Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Butterbeer Pancakes

For all the Potterheads in your life (or butterscotch lovers), these Butterbeer Pancakes will be their new favorite breakfast. Always.

Butterbeer Pancakes #recipe #breakfast #pancakes #butterscotch #butterbeer #harrypotter

Happee birthdae, Harry and Jo! Today's recipe is in celebration of the wizarding world's most fantastical treat: butterbeer. I know I would totally love these Butterbeer Pancakes on my birthday, so totally fitting for me to share today :) These are a little bit of a labor of love, as you make pancake batter, butter syrup, and whipped cream. But it honestly doesn't take too long and the end result is amazing. I love all the butterscotch-y goodness AND the whipped cream is honestly good on its own. I would take a bowl full of it by itself. I don't like butterscotch ice cream topping and wanted to find something with better flavor and discovered this Mrs. Richardson's topping that is butterscotch caramel. It was so luscious and the perfect consistency for these pancakes!

Butterbeer Pancakes #recipe #breakfast #pancakes #butterscotch #butterbeer #harrypotter

Monday, July 30, 2018

Menu Plan Monday - July 30, 2018

Menu Plan Monday for Jul 30, 2018 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

We're on a bit of a spicy kick this week and will be enjoying some yummy old favorites with some heat. And also looking forward to the breakfasts and dessert. I am doing pretty well on my breakfast making finally and I hope I can continue that when school starts. This week is the kids' last week of summer. I start college up again on Wednesday!

Monday - Roasted Broccoli Alfredo Pasta
Tuesday - Carne Asada Melts
Wednesday - Easy Cinnamon Twists // Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup
Thursday - Ultimate Summer Salad
Friday - Mexican Chorizo Pizza
Saturday - Sourdough Waffles // Pizza Meatloaf
Sunday - Cinnamon Roll Pound 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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Friday, July 27, 2018

The Best Coffee Cake Ever

Fluffy, moist, and perfect with a fresh pot of coffee, you have to try The Best Coffee Cake Ever!

The Best Coffee Cake Ever #breakfast #recipe #cake #coffeecake

I am pretty trusting when it comes to recipes from Ree Drummond and if she says that a recipe is the best ever, I know it will be the best ever. This coffee cake is the best ever. My husband's family has a secret squirrel sourdough coffee cake recipe that has been passed down for generations and I won't be posting it here on the blog. However, this recipe really reminds me of it, just minus the sourdough. It tastes much like that recipe. It's fluffy, moist, and the streusel is everything.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies

Throw some smoked sausage and vegetables on a sheet pan and your dinner is a go!

Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies #recipe #sausage #zucchini #maindish #onepan

I know, I know, where's the sheet pan? Well, I lost that picture. Story of the blog lately. But that is what happens with a hard drive failure. It doesn't take away from just how fabulous this recipe is. Kielbasa is another food that I didn't like as a child. I should say one of the few things I tried and didn't like as a child. But something changed when I became an adult and I love it now. I love all these veggies and I really love the seasonings for the recipe. It all comes together wonderfully and I know I will make it time and time again.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites

Spicy and crunchy and made in the oven, these buffalo chicken bites are perfect for pizza night!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites #recipe #chicken #buffalo

It still surprises me that buffalo chicken is one of my favorite foods. I was raised on very mild food. Sometimes the only spice used was garlic powder in very small quantities. As I've gotten older, I have been pretty open to trying new foods because I don't know what I may love that I haven't had. I also had never eaten anything spicy at all until I met my husband. It just wasn't in my wheelhouse. I started off eating the Tyson buffalo chicken strips and Hanover's buffalo pretzels. It took a long time to build a tolerance to spiciness, but I love it now. Buffalo sauce is just so dang good. I prefer Frank's Red Hot and just the thought of it makes my mouth water.

This recipe is fairly simple and has elements of basic breaded chicken with the added buffalo sauce deliciousness to it. Italian seasoning pairs perfectly with buffalo sauce! I served up these little nuggets with cheese pizza :)

Baked Buffalo Chicken Bites #recipe #chicken #buffalo

Monday, July 23, 2018

Menu Plan Monday - July 23, 2018

Menu Plan Monday for Jul 23, 2018 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

I'm excited to be making Spaetzle this week. Nervous with how it will turn out, of course, but I'm excited. I've never had it so I have nothing to compare it to if I do mess it up :) You'll notice a few more fall-themed foods on my meal plan in order to prepare for posting in the upcoming season! I usually make the seasonal treats during the season and then post them in the following year, but the loss of my recipe pictures is killing me this year!

