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After sharing the Top 10 Recipes of 2014, (as chosen by all of you!), I couldn't resist sharing my own favorite new recipes from this past year. This is one of my favorite posts to compile each year, as I remember the foods that my family loved best of all.

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As we countdown the days until the new year, I'm having fun looking back and remembering the recipes I've shared with you over this past year. Today I'm sharing the Top Ten New Recipes from 2014. These are the recipes that were viewed the most frequently this past year. Counting down from #10 to #1, here are the most popular recipes as chosen by Barefeet In The Kitchen readers:

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Merry Christmas! For the final Favorite Things Giveaway of 2014, I'm giving away (3) $50 Amazon Gift Cards to the best readers and friends I ever could have imagined. I'm wishing each and every one of you a wonderful finish to the holiday season. All you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is leave a comment telling me what you will buy if you win.

This is my favorite time of year! I'm going to curl up on the couch, read as many books as I can, make our favorite recipes, find snow to play in, and watch lots of movies while snuggled into warm blankets. We're going to visit with family and friends, relax, and spend our days eating, laughing, and playing. I plan to make the most of every moment through the end of the holiday season.

I'm taking a blogging vacation from now until the second week of January. I have a couple of things already scheduled to share, so you'll see them here while I'm away, but beyond that I'm officially on my Christmas break!
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Creamy vanilla ice cream with a hint of cinnamon and plenty of finely crushed crunchy peanut brittle, this ice cream turned out even better than I imagined it would when I first had the idea. The tiny sprinkling of cinnamon adds an unexpected depth to this ice cream without a strong cinnamon flavor, so don't even think of skipping it.

I initially planned to give this batch of ice cream to friends, (I honestly do try to give away as much of our ice cream stash as possible, in the interest of actually being able to wear my favorite jeans!) but I couldn't stay out of this ice cream! I had to make another quick batch of peanut brittle, just to make more ice cream for gifting. This is one of my favorite ice cream flavors I've ever made.

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I thought I was done with the holiday treats for this year and then I ran across my friend Sue's recipe for Easy Microwave Peanut Brittle. I'd printed it to try a while back and I'd even picked up the peanuts at the store. With a few free minutes this afternoon, it was the perfect chance to make it. In less than 10 minutes time, this candy was cooling on the counter!

This candy was so easy to make and completely delicious, I couldn't resist squeezing in one more candy recipe this year. (And don't give all of this peanut brittle away too quickly, I have an awesome use for a few pieces of the candy tomorrow!!)

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In contrast to many holidays in the past, this year I have spent more time out of the kitchen than in the kitchen. However, I still wanted to give homemade treats to friends and family. Edible gifts will probably be my favorite things to give for as long as I am able, but the lesson I've learned over the years is that the gifts do not need to be fancy or time consuming in order to be appreciated.

If you're looking for a last minute gift idea, I hope that one of these will help you! These recipes are all favorites on the blog and each one requires just a few minutes hands on time. With a quick grocery shopping trip and about an hour in the kitchen, I had enough goodies and treats for over a dozen food gifts.

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This Italian Red Wine Roast Beef slowly cooks in the crock-pot creating an unforgettable dinner with almost no effort at all. This smells so fantastic as it cooks, I could hardly wait to taste the roast the first time I made it and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Seasoned with just a light blend of Italian spices and then cooked in red wine, this roast is happily eaten by every member of the family.

I've been making this Red Wine Roast Beef for a couple years now and it never fails to impress. The aroma while it cooks is almost as amazing as the resulting meat. I could eat this roast beef every week all year long.

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Smooth chocolate combines with peppermint to make this classic holiday treat. Whether you want a dessert for a party or a gift for a friend, Peppermint Bark is perfect for almost any holiday occasion. I'm going to show you today just how easy it is to make. Once you've made peppermint bark at home, the odds are good that you'll never be tempted to buy it again.

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If you're looking for some last minute gift ideas, I have you covered with everything from our favorite training chopsticks to the best hand warming coffee mug ever. This list is chock-full of fun kitchen and food related gifts ranging from $3 - $30. AND check back later this week for a HUGE giveaway and a chance to make your Christmas extra special!

