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“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou To win the holidays one should spend a lot of time with friends and family and spend zero dollars. Yeah, that's extreme. We’ve already lost, especially since most gatherings are going to include food (we've all felt the effects of higher food costs so no explanation is needed there). Secondly, the holidays are about giving. We give thanks on Thanksgiving for all the blessings we have received. On Christmas, we give thanks with the focus of honoring God giving us the greatest gift of all. For those people who can truly stop at giving love and thanks, you are strong and admired. However, some of us can't help giving monetary gifts as well. Nothing wrong with this. We love it. And since I think we can agree, that most of us probably aren't going to win the holidays by 0 dollars spent, can we consider winning as coming away from the holidays with a cheerful heart and not in debt? After all, monetary gifts can make people feel blessed as well, but finding the right balance for the giver and receiver is key. To honor this goal, we put together a list of things we have tried and will implement in our holiday budget lives. Top Ten How To Win The Holidays List: Set a gift budget! If you have a yearly budget for the holidays, ask yourself if it needs to be adjusted. Creating budgets helps us to see what we can and can’t afford. They are the hard truths that can help remove the blinders when we want to splurge. Take the first step and create a budget, but the hardest part will be sticking to it. We use Excel for our budgets, but here are some great budget templates out there if you need them. Shop early to avoid big receipt shocks! A co-worker said she aims to buy a present each time she's out grocery shopping (starting months out) to avoid the big trips and lots of expenses at a time. This can also help space out the expense by paychecks. Don't be afraid or ashamed to ask not to exchange gifts! When you exchange with different friend groups, co-workers, and extended family, that all adds up quickly. Maybe opt for a friend night out or a cookie exchange. Yes, money may still be spent, but the friend night out could be in the future when you've built your savings back up. New traditions are always fun. Give out-of-season gifts! These items are usually on sale and that season will be here soon enough. For example, buy spring/summer clothes or water toys on sale for your grandkids in August. By the time December comes, they've only got 4-5 months before they are wearing them. If they're going somewhere warm for spring break it's only 3 months away. Or reverse it. Buy a discount sled in March and tuck it away. Now you bought out of season, but your gift will be in season when they get it. Acts of Service! If you have a special skill like cutting hair, doing nails, or changing the oil on a car these would make great gifts. I remember many times my mom would gift haircuts, perms, etc. to friends and family for the holidays. Homemade gifts! These especially come in handy if you have kiddos and need teacher gifts, bus driver gifts, afterschool childcare workers, coaches, etc. you want to make feel special without breaking your wallet. What makes creating special gifts fun for us is making them together along with our mom. We pick a day, get some carry-out, turn on a Christmas playlist, and get to work. It turns into a DIY party. Here are some of the homemade gifts we have had fun making: cookies, soap, fudge, eggnog, and pineapple lemonade “moonshine”. Home Adventure Coupons! If kids can gift homemade coupon books, so can we. These are great gifts to utilize for those 2+ weeks off from school during Christmas break. Camping in the living room with the old school sheet tents. They even have small indoor flames for smores roasting. Of course, the microwave or your oven will also work great. Movie night with a concession theme food menu Game nights - not just board games, don't forget the games like hide and seek and flashlight tag Social Media Night - Learn some family-friendly TikTok dances, and partake in some of the silly challenges out there. You don't have to post the videos, but they will surely be worth filming and keeping for your private memories. 8. Experiences! When my God goddaughters were younger, I quickly realized presents can easily get overshadowed, but memories last a lifetime. So I swapped out Christmas and Birthday gifts for experiences. Even now that they are 18 and soon to be 16, the prime gift card/money age, I still try to do experiences. Most of the time our Christmas outing includes ice-skating, the Nutcracker Ballet, and/or doing Christmas lights and dinner. Experiences are highly recommended not just for the memories, but because it’s something you can do around Christmas or months out when you have more time to recoup your expenses. This year, one experience we are doing is a Gingerbread house-building party with food and friends because teens can’t be without their friends for too long (wink, wink). Other experience ideas we’ve done or are planning to do: new restaurants, movies, water parks this summer, museums ( even better if you go on the free days like MLK Day or other holidays that offer free admissions - time, gas, and feeding them still cost money) 9. Gift things you were already going to buy! If you normally go on a summer vacation wrap a picture of that. If you know your kid needs a new bat or softball glove, then that would be perfect. 10. Change the rules! Limit the amount of presents your kids get. This may be easier done when your kids are smaller, but no matter the age they'll fall in line. A friend of ours limits their kids to 5 gifts each. You could do this and figure out what the right number is for your kids. This is not to say your kids aren't getting expensive gifts that still add up, but we love this idea because it helps kids look at quality versus quantity. Our friend also heavily focuses on Jesus as the reason for the season. As He should be. Another idea comes from a social media family. They have their kids create a list with something they want, need, and can read. There are some fun traditions out there! Bonus #11: Don’t buy Christmas decorations too early! We try not to buy any additional Christmas decorations until we’ve put our old decorations up. This helps us to only focus on purchasing items that we really want in rooms or areas that need a little more cheer. If you can afford a no-spending limit Christmas and that's what makes you happy, go for it. This is for those of us who want to go big w/o gifters remorse. We are not specialists by far. However, these are just our thoughts on how we can help ourselves now and as we grow our families down the line. We would love to hear from anyone who practices any of these ideas or has any original ideas. If we get any, we'll share with the group in next week's email. Need holiday gifts or yummy recipes for yourself? Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