Monday - Italian Noodle Casserole
Tuesday - Foil Pack Creamy Salsa Verde Chicken
Wednesday - Master Muffin Mix // Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup with Grilled Cheese
Thursday - Schnitzel with Spatzle
Friday - Sally's Hawaiian Pizza
Saturday - Salisbury Steak Meatballs
Sunday - Homemade Blueberry Lemon Danish // Maple Walnut Blondies

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

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Friday, July 20, 2018

Fantastical Friday: Life Lately


Hello, everyone! I thought I would pop in since it's coming up on 6 months post-ablation and do a little "life update" - also summer is almost gone!

So we've been pretty busy this summer trying to keep the kids from getting too bored. We've visited the Farmer's Market, went to a go-kart park in Pigeon Forge, taken a million trips to the library, brought Saydee to the dog park, and had fun at the pool. The big kids even went on a nature hike with Nick this week with his Reserves unit. Matthew went to Washington DC early in June as a belated school field trip (I would share pics but there are other kids in it and school identifiers). He also has been down to the local quarry to kayak and went to Dollywood. Cami hasn't gotten to do as much as Matthew but has enjoyed having playdates with a few of her friends. They both just completed a second round of swim lessons and really enjoyed learning how to swim. Cami wants to go back because she has a goal of getting on the swim team in high school.


Nick broke his foot and sprained his ankle back in April and he goes for his final check up today with a hopeful clean bill of health. This is the fourth time he has sprained his ankle since he has been in the army. They have all occurred during army functions. It was a little bit of a rough go, but he's mostly been healed for the summer and able to do things with us.

I, like I said above, am nearly 6 months post-ablation. I need to do a good write up on my personal blog because I never updated after my hematologist appointment or follow-up with my electrophysiologist. But basically, I should be cured of SVT and I'm cautiously optimistic this early on in my recovery. I've been doing yoga and feeling pretty good. Oh, and I had my hair dyed recently. My hairdresser, Camile, is amazing and I came in saying give me galaxy hair and oh my gosh, I LOVE IT. She's got some magic up her sleeves and always makes my hair look incredible.

Summer is definitely winding down. I'm hoping we can make the last few weeks memorable for the kids. We've already done our school shopping and I am also ready to start college back up on August 1st. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer so far!

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Funfetti Cheesecake Cake

This amazing cake has a cake bottom, cheesecake middle, and a lovely, fluffy whipped cream topping! And ALL THE SPRINKLES!

Funfetti Cheesecake Cake #recipe #cake #cheesecake #funfetti #sprinkles #dessert

My daughter has this obsession with whipped cream frosting nowadays, so when it came time for her to pick her birthday cake (back in February), it was a top priority for her to find the perfect recipe. We stumbled upon this cake which has both cake elements and cheesecake elements...which was also something she was having trouble picking between. Best of both worlds seemed like the right choice. And this cake having whipped cream frosting was like...well....icing on the cake!

As complicated as it may seem, it's actually not too much more work than just making a cheesecake. The sprinkles add so much spunk to the already gorgeous cake. We were able to use some of the special sprinkles Cami had received in an Owlcrate Jr subscription box (it's a middle grade book box!), which is why you see the big pearls and hearts on top. The frosting was everything she wanted and she ended up being so happy with this cake. In turn, this made me super happy because I just want the kids to have the perfect birthdays! :)

Funfetti Cheesecake Cake #recipe #cake #cheesecake #funfetti #sprinkles #dessertFunfetti Cheesecake Cake #recipe #cake #cheesecake #funfetti #sprinkles #dessert

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Gyro Kebabs #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 KEBABS. Or kabobs? Kababs? I don't know how you want to spell it, but it's food on a skewer! Bonus points if it's grilled because July is National Grilling Month. I knew right away what I wanted to make - these amazing kebabs from Wendy's blog! I found these when I was hunting for a Secret Recipe Club recipe. I have never purchased lamb and made a recipe at home. I've only had lamb in doner kebab. However, our local German fast food restaurant shut down for good and I can no longer get doner and it bums me out so much. Enter this recipe!