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This Brown Sugar Pound Cake is hands-down, beyond any doubt, the best pound cake I have ever tasted. My friend Sandra brought it to a party last month and I LOVED it. I asked her for the recipe after the first bite and she was nice enough to send me the link the very next day.

I played with the recipe over the past couple weeks and I'm thrilled with the gluten free version; it tastes every single bit as amazing as the original. Whether you need a traditional dessert or a gluten free version, this cake is 100% guaranteed to impress.

I made this cake for a Christmas party last weekend and it was a huge hit. I saved a slice for my breakfast the next morning and I'm not even kidding, I have missed this cake every morning since. If the #cakeforbreakfasteverydaydiet was really an option, I'd be all over that.

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Creamy, rich, thick, Caramel Glaze Topping is perfect for drizzling over your favorite desserts. I poured this glaze over the Brown Sugar Pound Cake and it was spectacular.

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If you know my family well, the odds are good that you know how much my youngest son LOVES oatmeal. When you ask him, at any moment of the day, what he would like to eat, he grins at you and says, "Oatmeal, Oatmeal, OATMEAL!" Even after over two years of hearing this, I still laugh every single time.

This kid loves oatmeal so much that he would eat it all day long and happily does request it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While oatmeal is just about the easiest meal ever, there are limits to when I am willing to serve it. He does however, order it every time it is available on a restaurant menu, yes, even for dinner.

My answer to the monotony of daily bowls of oatmeal is to be as creative as possible with minimal effort. Most of these recipes take less than ten minutes effort and the results are two-thumbs-up delicious.

We bake our oatmeal in the oven, simmer it on the stove, and cook it in the Crock-pot. In over three years of blogging, I've amassed more than a few oatmeal recipes. Today I'm sharing our Top Ten Oatmeal Recipes, as voted on by my whole family. These are tried and true favorites and I'm willing to bet they will become favorites in your home as well.

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Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream. This is some of the creamiest ice cream I have ever made and for the record, it is nothing like the mint flavored ice cream you can find in a store. Pure peppermint deliciousness from start to finish without even a hint of a chemical or mass produced flavor.  This Peppermint Ice Cream is surprisingly light, sweet, and minty. I think I dipped a spoon into the freezer container about 15 times the first time I made this and I'm not even a huge fan of peppermint!

Peppermint Ice Cream is a spectacular combination of winter flavors and summer refreshment. I can promise you now that I'll be making this Candy Cane Ice Cream in June, just wait. I'm trying, I really am, but there aren't even words to describe how fantastic this ice cream is. If you hang out with me on Instagram, you may already know that it blew my mind last week. I'm still so impressed with this ice cream, I've made two more batches just to share it with friends.

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I'm so excited to be giving away this fantastic Anolon cookware next in the series of my Favorite Things Giveaways this Christmas!

For the past year, I've been on the hunt for new pans. My main requirements were that the pans be medium-heavy weight stainless steel, oven safe to 500 degrees, and comfortable to hold. These pans do all of that and they look fantastic as well.

A couple months ago, Anolon sent me several pieces of their Tri-Ply Clad Stainless Steel cookware to try and let me tell you, this cookware is fantastic. I've stir-fried, sautéed, broiled, boiled, sauced, fried, and all-around cooked my heart out with these pans. I'll be the first to admit that I am brutal on my cookware. These pans clean up beautifully and they are dishwasher safe as well.

The cookware looks every bit as gorgeous today as the day it arrived at my door and I'm thrilled to be giving away my favorite pieces! One lucky winner will receive (1) 12.75-Inch Covered French Skillet and (1) 5 Quart Covered Dutch Oven. All you need to do to be entered in the giveaway is tell me what you will make first in your new cookware.


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Frito Pie Huevos Rancheros is what happens when a craving for Huevos Rancheros meets a need for Fritos. This breakfast begins with a layer of chips, then you add black beans, chile sauce, roasted potatoes, melting cheese, bacon, and top the whole pile with an egg and more chile sauce.

