple months ago, I shared these Old Fashioned 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies from my childhood. Naturally gluten free and completely flourless, they are the simplest cookie recipe I've ever made. My 7 and 9 year old boys have been making them on their own for a while now.

1 cup of peanut butter + 1 egg + 1 cup of sugar = Peanut Butter Cookies!

We made several batches of peanut butter cookies over the summer and then I started playing with the recipe. I love the chocolatey kick that this version has and it is still one of the easiest cookie recipes ever!

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How to host the visual recipe index files on an Amazon Web Services account.

1) You'll need a copy of IndexParameters.js and IndexScript.js if you don't already have them. 

2) Go to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) page and sign up for an account:http://aws.amazon.com/ You can use an existing Amazon account to log in, but you'll still need to setup a credit card for billing. You'll also have to verify you phone number via a robocall from Amazon where they'll ask you to enter a PIN on the screen. 

3) Once that's done, log into the AWS Management Panel here:https://console.aws.amazon.com/console/home 

4) Click on "S3, Scalable Storage in the Cloud." It's in the left column. 

5) Click the "Create a Bucket" button. Name this bucket whatever you want, but it's probably best to use the same name as your web site. You can select whatever region you want from the dropdown, but Oregon or Northern California are probably best. 

6) Click on the bucket name so you're now inside that bucket. Click the "Upload" button and upload the IndexParameters.js and IndexScript.js files. 

7) Once they've uploaded, right-click on each file name and select "Make Public." If you don't make each file public, no one will be able to access them. 

8) Now right-click on each file name and select "Properties." An area should appear on the right that includes a link. Copy the link address for each file. It should look something like https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/YOU.../IndexParameters.js 

9) Try visiting the link in a new browser tab to be certain it's public and accessible. 

10) Go into Blogger and replace the exiting links for IndexParameters.js and IndexScript.js with the links you copied from AWS. 

11) Congrats! Your index should be working again. 

Here is more information on what fees Amazon charges for using the S3 service: http://aws.amazon.com/pricing/ I find it to be confusing myself, so instead I check in on my fees by going into the AWS Management panel, clicking on my name in the upper right corner, and clicking on "Billing & Cost Management" in the dropdown. Amazon does give you a "Free Usage Tier" for the first year after you sign up, which means they give you a certain amount of bandwidth and storage for free. After the year is up, you'll be charged their regular rate.

Special thanks to Kalyn Denny with Kalyn's Kitchen and Jennette Fulda with http://www.makeworthymedia.com/ for sharing this step-by-step guide to setting up an Amazon Web Service Account!

This garlicky, saucy pasta filled with basil and tomatoes is made from start to finish in about 20 minutes; does a dinner get much better than that? Everything is combined in the pot along with the cooking water and it reduces down into a perfect one dish meal as it cooks. It sounds almost too good to be true, right?

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Each time I post a new recipe here on the blog, the Recipe Index updates automatically. My husband Sean wrote the code for the automatically updating index and it has already made my life so much easier. I've had numerous questions from other bloggers regarding how we created our index and I'm happy to be able to share the code with you today. (If you are here for the recipes, please feel free to browse the RECIPE INDEX for inspiration!)

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Pfeffernusse cookies are a popular holiday treat in Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands; they are small, round cookies filled with ground spices, molasses and brown sugar. Until last week, I had never heard of them.

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With all the flavors of pumpkin pie stirred into a creamy bowl of oatmeal, this quick and easy breakfast is my current favorite oatmeal. (It's hard to beat a hot breakfast that can be on the table in less than 15 minutes!) I couldn't resist topping our bowls with a swirl of freshly whipped cream to make it even more like pumpkin pie. The whole family enjoyed this oatmeal and the kids have requested this again every single day this week; I think I'm safe to say that it is a hit.

Are you looking for more breakfast ideas? Check out all of our Favorite Oatmeal Recipes!
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Did you know it is possible to cook perfectly sliceable and tender roast beef in the crock-pot? (In just a couple of hours?!) I've been using my crockpot to cook fall-apart tender shredded roasts for years, as proven by two of our favorite roast beef recipes. It never before crossed my mind to try a method like this though.

I originally planned to cook this roast using my favorite oven method. However, at the last moment I decided to try improvising that method for the crockpot. It worked great and the roast was a huge hit. We like our beef closer to rare than well and usually closer to rare than medium. If you prefer yours a bit less pink, adjust the cooking time and final temperature accordingly.

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How do you like your carrot cake? For the longest time, I was on a hunt for the perfect carrot cake. I tried several cakes that were good, but they just didn't measure up to my lofty expectations. Then I found this recipe and let me tell you, this baby measures up.

