Best Tuna Melt Sandwich

Tuna melts with a zing of Dijon and the crunch of celery and red onion!

I've made plenty of tuna melts over the years and I am not sure if I've ever made any with red onion. I think it's a fantastic addition to tuna salad and goes along really well with the Dijon instead of yellow mustard in the recipe. I'd love to try this particular recipe with bagels - years ago, I tried a recipe for chicken salad on a bagel and fell in love. It's my favorite vessel for chicken salad.

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.

Slow Cooker Creamy Vegetable Soup

A little bit of prep work and into the slow cooker and you'll have a great meatless meal on a chilly night!

As a child, I pretty much hated vegetable soup. Not because of the vegetables, but because we ate canned soup and the vegetable soup is tomato-based. It seems a bit odd given how much I love anything tomato-based, but it was just too tomato-ey. If you know, you know. I thought I'd try this recipe because it's pretty similar to potato soup but just loaded up with some extra stuff. It turned out really well and was super delicious. Highly recommend.

Mexican Meatball Soup

If you've ever wanted tacos in soup form with all the toppings, this soup is for you!

In these recipes, I can find the ingredients list a little overwhelming. However, what I like to do for prep is get all the spices measured and mixed together in a bowl. I like to get all my ingredients out and separated by where in the recipe I need them. It makes it so much more efficient when all is said and done to make the recipe when a little bit of preparation is done. I love how packed full of veggies this recipe is and I think the toppings work together with the soup so well too. It's like tacos but in soup form and I love it!

Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese

Rich bolognese that tastes like it's been slow-simmered for hours, but is ready in under 30 minutes!

I think I've posted quite a few bolognese recipes, but I just love them so much! I've never really liked any other style of homemade spaghetti sauce. The heavy cream adds so much richness to the sauce. Also I just really love adding veggies like carrots and celery in spaghetti sauce. It's a great way to get some more veggies!

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

This yummy crockpot stew has all the goodness of a pot pie without all the hassle of the crust.

It's soup and stew and chili season even if it's a million degrees outside. September is fall. You cannot change my mind. I really like pot pie filling but I don't like pot pie because of the crust. I love when I get the things I like without the things I don't, so, of course, I loved this stew! I was a little unsure of the Greek yogurt part, but it added a really nice, slightly sour creaminess to the stew.

One Pot Cauliflower Chowder

 This one pot soup recipe is slow cooked on the stove for under an hour - you get the best of both worlds, an easy soup that doesn't take too long to make but tastes like you've had it simmering all day!

I'm sure at this point most of my chowders are very similar recipes, but nonetheless, here is another cauliflower chowder recipe. You could omit the bacon or use vegan bacon (that's a thing, I think?) and use vegetable broth for a completely meatless, vegetarian-friendly soup. I enjoy that this recipe is not exactly a quick recipe, but is not a slow cooker, crockpot recipe either.

Ragu Stuffed Peppers

Hello, rich turkey ragu stuffed peppers with couscous and asiago cheese!

I'm kind of obsessed with stuffed peppers. I'm honestly not too sure why but I think it's due to the fact that I keep finding such good recipes for them. I am trying to remember the last time I was disappointed by a stuffed pepper and I don't think it exists. What I really enjoy about this recipe is that there's ground turkey instead of beef (a substitute we've made a lot recently to try and limit red meat) and it was our first experience with couscous - which I think was a hit for all of us. I also have never really used asiago cheese on its own (always in an Italian mix) and really enjoyed it by itself. The ragu in this recipe is actually from a pasta recipe that I've posted previously on a different blog (and is linked at the bottom of this post) so I knew it would be great. All of the parts combined made for a wonderful stuffed pepper recipe.

Chicken & Dumplings

Hearty comfort food with biscuit-like dumplings that are so tender they may fall apart on you when you scoop them into the bowl and prevent you from getting a picture that proves you made chicken and dumplings!