From the first crunchy, spicy, gooey, egg soaked bite, we loved this meal. I suspect I'll be making this again very soon. Frito Pie Huevos Rancheros is a delicious brunch option for any occasion.

Want a few more breakfast ideas for a fun weekend meal? How about Blueberry Lemon Baked French Toast? or German Apple Pancakes? These Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs are a fancy twist on a simple breakfast for any occasion.

What is YOUR food weakness? I've never been able to walk by a bag of Fritos without eating a handful!

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Peppermint Hot Chocolate is one of our favorite warm drinks this time of year. Hot tea has its place forever in my heart, as do Chai Lattes and Cafe con Leche, but there is something about a cup of cocoa that just beckons me to sit down in front of the Christmas tree and savor the moment. Mix together a batch of this hot cocoa mix today and have it ready for easy hot chocolate through the holiday season.

Ever since I made homemade hot chocolate for the first time a few years ago, and subsequently laughed at myself for thinking it was going to be difficult, I haven't bought another store-bought hot cocoa mix. Simple Homemade Cocoa requires nothing but unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, and milk. You can add chocolate chips, vanilla, whipped cream, miniature marshmallows, homemade marshmallows, just about anything fun or fancy will make it extra special.

Like at least half the people I know, I frequently stir my hot cocoa with a candy cane or drop a peppermint candy into the bottom of the mug. As I was stirring my cocoa with a candy cane the other day, while watching Sean and the boys set up our Christmas tree, I decided to see if I could grind up some peppermint candies and make a ready-to-use hot cocoa mix to enjoy all through the holidays. As I was hoping it would, the blender turned the peppermint candies into powder and everything dissolved perfectly. This is the smoothest, creamiest, peppermint hot cocoa I could have imagined.

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Today I'm sharing some easy kid-friendly recipes and a couple of craft ideas to help keep kids of all ages occupied and happy this holiday season!

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Cinnamon. Toast. Bars. If you make nothing else that I've shared with you, you NEED Cinnamon Toast Bars in your life. These bars are a twist on my beloved Cinnamon Toast Cake; it has been a favorite since I was a little girl. No fork or plate required, this is the ultimate handheld dessert for every cinnamon toast loving person.

Cinnamon Toast Bars are covered in a crunchy, caramelized cinnamon sugar topping that is like nothing else you've ever tasted. I've made these bars 6 times in the past month. They are crazy good, completely dangerous, and absurdly easy to make.

You don't have to take my word for it either. Rebecca at Foodie with Family made these bars in both the traditional and vegan versions and her family and friends loved them. Her post eventually led to this community thread over at King Arthur Flour. The comments made me laugh as they proclaimed their love for the Cinnamon Toast Bars.

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To kick off the Christmas season with a big, shiny, colorful splash, KitchenAid is giving one KitchenAid Stand Mixer to a very lucky Barefeet In The Kitchen reader. It will arrive at the winner's door straight from KitchenAid just in time for Christmas!


If this mixer isn't already on your Christmas wish list, it should be! I've had my black KitchenAid stand mixer for over ten years now and it gets used multiple times a week. I'm loving the look of all these bright and shiny new colors though! I wonder if I could talk Santa into bringing me the Empire Red one??? I'm already picturing it in my kitchen.

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Creamy potato soup with soft chunks of buttery potatoes and salty sweet ham is perfect with a salad on the side or just some crusty bread. This recipe is so over-the-top simple, it's hardly a recipe. However, awesome ways to use our leftovers make my heart go pitter-pat, so I'm sharing this soup with you today. I spent less than 5 minutes working on this meal and when we were ready to eat all I needed to do was scoop and serve. That is my favorite kind of easy dinner!

