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Cravens House Loop Trail on Lookout Mountain!

Cravens House Loop Trail on Lookout Mountain!

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The Cravens House Loop Trail is a fun Chattanooga hike on Lookout Mountain!

You start at the historic Cravens House and make your way up Lookout Mountain. Huge bluffs and breathtaking views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River and valley make this a must-hike in Southeast Tennessee!

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A view of the river from the mountain.

The Cravens House Loop Trail is approximately a 4.2 miles loop and has a 728 ft. elevation gain. We would rate this trail as “Easy to Moderately Strenuous”, with the only strenuous part being the Gum Spring section because it is a pretty steep climb up to the Bluff Trail. But it is definitely not dangerous.  Just take your time and stop for a breather when you need it!

It is called the Cravens House Loop Trail but it is actually composed of several Lookout Mountain trails, or sections of some longer trails.  The trails are the Rifle Pits Trail, the Upper Truck Trail (section), the Gum Springs Trail, the Bluff Trail (section) and the Cravens House Trail. They all come together to make a great “loop trail” experience, complete with historic landmarks, beautiful mountain scenery, epic views and a good dose of exercise!

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9 Easy Meatless Pasta Dinners for Meatless Mondays!

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These Meatless Pasta recipes will make going meatless or plant-based even easier than ever!

Everything from Instant Pot recipes, to slow cooker recipes to stove top. You'll want to try them all!

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Collage of pasta photos with Meatless Pasta Recipes text overlay.

Are you trying to go meatless more often? It started as Meatless Monday at our house and now we try to go plant based 2 or 3 times a week.

These easy pasta recipes are on regular rotation. We never get tired of them!

Some are vegetarian, some are vegan, we don't follow any strict diet rules, we just make sure they are meat free.

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How to Make Orange Whiskey

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Take some Gentleman Jack Whiskey (or your favorite) some orange zest and a little time and you have amazing orange whiskey!

This orange infused whiskey gives every cocktail a hint of citrus!

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Jar of brownish-orange liquid with tag reading "orange whiskey."

We are big on infusing liquor at this house. I like to call it my hobby.

They are such an easy way to turn any simple cocktail into a craft cocktail. Time usually does most of the work for you.

Like this orange infused whiskey. With a little bit of work at the beginning, after just a couple of weeks you have this lovely orange whiskey.

It makes your whiskey cocktail just a little bit better.

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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna

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Use your slow cooker to make this easy and healthy Vegetarian Lasagna! Perfect for meatless Mondays!

Easy and cheesy and loaded with vegetables like baby spinach, mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes, everyone loves this vegetarian crockpot recipe!

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Two bowls of vegetarian lasagna.

After we loved this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole so much, it got me thinking about making other crockpot casseroles.

Researching slow cooker lasagnas led me to a vegetarian version by Eating Well. It had my favorite veggies - spinach, mushrooms and zucchini. It had plenty of cheese.

I tweaked it a bit, added some Italian seasoning, tomato paste (for richer flavor) and instead of combining the spinach, mushrooms and zucchini with the ricotta, I chose to layer them.

We loved this easy slow cooker casserole!

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Hiking the Ritchie Hollow Trail

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The Ritchie Hollow Trail is a great out-and-back trail for experiencing all the things that make us love to get out and hike! 

Located in Chattanooga, TN it features gorgeous scenery and you pass a 30-foot waterfall along the way!

Large waterfall cascading into a pool of water.

The full Ritchie Hollow Trail is 2.7 miles one way to Davis Pond (5.4 mile round trip) and has a 1200 ft. elevation gain. The trail is rated as “moderately strenuous” because it can be steep and rocky at times, but it is definitely do-able if you take your time and set a pace that is comfortable for you.

This is a recording of our walk from the start of the Ritchie Hollow Trail to Davis Pond and then back again.

Map of our hike on the Ritchie Hollow Trail.

If you are looking to just check out the waterfall, Blowing Wind Falls is approximately 1.8 miles from the River Canyon Rd trailhead.

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Blood Orange Recipes to Make Right Now!

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A collection of our favorite recipes to celebrate blood orange season!

With their deep rosy color and sweet tangy flavor, they are perfect in cocktails and savory dishes!

A photo collage of four blood orange recipes with text.