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Is there anything that gets people more excited this time of year than the arrival of the holiday coffee drinks in the coffeeshops and cafes? Now that pumpkin recipes abound all around me, I couldn't resist trying my hand at a homemade version of this popular drink, without any of the flavored syrups.

I adapted my Cafe con Leche recipe to turn it into this rich and creamy holiday treat. Definitely not a first thing in the morning coffee fix for me, but an awesome treat for dessert or for enjoying while spending the afternoon with a friend. I made ours with decaf espresso and let the kids have a few sips too. The recipe can easily be halved for one drink or doubled for more. With or without the whipped cream and caramel, this drink is a great fall treat.
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With an abundance of Biscoff still in my house, I decided to whip together a couple batches of Biscoff blondies for our camping trip. I love the ease of brownies and blondies for quick and simple desserts. Even with two full batches, there were disappointed campers when these bars were gone. I am quite certain that I'll be making these again in the future. (These are not gluten free and there isn't a gluten free variation, due to the wheat in the Biscoff spread.) I do more traditional baking for family events and it was fun to see my extended family enjoy them so much!

FYI - these blondies are awesome with a hot fudge sundae. My husband and I tried one that way before we left for the camping trip and I actually sighed over how delicious they were. I would have taken a picture for you, but at 9pm, the last thing I cared about was the camera!

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This is a tangy barbecue sauce with a subtle peach flavor that turned out to be a great variation on one of our favorite dinners. Despite the fact that half of this recipe is purely peaches, the flavor remains in the background. The peaches are there, adding something special to the sauce, without turning this into a fruit sauce or a chutney. I used this sauce to make BBQ Chicken Stuffed Potatoes and they disappeared in minutes.

I have about half a jar of this sauce left in the refrigerator and I'm already wondering if I'll be able to get my hands on any more peaches before their season is completely done.

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If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you likely know that we eat a lot of chicken. I've shared over 100 chicken recipes here on the blog and there isn't an end in sight. This chicken is sweet, slightly tangy and incredibly tender. I've made this recipe with breasts and thighs, with orange and with lemon. The orange version is my favorite, but they are both delicious. My kids flipped for this chicken and my oldest son thanked me for making "his favorite chicken" again. (Take this with a grain of salt though, they each have about 50 favorites.)

I have a notebook full of chicken ideas and there are always more recipes that cross my path to try. If YOU have a favorite chicken recipe, feel free to email me. I might want to try yours too. I served this chicken with roasted potatoes the first time I made it and I chopped it up over rice the second time I served it. We liked it both ways.

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Topping a warm pumpkin muffin with a melting pat of butter or a slather of whipped cream cheese is my favorite way to welcome fall each year. Admittedly, the whole welcoming fall part is wishful thinking on my end. Here in the desert, there is not a hint of cooler temps. I can dream though and these muffins have been a family favorite for years. The recipe makes two dozen small/medium size muffins, perfect for keeping a small stash in the freezer. I've been enjoying one with my morning coffee each morning this week.

Pumpkin bread is one of the easiest breads to bake with small children; combine, stir and scoop is about all there is to it. My boys are my helpers almost every time I make these. I've played with the recipe countless times adding all kinds of ingredients. If that's your style, have at it. Add in handfuls of chocolate or nuts, whatever makes you grin. For me, it's all about the basic pumpkin muffin.

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Did you know you can make your own muffin cup liners? I ran out of cupcake liners the other morning as I was making muffins and I decided to try a trick I saw a while back. These are simply squares of parchment paper pressed into the muffin cups.

Because I'm not the most patient (or remotely perfectionist) sort, I didn't cut each square out individually. I simply tore off a good size section of parchment and folded it over a few times until I had a roughly 5" square. Next, I cut all the way around the square and I was left with a stack of roughly square pieces of parchment.

Press each square down into the muffin cups, creasing or folding the edges slightly along the insides of the cup, so that the parchment folds into a cup shape. Don't try to make it perfect, it's just a wrapper to throw away. Drop a scoop of batter into each improvised cup and bake as directed.

My favorite part? The muffins slid right out of the parchment once they were baked. There was no sticky crumbling cupcake liner to mess with later. I doubt it took me five minutes to make a dozen liners and I love the way they look!

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ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Mango Quinoa Salad
TWO YEARS AGO TODAY: Rosemary Bread with Whole Wheat

Do you make your own spice mixes? It's easier than you might think and the possibilities are endless. I was making a batch of pumpkin muffins this morning and realized that I hadn't shared this spice mix here on the blog. Even more than the fact this is a frugal alternative to those tiny jars of pre-mixed spices, I love that I can vary it according to my preferences.