I was staring into the refrigerator over the weekend and I really didn't feel like warming up another plate of leftovers. (This is what tends to happen when you accidentally wind up with triple the amount of ham and potatoes as your family could possible eat!) I saw the container (okay, technically, it was pretty much a vat) of potatoes and a big package of ham and decided to see if I could improvise with what we had and come up with a new Baked Potato Soup. Unlike a few other recent recipe attempts, this improvised soup turned out fabulously and there was hardly a bite leftover!

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Your favorite trail mix has been transformed into the ultimate candy bar in this Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark with swirled layers of white and dark chocolate, studded with dried fruits, and crunchy nuts.  Salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy, and CHOCOLATE are all covered in this beautiful and easily adaptable holiday treat.

One of my favorite things about chocolate bark is the versatility of it. Need a last minute hostess gift? Take five minutes before getting ready for dinner and stir together a batch. It will harden in the fridge in less than an hour. Slice it, bag or box it, and you'll have a one of a kind gift that everyone will love. Need a quick dessert? Chill a batch in the refrigerator before dinner and break it apart as you brew some coffee or pour wine after dinner.

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Filled with chewy marshmallows and crunchy peanuts, this Rocky Road Chocolate Bark is sure to be loved by chocolate-loving kids and adults alike this holiday season. Cookies may get the most talk this time of year, but there's something even better about a treat that comes together in just a few minutes, looks impressive as a gift, and doesn't even require you to turn on the oven. 

Barks, toffees, and fudge are my favorites among all holiday treats. When it comes to gift giving, what's not to love about a recipe that provides multiple gifts in one fell swoop?

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When we're looking for an alternative to the turkey sandwich or yet another plate of leftovers, this Southwest Turkey Chopped Salad is one of our favorite meals to make. Crisp vegetables, plenty of roasted turkey, black beans, pine nuts, cheese, and crunchy tortilla chips are tossed with a spicy ranch dressing in this very flavorful and easy to make meal.

Often, when using the leftover turkey in different meals, the turkey flavor overpowers everything else in the dish. The turkey in this salad is mixed with so many other great flavors, the flavors balance nicely. This salad gets two thumbs up from Sean and all three kids every year.

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It's my favorite time of the year and I'm having a blast sharing my holiday excitement by giving away more of my Favorite Things! Today is extra special, because if you love finding the perfect gift even half as much as I do, this $50 Amazon Gift Card is going to make your day.
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Flavorful marinated strips of fork-tender beef are served with crisp hot onions and peppers in this recipe for Beef Bulgogi. Bulgogi is one of the most well-known Korean foods and I've been trying to make it at home for years now. I've tried some ridiculously complicated recipes with tons of special ingredients and nothing tasted right. I finally asked my friend, Shinae, if she had a bulgogi recipe for me to try and sure enough, her recipe was perfect!

Similar to the way that Jap Chae makes my heart go pitter pat, Bulgogi is Sean's favorite Korean food. When I first tasted this beef, as it was coming out of the hot skillet, I almost squealed with happiness. I grabbed a fork and ran a bite to Sean's office for him to try. We both loved it. Sean followed me back to the kitchen and kept sneaking bites from the waiting bowl as I finished cooking the rest of the meat. I've made this a couple of times now and our kids love it every bit as much as we do.

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"Slice the meat against the grain" is found in the instructions for many recipes. You've probably seen that written countless times and if you didn't know how to find the grain, you might have guessed and crossed your fingers. When I was a newlywed, I remember flipping the meat over about ten times trying to figure out where and what the grain was.

When working with most beef, it is important to slice the meat across (or against) the grain of the meat. The meat is made of long muscle fibers all lined up in a row. You want to slice across the muscle fibers (also called the grain of the meat) and break them into the smallest sections possible. By slicing across those fibers, the meat won't be tough at all and it will be wonderfully tender.

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Creamy vanilla ice cream swirled with rich caramel sauce, filled with chunks of crisp shortbread, chewy caramel candy, and dark chocolate. This ice cream is perfect for a warm summer night, a dinner party with friends, or as a grand finale for Thanksgiving night.