Blood orange season runs from December to April, so we like to grab them whenever we can find them in the stores.

That deep red color and their sweet flavor makes them perfect to use in both cocktails and savory recipes!

We have gathered together a collection of our favorite recipes using blood oranges! Mostly cocktails (no surprise there) but also a fresh and delicious salad!

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How to Make Rose Infused Vodka

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All it takes is a little time, a little vodka and some rose petals for this delicate Rose Vodka.   It's ready in just 3-5 days!

Infused vodkas make a great gift for your foodie or cocktail loving friends!

Bottle filled with Rose Petal Vodka and roses on the table.

One of my favorite things to do is infuse alcohol - as you can probably tell by a quick search on my Infusions Category.

When I was given some organic red roses, I decided it was time to update this Rose Vodka, which I originally posted back in 2016! (You can see the original photo at the bottom of this post.)

Since we are coming up on Valentine's Day, it's the perfect time to make this lovely, floral vodka!

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Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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Use your slow cooker to make this incredibly easy and so delicious Chicken Enchilada Casserole!

Cheesy and easy, everyone loves this casserole!

Chicken enchilada casserole on a plate.

Okay, I admit it, it is a bit difficult to take and attractive photo of this yummy crockpot chicken casserole!

But that is true of a lot of cheesy, gooey delicious foods.

Or maybe you're looking at the photo and thinking, "What? It looks amazing to me!" And you would be right, it is amazing.

Amazingly delicious and amazingly easy.

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Bay Point Loop at Harrison Bay State Park

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The Bay Point Loop Trail is an easy, family friendly hike along Chickamauga Lake that everyone will love!

It's located in Harrison Bay State Park, just north of Chattanooga, TN!

A lake with trees reflecting.

The Bay Point Loop Trail is a 4.3 mile multi-use trail. It is located on Chickamauga Lake, in Harrison Bay State Park, just north of Chattanooga, TN.

The trailhead for the Bay Point Loop Trail can be found by taking Hwy-58 north of Chattanooga. Watch for the Harrison Bay State Park sign and then turn left onto Harrison Bay Rd.  Drive 1.4 miles to the park entrance on the left and just follow the signs. The trailhead parking area is near the marina, just to the left of the boat ramp.

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Easy and Economical Chicken Leg Recipes

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If you're looking for easy and economical dinners, chicken legs or drumsticks are the answer!

This collection of chicken leg recipes are easy and family pleasing! You'll turn to them time and time again!

Photo collage with text reading Easy and Economical Chicken Leg Recipes.

Chicken legs (or drumsticks) are my go to whenever I want to put an easy and economical dinner on the table.

They cook fast, are inexpensive and you can usually eat them with your hands! What more could you want!

I've rounded up a collection of 6 of my favorite Chicken Leg Recipes. Some of them also include thighs, but you could always do all legs.

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How to Make a Classic Old Fashioned

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The Old Fashioned is a classic cocktail for a reason! It's so easy to make and so easy to sip!

With whiskey, a sweetener and bitters, it's an easy 3 ingredient cocktail that you can whip up in no time!

Dark brown cocktail with an orange twist in front of some vintage books.

There are some cocktails that you need to look up in your cocktail book and then there are some cocktails that you just know how to make by memory.

An Old Fashioned falls easily in the know how to make category. I love them because they basically only have 3 ingredients: whiskey, some sort of sweetener and bitters. Not counting the orange peel garnish.

Only 3 ingredients makes them very fun to play with! You can change up the sweetener and make one of my most popular cocktails - A Maple Old Fashioned.

You can play with the whiskey and the sweetener, like I did with my Double Cherry Old Fashioned.

But before you can play, you need have this Classic Old Fashioned recipe right at your fingertips, ready to pull out and impress your cocktail loving friends!

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How to Freeze Butternut Squash

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Have an abundance of butternut squash? Don't let it go to waste! It's so easy to freeze butternut squash!

Vacuum sealed bag filled with cubed butternut squash.

I love to buy up all the butternut squash I can when it is in season in the fall. It is a favorite fall/winter squash in our house.

Normally, I can keep it for months in our garage/basement.

My CSA gave me a huge squash and I only needed 2 cups for risotto recipe that I was making. This squash was so big that I only needed to use about half of just the neck of it!

