BLT Day!

We celebrated BLT day a little bit early this year. But I will never make a BLT any other way again. Yes, you've seen this on Pinterest and I am here to tell you IT IS AMAZING!!! And this is why... 1. The bacon doesn't fall out of your sandwich when you eat it. 2. The Bacon to sandwich ration is perfect. 3. It cooks perfectly with no mess.
Oh and in case you were wondering, BLT day is December 1st. It's a Wells family tradition and we will probably eat BLT's then as well. Celebrate with us... but do it the this way!

The Giant Cookie

You've heard of cookie in a cup. Well, this is a thousand times better. It is the recipe for one giant delicious cookie that will take away all sweet cravings with just a few bites and the calories don't linger around the house for days on end tempting their fate to enter your belly and later your waist. James made this for me while I was at the gym tonight (because he loves me). I know it is a little bit counter productive, but at least I went to the gym. We shared the cookie and it was the perfect amount. No leftovers, no over indulging, I would almost call it guilt free,... if it weren't packed with calories... but at least it limits the calories that you can intake all at once. Overall, this is a very delicious recipe, so delicious in fact that we tried it tonight and I had to blog about it tonight. The picture is a link to the original site, and the auther has other giant cookie recipes if double chocolate is not what your craving tonight.

The Giant Cookie

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp beaten egg (crack an egg, beat it and measure two Tbsp)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips + 1 Tbsp (divided)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or baking mat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix butter and sugars together with a fork until creamed. Mix in egg and vanilla.
3 In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Pour dry ingrediants in the wet and mix to combine. Fold in 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
4. Place the dough in the center of the baking sheet and bold inta tall ball using a spoon. Dot the top of the cookie with 1 Tbsp of chocolate chips. Bake for 14-15 minutes or up to 16 minutes. The cookie will appear very soft but will firm up as it cools. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet.
5. You should probably share with someone you love, unless you are having a really bad day. Just a suggestion.

Pasta with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Creamy Lemon-Yogurt Sauce

I LOVE vegetarian cooking. I always have. We've been doing a little bit more of it here and it has been delightful. Although, Lucy hasn't cared for it that much... even though she doesn't really like meat I think she's less fond of all those fresh veggies that she's been seeing on her plate lately. She's always good to try a bite or two, but she lets us know when she's ready for "Mac n' Cheese" or "Chicken Nuggets." (Don't worry we never give in). 

This is one recipe that I've already made twice and I love it. I love the fresh lemon flavor, I love the zucchini, I just love it. It also makes great leftovers. And I do make it with the whole wheat noodles. They taste really good as well. Please try this one. It will be worth your time. 

Pasta with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Creamy Lemon- Yogurt Sauce

(The name alone is a mouthful. Click the picture to go to original site of recipe)

8 oz of whole wheat spaghetti pasta

1/2 cup of plain non-fat Greek yogurt

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tsp grated lemon zest

salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil (or less)

3 medium zucchinis cut into thin strips

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes cut lengthwise

1. Cook pasta according to directions

2. While pasta is cooking make your sauce in a seperate bowl by mixing together yogurt, lemon, cheese, and salt and pepper.

3. Saute zucchini in olive oil until starting to become translucent, add garlic saute until zucchini is translucent. Add tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes, remove from burner. 

4. Add sauce and noodles and stir until well incorporated. 

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes (Fat free)

I'm on a fat-free, low sugar diet right now because of a recent surgery and I made these tonight. I really liked them. Naturally not as good as James' pancakes that everybody else ate around me, but these were just as satisfying to me. The original recipe doesn't call for any sugar. I couldn't imagine eating them with out a little bit of sugar in them so I will add that to my recipe below.


Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1/2 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup cottage cheese (I used fat free)
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
1 Tbsp sugar

Blend it all in a blender until everything is well mixed.
Cook like regular pancakes on a skillet. This recipe makes two medium sized pancakes.
Be creative and top with whatever you like. (I topped with low sugar fruit preserves).

