Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Countdown to 2020: Most Popular Recipes

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


Today's category is all about the Most Popular or Readers' Faves from our blog in 2019. I think it's a great way to end the year with a bang. We get to share the recipes that were huge successes during the year and I feel like you never know what will show up on the list.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
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Monday, December 30, 2019

Menu Plan Monday - December 30, 2019

Menu Plan Monday for Dec 30, 2019 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

We are back from Florida and ready to dive back in to a "normal" week at home. The kids are out of school, of course, and NYE is tomorrow, but otherwise a pretty normal week. We're having a few old favorites before Nick heads out for army training, so I'm excited about all of that! I'm definitely ready for the start of a new year. I hope you all have a prosperous and wonderful 2020 ahead of you.

Monday - Bacon Cheese Spread
Tuesday - Snickers Chex Mix, Jalapeno Popper Chicken Egg Rolls, Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rattlesnake Bites, Caprese Fundido, Hot Bean and Cheese Dip
Wednesday - PB&J Muffins // Egg Roll Soup
Thursday - Pork Schnitzel Sandwiches
Friday - Fried Pickle Burgers
Weekend - Mexican Egg White Omelet // Slow Cooker Pork Roast // Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies

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



Countdown to 2020: Best Crockpot Recipes

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


Another wonderful day full of the best best recipes of the year and today is one of the best days (do I say that every day? possibly!) because it is all about the crockpot and Instant Pot recipes. I've been eyeing Instant Pots lately, so maybe I will end up with one, but I couldn't live without my crockpot!
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Sunday, December 29, 2019

Countdown to 2020: Best Desserts

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


This is another day of the countdown that I'm really excited about because I love sweets. I have been making fewer and fewer desserts these days but I still love to save as many recipes as I can. Don't forget to stop by all the blogs below and see what recipes made their best dessert lists!
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Saturday, December 28, 2019

Countdown to 2020: Best Main Dishes

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


This day of the Countdown is always the hardest for me because I primarily make main dish recipes. It's also one of my favorites because I can continue to hoard more main dish recipes when my blogging friends share their round ups of main dish recipes :)
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Friday, December 27, 2019

Countdown to 2020: Best Breakfasts

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


It's time to share the best breakfast recipes of 2019 - this is probably one of the areas where I am most interested in seeing the recipes but also most likely not to ever make them. Because I am not a morning person at all.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Countdown to 2020: Best Appetizers and Snacks

It's time to share the best recipes of 2019 to ring in the new year!


I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas (and even those who don't) had a wonderful beginning of the week. I'm always so excited when the Countdown starts each year and this year is definitely not any different. We have the same schedule as previous years starting out with the appetizers and snacks today!
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Friday, December 20, 2019

Breakfast Crunchwraps

This crunchwrap is the perfect breakfast meal with chorizo, eggs, and hashbrowns!


My household consumes a lot of crunchwraps. We don't really get them from Taco Bell a lot, I make them homemade at least once a month. That doesn't seem like it's that often really, but we don't eat the same thing within the same year very often - just our absolute favorite foods. When I stumbled across this recipe for a breakfast version, I knew my family would lose their minds!

It's not too much more work than if you were just making sausage, hashbrowns, and eggs and it's actually pretty easy to make the crunchwraps. I have my preferred method which is slightly different than the original recipe. I think having the cheese on top with an opening helps to really glue the whole thing together. It took me some trial and error testing to figure out how to best get the crunchwrap into the pan without losing all the inside stuff, but once I figured that out...crunchwraps were a breeze. I place a spatula upside down onto the top of the crunchwrap and hold it in place. I flip the crunchwrap upside down over the pan and place it so the spatula is touching the pan. Then I quickly but carefully pull the spatula out. The cheese gets nice and crunchy and helps with the structural integrity of the crunchwrap.

This breakfast version is out of this world! I don't have it pictured, but we ate ours with salsa and sour cream, but you could do a whole slew of toppings or fixings with it.


Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies #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 COOKIES. During the holiday season, I can't help but want to make all the cookies and eat all the cookies. It's just the perfect time of year for it. If you follow me on Facebook, I've been sharing tons of cookies recipes each day. So I am definitely looking forward to seeing all the recipes that will be shared today.