Sorry, this post isn't actually about Harry Potter. We just thought this photo of us representing our respective HP houses was a fun Halloween photo! What this post is about is how we approach and celebrate Halloween as followers of Jesus. We invite you to read and we invite you into our conversation! For many of us deciding on whether or not to celebrate or in our case how to celebrate Halloween, can be daunting. It can cause us to question whether we are being too stringent in trying to change too much or too flippant in not changing enough. How to celebrate Halloween as Christians will most likely be a lifelong study for us and we’ve made peace with that! Some of the practices or activities we participated in, in the past are not the same activities we choose now, and the activities we choose now may not be activities we participate in, in the future. Even as sisters, we don’t have the same views on celebrating Halloween because we don’t have the same personal convictions. In the past, we’ve decorated with ghosts, spider webs, skeletons, and anything that fits the season. Now we give a little more thought to the Halloween decor we bring into our home and it normally falls into the category of fall. We carved pumpkins growing up and we’ve had discussions about whether we would carve now or in the future. Keyen is leaning on the side of yes and I (Ricca) am leaning on the side of no. The history behind carving pumpkins is worth looking into. Questioning if we can truly change the root meaning of a tradition is what has us conflicted in our decisions. Our personal opinions around Halloween are minor and while we enjoy having conversations like this, we try our best to refrain from judgment and we keep an open mind as we discuss each other’s convictions. If we have a strong conviction towards a certain practice, we respect each other by not questioning those convictions. What’s important is that Jesus remains at the center of our lives and that we are constantly and consistently being transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. (Romans 12:2) 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 NIV) In Matthew 5:13-16, following The Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus provides us with The Beatitudes, we are given two metaphors to describe how we are to be on earth and in the world. The verse in which believers are called to be the salt of the earth reminds us to be grounded in who we are as Christians. If we don't lose our saltiness, we are useful. The verse in which believers are called to be the light of the world reminds us to be in the world, not to hide. So as we celebrate a non-Christian holiday we keep these verses in mind. We celebrate Halloween mindfully and we have fun. Below are a few of our favorite Halloween traditions. Halloween Open House When Keyen and I were younger, we would always make sure to stop at Mrs. Marlene's house for homemade caramel popcorn. She would only give the homemade treats to those she knew (for safety) and it made us feel special. One year we went to our neighbor’s house and were invited inside for the first time to pick from her treat table. The table was decorated so nicely and was filled with candy and all kinds of other homemade goodies. We had some of the best sugar cookies, ever, and the experience was one we will never forget. A few years later, we also started making Halloween treats to share with neighbors and friends. The treats have evolved throughout the years and sometimes strangers will even take us up on our offer to eat homemade treats. This open house-style Halloween night allows for more conversation and good memories with people we don’t always get to see regularly. Trick or Treating Now that Keyen has a little one, we are tabling our Halloween open house for this year and he will be trick-or-treating for the first time! Keyen set boundaries around his Halloween costume, nothing evil and demonic, so he chose a good guy from one of his favorite video games. One thing I observed as an auntie was how well she taught him how to use his manners and made sure to thank each person who was passing out at our community trunk-or-treat. I look forward to walking around the neighborhoods in our community and making memories with the two of them! Food! Lastly, Halloween is a good day to make delicious food for your family and/or friends! For us, we make a version of our childhood church’s slightly sweet beef chili sauce. Every year our church had a Hallelujah party in lieu of a Halloween party. We dressed up (holy costumes encouraged) played games, ate candy, and were served the most delicious chili dogs and chips! Thankfully a church member was able to provide us with a recipe years later that we adapted only slightly. You can check out that recipe here! What food traditions do you have on Halloween that you look forward to every year? Let us know in the comment section below! Looking for fall recipes? Purchase our fall cookbook today! This blog post will probably live on our website for a long time. We will probably update it every year and that’s okay with us. We are learning theology is a lifelong practice. We will be studying God’s revelation for our entire lives within a community and with faith. So let us know in the comments below what you think of this blog post. Do you celebrate Halloween? What traditions do you have? Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

Growing up our church served chili dogs for our annual Hallelujah party. The chili sauce was unlike any that we ate at home or in restaurants. It has a slight sweetness and tang that compliments the saltiness of hot dogs so well. Thankfully as adults, 20 years later we were able to track down the recipe from a church member. We adapted the recipe only slightly and now we make it from time to time on Halloween! This recipe has quite a few ingredients but is super easy to make. Allow about 2-3 hours to cook the sauce on low so it's flavorful and perfectly thick for topping hotdogs. Looking for other seasonal recipes? Check out our Fall, Winter, and Spring & Summer Cookbooks! Chili Beef Sauce Serves 6 Prep time: 10-15 minutes Cook Time: 2 -3 hours Ingredients 1 lb ground beef (80/20) ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion 10 oz tomato sauce ¼ cup ketchup ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground black pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. onion powder 1 TBS mild chili powder 1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce 1 TBS prepared yellow mustard 1 TBS plus 1 ½ tsp. brown sugar (we prefer dark but you can use light) 1 TBS balsamic vinegar 1 cup beef broth Pre-Prep: Chop onions and measure ingredients. Directions: In a medium-large saucepan or pot, cook ground beef with onions until brown. If you prefer, drain excess grease but do not rinse. Return the meat and onions to the pot and add the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 2-3 hours or until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. You can also put the cooked ground beef with the remaining ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 2-4 hours. Serve on top of hotdogs and add cheese or your favorite chilidog toppings. Enjoy! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

Fall is in full glow here in Indiana and we love it! We soak up every season by planning activities to do together and with family and friends so that we don't miss out on the uniqueness of each season! We picked 12 of our favorite fall activities to write about in more detail. Hopefully, this will inspire you to partake in some of these activities or create your own! 1. Visit the Apple orchard. Visiting an apple orchard is one of the first things we do in the fall time, sometimes even a week or two before the first day of Fall. We have a lot of great orchards in our area so it’s not a problem to spend 2-3 hours picking apples, talking, and checking out the other fun attractions. This fall try some new flavors to pair with your apple dishes! Walnut oil, lemon juice, and thyme are fantastic flavors for an apple vinaigrette. Caramelized apples and onions, gouda, whole grain mustard, and ham make an amazing toasted sandwich. Chipotle peppers, garlic, onion, and ginger are some tasty spices for a sweet and spicy apple chutney. You can also add brown butter to an apple pie filling to add richness and depth! 