Peanut Butter S'mores Bars

Who doesn't love s'mores? I do but I don't want to have to have a campfire to enjoy them.

I took a recipe for candy I used to make as a kid and turned it into the filling for these decadent s'mores bars. The peanut butter adds lots of flavor and makes the filling very creamy and smooth. These are so rich, one bar is more than enough for the biggest sweet tooth.

Here's the article.

Simple Chicken Stir Fry

I love this stir fry because it is so simple.

Usually I make a sauce and toss it with all the stir fry ingredients but because this uses Thai Chili Sauce I drizzle it on afterwards so that I can control the spice level. 

Use leftover chicken, slice a few peppers and zucchini then you're pretty much done except for the cooking. 

Here are the instructions.

Life Lessons From Iowa Chefs

Want to know what lessons chefs learn from their careers? I asked ten chefs from around Iowa that exact question. Here is what they said!

Sausage & Pepper Foil Packs

I love foil packs during grilling season. This sausage and pepper foil pack takes four ingredients and is great with grilled potatoes, sweet corn or grilled vegetables.

In the winter I take these same ingredients, saute them in a cast iron skillet and toss it with pasta.

Here's the recipe.

Summer Fun in Des Moines

I was asked to write an article about 15 places to take kids this summer. It was fun to research different places and realize how many places I still need to take the kids.

The kids at the Ashley Okland Playground

From the list, the Jester Park Natural Playscape is one of my favorite places to take the kids (even though it says it is for kids 5 and up). I couldn't believe how big the Ashley Okland playground was - next time John is going to go with me so we can each watch a kid. Today I am going to Storytime Swim at the Altoona Aquatics Center.

I need to get to Reiman Gardens and on the next rainy day I am heading to the Valley Community Center play area.

Hope this list helps you enjoy the dog days of summer!

It's Sweet Corn Season!

I'm so glad sweet corn season is here!

I've been testing ways to cook corn on the cob for the last month so the article could run right before sweet corn is available from Iowa growers. The good news is you get to see the results. The bad news is that I was using trucked in, not as good sweet corn.

I will say, out of all the methods, microwaving was awesome. I had never cooked sweet corn in the microwave before and it was fast and delicious. It made my mediocre corn taste like it was just picked from the field.

So here you go...Three ways ot make and top sweet corn.