Today is a rarity. I'm sharing a recipe for a food that I don't really eat. I also have to mention that it does not look like dumplings at all, it looks like a mess, but I decided to post anyways because this is a wonderful recipe. The dumplings didn't stay in separate biscuit form, but sometimes the weirdest looking foods are the best foods (see: tatortot hotdish). This is a very hearty, stick-to-your-ribs recipe. It has the best savory herbs that are just so perfect for colder months.

I personally think I may have made my dumplings slightly too big and that's why when I tried to remove them from the pot, they basically just fell apart. Regardless of how this looks, make this recipe. You have to. I don't even like chicken and dumplings and I was all about this recipe.

I don't get a lot of mean comments, but I honestly expect someone to come here raging at how this looks. I'm ready for you haha

Mutti's Sauerbraten

This German-style red wine and clove marinated beef roast is absolute perfection with gravy on top!

When we were introduced to German food, my family fell in love. I've been trying to find authentic German recipes online and I believe this pot roast is pretty authentic. Sauerbraten is a marinated roast and I have to say that it turned out so tender and the spice mix was incredible. I will also say that as a child, I really didn't eat gravy and I still really don't care for it. However, for some reason, the recipes I've been making lately with gravy that goes on the meat have really won me over. This one in particular was rich but really brought out the flavors of the marinade - which by the way has red wine in it. So it's really the best. You can serve this up with sauerkraut or red cabbage or potato dumplings. We did buttered gnocchi, which is Italian, but that's what I wanted with it. :)

Spicy Pepperoncini Chicken Noodle Soup

This chicken noodle soup will knock your socks off with its little kick from the pepperoncinis!

Since I figured out that I liked chicken noodle soup as long as it is homemade, I've been more willing to try out new recipes. We really enjoy pepperoncinis as a family, so I figured this recipe would be a keeper for sure. We all really enjoyed the heat and the little bit of pickley flavor to chicken noodle soup :)

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.

Bean with Bacon Soup

Classic bean soup with lots of veggies and bacon, of course!

I have posted tons of bean soups on my blog over the years because they are honestly just one of my favorite types of soup. I do adore soup with pasta, but I don't think anything will top bean and bacon soup. I grew up eating bean and bacon soup frequently and love trying new recipes of my childhood favorite. This soup is more tomato-y than the recipes I've tried before and it was awesome to try something new. The original recipe called for soaking beans, but that is not my strong suit, so I just used canned beans. Because there are precooked beans, you don't have to cook the soup for a long time, but I did simmer mine for a while to help that bay leaf meld with the soup. It's even better the day after!

Sausage & Pecan Cranberry Stuffing

Dress up (pun intended) that premade stuffing mix with spicy sausage, tart cranberries, and pecans and be a Holiday Hero!

I still haven't quite figured out the difference between stuffing and dressing when it comes to holiday food, but I do know that I have always loved Stove Top stuffing. But it seemed like most times when it came to stuffing/dressing on the holiday spread, I wasn't a fan. One of my food aversions is wet bread/crackers. I don't dip breads in anything that will make it soggy. No crackers in my soup. No way.

When I moved to Tennessee, my aunt had made cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving and I fell in love. It was the perfect texture and tasted amazing. I decided to try my hand at a stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving and could not have been more happy. It has spicy sausage, a sour green apple, pecans, and tart dried cranberries. You can choose what type of stuffing you want to use, but I reached for the cornbread stuffing because it's my favorite and honestly, why wouldn't you pick cornbread stuffing?! I am happy to report that everyone who tried it enjoyed it immensely and it will definitely be a go-to side dish recipe for the holidays.

German Pea Soup with Egg Dumplings

This wonderful soup is classic in so many ways but has the addition of egg dumplings to really set it apart.