My cookies are these fantastic little chocolate chip cookies that aren't really little at all. These are some chonkin cookies and I love them so much because they are stuffed with Rolos and topped with sea salt. I seem to make a lot of cookies that have a chocolate and caramel combo topped with sea salt during the holidays and I'm not quite sure why. It just always works out that way. I love love these cookies. Because they are large and in charge, they stay nice and soft and gooey. Fabulous through and through. The only bad part is that a dozen of them don't last very long at all.



Monday, December 16, 2019

Menu Plan Monday - December 16, 2019

Menu Plan Monday for Dec 16, 2019 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

This week seems like it's about to be all comfort foods and I'm so ready! It's our last hurray before no meal plan, flying by the seat of our pants next week - which to be honest, is NOT for me. I am trying not to stress. :)

Monday - One Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta
Tuesday - Copycat Crunchwraps
Wednesday - Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins // Chicken Alfredo Soup
Thursday - Grilled Jalapeno Popper Tuna Melts
Friday - Dill Pickle Pizza Copycat
Weekend - Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies

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

Friday, December 13, 2019

Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

Perfect vanilla cupcakes with a white chocolate ganache filling, tart cranberry frosting, and sparkling cranberries!


Hear me out on this little "story"...when I was a kid, I had only experienced cranberries through the jellied cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. I just assumed that I didn't like cranberries. As an adult, I have tried new foods and foods that I previously thought I didn't like to see if I changed my mind. So now that I know I like cranberries, I'm trying to make all the cranberry things. These cupcakes are so great because they have the candied cranberries AND a white chocolate ganache filling. Honestly, what more could you ask for for a festive holiday treat?!



Monday, December 09, 2019

Menu Plan Monday - December 9, 2019

Menu Plan Monday for Dec 9, 2019 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

I'm ready for this week and I think it's mostly because of the poke cake. I don't think I'm going to have much of an opportunity to make a lot of Christmas foods what with me not planning ahead since Thanksgiving was so late in November. I'm trying to get at least a few treats in before Christmas week.

Monday - Turkey Parmesan Pasta
Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas with fixings
Wednesday - Swirled Nutella Muffins // Mexican Meatball Soup
Thursday - Cheesecake Factory Cashew Chicken Copycat
Friday - Five Guys Little Style Burgers
Weekend - French Vanilla Chai Cinnamon Rolls // Melt in Your Mouth Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken // Peppermint Poke Cake

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

Friday, December 06, 2019

Loaded Blackened Chicken

No boring chicken dinners - load it up with the best seasoning mix, cheese, bacon, and onions!


Out of the many chicken dishes I've had lately. This is definitely one of the tops. I didn't know you could just buy blackening seasoning but it's one of my favorite mixes ever. If you want to make your own, I recommend this Best Ever Blackening Seasoning from A Spicy Perspective.  The rest is just the perfect storm of deliciousness that is onion, bacon, and cheese.


Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Pancakes

These pancakes are perfect for the winter season - and especially Christmas morning!


For the first time in a long time, I don't have a plan for Christmas morning breakfast. Sometimes I wake up really early and make cinnamon rolls. I've made donuts and casseroles. Last year, I made these pancakes. They were a huge hit and super quick. The kids enjoyed them after opening presents and I have to say that they were pretty fantastic. All the elements work together so well!


Monday, December 02, 2019

Menu Plan Monday - December 2, 2019

Menu Plan Monday for Dec 2, 2019 // What I'm making this week #menuplanmonday #mealplan

December is going to be a crazy busy month with lots of school activities, doctor appointments, and then traveling in the end of the month. I tried to pick a lot of recipes that were easy, quick meals. I'm also trying to stick to the new diet where I'm not only counting calories but trying to limit red meat and eat lots of foods that are good for my cholesterol level. I've seen some improvement over the last few months with the change.

Monday - Four Cheese Garlic White Cream Pasta with Chicken
Tuesday - Carne Asada Street Tacos
Wednesday - PB&J Muffins // Chicken Pot Pie Stew
Thursday - PF Chang's Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Friday - Spicy Chicken & Jalapeno Pizza
Weekend - Blueberry Cornbread Muffins // Sunday Meatloaf // Butterscotch Pie

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