Actually Delicious Gingerbread House and Cookies!

Each year I make homemade gingerbread houses for my kids and preschoolers. For the life of myself I couldn't find my recipe, so I searched the internet for hours for a good recipe that didn't require any boiling or weird ingredients. After a few other recipe failures, I came upon these 2 recipes from allrecipes.com. They are the bomb!! The house recipe tastes like graham crackers. My kids begged me to make more just so they could eat them. And I had numerous requests from my preschool mommies for the cookie recipe... it's that good!! One thing to note is that I had to add more flour to both recipes. So if your dough is still too creamy and not stiff and rollable then keep adding flour! (I hesitate to say how much more because I live 6500 ft above sea level and so it's going to be different depending on where you live :)

Gingerbread Man Cookies

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

2/3 cup molasses

2 eggs

4 cups flour, divided

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, craem together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough. (I had to add a lot more flour). On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8” thickness. Cut out and place 1” apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 min in the oven.

Gingerbread House Dough

¾ cup butter

7/8 cup packed light brown sugar

1 ½ tsp lemon juice

½ cup molasses

2 eggs

3 cups flour (I had to add 2 ½ more cups)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp ginger

2 tsp allspice

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and molasses. Gradually beat in 2 eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together; stir into creamed mixture. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out and cut out your house shapes. In a preheated 375F oven, bake for 10 min. Transfer to wire racks. Leave overnight to harden.

Hamburger Surprise!! :)

When we were first married and I told Mr. Amazing I was going to make "Hamburger Surprise" he got rather nervous. Usually any recipe with the word "surprise" is just another way to say "disgusting" haha. When I pulled them out of the oven and he tried one, he didn't like it. Then I added the MUST HAVE ingredient of Lawry's Season Salt. Bam! It instantly became one of his favorite meals. Which is a good thing, because I make them often!

Dough:

1 tbsp yeast

3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1 egg

¼ c shortening 

1 cup warm water

Inside:

Browned, seasoned hamburger to taste

Cheese slices

Put warm water, egg, sugar, salt and shortening into mixer. Start mixing and add 1 cup of flour. Mix until blended then add the yeast. Finish adding flour until the texture is just right then let it raise.

Take a small amount of dough and pull it until very thin a little bigger than your palm. Put a small scoop of cooked hamburger and a small cheddar cheese slice (like the size you’d put on a saltine cracker). Roll up into a ball. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. When hot put butter on top and sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Zesty Italian Chicken (Easy Peazy!!)

Comfort food. That is how Mr. Amazing described this meal! So good. So easy. Perfect!! Another freezer meal from Jessi that turned out to be a family fav and for sure going on the monthly list!

1 8 oz cream cheese

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 pkg Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning (the packet)

3 chicken breasts

Put cream cheese, soup and Italian packet into the slow cooker on high for 30 minutes. This will soften it and make it easy to stir until well combined. Add the chicken and cook on low for 5-6 hours (this is a meal that you definitely don't want to overcook). You can serve the chicken breasts whole or do as we do and use 2 forks and pull into smaller chunks. Serve over hot rice! (We have to double this recipe for our family of 6). 

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh my! This cheesecake is the real deal!!! Stacey is a rock on baker and this is just more proof of her incredible skills in the kitchen! Pumpkin only appeals to me in small amounts of flavor, and this recipe has it just right! This is the perfect recipe for Thanksgiving Dessert!!!

Crust:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

5 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp sugar

Filling:

3- 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

Whipped cream

Mix crust ingredients together, just til coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 cup the sides of an 8” spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Set aside. Combine cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl, mix smoothly with an electric mixer, add pumpkin, eggs and spices, beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 minutes or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temp and then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Oh I wish I would've taken my camera to recipe group last month! Every single item brought was delicious and all of them made the dang good list! So I'll post them for you even with no picture because you will totally want these recipes!! 

1 pkg Pillsbury refrigerator sugar cookie dough

8 oz cool whip

4 oz. cream cheese at room temp.

Roll dough into 48 ¾” balls. Place balls in mini cupcake pan. Bake for 6-7 min at 350. Let cool for a few minutes then remove from pan (dough will cave in while cooling). Whip softened cream cheese and then add in cool whip until nice and smooth. Place in baggie, cut off tip and pip into cookies. Decorate with fruit. (From Samantha).

Unstuffed Pepper Bake

This pic is before it's baked and topped with the cheese and tomato sauce so you could see what it looks like :)

I got this recipe in the mail from Smith's Food and Drug with coupons for all the ingredients a couple years ago and thought I'd give it a try. Well, from that moment on it was on "the list." So much less work that actually stuffing a pepper (any easy way out haha...), this meal tastes great and freezes beautifully! I personally prefer it with ranch dressing, but the fam will stick with sour cream any day. And tortilla chips (in my humble opinion) are a must!! It must be good when our buddy had 3 or 4 platefuls in one sitting :) 

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 ½ cups peppers chopped

2 garlic cloves

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 can diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups rice

1 tsp Worcestershire

1 tsp Italian seasoning

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Saute hamburger, onions, peppers and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire and Italian seasoning. Remove from heat, add 1 cup cheese

Spread mixture in 13x9 pan. Top with tomato sauce and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 min. Serve with tortilla chips.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

To eat these cookies is to step into the memories of my wonderful childhood, with the iconic mom who is baking away in the kitchen making delicious, enticing and aromatic goodies for her kids, friends and guests. These have been my favorite since I was a little kid and because of that, I'm sure they always will be :) More a cake like texture than cookie itself, these are best right off the pan with at least 16 oz of milk!