Simply Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I don't really like the name for this recipe... I think it's miss leading, but I will respect the author's choice of names and add it here that way as well. Click the picture to see the original recipe site. I will include the changes I made to the recipe here.
I love enchiladas. Green ones, red ones, beef ones, chicken ones, cheese ones,... it doesn't matter.. I love them. So I'm always looking for new enchilada recipes. I tried these ones the other night and I loved them. I had to cut out a lot of the fat in mine, but they were still delicious even with the changes. My family ate them, and loved them. Even the kids. So it's a winner.

Simply Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

1 lb chicken breast
1 med onion chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil and about half a Tbsp)
8 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups monteray jack cheese (or any cheese really)
1/4 cup butter (again, I half-ed the butter)
1/4 cup flour (you don't need quite this much if you are using less butter)
1 can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream (I used fat free sour cream)
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
I added some green salsa that I had to the chicken mixture. I think it added a lot. I will add salsa (whatever kind I have in the fridge) in the future

1. In a frypan, cook chicken and onion together in oil over medium-high heat until chicken is just done. (This is where I threw in some salsa to add some flavor. Just about a half a cup.
2. Divide cooked chicken evenly between 8 tortillas; add 1 1/2 Tbsp cheese to each tortilla.
3. Roll enchiladas and place seam-side down in 9X13" baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.
4. Melt butter in a medium saucepan; stir in flour to make a roux; stir and cook until bubbly; gradually whisk in chicken broth then bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
5. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and green chilies; pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.
6. Top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce near edges is bubbly

Savory Honey Mustard Pork Chops or Yummy!

I am tired of all our regular recipes so I have been trying new stuff like crazy. Some have failed, but there have been a few recipes, like this one, that we will add to our most favorite list. Best of all this is a really easy recipe with very little prep time involved.  Serve up with some potatoes and steamed greens, and you got yourself a beautiful dinner. (I'm still dreaming about these pork chops... they are so good!)

Savory Honey Mustard Pork Chops

1 1/4 cup of chicken stock

4 pork chops

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Coop pork chops in butter in large skillet about 6 minutes per side or until no longer pink in center. Combine stock, mustard, honey and cornstarch; stir to dissolve cornstarch. Add to skillet and cook until thickened. 

Kool-Aid Play Dough

One of James' classmate shared this recipe with me. WE LOVE IT!! The Kool-Aid adds such a bright color that won't stick to your hands plus it makes the play dough scented. It is also edible, even though it is disgusting, it is safe to eat.

Kool-Aid Play Dough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 small package of unsweetened Kool-Aid
3 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water

1. Boil Water
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Add oil and water
4. Mix together with wood spoon until it reaches a play dough like consistency.
5. When cool enough to touch, knead together.

My Favorite Taco Soup

I've been meaning to post this recipe for ages. I love soup! That's not a secret. I love Taco Soup and this recipe has such a great flavor, it's the one I use all the time. This recipe is adapted from The Food Nanny's Cookbook. There are just a few changes that I've made to it and it really is the best. Warning: This recipe makes a lot. Either for a big family or a small family with company, this soup can feed the masses for cheap!

My Favorite Taco Soup

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cans red kidney beans, drained (Personally, I like one can kidney and one can pinto)
2 cans corn (not drained)
1 2.5 oz can sliced olives (not drained)
2 cans diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 can beef broth
1 small can tomato sauce (optional)

Top with cheese, sour cream, and chips

1. Brown ground beef with chopped onion and green pepper. Drain fat if needed. Add all other ingredients and cook on medium heat until soup is hot and flavors all blended. (You can also put it all in a crock pot and let it cook on low for 5-6 hours)

Lessons learned while making this cake!

