Cheesy Kielbasa, Broccoli, and Rice Skillet

Another recipe I made a few weeks ago and have yet to post. I was going to post this earlier, but I got sidetracked with cheerleading business, which is soon to take over my life once the season starts in a month. Trying to gather up some volunteer coaches and get them certified is more work than you think...

Anyways, I love easy dishes where you can pretty much throw everything in a pan and give it a few stirs and have dinner ready in about 20 minutes. This was easy, flavorful, and inexpensive. That checks off all the boxes for a busy and budget-conscious family!

Cheesy Kielbasa Broccoli, and Rice Skillet
From Mom on Time Out

1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 Kielbasa (I used a pork and turkey one), sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add Kielbasa and brown for 3-4 minutes per side.
2. Remove with a slotted spoon and add onion and pepper and saute until translucent. Add rice to the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let cook for 15 minutes.
4. Without disturbing the rice, add the broccoli on top of the rice, recover and cook another 5-7 minutes.
5. Stir in Kielbasa and 1 cup of cheese to combine.
6. Top with remaining cheese, recover, and let cook 2 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Tacos

I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month. June was a pretty busy month here in our home. To begin, Baby P was sick for about 2 weeks, so Hubby and I spent most of our time comforting her and eating small meals whenever we could, like soup sandwiches, and mac and cheese. No impressive recipes there. Then, school was ending on June 17th, so I had a lot going on at work as I prepared for the summer, which I have off to spend time with P. Now, with summer underway, and Baby P back to normal (minus fighting sleep something fierce....) I'm hoping to get back into trying some new recipes.

This recipe is from about 2 weeks ago and it was great! Leftovers don't end up so great with this recipe, as the taco shells get soggy and reheating them makes them even soggier. I recommend this for when you know they will all be eaten right after you make them. I adapted it slightly by using a rotisserie chicken for convenience and using the Sweet n' Smoky rub we love to use to season the chicken rather than just using paprika and pepper.  My preparation is listed below. If you want to use chicken breasts, just click the link for the original recipe and follow that. I topped mine with lettuce and blue cheese dressing to help cut some of the heat since I'm a wuss when it comes to hot foods.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Adapted from Gal on a Mission

2-2.5 cups cooked shredded chicken
2.5 tsp. Sweet n' Smoky rub seasoning (or seasonings of your choice)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
8-10 taco shells
Shredded cheese of your choice

Taco toppings of your choice (I used blue cheese dressing and shredded lettuce)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine the cream cheese, butter and hot sauce and stir. Heat until cream cheese is melted and everything is smooth.
3. Mix the seasoning with the chicken to coat the pieces, then add the seasoned chicken to the pan of hot sauce. Stir to combine.
4. Arrange taco shells upright in a 9x13 baking dish and evenly distribute chicken amongst the shells. Top with shredded cheese.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted.

Banana Bread Truffles

I stumbled across a Pinterest post about different types of banana bread the other day. This was perfect because I had 4 browning bananas sitting on my counter. I love flavored banana breads. I know, banana is a flavor, but it's not fancy enough for me. When I use up old bananas I make things like:

Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Banana Butterscotch Cream Pie Cupcakes

Banana Butterscotch Cream Pie

Kahlua Caramelized Banana S'More Bread

Red Velvet Banana Bread

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Blondie Cake

I like banana stuff...

Plain old banana bread is great, but it's better when you add more to it. So, in this list of type of banana bread were cookies, bars, banana bread in a jar etc. When I saw the truffles I knew it was something easy enough to make so I took a stab at it.

They are easy to make, but I've ever really made truffles before. My chocolate was really thick which made it hard to roll the banana bread in, and made for a thick chocolate shell. I'll have to work on that. Other than that issue, they're pretty good. I don't think I'll be going into the truffle/candy business anytime soon however.

You can take any banana bread recipe you have and whip it up. I'll include my super simple one I used yesterday from Martha Stewart.