I'm not a huge fan of clove and allspice, so I keep them subtle. I adore cardamom, so I put a hint of it into this mix. These spices are so fragrant, just opening the jar reminds me of pumpkin pies and warm apple crisps. The recipe below is for a small batch of the spice mix and I'm also including a larger batch recipe along with the printable links. That way you can feel free to play with the smaller amounts and find your perfect combination.

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This soup is filled with sweet corn and spicy sausage and then simmered in a fragrant corn stock seasoned with Italian spices. The kitchen smelled fantastic while the soup was on the stove and my whole family voted it two thumbs up. There was a small amount left for my lunch the following day and it tasted even better after resting in the refrigerator overnight.

To give you just one more reason to like it, this meal came together in under half an hour. My favorite soups are the ones that can be tossed together without a whole lot of planning ahead of time. If you are still looking for soup inspiration, check out the soups here on the blog for more dinner ideas!

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Did you know you can make stock out of empty corn cobs? I've run across recipes in the past that called for boiling the empty cobs of corn to add flavor to a soup, so it made sense to me to boil a full pot of empty cobs and then use the broth that was created from them in a number of different ways.

What I didn't expect was the richness of the corn stock. The natural sugars from the corn lend a sweetness to the broth. The aroma is fantastic and so much deeper than I anticipated. I set the finished pot of stock in the refrigerator to cool overnight and the fragrance that greeted me when I opened the door the following morning was almost unbelievable. My entire kitchen smelled like fresh corn while I was transferring it into jars.

This goes beyond "better than store bought." If it were possibly to buy something this amazing from the store, I'd be all over it. However, since this isn't something that can be bought, I'll be making corn stock every chance I get.

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Rich coffeecake filled with a creamy pumpkin filling and then topped with a crunchy cinnamon sugar pecan topping; this is a wonderfully unique and completely unforgettable dessert. For any coffeecake lover who is also a fan of pumpkin pie, there could not possibly be a more perfect dessert.

This cake was a hit with everyone who tried it. The recipe is a definite keeper. Our temperatures might still be over 100, but fall has officially been welcomed into our home with the first pumpkin recipe of the season.

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This frozen yogurt makes the most of the late summer peaches while still keeping it cool for those of us with temperatures lingering in the triple digits. I enjoyed the rich fruity creaminess of this frozen yogurt. The peaches really shine after a quick roasting in the oven and the yogurt provides the tanginess that I'm beginning to love in these frozen yogurts.

Roasting will improve most stone fruits, even the sub par ones that show up occasionally. There is something almost magical about the way that brings out additional flavor. Sweeten this as much or as little as you like, according to the sweetness of your peaches. Add a small amount of sugar, then blend and taste before adding additional sugar.

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As I sit here writing this post, I'm trying to think of a single time in my life when I've turned down an oatmeal cookie. There's just something about the chewy oats, the rich brown sugar and the butter. Despite my love of oatmeal cookies, I'm a bit of a purist. I almost always choose plain oatmeal or oatmeal raisin. Around the holidays that might turn into a cranberry white chocolate combination, but an oatmeal chocolate chip? Somehow that just never appealed to me, until now.

My husband requested oatmeal chocolate chip cookies this past weekend and these cookies were the result of that craving. They disappeared lightning fast and the whole family enjoyed them.

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With so much fresh corn in my kitchen this week, I finally had the chance to make some corn chowder. I've had this recipe in the works for months now, but I wanted to wait to share it when I could make it with fresh corn. I'm happy to say that it was worth the wait! My whole family (even the non-spice lovers) enjoyed this meal very much.

The corn is simmered in a creamy soup with chunks of potato and flecks of chipotle peppers. Right at the end, a splash of lime brightens the flavor, making this chowder exactly what I had hoped. My boys commented repeatedly on how delicious it was and my husband and I both agreed that this chowder needs to happen again before all of the corn is gone.

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I'd love to get your feedback! I want to make this site even better and YOU can help me with that. I've put together a quick five minute survey to help me better understand who my readers are and what they would most like to see here at Barefeet In The Kitchen.

To say thank you for giving me your time, at the end of the survey you can enter to win a $50 AMAZON GIFT CARD. The answers are strictly confidential and will be used only by Barefeet In The Kitchen.

9/5/2013 ~ CONGRATULATIONS, Tonya Doctor! You are the winner of the $50 Gift Card!

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to be visiting near Taylor, AZ on the same day they were hosting their Annual Sweet Corn Festival. I couldn't resist the chance to check out the small town as they celebrated their big harvest.

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