I once took a cake decorating class. I loved it because, I got to decorate cakes. I did not make the cakes. I did not make the frosting. I got to explore my creative side with colors and piping tools and my canvas was the cake. When I finished my cake decorating class, I made one cake. I actually bought the frosting for the cake from a bakery,... and the cakes. I like to bake. And I like to decorate cakes. Putting those two processes together has always been overwhelming to me. So I gave all my cake decorating supplies to my sister in law and washed my hands of the idea.
Mel came into my life and inspired me to be creative again. She asked me to make this cake for her son's first birthday. (I won't show the original that I was trying to copy... It's too embarrassing.) I was excited to try cake decorating again. I was also excited to finally overcome my fear of butter cream frosting. And this is what I learned in the process. And I did learn all of these lessons the HARD way.
1. It takes 30 minutes to bake a cake in two 6X2 inch cake pans. (8 inch is the smallest it goes on the instructions on the box.
2. You can NOT use regular food coloring to die white chocolate. It doesn't work. You have to buy a special kind that is oil based not water based.
3. When following a recipe for butter cream frosting, the couple of tablespoons of milk it says to add are not suggestions. You should actually add them.
4. When using gel food coloring (with frosting not chocolate) a little goes a long way.
5. Piping frosting onto a cake that doesn't have enough liquid, doesn't stick very well, and is a lot of work.
With those lessons learned, I am more prepared to make the same cake next week. I will update on the progress I make. It should be a much simpler and smooth process.

So many good recipes....

I have tried so many good recipes lately I have been a little overwhelmed to blog them all. I am going to write about a few of them here and add the link so you can find them. I will go back and include the recipes later. You can click on the titles or pictures to find the recipe page link.

Slow-Cooker Lasagna Soup

This is the sauce this recipe calls for.
It's in the soup isle. 

This is not exactly a summer time dish, but I made it tonight and it was soooo good. It is also really easy and bonus, way less calories than regular lasagna. I think I really even like it better than lasagna because it is not so overloaded with cheese. Cheese is only a garnish on the top. Oh my goodness this was good. I also really liked the Italian Turkey Sausage. I will always use turkey sausage when making this because I imagine it would be quite a bit greasier with regular sausage. YUM!!


P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps

These really are spot on. Maybe even better. I added just a little more heat when I made them with just a little more chili garlic sauce. If you don't want any heat just flavor I suggest only one teaspoon of the chili garlic sauce instead of the two that it calls for. I also added about half the peanut butter because I don't like a strong peanut flavor. It can be over-powering sometimes. James and I both agree it doesn't really need the nuts at all, and instead of half a can of water chestnuts I used the full can. Because I love water chestnuts. They were also super easy to make and the ground chicken really made a big difference too. Sometimes it's hard to find but it's not overly expensive. This is another really good and healthy recipe. I will be making this one again and again, and probably never going to P.F. Chang's again.



Olive Cheese Bread

A friend introduced us to this recipe quite awhile ago, but I didn't ever try it myself until tonight. This is NOT a healthy recipe but it sure is tasty! I am not particularly an olive lover, especially green olives, but they really bring this recipe together. I don't like pimento stuffed green olives so I just used plain green olives. This is a really good recipe to make when you have company because you can have a little and you will be reassured that the rest will get eaten with no leftovers to taunt you in your fridge.

Nutella Brownies

These were delicious and about the simplest brownie recipe you will find. I will include the recipe below because it's just that simple. I think they need just a little bit of salt so I have included it in the recipe below. The link on the internet shows them made in individual brownie cups but honestly I think it is best just in a 8X8 or 9X9 glass pan. They will be more moist that way. Also get creative with the toppings. I used white chocolate and pecans, but I think they would be great with chocolate chips, toffee, caramel, any kind of nut... you name it.

1 cup Nutella
2 eggs
10 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
toppings

mix together and bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

More recipes to come. I promise.

Mexican Rice

I learned how to make "real" Mexican rice in Mexico. I love it. But honestly it was without a recipe and it doesn't always turn out. It is delicious when it does however. I have been looking for a recipe that tastes similar but has instructions and measurements I can follow. I hit the jackpot with this recipe. It's delicious, easy, and doesn't take too long. Plus it's way healthier than the rice I used to make.