Banana Bread Truffles
 From Inquiring Chef

Banana bread:
3 ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 bags milk chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, mix together the banana, sugar, egg and butter. In a different bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add the flour to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Place into a greased 9x5 dish and bake for 55 minutes at 325 degrees. Let cool completely.

2. When the bread is cooled, slice off the edges that touched the pan that are crustier. We're talking like just a little sliver off the edges. Then crumble up the banana bread into a bowl so it's all small crumbs.

3. Add the cream cheese and mix until fully combined and creamy. Roll the mixture into small balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour to overnight. I let mine chill for 5 hours.

4. Melt one bag of chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second increments until melted and stir until completely smooth.

5. Dip the banana balls into the chocolate to coat and use two forks to help let the extra chocolate drip off and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator until set and enjoy!

My truffles aren't pretty whatsoever. I need some practice on how to make good truffles. But, they do have that homemade with love look, and that's perfectly fine with me. Plus, they taste amazing which is all that matters. I know this, because I've eaten about 6 of them......

Honey Glazed Bacon Wrapped Pork

We love pork tenderloin in this house. We were eating it once a week for a couple of months not long ago. I know, I know. Not the healthiest choice, but it's affordable and delicious!

This recipe is definitely not healthy. It's pork on pork goodness. I don't usually wrap our pork in bacon. I usually cook ours using my Maple-Dijon Pork recipe. I used a similar method with this recipe, but a different flavor and it's wrapped in bacon. The key is searing your pork first before putting it into the over. Searing it gives it a nice crisp edge and really holds in those juices. It comes out perfect every time, never dry!

When I made this, the tenderloin I picked up was on sale, it was 2 one and a half-pound tenderloins in the package. So I used both of them. One package of bacon was enough for both tenderloins, so it worked out perfectly. Cooking times vary according to the size of your tenderloin, so I recommend going by the package directions rather than always following the recipe directions. Even though there are a few steps in this recipe, it's simple and impressive. When you tell your husband you're making bacon wrapped pork for dinner you're pretty much a superstar.

Honey Glazed Bacon Wrapped Pork
From Recipe Tin Eats

1 lb. pork tenderloin
1 package of bacon, thin or regular cut, long enough to wrap around pork.
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 tbsp. honey

1. Preheat oven to 390. Lay bacon pieces (enough to cover length of pork) next to each other on a clean surface, slightly overlapping.
2. Season pork with salt and pepper. Brown each side of the pork in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat in the oil.
3. Place pork on top of bacon and roll the bacon over the pork to cover it. Place it seam side down back into the pan.
4. Brush the pork with honey and place into the oven to cook. Mine took about 50 minutes for my two pieces. Feel free to baste it a few times with the juices while it cooks.
5. Remove from oven and let rest a few minutes before slicing.

SoCo Cherry Bombs

This recipe should have posted a month ago...or any time earlier this week since I've been home on vacation all week, but I haven't spent much time on the computer. I've spent most of time with the baby, enjoying all of our precious moments together. I've also spent half my vacation week (and the end of last week) being sick and recovering from being sick. I had some awful viral infection that had me feverish and with an extreme sore throat for 4 days, and then cold symptoms, and now just a lingering ticklish cough with an on/off stuffy nose. Great way to spend a vacation....

Anyways, if you're looking for something fun for a party or gathering, and by fun I mean tasty and has booze in it, these are the way to go. I've made cherries soaked in many things before (flavored vodkas are great) as well as Southern Comfort. My favorite is Southern Comfort. These are soaked overnight in SoCo and then dipped in melted white chocolate and sprinkles, because why not? It adds a fun and tasty touch.

As for soaking the cherries, you can soak them as ling as you like. I did these for about 24 hours, but in the past I've soaked them for a week. Overnight gave a good kick of the SoCo, so if they were soaked for a week they would be extremely strong. It's up to you for the length of time they soak.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished, other than the one of my friend eating it. I dipped them in different colored sprinkles to make them fun. The original recipe used blue sprinkles as a fun 4th of July treat. I will definitely remember that for when the time comes! I used two small jars of cherries, but you can adjust the recipe to however many cherries you want. I used about a cup of chocolate chips as well, so you can always adjust that for more or less cherries. Also, I drained 3/4 of the cherry juice, not all of it. You can adjust that as well for how much of the booze you really want to soak in.

