Quick Bean Soup

This stuff was brought to work by a coworkers husband... I of course stole the recipe immediately. This is SO easy and SO good!

What you will need is...

1 can of rotel

2 cans of ranch beans

3 cans of minestrone soup

1 can of corn

1 lb of ground meat (beef, venison, turkey, whatever)

This is so simple that you don't need pictures but I'm a nerd and took them anyway.

1. Brown your meat of choice

2. Dump all the cans in a big pot 

(that statement sounds amazingly intelligent doesn't it?)

3. Add your meat to the pot

4. Let it cook for 1-2 hours on low-ish (more intelligence)

and YUMM....

My whole family loves this, which is amazing and it freezes really well so if you don't need so much, just save it for leftovers!

Cream Cheese Pinwheel things...

OK this fantastic recipe is from the best mother-in-law in the world!

So simple, so quick, so delicious

you will need a package of 20 soft tortillas

The middle stuff is...

16 ounces of cream cheese at room temp.

3 green onions, chopped up

bacon bits

the secret ingredient is 1 tsp of Accent...

 I had never heard of this stuff until last night... it's kind of like salt but has amazing flavor.

>Mix it all together with an electric mixer

>spread it onto a tortilla

>roll the tortilla up pretty tight

>then cut the tortilla into bite size slices and put on a plate

I would do them the night before so that they can sit in the fridge over night but it's not necessary

SO Yummy!

The awesome thing about this recipe is you can add whatever you want, it doesn't have to be green onions and bacon, get creative. 

You also wouldn't have to roll them up in tortillas, It can be served as a dip with some crackers.

Christmas S'mores Cookies

I saw a recipe for this on Pinterest but didn't actually read it. I just used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and added marshmallows and then baked it on top of a graham cracker.

Here's the recipe for my chocolate chip cookies...

1 c butter flavored shortening

2/3 c sugar

2/3 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

2 c flour

1 c chocolate chips

then I added 1 cup of marshmallows and put the dough on top of half a graham cracker. Baked at 350 for about 9-10 minutes depending on how soft or crunchy you like your cookies.

Now this is what your cookies will look like if you dance too much while baking and forget the baking soda :( So dance responsibly

This is what they're supposed to look like...

You may be wondering why I called these Christmas S'mores cookies... It is because I wore this apron while baking them!

Twinkle Lights!

SO sorry about the 2 month hiatus! I love my job but between that, my boys and myself, I stay super busy! I did some fun projects over Thanksgiving that I wanted to share...

This is my favorite! All you do is get a string of Christmas lights and ribbon. I used a short line with 35 lights and ribbon is almost always half off at hobby lobby!

 The first steps are very important. Put in a Christmas movie, get a snack and some comfy clothes on. 

Now figure out how long you want your ribbons to be, cut, and start tying. 

On the green and teal line I tied a single knot. On the red and green line I did double knot. It's totally up to you.

For some reason I had a little pile of burned out Christmas lights and I saw the cutest idea on Pinterest... I painted on my homemade Mod Podge

 (love this stuff) and then just sprinkled on some glitter, let them dry 

and then put them in a bowl.

 So simple, so cute.

And last I did a little garland out of pom poms... 

2 Minute Mug Brownie

This. Is. Awesome.

I seriously found this about 30 minutes ago, have already made it, devoured it and couldn't wait to tell you about it.

This is perfect for an afternoon snack or dessert when you don't want to or have time to make a whole thing of brownies.

You mix and bake this in a big coffee mug, ramekin or I did it in a cereal bowl.

Ingredients are...

1/4 C flour

 1/4 C packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

before adding the rest go ahead and give that a stir...

Now add 2 tbsp of canola or mild vegetable oil and 2 Tbsp of milk, coffee or water

Stir until it makes delicious brownie batter, go ahead and lick your spoon...

Stick in the microwave for 1 minute and you have a yummy gooey brownie.

I was a little worried at first because the top of it doesn't look like it was cooked but when you break into it the inside cooks just perfect.