I did a little research and it turns out that it is so easy to freeze butternut squash! Now I have bags of these bright orange cubes of squash goodness in my freezer!

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Easy Lookout Mountain Hiking on Glen Falls Trail

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The Glen Falls Trail is one of the shorter trails in the Chattanooga area but it rewards you with beautiful mountain scenery, a waterfall and, one of our favorites, large boulders to wander through!  

Feet resting on a rock looking over a creek.

The Glen Falls trailhead is on the left of Ochs Hwy as you head up Lookout Mountain from St. Elmo Ave. Maybe about a mile up Ochs Hwy. 

It is a small parking area with space for maybe 6 vehicles, depending on how efficiently the visitors park. So be prepared for an alternative option if the small parking area is full.

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Side Dishes Grandma Wished She'd Made!

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These aren't your Grandma's side dishes! These are the side dishes Grandma wished she'd made!

We have everything from Instant Pot Green Beans to Slow Cooker Carrots to Grilled Acorn Squash!

Easy enough for weeknights, but so delicious you'll want to serve them for company!

Photo collage of side dishes with text overlay.

If you're looking for easy and delicious side dish recipes, you've come to the right place!

These aren't the side dishes your Grandma made, these are the ones she wished made!

We've got potato side dishes, carrots, green beans and even acorn squash!

So pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea and lots browse some yummy side dishes, shall we?

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How to Make Cherry Brandy

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Homemade cherry brandy is so easy to make and bursting with fresh cherry flavor!

With only 2 ingredients and a few simple steps you can have this gorgeous, fruity and delicious cherry brandy!

Sip it on it's own or use it in cocktails!

Bottle of deep red liquor with a tag reading Cherry Brandy.

Whenever I can find cherries at the grocery store, I always come back home with more than I could possibly eat.

That's a good thing, because one of my favorite things to do with cherries is to preserve them so I can enjoy them all year long.

I had already made a Cherry Infused Bourbon that I then used to make an amazing Double Cherry Old Fashioned.

A jar of Homemade Maraschino Cherries was sitting in my fridge waiting for the next cocktail.

Then I remembered this post for Cherry Brandy, which has been sitting on the blog since 2007, with bad photos and no recipe! Perfect to remake!

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10 Heartwarming Slow Cooker Soups

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There is something for everyone in this collection of satisfying slow cooker soups!

Use your crockpot to simmer your soups all day and come home to a bowl of deliciousness!

Collage of slow cooker soups with text.

There is nothing better than coming home to a soup that has simmered all day in your slow cooker.

The flavors blend together, everything tender and tasty.

We have plenty of slow cooker chicken soups, some crockpot beef soups, and even a meatless soup.

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Slow Cooker Red Curry Chicken

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Use your slow cooker to make this creamy, spicy and totally delicious Crock Pot Thai Red Curry Chicken!

A few minutes of prep in the morning and you have a comforting dinner, just bursting with flavor! Serve over rice to soak up all the velvety sauce!

Curried chicken in a colorful bowl served with rice.

When I want a super easy and super flavorful dinner with fresh clean flavors, I always turn to a Thai Curry.

All you need is Thai curry paste (I keep green and red in my fridge at all times - link in recipe card) and a can of coconut milk and using your favorite protein and veggies, you've got an easy dinner!

I usually make it on the stove, but we were going out hiking, so I decided to try it in the slow cooker! It came out perfect! The flavors blended together and the chicken was literally falling off the bone!

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Leggett Point Overlook Trail

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The Leggett Point Overlook is an easy hike with a beautiful vista and just one of the many that can be found in the Chattanooga area!

Mountains in the distance with blue sky and pine trees.

After our hike on Big Soddy Creek Gulf last week, we decided to venture a little further north to Sale Creek and hike the Leggett Point Trail.

This small trail is a part of the Rock Creek Segment of the Cumberland Trail State Park.

It is a short drive north on Highway 27 to Sale Creek where you turn left onto Leggett Road.  As you start up the mountain you will pass the Rock Creek Trailhead on the left, the lower access point to the Rock Creek trails.

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Slow Cooker Marmalade Glazed Carrots

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Use your slow cooker to make these easy and delicious Marmalade Glazed Carrots.

Put you carrots, marmalade, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg in the crockpot and let it work it's magic!

Great for holiday dinners when your stove and oven are already busy!

