Korean Spicy Noodles

A spicy stir fry with beef and veggies!

I love a good stir fry and this one has marinated beef with veggies and noodles! I think I typically do stir frys with broccoli and rice. I was unable to get my hands on the Korean sweet potato starch noodles but I definitely would love to for future makings of this recipe! The original also had mushrooms which I omit, so be sure to toss some of those in with the onions and carrots if you like them!

Creamy Herb Pasta

A quick, easy pasta dish with creamy herb sauce!

Hello and happy 2023! I'm attempting to see if I can get myself on a posting schedule. My goal is to maybe post once a week and go from there. I think I only posted 3 recipes last year, so I'm already a third of the way there :)

I know everyone is now very anti-words in recipe posts, but I'm going to throw some out there because I've been so MIA. I started my career in mid-2021 as an accountant for tv/film production companies at a local firm. After 14 years as a stay-at-home mom, it was a huge transition. I still struggle with trying to juggle everything but I'm trying to cut myself slack and really work on my time management. There are a lot of times where I forget to thaw meat that I need and I have to say, my 2022 birthday gift was an Instant Pot and holy baloney - that has been a lifesaver.

This recipe is a great recipe for chaotic nights. I really love when things can just be thrown together and it's very simple ingredients. I feel like you could switch up the vegetable if you really wanted to.

Buffalo Cheeseburger Tatortot Casserole

A spicy version of a childhood favorite!

Tatortot hotdish was a staple in my childhood and food bloggers have created some amazing variations that I was so happy to collect and try. This one doesn't have any veggies and there is some buffalo sauce and cheddar cheese mixed into it versus the cream of chicken/mushroom and green beans of the traditional version that I'm used to. We all really loved it but it's got buffalo sauce in it, so what's not to love.

Asian Style Sloppy Joes

Sloppy joes with a twist!

Although I don't think I'm quite done sharing recipes that may have been made in the old house, this is the last recipe I made in the old house. We brought the leftovers over to our new house (a whopping 2 miles away) and ate it while we were trying to unpack everything. I'm actually really glad that we had leftovers because it's so difficult to unpack a kitchen and try and find anything for at least the first week. Not to mention, this was in mid-April 2020, so still in the very major disruption of COVID and it was hard to find some foods because of supply chain issues. I was lucky to be able to make this recipe and to have it tide us over during our move!

Also as a note, I'm still not really on a good schedule where I can fit in blogging. I'm in the midst of my first tax season as a new accountant and even though I'm not a tax accountant...there is still plenty to do for prepping things for clients to do their taxes.

Easy Taco Salad with Homemade Cilantro Lime Dressing

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

One Pot 30-Minute Cheeseburger Pasta

All the goodness of cheeseburgers in a quick pasta dish with peas thrown in there so you get your veggies too!

I think I'm starting to edge into the recipes I started making when we first moved back in April 2020 to our new home. I cannot express how excited I was for the amount of natural lighting - it has really made taking pictures of food way easier - especially since I have gotten rid of my DSLR and am just using my phone. This recipe was a great, easy meal for the hecticness of moving. I didn't have pictures of it, but I loved it with ketchup. It was giving me a bit of tatortot casserole vibes and it needed the ketchup to make it complete!

Korean Beef Bowls with Veggies

Ground beef and onions seasoned with the most delicious Korean sauce served over rice with stir fry veggies!

I LOVE little bowls like this that have loads of veggies and are over rice or quinoa. This one has this amazing sauce that really sets it apart from other recipes that I've had. Nothing else really holds a candle. You can vary the vegetables to your liking but I really liked the red bell pepper, zucchini, and carrot combo. Such a colorful and delicious meal!

Beef, Bean, & Cheese Burritos

Classic beef and bean burritos with all the fixings - perfect quick weeknight meal!

I love a good easy recipe like this one! I also have to mention that the blog I got it from is one of my favorites. I went to plan the recipes I was sharing this week and realized all three came from the same blog - so this must have been when I had first found it and saved a ton of their recipes. So if you want to find a ton of great recipes, check out Carlsbad Cravings!

Steak Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Fantastic marinated flank steak with homemade cucumber tzatziki sauce that I dare you to not eat by the spoonful!

We had a German fast food restaurant locally for many years and we went every few months to get doner because it's sooo good. Unfortunately, before COVID even struck, the restaurant closed down and we lost our doner supplier. My understanding is that there a lot of things in the Europe area that are similar, including gyros. I am the only person in my family who likes lamb, so I thought this recipe would be great for sating the doner cravings but also not having my entire family complain about lamb. Also I don't have a rotisserie spit thing to throw a big bunch of lamb and beef on, so flank steak will have to do. I definitely want to try pita flatbread next time instead of pockets. I think it'd be way easier to serve.

Easy Low Carb Big Mac Salad

A lower carb version of a McDonald's staple!

I love Big Macs, but I try not to eat fast food because I find myself constantly disappointed by the quality. I'll crave a Big Mac and get it and feel like crap afterwards. I don't know if that's a "I'm in my 30s" thing or just because I don't eat a lot of fast food or if it's because fast food quality really is subpar nowadays. I digress. I love making copycat recipes at home and have made a Big Mac copycat, but I really like salad too and then I don't end up with a bunch of extra top buns. Win win!

Creamed Chipped Beef

A classic breakfast with chipped beef and rich gravy over toast.

