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Chicken and Broccoli Mac and Cheese
As Christmas season comes to a close and New Years is just around the corner, craziness continues to ensue at our house. However, I am always excited to slow down to make a nice warm dinner for myself, the Mr., and the kids. What better dinner to have than a combination of macaroni and cheese, broccoli, and chicken on a cold December night. A winner with the kids as well as adults, this recipe is will serve up enough for dinner tonight as wells as lunch for tomorrow! The addition of the crumbled bacon on top pushes this dish over the edge. So delicious! A whole lot of cheesy goodness is always a plus…
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Easy Green Beans
Green beans are a favorite side dish of mine for every holiday, season, and event. It is a food that always makes an appearance in some form whether it is in a casserole, is steamed, or mixed with a vinaigrette. This recipe is simple and easy, uses ingredients that I often already have in my fridge, and because it takes about 25 minutes to cook down on the stove, I can walk away and tend to other things while the green beans soak in some amazing flavor. In the end the green beans still have a slight crispness to them with a wonderful aromatic flavor that keeps you wanting to eat more. And the kids?…
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Rolos, Hugs, and Kisses Pretzel Cookies
Ready for an oldie but goodie? You know, those recipes that you almost forget about because you are so busy trying to plan your next new and exciting Pinterest recipe that you ignore the tried and true cookies? The cookies that you just can’t stop eating? That’s the pretzel cookies for me, specifically the Rolos, Hugs, and Kisses pretzel cookies. Super inexpensive, so easy, a combination of sweet and salty, and only takes a handful of minutes to make. The best part is how these little goodies taste. No matter how large of a batch we make, they always run out very quickly. I went with three different kinds of pretzel cookies with this batch: Rolos,…
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Strawberry Crinkle Cookies
Hello, ready for some yummy and easy cookies? Today I wanted to share one of the desserts I had baked for my daughter’s birthday Dol (a Korean 1st birthday party) called Strawberry Crinkle Cookies. These are by far one of my favorite and easiest cookie recipes! Only 4 ingredients needed, super easy and quick to put together, and the kids love helping with this sweet treat. One reason I love these cookies is it is easy to change up the flavor and color of the cookies based on what flavor of cake mix you use. Yes, I said cake mix! The only ingredients for this cookie recipe are cake mix, 2 eggs,…
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Italian Sausage and Cheese Manicotti
I don’t know what it is about this colder weather that has me on an Italian food kick lately! Perhaps its the hardiness of the pasta and sauce or the warmth that emanates from the casserole dish. Either way I am here to present a dish that is also Italian in origin and tastes like it was delivered to your table at a restaurant. Introducing Italian Sausage and Cheese Manicotti. I am a cheese fanatic as it is. Pasta stuffed with cheese with more cheese on top? A resounding yes please! This amazing recipe does take a bit of extra prep work with stuffing the pasta shells but I promise you it is worth the…
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Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake
There are nights when you want to cook a dish that is enough to feed a crowd but doesn’t keep you in the kitchen all day. Enter Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake. You can cut down on the time for this classic dish by using either rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or canned chicken meaning all you are really left to do is cook the pasta, combine all the ingredients, and let the oven do the rest. The result? I meal that tastes great and looks like you spent the entire afternoon cooking. This is also very kid friendly in that my kids not only love eating it but also enjoy helping to prepare it.…
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Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage
You know how sometimes you want to eat something for dinner that is relatively light, tasty, and does not take hours to make ? This rigatoni with broccoli and sausage is the perfect blend of all of those things using one pot and chances are you probably have most if not all of the ingredients to make this simple dish. This is also the perfect time for a lighter meal since so many fall dishes are typically very heavy. The other thing about this dish that is perfect for busy nights is that it uses only one pot as mentioned above. Yes, a one pot dish! You can use the same pot to cook the…
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Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream
Tis the season for everything apples. Apple donuts (thanks local apple orchard), caramel apples, apple pie, the list goes on for the unlimited amount of tasty foods that incorporate apples. As the kids and I were brainstorming on what we should do with the newly bought bag of apples sitting on our kitchen counter, my oldest came up with a brilliant idea. Ice cream. We decided to try using apples and cinnamon to make Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream to go with some Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings (recipe here) we had baked. It was quite experimental at first but it ended up being a hit! The flavor was just right, with little bits of softened apples in…
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Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
Cold outside? Check. Hungry? Check. Craving something warm to eat? Yes. Solution: Asian Chicken Noodle Soup. This is not your ordinary chicken noodle soup that grandma made or anything like the watery canned chicken noodle soup from college. No, this has some serious flavor in it with an added kick of spice to make your chilly fall night warm up with each flavorful spoonful. What sets this recipe apart from other chicken noodle soups is that it incorporates some familiar Asian ingredients such as kochujang, a spicy Korean red pepper paste, as well as garlic, Sriracha, and rice stick noodles. It also uses lots of fresh ingredients like carrots, cilantro, and green onion. This dish can…
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Caramelized Butternut Squash
I am a sucker for warm savory fall foods like butternut squash. Something about the crisp air outside, the beautiful colors of leaves, and the desire to curl up on the couch and be warm lends itself to a dish like Caramelized Butternut Squash. This is by far one of the simplest, easiest, and tastiest recipes I know for the buttery fall vegetable. And with a total of 5 ingredients needed, two of which are salt and pepper, this is a great addition to any dinner. All this dish takes is the butternut squash, some melted butter, brown sugar, and salt and pepper to create the perfect compliment to a cool fall night.…