2. Make an apple pie There are so many apple pie recipes and variations. I (Ricca) love to make and eat apple pie, ironically, I don’t have a recipe written out. One method I use when preparing my apple pie is to make a thick and tasty filling first. This means I slice my apples in thicker slices, and cook them quickly in butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, water, and spices. I also incorporate a slurry (equal parts cornstarch and cold water) so that I know my apple pie will not be too dry or wet and will have the perfect amount of seasonings before baking. We think an apple pie recipe to share on our website is definitely going to be a must! 3. Pop fresh popcorn on the stove. Corn cobs begin to dry in the fall season and are harvested so the drying process can continue, making the kernels we use at home for popping. We love popping fresh kernels on the stove in oil, clarified butter, or a little bacon grease, a not-so-healthy but delicious hack we learned from our uncle. Can you believe that the same seeds we can use for popping can still be planted for corn? I (Ricca) did an experiment with the girls I work with and we had tall shoots within a week! Check out the photo below! 4. Visit Cracker Barrel on a cold day when their fireplace is on. We don’t eat at Cracker Barrel often but when we do, we like to go when it’s cold enough so the fireplace is on. Refraining from going during high peak times helps to ensure we get prime fireplace seating. Cozy food with a cozy environment, cannot be beat! 5. Make caramel apples or caramel popcorn. Those apples from the orchard make tasty caramel apples and the popcorn popped on the stove with extra salt makes caramel corn that is out of this world! 6. Go hiking in a state park. Fall time is a great time to go on a light hike or walk. Taking in the beauty of fall while being active outside is so nice. It makes getting a warm meal or drink after so much sweeter. 7. Bake pumpkin bread. Of course, this is a must in the fall. Pumpkin bread can be very high in calories so we’ve made a healthier version that you can find here. Try it out and let us know what you think! 8. Bake, bake, bake. Why is baking so much fun when the weather is colder? Getting up earlier in the morning (for Ricca) or staying up later (for Keyen) with cozy music and lighting is a favorite activity for us! Check out some of our favorite fall recipes in our cookbook. Link below! 9. Create a new soup recipe. We eat a lot of soups when it’s cold so we make it our goal to create a new recipe each season. Often times we start with heavier comfort foods like shepherd's pie, chicken alfredo, lasagna, or burritos then see if we can turn those dishes into veggie-packed soups! We can then eat the soup during the week or freeze leftovers for guilt-free lunches and dinners! Did you know? We have soup recipes on our website! Check them out here. 10. Host a chili cook-off. One of our favorite gatherings that we’ve hosted has been a chili cook-off! We had about 4 people who made chili and the other guests brought their favorite chili toppings, sides, or desserts. Everyone voted with dollar bills for their favorite chili. This helped the chili makers get some of their money back and was a fun way to vote anonymously! It was such an easy event to set up for and host. The entire gathering took place outside and the competitive edge to the event made for good conversation all evening and into the night around the fire! Have you ever tried Oreos with your chili? That's how a family friend likes it! She brought that as her chili side dish! 11. Host an outdoor tailgate party. We don’t have an outdoor TV but we do have a smart TV and extension chord that we’ve taken outside on our mom’s deck to watch movies and games outside! Whether it's just a few of us or a crowd watching the game in the cool weather with the fall leaves, warm foods, and blankets can be a lot of fun. 12. Grill with seasonal veggies and flavors. We grill all year round. Each season offers opportunities to try new flavors on the grill! Check out this blog post for some fall grilling inspo! We hope you enjoyed reading a little more about how we celebrate fall! If you haven't already, we hope you will sign up for our weekly email list by following this link. We'd love to hear about your fall traditions. Please leave us a comment below! Our cookbooks make great holiday and hosting gifts, check them out by clicking the link below! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

It is the beginning of September, the first of the “-ber” months, and the only one where we have both summer and fall! In more ways than one, we are entering into a new season. Both of us have experienced huge life changes! We will have updates to share regarding a new job, new schools, and a new family member in the weeks to come! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. We would love the opportunity to pray for you too. Send us an email anytime at hello@yellowhousevibes.com. As our lives go from one season to the next, the same is happening with the weather. If ya’ll are like us it’s kinda hard being stuck in the in-between. A part of us is already missing the warm heat of summer and all of its fun activities and the other is excitedly waiting for fall to get here with its breathtaking colors and crisp weather. We like to give this in-between time its proper place and so we reserved some activities to help us celebrate the transitioning of seasons! Keep reading to hear what we plan to do to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall! Worship! “He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.” Psalm 104:19 (ESV) Each change of the season is an opportunity to pause and give glory to God for His beautiful creation. The more we have grown in our faith, the more we have grown in appreciation of God’s provision for us to know Him in all of creation. If you want to experience the changes of the season like never before, we encourage you to do it with God. Below are some ways that we are prioritizing God and His Lordship over this fall season and our lives. 1. Pray, study, and worship! Setting time aside every day to pray and study God’s word is so important to our lives. We need time alone with God for counsel, refreshment, and direction. In this season of evident change, ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the magnificence of creation like you haven’t before. When the weather is nice, take your alone time outside and meditate on how all of creation was made to give glory to God! "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created." Psalm 148:1-5 (NASB 1995) 2. Nurture your relationships! As we are all settling into new routines and slowing down from active summers, this is a great time to connect or reconnect with your community through studying the Bible together. Warm up the apple cider and attend or start a Bible study with friends. If you want to study along with Ricca at Dallas Theological Seminary this semester, check out their list of free courses here. 3. Praise the Lord! Thank God for whatever season of life you are in, and have faith! We can testify that having faith and hoping for what we cannot yet see, even through difficult times, has revealed the goodness of God in our lives. Romans 8:28-29 tells us: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;" Romans 8:28–29 (NASB 1995) Trust that no matter how difficult your season is, if you love and are walking with the Lord, you will see it work for your good! We encourage you to seek Him with all of your heart and conform to the image of Christ, so you don’t miss out on what He is revealing to you in your season. It is easy to be distracted by the fun of fall, no doubt that our world has put fall on a pedestal, however, we promise that when you make God the center of your life, you will reap an abundance of spiritual blessings that will last a lifetime! Food! We would not be us if we didn’t incorporate some fall-to-summer food traditions. Even though we are big believers that grilling is for every season, even winter, summer is by far the biggest grilling season. We do a lot of summertime grilling, so much so that towards the start of fall, our taste buds are ready for new flavors. Here are some suggestions for your September grill. 