Homemade Hamburger Helper

No artificial taste to this copycat recipe and it can easily be doubled to feed more people.

When I was a kid, the bane of my existence was Hamburger Helper. And you may wonder, then why are you posting a copycat recipe on your blog? Well, this isn't really a copycat. It's similar, but it tastes way better than out of the box. My mom made Hamburger Helper a lot and I always despised the weird artificial taste. When I found this recipe, I figured I would try it and see if I liked it or not. I ended up loving this recipe! It was such a good seasoning mix and it didn't taste weird like the out of the box stuff. This is a copycat recipe I can get behind!

Menu Plan Monday - October 30, 2017

I'm kind of really happy that Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year because I immediately knew that regular old tacos would be the PERFECT quick dinner before we head out to trick or treat.

Monday - Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Dill Pickle Soup
Thursday - Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins // End-of-Season Pizza Party
Friday - Almost White Castle Hamburgers
Saturday - Biscoff Caramel Butter Bars
Sunday - Oreo Muffins // Sheet Pan Crispy Cheddar Pork Chops with Texas Roadhouse Buns

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link a recipe in the comments!

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Fantastical Friday: 12 Recipes for National Potato Day

Today is National Potato Day (and also American Beer Day), so I have a dozen recipes that celebrate the wonderful food that is the potato. There's a pretty good range of dishes - and even a dessert!

The Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange - Sign Up Today!

It's time again to exchange cookies with your fellow food bloggers this holiday season! For those of you who participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (RIP), the process will be familiar. I am teaming up with the ladies of The PinterTest Kitchen to bring you the Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange.

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up by November 5, 2017 using the form below.
2. On November 6, 2017, you will receive the names and address of three other bloggers.
3. Send out 1 dozen cookies to these bloggers by November 17, 2017.
4. You will receive 1 dozen cookies from three other bloggers in return!
5. Publish a post on your blog sharing your cookie recipe on December 4, 2017. We’ll include your link on a roundup of cookie exchange posts.

This year, we’re raising money for two great charities: No Kid Hungry and RescuesforJoJo! To participate, you must donate at least $5 to one of these charities.

• No Kid Hungry is an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger. They believe no child should go to bed hungry. CLICK HERE to sponsor a meal for a child in need!

• RescuesForJoJo is an all-volunteer non-profit that helps “undesirable” shelter dogs find new homes. So far, they have saved over 70 dogs, and these are animals that typically would otherwise be passed over by adopters due to health, breed, color, or other factors. CLICK HERE to learn more about RescuesForJoJo or send your donation via PayPal to rescuesforjojo@yahoo.com

Pick one or the other… or feel free to donate to both charities if you are feeling extra generous.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• November 5: Sign-ups end (assignments will be sent the following day)
• November 17: You MUST send your cookies by this date
• December 1: Send us the permalink to your post by this date, so we can create the round-up list of cookie links
• December 4: Publish your post

You must agree to stick to this schedule in order to participate. It’s a real drag to be the person who doesn’t get cookies because the person who had their name flaked. Don’t let that happen to your fellow blogger!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Your assigned bloggers will be people in your country. This keeps shipping costs low and helps ensure that cookies arrive quickly, while they are still fresh. As such, there needs to be at least 4 bloggers sign up in your country. If you live outside of the United States, please sign up! We will do out best to recruit other bloggers from your country, and will let you know on Nov 1 if we have enough sign-ups for you to participate.
• If you have an allergy or dietary restriction, please note that on the form. We will match you with others who have the same allergy or dietary restriction if possible. Please note if your allergy is so severe that you cannot accept cookies from someone who uses that ingredient in their house. (example: peanuts)
• Please consider the shipping element when planning your cookie recipe! Delicate cookies are not the best choice, since they will arrive in crumbles. Cookies dipped in chocolate might not be the best choice if you are shipping to warmer climates.
• You must have an active blog to participate. You do not have to be a 100% food blogger, as long as you do occasionally post recipes on your blog and can commit to posting your cookie recipe on Dec 4. Bloggers of all sizes are encouraged to participate.

