cake mix cinnamon rolls

I've been craving cinnamon rolls for awhile now. I've also been too lazy to make them. After a teasing week of warm weather, I couldn't help but make them on this snowy day. They were the perfect remedy. Nothing beats eating a cinnamon roll while snuggled in a blanket watching American Housewife. If you haven't watched that show you need to. You can thank me later.

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

(makes 24)

Ingredients

Cinnamon rolls:

1 box of white or yellow cake mix 

2 pkgs of active dry yeast 

2 1/2 cups of warm water 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp salt 

5 cups flour 

Filling:

2 cups of brown sugar 

Cinnamon 

1/2 cup of butter, softened 

Frosting:

3 oz cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup of butter, softened 

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/8 tsp salt (of using salted butter skip this)

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar 

Instructions 

Head to Six Sisters' Stuff for the baking directions. Once your rolls are out of the oven cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and salt. Beat in powdered sugar until frosting is smooth. If you like your frosting to melt onto your cinnamon rolls spread on once the rolls have cooled for 15-20 minutes. If you want the frosting to be firm wait until the rolls are completely cooled. Enjoy!

ham chowder

Mom's Ham Chowder

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup ham, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 qt half and half
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups potatoes, cubed
small carrot, grated
3/4 cup flour
1 can creamed corn

Instructions

In a pot, boil vegetables until tender then drain. In a large pot melt butter, then add flour and stir together on low head to create a roux. Slowly add half and half while stirring making sure to smooth out all the clumps. Add in drained veggies, ham, and cream corn. Heat through and serve when soup reaches desired temperature.

creamy tortellini

Creamy Tortellini

Ingredients

2 jars marinara sauce
1-8 oz cream cheese, softened
1- 25 oz bag frozen tortellini
Pepperonis
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the marinara sauce and the cream cheese. Stir in the frozen tortellini. Pour tortellini mixture in a glass 9x13 pan. Top with pepperoni, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

slow cooker white chicken chili soup

Chicken Chili Soup

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
24 oz chicken broth
1-15 oz can great Northern beans, drained
1-15 oz can black beans, drained
2-4 oz cans of green chilies
1-15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained (I used a pkg of Trader Joe's frozen grilled corn)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup half and half

Instructions

Head over to The Chunky Chef for the baking directions.

slow cooker loaded potato soup

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

Ingredients

5 lb russet potatoes (washed and diced - not peeled)
1 medium onion (diced)
10 cloves garlic (minced)
64 oz chicken stock or broth
16 oz cream cheese
1 Tbsp salt
Garnishes: bacon, chives, cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions

Head to Mama Loves Food for the cooking directions. This soup was very thick. I thinned it out using some milk and chicken broth until it was the desired thickness. Enjoy!

mom's meatloaf

It keeps snowing. It never stops. I have needed to go to the grocery store for days, but refuse to go in the snow. Luckily I'm a hoarder and we have a overloaded freezer and pantry. Lately, I have refused to make dinner meals focused on what Elle will eat. We have a standing rule in our house that if she won't eat dinner then she just doesn't eat. She doesn't get a snack before bedtime either. Last night I asked her if she wanted to come eat dinner. She responded, "No thank you." At least she was polite, I guess.

Meatloaf sounded so good tonight. A nice comfort food meal for a snowy day. As I was looking at the recipe I realized I didn't have some of the ingredients - that was not going to stop me. The nice thing about meatloaf is that it is really hard to mess up. As long as you have beef, and you make sure it is the right consistency you are probably good to go. Here's how much I deviated: we didn't have sausage, so I left it out. We didn't have eggs, so I substituted 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. We didn't have bread crumbs, so I ground up saltine crackers. We didn't have tomato sauce, so I used ketchup. I also added a 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder because I'm obsessed with garlic powder. Guess what, it still turned out great! Elle even ate tonight!

Mom's Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb sausage
1 egg
1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs (finely ground)
small can of tomato sauce (divided)
3 Tbsp dried onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl combined beef, sausage, egg, half of the can of tomato sauce, onion, and seasonings (I use my hands). The mixture should stick together like you are making a giant meatball. If the mixture is too wet, add more bread crumbs. If the mixture is too dry, add more tomato sauce. Press the meat mixture into a 5x9 bread pan. Pour a thin layer of left over tomato sauce on top of meat. Cover with foil and bake for one hour. Half way through remove foil and finish baking. I like to broil my meatloaf at the end for a bit to make sure the tomato sauce isn't liquidy (nice English, I know). If you choose to broil, make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

chicken bacon ranch pasta

I love Alfredo. I love chicken. I love bacon. I love ranch. When I came across this recipe on Damn Delicious I knew it was for me. It was so good. My husband loved it, and requested for it to be added to our regular meals. I used a different Alfredo sauce recipe than the website used simply because I didn't have heavy whipping cream on hand. You could probably use bottled Alfredo sauce instead if you were feeling lazy.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon diced (I just used bacon bits)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix
8 ounces rotini
Mozzarella cheese
Alfredo sauce (I halfed this recipe)

