I love easy meals and these beans are the epitome of easy! It’s been cold and rainy here so we’ve been eating lots of crock pot meals and soups. You can start these beans in the morning and then you’re house will smell amazing all day as they simmer away on the stove. You only…
Chicken and Dumplings
I referenced my dad’s chicken and dumplings here and ever since I’ve been craving a big, steaming pot of them. My dad’s original recipe involved roasting a chicken and making your own stock. I’ve made the process much faster and just as delicious by using a store bought rotisserie chicken and chicken stock. I love…
My Dad’s Spaghetti Sauce
Cold weather always makes me crave comfort food. In my mind, nothing is more comforting than the recipes I grew up eating. This week I’m going to be featuring a few of my favorite family recipes. They are delicious and might just become some of your family favorites too!The first is my dad’s spaghetti sauce. …
January Giveaway!
The winner of this giveaway is Madeline Brubaker! Congrats!!! **********************This giveaway is now closed************************** Hello sweet friends! In honor of the New Year, we are hosting an amazing giveaway! Yes, I’m biased because I picked out the items, but I think you’ll agree! This giveaway features a few of my favorite kitchen tools and I’m…
Waffle Bar
Do you ever make kitchen purchases that you regret? Whether an underused appliance or an over priced rare ingredient, I’ve had my fair share of kitchen flops. Most notably was my quest for a waffle iron. I love waffles and feel that they are incredibly versatile treat. We’d been talking about buying one so…
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year sweet friends and faithful blog readers! It’s hard for me to believe but my little blog has been around for 6 months now. My how the time has flown! I’ve learned so much and I’ve loved connecting with so many of you. I am so thankful for your kind words of encouragement…
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles (103) and Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons (104)
The best way to end this series is showcasing the desserts that I made. If you are heading to a party this evening, I promise that you will be loved by all if you bring either of these! In my mind, all fancy dinners end with dessert. I wanted to continue the small plate concept…
Stuffed Mushrooms (102) and Prosciutto Wrapped Steak Cubes with Shallot Mustard Cream Sauce
Since we had a tapas inspired meal, we served the entrees on our dinner plates and our guests ate off of salad plates. This choice helped everything fit on the table. We also used our fancy wine glasses. I tend to do 2 glasses when we entertain so that people can have a glass of water…
Mini Crab Cakes (99) with Pineapple Cucumber Salsa (100) and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp (101)
We added several details to make this dinner for our friends extra special. For starters, we busted out our china. Fancy dishes make any meal feel celebratory! When Currey and I got married, one of my mom’s best friends told me to pick a china pattern that I loved and to use it often. She said…
Baked Goat Cheese (97)
I love to host parties. Big or small, just dessert or multiple course meal, it just doesn’t matter. I love having people in our home. I think New Year’s Eve is a great night to celebrate with friends so I’m going to spend the rest of the week sharing recipes from a recent get together…
Merry Christmas
We’ve enjoyed a lovely morning just the 4 of us. We devoured this Baked French Toast as has been our tradition for the last 3 years. I’m baking pies, rolls and bundles of green beans to take over to our friends house for Christmas Lunch. A simple day of celebrating and eating fantastic food! Praying…
Lace Cookies (93), Homemade Turtles (94), Peanut Brittle (95) and Pistachio Brittle (96)
Every year we make small homemade treats for our neighbors. It’s nothing too fancy but we feel like it’s an important gesture. This year we delivered little Christmas Chinese take out boxes filled with these sweet treats. The first were these Lace Cookies. I chose this recipe because the pictures were beautiful and this cookie…
Garlic Pull Apart Bread (92)
Just a quick follow up to my last post. I really loved the wheat bread but we were having pasta for dinner one night and I wanted garlic bread to go with it. So I made this garlic pull apart bread recipe. I took a loaf of the wheat bread that I had baked and…
Wheat Bread (90) and Rosemary Round Loaf (91)
I think that the coolest part of this journey, is the bread that I’ve made. I have always been intimated to bake bread before but I have realized that it’s much easier than I ever expected. Two recent accomplishments are this Rosemary Round Loaf and this Wheat Bread. If you have never made bread before…
Crock Pot Tacos (87), Cilantro Lime Sour Cream (88), and Pulled Pork Sour Cream Enchiladas (89)
Do you have any recipes that you make where you are more excited about the leftovers than the meal itself? We often had big Sunday lunches growing up. One of the go to recipes was Toye’s Chicken. It was a basic roast chicken but having that for lunch meant we would have Chicken and Dumplings…
Tomato Basil Soup (85) and Garlic Knots (86)
While taking pictures of dinner, Blythe asked me to take her picture. How could I resist that face! Growing up we would often road trip to Dallas to see my aunt. We had several staple restaurants where we had to eat on these trips and one of those places was La Madeline. The desserts and…
Apple Peanut Butter Waffle Sandwiches (84)
Things have been a little crazy at our house recently! We came back from Thanksgiving vacation 10 days ago and our kids have been sick for the entire 10 days. I thought that we had turned a corner so we headed to church this morning since Currey was preaching. Unfortunately, I got called to get…
Artichoke Dip (82) and Spinach Artichoke Pasta (83)
One of my all time favorite dishes is Spinach Artichoke Dip. It’s my favorite appetizer, hands down. If done well, it’s worth every last calorie, which I’m sure it’s FULL of calories! While we were in Texas for Thanksgiving, I made this Artichoke Dip. My dad, brother and Currey were feverishly working on a puzzle…
Vanilla Coffee Creamer (81)
I’m addicted to coffee. I’ve been drinking coffee regularly since the 6th grade and I’m glad that I have no idea how much I’ve spent at coffee shops over my lifetime. I probably could have funded my kids college expenses. But alas, I’ve enjoyed every last drop! My husband is a barista so I have…
Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls (80)
Have you noticed a theme with my Christmas breakfast recommendations yet? They are all filled with butter and lots of sugar. I think holidays are reason to enjoy great food with those that you love the most. What better way to show others the depth of your love than with ooey gooey icing covered cinnamon…
Chipotle Chicken Wings (79)
All that enter our house are subject to a new recipe. With our close friends and those that eat with us regularly, the agreement is that if dinner is a bust we’ll order pizza. Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet! For those that we know are a little more daring, they get the really unique recipes…
Creme Brulee French Toast (78)
As I’ve mentioned before, breakfast is one of my favorite meals to cook. I love a super sugary dish to start the day. One of the most fun things about this process of trying new recipes is finding dishes that I know certain people in my life will love. Currey is a huge fan of…
Boston Cream Pie (77)
I can’t believe that December is here! With Thanksgiving coming so early, I’m all thrown off. The extra time has allowed me to prepare a special treat for my kids this Christmas season. Last year, I saw so many pins on Pinterest about wrapping books for your kids and letting them open one every day…
Pesto Cavatappi (75) and Gorgonzola Bread (76)
We are back in Illinois after 10 days in Texas. It was a wonderful vacation and I decided that I would take a break from blogging to soak up every minute with our families. I did lots and lots of cooking and I look forward to sharing lots of new recipes with you very soon. …
Christmas Cookie Kit Giveaway!!
The winner of this giveaway is #7 – Emma S. Congrats Emma! ************************This Giveaway is Now Closed******************************* One of my favorite holiday traditions is decorating sugar cookies. I have countless memories of making cookies with family and friends during my lifetime. Not only is it fun, there’s a delicious treat to enjoy when you are…
Thanksgiving Puppy Chow (74)
My family survived 9 hours of air travel yesterday and we are happily spending time with family in Texas. It was an adventure that involved 3 flights, missed naptimes and getting in hours after my kids should have been in bed. The rest of my family is heading in today so I thought I’d have…
French Onion Dip (72) and Baked Potato Dip (73)
With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought everyone could benefit from a couple of dip recipes that I recently tried. I love having easy to prepare appetizers for any gathering that we are invited to. I love parties where everyone brings an appetizer to share because you get to try lots of different foods and…
S’mores Bars (71)
Growing up, we did not eat sugary cereal at our house. Ever. That was a treat that was simply reserved for my grandparents house and summer camp. It’s something my brother and I joke about now but at the time I hated. Once I went to college and began eating cereal at least twice a…
November Giveaway Winner
It’s hard to put into words the gratitude that I’m feeling about all the love and support that I’ve received over the last week. The outpouring from so many has left me astounded. While we thought the giveaway might generate some interest, we never ever dreamed so many people from all different seasons of my…
Island Pork Tenderloin (93) and Mustard Garlic Green Beans (94)
When Currey and I frist got married, our big dinner splurge would have been a marinated pork tenderloin. That was our “date night in” dinner and it was a specail treat reserved for when tenderloins went on sale. Thankfully, our gorvery budget has grown a bit over the years and I’ve realized that there are…