Ready to sign up?



------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Stuffed Chicken

Make a fancy meal with this easy stuffed chicken recipe - the sweet roasted pepper is the perfect match for basil and mozzarella cheese

I used to attempt to make stuffed chicken a lot, but it was more the type you pound to nonexistence and roll up and secure with toothpicks. This recipe is my kind of stuffed chicken. There is none of that pounding chicken and rolling it up mess. It's just butterflying the chicken and filling it and folding the chicken back over the filling. It's seriously wonderful. It was super easy. Plus the combination of roasted red pepper with basil and mozzarella is fantastic. It seems like such a fancy dish, but it's so easy to make!

Beefy Tomato Soup

This soup is reminiscent of spaghetti and is the perfect dinner for a chilly night.

I'm so glad that soup season is back because my family is stubborn and we eat soup all year round and it can get kind of strange to heat a hot soup on a sunny 80 degree day in the middle of summer. But we like us some soup. This soup recipe reminds me so much of my mom's goulash and I really loved that. Plus I got to use some of the fresh Genovese basil from my AeroGarden! I'm growing jalapenos right now, but cannot wait to have my basil back once again. I may do an entire group of basil pods.

I wanted to mention that although the instructions call for you to cook the pasta with the soup, you can absolutely cook the pasta separately and serve pasta in each bowl and ladle the soup over the top. I tend to cook pasta separately for a lot of soups because I hate leftover waterlogged noodles in my soup. It's all up to you and if you anticipate having leftovers. If you do cook your pasta separately, you could probably swing this recipe to be ready in under 30 minutes because you will just need to heat the soup through once the cream cheese is added. With the pasta in the soup, it's just slightly over, so it's not too big of a time difference. Just a personal preference thing with leftovers in mind.

Easy Sausage Pizza

Only 5 ingredients to a simple, yet delicious homemade pizza!

I found this pizza recipe while going through my Food Network Magazines. It was an ad page, but I won't lie, I love when ad pages have recipes! This particular ad page was for Johnsonville sausage and the recipe was a 5-ingredient pizza that I knew all of us would love. It's so simple and sometimes you really just need a simple recipe. I do like to vary our pizza nights so that we don't always have pepperoni, so this sausage and green bell recipe was a nice change of pace.

Menu Plan Monday - October 23, 2017

In the month of October, I definitely went the way of making recipes we've already had before. Going through the archives, I saw so many recipes that we hadn't had in a really long time that I really wanted to make. I'm going to attempt to make a copycat recipe on Friday and really hope it turns out well.

Monday - Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion, & Potato Hash
Tuesday - Ree's Burrito Bowls
Wednesday - Spicy Pork & Kale Soup
Thursday - Cinnamon Roll Donuts // Kung Pao Chicken Skillet
Friday - Copycat Applebee's All-In Brunch Burgers
Saturday - Slow Cooker Beef Tips & Gravy
Sunday - Cajun and Bean Scramble // Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link toa recipe in the comments!

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Meatball and Orzo Soup #SundaySupper

This turkey meatball and orzo pasta soup is such a comforting meal and reminiscent of Italian wedding soup!

Good morning, everyone! I'm back for yet another Sunday Supper Movement event. Today's theme is COMFORT FOOD SOUP AND STEW RECIPES, which means I'm about to have at least a dozen new recipes to try on Wednesdays. I am such a happy camper because although I have plenty of soup recipes already, I tend to gravitate towards a handful of recipes.

Today, I decided to share this meatball and orzo soup. I think that my family liked it so much because it reminded us of Italian wedding soup.

Junior Mint Cupcakes #Choctoberfest

These aren't your ordinary cupcake - just like the candy on top, the cupcake has a sweet mint filling!