1. Grilled Peaches! Pit and split peaches in half and sprinkle with brown sugar and spices like cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and a hint of chili powder. Lightly brush your grill and grill peaches on both sides on low for 2-5 minutes. We also like ours topped with marshmallows for a healthy dessert! 2. Mix it Up! Try skewers of your favorite summer and autumn squashes (e.g. zucchini, acorn, and butternut squashes) with chunks of sage sausage, sweet onions, and bell peppers. Use your favorite seasoning blend and oil on the veggies and grill on medium heat until the veggies and sausage are done. 3. It's Corn! Make a quick compound butter combining salted butter with coriander, cayenne, cumin, and garlic, to taste. Then, slather the butter on fresh grilled corn. You can top it with fresh cilantro, parsley, or chives if you choose! 4. Grilled Turkey! Turkey gets its proper shine in November but we like to throw it on the summer grill with summer and autumn seasonings for a fun combo! Slice turkey breast into thin pieces and marinated for a couple of hours with a combination of olive, lemon juice, thyme, garlic, salt, tarragon, cracked black pepper, and a pinch of sugar then grill to perfection. Home! We’ve been counting down the days until the fall decorations go up and the pumpkin spice candles get lit. However, we just can’t put up new decorations and make our homes extra cozy without a deep cleaning. So while the the weather is still a little warm don’t settle in too quickly without doing some cleaning and reorganizing around your place. Here are some ideas to get your home “fallified” while the weather is still warm! 1. Clean it up! Turn on the music, put a lemon, cinnamon, and apple simmer pot on, and get started by de-cluttering your rooms, dusting behind furniture, and sealing up any cracks or spaces that will welcome cold drafts or critters. For a more comprehensive fall home preparation list check out these sites: https://www.homesandgardens.com/gardens/how-do-i-prepare-my-home-for-fall https://www.marthastewart.com/8310344/fall-home-maintenance-tips 2. Freshen Up! Open up your screened windows to let fresh air in. We make good use of the chilly but not too cold days and evenings in September to open our windows and let in the fresh air. 3. Decorations Up! Celebrate your hard work by putting up your old decorations and if you can, treat yourself to a few new items. New fall decorations don’t have to break the bank! Check out garage sales and craft and discount stores, before purchasing more expensive items. There are also tons of fall craft ideas on the internet using items found at dollar stores. A budget-friendly fall crafting party is a fun way to host a simple gathering with friends, in your newly cleaned and decorated home, of course. You can even share crafting supplies! Need some entertaining recipes? Find some of ours here. Fun! Last, but certainly not least, there are a few fun activities that we make sure to do in the early days of September while the weather is the perfect blend of not too hot and not too cold! Read what we will be up to this month below! 1. Apple Season! Visiting an apple orchard is at the top of our list every year and we already marked the day in our calendar. We enjoy going on a weekday after work, not only does it break up the work week and give us something fun to look forward to, but it’s also not as busy. So we’ll scoop up a couple of our favorite little ones and hit the road to Tuttles or Pleasant View Orchard. Indiana Fam, do you have a favorite? While there, we always pick apples, and snack on apple slushies and homemade donuts. Buying cider to go is always a must. It’s the perfect ingredient for our Apple Cider refreshers. Check out the recipe on page 24 of our fall cookbook. 2. PSL Season! Drinking ICED pumpkin spiced drinks until it’s time for the hot lattes is a vibe. Saving the warm drinks for when fall is officially here is a fun way we ensure there’s much to celebrate when we are well into the cozy season. 3. Swim on! Spending the last hot days swimming with friends is one way we say goodbye to summer! Labor Day weekend was our last summer swim. We highly encourage making good use of the pool while it’s hot during the first few weeks of September. 4. Get out! Soak up the sun by walking and doing outdoor exercises in the morning and evening. We won’t be spending as much time outside when the weather is cold and windy so we appreciate the last days of summer a little more by being outside as much as we can! 5. The fun of Shopping! For us fall shopping is half looking and half buying. If we bought everything we saw in stores this season we would be sleeping in the leaves! We truly enjoy picking up items and admiring their uniqueness or fun factor and putting them back. Placing an item back on the shelves that we don’t love or won’t utilize, allows us to find items we will really appreciate. We mindfully shop for all types of items like new decorations, candles, candies for our jars, sweaters, and fall food items! We hope you are encouraged to celebrate the last days of summer and the first days of fall with us. What do you think about this special time of the year? Are you all in for one season and out for the other or are you stuck in the middle with us? No matter what side you are on, let us know what you are up to this season and what you think of the content above! Our cookbooks make great holiday and hosting gifts, check them out by clicking the link below! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

This soup is proven to be filling, easy, and full of warm and cozy flavors. Serve it with a nice salad and your favorite bread or just serve it solo, we promise you will not go wrong! Looking for some healthier swaps? Some approved substitutions include substituting, brown rice for wild rice and skim milk for half n half. You can also use any greens, like mustard, collard, spinach, or any combination for the kale! Instant Pot Approved- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Serves- 4-6 8 oz boneless skinless, chicken breast 8 oz boneless skinless, chicken thigh 1 TBS butter 1 ½ cups diced carrots, about 3 carrots 1 cup diced celery, about 3 stalks 1 cup diced yellow onion, about 1 medium yellow onion 8 oz thinly sliced mushrooms 1 TBS minced garlic 2 TBS chicken base powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp salt 3 bay leaves 1 ½ tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried rosemary 6 cups chicken broth 1 ¼ cups wild rice 3 cups chopped kale, packed ⅓ cup flour ¼ cup butter 1 ½ cups half n half Pre-Prep: Chop vegetables and measure ingredients. In your Instant or medium-large stock pot, sauteé all vegetables, except for the kale, with 1 tbs butter for 2-3 min over medium-high heat. Next add your chicken, all seasonings, broth, and rice, and stir to combine. If using an instant pot, set it to 35 min and to 10 min pressure release. If using a stock pot, turn heat to medium-low and cover to simmer for 35-40 minutes, until rice is tender. Once the time is up, remove the chicken from the pot and place it on a cutting board. Stir the kale into your soup. Next, make a roux by melting ¼ cup of butter in a medium skillet. Add flour to the butter and stir until you have a smooth paste. Add the half n half and stir until it is combined. Add this mixture to your pot and stir to incorporate. Next, shred your chicken and add it back to the soup. Allow the soup to thicken by simmering for an additional 5-10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve. We hope you enjoy this soup! If you make it, take a picture and tag us @yellowhousevibes

