Crock-pot cooking

Lately we have been on a crock-pot kick.  J found a blog with a crock-pot recipe for every day of the year.  He picked out a few that sounded good to him and we've been trying them out.  I have to say that crock-pot cooking is the way to go on a busy school night.  I come home and dinner is practically ready.  The only part that I've had to work on is preparing some of the ingredients the night before so I'm not chopping onions at 6:15 am while also trying to get ready for school.
Here's what we've tried so far...

Peanut Butter Chicken
A favorite for J but not for me.

Not Another Boring Cola Roast
We served this bbq sandwich style on a bun.

Thai Beef
One of my faves.  

Cilantro Lime Chicken
Another favorite for me and J.

Next up:
Zuppa Toscana Soup (Olive Garden knock off)
I can't wait to try this one.  We were going to have it tonight but since it's almost 80 degrees out today (in January!) I just wasn't in the soup mood.

Taco Soup

When I was in college my good friend Sara had this amazing recipe for taco soup.  Her mom used to make it for her growing up in Oklahoma.  So on cold nights she would make a huge pot of it and our little group of girl friends would eat soup and watch Gilmore Girls.  It was the life!  
We've had some cool weather here the south recently so I thought it only appropriate to whip up some of Sara's Taco soup and share the recipe with ya'll. 

Sara House's Taco Soup

2lbs of ground beef
1pkg of taco seasoning
1pkg of ranch dressing mix
2 cans of corn
2 cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes (or if you can't find those you can use tomatoes with green chilies)
2 cans of ranch style beans
2 cans of pinto beans
4 oz of green chillies
1 or 2 T of garlic powder
2tsp of chili powder

Brown the beef in a big pot, drain it, add in cans of stuff and seasoning, cook until nice and hot. Eat with Fritos and Cheese

(side note: I usually use black beans and kidney beans instead of pinto-Lauren)

Pinterest recipe review

Lately I've been trying out a couple recipes I've found on Pinterest.  

Chicken Parm Pasta Toss

This was super tasty but I didn't try it with the arugula because mine had gone bad by the time we got around to making this dinner (story of my life!)  It made a TON so invite friends over for this one.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

This meal also made a TON. I need to work on keeping the mixture warmer because all though everything was cooked on the inside, only the outside got hot.

InstaFriday

...on a MONDAY

oh well!

a painting project for me...a bench we bought at a friend's yard sale now makes its home in our front foyer

 sneak peek at our new back yard:

retaining wall that Josh, his dad, and a couple of college guys built...lots more to come on our new backyard...we just have to finish it first

 strawberry picking at Cottle Farms

 Pioneer Woman's Dr. Pepper bbq

so incredibly delicious and a little spicey so watch out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 
Cupcakes make any day special

but dark chocolate cupcakes with green icing

are perfect for St. Paddy's day!

I'm dreaming of a white kitchen

I felt so inspired by our recent visit to IKEA in Charlotte.  It made me want to move and start our little house all over again!  Haha....Just kidding that would be WAY too much work and hassle so I'll just be content in what I have now and just dream about my "someday house."

Our current kitchen is very dark.  dark cabinets. dark counters.  dark floors. and not a lot of natural light.  I loved the look of the dark mahogany like cabinets but I'll be ready for a change in our next house.  Here is look I would like to go for

 

 photo credit

White cabinets with some frosted glass mixed in, butcher block counter tops, an island with a sink and BIG windows with lots of natural light.  Our kitchen is accented with lots of red right now and I thought throwing a little turquoise in the would be pretty!  So thanks a lot IKEA...I'll be dreaming for awhile.

She cooks!

So lately I've been cooking a little more.  Maybe it's because I was on Christmas break so I had more time...or maybe it's just because I love Pinterest and all the yummy food ideas on there.
What we've been eating:

Crockpot Chicken and Rice

This was super tasty and really easy to make on a school morning.

Crockpot Potato Soup

I loved this recipe because you didn't actually need potatos...just a bag of frozen hashbrown!  J especially loved this one as well.  Now, if only it would get colder outside so I could make it again.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake 

You can't really go wrong with Mexican type foods.  We eat A LOT of tacos and taco-y meals.  It was really tasty and lasted us for a couple of nights. 

Pizza Muffins

I made these for our New Year's Eve party.  They were very tasty, but I would put more cheese in them next time.

Thumbprint Cookies

Today I got a little domestic and started baking...it doesn't happen often, but when I do feel the itch for cookies I like to make ones that my mom made when I was little.  You all know how I feel about pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in October...but have you ever had Thumbprint cookies at Christmas?
My mom couldn't find THE recipe so I had to google it and see what I could find.

