... just Laura

What We Ate: Week Sixteen

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Garlic Butter Steak & Potatoes | Eat Well 101

Thoughts: This was crazy good. Who doesn't love steak and potatoes, right? I followed this recipe exactly as it was, with the exception of using dried herbs as opposed to fresh herbs. I rarely buy the fresh stuff, since it just doesn't get used enough. There was also a note mentioning that you could boil the potatoes for a few minutes (just to speed up the cooking time), and then add them to the pan to cook, and that's what I decided to do. I know my potatoes, and I just wanted to be sure they were cooked enough. This recipe was super easy to make, and I will definitely make it again. 

Sloppy Joes | The Pioneer Woman

Thoughts: Sloppy Joes aren't something that I've ever really made before, and yet I've tried out two recipes for them in the last couple of months. This was a good recipe, and while it had a few more ingredients than other recipes I've seen, it was still super easy to make. I had some slider rolls on hand, so I used those, instead of buying kaiser rolls (which I was totally going to do). Just like the recipe suggested, I put some butter on the rolls and grilled them in a pan on the stove top. Everyone loved them.

Baked Salmon in Foil | Low Carb with Jennifer

Thoughts: I think I've used the exact same recipe for salmon, every single time I've made it. I wanted to try something a little different, and this was a recipe where I happen to have everything it called for on hand. The chili powder and ground cumin added a nice kick, and made it totally different from what I normally use. And super easy clean up, since I used the tin foil. I like easy clean up ;)

Butter Garlic Asparagus Pasta | Diethood

Thoughts: I had some asparagus in the fridge that needed to be used up, so figured I would give this recipe a shot to go along with the salmon above. This recipe actually calls for orzo, which I'm guessing is a pasta - since the name of this recipe says "pasta". Lol. But I have to admit, I've never looked into orzo, so I have no clue what it's about. I just used the thin spaghetti that I use for so many of my pasta dishes. But I followed everything else in the recipe, and it was really good. 

What We Ate: Week Fifteen

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

So, it looks like I only tried two new recipes last week. I tried both on the same night, and they're basically the same thing. But I'll be making up for that this week, as I have four new recipes on our meal plan for this week.

Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches | Kirbie's Cravings

Thoughts: This is a super simple concept, and one that doesn't necessarily require a recipe once you try it. But then again, I don't think I would have ever thought to make a pizza grilled cheese sandwich. So when I saw this pop up on Pinterest, I knew it would probably go over well with Joe, as he's a huge pizza fan. I had a few ciabatta rolls on hand, and thought they would be perfect for this. I did hesitate a bit, wondering if I could grill a ciabatta roll. Lol. But it totally worked. I made this on a night when Sarah was working, so I just wanted something quick and easy to make for Joe after he got done umpiring. He loved it, and since it took me all off 5 minutes to make, I loved it too. 

5-Minute Pepperoni Pizza Quesadilla | Two Healthy Kitchens

Thoughts: I had also seen a few recipes for making pizza quesadillas, and those sounded like they might be good too. Since I had everything out to make the pizza grilled cheese, and since the two recipes could be done in the same pan - I figured I would just try the quesadilla at the same time. Personally, I think these would be really good dipped in sour cream and/or guacamole. But my family isn't a fan of either of those. Again, Joe was the only one that ate these the night I made them, but he said it was pretty good. He preferred the sandwich over the quesadilla, but mainly because he said it was more filling.  

What We Ate: Week Fourteen

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Sheet Pan Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars | Six Sisters' Stuff

Thoughts: I have my go-to chocolate chip recipe that I've used for years, and I'm pretty sure that it could be baked on a sheet pan just like this, as opposed to individual cookies. But I thought I would give this recipe a try. Sometimes, you just don't have time to do batch after batch of cookies, and a pan cookie is the perfect way to still get your cookie fix. This took me no time at all to whip up. In fact, I mixed the batter up while the daycare kids were eating their breakfast, spread it all on a sheet pan and popped it in the oven. By the time I had cleaned up everything from breakfast, they were done. And they were yummy. I used mini chocolate chips in this, just like the recipe called for, and they were perfect.