Mexican Rice

2 cups long grain white rice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium tomatoes
1/4 onion choped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
4 cups hot chicken broth (Or 4 cups water and 2 bullion cubes)
1/4 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add rice, stir to coat with oil. Lower the heat to medium and cook until each grain is separate and pale golden- approximately 8-10 minutes.
2. While rice cooks place the tomatoes, onions, and garlic (and boullion cubes if you are using instead of chicken broth) in the blender and puree.
3. Increase heat to medium-high and pour tomato mixture over the rice. Mix well.
4. Add hot broth (or hot water) peas, carrots and salt, stir. Replace the lid and let sit for 10-15 minutes. If any liquid remains, replace the lid and cook for several more minutes.

Fuity-O's

This is a Stewart recipe. If my sister-in-law were available to read this blog she would laugh at me for adding this recipe (She's on a mission). I was a skeptic for a long time about this recipe being any good. I for one think Cheerios are disgusting and didn't think there was a way you could make them taste good. The first time she made them for me, I didn't like them at all, but she admits she was a frugal college student and bought all off brand items to make them. The first time I "really" tried these was Christmas 2011 at my in-laws house in Silver City. I was sold! I could not stop eating these yummy simple treats. And best part they are even easier to make than rice crispy treats and a lot less calories. So if you need an easy treat to take to a scout meeting or a neighbor down the street and you have 5 minutes... cook up some Fruity-O's!

Fruity-O's

This is a double batch

1 (3 oz) package of Jell-O
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 Tbsp butter (or margarine)
4 cups Cheerios

Grease a 9X9 pan or baking dish. In a large sauce pan, blend dry Jell-O, corn syrup, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in Cheerios until thoroughly coated. Turn into prepared pan. Grease spoon or spatula and spread mixture in pan. Refrigerate. When set, cut into squares.

Asparagus Cashew Rice Pilaf (with chicken)

My friend Rachel shared this recipe with me. I forgot to ask her if I could share it, but I know she got it from somewhere else so I'm sure it's okay.
I LOVE ASPARAGUS! Growing up it used to grow out at my Grandpa's farm. We would get a couple of bunches each year from him, but there wasn't much and it seemed like a treasure each time. My mom would make Cream of Asparagus soup. We loved it. I don't think she ever bought asparagus, because the only time I remember having this soup was when my grandpa would give it to us. Maybe, it was as expensive then as it is now and that's why she didn't buy it. Regardless, whenever I find it on sale (and sometimes just when I want it) I buy a lot of it. I also make cream of asparagus soup, although I make it different than my mom did growing up, but it is so delicious. I didn't have a lot of other recipes for asparagus so that was mainly what I used it for. Rachel made this for my family one night and I have loved this recipe ever since. It is so light and yummy and for some reason it brings out the asparagus flavor better than any other recipe I've tried. So enjoy!

Asparagus Cashew Rice Pilaf (with chicken)

2 Tbsp Butter
2 oz uncooked spaghetti noodles (broken)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
3 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
1/2 lb asparagus (cut into inch pieces, and you can use as much or as little as you want. I like more rather than less)
1/2 cup chopped cashews
1 grilled chicken breasts diced or shredded (The original recipe doesn't call for chicken but that's how Rachel served it to us and that's how I've made it. I just rub a little olive oil and salt and pepper and bake it, but it would be so good with grilled chicken)

1. Melt butter over medium low heat. Add rice, onion, and garlic. Saute until rice starts to turn a light golden brown color. Add broken noodles and saute a little longer. Add broth, bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat and simmer on low for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked through and liquid is gone.

2. Grill or cook chicken breast, shred, or cube. Set aside.

3. Broil asparagus on foiled baking sheet for 3-4 minutes. Throw rice, chicken, and asparagus together and serve warm topped with chopped cashews.

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

After the last successful stuffed pepper recipe I was searching for more delicious recipes. This is one I stumbled on and we love it. I have made it twice already and like I've said before if we make it more than once and my family will eat it, it's a keeper.