Inserting rant here --> Why do we only share ice cream recipes in the warm months? Does everyone stop buying ice cream in the winter? Does homemade ice cream no longer trump every single carton on the shelf mid-winter? Heck no. I might not recommend eating this on your front porch if you are in Michigan, New York, Minnesota, or anywhere else that isn't 60+ degrees most of the winter! But why not eat ice cream in front of a cozy fire?

Help me out here, my friends who live in places that actually see snow. I know I live in Phoenix and our winter months aren't really winter at all, but do you really not eat ice cream in the winter???

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Roasted green beans are smothered in a creamy cheese sauce and then broiled until crispy to make this Green Bean Gratin. Barely 15 minutes from start to finish and I was scooping these cheesy beans onto our plates. There will be plenty of sauce left on the pan, so be sure to pick up some crusty bread to make the most of it!

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Millionaire Bars begin with crisp buttery shortbread, then they are layered with chewy caramel and dark chocolate. I could probably stop right there and you'd be convinced to make these bars. However, I need to tell you that these bars taste just like a Twix, only better. Why? Because the shortbread is more flavorful, the caramel is richer, and the chocolate is darker. So yes, much better.

These bars were absolutely irresistible. I sliced them for the photo and then I slivered them into bite size pieces. This was not the wisest move, because every single time I opened the refrigerator for the next day I popped another piece in my mouth.

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After years of using plastic scoops that broke when scooping peanut butter or melted in the dishwasher, I'm loyal as can be to stainless steel measuring spoons and cups. Because they are one of my favorite things, I'm giving this set of Stainless Steel Measuring Cups and Spoons to one lucky winner today! These measuring tools would make a fabulous stocking stuffer for any cook or baker in your life.

I have at least 3 different sets of cups and 4-5 sets of spoons in my kitchen drawer right now. I'm a firm believer in not having to stop and wash something midway through a baking or cooking project. So, even if you already have a great set, you probably need another one. Just call me the enabler of easier baking days!


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This is my newest favorite salad. I don't do a whole lot of copycat recipes, but this one, I can't even tell you how much this one needed to be made. This is a copycat recipe for Costco's Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad. The crunchy greens, sweet-tart cranberries, and crunchy-salty pumpkin seeds are tossed in a creamy poppyseed dressing and it all works together to make this salad worthy of our Thanksgiving table, and likely at least a dozen more tables as well before the end of the year.

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Caramel Cheesecake Dip is without a doubt one of the best spur of the moment recipes ever. Yesterday was a baking day for me and my counters were covered with a ridiculous assortment of ingredients. I had some leftover cream cheese after making a couple batches of cookies (new recipe coming next week!) and about half a jar of caramel sauce was left sitting on the counter too.

I tossed the cream cheese in the mixer and beat it until it was smooth, then drizzled in caramel sauce until it tasted just right. This might be the easiest recipe you'll see here on the blog this month, but trust me when I tell you that you want to make it.

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Whether you like to eat your chicken with or without the skin, there is no denying that boneless chicken is easier to eat, faster to cook, and often more convenient than bone-in chicken.

Today I'm sharing my method for removing the bone from chicken thighs. This makes it possible to enjoy boneless chicken for a fraction of the price from the store!

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Bite size meatballs, sautéed mushrooms, and fettuccine noodles are smothered in a creamy classic stroganoff sauce to make this Meatball Stroganoff Fettuccine. This recipe is the result of combining my boys' request for meatballs with my own craving for pasta and mushrooms.

My whole family gave the meal two thumbs up and it will definitely be made again. I think these saucy meatballs will also be delicious served with mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes.

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Holiday recipes are in abundance right now and everywhere I look there is something new that I want to try. As I wrap up our plans for this year's Thanksgiving table, I'm sharing my family's top picks for side dishes this year. Whether you are looking for something new, or planning to make all of your family's favorites, I wish you a positively delicious day!

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These Doughnut Waffles are lightly sweetened and flavored with a dash of nutmeg before being dipped in a maple glaze. I've made these waffles a few times now and each time they've disappeared lightning fast. My youngest son stood in the kitchen cheering and jumping up and down as he watched my every movement as I started dipping the waffles this weekend. (Can you blame him? What's not to love about a sweet weekend breakfast?)

