Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I cannot remember where I found this recipe, but I tried it for the first time last week and I loved it! Hubby's reaction? He took one bite and his exact words were "Oh my God."

....So I'd say it's worth a shot ;)


Recipe:

• 4 diced large red potatoes
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 diced ham steak
• bacon bits (we fried our own and chopped it up)

Toss this all into your slow cooker, mix it up and set it on low all day (I think I let it cook for around 8 hours - just make sure the potatoes are soft and it's ready to go)

About 30 minutes before you eat, add:

• 1.5 cups milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• as much shredded cheese as you'd like

**The only thing I would change about this recipe is to add some diced onions. I did end up adding in some onion powder which definitely improved the flavor but I think the actual onions would be really nice! You could saute them and add in with the dairy at the end!

You can also add sour cream and cheese on top of your portion to eat!

Overall, it was absolutely delicious and I definitely recommend it. We will be making it for sure in the not-too-distant future.

Enjoy!

Noodle and Sausage Skillet meal!

This is one of my favorite meals to make. It’s yummy, it’s a bit of a comfort food and it’s easy to make – not to mention it has veggies which is always a plus ;)

You will need:
• Smoked Sausage (I use Polska Kielbasa)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups (one package) of frozen broccoli/ cauliflower/ carrot mix – we use the ones in cheese sauce
• About 2 cups uncooked Rotoni – we use the veggie noodles by Barilla
• 1 can cream of chicken soup, condensed
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¾ cup water
• Marjoram
• Black Pepper
- We also use seasoned salt, salt, oregano, garlic and a bit of paprika to season it.

You’ll want to sauté the onions and sausage (cut into small disks) in butter or oil until the onions are soft, then add everything else to it. You bring the whole mixture to a boil and then take it down to simmer with a lid on and let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are cooked. Then enjoy! It’s so delicious! Hope you enjoy! And happy weekend!

<3

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Since anything chocolate sounds delicious lately, here’s this yummy recipe from allrecipes.com. I haven’t tried it yet but banana bread and chocolate? What’s not to love???

• 2 cups flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 T milk
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• ½ cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan, preferably glass.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir bananas, milk, and cinnamon in another bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a third bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir banana mixture into butter mixture. Stir in dry mixture until blended. Fold in chocolate chips until just combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 70 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Classic Shirley Temple

Since just thinking about booze of any sort makes me drool over the thought of a hard cider, I'm forgoing a Friday cocktail recipe for a sort of mock-tail. I had these as a kid, as an adult... they are always delicious.

*I copied this directly from USA Today, in an article by Ashley M. Williams.


"It is said that in the late 1930s, a bartender at Chasen's in Beverly Hills invented the cocktail. The bartender made the drink for the young actress during the pinnacle point of her fame.

The sweet concoction would later become a fun drink asked for by kids and adults alike.

The Shirley Temple recipe

Ingredients:

3 ounces lemon-lime soda

3 ounces ginger ale

Dash grenadine

Maraschino cherry for garnish

Pour lemon-lime soda and ginger ale into a glass with ice cubes. Then, add a dash of grenadine. Finally, stir your refreshing drink and top it off with a cherry."


Enjoy! And cheers to the weekend! Here's a photo of the young lady herself (in the 1930s):

P.s. Did you know there's a movie about her life? I've seen it, oh about a hundred times - and love it. Here's a link. TTFN <3

Grandma's Banana Milkshake

One thing I vividly remember while I was growing up is the occasions when my grandmother would make us banana milkshakes. We used to get those little ice cream cups from Schwanns, and if she had a few extra ripe bananas on hand, she'd throw them all together and it was the most delicious thing ever!

For Two:

1 cup milk

2 scoops vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)*

2 ripe bananas

Blend it until smooth and enjoy!

*You can use any type of ice cream - strawberry is great! Also if you, like me, have to resort to sneaky measures to get veggies in your little one, it's very easy to blend in some frozen veggies (or fresh veggies as well).

Enjoy! And happy weekend! :)

Yummy dinner recipe!