I talked about my kids choosing their birthday cakes each year yesterday, but I also had to share these adorable cupcakes that I made for my mom's birthday last November (last year). I do typically pick out cakes for the adult family members based on what I think they will love. My mom loves Junior Mints and has always loved them, so when I found the recipe, I saved it immediately. I knew it would be perfect. I tend to find recipes months in advance and then it's just a waiting game to make them.

These are relatively easy cupcakes that start out with a boxed cake mix with some extra goodness added to it. The mint buttercream is perfect, but what takes the cake is the insanely amazing mint filling! It tastes exactly like the candy's mint filling and it's such a surprise when you bite into the cupcake.

Since it's the last day of Choctoberfest, I just wanted to say thank you to Allison of The PinterTest Kitchen for hosting once again and hope y'all have found some lovely recipes from my fellow bloggers. Each day of the week that I posted a chocolate recipe, you'll find a blog hop at the bottom with tons of chocolately amazingness linked up!

Andes Mint Cake #Choctoberfest

From cake mix to this mint-filled, chocolate mint buttercream-frosted, ganache-covered chocolate cake to beat all cakes

Every year, I let my kids pick out the cake they want for their birthday. Each year, Matthew and Cami pick out recipes from my Pinterest board and then go through a process of elimination until they reach the final recipe. I am pretty sure this Andes Mint Cake has been on their list every single year since we started the tradition. It never ends up being the last cake standing, but I decided to go ahead and make it in a non-birthday month. I just figured that even though it was in their top cakes, we'd probably never get around to having it unless I picked it.

I have always been a huge fan of Andes Mints. I think they are just absolutely wonderful and I have used them in plenty of desserts. This cake is made from devil's food cake mix and you can do two or three layers. I personally did two because I was being a little lazy. There is a mint filling between the chocolatey layers and then it's covered in a chocolate mint buttercream frosting and a row of Andes mints around the bottom. To top it all off, the extra touch of chocolate ganache and chopped mints is just divine. I have been so in love with ganache lately because it's just so decadent and amazing. It makes every dessert better.

Unstuffed Banana Pepper Soup #FantasticalFoodFight

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

An InLinkz Link-up

The Honey Food Fight winner is Rafeeda of The Big Sweet Tooth with her White House Honey Oat Muffins - these muffins look so so good.

Fave Chocolate Donuts #Choctoberfest

One bite of this breakfast treat and you'll understand why they are named Fave Chocolate Donuts

It's time again for Choctoberfest and I'm excited to participate for the second time because CHOCOLATE. I am looking forward to finding all sorts of new chocolate recipes from my fellow bloggers.

Homemade donuts are really easy to make and I love making all different kinds. My favorite are still cake donuts though and I do love using cake mix to make donuts. This recipe is not made from cake mix, but I would still consider them to be cake donuts. They were wonderfully moist because of the addition of sour cream and they were rich and chocolatey. I double dipped mine in the glaze because I didn't want to glaze the entire donut. I'm not brave enough to try and manage that LOL

It's time for #Choctoberfest 2017!

Today is the official start of #Choctoberfest 2017. #Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. This is the third annual food blogger celebration of all things chocolate, made possible thanks to our gold sponsor Imperial Sugar and the other sponsors listed below.

Menu Plan Monday - October 16, 2017

Hello and good morning, everyone! This week brings more comfort food and BRINNER! I usually don't plan for brinner, it just happens - when a day has been hectic and I want something easy to make. Not sure if we'll do pancakes or waffles, but definitely scrambled eggs and bacon!

Monday - Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta
Tuesday - Cheesy Tuna Shell Casserole
Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan Soup
Thursday - Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins // Homemade Cheesy Gordita Crunch
Friday - French Bread Pizzas
Saturday - Brinner
Sunday - Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Smoothie Bowls // Pumpkin Gingersnaps

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to a recipe in the comments!

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Pot Roast Stroganoff #SundaySupper

The slow cooking of this pot roast makes for a melt-in-your-mouth stroganoff!