Colder temps call for warm and hearty foods! However, if you are like us, you want to have some comfort foods that are still healthy and nutritious that you can rely on! Our Creamy Unstuffed Cabbage stew is that dish! It is so satisfying yet completely guilt free at about 400 calories for a big bowl! You can go to the gym and come home to a nice bowl of this stew and not feel like you just ruined your hard workout. Or, eat a bowl and still feel good enough to go workout. It’s the perfect time of year to prepare this soup. Eat it leading up to a big holiday meal or after those new year resolution goals are set. Or if your tradition is to eat cabbage on New Year's Day, eat it then! Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, we like our seasonings and cabbage needs all the seasonings! Need some cold weather recipes? Check out our Winter Cookbook by clicking the link below! Creamy Unstuffed Cabbage Stew Serves: 7 Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Approximately 391 calories per serving! Ingredients 2 lbs lean, 93/7 ground beef ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion ¼ cup finely chopped celery ¼ cup finely chopped carrots ½ cup finely chopped bell peppers, whichever you prefer 2 TBS minced garlic 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper ½ cup plus 3 TBS taco seasoning 2 TBS chili powder ½ tsp oregano 1 bay leaf 4 TBS tomato paste 3- 10 oz cans tomatoes with green chilies 1- 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes 4-5 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable broth 16 cups chopped green cabbage, about 1 small green cabbage 1-8 oz. block cream cheese Pre Prep: Wash and chop vegetables. Measure ingredients. Directions: In a large heavy bottom pot, cook ground beef, onions, celery, carrots, and peppers on medium high heat. Once ground beef is cooked, drain excess grease. Return beef and vegetables to the pot and add all remaining ingredients except for the cabbage and cream cheese. Combine ingredients and add in the cabbage and simmer on low for 45 minutes to 1 hour until cabbage is tender. You will need to stir the stew occasionally during this time to allow cabbage to cook evenly. Once the cabbage is tender, stir in the cream cheese until combined and serve. You can make this stew in a crockpot. Follow the steps from above but instead of returning beef into the pot, place in your crock pot. Continue with the following steps, cooking the stew on low for approximately 2-3 hours or until cabbage is tender. Finish with adding the cream cheese within the last 30 minutes of cooking. Notes: We eat this soup for a couple of days and freeze leftovers for quick and healthy meals. We like to serve with tortilla chips or cheese quesadillas! We top this stew with hot sauce, salsa, shredded cheese, and sour cream! We think it could also be tasty and filling with brown rice! Use your favorite taco seasoning and season to taste. You may not want to use all of the taco seasoning that this recipe calls for. Season to taste! We like the stew to be thick, if you want a thinner stew, add more broth. Let us know what you think of this recipe and what toppings you would add! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

Thanksgiving is here. The older we get the more we appreciate this wonderful holiday with family, friends, and good food! We hold our traditions a little closer each year as our family changes, welcoming new members and remembering those who have passed, by keeping the parts of our traditions we can control, the same. Traditions in some ways shape parts of our identity or mirror what we value most. Our Thanksgiving for example is traditionally represented by large, very well cooked meals. By well cooked, we mean each person truly puts their soul into the food they prepare and bring. We come from a family of cooks who care about putting love and a lot of flavor into each dish and it shows. Another aspect, we have a large family and we typically have neighbors and guests come as well. Our Thanksgiving tradition reflects the part of our identity of being hospitable, creating and providing quality food, and valuing the company of those around us. So whether your holiday is not quite what you remember, or isn’t what you desire, traditions can always be picked back up, changed, and strengthened. It is our prayer that you all have a home to go to this Thanksgiving and that you allow yourself to be present with those around you! Keep reading to learn about our Thanksgiving traditions. The Macklin Family Thanksgiving We celebrate Thanksgiving with our mom’s (Macklin) side of the family. Our grandmother had 9 children so we have many aunts, uncles, and cousins to share the day with. Though we’ve had to say goodbye to our grandmother and three uncles, we all still try to gather for Thanksgiving. Traditionally, Thanksgiving (and every family gathering) is hosted at our grandmother’s yellow house. These past couple of years, with the need for more space due to Covid, we’ve had to move Thanksgiving around to different spaces. We surely miss our traditional Thanksgiving at our grandmother’s house and look forward to being able to gather there again in the future. Growing up, our grandmother would start preparing for Thanksgiving by inserting her table leaf into her already large dining room table. She would then dress it with linens and her fancy dinnerware that she displayed year round in her beautiful china cabinet our Uncle Poochie crafted for her. Every other year, we’d place food on the table to be passed around family style. We did this every other year because between our mom and aunts, they wanted a buffet style setup for easy cleanup. However, our grandmother wanted food on the table to be passed around. It was a great compromise, but if my grandma really wanted the table set that year, she got her way. As she should have! We enjoy family style serving when possible, so we must get this from Mother (also known by many others as grandma, mama, Mama Jane, Mama Jannie, Jannie, Mrs. Jannie). Need recipes for your next gathering? Check out our seasonal line of cookbooks! In our family, we make sure giving thanks is the highlight of the day. We don’t eat until we circle up for prayer. However, we will never pretend that the food isn’t also a main attraction! And when it comes to food, our family definitely throws down. We are thankful that we don’t have to cook a whole meal. Our family does a pitch-in style dinner about mid afternoon. Though we tell everyone to be there at 3, we usually eat around 4PM. Everyone knows their assignment each year, and most get an A+ on keeping with traditions. When we say most, we are talking about YOU Aunt Jean. More on her later. Our Uncle Roland and Cousin Jeramy have taken over tag teaming my grandma’s signature dressing with capon.Our grandma didn’t use recipes so there are no written instructions. We pray for them every year to get it right! It will never be the same, but some years it’s closer than others. It has become a yearly tradition for me (Keyen) to make her signature egg custard pies. Some years it's spot on and some years I want to throw them in the trash. Somehow, when my grandma would sit there and say things like, “ a little of this”, “a dash of that”, or “that’s enough”, they always came out perfect. On a positive note, those of us who have tried to duplicate some of her recipes are just thankful for the time we got in the kitchen with her to be able to come close to her cooking. Our mom makes the BEST sweet potato souffle with a pecan crumble topping. If this is not on the table I (Keyen) have no shame in saying I will throw a full out adult temper tantrum, though I’m extra thankful that my mom has never made me do this because I have no idea of how that would look, ha! Our Aunt Brenda does the greens, mac n cheese, pecan pies, chocolate pecan pies and no bake cheesecake. Aunt Theresa, brings her famous hashbrown casserole and our Cousin Willandra always makes her cheesy vegetable casserole. Aunt Jean usually brings her corn casserole (some call it corn pudding). I say, usually, because sometimes she likes to abort the mission. She’s also the green bean, sweet potato pie, and banana pudding bringing aunt. Since we know our Aunt Jean and her tendencies to shake things up on us, we usually call her a month or so out to express our need for her to maintain tradition. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes we have to lay on the pity. Last year, we were too late calling her. She had bought the ham and added a new dessert to her list and threw out the corn casserole. With corn casserole being another dinner side necessity, I made it myself. Honestly, it didn’t taste as good as hers, so I’m hoping to use that as an honest excuse for her to reclaim it. Those are the main side staples, but occasionally someone will throw in a surprise side dish. A few years ago, our cousin introduced us to cornbread salad and it was amazing and has been highly requested ever since. We typically have the smaller accompaniments like gravy and canned cranberry sauce (my grandma loved the canned version), but last year we created a Red Wine Cranberry Sauce recipe. Get it by clicking the link below! It is so good and so easy to make. Click Here: Red Wine Cranberry Sauce Recipe Rounding out the Macklin Thanksgiving table are the meats, including capon, honey ham, and turkey! We have to say, turkey was not always a dish on our table (shocking I know) because we had the capon on the top of the dressing and plenty of glazed spiral ham. To us, turkey wasn’t really missing until it was done right! Every once in a while, young chef Ricca, would take a stab at making various turkey renditions. They were all pretty good, better than average at least. BUT, it wasn’t until our Cousin Richie and our Uncle Richard brought their cajun injected, cajun rubbed, juicy, fried turkey to the table, everything changed! Their fried turkey is absolutely delicious and it made turkey lovers out of this family! Now, fried turkey is an absolute must have! We hope they keep this father and son tradition alive, for our sake! Shoutout as well to our Cousin Jeff for smoking an amazing turkey last year as well! We hope both turkey versions will show up this year! So what do we make? Well it varies. We mainly head up the dessert committee and fill in any emergency side dish gaps that may arise. For example, following our own advice from our 5 Tips to Help You Prepare for Thanksgiving blog, we did our check-in calls/texts to make sure everything was accounted for. In doing so, we realized nobody had gotten the ham this year. So, Keyen will be baking that off. Back to dessert talk. Thanks to a video from last year, we can recall all the food and desserts we had. Here’s a run down of the desserts (most desserts are there every year, but a few were brought by new guests): mini sugar cream pies egg custard pies sweet potato pie pecan pie chocolate pecan pie red velvet cake banana pudding no bake strawberry cheesecake peach cobbler cranberry jello mold carrot cake cinnamon rolls After we’ve all gotten uncomfortably full, we muster up the strength for wine and dessert. While the food is definitely the star of the show and this blog, during this time, we pull out the cards for spades, board games, and Black Friday shopping ads. We sit around and tell stories, laugh, talk, and just continue to enjoy each other’s company. We never know how big or small our Thanksgiving will be year to year, but we always know it’s going to be a good time with loved ones and we are so thankful for that. So what would you throw an adult temper tantrum for, if it’s not on your Thanksgiving table? We know Keyen is not the only one! Let us know in the comments below. Not sure what to make or bring? We have several free recipes on our blog that we think you will love! Check it out here: Yellow House Vibes Free Recipes Our cookbooks make great holiday and hosting gifts, check them out by clicking the link below! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

What are you bringing to Thanksgiving dinner? Do you stay home or gather somewhere with family and friends? Is your gathering large or small? Do you prepare the whole meal or is it pitch-in style? Do you eat early around lunch or closer to dinner time? So many questions and so many possible answers. Regardless of what you do, we have some tips to help relieve some of your holiday cooking stresses. There are many guides out there on how to prepare Thanksgiving dinner months to many weeks in advance. We put together a list of what we feel is a little more realistic for us. It falls within the 1-2 week range. Menu First things first. Get your menu together and coordinate with all family members and friends who will be celebrating with you. Figure out what everyone is planning to bring to ensure there are no duplicates, yet everything you want! If you’re like our family, then you have loved ones who bring the same food every year, because everyone loves it. They are the real MVPs of the day. Double check on them and make sure they are still planning to keep with tradition. You may think they wouldn’t dare stray away from tradition, but sadly we have been victims of this. We have an upcoming blog about our family Thanksgiving menu and traditions, where we share about our aunt who sometimes likes to abort the mission. It can happen to your family too (LOL). Make those calls! Need recipes for your next gathering? Check out our seasonal line of cookbooks! A Clean Refrigerator and Freezer We believe that before you make your grocery list and go shopping, you should clean out your refrigerator and your freezer. Cleaning out your refrigerator and freezer gives you space to store pre-prepped food, while readying space for all your leftovers. In our opinion, cooking in a clean kitchen automatically brightens the vibe. You'll want to get this done in advance so you’re not cleaning the same day you have to cook. Then, you only have one cleanup session that day rather than two. Cleaning can also help you save money. You can take inventory of what you already have and won’t spend money on accidentally duplicating ingredients. Haven’t we all been in the store debating on if we need to replenish something and end up making the wrong choice? Then, we’re left to suffer the consequences of not buying it and needing it, or we buy it when we already have it. Save money and save stress by cleaning and organizing. Shopping Start making your grocery list at least 1-2 weeks in advance. There are some ingredients that you should think about buying ahead of time. Food items like pie crust, specialty milks (like buttermilk), sour cream, cream cheese, and frozen potatoes (especially potatoes O'Brien) are sometimes at a shortage the closer to the holidays we get. If those are staples for you, get those as early as you can. While we love a pick-up order, we wouldn't rely on this method for scoring our holiday cooking necessities! Getting all the way home and realizing they gave you broken pie crusts would be a disaster. There may not be a shortage of turkeys or other meats, but if you want the best pick of size and price, then get them early. You don’t want to be stuck paying for a massive turkey or ham when you only need to feed a few people. Or, cooking multiple small birds to feed the masses. While food will rightfully consume your mind, here are some none food items that can often be forgotten from the list. It comes in handy to have extra storage bags, freezer bags, foil, throw away containers, and disposable pans for cooking! Prepping & Cooking What can you prepare ahead of the best feasting day of the year? Depending on your menu, most people will be able to make everything ahead of Thursday, BUT we don’t recommend being that much of an overachiever. Some dishes just taste better when made the day of your dinner. You can make things like pie crusts, pies, cakes, and sauces months ahead and store in the freezer. You’ll just unthaw them 1-2 days in the refrigerator and re-heat before serving. If you freeze custard pies, don’t reheat those in the oven. Serve those at room temp. Or you can