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Roast beef tender enough to cut with a fork, each juicy slice is loaded with southwestern flavors. Our favorite Mexican spices are rubbed into the roast before cooking, creating a crust so delicious, you may find yourself snacking on little pieces of beef before this makes its way to the table.

Roast beef is one of my favorite company meals. A few minutes prep work and then the main dish cooks on its own while I'm handling the rest of the meal. This roast is brushed with honey mustard and then rubbed with an abundance of southwestern spices before an overnight rest. A couple hours before dinner, start it in the oven and cook it to a perfect medium rare (or the level of doneness that your family likes best).

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"Tie the roast before cooking" - how many times have you skipped over those words in a recipe? I used to skip the tying step every time, because I had no idea how it was done and the couple times I attempted it wound up a mess.  I'm going to show you a frustration free, simple technique that works every single time and the results are well worth the minute or two of effort!

Tying a roast before cooking helps the meat cook evenly and prevents the roast from spreading out as it cooks. The cooked roast will be nice and round and the juices are more likely to stay inside the roast instead of running out of it.

This is as easy as tying your shoes, I promise. (It might even be easier!) If I can learn to tie a great roast, then anyone can do it!

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Bite size balls of buttery cookie dough filled with salted pistachios and sweet cranberries, it's impossible to eat just one. I've been craving cranberries like mad lately and I'm resisting the urge to make my beloved Cranberry Christmas Cake for at least a couple more weeks. (I could eat that whole cake myself in a couple of days!) When I saw the Craisins sitting next to the oatmeal yesterday after breakfast, I couldn't resist trying a cookie dough ball for snacking.

Pistachios with cranberries is a new-to-me flavor combination and I really liked it. I've seen the combination popping up all over the place over the past few years. Sue paired cranberries with pistachios in this gorgeous bread, Aimee made biscotti, and Julie made granola bars.  I finally had to try them together for myself. The salty nuts and sweet fruit combined with the buttery brown sugar oatmeal cookie dough proved to be an irresistible combination.

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Thick and creamy clam chowder filled with plenty of potatoes, clams, and bacon is perfect for a weeknight dinner or a special occasion. This is an excellent clam chowder that rivals some of the best chowder I've ever eaten. (and yes, that includes Pike Place Chowder!)

I've tried several different clam chowder recipes over the past few years and I've never liked one enough to share it with you. However, I absolutely love this Chunky Clam Chowder; it is rich and flavorful with the clam flavor present in every bite. This is your best potato soup taken to a completely new level.

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Welcome to the first week of November, my friends! Are you getting excited about the holidays yet? I spent last weekend in Wooster, Ohio with Certified Angus Beef and ten other food bloggers. We had a blast in the Certified Angus Beef test kitchen learning more than I ever could have imagined there was to know about beef. In addition to all the beef talking, learning, cooking, and eating; I had a great time wandering through the small town and soaking up all of the gorgeous autumn leaves, cool weather, and small town window shopping.
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Crispy roasted potatoes, topped with melting cheese and plenty of crisp bacon are a great side dish for any meal. I've served these Crispy Cheese and Bacon Potatoes with eggs for breakfast and with herb roasted chicken for dinner. There is never a bite leftover.

The secret to these potatoes is an extra long roasting time and a good drizzling of bacon grease. The smoky bacon flavor is in every bite and the extra minutes in the oven leave the edges of each potato nice and crisp with a fluffy center. The recipe is really quite simple, despite the extra time in the oven. Luckily, there is very little actual work involved, making this my kind of recipe!

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Win my favorite coffee cup in the first of TEN FUN GIVEAWAYS this holiday season! I am so very excited that the holidays are finally in full swing. Less than a month is left until Thanksgiving and I can hardly wait!

I'm going to be giving away one of my favorite things every week through the end of the year. I'm almost done shopping for my family and I'm ready to have fun finding some of my very favorite things to give away.
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