Ratatouille Pasta

The classic French vegetable dish turned into an amazing sauce for a meatless pasta meal!

I have never had ratatouille but I really wanted to try it and I took the opportunity to try it when Nick was away for army training because it's meatless. The kids were not the biggest fans of it because they don't like eggplant and only Cami likes zucchini. I, however, enjoyed it a ton because it's a pasta dish with a bunch of fresh veggies. I definitely want to try actually ratatouille at some point, so if anyone has a tried and true recipe for it - point me to it!!

Prado's Flatbread Copycat

Check out the Mexicali and Blanca flatbread pizzas inspired by a restaurant in San Diego.

One of my favorite things to do (if you didn't know by now) is to come up with copycat recipes of foods in restaurants or that I've seen on the internet. This particular recipe is from a restaurant in San Diego called (The) Prado. My husband spent 2019 traveling to San Diego for work and he loves it. He actually lived there when he was really young for a few years and so it's a bit nostalgic for him too. One of his favorite foods he ate (outside of all the amazing Mexican food) was the Mexicali flatbread pizza at Prado. He sent me a picture of the menu and I immediately went to the Blanca flatbread pizza with goat cheese and spinach. As I have not had these pizzas and cannot speak to how close the recipes actually are...these are just loose copycat recipes that I made on what little information was given on the menu. Both were crazy delicious.

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.

Copycat Pickle Pizza

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

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!

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

This cheesy broccoli soup is made right in the crockpot and is unbelievably wonderful!

The very first recipe I posted on my blog was Cheddar Broccoli Soup. It has been one of my family's favorite soups for the past 8 years and we make it often. I do get a little nervous because it is made with a Ragu Double Cheese Sauce and I'm always afraid that one day, I will go to the store and it will be no longer available. I have tried a few different types of broccoli cheese soup here and there - thankfully, the Ragu is still at the store. This soup recipe comes from Ree Drummond and I should've known that PDub would have the perfect broccoli cheese soup recipe for me to keep handy, just in case. It does use Velveeta - which I have to be honest, is not my favorite - so I do like to add a little hot sauce to kind of cut into that artificial flavor. I am fairly certain I learned that trick from Ree also. I love that this is made in the crockpot too - just one more awesome bit to the recipe.

Breakfast Scramble

This meatless scramble has so many fresh ingredients in it - it's the perfect morning food!

This recipe had me at scramble...because I LOVE scrambles. I've been eating lots of them lately, especially tossing leftovers into scrambles. It's either that or omelets and, to be honest, I'm still not the most proficient in making omelets. This scramble is meatless and has kale, peppers, and green onions. Plus FRESH HERBS. I have so much basil from my Aerogarden that I just relish in any opportunity to use it. I hope to make this scramble often and I would definitely love to try some crumbled feta next time!

Easy Egg Drop Soup

This soup is so easy to make and you can make it with add-ins or without!

Easy Egg Drop Soup is one of my favorite quick soup recipes that I love to make in a bind. There is room to have add-ins to make it more filling, like chicken, tofu, bok choy, and mushrooms. You can add some, none, or all! It's totally up to you. The base is the same and is wonderful on its own. This recipe really is easy and it's so quick. My older two kids love cooking and have nailed frying eggs, making mac and cheese, and making grilled cheese sandwiches. I think if they could make those, they could definitely make this soup.

Easy Pesto Pizza

This pesto pizza has only a handful of toppings, but don't underestimate the tastiness!

I don't usually purchase store bought pizza crust. I much prefer to make a batch of my favorite pizza dough and freeze half. Then it's just a matter of thawing the crust during the day in preparation for dinner. I love this easy pesto pizza because it truly is easy. And there's pesto. And then more basil. This speaks to me on so many levels. The original recipe calls for topping the pizza with just mozzarella and then baking, then adding the remaining toppings after baking. I prefer the toppings get melted into the cheese, so I baked it all :)

Caprese Grilled Cheese

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

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!

Summer Grilled Veggie Pasta Primavera

All the summer veggies grilled up in one perfect pasta dish!

Any sort of recipe with loads of veggies in it is sure to make my meal plan. I was initially intrigued by the grilled veggie part of the recipe because I recently acquired a cast iron grill pan. I decided to cut my zucchini in spears and grill it in the cast iron. Not only was I able to get these gorgeous grill marks on each piece and side, but the zucchini itself is absolutely addictive. I had a few extra zucchini that I grilled up and ate for a snack the next day. Just A+ in my opinion. You can grill and roast as many of the veggies as you'd like, but in the end, the simple flavors work so well together in this summer pasta dish!

Roasted Garlic and Asparagus Soup

This soup is just what you need on a chilly spring day, served up with a side of grilled cheese sandwiches!

