Strawberry rhubarb bars....

Rhubarb seems to be that classic summer dessert ingredient, and I hadn't honestly cooked with it for a couple of years. But when my parents came to visit about a month ago they brought fresh rhubarb straight from their garden, so I had to find a delicious recipe as a treat. I came across these Strawberry rhubarb crumb bars on Pinterest and decided to give them a try, and oh my goodness they were fantastic!!! It's the perfect combination of sweet and tart and that strussel topping...yum!

I made a couple of modifications, and yes, I've already made these a couple more times we loved them so much. I used whole wheat flour in place of the oat flour called for in the original recipe since I had that on hand, and I omitted the crystallized ginger because frankly I had no idea what that was and definitely did not have it. I also skipped the lemon zest since I wanted to throw together the recipe that evening and didn't have a lemon. Still turned out awesome! Also I used my 8x8 glass pan and they fit great.

We picked up some more rhubarb at the farmers market earlier this week so I'm thinking a pan of these might be on tap for the weekend:)

Yum looking filling for the bars...

Pasta Carrabba...

This recipe for Pasta Carrabba is another delicious comfort pasta dish. There is a little planning prep required since we marinate the chicken breasts overnight. This is another dish that allows us to use some of the delicious fresh basil from our plant.

I typically omit the peas since my husband isn't a fan and I add a full container of fresh mushrooms that I saute separately before adding them to the sauce. We love mushrooms, but I just can't get into the canned ones, and sauteing the fresh ones only takes a few minutes. As usual, I also substitute whole wheat rotini instead of the fettuccine so the little guy in our house can easily eat this with us.

Spicy Fish Taco Bowls...

This recipe for Spicy Fish Taco Bowls  from Pinch of Yum combines some of our favorite ingredients: black beans, avocado, cilantro, and tilapia to name just a few, so I figured it would be a hit at our house. And it's really not that spicy, so even our toddler liked it.

I substituted a sliced yellow onion for the diced red onion since that's what I had on hand, and to be perfectly honest sometimes when I'm feeling a bit lazy I like to just slice an onion instead of dice it. I know that's silly but it's the truth :)

We actually just garnished this dish with the avocado and green onions and it was great!

Copy cat Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi...

I've never tried the Shrimp Scampi dish at Cheesecake Factory so I can't speak to how well this compares to the original, but we definitely thought this copy cat shrimp scampi recipe was delicious! 

I did use less shrimp then it called for because although fried breaded shrimp is SO yummy it's not the healthiest. I also substituted a 13.25 oz box of whole wheat rotini pasta for the angel hair pasta suggested in the recipe as the rotini is more toddler friendly. In the directions of the recipe it didn't mention where to add the shallot, I assumed it should be added with the garlic when you begin the sauce in step 2. 

Yum...honestly this picture doesn't do it justice, don't hold my inability to get a good pic of this dish against it, it's really scrumptious! 

We have this awesome basil plant that has somehow lasted us since last summer, so we love dishes like this that call for fresh basil! If you know me well you know it's a miracle this plant has lasted so long in our house and yet it continues to thrive! We water it religiously every morning and it spends the rest of the day in it's spot by the window. We picked it up at Whole Foods last summer and it was well worth it since it's supplied all of our fresh basil to us for almost a year now! Nick prunes it regularly and it grows so fast I think we throw out more than we use.

Banana Coffee Cake...

Banana bread and coffee cake are both delicious breakfast treats on their own but this awesome recipe for Banana Streusel Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze from Shugary Sweets combines these for one fabulous breakfast that is sure to please your family! The best part is that it's simple and easy to throw together. Also, she's smart in that her recipe makes enough for two cakes. I split it in half and just made one, but it was wildly popular in our house when we had guests visiting and the one was easily devoured. So if you're having guests it might not be a bad idea to make both cakes, and that way you may have some left for the next day.

Tip from Rebecca's kitchen: When I cut the recipe in half to make one cake I substituted 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour for the 1 cup of all purpose flour called for in the recipe to make this a little healthier. I also skipped the maple glaze to save on calories and it was still SO delicious.

I realize it doesn't look that exciting in this pic but it is such a sweet delicious breakfast!

Baked Carrot Cake Oatmeal...

We love carrot cake and baked oatmeal so when I saw this Baked Carrot Cake Oatmeal recipe on Pinterest it was a must try!

I love breakfast dishes like this that I can make ahead the night before, throw in the fridge, and then pop in the oven in the morning, and this one is definitely a keeper in our house!!!

Tip from Rebecca's kitchen: Using the food processor to shred the carrots for this dish makes prep much easier! I've also doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan when serving for guests. I leave out the unsweetened coconut in the recipe and for the glaze I've just added a little vanilla extract to the plain greek yogurt I have on hand. This oatmeal is really great reheated the next day if you have leftovers! Our toddler devours it whenever I make it!

Just out of the oven before glaze is added