The other night we made fried Cod and sauteed Asparagus and it was DELICIOUS! So, we thought we'd share :)

Fried Cod:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Large egg
• 4 6 -ounce cod or other white-fleshed fish fillets
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cracker meal or crushed saltine crackers
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• Grapeseed Oil for frying

Whisk the egg and milk in a bowl, add the cod and set aside to soak. Mix the flour, cracker meal, cayenne pepper and salt in a bowl or on a plate.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the milk mixture and dredge in the flour mixture, turning to coat. Fry in the hot oil until golden, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain; season with salt and pepper. 

Asparagus:

Rinse the asparagus, trim the ends. Cut into pieces or keep whole. Heat oil in frying pan and then add asparagus. Once they are mostly cooked, add salt and lemon pepper and continue sauteing until you have some slightly charred pieces.

Yummy banana bread recipe and Happy Easter Weekend!

Andrew helped me make banana bread last night and it's always SO yummy! I've only tried this recipe twice but so far I'm really loving it.

(P.S. I'm sure you can add nuts of some kind but as Andrew has a bad peanut allergy, we just don't put in any kind)

• 2-3 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.
• In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until smooth. Stir in the melted butter.
• Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract and then mix in the flour.
• Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.*I also take a stick of butter and coat the top of the loaf right after it comes out of the oven*
• Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. 

Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful Easter weekend! Our plans are to find an Easter Bunny somewhere, get some stuff done around the house, go to church, and have a big yummy lunch at Granny's place!

Hope you get to spend lots of wonderful time with your loved ones and stay safe!

TTFN! <3

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Yum. Seriously.

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
2 cups barbecue sauce (optional)

1.) Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
2.) Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.
3.) If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Mushroom Beef and grilled Asparagus

We made this for guests Saturday and it was soooo yummy! I have been making the entree for years, but the asparagus was a pleasent new surprise :)

Mushroom Beef:

• 1 Pkg of stew beef
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix
• Assorted cut-up veggies (I used thick slices of potato, onion and carrot)

Sprinkle the dry soup mix over beef, massage in the mushroom soup mix and toss in a baking bag. Then chop up the veggies (boil the potatoes and carrots first with some seasoning), season, toss into bag and shut.

Bake at 350 for about an hour depending on how much beef you use.

Cut open bag and dig in!

Grilled Asparagus:

• Bunch of asparagus
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Feta cheese

Toss the asparagus in olive oil and salt and pepper, then grill until limp.

Toss in zest, juice and feta (plus more salt and pepper).

Enjoy!! :-)

Shrimp Salad!

This was practically a staple meal when I was growing up... well maybe not entirely but I remember having it a lot and hubby and I have it at least once every two months or so. It's pretty quick, easy and cheap which is great for us haha! :)

P.s. all these pictures are from online. I was too busy making Andrew's dinner before he demanded another course and making the salad before hubby had to leave for work to take pictures....

You will need:

One can tiny shrimp

One box (or half box depending on the size) ring pasta

Mayonnaise

Mustard

and (my favorite) PICKLES! 

So you cook the pasta, it's a fast cook since there isn't much there. We always throw a good amount of salt into the water and add olive oil to the boiling water to keep pasta from sticking to the bottom.

Meanwhile, drain the shrimp into a container of some kind (you'll want the juice in a minute here).

Once pasta is cooked, drain and then drizzle the shrimp juice over the pasta. Shake once or twice then return to pan (not on hot burner). Add around two scoops of mayo and a good squirt of mustard. Then cut up your pickles (should be roughly the same size as the shrimp) - you can use as many as you want - and add to pot. I also add more salt and pepper plus a bit of garlic powder.

It's best while hot but is good cold too! Also, especially when it's cold it's lovely on some warm buttered toast! 

This is about what it will look like :)

Enjoy! :)

Because random posts are fun

...and also I have been stumped as to what to post for days. I think I am too excited about this month to think about much else, haha!

SO y'all get a post of randomness today.