store baked goods and home made sauces in the refrigerator up to 3 days! You can also chop veggies and fruits ahead of time and store these in your refrigerator for approximately 3 days. Just remember to wrap or cover them well and keep potatoes covered with fresh water. On Thanksgiving you’ll want to cook your meats, mashed potatoes, bread, macaroni and cheese, dressing (stuffing) and other side items. You can prep your mashed potato ingredients, but warm buttery mashed potatoes taste best when prepared the day of. Same with sides like mac n' cheese, green bean casserole and sweet potato soufflé, assemble these the day before and bake off the day of. Truthfully, they can be prepared a couple days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until it's baking time. When it comes to mac n' cheese, yes you can do your noodles and cheese mixture and have it ready to go in a pan 1-2 days out and bake it on Thanksgiving. We suggest starting Thanksgiving morning with the items that take the longest to cook, like a roasted turkey or baked ham. If you didn't prepare your desserts in advance, go ahead and tackle those next. Especially any that need refrigeration time. Next, move on to assembling your casseroles (if you haven't already) and bake these as close to dinner time as possible. While your oven is full, go ahead and make appetizers so those are ready when guests arrive and prep any quick sides like salads. Lastly, if you serve wine, it may be time to chill your white wines and let your red wines breathe on the counter. Hospitality Almost as important as the meal on Thanksgiving, are leftovers. If you can, prepare enough for guests to take some leftovers with them. Those extra storage bags and foil will come in handy here! Last, but not least, is there anyone you can invite to your dinner? Maybe your elderly neighbors who can’t cook a big meal anymore or someone who doesn’t have family nearby to celebrate with. There could be a co-worker estranged from their family who would love to spend extra time with you. Perhaps, a community member you’ve come to know would be thankful for an invite to your gathering. If it’s on your heart to bless someone, we want to encourage you to do so. We’ve learned when you’re looking to bless someone, you usually end up being blessed by their presence just as much as they're blessed by yours. We are so thankful to God for our family and friends that we will get to share the day with and we thank God for all of you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Not sure what to make or bring? We have several free recipes on our blog that we think you will love! Check it out here: Yellow House Vibes Free Recipes Our cookbooks make great holiday and hosting gifts, check them out by clicking the link below! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

Read what we did and our completely honest review of our sister trip to Asheville, North Carolina from our hometown of Shelbyville, Indiana. We left early in the morning on Saturday, October 15th and returned around 8PM on Tuesday, October 18th. To the Mountains, We Went! Keyen and I (Ricca) took weeks to decide on where to go for fall break this year. One thing we could agree upon was that we wanted to see A Pretty Place in Cleveland, South Carolina. Cleveland wasn't too far from Asheville so that's where we decided to stay plus we've always wanted to go. We spent more time than we want to admit trying to find where exactly to stay in Asheville. We took a recommendation from a friend to stay at the Country Inn and Suites by Radisson on Tunnel Road. It was a great budget friendly hotel about 7 minutes away from downtown and about 7 minutes away from the Biltmore entrance. We had a hot tub, complimentary breakfast, fairly nice rooms, and great service but we think we will try a different place next time with different amenities and right downtown. Keep reading to hear what we did on each day of our trip. Day 1: We spent most of the day traveling and enjoying the scenic mountain views. The weather was amazing and we had plenty to talk about which made the time fly by! We drove through the University of Tennessee, Knoxville hoping to eat at Guss’s Good Time Deli. We have never had it, but in doing a food search, we decided it was just what we needed. Unfortunately, UT had a football game against Alabama (of all teams). So needless to say, when we drove up, the line to Guss’s was out the door. They take their football seriously! There were fans of all ages everywhere covered in orange! It was neat to compare other college towns to our alma mater, IU. We got back on the road and made a stop at a local Mexican restaurant outside of Knoxville for lunch. The service was so quick and the food was super fresh, we may start making Mexican restaurant food stops a road trip tradition! We arrived at our hotel in the evening, checked in, got settled, and took an Uber downtown. Parking isn't normally too terrible so this was the only time we needed to take an Uber. Saturday night was extra busy for the fall tourist season, a downtown concert, and college football. We ended the night with drinks at the Hilton Garden Inn’s rooftop bar and lots of walking around the very, very busy streets of Asheville for food. We wound up having probably one of our worst dining experiences at the Bier Garden. The restaurant and bar was too busy, to the point they shouldn’t have sat us. Our food arrived under seasoned, not hot, overcooked, and about 1 ½ hours late. Had it not already been our last food choice, we would have left. The saving grace was that the manager was apologetic and did what he could to make it right. Day 2: Sunday was spent at the Biltmore Estate where we toured the gardens, house, and Antler Village. We learned a lot about the history of the home and the Vanderbilt family. The house was gigantic, carefully designed and beautiful in its own way. Built in 1895, we still had rooms that we loved and could see in our own modern homes. Fall was a great time to visit for the trees and mountain views but the gardens didn’t provide all of the lush beauty that it would have in spring or summer. So if you’re thinking about going and the gardens are the highlight for you, do a late spring or summer trip. The Biltmore Estate felt more like a resort to us. The Antler Village was separate from the mansion but still within the “estate” and required about a 5 mile drive to go back and forth. The Antler village contained lodging, an ice cream shop, winery, farm, restaurants, a playground, plenty of outdoor seating, live entertainment, and shops. We had a late lunch at Cedric’s Tavern. The food was good and cozy on the cool afternoon. For an appetizer we ordered a meat pie. For entrees, Keyen ordered the shepherd’s pie and I (Ricca) ordered the house made sausage, colcannon potatoes, and buttered peas. We don’t normally order dessert when eating out but we couldn’t pass up trying the purple sweet potato pie, being sweet potato pie aficionados ourselves. It was a unique take on a deconstructed sweet potato pie but we didn’t enjoy it and couldn’t recommend it. The pie didn’t have the rich flavors we anticipated and we definitely wanted the traditional crust. The cranberry sauce was good on its own, very fragrant, but didn’t complement the pie very well. The toasted marshmallow was fun and helped to even out the other flavors while adding much needed sweetness to the pie. Shameless plug, checkout our Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie recipe on page of our Fall Cookbook. We would recommend Cedric’s as a whole. We imagine their fish and chips would be pretty tasty too! We did suffice our sweet tooth before we left by getting a 1/2 scoop of banana pudding and a 1/2 scoop of vanilla ice cream from the ice cream shop. Though the ice cream shop serves Hershey's ice cream, the vanilla ice cream was a recipe from the original Biltmore creamery. The estate had