Antique bowl filled with glazed carrots on a lace tablecloth.

Last week, I discovered that I love using my Instant Pot to make side dishes - like the Instant Pot Green Beans with Bacon and Mushrooms.

It got me thinking about my other favorite small appliance - my slow cooker! I use it for soups and stews and everything else, why not side dishes?!

You all are probably shaking your head, already knowing what I just figured out - the crockpot makes amazing side dishes!

I started with the super easy Marmalade Glazed Carrots and now I'm hooked! They were so easy and so good, they would be perfect for any holiday dinner - like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter, but they are so easy, you can have them any time you want!

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The Best Negroni Recipes for Every Season!

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Enjoy a Negroni cocktail all year long with these easy and delicious variations!

It's a year's worth of Negroni recipes, one for every season and a special one for New Years!

Collage of negroni cocktails with text reading Negroni Recipes for Every Season.

It doesn't get much easier than a classic Negroni - equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari.

It's that simplicity that lends itself to plenty of variations.

When I was looking through my Negroni recipes the other day, I realized that I pretty much have one for every season!

Winter, spring, summer or fall, I've got you covered with a classic cocktail!

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Instant Pot Green Beans with Bacon and Mushrooms

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These Instant Pot Green Beans with Bacon and Mushrooms are so good, you won't even want to eat the main dish!

Perfectly cooked green beans become infused with all that bacon flavor in a pressure cooker!

In about 30 minutes you have green beans that taste like they have been simmering all day - so full of flavor!

Platter of green beans with mushrooms and bacon on a lace tablecloth.

I've been testing side dish recipes that would work for a holiday - think Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter...but are easy enough that you want to make them all year round.

Last week I made Green Beans with Almond Gremolata. So light, easy and delicious!

Today I am back with another green bean side dish, this one with loads of flavor from bacon and mushrooms!

These are so good, we've already had them twice! The pressure cooker (or Instant Pot) after it comes up to pressure, cooks them perfectly in 3 minutes! Perfectly crisp tender and infused with all that bacon flavor!

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Big Soddy Creek Gulf Trail

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The Big Soddy Creek Gulf Trail is a very accommodating trail with beautiful scenery. 

It is a short scenic drive, just north of downtown Chattanooga. So if you're looking for an easy hike near the Chattanooga area, put this one on your list.

Gravel path through the woods.

It is no secret that Chattanooga, Tennessee is the perfect city for those that love to hike! You'll find plenty of Chattanooga hikes on Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain.

But travel just a few minutes north of Chattanooga, up Highway 27 and you come to Big Soddy Creek Gulf. It is located in Soddy Daisy, TN and is a beautiful and easy hike!

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Green Beans Gremolata with Toasted Almonds!

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Take simply steamed green beans to a whole new level with a toasted almond gremolata!

Crisp tender green beans are tossed with a simple gremolata made from parsley, lemon, almonds, garlic and olive oil.

Such a simple side dish recipe that looks gorgeous on your table! Only you will know how easy it was to make!

Platter of green beans on a vintage tablecloth.

I'm not sure what Thanksgiving is going to look like this year, but I've already started working on side dishes.

The beauty of these green beans is that while they are perfect for a holiday dinner, they are so easy to make you can have them for any weeknight dinner.

You take simply steamed green beans and toss them with a fresh gremolata sauce.

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Bread Machine Buttery Dinner Rolls

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Light and buttery these dinner rolls are amazing! The best part is the bread machine does most of the work for you!

Yes, the bread machine. If you haven't used it to make dinner rolls, you don't know what you're missing.

After the bread machine does it's work, all you have to do is shape them, let them rise and bake.

Dinner roll with melted butter on a plate next to a bowl of dinner rolls.

If there is one good thing about a year that you can't go anywhere, it's rediscovering all the things you used to bake, cook and do. Like my bread machine.

I've had my bread machine since back when they super popular. I used to use it every week, making sandwich bread, pizza dough, crusty baguettes and dinner rolls.

Then it kind of fell out of popularity and I put it to rest on a shelf.

Then this year happened, and everyone and their uncle was baking sourdough bread. Me included. Then I remembered my bread machine and made these rolls.

These rolls. Buttery. Light. Amazing. You won't want to eat dinner without them. I promise.

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