Throwback Thursday #58

I love recipes like these EASY CROCKPOT PORK CARNITAS where you just throw ingredients into the crockpot and hours later, shred, stir, and serve on a tortilla!

I also adore this PASTA PRIMAVERA that has loads of fresh vegetables and a little dill too :)

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Strawberry Shortcake Donuts #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. I wasn't sure what I wanted to make for this month's food fight until I was meal planning. I was looking through my breakfast board on Pinterest and saw this recipe and knew it was the one. I was excited when I discovered it was an easy breakfast because I have not been very good at making breakfast recipes lately.

These donuts are basically like Chinese donuts. They are ridiculously easy to make and they are quick. All you need is a tube of refrigerated biscuits, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream, and strawberries. Plus oil to fry them in. The biscuit dough ends up light and fluffy. The strawberries and whipped cream were literally perfect with them. I could have eaten a whole batch by myself!

Blackened Chicken Fiesta Salad

Juicy, flavorful chicken nestled on top of an amazing corn, tomato, and chickpea salad

I have made quite a few fiesta salads but this is by far my favorite. The blackened chicken was wonderful on its own, but it was the salad mix that really blew me away. It's not a salad with lettuce or leafy greens. It's a salad with chickpeas, tomato, and corn. I think it was my first time using chickpeas and we really enjoyed them. The salad itself was even better the next day after the flavors had married a little more. 

Menu Plan Monday - April 16, 2018

I honestly am not paying attention to any of these recipes except for Thursday's dinner because I made it recently and am head over heels in love with it. The pickled shallots, spicy honey mustard,  and arugula compliment schnitzel SO well. I drool just thinking about it!

Monday - Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta, cornbread
Tuesday - Mexican Shredded Beef Enchiladas, corn
Wednesday - Coffee Cake Donuts // Egg Roll Soup
Thursday - Pork Schnitzel Sandwiches, potato wedges
Friday - Chipotle BBQ Hawaiian Pizza
Saturday - Roasted Garlic Potatoes and Sausage
Sunday - Breakfast Cheesecake // Copycat Twix Bars

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

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Chipotle Peach Meatballs #SecretRecipeClub

Hello, all! Over the last year, I have realized how much I missed Secret Recipe Club and decided that although monthly reveal days with 3 or 4 groups is overwhelming, getting together and doing a reveal day every once in a while would be so much fun. For now, this will most definitely be an annual thing. I decided to do it in April because that is when the first reveal day happened many years ago. I hope you all enjoy this Reunion Reveal Day. I know it was so fun to get back with my fellow SRC bloggers and I can't wait for next year :)

I was assigned to Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook. I have made from Lauren's blog before back in March 2015 - I made her Cranberry Coffeecake, which I absolutely loved. This time around, I searched her more recent recipes to see if I could find the winning recipe.

This Corned Beef & Cabbage Turnovers looked so delicious. I've been craving corned beef and cabbage like crazy, probably because it was just March. I also really wanted to make this White Cheddar and Cranberry Dip but thought that it would be hard to find fresh cranberries now that it's spring. Ultimately, I decided upon the Chipotle Peach Meatballs.

This recipe was so easy to put together. We ended up eating it with leftover mashed potatoes for dinner and loved the combination. I can also see these being made each New Year's Eve. Seriously, they were so easy and so flavorful. Even my peach and chipotle hating child loved them.

Fantastical Friday: National BLT Sandwich Month

April is the month of the BLT! That's right, it's National BLT Sandwich Month :) What better way to celebrate than to make and eat as many BLTs as possible.

Snickers Cheesecake Pie

A lovely no-bake dessert with loads of chocolate and caramel - sure to please a crowd!

I am not a fan of pie. Really it's not so much that I don't like pie as much as I don't like pie crust. I tolerate pumpkin pie because I'll eat the bottom of the crust and leave the edges alone. But otherwise, pie is just not my thing. I do love a pie like this Snickers Cheesecake Pie because it uses graham crackers for the crust. No hate for graham cracker crust. Graham cracker crust is the bomb. This particular dessert was definitely bound to be a favorite because it has my OG favorite candy bar, Snickers. It's a wonderful no-bake dessert - hope you guys try it out!

Cheesy Meatball Parmesan Soup

A soup reminiscent of spaghetti and meatballs that the whole family will love.