Stuffed Green Peppers

1 cup long grain brown rice
4 large green peppers
1 large onion diced
2 tsp olive oil
2-3 links of Italian sausage, browned
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1/4 cup mozzarella shredded cheese

(I'm lazy and don't want to type the directions so they are copy and pasted from http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/09/recipe-for-stuffed-green-peppers-with.html 
It's really not that difficult. It seems like a lot of directions....).

 Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.

Southwest Salad with Spicy Cilantro Dressing

Here is another good healthy dish. I have made similar salads in the past. They usually call for some sort of Avocado dressing, which are usually delicious, but very messy to make and don't last more than a day. That was my favorite part about this salad. The dressing is very low in fat and delicious for several days after, so left overs are not out of the question. I still don't own a grill so I don't have the luxury of adding grilled chicken but i just bake my chicken breast with a little bit of olive oil, salt and ground pepper and it tastes great.

Southwest Salad with Spicy Cilantro Dressing

Romaine lettuce
Red bell pepper
Corn (canned is good)
Black beans
Green onion
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced grilled chicken breast

Dressing

1- 6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup minced cilantro
2 Tbsp mayo
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (use only a pinch if you don't want it to be as spicy)
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar

Mix your dressing and top chopped salad ingredients. Yummy!

Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

We have been trying to eat a little healthier in the Stewart home, and that means adding lots of veggies and fruits to our meals. James doesn't usually like some of the really healthy stuff I make but he made a deal with me that if we didn't eat out for a month he would eat anything I cooked including the weird healthy stuff and he also said I could buy the family first aid Doterra Essential Oils I have been wanting for awhile. It's pretty expensive but I know and he knows I would put all of them to good use and try and get others to do the same. (That's another story for my other blog). Anyway, I tried this recipe recently and I LOVED IT!!! Oh my goodness, it is such a fresh and delicious combination of flavors. We ate it as a main dish, but I could see myself making it the next time I'm asked to bring a salad to a ward potluck or something. I really could go on. TRY IT! You'll like it.

Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

1 cup uncooked Quinoa
15 oz can garbanzo beans
3 roma tomatoes
1 orange bell pepper
1 1/2 cups of corn (frozen corn, thawed)
4 green onions

Dressing

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 1/2 tsp basil (fresh if you have it)

Rinse quinoa and cook according to directions (I like to cook mine in chicken broth to add a little bit of flavor).
In a small bowl mix dressing and set aside.
Slice veggies and set aside.
When quinoa is cooked and cooled mix with veggies and dressing. Let cool in fridge and serve. YUM!

Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers

This is a Pinterest "NAIL" as in "NAILED IT!" This is also a popular pin. And it is worth making too. We have already repeated the recipe which is a sure fire way to tell that it is a keeper. I have made changes to the original recipe and I think you should note them. The original recipe calls for WAY TOO MUCH butter and oil. All you need is about a Tablespoon of Olive Oil is all. The original recipe also calls for mushrooms. I made it with mushrooms the first time even though I don't like them, and it was good, but I like it WAY more with out mushrooms. Last time I made them I threw in some sun-dried tomatoes just because I had them in my fridge. It was delicious! Which makes me believe this is a very versatile recipe and you could throw in just about anything and bake it in a green pepper with melted cheese and it would be delicious. YUM!!

Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers

8 oz thinly sliced roast beef (I got mine cut from the deli.... SO GOOD)
8 slices of provolone cheese
2 large green peppers
1 med sweet onion
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of garlic (minced)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice peppers in half, remove stems and seeds
Slice onions and saute over medium heat with garlic and olive oil until onions are translucent/caramelized.  Throw in sliced roast beef and saute for about 5 more minutes.
Line halved peppers with a slice of provolone cheese
Pile onion meat mixture high in the pepper and top with another slice of provolone cheese
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

*If you have some sun-dried tomatoes in your fridge throw those in too. It was good but not necessary.

