Egg Roll Soup

No need to stuff and fry/bake egg rolls when you can have all the flavors in soup form!

Just when I think I've made all the soups, I discover a new one that I just have to have. This egg roll soup is the bomb dot com. Like, who doesn't want an egg roll in soup form?! There is none of the hassle (not really sure it's that much of a hassle, but maybe time-consuming) of filling and rolling and cooking egg rolls, but you get all the flavors of it. The meat can be switched as per your liking - I went with the ground pork that the original recipe called for, but turkey, chicken, pork, etc. are all totally fine too. Or maybe you want to go with meatless. It's up to you! The wonton strips can be made homemade or if you are lazy like me, just buy them! We went with the garlic ginger flavored ones because they are SO good!

Menu Plan Monday - January 28, 2019

Good morning, everyone! I can't believe that January is already about over. It seems like it flew by - most likely because I have been crazy busy. I'm still adjusting to only posting three times a week (although I still have to get last Friday's recipe up), but I think it's going to be best for me for sure during 2019. I just finished meal planning for the month of February and I'm really excited about the upcoming recipes. We've taken to making a lot of old favorites instead of making new recipes. I think it makes it seem like the keepers (the new recipes we love) are even that much more special.

Monday - Three Cheese Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Tuesday - Mexican Pizzas
Wednesday - Pesto and Roasted Tomato Omelet // Grandma Ruth's Italian Chicken Soup
Thursday - Korean Ground Beef Stir Fry
Friday - Stromboli
Saturday - My Favorite Meatloaf
Sunday - Eggs Florentine Casserole // Fudgy Mint Chocolate Brookies

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

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Chicken Yakisoba

Make this popular Japanese street food at home in under 30 minutes!

So I had to look up what exactly yakisoba was and found out it translates to grilled noodles and is a really popular street food in Japan. Yakisoba can use either soba noodles or ramen noodles. This recipe features ramen, which if you've been around for a while, you may notice has been getting loads of love lately. I kind of blame it on the garlic butter ramen we had recently. I crave ramen all the time now! I definitely prefer jazzing up a packet of ramen noodles instead of just making it per instructions. This is a fabulous stir fry with lots of veggies and lots of flavor. You can adjust the sriracha to give more of a kick if you prefer or a little more sugar if you prefer it a little sweeter. I highly recommend this quick meal if you're craving a little Asian cuisine!

Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

A bowl of absolute comfort just like the breadstick restaurant!

I must confess, I've never eaten any of the soups at Olive Garden. Don't shun me! I happen to adore their eggplant parmiagiana and get it every time I go because the rest of my family doesn't care for eggplant and so I don't get to eat it very often. I have heard that their soups are wonderful. Funny enough, I've made copycat recipes for all 4 of the current Olive Garden soups. Don't ask me how I've  made the recipes but never eaten the authentic thing - I have no clue. This is definitely my favorite chicken soup recipe and my favorite gnocchi recipe.

Menu Plan Monday - January 21, 2019

I'm going to try a few Facebook food videos and hope they turn out because I'll be honest...I'm skeptical of the non-food bloggers posting recipes in video format. I trust my food bloggers to give me good recipes. So we will see how it turns out!

Monday - Sausage Roasted Broccoli Lemon Penne Skillet
Tuesday - Easy Crockpot Pork Carnitas
Wednesday - Coconut Crunch Donuts // Cheesy Meatball Parmesan Soup
Thursday - Pork Chops with Creamy Pan Gravy
Friday  - Cheeseburger and Fries Sheet Pan Crunchwraps
Saturday - Stuffed Doritos Chicken
Sunday - German Oven Pancakes // Creme Caramel 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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Copycat Big Mac

Is there anything more iconic than a Big Mac? This recipe is the perfect copycat to the McDonald's staple menu item.

At this point, I'm not sure anyone would be surprised that I have another copycat recipe to share. I adore copycat recipes and will continue to find new ones to make. In fact, I definitely think 2019 needs to be another year for me to create my own and I 100% have quite a few in mind that I would like to recreate. However, I adore finding ones from my blogging friends too and this Copycat Big Mac recipe is definitely a keeper. It's a really easy recipe to make and doesn't really have too many more steps than a regular ole burger. So why not have it instead of a regular burger? The sauce is iconic and this one does taste nearly identical and has all the right elements, in my opinion. I love that the buns are toasted and the burger patties are really thin. All-in-all, it is definitely a winner in my book!

PB&J Overnight Oats #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 OVERNIGHT OATS. January is National Oatmeal Month and I thought that overnight oats would be a wonderful theme for the first Food Fight of 2019. Many folks are trying to eat a little healthier or start healthy habits in the new year, so I thought sharing these great breakfast recipes that are make ahead would be perfect for January!

