Yaya's Broccoli Casserole

What is your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?

I love spending time with family we don't often see and I love the delicious food. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days of the year that I get to have pumpkin pie and it's my absolute favorite pie. I do enjoy the turkey, and the ham (especially when we get honey glazed ham, oh-my-yummy-goodness!), but my favorite part of dinner is definitely the broccoli casserole.

Menu for 11/25/13-12/1/13

Can you guys believe it's just a week until December? I'm amazed how quickly this year has gone. I keep thinking Is it really almost Christmas?

The week of Thanksgiving has finally arrived. Our family is still a little unsure of what our plans are. Usually we would have Thanksgiving lunch at Nana's around 1:00 and then run out to Aaron's parent's house for a second lunch around 3:00. I am generally responsible for mashed potatoes (I make these delicious loaded mashed potatoes with red skin potatoes, turkey bacon, and fat free sour cream) and Yaya is responsible for my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner,

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

How many spaghetti recipes can one girl post?

I must confess: I love pasta. Pasta is probably one of my favorite foods whether it's the main course or on the side. I'm sure anyone who likes spaghetti has a favorite sauce. Mine is actually the sauce from Louis' Drive-In here in Knoxville, TN. It's probably one of the only ground beef sauces I truly enjoy.

Menu for 11/18/13-11/24/13

I cannot believe I have made it more than halfway through November with only 5 posts!  It was not intentional, I promise.  I even had plans for extra posts the past few weeks that have yet to make it past my brain.  I keep forgetting to take pictures or the pictures turn out grainy or dark or the recipe isn't what I was hoping it would be.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Dinner tonight was A-MA-ZING!!

I really need to stop cooking such incredible food because I can't keep myself from overeating.  I probably had three bowls of this soup.

Menu for 11/11/13-11/17/13

Who has seen the new Thor?  I have!  I have!

Thankfully, Aaron gave me Friday night off to spend an evening child-free with Dad, his girlfriend, and my brother.  We are huge Marvel/Avengers fans!  In fact, my brother and I are already making plans to go see the new Captain America and the new X-men when they come out sometime in May, conveniently right around my birthday.

Soy and Ginger Marinated Pork Tenderloin

For some reason I can't get in the mood to write lately.  I know I've been neglecting the blog the past few weeks so I'm trying to get motivated.  It's hard when Bailey has all of these new toys and wants me to play with her all the time.  I'm having trouble finding the motivation to even clean the house or cook dinner.  All I want to do all day is color.

Menu for 11/4/13-11/10/13

I know I'm a couple of days late posting the menu for this week, and that I failed to post any recipes last week, but I was just so busy.  On top of all of my normal Mommy duties I also had to make this:

and these:

Menu for 10/28/13-11/3/13

My weekend was jam packed with exciting activities!  First we had portraits with Li'l P Friday morning, dinner with Grandmother and Papaw Friday night, I had to work Saturday morning, and then I came home and made cupcakes for Nightmare Night.  At Nightmare Night we got to meet some ducks and a goose (just like the game!) and interrupt everyone's games, and dance to some dubstep with a glow stick!  This was actually the first time Bailey has ever thrown a fit over being put in the car seat.  Actually, she usually climbs in all by herself.  And finally on Sunday night we visited Admiral and played with crayons and stack cups and finger puppets after dinner.

Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Florentine

Whenever I find a recipe that I know Aaron won't eat I volunteer to cook dinner at Yaya's house.  I use them as guinea pigs and if dinner turns out well I trick Aaron into trying it by making it for his parents.

This recipe will never fly with him.  He won't eat spinach or diced tomatoes and he definitely won't go for a meal with no meat so he will never ever try this, but I thought it was fabulous!

My Big Little Girl

I will be the first to admit that I don't do everything right as a parent.  Some things I don't realize that I'm doing wrong.  Like it took me 3 months to figure out that all I had to do was tell Bailey to push and she could put her arms in her sleeves all by herself or that if I say "Step in," she will just step right into her pants like a big girl.

I mostly let Bailey do things by herself.  She's a pretty independent kid.

Menu for 10/21/13-10/27/13

I was going to tell you about my week but somehow a horrible headache crept up on me.  I'm having a little trouble seeing the computer screen so I'm just going to jump right to the menu.  Maybe sometime this week I'll have time to catch you up.

Fried Apple Butter Turnovers

Have you ever had a non-traditional birthday cake?  Personally I prefer brownies to cake.  In fact I prefer blondies to brownies.  I have been known to request brownies instead of cake on my birthday.

My brother would rather have apple butter turnovers.

I got lucky with these because I have a jar of Nana's homemade apple butter which makes these some of the very best turnovers I've ever had.  They are not like traditional turnovers with the flaky pastry.  They are made with canned biscuits (though you could probably do them in the oven with crescent rolls) making them more like a hand pie than a turnover, but my family has always called them turnovers.  They are fried in salted butter creating an interesting dynamic between the salty, crispy outside and the sweet, soft center.

Ginger Chicken with Broccoli

I love Chinese takeout.  I really love Chinese takeout.  Seriously, I am super in love with Chinese takeout.

Ya know what I don't love? I don't love driving to pick up Chinese takeout.  I don't  love calling to order Chinese takeout.  I don't love paying for Chinese takeout.

Folks, I may have found a way to have Chinese takeout without having Chinese takeout.  You can make it at home, and it is amazing, and easy!

Menu for 10/14/13-10/20/13

We had a fun week!  Nana got to come home from rehab this week, and I feel like I actually accomplished things this week.  I don't know why but I was on top of the cooking and cleaning stuff every day.

We switched our weekly plans with Yaya to Mondays instead of Tuesdays leaving me four blissful days in a row to do home things.  I do laundry, clean the bathroom, living room, and Bailey's room, buy groceries, plan meals... I even worked in a cupcake order this weekend.  I am so on the ball!

Mozzarella and Pepperoni Stuffed Chicken

This month will see two versions of chicken cordon bleu.  This is the first, and the second (in a couple of weeks) will be an actual traditional chicken cordon bleu.

Menu for 10/7/13-10/13/13

Bailey made a new friend this week and we are having a play date with her tomorrow.  I can't wait!  Her new friend is four years old, but she's a small four and Bailey is a big (almost) two so they look like two three year olds playing together, except that Bailey can't talk as well.  Thursday they played with pine needles in the parking lot until Bailey's hair was full of needles and leaves and dirt.  We had to do bath time before nap time.

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

Tonight was the last night of leftovers from that amazing roast beef I made Monday night.  I'm sad that all of my roast beef is gone, but I'm also really glad that I made the most of it.  I'm also glad that I got to try something really out of the box with this recipe.

Leftover Roast Beef Stew

Sooooo I'm an idiot.  I admit it.  I willingly admit that I'm a nerd and a dork, but tonight I am a total idiot.  Dinner tonight was supposed to be made in the crock pot.  I put all of the ingredients in the crock pot just like I was supposed to.  I turned the crock pot on low and went to sit down in the living room.

Death by Chocolate Bundt Cake

Lately I feel like I've pinned every recipe on Pinterest that I'm interested in.  I spend more of my time looking through my own pins than looking for new ones, but the other day I came across one that I hadn't seen before and I couldn't wait to try it.