PS. I have my own picture to add but I left my camera in St. George, so I will add it later.

A couple of Pinterest Fails!

I enjoy pinterest, I really do, but some of the recipes are not good. I just wanted to quickly warn you of a couple that I have tried that were NOT good. You probably have them pinned. They are popular pins. I have seen them all over. So here is your warning. Don't try these at home!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Enchiladas with Avacado Cream Sauce

Long name for a lame recipe. These were a lot of work for a big let down with the finished product. I thought they were even on the verge of disgusting. We did use the Avacado Cream Sauce on a BBQ Chicken Salad the next day and that was good. Otherwise a waste of time.

If you are still interested in this recipe after this review click Here to find it.





Crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Rice

I guess I knew before hand the ingredients going into this recipe. All good but alone flavorless. I should have assumed if you put them together it would also be flavorless. Regardless I was looking for a quick easy meal with ingredients I always have in the fridge and pantry. I tried it and it was flavorless. I even added some green chilis to try and give it a kick. but it was not there. So spare yourself some time and don't make this recipe.

But if you still want to make it then click here

Lauri's Snickerdoodle Cookies

I don't know where this recipe comes from but in my mom's cookbook it is titled, "Lauri's Snickerdoodle Cookies." I don't remember creating any recipes of my own but I will say they always turn out good when I make them. I know others have tried and not been so fortunate. I don't know what I do different, but these always turn out so soft and yummy.

Lauri's Snickerdoodle Cookies

1 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 c. flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla (only just slightly, keep it lumpy) Add dry ingredients. Mix only until ingredients are combined. Using a cook scoop, scoop balls of dough into cinnamon/sugar mixture and cover completely. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Stove top Mac & Cheese

I don't know about your kids but Lucy LOVES Mac & Cheese. She loves every variation of Mac & Cheese. We have tried the Mac & Cheese at every restaurant we have ever taken her to. To list a few of our favorites: Panera bread, Paradise Cafe, Buffalo Wild Wings, Red Robin, and George's Corner all have great home made Mac and Cheese. We always ask before ordering if it is Kraft Mac & Cheese that they are serving and there are several of those as well.
I get tired of buying Kraft and so I have been looking for a good, and EASY recipe that I could make in it's place. This is my favorite so far. Mostly because it is so simple.

Stove top Mac & Cheese

2 cups dried pasta
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup loosely packed shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt (I use less)
1/4 tsp dijon mustard or nutmeg or omit all together (I used nutmeg, but only a dash of it)
1/4 tsp cayanne pepper (optional, but I really liked it. It does not make it hot it just adds a little flavor)

In a small sauce pan add pasta and milk. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low and cook until pasta is soft, constantly stirring so the milk does not burn at the bottom.

Turn heat off and add cheese and other seasonings. and stir to combine. Cover and let stand for a couple of minutes then stir again and serve. If it is not creamy enough add a little bit of milk a little at a time.

There are a few other variations on the site that I found this recipe. You can find those here.

Salsa Chicken (Slow Cooker)

I have made up several variations of this recipe on my own in the past, but I was glad to find this recipe because I like it best. The flavor is perfect and you can top it with anything to make it more interesting. I usually put it over rice and serve it with some fruit. It makes a great and easy meal, and Lucy loved it, so your kids might as well.

Salsa Chicken

1 lb of boneless chicken breasts
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup salsa (Kirkland brand organic salsa is my favorite bulk salsa)
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream (I used light and only about 3/4 cup)
Toppings (optional): Cheese, Cilantro, Green Onions, Black beans, Corn,... any combination of what you have is good.

Put Chicken breasts at the bottom of the slow cooker. Add Cream of mushroom soup and Salsa and sprinkle taco seasoning on top of all of that. Cook on low for 6 hours. About an hour before you are ready to serve, shred chicken and add sour cream and mix all together. Let it cook for about an hour more, and prepare your rice or any other toppings. SO YUMMY!