I've been on a roll lately making tons of recipes for Sunday Supper Events. Today's event is going to be very high on my list of favorites: COMFORT FOOD PASTA. I am a pastaholic. I have to ration myself to two times a week or I'd weigh a million pounds because I have no self control. Spaghetti weeks are hard because I always make enough to feed an army and then I eat it for lunch for the whole week because I'm ridiculous like that. Spaghetti is my favorite favorite. But I also love stroganoff. I actually wasn't a fan until I was in my teens and had my mom-in-law's stroganoff, which is the bomb dot com.

Since trying hers many many years ago (10+), I knew that I was fine with homemade stroganoff - which I have also discovered about a lot of foods. I just prefer homemade versions to whatever other versions (from a box, tv dinner, a school lunch, etc.) are out there. I was definitely intrigued when I discovered this recipe because I also love love love pot roast and I thought that it sounded wonderful to have pot roast cook down and break apart into smaller pieces rather than buy beef stew meat, which can sometimes get a little tough. So it's a win all-around really. There is no tough meat or chopping the meat up. It is a ridiculously tender stroganoff and I really loved the addition of dill to the spices. That bit of sour with the savory flavors of beef, garlic, and onion was simply fantastic.

Three Quick & Easy Recipes

I'm a contributor over at Knoxville Moms Blog and have recently started a "Quick & Easy Recipe" series of posts. Today I wanted to share the last three posts I've done here on my own blog and urge you to check them out. All three are fantastic dishes!

Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne

Pesto Tortellini with Chicken

Penne with Turkey Ragu

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Fantastical Friday: 18 Extraordinary Egg Recipes for World Egg Day

Today is World Egg Day (the 2nd Friday in October) and I went a little bit overboard finding recipes to share...and I think it's because I LOVE EGGS. Eggs are amazing! A lot of the recipes are for breakfast, but there are a few lunch/dinner recipes, as well as a few appetizers. What is your favorite egg recipe? Share a link in the comments below.

Jaegarschnitzel

This classic German dish served with a traditional mushroom gravy and topped with bacon

I've already posted two recipes for schnitzel on the blog and there is probably no end in sight. I have loved each recipe I've tried for different reasons and this one is definitely not any different. Jaegar sauce contains mushrooms. I will say that I do not like mushrooms, but I love the flavor the mushrooms give the jaegar sauce. I picked around the mushrooms. Mostly it's a texture thing, not a flavor thing. Regardless, we loved this schnitzel recipe and loved the different seasonings it had. As always, we served ours up with potatoes (wedges in this case) and lemon slices.

Ham & White Cheddar Beer Cheese Soup

The perfect fall soup with ham, bacon, beer, and loads of cheese!

I am not stranger to beer cheese soup and it's one of my favorite soups to make in the fall. I'm in love with this one in particular because it has two proteins - ham and bacon. Plus green onion and loads of cheese! The combination is just total comfort food. It's a bonus that it is one pot and can be made in under 30 minutes.

Browned Butter Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies Treats

Only four ingredients to make the best fall treat you'll ever eat!

I absolutely love Rice Krispies treats and grew up making them with my mom. I have only recently discovered how amazing browned butter is. It's indescribable and I was incredibly intrigued by using browned butter in Rice Krispies treats. This snack is so stinkin' easy to make because it's just four ingredients. I would say the hardest part is browning the butter, but it's not nearly as hard as I made it out to be when I first saw it. I was so nervous to burn it. I have yet to burn browned butter **knocks on wood**

There is no pumpkin in this snack, but there is pumpkin pie spice. So if you do like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc., but don't like pumpkin, you can still enjoy this treat.

Menu Plan Monday - October 9, 2017

I am ridiculously excited about this week's lineup of food because it contains tons of old favorites and I am so ready for the comfort of the known! :)

Monday - One Pot Italian Sausage & Kale Pasta
Tuesday - Pepperjack Smothered Chicken
Wednesday - Turkey Jalapeno Popper Chili
Thursday - Snickerdoodle Crumble Donuts // Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad
Friday - Pepperoni Pizza Burgers
Saturday - Bacon-Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin
Sunday - Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll French Toast // Biscoff Caramel Butter Bars

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to a recipe in the comments!

