It has been quite a week for PH and I. If you didn't know already, we live in what is known as the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix Arizona. You may have heard stories of planes that were not allowed to take flight this week here in Sunny AZ, and those stories are true. I was born and raised in Phoenix and the summers come as no surprise, it just gets plain hot here. Granted, 120 degrees in June is a bit early, but it always comes. We live in a desert you know, and the desert can be such a truly beautiful place, but it's also hot. Very, very hot.

However, the most important thing to have in 120 degree weather is an air conditioning unit. Well my friends, our a/c unit died on us.

This was probably one of the most awful things to have ever happened to us, which shows how blessed we are. Since there was no way I was turning on the oven or staying in that hot house to make anything, we ate out a lot. So I don't have a recipe for you this week. 
I want to direct your attention back to this post. Since posting my zoodle recipe we have come into contact with Michael from Nutrition Advance. It turns out he has this great guide to zoodles and why they're so healthy and he even has some additional recipes that you can check out here!

Summer time is a great time to zoodle it up. You don't have to turn on the oven, and while everyone is thinking about eating healthier and having that great "beach body" why not swap your pasta for zoodles?

​Happy zoodling!

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     Last year on this post, I told you all about our family favorite Root Beer Pancakes!  Well, pull out those griddles, because I have another amazing pancake recipe that your kids will love! 

     On another blog, (I think it was livelovesugar.com but now I can't find it), I saw a recipe for Cherry Coke Cupcakes.  That got me thinking about root beer, because I love it and I wondered if I could make root beer cupcakes.  (That will be for another day!) Then, I thought about Root Beer Pancakes and I wondered about Cherry 7-Up Pancakes because they would look so nice and pink.  The cupcakes had added maraschino cherry juice in them and I thought the cherry juice added to the pancake batter would make the pancakes even pinker!  Well, of course I had to give it a try.   (Now you see how my mind works!)

     These pancakes have a subtly sweet flavor and delicate texture.  I didn't have any cherry syrup to top them with so we just used our regular maple.  It was really good, but I think a cherry syrup would be extra good! For the 4th of July, you could give these pancakes a patriotic twist! We added blueberries and whipped cream to make them red, white and blue! 

    This is a quick and easy breakfast to make for you family this summer! I hope you give it a try.  Just click the button above to print off your recipe! You will love it! 

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     Last night we had breakfast for dinner! We love to do that on occasion.  I was trying out a new pancake recipe I thought of doing and since our mornings are so hectic with people working or whatever, but not together, dinner seemed like the best time to try it out. I will be sharing that recipe with you later, but the whole idea of breakfast  spurred this weeks Friday Fave question:

What is your favorite breakfast food?

     First of all, Lindsey!  This was a no brainer! Her entire life, Lindsey has loved cereal.  When she was a little girl, if we did something different for breakfast, she would have to have cereal later for a snack or she felt deprived.  She still likes to eat cereal as a snack.  Her favorite cereal is Special K.  I have to admit, I really like Special K, too.  Especially the chocolate and the strawberry varieties.

     In case you were wondering, here are all of our favorite breakfast cereals:
Lindsey-Special K   Alicia-Kix     Maddy-Honey Bunches of Oats and Helen-Golden Grahams!

     Because Alicia lives in an area where the climate is cooler all year round, her choice sounds like a winter choice to those of us living in Phoenix.  She says that she loves buttered toast with hot cocoa.  (throat clear) I am sure that she means a Hot Coca Bomb in one of the delicious flavors that we make them in! It is pretty delicious to dip your toast in a mug of hot cocoa! 

     Maddy says that her favorite breakfast food is hash browns with catsup on the side.  She does make some good smelling and tasting savory hash browns some mornings! I like them with a fried egg on top.

     I have mentioned in other posts I believe, like this one, that I adore French Toast.  Close to Christmas last year, I did a Pumpkin Gingerbread French Toast With Lemon Sauce that was delicious.

     Since Sunday is Father's Day and Monday is my husband's birthday, my girls and I decided that we should feature his favorite breakfast food, which is Biscuits and Gravy! 

Here is how I make the biscuits.  I use the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that we have had since we were married. It is always my go to first cookbook. This link is to the 75th Anniversary Edition! If you are new to cooking or a newlywed, I highly recommend this cookbook! 

      Next, here is how I make the gravy.  This is a basic cream gravy that I make with bacon or sausage drippings.  So, first, cook your bacon.  Now, take off most of the fat, just save a little with all of the left over crispy bits in the bottom of the pan.  Now, click on the pictures for directions.

     Now you are ready to serve the gravy over split biscuits! I like eggs on the side as well! This isn't the healthiest breakfast known to man, but it sure does pack a lot of old fashioned goodness!  I make it for my husband on special occasions.

     There are so many great breakfast choices out there!  What are your favorites?

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Today's recipe is brought to you by my amazing husband. I was home sick yesterday. Sinus infections are my forte really, and yesterday was a doozy. However, I did have the wherewithal to ask PH what he wanted for dinner, and he suggested we get a pork loin out to cook.

As a side note we bought a big freezer a few months back and then we Costco'ed it up and filled it with lots of different meats, veggies, and fruits so we'd be well supplied in case of an apocalypse or something.

Anyway, I got out a pork loin and he stopped by the grocery store on the way home. When he walked in the door he said excitedly, "I have a theme for your blog post this week! Raspberries!" He had gone to the store and bought a raspberry chipotle sauce, a syrup to make a raspberry drink, and raspberries were on sale so he bought those too!

Something you should know about my husband is that he is a master griller. So he cut the pork loin into coin shapes and grilled them. Then he spread the chipotle sauce over it (as you can see here, we used Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce) and garnished our plates with raspberries. For the drink he mixed the Torani syrup with seltzer water. Then he got extra fancy and threw some raspberries in his drink as well. He made us a beautiful meal and set a beautiful table. You can go ahead and be jealous, it's okay. Every day I think that everyone should be, because my husband is really the greatest.

Now, this meal was super easy for me because I did absolutely nothing but eat it. It was a quick and simple meal. PH fired up our grill and set it at a temperature of 200 degrees and grill the coins he had sliced for about 20 minutes, and he'd flip them every five minutes for a nice even cook.
Not only was this a simple, quick, and tasty meal, but we have leftovers! Yeah for sandwiches!

Now, I don't know if you know this, but mustard and pork go well together when you're making a sandwich from leftovers. You may also not have known that in the world of mustard, the French are connoisseurs. I mean, it shouldn't surprise you, because it's food related, and France is the food capital of the world. They invented food. Really. They did. Also, there is a town in France called Dijon. You know, like the mustard. So, in the wide world of mustard there are so many options to choose from, and the Maille brand has a wide variety of delicious and fancy mustards. You might think it's weird, but hear me out! Once learn about different types of mustards, your food flavor options will expand exponentially, and who doesn't want that?

 You could try this tasty Dijon mustard, or their Old Style Mustard. It would go great on a pork sandwich! The possibilities are endless!

This is really the perfect summer meal because we used a grill and there was fruit. What more does anyone even want in the summer?