I love meatballs - just traditional meatballs with a tomato-based sauce, but I feel like I don't make them enough. When I make spaghetti, it's usually on Mondays when we are super busy and I just need something quick to throw together, so I forego making meatballs. @e eat soup on Wednesdays though when I have more time to make dinner. I looked forward to making this recipe because it was meatballs plus tomato-based "sauce" in soup form. The soup is wonderful and I think is made even better by the addition of topping it with cheese and broiling it. Broiled cheesy goodness on soup is heaven, y'all. Heaven.

One Pan Crispy Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Veggies

Crispy chicken along with some of that delicious crunch on the veggies makes for a delicious meal.

The best kinds of recipes are ones that you can throw into a pan and bake. I am easily thrilled when a recipe contains zucchini and/or squash. I cannot get enough of these veggies and would eat them with every meal. I have had zucchini in spaghetti and bbq pulled chicken. Just give me all the zucchini! I love that this recipe took the excess coating for the chicken and tossed it with the veggies, so that nothing went to waste.

Menu Plan Monday - April 9, 2018

I'm excited for all the pasta this week, but also really excited to try the Mississippi Pot Roast Philly Cheesesteak subs. Mississippi Pot Roast is a huge hit in our house and is referred to as "The Pot Roast" and it's always in the Food subreddit on Reddit. A few weeks ago, someone posted in r/food that they made it into cheesesteaks and I was immediately on top of putting that on my April meal plan.

Monday - Slow Cooker Parmesan Meat Sauce, broccoli, garlic knots
Tuesday - Chili Lime Chicken, Spanish rice, refried beans
Wednesday - Oreo Muffins // Italian Sausage Soup
Thursday - Garlic Chicken and Broccoli Cashew Stir Fry
Friday - Mississippi Pot Roast Philly Cheesesteak Subs, chips
Saturday - Chicken Bacon Garlic Alfredo Roll Ups, salad, garlic breadsticks
Sunday - Belgian Waffles // Mint Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream Squares

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

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Enchilada Burgers #SundaySupper

The best way to glam up a regular burger is to add enchilada fixings to it!

Today's Sunday Supper event theme is DINNER IDEAS USING GROUND BEEF. I immediately chose to share a burger. Burgers are one of my favorite things to make with ground beef and, in my opinion, one of the easiest and most versatile things to make with ground beef. I do not like to season ground beef with anything except a little salt and pepper for my burgers. As much as I love garlic, the second garlic touches the ground beef for a burger, I'm out. For me, it's all about the toppings to add more flavors to a burger.

These Enchilada Burgers are great because you can basically add any toppings that you would normally add to enchiladas or tacos. You can buy premade toppings (like pico de gallo, guacamole, enchilada sauce) or you can make your favorite recipe. So this burger can be "gourmet" or a quick, easy meal. It's really up to you and how much time you have on your hands.

French Onion Burgers

This gourmet burger has sauteed leeks, crispy fried onions, and a thick slice of Gruyere on top!

I was a little skeptical of this recipe because I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of French onion soup. However, I didn't see anything in the ingredients lists that made me bat an eye. I did have to look up what the heck a cornichon was because I had no idea - it's a French pickle. Thankfully, my grocery store had them in the little international food section (with the German foods).

This burger is seriously such a gourmet recipe. The "fry sauce" with cornichon was great. The sauteed leeks are one of my favorite burger toppings of all time. And the gruyere and crispy onions MAKE. THE. BURGER. All these components together almost pushed this burger into my favorite burger of all-time. Almost. It is my number two favorite burger and that's saying something...because I have made a ton of burgers I really love.

Throwback Thursday #57

This recipe for TWICE BAKED POTATOES was a brave attempt to try to make twice baked potatoes again. I used a Ree Drummond recipe and it turned out so wonderfully. For me, when all else fails, try a Pioneer Woman recipe. I know I won't be disappointed.

This TENNESSEE PRIDE COUNTRY CHILI recipe is actually named for the actual brand of sausage that is used in the chili. It's wonderfully full flavored and you can adjust seasonings if you like your chili spicy or mild.

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German Cheese Soup

This beer cheese soup with brats is total comfort food for a chilly day.

Just when I finally think that Tennessee has decided to warm up, there is a cold front coming through and it's going to be chilly again. Hopefully, it's a short-lived cold front and spring will more or less arrive with no going back to all this cold weather. Today is Soup Night for us and while we're not having this German Cheese Soup, it's definitely a great pick for those who are still having some cold and chilly nights. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I love beer with cheese. It's such a perfect pairing. This cheese soup was also made better by the addition of brats. Nothing is better than beer, cheese, and brats together!

