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.

mister's birthday

This weekend we celebrated Mister's birthday. On Saturday we went to the Jazz game. We lost, but it was a really fun game to watch. Before the game with ate at Crown Burger. It's our Jazz game tradition. Did you know that you can park at Crown Burger for events? All you need to do is buy $18 worth of food and ask for a parking pass. We figure if we are going to pay for parking we might as well get delicious food out of it.  Sunday night we had Mister's siblings over for some dinner and ice cream cake.

Lately we have been so over winter in our house, and been going through a huge salad phase. Cobb salad is one of our favorites. This time we couldn't get to the grill because of all of the snow. We ended up using our George Foreman grill, and it worked out perfectly. This salad it plenty filling with the grilled chicken, hard boiled egg, and bacon. For those of you who hate de-shelling hard boiled eggs check out this post. 

Cobb Salad

Ingredients

Tomatoes, diced
Hard boiled egg, sliced
Grilled chicken, sliced
Croutons
Bacon, crumbled
Lettuce
Ranch dressing (or dressing of your choice)

Instructions

Placed desired amount of lettuce (I use Romaine) on plate. Top with remaining ingredients and drizzle with ranch dressing. You can also add bleu cheese (we just aren't fans at our house). Enjoy!

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!

the secret to boiled eggs

It snowed more this weekend. We have mounds of snow in our front yard that are taller than four feet. It's insane. It doesn't help that we have a north-facing house, so the snow never melts. Elle loved coming out and helping Mister and me shovel the snow. I don't know for sure, but I feel like we got 6-8" of snow. It really was crazy! I am more than ready for winter to end. Spring could come today and I would cry tears of joy. Today's recipe isn't really a recipe, but it is the most successful way I have had with boiling eggs. I hate when it comes time to peel the shell off the egg, and by the time you are done your egg looks like it has been through the war. This method has proven to create easy to peel eggs time and time again.

Easy to Peel Boiled Eggs

Ingredients

Eggs
Water

Instructions

In a sauce pan, place the amount of eggs you would like boiled. Make sure there is enough room for the eggs to lay in a single layer. Cover the eggs with cold water. Place on a burner and turn it on. Once the eggs start boiling wait 1 minute then turn the burner off. Cover the pan with a lid, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes, drain the water out of the pan and immediately run cold water over the eggs. I just fill up the pan with cold water then drain again, and repeat a couple of times. Fill the pan with cold water one last time, but don't drain it out. Take each of the eggs and crack them (but don't peel), then place them back in the pan of cold water and let them sit for about 5 minutes. After they have been in the water for a bit you can go ahead and peel them. The shells should come right off!

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.

elle-isms

I know this sweet and innocent-looking girl may make it seem like we never have to deal with the typical toddler problems. For some reason I never think to pull out the camera while she's throwing herself on the floor in a limp pile while screaming at the top of her lungs. I wonder why that never crosses my mind? To be real, I feel as though we got lucky in the toddler department. She really is pretty good. That doesn't mean we don't have our moments though. Last night at Costco, for example, we were eating in the food court, and the peace didn't last long. I had cut up half of Elle's super large slice of pizza to cut down on the mess. She ate most of it, but as soon as she saw the ice cream Mister bought it all went downhill. I told her she needed to eat three more bites and she could have some ice cream. Seems pretty simple, right? Wrong. Meltdown city. I'm pretty sure all of Costco was staring at us. It is so hard to discipline a screaming, limp child in public. First off, reasoning with a toddler is an art in itself, but if they have already lost it - good luck. We ended up heading straight to the car. We do have some really great moments with Elle though, and that's really what I wanted to talk about.

Elle is very particular. She remembers which basket each of the toys go in without me saying a word to her. To be honest, I don't care which basket the toys go in as long as they get cleaned up. For a few days we were missing the top to a block train we had. Mister found it under the TV stand and set it on the ledge of the stand. It stayed up there for a day or two simply because neither of us really cared enough to put it away. I saw it the other day, and put it back in the box with the other train blocks. This morning, Elle was playing with the train. When she was done she cleaned up the blocks, but she made sure to put the top of the train on the TV stand because that's where it had been the last few days. It's funny to see what she observes.

Elle is working hard on learning the English language. She does pretty good considering that she's only been alive for two years. Here's some of my favorite Elle-isms to date:

Za-pee = Pizza

I carry you = Will you carry me?