Gyro Kebabs #recipe #grill #lamb #kebabs #FantasticalFoodFight #kabobs #kababs

I loved that doner kebabs had tons of fresh veggies and tzatziki sauce (a MUST). These kebabs have a sauce that is very close to tzatziki sauce and I absolutely adore the Greek salsa. The recipe is easy to prepare and the lamb is the only part that needs cooking time and even it doesn't take long. The seasonings added to the lamb kebabs are simple but work so well with the salsa and feta-yogurt sauce. All-in-all this is definitely a recipe I will make every once in a while (since lamb is a bit more expensive per pound than other meats) because I just love the combination of ingredients so much and it's incredibly easy to make.

Gyro Kebabs #recipe #grill #lamb #kebabs #FantasticalFoodFight #kabobs #kababs
Gyro Kebabs #recipe #grill #lamb #kebabs #FantasticalFoodFight #kabobs #kababs

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Garlic Beef Noodle Bowls

Simple ingredients are combined in under 30 minutes to make this full-of-flavor Asian-inspired pasta dish!

Garlic Beef Noodle Bowls #recipe #beef #pasta #maindish

Ignore the fact that this Garlic Beef Noodle recipe isn't in a bowl. Also ignore those sad green beans. But don't ignore this awesome recipe! It's one of the simpler Asian-inspired recipes I've made and you can make it with any type of long pasta. I used thin spaghetti because I couldn't find linguine noodles. You can use rice noodles or even ramen. It's up to you! We've taken to making a lot of stir frys and Asian dishes on Thursdays and this one is definitely going to be a part of our regular rotation of recipes!

Garlic Beef Noodle Bowls #recipe #beef #pasta #maindish

Monday, July 16, 2018

Menu Plan Monday - July 16, 2018

Menu Plan Monday for Jul 16, 2018 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

This week is all about remakes and old favorites because I'm saving up all my cooking luck to make macarons for the first time! I'm excited and incredibly nervous, but I finally got around to trying them in the end of May and loved them so much. I just have to make them.

Monday - Pesto Chicken Caprese Pasta
Tuesday - Crunchwrap Supreme
Wednesday - Middle of the Cinnamon Roll Muffin // Egg Drop Soup
Thursday - Herbed Pork Chops
Friday - Kids Menu Burgers
Saturday - Cheese & Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken
Sunday - Breakfast Scramble // Birthday Cake Macarons [link to video]

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

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Friday, July 13, 2018

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Subwhales

Even if you haven't seen the movie, these Subwhales are an epicly cute way to make a sub sandwich!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Subwhales #sandwich #cloudywithachanceofmeatballs #copycat #moviefood #recipe #subsandwich #foodimal

During my husband's third deployment, I tried to make the time pass more quickly for my kids with a lot of activities. Our favorite thing to do was go to the movies and we had a blast seeing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, as the first one was one of our favorites to watch at home. The food creatures aka the foodimals were truly hilarious and even now that the kids are much older (how has it already been 5 years?!), we still adore the movie. We have made these Subwhales a number of times because they are an easy sub sandwich with some fun whale elements to them.

Even if you have a child who isn't familiar with the foodimals in the movie, this is such an adorable way to make a sub sandwich! I included a picture of the movie subwhales so you can see what we were going for!

via Google images

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Subwhales #sandwich #cloudywithachanceofmeatballs #copycat #moviefood #recipe #subsandwich #foodimal

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Simple Yogurt Parfaits

This is the perfect recipe for a parfait beginner - and also a wonderful recipe for kids to get involved in making a well-balanced breakfast or snack!

Simple Yogurt Parfait #breakfast #parfait #granola #yogurt #snack #recipe

Sure it's not the most mindblowing recipe in the world, but it's a great thing to have a base recipe to work off of. I, for one, can get pretty overwhelmed trying to come up with stuff and that's why I appreciate this parfait recipe. It's simple and it's a stepping stone for more complicated parfaits. The possibilities are definitely endless. There are tons of different granolas that can be paired with fruits and different flavors of yogurt. I personally am a huge fan of strawberry and strawberry banana yogurt and I love to eat it with cashew butter and cacao nib granola because you almost get a pb&j flavor profile with a chocolate covered strawberry flavor profile. I hope you all enjoy this super easy parfait recipe. It's also a great beginner recipe if you have kids who are interested in helping in the kitchen! My kids love parfaits and love being able to pick their toppings, so this is a hit with them too.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Caprese Grilled Cheese

These grilled cheese sandwiches are hands-down my favorite with loads of melty mozzarella cheese and fresh basil and tomatoes.