This soup will definitely not be for everyone - especially if you are not a fan of asparagus. However, I love asparagus and wish I had been able to enjoy it much earlier than my adult life because YES! Roasted asparagus is my favorite form of asparagus and when I saw this, I was intrigued because it seemed like it would make a great soup. I didn't really have the rest of the family's blind trust with this because it didn't have meat and it almost looks like a cream soup, which I guess it almost is with the milk. Thankfully, even my asparagus-hating oldest son liked this soup. He thought that it didn't taste as bitter like asparagus normally does and I agree that the asparagus does taste a little more mild and is perfect with the garlic. We served up this wonderful soup with just regular ole grilled cheese sandwiches for a more filling meal :)

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup

It's a far cry from canned tomato soup, so don't be afraid to give this wonderful soup a try!

I was accustomed to eating a lot of canned soups as a kid and therefore, I didn't really care for soup at all. I did love bean and bacon soup, but that was literally the only soup I liked. Since growing up and learning that I like homemade foods better than canned or boxed foods, I have been trying out foods I may not have liked as a child. I think they deserve a second chance. Plus I make good food! Last year, my mom-in-law made homemade tomato soup and I really liked it. It had a lot of basil in it, so I knew that I wanted to also make a tomato soup with basil. I was so pleased to find a tomato soup recipe that was magnificent. I don't hate tomato soup anymore. AND my kids LOVE tomato soup. AND an even bigger feat...Nick loved it. When we first met, he wouldn't touch tomatoes. Not even diced tomatoes in casseroles. Now he will eat tomato soup. It's a miracle!

Corn Off the Cob Soup

This meatless corn soup is simple yet really yummy!

I feel like I have posted a million and a half corn soup recipes lately, but it's been one of my favorite things to eat for our weekly soup night. I also feel like I don't eat corn often or nearly as often as I used to, so I make up for that with a soup chock full of corn.

I grew up in Minnesota, so corn is something that always reminds me of summer. I lived in a very small town with a population of 350 people and we were surrounded by cornfields. Local farmers would come into town with their truck beds full of sweet corn during the summer and I absolutely loved going with my mom to buy a bunch of ears. Perhaps that is where my love of corn soup has come from lately. Maybe I'm feeling a bit nostalgic :)

Dill Pickle Soup

 Take a step on the wild side with this amazing and unique soup!

Sometimes I see recipes that look super out there and I don't hesitate to make them. It makes me proud because I don't think I would have done that a few years ago. This recipe for Dill Pickle Soup is one of those recipes. If you have read my blog for a while, you'll know that I don't repeat recipes often and had to incorporate Throwback Thursday into my meal plan where we have old favorites on Thursdays. Someone shared this on Facebook (a blog page, perhaps?) and I made it the following week -- which is also a rarity. I try to make the oldest recipes in my stash first.

Anyways, I was so curious about this soup recipe and dying to try it, so I did. I didn't really tell any of the family that it was happening until they were all over for soup night. If I remember correctly, my mom-in-law and a few, if not all, of my husband's siblings and significant others came for dinner that night too. So it was nerve-wracking to say the least. Thankfully, they were all good sports and trusted me to not make them a bad dish.

This is probably my favorite soup now. I've made it two or three more times since the first time and I crave it all the time. It's basically a very dill-ish potato soup. The bite of sourness is just the best thing in the world and there were NO complaints from the family. They all really liked it. If you love pickles and dill...MAKE THIS SOUP!! MAKE IT!! I absolutely love dill pickles and so does a lot of the family, so it was a no-brainer that all of us would like it...a lot!

Eggplant Marinara

This fabulous sauce is unbelievable, hearty, and rich and the eggplant soaks up the flavors around it!

This marinara can be made with ground beef or without, so even though I have beef in mine, I tagged it with the meatless tag because it can be made without! I have been trying to convince the hubby and two eldest kiddos that eggplant can be good. I had a failed soggy fried eggplant sandwich recipe that the kids will never let me live down...ever. I am obsessed with eggplant parmesan and I'm still trying to find the perfect recipe for that. But if I make something with eggplant at this point, I have to make sure it tastes incredible and I did it!

I slow-simmered the sauce and made sure it was seasoned well. It was so delicious and my family didn't realize it was eggplant! Nick assumed it was zucchini, so I definitely was really excited about how I was able to trick them all into eating it and NOT complaining. If you want to hide it a little more discretely, you can easily puree the marinara (without the ground beef) with an immersion blender! I personally loved the texture of the eggplant.

Caprese Pasta

This pasta goes perfectly with some grilled chicken and veggies for full meal.

I have been making a ton of caprese/bruschetta recipes lately or rather ones that use the same flavors because I think I've finally convinced Nick to eat tomatoes. Like he has even been asking for tomatoes on tacos! YES!! This one is probably the highest up on the list of things I've made recently with the tomato, basil, mozzarella combination. It could be eaten by itself as a meatless dinner, but we paired ours with some seasoned grilled chicken and asparagus. Honestly, the grape tomatoes are my absolute favorite in this. They give you that little burst of juiciness. It's wonderful with the gooey, melty mozzarella!

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot