Simple Crockpot Shredded Fiesta Chicken

Isn't it a great feeling when you know you have just created something wonderful and it only took two ingredients! In my mind, on the first day that I made this, I thought I was totally onto something. I threw 2 ingredients into the crockpot, let them cook all day, and voila! A delicious dinner was served. Little did I know that I, in fact, did not create anything at all. This recipe (if you can even call it that) had been around for who knows how long and all it took was the good ole internet to burst my bubble.

Garlic Spinach Pasta With Baked Chicken Bacon Meatballs

Last night I found myself standing in my kitchen trying to figure out dinner, again. It's a never-ending job, but somebody has to do it! After taking a brief inventory of our food supplies, I knew I wanted to do something with the GIANT bag of spinach that I bought at Costco last weekend. Pasta sounded like a good idea. There was a recipe on the back of the bag for garlic spinach to serve as a side dish. I decided I would make that and mix it in with some pasta and maybe add in a few other ingredients.

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pie Cookies

Who remembers those Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies from their childhood? I remember thinking they were the greatest things ever! Finding a special treat like that in my lunch box was always a nice surprise. (BTW- thanks Mom, for all that you did and all that you still do!) Since I now do a lot of baking I cringe at the thought of the processed, mass produced cookies. But why couldn't I make a homemade version? Turns out I can! And they are delicious.

Healthy Breakfast "Cookies"

 This recipe has been circling like crazy on Pinterest. I figured I should just try them to form my own opinion. They are easy to make and contain things that can be found in an ordinary pantry.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 

My husband sent me the link to this recipe over a month ago saying that I should try it....on a night when he was going to be eating his favorite frozen pizza. (He's not a fan of cauliflower.) It looked interesting to me, but I kept putting it off and putting it off. One day last week, while cleaning out my e-mail inbox I came across the recipe again and decided I was just going to make it. The next day I went to the store and got a giant head of cauliflower.

Green Monster Smoothie Project

After seeing these green monster smoothies all over the Internet, I decided I would give them a try. They are packed full of all natural ingredients so it can't be that bad, right? The spinach and kale used in these recipes were the two things that made me nervous to try them. Turns out they aren't half bad. Kind of good, actually! Who knew. You really have to find the right flavor/texture combo to suit your tastes. A little trial and error is the easiest way to do that. I told myself I would give these a one week trial period. Here is what I made!

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

First and foremost, I LOVE my crockpot! Today was the first day in awhile that the weather was beautiful! I'm glad we got out and enjoyed it since tomorrow's high is going to be 25-30 degrees cooler than today's was. I had planned to make a crockpot meal one day this week and I think I picked the perfect day to do it!  We were out until dinner time and it was so nice to walk into the house to the smell of dinner already cooked!

Simple Weeknight Grinders

I'm a stay at home mom and I have been searching for simple weeknight dinner recipes that we can just decide to make at the last minute because frankly, I don't always remember to plan dinner. Hey now, don't judge me. You know you have been there at some point. Whether it be a baby who needs your constant attention, a sick child who needs to be pampered, a toddler who decides to Spackle the entire living room during your 2 minute shower, or the endless amount of laundry and cleaning that goes along with staying at home, there are always those days where you just can't get dinner planned in advance.

Baked Nutmeg Cake Doughnuts With Cinnamon Glaze

On our last trip to visit my parents, my Mom offered to take us to the Wilton store. When we got there, all of the Valentine's day stuff was 50% off!!! To top off the amount of excitement I was already feeling, my Mom also surprised me by saying that she would buy me something! I was ecstatic!! But what would I buy? After being in the store for about an hour and STILL not making up my mind, I turned and BAM!

Pina Colada Cupcakes

On Superbowl Sunday there was a fun party over at my sister-in-law's house. It doubled as a birthday party for my father-in-law and nephew as well. I was making the chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough cake for my nephew and was trying to think of an "adult" dessert that I could serve for my father-in-law. After a few days of brainstorming with my husband, we decided to go with some tropical inspired flavors. I started researching coconut and pineapple cupcakes. I then had a friend of mine request that I make a strawberry daiquiri cupcake. (I will get around to that eventually) This immediately made a light bulb go on in my head and the perfect idea popped out! A pina colada cupcake is just the sweet treat I had been trying to think of. 

Salted Caramel Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Unfortunately we live far away from a big portion of our family and friends so they miss out on the majority of little goodies that I make year round. (their waistlines are probably happy that we don't live any closer, though!) When we were just back visiting I decided that they needed a treat and this is what I came up with.... salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. I figured it had been done before so I started doing some research. The first recipe that I came across sounded so good that I decided to just make a few changes and go for it!

Brownie Hearts w/ Raspberry Buttercream and Fresh Raspberries

We were up in Chicago visiting last week and to top off the craziness that comes along with staying in a non child-proofed home for that long, we decided to throw a little Valentine's day lunch date. My mom likes planning parties as much as I do and this one was her idea! It was a very small get together (5 people plus my kids) that just kind of came together perfectly by the end of the week.We brainstormed for a few days and came up with a quick and easy menu that had hardly any prep work.

I 'Mustache' You a Question...Will You Be My Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day!
Sorry this post is a few days late. I didn't want to ruin the surprise for the people who were getting these in the mail. Not only did this idea make for a great Valentine's day card, it gave me a cute photo to put in the heart frame I made last month and also gave the boys hours of play time! L and his buddy had a play date the day I made the mustaches and they played with them for at least an hour. I sent his friend home with one and I hope he is still getting as much play time out of it as L is! The baby was even interested in them and didn't mind when I stuck one on his face.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

We are leaving for Chicago in just a few moments but I knew I HAD to get this recipe posted before we left. This post will be short, but don't let that fool you, I could talk about this cake all day if I had to. That's how good it was!

Roasted Chickpeas (garbonzo beans)

Crispy, crunchy, healthy snack! Now that's what I like to hear!
I came across this recipe for roasted chickpeas and within a few days my mother-in-law offered me a can a chickpeas that she wasn't planning on using. Coincidence? I think not! While reading through the reviews I realized that the flavoring possibilities were basically endless! I decided to stick with the basic recipe for my first attempt. I did, however, take the advice of one reviewer and use a little bit less olive oil to receive the maximum crunch in the final product.

Thai Spicy Peanut Tofu with Rice Noodles

The boys and I are going out of town next week so we have been trying to use up some of the perishable items that we know Steve won't eat while we are gone. This afternoon I realized there was a package of tofu that I bought two weeks ago and forgot about. I have eaten tofu plenty of times in Thai restaurants but I had never tried to cook with it before tonight.

Spinach Bacon Quiche

Tonight we were lucky that a dinner that didn't consist of frozen pizza made it to the table! The boys and I were out running errands all day -play date, doctor, Target, grocery store- and of course forgot to pull some meat out of the freezer before leaving the house this morning. While starring blankly into the refrigerator trying to figure out something to make, the corner of a red box on the lowest shelf caught my eye. It was a pie crust. At that moment I remembered that my wonderful husband had gotten me a quiche pan for Christmas that I hadn't used yet! I immediately thought to myself, "I'm making quiche!"