SoCo Cherry Bombs
Adapted from Frosting and a Smile

1 (or however many) jar of maraschino cherries, with the stems
1 bottle of Southern Comfort (or other alcohol of choice)
1 cup white chocolate chips
Sprinkles

1. Pour out the cherry juice from the jar and replace with alcohol. Replace the lid on the jar and let soak in the refrigerator for however long you'd like (at least 24 hours).
2. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Place the sprinkles in a shallow dish.
3. Dry off the cherries as you take them out of the jar and dip in the melted chocolate. Immediately dip into the sprinkles.
4. Place on a tray lined with waxed paper to set the chocolate.

That's pretty much it!

Sweet & Savory Chicken Bites

Time to continue my series of recipes from Hubby's birthday party. This one is an absolute keeper and I will definitely be making these again for pretty much any party I attend. They're quick, they're easy, they're tasty, they're wrapped in bacon! What's not to love? These came out of the oven, into a dish, and never made it to the food table. People in the kitchen had some, then on my walk (about 15 seconds or so) people were grabbing at them. That's always a good sign of a keeper recipe. I changed the recipe slightly by adding some of the Sweet & Smoky rub we love in with the brown sugar, making it a sweet and savory version. It was definitely the way to go!

Sweet & Savory Chicken Bacon Bites
Adapted from Jo Cooks

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
Salt and Pepper to taste
8-12 strips of bacon, cut in half the long way, then cut in half the short way (into 4 pieces)
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 tbsp. chipotle seasoning or any other seasoning you might like

1. Combine brown sugar and seasoning into a shallow dish.
2. Season chicken chunks with salt and pepper and wrap each piece with a piece of bacon.
3. Roll in the sugar mix and place on cookie rack on a cookie pan. (You don't have to use the rack but it helps everything cook evenly all around.)
4. Bake for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked and bacon is nice and crispy.
5. Enjoy!

Easy Crock Pot Beef Queso Dip

It's April 6th.

We had a snow storm 2 days ago.

It was 70 degrees out last week.

I don't like this.


I'm sitting by my window, typing this, and it is just so gray and dreary out. Last week got the excitement of spring coming, and this week it was all swept away. We're having family portraits done in 2 weeks and the photographer said there's an extended forecast of snow!

Snow on April 17th!

The only plus side to cold weather is using it as an excuse to cook hearty meals. Meaning, it's cold, so I can cook heavier and unhealthier meals, because those are the cold-weather meals, right?

This recipe is another that got to test out my triple crock pot. The original recipe is spicier, but I omitted some of the heat because I prefer a milder dip. I left out the jalapenos, but I included them in the recipe below. I have to say, I do love Velveeta mac and cheesy, it's just so creamy and thick, but cubing up a block of processed Velveeta cheese? It grossed me out. It didn't stop me from eating the dip though...

This dip got a lot of compliments, and I didn't even get to taste test it until hours after I made it because I got so busy. I think it had the right amount of heat for me, though I'm sure most would have liked it a little spicier.

Easy Crock Pot Beef Queso Dip
From Brown Eyed Baker

1 lb. ground beef
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix
32 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes

1. Brown the ground beef and onions in a skillet over medium heat. Drain the excess fat. Add the jalapeno, water and taco seasoning, turn up the heat a bit and cook, stirring, until liquid reduces.
2. Transfer beef to a crock pot. Add the cheese and tomatoes and stir to combine.
3. Cook on low for 1-2 hours until the cheese is melted.

Here's a not so great pic of it.

Crock Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip

I am a few weeks late in posting all of my yummy recipes from Hubby's birthday party. I have six to post in all, so I have lots of work ahead of me. Instead of our usual go out for dinner and drinks with friends, Hubby decided all he wanted was steak tips and drinks, so he suggested a little house party. Granted it was pretty cold that day, around 40 degrees, but we had a fire going all day and night in the yard and people gathered inside when it got too cold.

What makes me most excited about this post? Not only was this recipe really, really good (seriously, I got so many compliments), and not only is it super, super easy, but I finally used my triple crock pot we won in a Yankee swap 2 years ago. It's awesome, and I will certainly be using it again now that I've finally broken it in.

I love a good spinach artichoke dip, the cheesy, savory kind. I've made one before, but it ended up more cream-cheesy (that's a word), than I'd prefer. I also make a spinach artichoke chicken, which I also think could be a little more savory. Well, now I can use this recipe for a dip or for my chicken and have exactly what I want. It's creamy, cheesy, and the perfect ratio of spinach to artichoke, to cheesy goodness. I served it with pita chips, pretzels and tortilla chips to dip into it. It went FAST!

Crock Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip
From Gimme Some Oven


1 (10 oz) bag fresh baby spinach, chopped

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cut into chunks
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup diced onion
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Lightly spray your crock pot with cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until combined. Transfer to crock pot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
4. Give the dip a stir and add any more salt and pepper needed according to taste.

Devour!

White Chocolate Cake Batter Cups

I don't like white chocolate. There...I put it out there. It's just too sweet, too creamy, harder to work with, etc. I don't mind it mixed into things like batters and frostings and cheesecakes, but straight up white chocolate? PASS.

So why did I make these, you ask? They looked fun, and easy, and everyone else seems to like white chocolate. Can't be selfish all the time!

I threw the green sprinkles on top as a little nod to the fact that it's St. Patrick's Day. I had about 3 other recipes planned this week in honor of the Irish holiday, but life got in the way, as usual. For dinner, I wanted to make my Shepherd's Pie with Stout Gravy (best ever...promise!), but instead I got busy catching up on work stuff and ate frozen pork dumplings instead. Although, last night's dinner was phenomenal, and I will share that recipe with you all soon!

These are so simple to make, I already had everything I needed other than 2 more bars of white chocolate. If you decide to make these, get good quality white chocolate, baker's chocolate works well. Ghiradelli bars just happened to be on sale last week, so I grabbed 3 (already had 1!). You can use white chocolate chips, but they just don't melt and mix the same. You won't be sorry by going higher quality with this. Also, when it says heat the chocolate in 30 second increments, do just that! White chocolate burns and dries out much faster, so shorter heating increments and a good mixing is key.

White Chocolate Cake Batter Cups
from House of Yum

1 cup white or yellow boxed cake mix
5 tbsp. butter (salted or unsalted), softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp. rainbow (or any color) non-pareil sprinkles
16 oz. white chocolate
1 tsp. vegetable or coconut oil

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix cake mix, butter, vanilla sugars, and flour together on low until a crumbly dough forms. Add the sprinkles and mix a little more. If the dough doesn't fully come together, continue mixing it with your hands.
2. Shape the dough into small discs (using about 1/2 tablespoon of dough). I rolled them into a ball and squished them a bit. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
3. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir, heat for another 30 seconds. Stir and heat for another 15 seconds or so until mostly melted. Add oil and continue stirring until all is melted and smooth.
4. Using mini cupcake liners, spoon a small amount into the bottom of about 26-28 cups and spread so it's even. Place a dough disc on top and cover each with more white chocolate, smoothing over to cover the disc.
5. Place more sprinkles on top or leave them plain. Chill in the refrigerator and enjoy!

Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

This might be the longest recipe name I have. It's worth typing it out, though...promise!

Before I get to posting about the coffee cake, I'd like to take a moment and be thankful that we survived another bout of the stomach bug. December 2014 (Christmas Eve to be exact), I was hit with the bug for the first time since seventh grade. Dan had it two days prior. Well this time around, we both got it at the same time. Luckily, it only lasted a bit over a day, and we have now recovered, disinfected, and would like to put it behind us. Thankfully, our family did a full day of babysitting yesterday while we wasted away on the couch. But really though, I escape it for 18 years and now I feel like I'm going to get hit with it once a year.

Anyways, this recipe is from a week ago, pre-sickness. I'm feeling better, but not enough to start baking away. This recipe is easy and super yummy. I brought most of it to work to share and it was eaten right up. Other than bananas and cream cheese, I always have everything I need to make this, so this recipe is a keeper. Basic ingredients and it's pretty simple, you can't ask for more in a baked good.

Can I make a confession?

I started this post 4 days ago.... Then I got distracted/busy, maybe a little lazy after that, and then tired after that and never finished it. It's been a long week of recovering from the aforementioned stomach bug, and then P ended up with a cold. So now, she's hacking away, all super congested and throws an absolute nutty when we try to suction her nose. I can't blame her, I would too, but she wasn't a fan of the doctor trying to clean wax out of her ear this morning either. Poor babe.

I guess I can get to posting the recipe now, since I made this almost two week ago. The original recipe includes walnuts in the cake and streusel, as well as a vanilla glaze for the top. I omitted both.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
From Carlsbad Cravings

Cinnamon Streusel

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

Banana Cake

2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

1.5 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large ripe bananas)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cups sour cream

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup Reserved Batter (see instructions)

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a tube pan on all inside surfaces with a non-stick spray that contains flour, or butter and flour your pan. Don't just use cooking spray, it will stick. Set aside.
2. For the streusel, add flour, brown sugar and cinnamon to a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Sprinkle cold butter over top and pulse until the mixture resembles small pebbles. (You may also combine in a bowl and cut butter in by hand). Set aside in the refrigerator.
3. For the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy on medium high speed, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until the yellow disappears after each egg. Mix in vanilla and bananas until just until combined.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to banana mixture, alternating with sour cream (flour, cream, flour, cream, flour). Beat until just combined. Measure out 1/4 cup batter and set aside for cream cheese filling. Stir chocolate chips into remaining batter until just until combined.
6. Measure out 1 cup batter (to top cream cheese layer) and spoon the rest of the batter into the prepared pan.
7. To your now empty mixing bowl, add 1/4 cup reserved batter, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Spoon cream cheese filling over batter and gently smooth, but do not touch the sides of the pan. Spread reserved 1 cup batter evenly over filling (it will be very thin).
8. Tap pan on counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles then sprinkle evenly with streusel.
9. Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees F or until toothpick inserted comes out clean (without inserting in cream cheese). Let baked cake cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Gently invert cake onto a baking sheet, remove pan, and invert back onto cooling rack streusel side up. Let cool to room temperature.
10. Store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

 

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

This is a first for me. I'm blogging from my phone! I was tuckered out and went to lay in bed, and as I was pinning recipes I remembered I haven't updated the blog with a few that I've made. So far, my typo rate has sky-rocketed, thanks autocorrect. I don't know about any of you, but I use the swipe feature to type on my phone, which comes up with all sorts of words sometimes. I don't think I'll do much blogging from the mobile end any time soon. But, for tonight I'll test it out.

My mom makes these really great chocolate chip cookies. When we asked her what her secret was, she said "vanilla pitching". And there's that autocorrect...she actually said "vanilla pudding". I remembered seeing these pudding cookies somewhere, so I began to investigate (Google). I found a recipe on AllRecipes.Com and it featured butterscotch pudding in the cookies. Then I came to this realization:

You can use any pudding flavor to change up the cookie flavor. Ummm, heck yeah! I immediately rummaged through my bin of chocolate chips, yes, a bin, and needed to choose one kind. But which kind?  You see I have chocolate chips,  mini chips, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chocolate mint chips, Andes peppermint chips, butterscotch chips, and caramel bits. So, yeah, I need a bin.  I chose mint chocolate chips and a sugar free chocolate pudding. I also had vanilla, butterscotch, white chocolate, and pistachio puddings.

I have A LOT of baking supplies, okay?!?!

These came out great, and I can't wait to try them with different flavor combinations.

