Holly, Author at With Two Spoons

10 Things To Buy On Your Next Trip to Trader Joe’s

May 17, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

It should come as no surprise that as a food blogger and mom of two young kids, I know my way around a grocery store. And while Instacart has absolutely revolutionized my life (seriously folks, it’s a game changer), the one store I still regularly go to is Trader Joe’s. With great produce, fun snacks, and a killer frozen foods selection, Trader Joe’s has long been a cult favorite for good reason. If you’re new to TJ’s or just looking for more great stuff to pick up on your next trip, check out our list of the 10 Things To Buy On Your Next Trip To Trader Joe’s!

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Chili Lime Margaritas

May 14, 2019 By Holly 1 Comment

We might be a day or two (or a week!) late for your Cinco de Mayo celebrations, but we promise that these Chili Lime Margaritas will be the hit at all of your spring and summer parties. Toss out those bottles of pre-made margarita mix because we’ve got the perfect recipes for fresh margaritas! Pick your favorite tequila, grab some fresh limes and oranges, and impress your friends with these easy and full of flavor cocktails, ready in just a few minutes.

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The 5 Things You Need to Read This Weekend

May 3, 2019 By Holly 2 Comments

It’s Friday! Finally. Right?

After a long and busy week, I am so ready for this weekend. Lane and I are heading up to her cabin for a fun filled girls weekend of recipe testing, food photography, and all around fun. It’s going to be a great time! I spent the morning pouring over my pages of recipe notes and ideas and then running to Trader Joes for all the things we are going to need for our weekend cooking extravaganza. My groceries are temporarily tucked away and shortly I’m going to pack up my weekend gear, but before I do, I wanted to share a few of my favorite things from around the web this week. It’s a quick little list, but one I hope you enjoy when you get some time. Grab some of our Lemon Cardamom Monkey Bread (pictured below), a good cup of coffee, and pull up a chair. Here are The 5 Things You Need to Read This Weekend…

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Whiskey Sea Salt Caramels

April 30, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

I’m gonna start with a little bit of truth telling: if you are here looking for a healthy recipe, you might want to keep on looking. This recipe is NOT vegan, low carb, keto, Whole30, or paleo. I’m not sure what the calorie count per delectable bite is (and frankly, I don’t want to know). What I do know, is that these Whiskey Sea Salt Caramels are about the tastiest thing I’ve had in a very long time and I recently had to give away most of my last test batch to keep from eating them all.

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Friday Five: Current Skin Care Favorites

April 19, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

Well, this is definitely a little out of the box here on With Two Spoons, but I thought it might be fun to switch things up a little this week and talk about something completely not food related. I’ve never been much of a girly-girl per se, but I have always had a bit of a weakness for great skin and body products. My bathroom closet sometimes resembles a graveyard of unused bottles and tubes (so much stuff to try – and so many failures! Whoops!), but my vanity drawers are usually filled with so good they are used to the last drop favorites. These favorites change from time to time, but I do have stuff I always return to again and again. Friday Five this week is all about my Current Skin Care Favorites.

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Easy Honey Cardamom Cashew Butter

April 16, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

Sometimes, the simplest recipes really are the best recipes. No fuss and full of flavor? I’m totally on board. Recently, I had a craving for cashew butter but didn’t want to run to the store and really wasn’t excited about dropping $12 on a jar of nut butter. Digging in my pantry, I found a bag of cashews I had picked up the week before and I decided I was going to take matters into my own hands. A few short minutes later, our Easy Honey Cardamom Cashew Butter was born.

With only 5 ingredients and no cooking required, this cashew butter is about as easy as it gets. In less than 10 minutes, you can have a jar of creamy cashew butter ready to devour by the spoonful or plop onto some toast or a bagel. Simply grab a cup or two of roasted cashews and a good food processor or high speed blender (like a Blendtec or Vitamix). After a quick pulse or three in the food processor with a few spices (in this case, kosher salt and ground cardamom), we add a little honey for sweetness and set the food processor to run on until the nuts and spices blend into a smooth, creamy butter. Try not to eat it all straight out of the processing jar!…

Friday Five: Traveling with Young Kids

April 5, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

If you’ve been following along with our Instagram or Facebook this week, you might have noticed that both Lane and I are down in the beautiful state of Arizona enjoying the desert sun and warm weather. As it is spring break for many schools right now, the airport was filled with kids and families when we traveled last week. As I prepare to fly back home this weekend, I’ve been thinking about the things I frequently rely on to make traveling with young kids just a little bit easier. This week’s Friday Five is all about Traveling with Young Kids.