The recipe I decided to go with is one that was on my to-make list for such a long time. I knew that I wanted to do the peanut butter and jelly flavor combination (it was one out of seven or eight recipes, I believe). I've been eating pb&js for snack a lot lately and I wasn't really feeling a bunch of fresh fruit or anything super sweet, like the chocolate chip cookie dough overnight oats I had made years ago. I did substitute out maple syrup for honey because I don't care for maple flavor. These are so incredibly easy to make and the payoff is unbelievable the next day. It tastes like the perfect pb&j sandwich but in oats form. You can choose any fruit jam or preserves you would like. I went with blackberry jam which is my absolute favorite.

Menu Plan Monday - January 14, 2019

I feel like I get hungrier and hungrier each week when I make these posts. There is so much delicious food on the menu this week and I can't wait to stuff my face.

Monday - Crispy Chicken Florentine Melt
Tuesday - Ree's Burrito Bowls
Wednesday - S'mores Baked Donuts // One Pot White Chicken Lasagna Soup
Thursday - Cheesy Gnocchi Skillet
Friday - Hamburger Pizza
Saturday - Mississippi Pot Roast
Sunday - Cake Mix Coffee Cake // Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

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Pineapple Stuffed Hawaiian Meatballs

Sweet and sour meatballs with a pineapple surprise in each one!

I'm a sucker for sweet and sour meatball recipes. There is one I make quite frequently, but I really relished at the idea of pineapple stuffed meatballs. I can't think of a better type of meatball - except maybe cheese stuffed ;) The meatballs themselves would be great without pineapple, but I really really enjoyed having the pineapple surprise (but obviously not that big of a surprise because I made them - but you know what I mean) inside each one.  The sauce was delish and totally a classic sweet and sour sauce. So basically you cannot go wrong with this recipe. It's great!

The recipe below is the full recipe for 50 meatballs. I halved it and made 25 which worked perfectly for us.

Crockpot Caramelized Pork and Ramen Soup

This ramen is a labor of love but it's worth all the effort for the crispy, beautifully seasoned pork with veggies, eggs, and loads of noodles.

Since ramen has been our thing lately, I decided to try out this recipe that was a little out of my comfort zone. I was a little weary of the Chinese Five Spice because I have never liked anise in the slightest. However, I knew Nick would enjoy it because he likes anything black licorice flavored. As the pork was slow cooking, I got more and more nervous because that anise aroma was overpowering to my sensitive sense of smell. I powered through making it and hoped for the best. In the end, the actual flavor of the anise in the Chinese Five Spice was not overwhelming but just a nice undertone and I absolutely could handle that. So here is our favorite slow-cooked ramen recipe!

Menu Plan Monday - January 7, 2019

It's going to be such a busy week and I'm ready for all the good food. I'm doing a few old favorites, remaking a few that I need pictures for, and a couple new recipes. :)

Monday- Fast Food Night
Tuesday - Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce
Wednesday - Easy Cinnamon Twists // White Bean and Collards Soup
Thursday - Chicken Yakisoba
Friday - Steak 'N Shake Garlic Double Steakburgers
Saturday - Green Chile Enchilada Crockpot Texan Roast
Sunday - Cinnamon Roll Donuts // Banana Pudding Cheesecake

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

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One Pot Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta

This quick and easy skillet pasta is full of chicken, tomatoes, cheese, and spinach!

It has been such a busy first week of the new year and I'm not even sure what day it is! I can say that I'm definitely looking forward to my routine being back next week. I am happy that I finally get to share this recipe. It was one of those recipes that I lost the picture for last summer in my hard drive failure. So I actually meant to post it months ago. I was not at all bothered to make it again because I love quick and easy recipes. Especially if they are a red sauce pasta dish. Bonus for spinach. :)

Egg Drop Soup

This soup is unbelievably easy to make and it's definitely one you won't forget any time soon!

Happy New Year! This year I will be posting less often due to being a full college student and having a lot on my plate (pun intended) with 3 kids, school, extra curricular activities, etc. I have definitely been struggling to get my posts up on time the last few months, so I'm removing that stressor. I will be posting my Menu Plan Monday posts each week because I love being able to share the recipes I'm making and sharing the blog love because they are often from different food bloggers. I will also be posting two recipes each week - Wednesday and Friday postings. I have tons of recipes that I have made and have yet to share, so I'm not worried about running out of recipes. However, I don't have near as much time to type things up as I used to. So a little bit of a schedule change and dropping Throwback Thursdays and Fantastical Fridays, but still plenty of awesome recipes in store for y'all!

I am excited for a whole new year of new recipes to try. Last year, I tried quite a few new foods including egg drop soup. I figured if I could make carbonara and enjoy it and not worry about undercooked eggs happening (says the person who eats raw cookie dough), then egg drop soup was definitely something I could make. This was incredibly quick and easy with very inexpensive ingredients to boot.  Definitely something I could see making sure I have the frozen veggies and wonton strips for in case a rare snow day happens and we can't get down the hill to the grocery store!

Countdown to 2019: Fantastical Faves

It's time to share the best recipes of 2018 to ring in the new year!

I just wanted to thank my blogging friends for joining in for another round of counting down our favorite recipes of the year. Happy New Year to you all - I hope it is an even better one than 2018.

An InLinkz Link-up