Restaurant Style Mexican Rice | Favorite Family Recipes

Thoughts: I'll be honest. This is NOT a new recipe for me. In fact, I've been making it for at least a year now. But I did try this recipe after seeing in on Pinterest last year, and I did in fact make this last week. I actually make it every time I make tacos or fajitas now, as I love to have some rice along with my tacos and fajitas. Figured it was worth sharing :) It's super easy to make, and uses ingredients I always have on hand. And since I've been making it consistently for over a year, I guess you could say we like it! 

What We Ate: Week Thirteen

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Damn Good Chocolate Bundt Cake | The Domestic Rebel

Thoughts: You want to know my thoughts? This was a damn good chocolate bundt cake!! I should be honest here, in that I didn't actually have any. My self-control is amazing sometimes. I'm on a little fine-tuning diet right now, so I held off on trying this. But you better believe I'm sticking what's left in the freezer for later ;) It smelled amazing, and looked amazing. Just like the photo in fact, which isn't always the case. I took this to my parent's house for Easter dinner, and everyone loved it. I may have heard a few "that's a LOT of chocolate" comments, but in my world, there's no such thing as too much chocolate. As far as making it, it was super easy to make. Took no time at all to mix all of the ingredients and bake, and then after it cooled overnight, I added the chocolate ganache and mini chocolate chips to finish it off. So, so good!

No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream | Marsha's Backing Addiction

Thoughts: I started seeing these "no-churn" ice cream recipes on Pinterest a while ago, and was super intrigued. I'm an ice cream fanatic, and could possibly live off of it if needed. I've been meaning to try making one of these recipes for a while now, and figured an Easter get-together would be the perfect time to try it out. I picked mint chocolate chip for my first try. The hardest thing about making this was whipping up the heavy cream. I wouldn't say it was hard to do. But I had never whipped up heavy cream before, so I was a little unsure of what I was doing. I guess you just have to be patient, since it does take a while. Other than that, this was so incredibly easy to make. Only 6 ingredients, and it seriously took no time at all to do. I plopped it in a metal loaf pan and stuck it in the freezer overnight. Everyone LOVED this, and said that it tasted better than store bought! I can't wait to try making other versions, since I have so many yummy looking ones pinned.

What We Ate: Week Twelve

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges | Creme de la Crumb

Thoughts: I have a lot of french fry/potato wedge recipes pinned on my Pinterest boards, so I just randomly picked one to try the other night to serve with hamburgers. I had some russet potatoes that I wanted to use up, and all of the ingredients were things I always have on hand, which is nice. Super easy to make, which is always a plus in my book. And they were really good. I should have cooked them a bit longer, to get them a little crispier (or turned on the broiler for a few minutes at the end). But they were really tasty and the family liked them.

Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches | Flying On Jess Fuel

Thoughts: I haven't done much breakfast prep for the last few weeks, as we had plenty of options to work with already. But I needed to re-stock the freezer with some easy to grab options, and this time, I wanted to try out some breakfast sandwiches. These are pretty straight forward, so you wouldn't really need a recipe to make them. But I always like to see how others make things, in case there's tips or tricks that I wouldn't think of. I saw on this particular recipe that she used ramekins to cook the eggs in the oven, and this worked great to get that perfect round shape to fit on the english muffins. I used a thick cut ham that Joe likes for these, along with slices of cheddar cheese. 

I used this same concept to also make breakfast sandwiches with mini bagels. I didn't want to use the ramekins to cook the eggs for those, since they would have been a bit too big in size. So I cooked the eggs in a muffin tin in the oven. These ended up being a little too small in size, but they still worked well. I used sliced deli ham for the bagels, along with shredded cheddar cheese. I'm hoping the shredded cheese isn't quite as messy, once the sandwich is heated up - I mainly used it, as opposed to the sliced cheese, because I had it on hand and wanted to use it up. 