a dairy back in the day that also also served ice cream. We finished Day 2 with a dip in the hotel hot tub while chatting up a kind mother and daughter pair, and picked up pizza from Harvest Pizzeria. Sadly the pizza was a disappointment. It had barely any sauce and around 6 tiny pepperonis on the whole pizza. We ordered meatballs with polenta also. The meatballs and marinara were okay but the polenta was old, cold, tasteless, and stiff. Day 3: We woke up around 5 AM this morning to take a trip to Cleveland South Carolina to visit Pretty Place Chapel. The chapel is a part of the YMCA Camp Greenville and it has a truly breathtaking view of the mountains. We caught a gorgeous sunrise and took in the beauty of God’s creation. When we returned to Asheville we decided to have brunch at Tupelo Honey. This was a more well known restaurant we found on the Food Network site and was then also recommended by a friend and the hotel concierge. Not to be a couple of “Debby Food Downers” but Tupelo Honey was not a win in our book. The chicken was dry and very under seasoned, like no seasoning at all. The potatoes were nice and crispy (loved that aspect) but no seasoning. The fried green tomatoes were hot and fresh but very under seasoned….you see a trend here? The biscuits were good but we weren’t in the mood for a harder savory biscuit so it didn’t quite do the job. The tables near us had waffles and they looked really good. Hopefully the restaurant's other dishes were better. From Tupelo Honey we checked out a few local shops, art galleries, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and I got a delicious latte with cinnamon, cayenne, and brown butter caramel syrup from High Five Coffee. The latte was amazing and something I want to go back for already! We headed back to our hotel, but not before stopping by Mary’s Mountain Cookies for jumbo cookies to take with us. We crashed for a couple of hours before heading back out in search of another perfect sunset location. Scroll below to see some photos! This last night was probably one of our favorites in Asheville. We went to the top of the AC Hotel, known for its tapas menu, cocktails, and having one of the best views of the sunset in Asheville. I ordered a margarita with honey shrub, bee pollen, and black salt and we shared the really tasty Cerdo Pan Plano (flat bread) at the Capella on 9 restaurant and bar while we watched the sunset and discussed business. After some time at the rooftop bar, we headed out to the car to get our winter coats (smart Indiana girls we are) and walked around Asheville some more checking out local shops, music, and restaurant menus. We had already made reservations at Strada Italiano but we fell in love with the menu from Dilbar. A restaurant specializing in Indian street food. This will probably be the first restaurant we visit on our next trip back! Our dinner reservations for Strada were at 8:45PM and it felt like a perfect way to end a chilly, slower fall night in Asheville. The Italian restaurant was dimly lit and cozy. The comfort food hit the spot! We split perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and cheesy on the inside, arancini with red sauce and balsamic reduction, and ciabatta bread. For our entrees we both ordered La Falda alla Panna and split grilled chicken and Italian sausages. Keyen ordered a side of broccolini that was seasoned and grilled to perfection. I ordered a side of their Bolognese sauce, because I love a good Bolognese, but in my opinion there wasn’t enough depth…sigh! However, that definitely did not stop us from saying Strada provided our best meal in Asheville. Their homemade pasta is top notch. If you plan a trip, definitely make a reservation. We definitely ended our Asheville trip on a high note. We had a great time but we couldn’t do all that we anticipated. We would love to visit again to check out more restaurants, coffee shops, the arts district, and a spa! On the way home we made a quick stop in Lexington KY to visit family. It was the cherry on top of the trip! We hope you enjoyed our Asheville trip itinerary and review! In the comment section below, please let us know what you think of our trip and/or what you think of Asheville if you’ve been before. Last, let us know where you recommend for our next sister trip! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

This 3 Ingredient Cranberry Apple Punch was a slightly tart, perfectly sweet, fall drink that we made for our girls night Hocus Pocus watch party. We loved it because it was simple to make but also fun to make it your own with whatever garnishes and additions you prefer. We used sliced apples and sour apple cotton candy, but we think the options could be endless. At the bottom of the recipe, we provided some suggestions we think would pair well with the punch Did you know? We dedicated a portion of our Fall Cookbook: Brown Butter Baby to fall drinks? We love the drinks of fall whether hot or cold and creating these delicious drinks were so much fun! Order your copy of our seasonal cookbooks using this link. Keep reading to see the variations we came up with and let us know in the comment section which one you will try! 3 Ingredient Cranberry Apple Punch Serves 12 Prep time: 5 minutes Ingredients 64 oz. apple juice 48 oz. ginger ale 12 oz. frozen cranberry concentrate, 100% juice Directions: Mix all ingredients together and serve cold in a pitcher or punch bowl. Read below for a list of recommended garnishes and additions! Variations and Garnishes Try these additions and add a little something extra to this punch! Sliced Apples Sliced Oranges Cinnamon Sticks Green Apple Cotton Candy Vanilla Ice Cream Cranberry Sherbet Whipped Cream Pumpkin Pie Spice Caramel to drizzle on top or for the rim of the glasses Enjoy and let us know what you added to the punch or what you thought, in the comments below! Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!

We cook for the majority of our meals, lunch and dinner, so that's anywhere between 10-14+ meals a week. With that much cooking we sometimes rely on convenience items to cut down on the time and energy needed to make a meal at home. We have a recipe category here on our website for quick and easy meals and these BBQ Chicken Southwest tacos are the perfect addition! Keep reading to see the variations we came up with and let us know in the comment section which one you will try! Looking for other seasonal recipes? Check out our Fall, Winter, and Spring & Summer Cookbooks! BBQ Chicken Southwest Tacos Serves 3-4 Prep time: 10-15 minutes Ingredients 6-8 frozen, fully cooked breaded chicken strips Southwest chopped salad kit 6-8 of your favorite low-carb corn or flour tortillas ¼ cup freshly or pre-chopped cilantro 1 cup chopped tomatoes ½ cup chopped red onion ¼ TBS of your favorite BBQ sauce 3 TBS apple cider vinegar Directions: Place the chicken strips in the oven or air fryer and cook according to the instructions on the package. While the strips are cooking, chop the cilantro, tomato, and onion and set aside in the refrigerator. Next, in a small bowl mix together the BBQ sauce and apple cider vinegar and set aside. In a medium sized bowl mix contents of your salad mix and set aside until ready to use. When chicken strips are finished cooking, chop it into bite size pieces and toss in BBQ and vinegar sauce. Next, layer your tacos by placing a portion of the salad mix on the warmed tortilla followed by chicken, cilantro, tomato, and onion. Serve immediately and enjoy! Variations Try these taco combos for additional quick, easy, and healthy meals! Buffalo Blue Cheese Tacos: Blue Cheese Salad Kit + Chicken Tossed in Buffalo Sauce + Chopped Celery & Tomatoes Chicken Club Tacos: Bacon Ranch Salad Kit + Chicken+ Tomatoes+ Avocado Peanut Chicken Tacos: Asian or Peanut Chicken Salad Kit + Chicken + Green Onions + Cilantro + Chopped Peanuts Don't miss the next recipe, subscribe to our weekly email list!