It snowed, again, here yesterday.  As I am writing this, it is still snowing and is supposed to until about 3am.  Ugghh!  I am so sick of the cold and the snow!  I am not a winter girl.  I love all other seasons, but winter, winter is not my friend.

However, I do happen to love a nice warm and hearty meal on a snowy night.

I realize that a chicken and dumpling recipe is pretty common, but I just couldn't help sharing this with you all.  It is a very simple recipe with tons of taste.  If you are looking for a way to spice up your personal recipe or you are in need of a simple chicken and dumpling recipe because, lets face it, those from-scratch dumplings can be intimidating, this is a great one for you, too!

I originally mentioned this recipe in My Top 10 Slow Cooker Recipes post.  Since September, I have been fine-tuning this recipe in hopes to one day get it on the blog.  That day has come!  I didn't tweak the original recipe much, but I did substitute something and add a couple of ingredients.

How's everybody doing today?  We have been staying home a lot here lately due to the cold and snowy weather that we keep getting.  I've kept myself busy purging, organizing, and cleaning all kinds of things.  I am determined to get some order going on in this house.

I've also had time to go through some of my recipes and pick some different things to show you all on the blog.  Casseroles do tend to get old, am I right?

AND WE'RE BACK!  I took quite a break from the 'ole blog over the holiday season and I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  I'm still working on blowing the dust out of my brain, so bear with me the next couple of weeks while we got a routine restored around here.

With that being said, I have a new recipe for you all today!  It was supposed to be my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dip that I made over the holidays, but my pictures disappeared, so I will have to re-make that one and take different photos. :(

So, today, is a very simple recipe....a college kid recipe, if you will.  My mother-in-law told me about this years ago when E and I were living together, stating that she used to make it for E when he was little.  We ate the crap out of it back in the day! I hadn't made it in a while, but those days between Christmas and New Year's were tough, so I made this and L loved it, too!

This recipe is simple, easy, and yummy!  You only need about 4-5 ingredients and it's quick.  This is perfect for nights that you don't have a lot of time or it's time to go to the store and you just don't want to go quite yet because, hey, the milk is still good and so is the bread and you have these ingredients that you know you can make something out of....Oh...am I the only one that does that?  ...Oopsie... :)

Welcome everyone!  It's Wednesday and that usually means that it's time for another recipe from yours truly! :)  This week I have a super easy casserole to share with all of you.  We will get to that in a minute, but first I need to cover a couple of things:

1.  This will be the last recipe for 2013.  I won't be posting recipes until after the first of the year.  I'm giving myself a break for the holiday season and to replenish my recipe stash. ;)

2.  I have quite a bit of end-of-the-year things to wrap up that are blog related.  I have posts planned until January 1st, so I need to get to cracking on new material!  Is there anything you would like to see on the blog?  Leave me a comment and tell me!

Now that business is taking care of, let's get to talking about the subject at hand....


This recipe came about after rummaging through my pantry in hopes of finding something to fix for dinner.  It was cold and snowy and I didn't want to venture out to the store.  After doing some quick Google searches and pantry rummaging, I discovered I had everything I would need to make some Cheesy Tuna Casserole!

I don't know about all of you, but one of my favorite things about this time of year is the treats.  The cookies, the cakes, the brownies, the Hershey Kisses....(um, actually, that last one is all year...).

Anyway, I have started making my way through Pinterest and trying to decide what I want to make this year.  I don't go crazy because it's just the three of us, but I love to bake.  The Hubbs loves cookies, so I usually do a cookie or two, but I always try and find something different to do.  Then you have the holiday parties to bake for, too and it can get a bit overwhelming, right?

Well, fear not!  I have come up with a little round up for you all of some of the most delicious looking holiday treats I have seen.

It has just gotten down right frigid here in the Midwest this week.  I was looking for an easy meal to prepare since I am saving all of my energy for my big turkey preparing debut on Thursday.  I also wanted something warm and comforting since it was so darn cold outside!

Alright, so, here's the deal:  I flaked on a recipe for this week.  I totally forgot to include my featured recipe in my grocery list and thus, it did not get purchased.  Next week though, I will have an awesome new recipe to make up for it!

In the meantime, I took the liberty of rounding up some pretty yummy looking Thanksgiving desserts around Pinterest!  Have a look see!  You won't find pumpkin pie in this round up!

Here I am again with another recipe from my kitchen!  This one is good for the kiddos and adults!  Because, seriously, who doesn't like little hot dogs wrapped in melted cheese and a lovely croissant?


I made these for L and I one day for a fun lunch.  In need of a change from our lunch meat/PBJ/Chicken Fingers rut, I started scouring the fridge.

Hmm...Turkey dogs....sliced cheese....a can of croissants...PIGS IN A BLANKET!

I quickly got to work creating the coolest pigs in a blanket I had ever created.

Just because October is over, doesn't mean that you have to stop talking about pumpkin.  We love pumpkin in this house!  Today's recipe I made a couple of weeks ago and it was gone before I had a chance to do anything about it.

The Hubbs mentioned a couple of times how he was in the mood for pumpkin bread and, after the second time, I thought, "I better make him some pumpkin bread," and set out to find a good recipe.

I went through every recipe I had here in the house before getting on Pinterest.  What I had wasn't giving me the "warm fuzzies" so I set out on Pinterest to find the perfect pumpkin bread recipe.

I wanted something that would embrace the season with its look, smell, and taste.  I scoured tons of pins before finding this recipe from Leah over at Freutcake.  Score!


This post is linked up at:

Welcome to the first post in the From My Kitchen series!  I am excited to share today's recipe with you and hope that you will come back week after week to see what else I have been cooking in my kitchen.

The purpose of this series is to help me broaden my horizons in the kitchen.  I fell into a huge rut cooking this past year and I have to get out of it.  I enjoy cooking (and baking), but I had lost interest.  I had lost interest to the point where I was mainly just fixing the same things over and over again throughout the month.

While making dinner last night, I reached into the refrigerator  for the spaghetti sauce, (I know, my bad.  Scratch is better.) opened the lid, and was met with mold on the inside of the cap!  WHAT!?  I checked the expiration date-still good. I promptly tossed the jar into the trash can and went downstairs to see if I had any spaghetti sauce in my (small) stash.

I sent a shout out on Facebook seeing if anyone had a quick and easy spaghetti sauce recipe they could give me and started frantically searching for my Mom's sauce recipe in my (totally unorganized) recipe basket.

My aunt text me a link to a Pinterest pin and it seemed easy enough except....


So, in my Aries way, (I work best under pressure) I began searching up recipes on the iPad, seeing what all the recipes in the internet world had in common.

(Mind you, my child is running around like a heathen, screaming and throwing things.  Daddy is downstairs working in his office.  The cats are running a muck and Mommy is having a panic attack.  Welcome to my life at dinner time.) 

My trusty iPad informed me that spaghetti sauce had these things in common:





I had everything but the garlic, basil, oregano, and tomato paste.

So, I began rummaging around my spice cabinet again and came up with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.


I started throwing ingredients in my skillet with the meat already browned, stirred it around really good, and let it simmer, while covered, for a good fifteen minutes.


I was very proud of myself in the kitchen last night.  I actually used my resources (and my brain) and was able to produce a spaghetti sauce on the fly.

Please pin this image.   Ingredients:  1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of tomato sauce 1 can of tomato paste 2 tbsp. of sugar 1/2 tsp. of black pepper Garlic powder Italian seasoning Add all above ingredients into your skillet with your browned (and drained) meat.  When you get to the garlic powder and Italian seasoning, these are to taste.  We like garlic around here, but not overpowering amounts.  I did 3-4 shakes over the entire skillet of both seasonings and it turned out just fine. Mix everything up in your skillet, set your stove to simmer, and cover for about 15 minutes. Do a taste test before you serve.  If it needs more of something, add it now. Voila! On-The-Fly Spaghetti Sauce! So, tell me: What's your go-to spaghetti sauce recipe?