I wrapped all of the sandwiches individually in saran wrap, and placed them all in freezer bags in the freezer. They'll be easy to grab and heat up in the microwave in the morning. And will hopefully keep Joe from stopping to get his favorite fast food breakfast sandwiches after work in the morning ;)

What We Eat: Breakfast Prep

Hey everyone! So, it appears I took an unintentional two week break from blogging. Oops. Lol. Well, I'm back, and I have a few things to share this week. I know I had this big goal for myself for working a few new recipes into our meals each week this year. And I was blogging about those new recipes every Monday. Sadly, I've only tried one new recipe in the last two weeks. It's been a mixture of Joe deep in umpiring high school baseball (which interrupts regular dinner planning), Sarah coming and going (and I never know if she'll be here for dinner), and I've just had a crazy few weeks with the daycare kiddos. 

What I thought I would do today is share a bit about some of the breakfast food prep that I do, to make our mornings a little easier. Sarah is up and out the door early for college classes, and doesn't really eat breakfast - but likes to take a little something with her to eat on breaks. Joe works nights, but still likes to have a typical breakfast when he gets homes (and before he goes to bed). And I am up super early as well, and don't have much time to mess around before the daycare kids start coming. So having quick things ready to go has worked well for us. There's usually several options to choose from, in addition to regular things, and we'll often just add some toast or a bagel, and a banana to make a healthy breakfast. 

Quick note: I don't take awesome food photos. These are just quick photos that I had taken with my phone and shared on my Instagram. Also, I'm not a great recipe writer, and I rarely measure anything, unless I'm baking - I always measure when I bake. But I think it all makes sense ;)

First up, chocolate chip muffins. Years ago, when the girls were much younger, I used to make two batches of muffins every Sunday - chocolate chip and either blueberry or a cinnamon streusel. The girls could have them for a quick breakfast or they'd take them to school for a snack. At one point last year, Sarah wanted me to buy those small packs of mini muffins. I told her that I could make a ton more muffins for the same price, or even less, by making them myself. I bought a mini muffin pan to do just that. 

Making the mini muffins takes a few extra minutes, because you're filling a lot of tiny muffin cups. And the clean up for that pan takes longer, since in a regular muffin tin, I use paper muffin cups, which makes clean up super simple. But I've found that if I make the muffins in the regular size, Sarah won't touch them. I of course will eat all of them in on time at all. Lol. So I will often make a few regular sized muffins for myself, and then a bunch of mini muffins for Sarah. I use the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Muffin mix, and we love it. 

  

Next up, we have egg muffins. I make these two different ways - one for Joe and one for myself. For Joe's egg muffins, I base them off THIS recipe. First step is to spray the muffin tin with a cooking spray that has flour in it. This makes clean up a ton easier. I start by placing three defrosted tator tots in each muffin cup (I just stick them in the microwave for a few minutes), smashing them down with the bottom of a cup, and baking them for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I cook up 1/2 lb of Italian sausage on the stove top. And whisk together 10 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt. Once the tator tots are done, I knock the heat back to 350. I add some crumbled sausage into each muffin cup, and then pour my egg mixture into each cup until it's almost full. I add some grated sharp cheddar cheese to the top of each cup, and then bake them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Once they're done, I let them cool and then store them in sandwich bags, 2 egg muffins in each bag. I store a few in the fridge and stick a few in the freezer. To heat them up, you just pop them in the microwave for about a minute or so. 

When I make these for myself, I skip the tator tots. I cook up 1/2 lb of Italian sausage on the stove top. And whisk together 12 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt. I chop up some baby spinach as well. After spraying my muffin tin with a cooking spray that has flour in it, I start by adding some crumbled sausage and chopped spinach into each cup. I then fill each cup with the egg mixture until it's almost full. I add some grated mozzarella cheese to the top of each cup, and bake them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Once they're done, I let them cool and then store them in sandwich bags, 2 egg muffins in each bag. I store a few in the fridge and stick a few in the freezer. To heat them up, you just pop them in the microwave for about a minute or so. 

[Photo credit: 100 Directions blog]

Then we have breakfast burritos. It seems that I've never taken a photo while making these, which is odd, since I make them a lot. While these are pretty self explanatory, I know that I got started on these after reading THIS recipe. The first time I made these, I cooked up a bag of hash browns for the potatoes. I simplified the process the next few times I've made them, and just cooked up some tator tots in the oven, and then roughly chopped them up after they were done cooking. I cook up an entire pound of Italian sausage, crumbling it up while cooking. Then I cook up some scrambled eggs - I think I do about a dozen eggs. At that point, I then add the sausage and tator tots in with the eggs and mix it all together.

Once everything cools, we start the assembly process. Joe will heat up the tortillas first. We don't eat these fresh, so we don't need them heated, but we do like the char on them and he seems to think they just taste better than if we skipped this step. We get the HUGE tortillas, and he heats them right on the stove top, on the grates themselves. Then I take over. I do about 3-4 at a time, laying the tortillas on the counter. I add a scoop or two of the egg/sausage/potato mixture, and then adding some grated sharp cheddar cheese to the top. I roll them up and wrap them in Saran Wrap really tight. I store them in freezer bags in the freezer, so they're ready to grab in the mornings. To heat them up, they only take a minute or two in the microwave, and they're good to go. 

And lastly, we have the breakfast bowls. This is really just another take on the ingredients that are in the egg muffins and the burritos. I cut up some red potatoes, drizzled EVOO over them and seasoned them, and then roasted them in the oven for a half hour or so. I picked up some sausage links (I don't remember what kind at the moment) and had Joe grill them on the BBQ. And then I made some scrambled eggs. I divided everything up into some containers, and then sprinkled some sharp cheddar cheese over the eggs. I just kept these in the fridge, although I'm assuming you could also freeze them (don't quote me on that) if they weren't going to be eaten within a few days.  

What We Ate: Week Nine

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Instant Pot Beef Pot Roast | The Novice Chef

Thoughts: You guys, this was amazing!!! I made this last night, and it was so good. This is an Instant Pot recipe, but it can also be made in the crock pot. And after reading on the blog post that some people had issues with it burning in the Instant Pot, and reading that one might want to just make it in the crock pot instead, I decided to go that route. I was making this on a Sunday, so for me, I wasn't in a rush or anything. I don't drink wine, so I had to borrow some tiny bottles that my brother had laying around. And I totally forgot that it called for a cup of brewed coffee, so I had to send Joe out to get me a jug of Starbucks coffee (the kind that I used to make my homemade frapps). Usually, when I make a roast in the crock pot (or stew), I always have to make a batch of gravy on the stove top. But this recipe made the best brown gravy, that was the perfect consistency and thickness. I didn't use any carrots or mushrooms, since we don't eat those. I made mashed potatoes to go with this, and the entire meal was delicious. I will definitely be making this again!

Egg & Cheese Hash Brown Waffles | Yellow Bliss Road

Thoughts: True confession. I have never made waffles. I also asked for a waffle maker over a year ago, for my birthday or something, and have never used it. I actually wanted it for things like this. For making hashbrowns as waffles. I was making some sausages for dinner a few nights ago, and decided to give this a go. I didn't actually eat these, so I can't give my own thoughts on this. But I do think that I added a little too much of the egg/milk mixture, as I don't think I had the same amount of hash browns that the recipe called for. They didn't crisp up like I thought they would in the waffle maker. But again, this was my first time ever using it as well. Joe and Sarah ate them, and didn't complain. But I think next time I'll just do the hash browns on their own, without adding any egg or cheese to them. 

What We Ate: Week Seven

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Instant Pot Pizza Pasta | Family Fresh Meals

Thoughts: I've been meaning to make this for a few weeks now, and I'm glad I finally did. It was a night when Sarah wasn't home, and it was just Joe eating, since I already had a salad planned. I made a half recipe, since whenever I make a full recipe of pasta, it's just WAY too much for our small family. This was super, super easy to make and took no time at all. I asked Joe what he thought, and he said "look at my plate", which was totally cleaned off - also in no time at all. Lol. I had to ask him a few times, in different ways, what he thought about it. Did his "good" mean it was ok, and he was just happy I made dinner. Or did his "good" mean it was really, really good and I should make it again. He said I should definitely make it again. 

Easy Blackened Shrimp | JZ Eats

Thoughts: I made this just for myself, as I like to work shrimp into my salads here and there. I used a mix of the seasonings that were listed on the post. But I might keep my eye out for a "blacken seasoning" if there is something like that (the blog did link to one). While my shrimp didn't look anything like the photo above, and didn't get that blackened char on them, they were delicious. A nice change from the way I usually make my shrimp for salads, which is using a northern italian salad dressing. I added this to a simple romaine lettuce salad, with ranch dressing. 

What We Ate: Week Six

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Actually, only one of these recipes made it into the meal rotation this past week. The first one was a new recipe that I tried out. So I didn't quite meet my goal of 2-3 new recipes last week. But I'm adding in the other two recipes, since they're very similar. And are both recipes that were new to me a few months ago, and are now regulars in my meal planning. Also, I guess you can tell I love recipes from Damn Delicious ;)

One Pan Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies | Damn Delicious

Thoughts: I love a good sheet pan dinner. And this is one good sheet pan dinner! It's a very basic meal, with chicken, potatoes, and veggies. But it's got some great seasonings and other additions that added a ton of flavor to all of the elements on the sheet pan - even though you only brush the mixture onto the chicken. I used a mix of small yellow and red potatoes, since that's what I had on hand. And for my veggie, I went with broccoli, which is our go-to veggie most of the time. Super easy, super quick, and oh so good!

Sausage, Potato, and Green Bean Foil Packets | Damn Delicious

Thoughts: So, this is a recipe for foil packets. And the first few times I made these, I did in fact make them in foil packets. Which is super fun to do. But somewhere along the way, I started making this as a sheet pan dinner. Same concept really, so it worked perfectly. I did use the andouille sausage the first two times I made this, just like the recipes calls for. It had some kick to it, for sure. So I then switched to an Italian sausage for future meals. I only used green beans when I made this, as we're not fans of mushrooms or onion (unless they onion is all mixed in and you can't see it ;)). And instead of the cajun seasoning, I used a garlic and herb seasoning, as it's what I had on hand. So easy, and sooooo good. This is a favorite around here. 

Sheet Pan Steak and Veggies | Damn Delicious

Thoughts: This is another really good meal! I believe I made this with flank steak, as it's what I had on hand. And I used a mix of yellow and red small potatoes. I get the larger bag of "Baby Creamer" potatoes at Costco, and it gives me 2-3 meals from that one bag. This recipes does require you to boil the potatoes for a bit first, before adding them to the sheet pan to cook with the steak and veggies. So it's not a true "one pan" dinner, like the others. But it's still a really quick and easy meal. 

What We Ate: Week Five

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella Sauce | Julia's Album

Thoughts: I wasn't sure how my family would like this, as they're not always big on pasta dishes. And both Joe and Sarah aren't huge fans of chicken (unless it's chicken nuggets for Sarah). But this looked really good to me, and I wanted to give it a try. It was an easy dish to make, which is always a plus in my book. I was a little worried, once I added the pasta into the chicken and cheese sauce mix, as I totally forgot to reserve some of the cooking water from the pasta. I had even set a cup to the side of the pot, to remind myself to do it. I have another dish I make that requires some of the cooking water, and I can't tell you how often I forget. But it turned out that the sauce wasn't too thick at all, so I didn't really end up needing that cooking water to thin it out. This was super good, and Joe even commented on how good it tasted. Will keep this recipe in my book to use again.

Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon-Wrapped Little Smokies | The Chunky Chef

Thoughts: You can't go wrong with Little Smokies, can you? I needed something to make for the Super Bowl party that my brother and sister-in-law host every year, and I knew that Little Smokies would go over well with all of the kids/teens. And who doesn't love bacon! They take a little time to prep, since you're wrapping each smokie in a piece of bacon. But once you get that part done, they're easy to coat in the brown sugar mix and pop in the oven. They were a huge hit, as I knew they would be. 

Easy Mexican Sour Cream Dip | The Weary Chef

Thoughts: Confession time. I've made this before, so it's not actually a new-to-me recipe. But since I did try two new recipes, and my challenge to myself was to try 2-3 new ones each week - I figured I would just toss this one in too, since it's a good one. I love a good dip, and I also love corn chips. This dip can easily be served with another type of cracker/chip. I think the corn chips in the photo was part of what caught my eye when I found this on Pinterest though ;) And this is a really tasty dip! I brought this to the Super Bowl party last year, and I brought it again this year.

What We Ate: Week Four

At the start of 2018, I decided to challenge myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I decided to also share those new recipes here on my blog every Monday. The following recipes made their way into our meals last week.

Instant Pot Chicken Breast | Low Carb With Jennifer

Thoughts: One of the reasons that I wanted to try this out, is because it mentioned using frozen chicken breasts. Usually, I will plan ahead and defrost my chicken when I know I'm going to cook it up for dinner or just to have on hand for meal prepping. The idea of just tossing frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot appealed to me a lot. I didn't make this for an actual meal or dinner. I was doing a bunch of meal prep this weekend, and just wanted to try it out. Super easy, as all you do is toss in frozen chicken breasts, water, and some seasonings. I followed the seasonings that the recipe called for, but you could easily personalize it to your tastes or what you are going to use it for. Once it was done, I shredded it up right in the Instant Pot, along with all of the juices. Seasoning was perfect, and now I have a batch of shredded chicken that we can use for whatever we want - my main thoughts are salads and tacos. Will be using this recipe a lot, I'm sure!

Low Carb Chocolate Zucchini Muffins | Low Carb With Jennifer

Thoughts: In my quest to make healthier food choices after losing a big chunk of weight, I have been testing out some "healthy" versions of things I like. Muffins are one of those things, especially ones that involve chocolate. Most of the ingredients are things that I always keep on hand, with the exception of the coconut flour. I did have to buy some of that, along with heavy cream, since I only buy that when I need it. These muffins were delicious!! So, so, so good! I had them all to myself too, since the family didn't seem interested in them, once I mentioned they had zucchini in them. Lol.

Kind of funny that both of my recipes came from the same blog. I honestly had no clue until I went to grab links for this post. Maybe I need to check out more of her recipes :)

What We Ate: Week Two

Hey everyone! I'm back with another "What We Ate" post, to share the new recipes that I tried out last week. Two weeks into the year, and I'm still on track with my challenge to myself to work at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. 

Honey Drizzled Pistachio & Avocado Bagel Toast |  Gringalicious

Thoughts: This is a very simple recipe, but I'm all for simple meal ideas. I've had my eye on this one for myself, and tried it out last week for a simple lunch one afternoon. I only had bagel thins on hand, but they worked perfectly. And while mine didn't look nearly as pretty as the ones above, they were super yummy. It was so good, that I ended up making it three times in the last week. 

One-Pot Lasagna Soup | Carlsbad Cravings

Thoughts: I mentioned the idea of "lasagna soup" several times to the family, and they weren't big on the idea. I think it was the word "soup", as we're not really soup people around here. But I knew this would be a heartier "soup", so I went ahead with it, despite their initial reaction. I love a one-pot meal, and this one was super easy to make. Just like the blog post said, it did have a lot of ingredients, but they all just got dumped in one-by-one, so it wasn't much work at all. I didn't end up adding the last couple of cups of chicken broth that it called for at the end, because I figured that would just make it more soupy, and I decided it was a good thickness as it was. One thing I would do differently if/when I make this again, would be to break up the lasagna noodles into smaller pieces. I was worried I was making them too small, and turns out, they were a little too big. The family ended up liking it after all, and it was full of flavor and totally like eating lasagna. Personally, I'd rather eat lasagna soup than real lasagna ;)

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Rolls | Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Thoughts: I decided to try these out to go along with the lasagna soup. They're made using refrigerated biscuits, and were so simple to make. I like that the edges got a little crispy in the muffin tin, and how they pull apart into pieces for easy eating. And they mopped up the sauce in the lasagna soup perfectly!

I hate to take a break from this challenge to myself when I'm only two weeks into the year. Lol. But I will be headed out of town for four days later this week, and won't be back until late Monday night. So if I do end up posting next week, it will be mid-week. Otherwise, I'll get back to this new feature the following week. I'll be back tomorrow with a new layout share, for anyone missing my scrapbooking projects ;)

 

What We Ate: Week One

I'm trying out a new thing here, and we'll see if I can consistently keep it up throughout the year. So I mentioned that I set a goal this year when it comes to cooking. I am challenging myself to incorporate at least 2-3 new recipes into our meals each week. I love pinning good looking/sounding recipes on my Pinterest boards. In fact, food is one of the main things I go on Pinterest for these days. 

