no. 126: Cheez-It green bean casserole!

And my favorite mandolin slicer!!

If you’ve seen me in the last week and noticed that I’ve had a unique glow about me, it’s because I went to the Sabrina Carpenter concert last Friday and witnessed her bring out Christina Aguilera to sing the two iconic smashes, What a Girl Wants and Ain’t No Other Man. That’s right, people. I was in the room where it happened.

Concert ticket prices have become literally insane but you simply cannot put a dollar amount on wearing eye shadow and a flirty little outfit while you’re with your gal pals and shouting at the top of your lungs “I’M SO FKN HORNY!!!!” to a stadium of people.

The tickets were about the cost of two therapy sessions but watching her do a new Juno position cured me in a way that therapy would never be able to do. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then congratulations on having a brain that is not fundamentally ruined thanks to TikTok.

Aside from Ms. Carpenter, here are some other things I’ve been loving this week.

Japanese Mandolin Slicer

I have needed a new mandolin for a couple months now because I accidentally dropped my other one on the ground (oops), and it broke the mechanism that allows you to the adjust the width of whatever you’re slicing. I finally remembered to order one, and I’m so excited to have this thing in my kitchen again.

Cocktail Party Skewers

I am constantly finding myself scrambling at last minute before catered events for chic skewers. I decided to get ahead of it for once and order some cute ones on Amazon so that I wasn’t feverishly running through Vons, only to find that everything they have to offer is ugly.

I used these on some sandwiches and wraps at the baby shower that I catered last weekend and thought they were so adorable. Sometimes, it’s the little things, you know!?

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Cheez-It Green Bean Casserole

Serves: 10-12

Active time: 35 minutes

Total time: 55 minutes

I have now been creating recipe video content for Cheez-It for almost two (!) glorious years, and it is one of the great joys of my professional (and personal) life. If it has taught me anything, it’s that there’s nothing a Cheez-It can’t do. It’s also taught me that if you shout into the void about something you love loud enough and frequently enough, the right person might just hear you.

My most recent Cheez-It recipe was this holiday green bean casserole. I do not come from a family that had a green bean casserole on the holiday table, but I must say, this dish was really, really good and very easy to make.

As someone who has now spent nearly two years playing with Cheez-Its in my kitchen, I can confirm that any application where you might use Panko breadcrumbs or graham cracker crumbs, you might as well just crush up some Cheez-Its for an amplified dining experience.

To see some of my other Cheez-It recipes that you may have missed, you can look here on their website. Some of my faves are these s’more brownie bars, this cheesy burrata pizza dip (using their Hidden Valley Ranch Cheez-Its), oven-fried pickles, and a vanilla milkshake (you have to trust me). I even did a true personality crossover and got to make this Fishwife x Cheez-It tuna melt. That was a professional highlight for 2024.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy cooking!!