Two Year Anniversary Giveaway:Mini Cookbook Album

I can't believe it has been two years already.....Where did time fly? I remember when I first started this blog that I really only planned to share my dinner with people. Before that I had been doing it on my personal time line. A few of my friends/family suggested that I start a blog  I had always followed food blogs but never really had one. As I began looking I began realizing that I could do that. I remember one of the blogs I came across was Cooking With Libby. I asked her questions and she had no problem at all helping me out. I am still a huge follower of hers and always will be. She's an amazing person. Check her out if you can. As I began working on it, I realized that I could do more then just share my dinner plans with people.  I wanted to help people, and as a Stay at home mom, it also gave me some way of sharing myself with others. When I started this I never expected to have many followers. I remember trying to reach 50 people, then 100. Now I'm at 5,427.  My goal was to always be myself, to include kids in the kitchen, and to encourage family to sit around the table. Enjoy food, enjoy family.

One of the most amazing things about blogging is all the friends you gain. I have so many good blogging friends, that are awesome people. I wouldn't trade them for the world. We laugh, we share our struggles, and chat about life.  I think its crazy sometimes how people you come across have been actually following you. Many many people are like " Oh I know you, I've been following you".  Makes me feel good :-)

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who have helped me get to where I am today.  They have been amazing.  Many have shared my page, shared my recipes....helped me out when I get frustrated. Let me rant and rave :-) Here is to the next year of blogging.

Now on to the giveaway! I gained a new friend this year who is also a blogger. She owns CBC Scrapbooking. She makes amazing scrapbooking pieces, mini albums etc. I actually met her through Js cousin. So glad I did and it turns out she had been following me already :-)  Make sure you please go visit her facebook page and blog. Lets show her some love. She has donated this lovely Mini Cookbook Album. You can fill it with our own memories, tips, recipes etc.  This is such a beautiful piece.   She is almost to 1000 people so lets help her reach that.  Here is where you can find her stuff:

CBC Scrapbooking Facebook Page

CBC Scrapbooking Blog

CBC Scrapbooking Etsy Shop

Lets get this giveaway going! I ship to Canada and US only! 

Thank you to everyone who has made these two years awesome...I look forward to more!






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Simple Tuesday Suppers Linky Party #2

Welcome back to Simple Supper Tuesday, the party featuring QUICK, EASY recipes, perfect for those busy weeknights. So, please share your crock pot, 30 minutes or 5 ingredient recipes (easy desserts are also welcome)!!!

 I am happy to be co-hosting with 2 other fantastic bloggers....

Cindy Hun Whats For Dinner

Nettie Moore Or Less Cooking Blog

The Party Rules

1.Please link up Crock Pot and/or EASY recipes only (simple desserts are also welcome) 

2.Please link back to THIS post on Hun... What's for Dinner? 

3.Please use link to direct recipe, not to your home page. 

4.Please visit others and leave comments if a recipe catches your eye 

5.Any post that DOES NOT contain a recipe or food tutorial, will be deleted

Recipes that got my attention:

 Love Bakes Good Cakes Cinnamon Applesauce Crunch Muffins

Crumbs in my Mustachio- Spicey Bacon Mac and Cheese

My Turn For Us- Buffalo Wings

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Caramel Popcorn Munchies

 

Good Afternoon Everyone, 

This morning I decided to play in the kitchen :-) So I bring you my Caramel Popcorn munchies. IT has chocolate, salted caramel, popcorn, peanuts, and mini marshmallows. 

Caramel Popcorn Munchies

Popcorn ( I made mine on the stove)

About 1 1/2 C Salted Caramel Sauce( I use the recipe from Hugs & Kisses)

1 C Mini Marshmallows

1 C Peanuts

1 C melted dark chocolate

Take your popcorn in a bowl and pour the sauce over it.  Let it cool and stick in the freezer for an hour. Then take it out and put it in a bowl. Mix in your marshmallows, peanuts and lay it on a cookie sheet. Take your melted chocolate and drizzle it over the top. Put it back in to chill for a bit. Eat and enjoy!!!

 

 

Garlic Pesto Pasta

Good Morning Everyone,
 For dinner last night my three year old requested chicken, noodles and broccoli. So I actually changed things up a bit. Today I bring you a pesto, garlic, olive oil linguine with broccoli and chicken. My 5 year old ate 4 plates of it, and we all loved it. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Garlic, Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

1 Box Linguine
1 package of broccoli(I used frozen)
2 Chicken breasts cubed
1 jar of Pesto
8 cloves of garlic
5 T olive oil (and you can add garlic oil if you have it)

Cube up your chicken breasts and saute them in a skillet till they are cooked. Set aside. In a pan boil your linguine and broccoli together till they are done. While they are boiling take your skillet you cooked chicken in and add your garlic, jar of pesto and olive oil. Cook till the garlic starts browning. Take your broccoli and linguine when done and strain it. Put it back in the pan and add your garlic mixture. Then your chicken Stir in....add a touch more olive oil. Toss till coated.  Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Simple Supper Tuesday Linky Party

Welcome back to Simple Supper Tuesday, the party featuring QUICK, EASY recipes, perfect for those busy weeknights. So, please share your crock pot, 30 minutes or 5 ingredient recipes (easy desserts are also welcome)!!!

I am excited to announce that I am co hosting with a few other bloggers Simple Supper Tuesday. I can't wait to see recipes! Co hosts are:
Cindy Facebook page: Hun Whats for Dinner!  Blog Hun, Whats for Dinner
Amy: Facebook page: Crumbs in my Mustachio Blog: Crumbs in my Mustachio
Nettie: Facebook Page:  Moore or Less Cooking blog Blog Site Moore Or Less Cooking blog
Cydnee: Facebook Page Tampa Cake Girl Blog: Tampa Cake Girl

The Party Rules

1.Please link up Crock Pot and/or EASY recipes only (simple desserts are also welcome) 

2.Please link back to THIS post on Hun... What's for Dinner? 

3.Please use link to direct recipe, not to your home page. 

4.Please visit others and leave comments if a recipe catches your eye 

5.Any post that DOES NOT contain a recipe or food tutorial, will be deleted

An InLinkz Link-up

BLT Dip

 

Good Morning Everyone, 

I teamed up once again with my favorite blogging friends to bring you " Dipping through January". Each day for two weeks minus the weekend you'll get a dip recipe. This is such a fun thing to do. It challenges us, and we come up with some great recipes. So when we decided to do dips, I decided to do a BLT dip. It was such a great idea too! This dip came out amazing :-) So here is the lovely recipe :-)

BLT Dip

Bottom Layer

Half an 8 oz block of Cream Cheese

1 Packet of Ranch Dressing Mix

1 16 oz Sour Cream

Chopped up pancetta* OPTIONAL* 

( I found the pancetta to be a bit to salty but you can add it if you want)

Mix your softened cream cheese, ranch mix, and sour cream. If you want pancetta add it in last. Stir and put in a glass baking dish.  Set it aside.

Topping:

Half a head of Lettuce chopped

1 Tomato (take the seeds out)

1/2 Lb of Bacon

(I used peppered but you can use what ever kind you like)

1/2 block Sharp Cheddar grated(or you can buy shredded)

Take your shredded lettuce, tomato, half lb cooked crumbled bacon, and cheddar. Mix it up in a bowl. Pour it on top of the cream ranch mixture. 

To serve we actually grilled up some Ciabatta bread with olive oil. We served it on that. It was soo good. If you like BLT sandwiches you'll love this dip. Its your favorite sandwich in one dish.

Jalapeno Popper Dip ~ Nettie
Moore or Less Cookie Blog.

Melting Pot Swiss Cheese Fondue ~ Cydnee
Tampa Cake Girl
 
Rocky Road Dip ~ Cindy
Hun, What’s for Dinner? 

Prosciutto, Spinach & Artichoke Dip ~ Amy
Crumbs in my Mustachio

Crab Rangoon Dip - Lorinda Lemony Thyme

Making and Freezing meat sauce

I discovered freezing meat sauce long ago. It freezes really well, and can be used for all sorts of items. I wait till there is a meat sale and grab a ton of hamburger. I will then brown it and start with a jar of regular spaghetti sauce (ie ragu, prego etc).  I buy the large container. I do this because I want to freeze several quart bags of it. I brown hamburger, add onions, peppers and garlic. Set it aside. Then in a pan I pour the spaghetti sauce in a pan. I add basil, Italian seasoning, Parmesan, garlic sea salt. I heat it up and drizzle in a lil bit of olive oil.  Cook on low and let it simmer.  Then you'll want to add in your meat. Cook on low and then shut it off and let it cool down. Once its cooled down you can grab your quart freezer bags. Fill and let all the air out of it. Lay flat and let it freeze. By doing this you'll have several bags of meat sauce in your freezer for spaghetti, ziti, etc. If your running low on time you can just grab a bag and thaw it out. Instant meal just add spaghetti. There is no real recipe for this....You can add as much or little as you want.  I hope this helps you! Below is a recipe I kind of go off of.

5-6 lbs of hamburger

Large Jar of spaghetti sauce( biggest you find)

1 chopped pepper

1 chopped Onion

3 TSP garlic

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 T Sugar

1/2 Tsp Garlic sea salt

1/2 C Parmesan 

1 T basil

1 T Italian Seasoning

Brown hamburger, peppers, onions and garlic.  Set aside. In a pan mix your sauce, diced tomatoes, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic sea salt, Parmesan cheese. Let it simmer.  Mix in your brown meat mixture. Let it simmer for half an hour. Let it cool off and pour it into baggies. It'll make 5-6 baggies of it. Lay flat to freeze.  This is just a loose recipe...The great thing about this is you can add what you want to make it yours.

Hickory Smoked Sea Salt Roasted Chicken

One thing you probably don't know about me is that I grew up around chickens. In fact my chore every morning was to feed and water them. I have a love hate relationship with chickens. I love to eat them but hated feeding them. HA! Fast forward years and now my parents have a successful chicken business. They raise NON GMO, non crap chicken! So when I went to IL I brought back a ton of things. I also brought home some of their chickens...2 Whole chickens, and 2 packages of wings.  I could be bias cause they are my parents and all but this chicken was good. It had good flavor and was moist. The just stayed under the skin and in the meat.  Anyways, here is my recipe for my Hickory Smoked Sea Salt chicken with garlic oil.

1 Whole Chicken
3 T Garlic Oil( I found this at an Amish store in Arthur IL but I'm sure you could find it elsewhere. Or you could substitute it with olive oil and garlic.)
Sprinkle of Hickory Smoked Sea Salt(again found it at an Amish Store but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere. Or just use regular sea salt)
Multi Colored Peppercorns grounded to almost smooth.
1/2 Stick of butter melted

Take your chicken and put it in a pan rub it down with garlic oil. Then sprinkle it with salt. Then add your peppercorns to it. Next take your half stick of butter and drizzle it on top. You can also skip the butter if you want but I like it on there. Put it in the oven depending on the weight of your chicken. This was almost four lbs. I cook it at 350 for 3 or so hours. I take it out when the meat is cooked and the skin is a nice golden color.

Steak and Cheese Subs

Good Morning Everyone,

Here is the Steak and Cheese Sub as promised! This recipe was awesome, and I used the crock pot for the cooking of the meat. I used London Broil but didn't like the outcome. I'd use a different kind of steak though. A thick one would be good.  

2-3 Steaks(thick)

1/4 C. Garlic

1 packet of add water and stir AuJu 

Put the steaks in the crock pot. On  a stove mix your auju and water. Then add garlic. Mix till hot. Pour over steaks and cook on low for 6 hours. Once its tender and falling apart chop it up. Let it soak in the auju on high for about half an hour to an hour. Turn it off.

Toppings:

Mild Cheddar and Monterary Jack Cheese shredded

Caramelized Onions

Slice your onions thin and cook them in about a tablespoon of sugar, and a lil olive oil. Sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper. Cook till soft and golden.  

Take sub rolls, and split them.  Put a little bit of cheese and caramelized onions . Top with steak. Then add more onion and top with your shredded cheese. Bake at 350 till its melted on top and bubbly. 

Mozzarella Stuffed Garlic Rolls

There is nothing greater then gooey melted cheese....Till you add it with garlic rolls....Then dip it in marinara sauce..It's heaven on a plate....Seriously! Plus its super easy :-) 

Mozzarella Stuffed Garlic Rolls

Pizza Dough 

( I found mine at the freezer section next to the bread dough. But you can make your own)

 1 Brick of Mozzarella Cheese(Can be any brand)

1/4 C Garlic Oil(I found this at a local store in IL) 

*If you can't find it in your stores just use butter, with the garlic seasoning in the following**

Shaky Cheese or you can use the real Parmesan stuff

3 T Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Salt or Garlic Salt

2 Tsp Italian Herbs

Cut your Mozzarella into semi medium chunks. Not to huge cause you have to wrap dough around it. Next roll your pizza dough into a tube. Cut into chunks and then cut into thirds. Wrap one of the dough around the mozzarella cheese. Making sure you make a tight seal. Place in a pan. I used a pie plate 10 inches. Place each ball of dough into the pan.  Mix your garlic oil(or butter) mixture and brush the rolls with it. When you have used it all place it in a 350 degree oven till it gets golden brown. Heat up Marinara sauce to serve this with. 

Peanut Butter Pie

When we were in Illinois my mom gave me this pie plate. Isn't it beautiful? I love it and knew I couldn't wait to use it :-) So I made a Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie for a New Years Eve Party :-) I've been in a bit of a cooking funk lately, but the time in Illinois seemed to revive it. Plus I got several new cookbooks :-) I hope that you all are staying safe and warm if you are in the cold.  ENJOY!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Graham Cracker Crust

2 Packs of Graham Crackers Crushed

1/2 Stick of Butter melted

Put your crushed graham crackers in a bowl, and put in the butter. Mix till its all wet. Press it into your pie plate and bake for 10 minutes. 

Take it out and let it cool. 

Chocolate:

1 Package of dark chocolate melted

Put about a 1 C. of it on the bottom on top of the crust.

Save the rest for the top of the pie.

Filling:

1 Jar of Peanut Butter

2 packages of Cream Cheese Softened

1 C. Sour Cream

2 Cups Confectioners Sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla 

In a bowl cream your cream cheese and sour cream. Add your peanut butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix till well Incorporated. Pour on top of the crust and chocolate. Take the rest of your melted chocolate and put it in a small baggy. Cut the corner and drizzle all over the pie. Let it chill and sit in the fridge for awhile. 

Whip Cream

1 Carton of Whipping Cream

1/2 Sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla

Whip till it turns into whip cream....Let it chill in the fridge. Serve on top of the peanut butter pie.