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Asparagus with Pistachio Citrus Gremolata

April 2, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

After what felt like the longest winter on the books, Spring has finally sprung and with it has come my favorite vegetable – asparagus! When I first met my husband, he wasn’t much of a vegetable guy. He considered iceberg lettuce to be a perfectly acceptable salad and the occasional baby carrot was about the extent of his veggie intake. Being a vegetarian at the time, I of course, was a totally different story. He was a good sport though, and gamely put up with my veggie loving self, eventually learning to eat and enjoy veggies, too. One of the earliest veggies I started to make for him (and a total staple in our house now) was asparagus. It’s fantastic simply roasted with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. It’s also great when dressed up a little, like in our all new recipe for Asparagus with Pistachio Citrus Gremolata.

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Friday Five: Spring Things

March 22, 2019 By Holly Leave a Comment

It’s finally HERE!!! After what has felt like the longest winter in Minnesota history, spring finally, finally arrived in Minneapolis this week. The snow is beginning its slow melt and the first 60 degree day of the year is in the forecast for early next week. I am over the moon excited about it all. While we can’t quite put away the winter gear yet (anyone else remember last year’s APRIL snowstorm?? Ugh.), I’ve ditched my heavy parka for a lighter coat and my trusty winter boots have been set aside for my favorite wellies. The change of seasons always gets me excited about new things to do, read, wear, and listen to so I thought I’d share what’s on my radar for this spring in our Friday Five: Spring Things. Creamy Vanilla Fruit Dip – A Perfect Early Spring Recipe!

01. Spring Reads

I’ve been doing a ton of reading lately and man, have there been some great books out there this year! So far I’ve loved this one, and this one. I just started reading The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly by our good friend Rebecca Ansari and it is absolutely delightful. If you haven’t had a chance to grab it yet, definitely hit up your local bookstore or order a copy online. You won’t regret it! And, I’m happy to report, after a few unsuccessful tries at audiobooks (which Lane loves and swears by) I’m currently listening to Michelle Obama’s Becoming and it’s fantastic. I love hearing her tell her own story. What a treat.

02. Podcast Obsessions

This spring has also brought a bit of a podcast kick for me. My recent podcast binges have been courtesy of our friend Tracy, who told me all about some great podcasts while we were on our recent Ojai trip. She got me hooked on The Smartest Person in the Room and 10 Things To Tell You. I love the idea of learning about things from people who really know their stuff. The series on bias was particularly great and really pushed me to think about things outside of my own comfort zone. Thanks for the recommendation, Tracy!

03. The Perfect Spring Boots

We’ve been reveling in the warmer temps this week and heading outside for a walk or ride around the neighborhood with the kids after dinner. With all of the melting snow, my all time favorite wellies have been earning their keep in my closet once again. They are a bit of an investment, but I can tell you, after almost 5 years of steady wear (year round!), these are still going strong and are totally worth it. I wear them all the time and can’t recommend them enough.

04. New Recipe Inspiration

My #52weeksproject is still going strong over here and I’ve already had a handful of huge recipe successes (along with some minor failures – more on that in a future post). Part of the fun of the project is scouring the internet and my stash of cookbooks to find my next week’s recipe to try. Lately I’ve filed away the recipes for these Sourdough Crackers with Olive Oil and Herbs, this Persian Herb and Chickpea Stew with Rice, and these Hot Cross Buns, perfect for the Easter holiday! Have you tried any must make recipes this year?

05. My Salad Dressing Obsession

Of course, I’m always a fan of making your own salad dressing, but lately I have been absolutely obsessed with the Lemony Herb Vinaigrette from Salad Girl. My husband laughs at me because I basically buy a bottle a week – just for me! I love that they are a local company and all of their dressings are organic, gluten free, and don’t use any cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Four of the dressings are also vegan. You can get them in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores here in the Twin Cities, or buy them online. FYI: I’m not being compensated in any way for writing about them. I just honestly love their product and hope you will, too!

Bonus: If you’re looking for an easy early spring recipe, check out our Creamy Vanilla Fruit Dip. It’s perfect with those spring strawberries!

Spinach Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing

March 19, 2019 By Holly 1 Comment

Edit: This recipe was originally posted in June 2018 and we are reposting today because well, life is busy, recipes sometimes don’t work out like planned, and mostly because this salad is just so darn good. Spring is finally on it’s way here in MN and I am craving all of the fresh veggies and fruit and this yummy salad combines the best of spring into one easy little package. Read on for the more info!!

Friends, I have an important announcement to make: it’s time to toss out all of those bottles of store bought salad dressing. What kind of crazy talk is this? Hear me out. I know those bottles seem convenient and there are a million flavor options, but most are loaded with less than ideal ingredients, are expensive, and don’t ultimately taste that great. I promise you that with a few simple ingredients and less than five minutes, you can absolutely make a batch of homemade salad dressing that will taste twenty times better and elevate an everyday salad into something totally out of this world. Today’s recipe for Spinach Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing is the perfect place to start.

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