Huh on = Take it off

Stin-y = Stinky or poopy

Pood Ke-ee = The kitty needs more food

Naow - Milk

No-man = Snowman

Luh you = I love you

Na-nite = Goodnight

Shash can = Trashcan

Serius = Cereal

Nummy = This tastes delicious

*Grunt or growl* = I do not like it

Me = Mickey

Beh = I'm tired, or I want to go to bed

Dunny = Bunny (her lovey)

Show = Turn on the TV stat

I love how quickly she is learning. It has been so great to have the ability to communicate with her more. Today's recipe would get a big grunt from Elle, but it is a favorite of Mister's and mine.

Bow Tie Chicken Caesar Salad

Ingredients

1 bag of Caesar salad mix (I absolutely love the Marketplace brand from Walmart)

            This mix should include lettuce, Parmesan cheese, croutons, and dressing.

1 cup of chicken (cooked and shredded or diced)

1 1/2 cups bow tie noodles (prepared)

1/3 cup bacon (crumbled - I just use bacon bits)

Instructions

Mix everything together and enjoy! We have used this as a meal, but it is also a great side or served at a party as an appetizer.

pita pizzas

Elle loves pizza, or ask she would say, "za-pee." To be honest, Mister and I love za-pee also. These pita pizzas are the perfect solution for those nights that you don't want to make homemade pizza, or spend the money on ordering out. The nice thing about these pizzas is that everyone can make their pizza to their specifications. Mister always wants white sauce, and Elle wants red. I bounce back and forth on which sauce I want.

Pita Pizzas

Ingredients

Pita bread
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pitas on a baking sheet and create your desired pizzas. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is melted. I like to broil ours for a few minutes after to brown the crust and cheese. Enjoy!

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!

meatball sandwich and garlic fries

We love meatball sandwiches at our house. They are messy, but delicious. This recipe is easy, and the cream cheese spread makes them out of this world! The garlic fries are a nod to the garlic fries you can get at Safeway Field in Seattle, Washington. I was introduced to them at my first Mariners game, and I fell in love. We love to dip our garlic fries in ranch or honey mustard.

Meatball Sandwich

Ingredients

Hoagie buns

Meatballs

Marinara sauce

Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Cream Cheese Spread (for 2 sandwiches):

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a saucepan, heat marinara sauce and meatballs until they are heated through. In a small bowl combine cream cheese, mayo, and seasoning. Stir until completely combined. On a cookie sheet, place hoagie buns open and insides up. Bake for a couple minutes until the bread in just starting to toast. They won't even be golden brown, just toasted enough that the bread is starting to crisp (this will keep the sandwich from getting soggy. Pull buns out of the oven, and spread cream cheese mixture on both sides of the sandwich, add meatballs and close up the sandwich. I usually use toothpicks to hold the sandwich together until I am ready to serve. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Place in oven again and broil until the cheese is melted and the sandwich is a toasty, golden brown color. Serve immediately and Enjoy!

Garlic Fries

Ingredients

Frozen fries (unseasoned)

Minced garlic

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Place fries on a cookie sheet. Make sure to keep the fries to one layer so they cook evenly. Spoon minced garlic on top of fries. I usually do a half teaspoon over every couple of fries. The more garlic you use the more flavor you'll get. You can always take some of the garlic off the fries before you eat them if you don't want to eat the garlic straight. Coat with salt and pepper. Bake according to your fries' directions. I like to broil my fries for a bit after they are done cooking to make them a little more crispy and golden brown. 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!

taco pizza - copycat bajio mexican pizza

Life has been a little crazy lately. I haven't even had time for grocery shopping. Normally I use Walmart's grocery pickup. Let me tell you, that program is a lifesaver. I promise I am not affiliated with Walmart in any way. I just like to share with my friends things that make my life easier. 

Grocery pickup helps me meal plan and save money. It keeps me from wandering the aisles looking for new things to buy and try. It also helps my dinners go smoother because I know what I'm making each night. Also, the service is free. FREE! The cons, if you can even call them that, are that you have to order a day in advance if you want a specific time slot, and if they don't have something that you order they substitute it. When they substitute they find something equal or better than you ordered and you don't have to pay the difference. For example, one week I ordered a 20ish ounce bottle of Great Value brand ketchup. They didn't have any in stock, so instead I received a 40ish ounce bottle of Hienz ketchup at no additional cost to me. 

Before they load your car, they tell you any substitutions or omissions there are from your order. If you don't approve of they substitution they will take it back and refund you for the item you originally ordered. You also can select "no substitutions" when you order, and they will omit anything that isn't in stock.

The only problem I've ever had with this service is once I received some fairly under ripe tomatoes. I mentioned this in my review and the next day I received an email from Walmart apologizing and refunding me for the tomatoes. I'm telling you, grocery pickup is heaven sent.

Anyway... sorry for the detour.  We were low on groceries, and I needed to figure out something for dinner. Inspiration hit and I remembered a recipe I made a few months back from the website Barbara Bakes. I was delicious, and I had all the ingredients (minus some tomatoes for a topping). These taco pizzas are so good, and so filling. Elle even ate a slice! 

Taco Pizza

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

Taco seasoning

1 - 16 oz refried beans

Soft taco sized tortillas

Salsa

Shredded cheese

Green onions

Tomatoes

Jalepenos

Sour cream

Instructions

Head over to Barbara Bakes for cooking directions. Enjoy!

creamy penne

Today was Elle's 2 year checkup. When we got there Elle was thrilled that they had a tank full of "feesh" and a "show" playing for her to watch. When we arrived at the room for her checkup she immediately backtracked and refused to walk in on her own. The rest was meltdown city. Little did she know that the worst was saved for the end of her appointment. After she was pricked in her legs and she calmed down, we were on our way. She was very melancholy in the backseat until the song "Can't Stop the Feeling!" came on. She immediately asked me to ""nance" with her, so we jammed together on our way to the post office. I just love my little dancer. She's got quite the moves. If you're lucky I'll record it and share it with you some day.

We found a new show that Elle likes to watch on Netflix. Bless Curious George's Boofest for keeping her busy while I cooked dinner. Tonight's dinner was a simple pasta. We tried ground turkey in it, and it wasn't to shabby. This pasta recipe is my go-to when I don't want to think about meal planning. I always have the ingredients in the pantry, and if I don't have any meat I make it meatless. This meal can't fail you. Throw in some quick bread sticks and a salad, and you're good to go.

Creamy Penne

Ingredients

1 jar marinara sauce
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 pkg penne (or any type of noodle)
1 lb ground beef (optional)
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Italian Seasoning

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the noodles according to their package's directions. After draining the noodles, pour them into a 9x13 pan. Pour both sauces on top and stir together. Sprinkle desired amount of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. I always add a bit of Italian seasoning on top for a bit of flavor. Throw in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes - until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

baked chicken flautas

Feeding a toddler is hard. Let me rephrase that, feeding a toddler actual food is hard. Elle loves cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, crackers, and apple sauce (sometimes). Getting her to eat the dinner placed in front of her is a marathon. I was thrilled when I tried this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff and she SCARFED it. She.asked.for.more (#miracle). These flautas are delicioso. The combination of spicy, creamy, and sweet is enough to die for. Enough chit-chat, here's the goods.

Baked Chicken Flautas

Ingredients

4 cups cooked & shredded chicken

1 cup salsa verde

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz) can black beans, rised and drained

1 (15 oz) can corn, drained (I used Trader Joe's frozen grilled corn and it was the best!)

1 1/2 cups cheese, divided (we used cheddar)

12-14 tortilla shells (soft taco size)

Directions

Head to Six Sisters' Stuff for the baking instructions. Enjoy!

easy homemade pizza crust: papa murphy's copy cat pizza crust

We love having homemade pizza at our house. It's cheap and delicious. The hard part about making pizza is finding the right crust. After many attempts at different recipes, I finally found the perfect crust. Leave it to Six Sisters' Stuff to have the best recipe of all time. It's easy to make, has simple ingredients, and doesn't take a long time to raise. From starting the crust to taking the pizza out of the oven, it takes me about an hour. That's pretty darn good! We have all sorts of pizza concoctions in this household, but our favorite is alfredo with chicken, bacon, onion, and tomato. It is quite delightful. This recipe make 3 medium pizzas. That is a lot for my little family, so I half the recipe and make one medium size pizza and one small pizza or cheese bread.

Papa Murphy's Copy Cat Pizza Crust

Ingredients

8 cups flour

6 Tbsp sugar

6 3/4 tsp fast rising yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 cups very warm water

6 Tbsp oil

Directions

Head to Six Sisters' Stuff for the baking instructions. 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!