Spaghetti Pie with Laughing Cow Cheese

I could probably make spaghetti 100 ways, 100 days in a row and not get tired of it. I love Yaya's spaghetti. Add some cheese and pop it in the oven and it's a whole different meal. Top it with pepperoni and you've got pizza baked spaghetti. Switch out the sausage for ground beef or turkey, turn the meat into meatballs, or fry up some chicken to go alongside the pasta... all acceptable modifications.

Menu for 6/23/14-6/29/14

Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow night and that means early family dinners. When I was a little girl Nana would always cook dinner every night of VBS for the whole family. Nana has two children and four grandchildren so there were usually 8-10 people there every night for a week which seemed like a huge party to me. She would make roast beef or meatloaf with peas and mashed potatoes and gravy, lasagna and salad, and fried chicken. I have many fond memories of VBS, but family dinner is one of my favorites.

Wishlist Wednesday June 2014

This is still a work in progress. I haven't completely nailed down the details of this feature yet so here's how it's going to work until I have it all figured out.

I'll post my wishlist once a month for now, probably on Wednesdays. I'll be including pictures and links to things I find interesting. I'll try to include a variety of things, not just recipes. Since I love to craft I'll probably be featuring knitting and crochet patterns, handmade jewelry, and possibly sewing instructions (even though I haven't quite mastered sewing) as well as some cute kids crafts.

Menu for 6/16/14-6/22/14

Happy Father's Day to all the awesome daddies out there!

Admiral and his girlfriend CJ. (Photo borrowed from Facebook)

I have a pretty special dad myself.

Creamy Garlic Shells

I've noticed that I rarely post recipes for side dishes. I guess it's because I'm always so focused on the main dish. It might also be because we usually eat the same sides with every meal I make.

Menu for 6/9/14-6/15/14

Guys, I am raising a daughter who is terrified of change.

This week I did a little spring cleaning (I know, I'm behind) on Bailey's bedroom. I packed up her outgrown clothes and stored them away (and shed a tear over how grown up my little lady is), cleaned and organized her bedroom closet and drawers, and shampooed the carpet in her room. I've been dying to rearrange her furniture for months and having everything out in the hallway it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. All I wanted to do was switch the cubby shelf with the bed.

Crescent Chicken

Because I'm returning from a brief break from cooking I thought I'd start out tonight with a simple meal. Something a bit lazy for me, but still flavorful and satisfying.

I found this recipe on Pinterest quite a few months ago. It's been sitting on my back burner recipe board as a kind of emergency recipe.

Menu for 6/2/14-6/8/14

What a long, difficult week. I haven't cooked since Monday. I'm barely sleeping but always tired, and it seems like everything I eat upsets my stomach. I'm sure it's all stress but it's incredibly frustrating.

I didn't feel like doing anything around the house this week. My kitchen is a mess. I only ran the dishwasher Thursday night because Bailey was out of cups and Aaron was out of coffee mugs. Our laundry is piling up in Bailey's room (I share laundry baskets with Bailey because I wash our clothes together... it's makes it easier that there's no sorting involved on laundry day since it's already sorted between the two baskets)

A Sad Day

My heart is broken today.

I haven't mentioned it before because I was trying to keep the blog happy and upbeat but my Grandpa has been in the hospital since April. The doctors found a tumor on the lining of his brain that was 4 inches wide. They had to do surgery to remove it.

Memorial Day Barbecue Pulled Pork

Okay, so I know this is not authentic barbecue since the meat is not smoked, but it is probably the closest thing I can do without a grill or smoker of some kind.

The reason I love this barbecue is because the meat is so succulent. It's cooked low and slow in the oven allowing the fat to render and the connective tissues to break down creating the perfect mouth feel. The meat falls apart when you go to pull it.

Menu for 5/26/14-6/1/14

I'm adding a new blog to my list of favorites this week. Fantastical Sharing of Recipes is full of quick, simple, and budget friendly recipes all posted by Sarah, who is seriously excited about everything she posts. It's infectious, the excitement. I love reading the posts that go along with her recipes. She gets me pumped up to cook and that's never a bad thing.

Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

Apparently I finally caught up on my sleep last night. Thank goodness because after sleeping 10 hours last night if I had to take another nap today I was going to have to make an appointment with the doctor.

Since I managed to stay awake during nap time I had dinner ready when Aaron walked in the door. We've had these lasagna roll-ups before, but the only recipe I've posted was for the Alfredo version. The recipe is so versatile though. I've made them with beef, vegetarian with spinach and cheese, and even with ground turkey.

Is there something in the air?

There definitely is something in the air here in Knoxville. It's called pollen and it is absolutely evil!

I have horrible allergies. It seems like I'm allergic to everything from dust to pollen and lots of things I've never heard of people being allergic to before. I must have super sensitive skin because I break out from deodorants and soaps and lotions and even hypoallergenic sunblock!

Menu for 5/19/14-5/25/14

This should be short because I'm feeling so lazy this week. I've skipped my exercises several nights. I went to bed without cleaning the kitchen more than once. I even let Bailey stay in pajamas all day on Wednesday. I just haven't had any motivation at all for some reason.

Nap time has not been going well for us. The ice cream truck has a tendency to make laps around our block during nap time every day.

Crock Pot Chicken Bacon and Ranch Pasta

I have a few favorite crock pot meals. Ham and white beans for cold winter nights, chicken taco chili, and creamy Italian chicken and pasta are at the top of my list and tonight's dinner was quite similar to the Italian chicken pasta.

There's something about chicken in a creamy sauce over pasta that is so comforting and when you can throw it all in the crock pot and forget about it (or leave the house for an hour or so like I did today) it's even better. This was originally supposed to be the new recipe on my birthday but we wound up eating out that night.

Spicy Chicken Sandwiches

Aaron has an unhealthy obsession with Wendy's. In particular he likes the spicy chicken sandwich. He will eat one almost every day for lunch at work and if I am feeling too lazy to cook dinner he will suggest Wendy's almost every time.

Menu for 5/12/14-5/18/14

I know I'm a day late with this but Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. We don't get enough credit daily for all that we do, but on Mother's Day everyone takes a moment to remember the special caregivers in their lives, the women who make sacrifices to ensure the health and prosperity of their offspring.

I had a very nice Mother's Day. It was more action packed than last year when we relaxed at Yaya's house all day and had a nice Mexican dinner out.

It's My Birthday!

It's my birthday!

I was still up at midnight last night and cracked open a Black Cherry Mike's to celebrate. I rarely drink unless I'm celebrating something, but my bestest friend gave me a few of these delicious black cherry flavored "beers" for my Easter gift and I thought now might be a good time to enjoy them.

Menu for 5/5/14-5/11/14

I was hesitant to post another recipe last week since I've been having such trouble with the computer. I'm still putting together posts and taking pictures so as soon as I can get Aaron to transfer the photos to my flash drive I'll be able to get some new recipes up. Please don't forget about me if I don't manage to get anything up this coming week.

Speaking of this coming week, it's my birthday on Thursday. How lucky am I to get my birthday and Mother's Day in the same week? I couldn't decide what I wanted to cook for my birthday dinner since it falls on new recipe night so I went with something that Aaron has been begging me to try for months now.

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

A note before we begin:  I'm posting this without pictures for the time being. My computer still will not read my memory card. Since Aaron is already asleep I can't ask him to e-mail me the photographs. I promise to edit the post to include pictures as soon as possible, but for now this is the only photo I have of our meal and it's not the best quality. My apologies.

It seems I've been branching out a bit with my cooking. I've been cooking large beef roasts, whole pork shoulders, and bone-in chicken more often. I even made Pioneer Woman's chicken and noodles with a whole chicken. That was a bit scary for me since I generally stick with boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders and it was my first time cutting up a whole chicken.