To perfect this I would add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

So this is my first Pioneer Woman recipe to try... and of course I changed it, as I do all recipes I try. Except the important ones like desserts. 

I made this twice and wasn't totally happy with it each time. My issue was the recipe I was going by didn't tell how much of anything (or I just didn't read very well).

The ingredients are ... 

1 Lb of ground beef (I used turkey)

these are little cans of tomato sauce... you could also use one big can 

16 ounces of cottage cheese and sour cream

one bag of yolk free noodles

extra sharp cheddar shredded (shred it yourself, it's better)

First thing you do is brown your meat of choice and then add the tomato sauce and sprinkle in some salt and pepper.

 While the meat is browning have the noodles boiling. You are going to mix the cream cheese and cottage cheese in a separate bowl and then mix the noodles in with it and add a little pepper.

In a casserole dish you put in your noodle mixture and then top it with your meat/tomato mixture.

Then put shredded cheese on top and put it in the over on 350 for 20 minutes.

The first time I thought there was too many noodles, the ratio needed to be more even.

The second time I needed more meat, so maybe 1 bag of noodles and 2 lbs of meat is the trick...

Either way even though I wasn't happy with it, it's still yummy and gets devoured quickly.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

This stuff is a breakfast dream! I found it on Pinterest, the original recipe is here.

Ingredients are...

1/2 C unsalted butter

2 tsp lemon zest

7/8 C & 1 T sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 c fresh blueberries

1/2 C buttermilk

- Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 C of sugar until fluffy

-Add the egg and vanilla and beat

You may want to stick your finger in and take a taste.

-In another bowl toss blueberries with 1/4 C flour then whisk together remaining flour, baking powder and salt

- Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time alternating with the buttermilk, fold in the blueberries

- Grease 9 inch baking pan

-Spread in batter

-Sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar

Bake for 35 minutes at 350

This was more blueberries than I like but if you love blueberries then it's perfect :)

Also I didn't have buttermilk so I mixed in some white vinegar with regular milk, works great!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

Another good one from Picky Palate blog!

 I did one substitution and left one thing out but it was still delicious!

Jade bought me my crock pot for Christmas... not the best Christmas present for a wife who doesn't like to cook... but in August I finally used it and love it.

The best part about this recipe (and most crock pot recipes) is just dumping the ingredients in and forgetting about it.

The first set of ingredients are...

1/2 t Salt

1 can cream of chicken

1 can chicken broth

1 can cheddar cheese soup 

and the recipe called for 1/4 t garlic salt but all I had was the powder.

3 or 4 chicken breasts

pour all these in the crock pot and stir it

then put the chicken breasts in (I put it in completely frozen) and press all the way to the bottom

Put lid on and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours

Once the time is up, use a fork to shred the chicken into smaller pieces.

You will now need these ingredients...

Go ahead and cook the rice, I cooked 3 cups, my family likes lots of rice.

You now add the broccoli and sour cream to the crock pot and stir it up real good.

Here's a random picture of what it will look like...

Serve over the rice and sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

It looks yummy like this...

The picky eaters #1 and 2 loved it,

 #3 just ate the rice...

Chocolate Cobbler!

I never ever eat cobbler. It has never sounded good to me. I think it's because it's usually peach or cherries, both of which I don't eat. But anything chocolate I love!

The original recipe is here. But I'll step it out for you...

First you stir together 

3/4 c sugar

1 c flour

3 Tbsp cocoa

2 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

 and it looks so pretty, like this...

Next stir in

1/2 c milk

1/3 c melted butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

and it looks yummy like this...

I highly recommend at this point sticking your finger in and taking a good taste.

Pour into a square pan, ungreased, glass is best.

next you mix together

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

4 Tbsp cocoa

Once again... delicious...

Sprinkle this mixture evenly on top of the batter.

Next you pour 1 1/2 c of hot water on top of the whole thing. (this step freaked me out, felt like I was ruining it. That just shows my cobbler inexperience)

Bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes and let it sit and cool for 15 minutes.

as you see there is delicious chocolate sauce that you scoop out and pour on top. YUMMY!