Directions

Head over to Damn Delicious for the baking instructions. You can use their Alfredo recipe instead of the one I linked if you prefer. Enjoy!

cream cheese chicken roll-ups

These chicken roll-ups are the perfect dinner for a fall evening. They are warm, comforting, and delish. I can't wait to use our Thanksgiving leftovers to make these with turkey. This recipe is simple, and only has five ingredients. For my small family, I half the recipe, and heat up the extra soup with some milk to make a gravy to top the roll-ups with. If your family is too large for that you can always just get a gravy packet and mix it with some milk or water. This recipe is from Six Sisters' Stuff. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Cream Cheese Chicken Roll-ups

Ingredients

4 chicken breast, cooked and cubed
2 packages of crescent rolls
1 - 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened (I use fat free)
1-2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 small can of cream of chicken soup

Instructions

Head over to Six Sisters' Stuff for baking directions. Enjoy!

creamy pesto grilled cheese

Being a wife and a mom is the best. Some days, though, being a wife and a mom isn't so great. Sometimes I long for the days where my biggest worry was taking care of myself. Now, I feel like I rarely have time to take care of myself because I'm so busy with everyone else. I only have one kiddo. I have know idea how the rest of you moms do it with multiples. One thing constantly weighing on the back of my mind is what I am going to pull together for dinner. We don't eat out a lot because we would rather spend the money on other things. Also, eating out with a toddler isn't always the smoothest experience.

I don't have the time to make big, elaborate meals; Elle won't allow it. The second I head to the kitchen to start dinner she is tugging at my legs wanting all of my attention. I have learned that simple meals are the best way to go for us. One of my favorite fall and winter recipes is grilled cheese and soup. I get a little bored with the typical cheddar, bread, and butter though. We've found a new and exciting way to make grilled cheese, and we are in love! Because I like you, I'll share our secret. If you have some deep, dark grilled cheese secrets you better share!

Creamy Pesto Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

Bread

Provolone or munster cheese

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup basil pesto 

Sliced tomatoes (optional)

Butter

Instructions

Warm up a skillet or griddle to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together mayo and pesto until smooth. Spread some butter on one side of a slice of bread and place on griddle, butter side down. Spread desired amount of pesto mixture on the bread on the griddle. Top with cheese and tomatoes. Place another slice of buttered bread on top, butter side up. Grill until both side of the sandwich are golden brown (a couple minutes on both sides). Serve with some soup on the side. (We love the creamy tomato basil soup at Costco). Enjoy!

italian lasagna with an american twist

Friends! I have the best lasagna recipe for you!  I have gotten so many compliments from this simple dish. I love this dinner idea because it can be a pantry staple, and you don't have to go buy a ton of ingredients to make it.  Here's the recipe:

Americanized Italian Lasagna

2 bottles of marinara sauce
5 T butter
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups milk
dash of salt
oven ready lasagna noodles
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

White Sauce Directions

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add in the flour and stir to combined with the butter. Slowly add in the milk. Salt to taste. Continuously whisk to keep the white sauce from burning. Once it starts to boil, turn it down to a simmer and stir for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Assembly Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put a thin layer of marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan. Lay a layer of lasagna noodles on top. Keep the noodles all going the same way. I like to use the oven ready noodles so I don't have to boil them, but any type of lasagna noodles will work. Break or cut noodles to fit in the pan.

Spread another layer of marinara sauce on top of the noodles. Then, drizzle a layer of white sauce on top of the marinara sauce. Sprinkle some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top of that, then prepare for your next layer.

Lay your noodles facing the other way, then continue with your sauce layering (marinara, white, mozzarella, Parmesan-- keep alternating directions with lasagna noodles).

Once you run out of space, or sauce make sure that your final layer is the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake it in the oven for 40-45 minutes or so until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. Serve with a fresh green salad and bread sticks. Enjoy!

savory chicken pot pie

Fall is here! I absolutely love autumn. I crave the changing leaves, perfect weather, and layers of clothing. Fall is also great for delicious comfort food. Today I am sharing one of our family favorites.

This recipe is super delicious. It is the most requested by my husband. It's a great one for fall/winter. You can easily substitute the ingredients for your Thanksgiving leftovers, and have a great, new tasting meal while emptying the contents of your fridge.

                            

Chicken Pot Pie

Crust:

1 1/4 cups cold butter
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
6-7 tbsp water

Combine, mix, and roll out crust. Lay and press gently 2/3 of the rolled crust on the bottom and sides of a 9x13 glass pan. Save the rest for the top crust.

Filling:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup onion
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
10-16 oz frozen veggies (I like to use the bag that has peas, corn, cubed carrots, and green beans)
4-6 chicken breasts (cubed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and saute onions in a large frying pan. Shake milk and flour together in a container, then add to  butter and onions. Slowly add in chicken broth to avoid lumps. Add salt, pepper, veggies, and chicken. Bring to a boil then pour filling onto the prepared crust. Lay the top crust onto the filling. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden.