One of my favorite things about going out to dinner with Currey is when he leans over during a meal and tells me that I could recreate whatever it is we are eating at home. It’s a boost of confidence and reassuring that he thinks I can recreate restaurant dishes at home. The best part…
Dinner
Barbecue Chicken Salad
Although I haven’t written about it often, I am indeed on a budget when I go to the grocery store. I’ve found that to stick to my budget I can only pay cash and I spend $100 to feed our family for the week. That covers all our household supplies like toiletries in addition to 3 meals…
Frito Pie Bar
When I started planning Bennett’s birthday, I knew I wanted a western theme. We were going to be in Texas and it just seemed fitting. I started dreaming and pinning ideas to Pinterest. As the date got closer, I made some changes because I wanted the day to be fun. I didn’t want to be…
Calzones
Hello world! We are recovering from our second round of the stomach flu in 3 weeks so my series on freezer meals has been sidelined. Having my kids have the stomach flu is one of my hardest parenting experiences to date. It’s so hard to watch your kids be miserable! So glad that we are…
Baked Ziti
Can I just make a blanket apology for the pictures for this week of posts? I was much more focused on getting lots of food cranked out in a timely manner so the pictures of food are lacking. We’ll call it an exercise in creativity. I’ll write about food and you can imagine it to…
beef stroganoff
Remember when I posted steak fingers? They were so delicious. So delicious in fact that I made them several times over a 3 week period back in the fall. Do you know what happens when I fall in love with a recipe and then make it repeatedly? We burn out on it. In our experience,…
Steak and Potato Hash
Occasionally, I’ll see a recipe on another blog or on Pinterest and it’s all I can think about until I make it. While I realize this is not normal behavior it’s how my mind works. What can I say? I’m quirky! When I saw this recipe for steak and potato hash at Simply Scratch I…
Frito Pie
When I was in high school, we had off campus lunch. I’m not sure who thought it was a great idea to let 2000 students, who were new drivers, leave every day at lunch time but to us it was the highlight of the day. We would pile into cars and speed away to our…
Beans and Sausage
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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. …
Steak Fingers (68)
At my core, I love chicken fried steak. Love it! So much so that it inspired the name for my blog. It’s a southern staple and I’ve had it at more places than I can count. Whenever we are in Amarillo, we even go to a breakfast place with my in-laws where I get chicken…
Shredded Chicken Tacos (63) and Cilantro Lime Rice (64)
While Currey and I were on our August vacation we enjoyed a night with our friends Ryan and Kristine. Kristine made a feast for our dinner together. It was extra special as she made guacamole the way I had showed her 4 years ago. I was excited that she likes it as much as I…
Garlic Pork Chops (60) and Sweet Potato Fries (61)
One of the first recipes that I ever tried from Pinterest was this Garlic Pork Chop recipe. It was one of the recipes that showed me the value of Pinterest and affirmed that it could be a place to find worthwhile recipes. While at the grocery store shopping for the ingredients for Garlic Pork Chops,…
Summer Squash Risotto (59)
Champagne risotto was the first intermediate recipe that I cooked from Food Network. At that time, it was a monumental milestone for me. I realized that I could try harder recipes, I could make really delicious meals in my kitchen and it was so good it could have been served in a restaurant. I realize…
Chorizo Cheeseburger (57) and Homemade Tater Tots (58)
Do you like chorizo? If so, you must try this Chorizo Cheeseburger recipe. Not sure if you like chorizo? Then this is a great recipe to try. At our house we love chorizo but to be honest I’m having a more difficult time finding it than I used to. I was dying to try this…
White Pizza (55) and Barbeque Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas (56)
One of the most fun parts of this journey is sharing dinner with our friends. During the week of July 4th, we were hit by an unbelievable storm. Thousands lost power for several days during the heat of summer. Our friends the Colwins were some of those that lost power. We welcomed them into our…
Jalapeno Cheddar Ale Soup (52) and Lasagna Soup (53)
My mom loves to recount how picky of an eater I was as a child. I had a gift at picking out every single diced onion (or bell pepper) from a dish that she made from dinner. I meticulously piled them on the edge of my plate. Thankfully, I’ve broadened my horizons and I’m not…
Anniversary Dinner – Pepper Crusted Steaks with Goat Cheese (46), Roasted Red Pepper and Ancho Chile Salsa (47), Bundles of Asparagus (48) and Pink Grapefruit Margaritas (49)
We are currently in a season of life where it’s easier to have date nights at home. Thankfully our little man is finally on a schedule and sleeping better but it’s still hard to leave him at 4 months old. We decided to celebrate our 7-year anniversary by cooking together at home. We waited until…
Stuffed Avocados (41)
Since I’ve already confessed my love of Dr. Pepper, I’ll make another confession. I hate leftovers. HATE them. For as long as I can remember, I’ve despised them. One of the biggest skills that I learned in the kitchen from my Dad is creativity with leftovers. We would joke that he could sculpt remnants of…
Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork (40)
Dr. Pepper is my current addiction. During my last pregnancy I usually chose to indulge in a cup of coffee in the morning instead of drinking Dr. Pepper during the day. It was winter most of my pregnancy so a hot beverage just made sense. And really, if you are drinking a Dr. Pepper nothing…
Crock Pot Recipes: Balsamic Pork (37) and Sesame Chicken (38)
Who doesn’t love crock-pot cooking? The ease of putting ingredients in the crock-pot in the morning and coming home to a cooked meal in the evening makes any mom’s day better. I typically use mine on days when I’m working later so that I don’t have to come home and rush to get dinner on…
Skewers : Key West Grilled Chicken (29) and Garlic Mustard Chicken (30)
At our house, we grill all year. We invested in a Le Creuset grill pan 2 years ago, which has made grilling in the winter much easier. But thankfully right now we aren’t thinking about snow and we are enjoying sunshine and temps in the 90’s. I love skewers. I like the look, the bite…
Coconut Shrimp (22)
Since I’d bought shrimp for the garlic shrimp recipe, I decided to use the rest for a coconut shrimp recipe. I’m not a huge fan of coconut in sweets and desserts but coconut shrimp is one of my favorite seafood dishes. When I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to give it…