At this point I am highly annoyed with mobile blogging, so I am going to leave the link to the recipe and not type it all out.  Sorry folks, next time I'll stick to the good old-fashioned (err old-modern?) way of typing it on my tablet.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/11182/chocolate-chip-pudding-cookies/

Cheesy Chicken Rollups

I don't know why I don't follow my gut more. Like when I start making a recipe and think of a way that might be better, but then choose not to make it that way. This recipe is perfectly delicious as is, but I found that working with the chopped chicken was tougher. Next time I make this, I will cook chicken tenderloins and cut them to fit the crescent rolls. That way there's more substance than the chopped chicken that fell out everywhere. Other than that, I would keep this recipe the same. I doubled this so we could have leftovers, below is the recipe for 1 batch.

Cheesy Chicken Rollups
From Plain Chicken

1 can crescent rolls
1 large chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Combine the cream of chicken soup, milk and cheese. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the dish.
3. Place some chopped chicken on an unrolled crescent roll and top with 1 teaspoon of soup mixture. Roll up and put into the dish.
4. Repeat with remaining rolls and cover with remaining soup mixture.
5. Sprinkle some extra cheese on top is desired (I did!).
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

Meatball Stew

On cold winter days you need warm, hearty meals. This past weekend it was around -16 degrees here, and yesterday it rained and was 50 degrees. Get your act together New England! Anyways, we didn't have the ingredients for pot roast this weekend, but I did have ingredients for something pretty similar. I just replaced the roast with meatballs, and it also takes less time to cook. I omitted the onions and celery, but if no one in your family opposes them I would keep them in.

The one thing I would change is cooking the veggies for the full 4-5 hours alone, then adding the cooked meatballs in and cooking another couple of hours. After 5 hours, My potatoes and carrots were not cooked through and I ended up removing them and heating them in the microwave and putting them back into the crockpot. Way more work for a meal that I wanted to set and forget. Other than that, I knew it may not be filling enough for Dan as is, so I made mashed potatoes to serve it over. I don't recommend doubling up on the starches here. You can eat it as is, like a stew, or leave out the potatoes, and keep the carrots, onions and celery and serve over egg noodles. You can use this recipe a few different ways.

Also, don't mind my picture. I forgot to take one at my first serving, so I took one of my messy plate during my second serving. The below recipe is how I made it, not including my suggestion of cooking the veggies first.

Meatball Stew
From Pocket Change Gourmet

1 pkg. frozen meatballs or homemade, cooked (about 20 meatballs)
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 can tomato soup
1 can beef gravy
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 tsp. or 2 cubes of beef bouillon
1 cup water

1. Place chopped veggies in a crockpot.
2. Pour remaining ingredients (other than meatballs) in and combine.
3. Add meatballs, mix, and cook on low 4-5 hours until veggies are tender.

** To prepare on stove top, combine all ingredients in a stockpot. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for an hour or until veggies are tender.

Garlic Bread Pizzas

Ever need a recipe that will come together in minutes? And not those, "dinner in under 30 minutes" recipes, I mean minutes, like, 8-10 minutes. Here's one.

Okay, so these alone aren't really a meal unless you eat all of them, but pair them with a salad and you can have any easy meal in no time at all.

I have to give credit to my cousin's girlfriend for this recipe. She brought it to one of our family potlucks and everyone loved it. When we were invited to watch the Superbowl at my in-law's (yes, and I'm just now getting around to posting it), we had little time to prepare anything. We grabbed the ingredients for these and made them at their house right before the game started. They really do take a matter of minutes if you want cheese or pepperoni pizzas. If you want sausage (which we used some) then you need to brown the sausage first. If you want veggies, you'll want to sauté them a bit first. But, if everything is prepared in advance, then you still have dinner in a matter of minutes.

Garlic Bread Pizzas
from Jen

1 package frozen garlic bread slices
Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese
prepared desired toppings

1. Cook garlic bread according to package directions. Leave oven on.
2. Top slices with pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake for a few minutes until cheese is melted and all is heated through.

Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp

Tonight was a first in our kitchen. After Dan ate, he went to the store and bought ingredients for a SECOND ROUND of dinner. I didn't try to stop him, and I can't blame him, because these shrimp really were that good. And they are the easiest shrimp to make. Shrimp and 4 ingredients most people always have on hand. While I was making round 1, I wasn't sure how they would come out. I've made a few marinated shrimp recipes where they came out kind of bland. Not this one. They were full of flavor eve after being marinated for only 15-20 minutes and they are pre-frozen shrimp. And the shrimp was on sale! If you marinate these for even longer they would have an even more intense flavor. Next time around I want to try these with fresh shrimp and marinate them longer.

Seriously, this recipe was just bonus after bonus. Not to mention that I made a batch of brownies and Dan also brought home some ice cream, so round 2 even gets a brownie sundae dessert. Happy Monday!

Honey-Garlic Skillet Shrimp
from The Cooking Jar

1 lb. shrimp, de-veined and tails on
2 tbsp. soy sauce
4 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
canola oil for cooking

White rice for serving if you'd like. I suggest adding veggies to make it a really full meal.

1. Combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic. Pour half into a large plastic bag with the shrimp and let marinate for 15-30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat a small bit of oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the shrimp and cook on each side for a few minutes. Turn the heat down and let the sauce thicken up a bit as the shrimp continue to cook.
4. Serve the shrimp over rice and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

As everyone knows (well, everyone who reads my baking posts), I don't eat a lot of baked goods. I also never eat an entire bunch of bananas, which works out well for making breads and muffins. As good as plain banana bread is, I tend to like to make "flavored" banana breads. Well, yes, banana is a flavor, but you get my point...

My usually stocked pantry has been running out of some items lately, so I had assumed I'd be making a plain old banana bread. I was even running low on chocolate chips. However, I found this recipe, and had everything for it, which made me one happy baker. I made this earlier this week. I had a couple of slices for breakfast, and then brought the rest to work. Needless to say it was gone in under 5 minutes after I put it in the staff room. This recipe is a keeper.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
from Back for Seconds

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter + 2 tbsp. for the topping
1/2 cup canola oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 and 3/4 cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the peanut butter, oil, bananas, cocoa and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and milk and mix. Mix in the baking soda and flour until just combined.
3. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. (Mine took about 65 minutes...)
4. Let cool completely. Remove from loaf pan.
5. Once the bread is cool, heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and pour into a small plastic bag (like a Ziploc). Cut a corner of the bag to make it into a piping bag and drizzle the peanut butter over the bread.

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

I made something with peas in it that Dan ate!

Okay, well he ate a couple and pushed most of the others aside, but I'll take it a step towards converting him into a veggie lover! I made this recipe early last week, but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. Being back to work has me really learning to manage my time and juggle getting out of work at 5 (yeah, longer day now) and feeding, changing, loving Peyton while getting dinner made and prepping for work stuff. I've been into finding easier recipes and prepping stuff the night before if I can, which I did for this meal. It's very simple to make and came out really well. I love a good hearty (unhealthy) creamy cheesy pasta. This isn't cheesy, but the creaminess was perfect and it had more flavor than I expected. I thought we had mustard at home, but we didn't so I used some ground mustard. I just whisked into the cream. The recipe below includes the mustard as intended.

I have planned out our meals for the month, which grocery lists ready to go so I can shop on Sunday and not worry the rest of the week. I've been mixing in some new recipes like this one with some easy basic meals like chicken and veggies or steak and cheese. So far I've got a good system down. BUT, Peyton can't move around too much yet...we'll see how this goes when she's mobile...

Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta

1lb. pasta
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
3 cups chopped ham
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cup frozen peas

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, start your sauce. Sauté the onions in the butter until translucent. Add ham and continue cooking to heat through.
3. Add white wine and cook until liquid reduces slightly
4. Whisk together the cream and mustard and add to ham and onions.
5. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese, stirring.
6. Add peas and cook until they are warmed through.
7. Add sauce to pasta and serve.