I've never been a big fan of dumplings, but I like to try new things and since we've been trying a lot of German food lately, I thought this soup would be the perfect recipe to try. The egg dumplings made me a little nervous, but they ended up being relatively easy to make and they tasted a lot like gnocchi. In fact, I think the consistency is almost dead on for gnocchi and I really enjoyed that a lot. I also used a ham hock for the very first time, which was really interesting to say the least. I wanted to stay as close to the original recipe as possible when I first made it and I didn't change anything the second time I made it. This soup reminds me a lot of beef stew but also vegetable soup. It's like the two had a baby together and this was result. So definitely give it a try! I haven't yet asked my sister-in-law (who is German) if this is an authentic recipe that is eaten in Germany, but I thought I'd share the name of the soup in German for fun: Erbsensuppe mit Eierschwämmchen.

Rosemary Bean and Bacon Soup

Bean and bacon soup with fresh herbs is the perfect way to warm up on a chilly evening!

For some reason, I can never remember to put crockpot soup recipes in the crockpot and inevitably, they end up being made in the stockpot. I personally don't mind this at all, but it's pretty nice to have the soup slow cook all day and the flavors meld together. This particular bean and bacon soup is more convenient to make in the stockpot, in my opinion, because you have to cook the bacon before you put it in the crockpot. And that means you are going to dirty an extra pan/pot anyways. I love the fresh herbs in this particular bean and bacon soup and cannot wait to make it over and over again!

Beef Noodle Soup

When chicken noodle soup meets elements of beef stew, this comforting Beef Noodle Soup is the outcome!

I adore homemade chicken noodle soup and when I read this recipe, it sounded like the beef version and that made me so happy. Each time I was pregnant, I ended up having an aversion to chicken. From time to time, even now, the aversion rears its ugly head and chicken doesn't appeal to me at all. There is never really a convenient time for the aversion to appear, however, this recipe is really convenient when I am craving something that is total comfort like chicken noodle soup and has most of the same ingredients. It's simple, filling, and delicious!

Crockpot Italian Chicken & Quinoa Soup

Loaded with flavor, this crockpot soup is a wonderful meal for a chilly day!

I love to be surprised by foods I make. Soups aren't always the prettiest, so looks aren't really a good judge. The minute I went to serve this soup up and the ladle wafted all the soupy goodness smell up in the air...I KNEW this was going to be incredibly wonderfully delicious. I know that you aren't supposed to use the word delicious to describe foods, but sometimes you just have to. It's nothing to look at, but it sure is a fantastic soup with loads of flavor.

Roasted Cheesy Potato and Ham Soup

This unbelievable soup is full of roasted veggies, plus tons of cheese, all served in an pretzel bowl!

I knew when I saw the picture of this cheesy potato and ham soup that I was going to love the recipe. I knew it was going to be mind-blowing. I was a little nervous to make it because it looked so fancy and even though I'm pretty competent at cooking, I didn't want to mess this one up. Low and behold, this is actually a easy recipe to make (including the pretzel bowls) and it actually isn't that time-consuming. Yes, you do have to time it to make the pretzel bowls in time for the soup to be finished, but you don't have to babysit the pretzel bowls while the dough rises, etc. I personally think the pretzel bowls are a must with this soup. It's literally the most perfect dinner ever. The pretzel bowls are addictive and the soup is creamy and cheesy and all the roasted goodness makes the soup superb!

Light Chicken Pot Pie

This lighter version features Greek yogurt and one crispy crust on top that is incredible!

Surprise, surprise - as a child, I hated pot pie. I'm honestly still not the biggest fan of it now as an adult. However, Nick and the big kids love pot pie and I try to compromise and find ways to stomach pot pie and still make it for them. The reason why I don't like pot pie is because of the crust. I've never been big on eating pie crusts. I wanted to try this particular recipe because there is half the amount of crust and I thought that I could deal with that.

I went in with very low expectations and was very shocked when I ended up loving this recipe. The crust is crispy and thin and it just tastes different than normal pie crust. The filling was wonderful and I think the combination really just solidified that I can eat pot pie if it's made like this! Nick and the big kids also really loved the recipe, so I think we have found that compromise that makes everyone happy.