Caprese Grilled Cheese #recipe #maindish #sandwich #meatless

I don't make grilled cheese sandwiches often but I couldn't pass this one up! I love caprese anything. If a recipe says basil, I'm in, but I adore basil with mozzarella and tomatoes. I loved that this particular recipe was made on a griddle. It's so nice to be able to cook many sandwiches at a quicker pace. Serve these sandwiches up with a little balsamic vinaigrette for dipping and you have the perfect caprese flavor in every bite!

Monday, July 09, 2018

Menu Plan Monday - July 9, 2018

Menu Plan Monday for Jul 9, 2018 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

We have some new recipes to try out this week and I'm ready! I am also trying a chili recipe out for the third time. I used canned beans the first time and then lost the picture in the computer crash. In June, I made it again with "fresh/raw" beans and it didn't go over well at all. So I'm going the canned beans route again because it's a really delicious recipe, I just suck at making raw beans.

Monday - Pesto Spaghetti Carbonara
Tuesday - Greek Chicken Souvlaki with Lemon Rice
Wednesday - Starbucks Copycat Blueberry Muffins // Lori's 3-Bean Chili
Thursday - Budget Egg Roll Rice Bowls
Friday - Wings, Fried Pickles, Cheesy Bread
Saturday - Pizza Meatloaf
Sunday - Bacon Cinnamon Rolls // Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crumble

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

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Friday, July 06, 2018

Thursday, July 05, 2018

Loco Moco

Who needs Mickey D's when you can have this Hawaiian fast food staple at home?

Loco Moco #recipe #beef #egg #hawaii #copycat

Loco moco is a Hawaiian fast food staple and I can absolutely see why. My family loved this dish. It's a lower calorie Garbage Plate. Traditionally, this is served with the patty and egg on top of the rice all smothered in gravy. I couldn't tell you why I didn't do it that way, but that's the traditional way to do it. Very simple recipe with simple ingredients, but it's definitely not lacking in flavor at all. I especially loved the gravy - which is saying something because I usually don't like gravy. My tastebuds are growing up!

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Parmesan Chicken with Caesar Roasted Romaine

Crunchy Parmesan chicken paired with savory roasted romaine is such a great meal and so easy to make!


Hope my fellow Americans have a safe and fun Independence Day. We're excited to be grilling out tonight and I wish I had a more appropriate recipe to share today, but decided to go with one that I really enjoyed nonetheless. This Parmesan chicken is fantastic - I'm not always a fan of having to bread meat, but you just pat the coating on for this dish, so it's way less messy! It was also my first time roasting lettuce and although I did not use anchovies like in the original dish, I did try and add a bit of that flavor with Worcestershire. I was definitely not ready to step too far out of my comfort zone. We loved the roasted romaine. It was interesting in the best sort of way. It paired perfectly with the crunchy chicken!

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

Reese's Cookies

Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and topped with Reese's Cups for all that peanut butter and chocolate flavor!

Reese's Cookies #dessert #recipe #cookies #chocolate #reeses #reesescups #peanutbutter

What's better than chocolate chip cookies? Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! What's better than peanut butter chocolate chip cookies? Those cookies with Reese's Cups! It's all the peanut butter and chocolate goodness in one cookie. There is no wait time where dough has to chill and the cookie itself turns out so soft and chewy - my favorite! The mini Reese's Cups are put on after the cookies come out of the oven and they end up melting slightly. It makes for the perfect ooey gooey chocolate in each bite.

Reese's Cookies #dessert #recipe #cookies #chocolate #reeses #reesescups #peanutbutter

Monday, July 02, 2018

Menu Plan Monday - July 2, 2018

Menu Plan Monday for Jul 2, 2018 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

More remakes this week and then since Matthew and I were both craving tacos, we're having regular old tacos - hard shell this time! For some reason, both German recipes ended up this week, but I think in a few weeks, I have schnitzel and spaetzle on the menu too.

Monday - Slow Cooker Spinach Chicken Pasta
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins // German Pea Soup with Egg Dumplings
Thursday - 15-Minute Garlic Butter Ramen
Friday - Steak 'n Shake Frisco Patty Melts
Saturday - Chicken a la King
Sunday - Sourdough Waffles // Kasekuchen

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

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