IT'S OCTOBER!!!!! My favorite month with my favorite holiday! The candles are being burnt every day, we had pumpkin french toast for breakfast this morning, and the Autumn/Halloween decor is in full swing!

We have a very full and fun weekend planned which we will be sharing on Monday, then next weekend Jesse's mother is coming to visit and we have some other family members coming over for lunch, hoping to have a dinner date, some more dancing and then of course Halloween!!

I am finding all these fun new recipes to try with pumpkin or just autumn-inspired and really enjoying testing them out! These are oldies but goodies... I've made White Chicken Chili and Stuffed Peppers this week, and going to try to make Chicken Risotto this week or next. Also very excited to make Mushroom Risotto one of these days!

Here is the Stuffed Peppers recipe if you are interested:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat 3 halved bell peppers in Olive Oil and stick them in the oven for 20-25 minutes

Also have on hand Taco seasoning, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Onion, White Rice, Hamburger, Black Beans, Corn and Salsa

Cook 1 cup rice

Brown 1/2 lb hamburger 

Saute one cup onions

Add in 1/2 cup corn, 1 cup black beans and the 2 cups cooked white rice. Continue to cook

Add in around 1/2 pkg of Taco Seasoning, the meat and 16 ounces salsa

Spoon into your cooked peppers and stick in the oven for 20 minutes

You can take out the peppers at 15 minutes, add cheese and bake another 5 minutes if you wish

Enjoy! They are soooo yummy!

Also, I don't know about any of you other mamas out there, but figuring out what to feed your little one is hard sometimes! It's that whole second guessing yourself thing I guess. You have to go by what your pediatrician says, of course. Ours said to try foods that myself or Jesse don't like first so he gets used to those. So his first foods were:

Broccoli - he didn't like this at first but the creamier the better and he likes them better now!

Spinach - this usually needs a pinch of salt (recommended by the doc) but he's always done well with it!

Carrots - Favorite. Food. Ever.

Beets - this one was a bit iffy at first, but he's come to like them.

Avocado - no likey. Even with salt! :-/ We're going to try again this time mixing it with some carrot.

Tomato - it ends up kinda like a sauce but he likes it so whatever!

Yellow Squash - we *think* he is allergic to this.

Yesterday we tried mashed banana and he wasn't a huge fan. Hmmm. We will have to try it again later.

Today he had Japanese Sweet Potato and looooooved it!

Basically, we were told at first to wait a few days between new foods since he had an allergy to Strawberries early on. We've started cutting back time between foods since he has only had a few in the past 3 months and just keeping a close eye on his skin.

We're hoping to pretty quickly here start just puree-ing whatever we are eating for dinner (within reason) for the little man. For example: White Chicken Chili - pull out some beans and Chicken (leaving out the corn, chilis, etc) and puree those. On Pasta night he gets Tomatoes (until he gets chompers and can handle some well cooked noodles anyways!). On stuffed pepper night he can have some pepper and black beans mashed up (without the seasoning, onions, meat, etc).

For his veggies we buy all-organic, wash them well, peel the outsides if needed, chop them up, steam them until they are soft and then toss them in the food processor with water until they are creamy.

Shopping! I am horribly addicted to online shopping. It's a problem. It's fall and even though this crazy place doesn't have fall colors, I am determined to pretend it is fall!

Gray nails are apparently big this season and I'm in love with this color. Seeing as I can never have enough nail polish colors, I may have to purchase it.

This is SO the leggings season. I have a pair but I really want a fun pair. Plus some cropped yoga pants!

Also, these shoes have been on my mind for days.

P.s. My friend Nicole introduced me to these, how awesome is that?? I love that fabric for shorts but hate that they are so loose, so this to me is perfection! :)

Remember, do your shopping through Ebates and save up a bit for the Holiday season! :)

Lastly, little man is recovering from last Thursday very well! We stopped giving him paid meds Monday morning to see when he would need them next and not once has he needed them since! We also took off the bandage on Sunday and he is healing great! He can go back in the walker and pool this weekend and has his follow-up appointment on the 14th :)

Well that's about all for now. I promise to have a better post coming soon! TTFN! <3