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken Pasta #SundaySupper

This crockpot meal is buttery, cheesy, and full of pesto goodness!

I am so excited for this week's Sunday Supper Movement theme: SLOW COOKER COMFORT FOOD RECIPES. I decided to share this meal because pesto is my ultimate comfort food at the moment. I basically crave pesto pasta. Although this recipe isn't made completely in the crockpot, cooking the pasta only dirties one more dish, so that's not 100% inconvenient. Not that inconvenient at all. :) I just love how buttery pesto-y this pasta gets. Plus all the cheese! I'm looking forward to  a ton of the recipes that my fellow Sunday Supper bloggers have shared because they are so diverse!

Beer Battered Onion Rings

These onion rings are the perfect side to a burger or appetizer for a football game party!

I believe this was my first time making homemade onion rings and it was fairly successful. I started off in my deep fryer but it was hard to make these in the basket, so I switched to the pot and it was so much better. I just used my tongs and spider in the pot to maneuver the onion rings as they fried. I loved the flavoring of the garlic and paprika with the beer. Overall, this recipe was easier and much more addictive that I had anticipated.

Slow Cooker Sausage & Corn Chowder

This slow cooker chowder has potatoes but you don't have to peel or chop a single one - it's a miracle!

I love this chowder so much because it uses frozen potatoes. For some reason, I have an issue with slow cooker soups and potatoes. They never want to cook through. Even if they are cooked on low for 8 hours and they are cut small. I was over-the-moon excited that this had frozen potatoes o'brien - which contains onion and peppers in it. It's the perfect thing for a slow cooker recipe. And I didn't have to deal with peeling and cutting potatoes. So that definitely knocks off some prep time. All-in-all, this soup was easy to throw together and tasted wonderful. I loved how creamy it was and loved the sausage with all the veggies.

Frito Pie Burritos

Frito pies can be for Taco Tuesday too with this yummy burrito recipe!

I love Frito pies or what we call 'em here in East Tennessee: Petros! I was happy to find this delicious recipe that combines Frito pies with burritos. And honestly, why not turn Frito pies into burritos?! This recipe contains homemade chili that reminds me a little of Skyline chili because of the cocoa powder that goes into it. I subbed in some more basic ingredients for the original recipe's different components because I really like having quick Taco Tuesday meals.

Menu Plan Monday - October 2, 2017

Is it really already October?! I'm trying to make loads of pumpkin recipes, but also trying to make other fall type recipes too - like ones that include apples.

Monday - Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes
Tuesday - Nachos Bell Grande
Wednesday - Grandma Ruth's Italian Chicken Soup
Thursday - Pumpkin Oreo Donuts // PJ Chang's Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Friday - Pizza with a Sourdough Crust
Saturday - Baked Buttery Herb Chicken and Potatoes
Sunday - Crockpot Cinnamon Roll Casserole // Kalesidillas // Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crumble

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to a recipe in the comments!

------------------------------
don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | pinterest | bloglovin | instagram

1970s Style Tacos #SundaySupper

These tacos are homemade with the perfect mix of spices to bring up a feeling of nostalgia

I'm on a roll for posting with Sunday Supper Movement and today's event is EASY TACO RECIPES FOR NATIONAL TACO DAY. National Taco Day is coming up on October 4th and although my family won't be celebrating on Wednesday, we will definitely be raising a taco up in celebration on Tuesday. I normally stick to just ground beef and a packet of taco seasoning, plus the fixings for Taco Tuesdays, but occasionally, I like to mix it up a little bit and make a recipe from scratch.

What I love about these 1970s Style Tacos is that they do taste like an authentic old-fashioned taco recipe. The cayenne is optional, although I didn't list it as such because I love a hint of spiciness in my tacos! But overall, these are seriously wonderful and they aren't painstakingly difficult nor do they require much more steps than making "regular tacos" - the payoff is definitely worth making them with multiple spices rather than a premade packet of seasonings.