Ree's Spaghetti

This amazing homemade spaghetti sauce can be made in bulk for freezing and is simmered for over an hour to really marry the flavors.

I'm not sure if I've ever outright stated it on my blog, but I know I have put it on a "get to know me" template on my Instagram stories...Spaghetti is my favorite meal. Ever. I have tried countless homemade spaghetti sauce recipes and I do like most of them, but I am kind of picky on what I look for in a spaghetti sauce. I don't like a sauce that's too tomatoey and I like a very meaty, thick sauce. Don't at me with that runny sauce. I like lots of herb taste - especially basil and oregano. I was so happy with this spaghetti sauce. It had the right balance of everything and it also makes a load of sauce. I halved the original recipe and still had a ton leftover.

Menu Plan Monday - April 2, 2018

We're having our Easter dinner a little on the late side because Nick's mom was out of town for Easter. Easter isn't a huge holiday for us and we don't really do much but give the kids some candy. We do, however, love Easter dinner and I cannot wait for ham. We don't have ham enough. Also carrot cake because it's probably my second favorite cake behind chocolate.

Monday - Crispy Lemon Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders, potato wedges, asparagus
Tuesday - Walking Tacos
Wednesday - Cinnamon Roll Donuts // One Pot White Chicken Lasagna Soup
Thursday - Korean BBQ Steak Bowls
Friday - French Bread Pizzas
Saturday - Tatortot Hotdish
Sunday - Easter Dinner for us - Asparagus Casserole // Carrot Bundt Cake

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

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Chinese Crispy Lemon Chicken

This crispy chicken has an Asian lemon sauce that is just the best!

I knew this recipe would be a winner when I first spied it because panko-coated chicken is one of my favorite ways to make chicken. I love how it gets crispy but still remains light - instead of getting soggy and heavy. The lemon sauce really added such depth to the chicken. It can be drizzled over the top or served on the side for dunking, which is what I did because we usually have leftovers and I didn't want the leftover chicken to be soggy. I served the lemon chicken with fried rice and asparagus and it was just a GREAT meal!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Every part of a loaded baked potato including crispy potato skins are turned into a wonderful soup recipe!

I love potato soup so much and I'm impressed with how many different recipes there are out in the blog world alone. I have had this recipe saved for years, probably around the time I started my blog. I was kind of surprised by reserving the potato peels to fry up but thought it was a really smart idea. It ended up being such a hit that if I peel potatoes now, I fry up the skins instead of tossing them out. Why let such a good part of the potato go to waste?! The potato soup itself is also fantastic and I served it up in a bread bowl and the whole family loved it.

Kung Pao Chicken with Zoodles

Who needs noodles when you can have zoodles?! This Kung Pao Chicken is amazing and the zoodles compliment it perfectly.

I have been eyeing every blogger and their brother's posts with vegetable noodles. I generally try to NOT get more kitchen tools, gadgets, and appliances because I am running out of room. However, when I was grocery shopping and saw a relatively inexpensive spiralizer that was also fairly small, I had to pick it up. I am not necessarily concerned with making "healthy" foods and no one in my house is on a special diet. I don't go out of my way to make fat-laden food either. I really just focus on making a variety of foods and always serve up veggies alongside most meals. I didn't want a spiralizer to make veggie noodles that replaced regular pasta. I just wanted a spiralizer for the option to make veggie noodles instead of regular pasta for a dish.

I am a self-proclaimed veggieaholic and there are very few vegetables I won't eat. I especially love zucchini and really wanted to try zoodles. I was impressed with how easy it was to make them AND how great they were in this recipe. Just a little tidbit, we added sriracha to our individual servings for some heat. We're new to the sriracha bandwagon too, but we love it.

Menu Plan Monday - March 26, 2018

And just like that, the end of March is upon us! We will be celebrating Easter a week late since my mom-in-law is out of town (which honestly isn't a big holiday for us), so we're just doing a little dessert for April Fool's Day and then doing our Easter dinner next week.

Monday - Spanish Rice & Pork Chops
Tuesday - Cilantro Lime Turkey Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Wednesday - Blueberry Nut Bread // Roasted Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup
Thursday - Jalapeno & Cheese Grilled Chicken
Friday - Crunch Burgers
Saturday - Strawberry Shortcake Donuts // Ranch Crockpot Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes
Sunday - April Fool's Cupcakes

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

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Baked Bruschetta Chicken

Juicy baked chicken with the perfect crispy, crunchy coating topped with bright tomatoes and garlic

Good morning! This week has definitely been super long for me. I am now 3 weeks post-ablation (coming up on a month in a few days) and I am 2 weeks out from being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. All the anxiety I had with my heart stuff isn't so bad now and is replaced with anxiety with having a PE. Any ache or pain makes me nervous. I went into the ER on Monday evening with back pain - it was just muscle pain. I went into the ER on Tuesday evening because I hit my head on a windowsill and I'm on blood thinners - but I don't have any residual pain or symptoms, so a brain bleed is unlikely. I always end up with symptoms at night and that means a trip to the ER. I'm there for hours which means I end up feeling super exhausted the next day. Tell me how your week was! Was it long and exhausting or did it fly by?

Today's recipe is a fairly simple one that I really love. The chicken is coated in breadcrumbs and gets wonderfully crunchy in the oven and would be fantastic on its own. However, the bruschetta topping is something else. It's on a whole other level. It's got the perfect flavors to go with the crunchy chicken. The juiciness from the tomatoes is just what this dish needs. I love the little bite from the balsamic vinegar too.

Throwback Thursday #56

These two recipes are both recipes that I cannot believe I haven't made recently because the whole family really loves them both. They are relatively easy but can be a little time consuming.

The kids especially loved HOT DOG STUFFED PRETZELS because...hot dogs. And pretzels. :)

This CRISPY CHICKEN WITH SCALLION WAFFLES recipe was my first time making savory waffles and also eating chicken and waffles together. It's a great combination.

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Carrot Cake Roll #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is CARROT CAKE - I had originally planned for this to be in April for Easter, but then discovered that Easter is the very first day of April and that us bloggers would want some of that pre-Easter traffic with our carrot cake goodies. :) Least I could do after last month's pick of out-of-season rhubarb LOL

I chose to share this Carrot Cake Roll recipe because I am so in love with cake rolls now. I made a pumpkin roll and it was so easy. So naturally carrot cake wouldn't be too far behind. It's the perfect spongey cake with sweet cream cheese filling. It truly is such an easy thing to make. I think it would be really fun to make with kids too. On a side note, cake rolls are super dangerous. They never last more than an hour in my house. They are so incredibly addictive!

Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

This spring pasta dish has delicious crisp tender asparagus and bright sweet bell pepper with chicken and a creamy alfredo-like sauce.

I'm a little late posting today and I'm absolutely blanking on what to write for my little paragraph. So let's break the fifth wall a little. My husband was talking to me recently about how reddit was having conversations about how food bloggers talk too much and they have to scroll past a novel to get to the recipe. Years ago, it was a big thing for bloggers to improve upon their story-telling and write stories for each post. This has never been a strong suit of mine when I don't have anything to talk about. I'm a talkative person and can be rambly, but not all the time. So my posts typically are pretty short and I like that. I was glad to hear that a lot of people really don't care about it and just scroll past the words to get to the recipe. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the same thing a lot of the time. Do you guys read the stories in food bloggers' posts?

Okay, now to talk about this recipe really quickly. This pasta recipe is similar to an alfredo sauce but not 100% alfredo. I love that it has asparagus and red bell pepper. It's a great spring recipe. It's not one pot, but it is pretty close, so it's nice to not have a billion dirty dishes to clean!

Menu Plan Monday - March 19, 2018

I can't pick a day I'm looking forward to the most. It all looks so great! :)

Monday - Grilled Chicken Pasta with Basil-Cream Sauce
Tuesday - Nachos Bell Grande Copycat
Wednesday - Mimi's Cafe Carrot Cake Muffins // White Chicken Chili
Thursday - Texas Roadhouse Steak (Rub) with Texas Roadhouse Buns and Cinnamon Honey Butter
Friday - Bacon, Pesto, and Chicken Pizza
Saturday - Berry-licious Smoothie Bowl // Mom's Pizza Loaf
Sunday - Kalesidillas // Copycat Twix Bars

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

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Fantastical Friday: National Artichoke Hearts Day

I love artichokes but have never purchased or made anything with artichokes. It's crazy! I hope to remedy this and since it is National Artichokes Day, I'm sharing some recipes that make me want to go out right now and buy artichokes to celebrate today.