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Marinara Sauce
This is my favorite go to recipe for Marinara sauce. This is my favorite marinara sauce recipe. It is simple and can be made quickly, Chef tip-For this recipe i really recommend using the San Marzano tomatoes with basil. You can find them at almost any store today and they give a beautiful depth of flavor without having to cook them to death. Once you start using San Marzano tomatoes for your sauce, you won’t want to go back!
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Cozy Meals on Cold Days
As we face these ridiculously cold days of winter in Chicago land some of you have asked me for some yummy meals to enjoy and help keep warm. I am so happy to share these recipes to help warm your hearts and your tummies! First I want to share a classic comfort meal. This meal will warm you and make you feel so great and bring you back to a happy place with every bite. It is a simple, yet it does take a little time and effort. Not much though and trust me, it will all be worth it. [lt_recipe name=”Eggplant Parmesan” summary=”This is a classic recipe that will warm your tummy…
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Birthday Dinner for all
My mom wanted to take my husband and I out for our birthdays. Our birthdays are 13 days apart and we enjoy celebrating them together. We wanted to go somewhere that we hadn’t been before. We had been hearing really great things about this place in Roselle called 1913 and we thought it would be the perfect time to try it. I was wondering why “1913”? So, I did some research before we went and the website says it is named for the building that houses the restaurant that was built 105 years ago with the original floors and exposed bricks. How neat, I thought and it really was. It is a beautiful…
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Quick Weeknight Meal
This is one of my favorite quick and easy weeknight meals. This is great any time of the year and is so quick and easy to make, even when you just got home from work and have a lot going on! It’s sausage and peppers and pan fried potatoes. All things that my family loves and all things that pack a ton of flavor and are super simple and quick to prepare. This is also a super versatile meal. You can use any sausage you love, even chicken or turkey. Just make sure if you are using a poultry sausage that it doesn’t have any sweet flavors such as maple or apple. I…
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Top 5 Food Trends 2019
For the past couple months I have been seeing posts, reading articles and scrolling through pages of published works online about what everyone is thinking the new food trends will be for 2019. I love this time of year when we are all thinking healthfully and trying to figure out how to improve our minds, bodies and souls in the year ahead. The possibilities are endless and the gyms are packed! With all of that said, this year’s food trends seem to be “on trend” with just that sort of thinking. I am all for a healthier life style and I am all for getting back to eating “real” food. I am a…
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Happy New Year!!
Well, Mamas and papas out there, I am sure you have all been there… sick kiddos and stuck in the house over the holidays!! Well, that was us this year for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. So, that awesome New Year’s Day brunch we were planning,(not too mention already shopped for… ), we did not end up hosting and we did not ring in the New Year with family and friends. Ya know, sometimes such is life, right! We made the most of it and I made a really nice dinner of crab legs and steaks for me and the hubby and we snuggled our little peanuts and got them feeling…
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New Year’s Day Brunch
I think Brunch is so fun and what a wonderful idea for the day after New Year’s Eve when most people are tired and probably “hurting” a little from the night before! This is a great way to continue the holiday a little more while also keeping things super casual, yet delicious. Plus at Brunch, it is sort of anything goes. There is a little breakfast, a little lunch, definitely yummy cocktails… what is not to love!?! I will be hosting a New Year’s Day Brunch this year and after sooooo many years of doing brunches at restaurants, I am super excite to host this brunch at home. All of the restaurant brunches…
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Mexican Dinner at Home
So, it is no surprise that with two babies under 2 years old; a 16 month old and a 6 week old, my hubby and I are not getting out as much as we would like. The other day I had such a taste for Mexican food, so I made us a yummy Mexican dinner at home and it was super easy and super yummy. I even turned the left overs into “bowls” two nights later and those were amazing too! So, I thought I would share these simple recipes I made with all of you out there that may not only be busy with little ones, but kids of all ages and/or…
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Holiday Sugar Cookies
You’re probably saying, really Chef Steph, there are so many different recipes for sugar cookies out there. Yes, I know there are, but here is one more! Why, you ask… because these are amazing cookie recipes that parents and kiddos will all love. Not only just that, but these are all going to be cookies that can also be given as gifts. I absolutely love homemade gifts for the holidays. Let’s face it the older we get the less materialistic items we needs others to buy us, right? I mean if you are anything like me, if you want something you go buy it. Or save up and go buy it. So, how…
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Thanksgiving Sides
Here are some classic Thanksgiving sides with a twist. The twist is that all of these can be made ahead and brought with you to wherever you are traveling for the holiday or just make ahead to make your life as the host/hostess easier. You cannot have a fantastic Thanksgiving without any of these yummy choices. Enjoy and share your recipes with us too! Make ahead Mashed Potatoes Tips You will need a ricer to make the best mashed potatoes and I prefer to use Yukon gold potatoes here. They give a really nice buttery flavor and consistency. You can make these up to two days ahead and just reheat them with a…
About Me
I am Chef Steph, aka The Happy Chef Mama. I am a pofessional chef and mama of three littles. I am a recipe creator, executive chef, busy mama, full of energy lady! I love to share my recipes, pro chef tips, kiddos and life with you here on my corner of the web.
Contact Me
Email: happychefmama@gmail.com
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