I used to have two boards for recipes. Now I have twenty. About a year ago, I took the time to create separate boards for different food and dessert categories, and I love how much more organized it all is. Not to say that everything is pinned on the perfect board. Lol. And some things fall under a few categories, and should be on multiple boards. But it works, and I change things, and add additional boards, as needed. 

What good is pinning all these yummy concoctions if you never actually try making them, right? That's where my challenge to myself came in. I have been trying some of these recipes over the last few months, and all of my Christmas cookie recipes I used for the past two years came from Pinterest. So I've had a little head start on the idea of actually using what I'm pinning, but I wanted to push myself to do even more. 

I'm thinking that every Monday, I'll try and share any new recipes I tried the previous week. Except this week, as I'm sharing on Tuesday ;) I should add that I didn't actually try any of these meals last week, as I hopped back on my diet for two weeks just to re-group a bit. So I have to take my family's word (and anyone else that ate the leftovers) on taste. Here's what I made for the first week of 2018: 

Slow Cooker Broccoli Beef | Creme De La Crumb

Thoughts: We love beef and broccoli, and I have a great recipe that I use from Rachael Ray to make it on the stove top. But I loved the idea of using the crock pot to make it. This was so easy to make. Toss all of the ingredients in the crock pot and let it do it's thing for 4-5 hours, adding in the broccoli a few minutes before serving. I made some steamed rice to go with it. The family loved it and said it was really, really good. I tried asking if it was better than the version I usually make, but they never did answer me. And I will say, while making beef and broccoli is pretty darn easy, this version was way less work than how I usually make it and less dishes and clean up. Which is always a plus in my book.

Slow Cooker Four Cheese Mac and Cheese | Damn Delicious

Thoughts: I love Damn Delicious recipes and this sounded like a good one. Again, using the crock pot. The recipe says to cook on low for 90 min to 2.5 hours. At first, I thought that meant it was good to go after 90 minutes, but could go up to 2.5 hours. But after letting it cook for 2 hours, it wasn't quite ready, as the noodles were still a bit tough. I did use a different type of noodle, so I'm not sure if that played into it. One family member said it was too cheesy (didn't know there was such a thing as too much cheese ;)). One family member said it was good, but filled her up too quick. Joe didn't love it, but took some leftovers to work, and it sounds like his co-workers (who eat a lot of my leftovers btw) said it was ok. Overall, it didn't get rave reviews in my house, so I probably won't make it again. 

Copycat TGI Friday's Potato Skins | Cincy Shopper

Thoughts: Soooo. My family looooooooves TGI Friday's potato skins. You know, the ones you get in the freezer section. And they always want to buy them, but they're so expensive, so I don't let them get them very often. I'm pretty sure that I've always known that potato skins are easy to make, but I admit, I've never tried to make them myself. While I know there are quicker ways to bake potatoes, I'm a rule follower, and did exactly what the recipe told me to do. It was the weekend, so I wasn't in a rush to get these done. They were so easy, and the family LOVED them. And it made a TON. I wanted to try freezing a few of them, to see if they would re-heat just like the real TGI Friday's frozen ones, but the family gobbled them up too quick. I told them they could never buy the frozen ones again, since I could make 10 times as many for the same price as one little box. Lol. I will for sure be making these again and again. 

Sloppy Joe Sliders | Valerie's Kitchen

Thoughts: I made these to go along with the potato skins. I had bought some rolls the previous weekend, and wanted to use them up by making some sliders. And when I went to search for a slider recipe, I knew that I wanted something using ground beef, since that's what I had on hand and thawed out. These Sloppy Joe Sliders were super easy to make, using all ingredients that are staples in my pantry. Joe loved these. Crazy, because they're so simple, but he kept saying how good they were. Sarah took off before dinner was ready, so she (and her boyfriend) has them as leftovers the next day. I only assembled the ones that were being eaten, since they go in the oven for a while. So it was easy to make more of the sliders the next day. 

So there's a look at my first week. I tried out 4 new recipes, keeping me on track with my challenge to myself. I'll be back next week to share what I end up making this week :)