It wasn't quite the way mom made them, but I thought it couldn't be too different.

Why hello Kitchen Aid...it's been a while!

Stir in some poppyseeds...and by all means buy those poppyseeds from the World Direct Market outside of Atlanta...you could never get that many poppyseeds at the grocery store for $.71!

Roll into balls and press your thumb in the middle then bake.

They turned out flatter than my mom's recipe, but still tasty.

Luckily for you...my mom found her recipe!

4 oz Cream cheese

2/3 cup butter (I usually substitute Butter Flavored Crisco for a moister cookie)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

poppy seeds (just whatever you feel comfortable with)

Jam

Beat cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Sift (ha!) dry ingredients and add to mixture.  Blend well.  Chill at least one hour.  When chilled, shape into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Press down centers with thumb.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 min.  (if still too high, press down with spoon halfway through baking.  Cool and fill with jam.  I sometimes add the jam before they are completely baked in order to harden the jam, just a bit.

Thanks mom!!!


Now I'll leave you with a little Instagram magic...happy baking!

PW Lasagna

There is something about fall that makes me want to read The Pioneer Woman's blog.  Maybe its because when I think of cowboys I think of chili and hay and fallish things...who knows!  Now, I am a girl of habit.  If my mom cooked something a certain way, that's how I do it too.  BUT I went out on a limb and looked up PW's lasagna and decided to give it a try.


The ingredients were simple enough and I already had most of what I needed.  Her recipe called for ground beef and hot breakfast style sausage but I'm scared of change and spicy sausage in a lasagna was too much for me.  Maybe next time.

Her recipe called for two cans of whole tomatoes and two cans of tomato paste.  I have to say I've never made lasagna without the help of a large jar of Prego sauce...I felt so authentic!

Now comes the tricky part...you see P-dub makes everything look so easy, but for those of us who lack certain kitchen skills its a little frustrating.  She said to simply lay the noodles on aluminum foil to keep them flat as you are getting the sauce ready.  UM...they stick together and don't look at pretty as in her picture.

But the noodle issue wasn't the end of the world and minus a burnt thumb it ended up ok.

The next part did make me happy...rather than using ricotta cheese, PW uses cottage cheese and eggs!  Just like my Mamasita!

This is how I cook...laptop used as recipe book

After you layer everything (which I was so busy doing that I forgot to photograph it) you pop it in the over for about 30 minutes and voila!  Yummy Pioneer Woman lasagna!

I used the "food" setting on my camera for all of these pics...who knew there was such a setting!

Fall cookies

Its October which means, in my mind, its officially FALL!  The weather actually agrees with me this weekend because our high is only 70...although I am fully prepared for the temps to go back up into the 80s by next week because let's be real...its South Carolina.


Anyway...fall means Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies!  I posted about this last year, but I thought I'd throw out the recipe once again.  They are the best cookies ever...and that's not an exaggeration!

PS...the recipe makes a HUGE batch...so share some with your friends!

Labor Day breakfast

Cinnamon rolls on a sleep in late morning...

Only because I'm feeling especially "snappy-happy" with my new camera!

Homemade Pizza

Tonight for dinner I made a Spinach-Mushroom-Feta pizza.  I guess it wasn't truly homemade because I used a store bought crust, but I had no interest in making my own crust...plus this was a quick dinner night.  So...this pizza was super good and pretty filling for a meatless meal.  I brushed the crust with olive oil and garlic then topped it with mozzarella cheese, fresh chopped spinach, red oinons, mushrooms and feta.  Oh-and a little more mozzarella cheese on top...the more cheese the better!  Throw it in the oven for 20-25 minutes and voila!  Super tasty semi-healthy pizza.

Recipe

I have had several people ask me about the recipe for the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Its a treasured recipe where I grew up so I guess I can share it with y'all... :)

The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 (16 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup real semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Cream butter, gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix well.

Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in morsels.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until cookies are firm and lightly browned. (I actually bake mine for 15-16 minutes, but that might just be my oven)


To see Aimée's take on these cookies click here.

Baking Goodness

For those of you who really know me, you know that I am not a baker. That is totally Aimée's field. BUT...every October when we were little my mom would make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We looked forward to baking these cookies with her all year long. So in keeping with tradition I baked today...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
The part I love about baking is getting to use my Kitchen Aid mixer. My grandmother gave it to me as a wedding present and I LOVE it, but let's face it...it doesn't get much use. LoL.

The part I don't like about baking is the huge mess. Baking for me is never a clean process.

But the finished product is so tasty!!