I have always been pretty anti-gravy. However, when I was younger there was one exception: my grandma's chipped beef gravy. I had this recipe saved for so long and finally really had a craving for it and wanted it desperately. It tasted just like how I remembered and Nick and the kids loved it too, so it's definitely something we'll eat often.

Bacon Cheeseburger Salad

When you're craving a bacon cheeseburger, but make it slightly healthier!

I have posted many salads at this point and may be beating a dead horse by once again explaining how I love eating salads for dinner. But I really like salads for dinner but also want them to be somewhat filling and these kinds of recipes are great for that because there are filling toppings. This one has all the yumminess of a bacon cheeseburger but without the buns. It's a great low carb option, but also could definitely work in a pinch if you forgot your hamburger buns or they go moldy or whatever. The dressing is easy and wonderful too!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

This easy recipe has all the best parts of a cheesesteak inside a bell pepper!

I feel like I've posted a lot of stuffed pepper recipes or have been trying a lot of new stuffed pepper recipes lately and it's because I love them so much. I feel like I have been so lucky and haven't come across any recipes I feel kind of meh towards. They are all delicious. I really love this one in particular because the cheesesteak filling has a few more ingredients than I normally add and really amps up the flavor. I love the slice of provolone that goes on top and gets all gooey and melty! Now that I'm working full time, I've even begun to think of ways to meal prep and this is absolutely one where the filling could be made a head of time and just placed in the peppers and baked then.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta Bake

This fantastic meal is fully cooked in the oven - pasta and all!

I know that the instructions say to do this recipe in a 9x13-icnh pan. I definitely would have been for whatever reason - I'm guessing my pan was probably dirty - and my cookware is safe to use in the oven. I did use foil instead of the glass lid. I cannot wait to make this again in the proper pan because it was so yummy. Kind of reminded me of what Hamburger Helper was meant to be, except it tastes way better and makes way more. I just love the idea of throwing everything into a pan and baking it. No fussing over the meal for an hour. It also tastes just like a cheeseburger.

Slow Cooker Creamy Beef Stroganoff

Slow cooked beef stroganoff is the best stroganoff, especially this creamy version.

I absolutely hate when I cannot get a good picture of a recipe. This is actually the second attempt for this one and I give up. It is not an appetizing picture, but it's a really great recipe. I remember seeing the picture and thinking the pasta cooked with the beef, that isn't the case though. The beef and sauce part cook on its own first and then you stir in the pasta later. You can do mushrooms in this, as per the normal way to make it, but we don't really do mushrooms.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats

A low carb lasagna made with spaghetti squash!

This recipe was one I had to monkey with in order to get it to where we would all enjoy it. The original recipe utilized ricotta cheese and roasted the squash whole, there were some differences in amounts of different ingredients. None of us like lasagna, but we have tried a few different recipes and the one we like the most uses cottage cheese, which funny enough none of us like either. There is something about how cottage cheese cooks down though that makes for a great recipe. We started eating spaghetti squash when Nick was doing keto in 2019 and I actually was pleasantly surprised - although it will never replace pasta for me - it was still very delicious.

Carne Asada Street Tacos

Why have regular tacos when you can have street tacos with grilled carne asada!

I've mentioned many times that my husband has been obsessed with authentic Mexican food after traveling to San Diego for work over the past few years. I am fairly certain he lives on tacos while he's there. I know my tacos at home will never come close to the authentic food, but I do try and they are really tasty still. So these tacos were a hit because honestly you cannot go wrong with steak tacos. Plus the toppings that go with are pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and cotija cheese.

Greek Meatball Bowls

Meatballs with a secret ingredient served over couscous with a tomato cucumber salad and tzatziki sauce.

I feel like I'm posting a lot of foods that are Greek or Mediterranean and I cannot get enough of it. I am always craving tzatziki sauce. As long as I'm not making the boys eat tzatziki or feta, they are okay with Greek food. Well, Matthew also doesn't eat the cucumber and tomatoes either, but he's fine with the protein and the grain LOL. I only have one other couscous recipe on my blog which is crazy to me because it's from January of 2020 and it took me this long to post the next one. That likely means that we had couscous for the first time in 2018 and then we had it again in 2019 (this recipe). I cannot think of a time in 2020 that we had it and I'm definitely going to remedy that in 2021. Alright enough boring rambling, check out this awesome recipe!

Spicy Touchdown Chili

A three meat chili with beans, tomatoes, and a good kick of jalapeno and cayenne will warm you right up!

I thought I would put this spicy chili on the meal plan in hopes it would be spicy because I have some spicelords in the house who have very high spice tolerances and sometimes when things claim to be "spicy", they aren't spicy enough. I will say that this was the perfect amount of heat. You have hot Italian sausage, Rotel, jalapeno, and cayenne in it. My family likes beans in our chili, although I've heard there are people who don't like it. This is such a hearty recipe and it makes a good amount - I want to say we ended up freezing some of ours.

Steak with Roasted Potato Salad

Perfectly seared steak with a lovely roasted potato salad with some light fixings.

I love how I sat down to type up this recipe and couldn't figure out what was going on. The original recipe serves up the roasted potatoes on top of the salad and you make a roasted garlic buttermilk dressing to go on top. Then the steak goes on top of all of that. However, no one will eat that style of dressing and so we ended up just serving the things separately. It still was a great recipe and I was able to top my salad with my favorite vinaigrette - I will admit that I didn't want dressing on my potatoes or steak.