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

¾ tsp cloves

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups flour

1 bag chocolate chips

In a small bowl add applesauce and baking soda. Stir and set aside. In a larger bowl cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and cream. Add applesauce mixture and stir well. Add all dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips. (Dough will be fairly sticky). Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Vampires

I had to post this pic of these adorable cupcakes my friend (and preschool student's mom) Angie made for our party!!! Didn't she do an awesome job!!

Taco Salad

Ahhh, taco salad. The food that fed my pregnant self (and got me addicted to salad) for 5 months straight with my 2nd child. This one is completely versatile. Start with the basics and expand from there! The crucial part (in my opinion) is the taco bowls. You can buy the molds I think at Walmart. (My dad bought mine over 10 years ago, I think from an As Seen On TV ad haha). Anyway, just bake your shells and get started!

Basics:

Lettuce, rinsed and chopped

Meat (seasoned hamburger, chicken, steak or pork)

Shredded Cheese

Salsa

Sour cream

Green Onions, diced

Add-ins:

Guacamole

Red Onion

Black beans

Cilantro

Pico de Gallo

And anything else you like!

Layer your salad and enjoy!  

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

Call the cookie police, I cannot stop eating these!!!!!! These are by far my new favorite pumpkin cookies! My sweet friend Candy brought our family a couple plates full and I am ashamed to admit I ate 9 of the 14 of them. Any attempt at self-control flies out the window with these little babies!!!

2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 can ( about 16 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 pkg. (12 oz) white chocolate chips
1 container (16 oz.) cream cheese frosting
1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheets.

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at med speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and eggs; beat until we'll blended. Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and baking powder; beat just until blended. Stir in white chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on to prepared cookie sheets. Bake about  16 minutes or until set and bottoms are browned. Cool 1 min. On cookie sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

4. Combine frosting and brown sugar in small bowl. Spread on warm cookies.

BEST EVER!!! White Chicken Chili

Oh. My. Heck. Seriously. Heaven in bowl right here!! This is so good that I went and bought enough ingredients to make this meal at least 4 more times! My family doesn't really care for chili. I've tried numerous recipes, but unfortunately there has never been one good enough to repeat. Until now! My church was having a Halloween party and asked for people to bring in Chili for the dinner. So I went on a search to find the best chili ever. And I found it on sweetannas.com! I made it for my family a week in  before just to make sure and after my family ate the entire pot in 20 minutes, I knew I had a winner. I also made 2 more batches for the freezer for even less, quicker gratification :) (Note to Wyoming, USA friends: I could only find these beans at Walmart).

3 chicken breasts (raw or cooked), cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans white beans, drained

1 regular can pink beans (pinquitos)

1 large can diced green chilies

1 cup frozen corn

2 cups chicken stock

1 jalapeno, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips

2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

Throw all the ingredients (except for the crushed tortilla chips and cheese) into your slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. During the last 30 minutes, stir in the crushed tortilla chips and the shredded cheese and heat until cheese is melted and the chili has thickened up. Serve with sour cream, chips, salsa or whatever else you want!

Sloppy Joes

Are you a Sloppy Joe fan? If my only introduction to these easy little babies were from the school cafeteria, I have to admit, I'd never eat them again. But thankfully my wonderful mom knew how to make good Sloppy Joes. As in, REALLY GOOD (especially to an Idaho meat and potato every night kind of girl)! With 3 ingredients! To this day I could care less for the "sloppy" part of the Joe that looks like it's from the can, all runny and making my bread soggy. But this way is perfect. And you can give it as much or as little umph as you want. And best of all, this meal is ready in less than 15 minutes!

2 lbs hamburger (or adjust the amount to whatever your family will eat)

BBQ sauce

Ketchup

Here I must say, the brand of BBQ sauce and Ketchup does make a huge difference! If you want some serious flavor, you gotta use Heinz Ketchup and a good BBQ sauce (my fav is Bullseye Carolina Flavor).

Brown your hamburger. Then add your BBQ and Ketchup. (Sorry for the vague amount here... it really is just to taste!). I would say it's 3 parts BBQ to 1 part Ketchup (for less kick and a more ketchupy flavor use 1/2 and 1/2) Start with a smaller amount of each, and stir to see if it coats the meat nicely. If not, add more. These aren't meant to be saucy so less can definitely be more with these!

Pizza Rolls

Not that my picture taking skills are anything to get excited about, but I apologize even more so for this one. Mr. Amazing had the camera for the weekend and all I was left with was my really crappy dumb-phone camera. But it worked, right?! .

In all seriousness, these pizza rolls are incredible!!! My kids snarfed these little babies down so quickly that 3/4 of the pan disappeared within 15 minutes! Then hubby came home, ate his fill, and then kept grabbing another and then another. (Addicting? I think, yes!). I can't wait to try these as a freezer meal! Another dang good recipe makes the menu!! (Recipe from honeybearlane.com)

4 cans store-bought buttermilk biscuit dough

1 package pepperoni

3-4 cups of Mozzarella cheese (or Mozzarella sticks cut into 3rds)

Basil, Oregano, Garlic Salt, Grated Parmesan

Open each can and taking one biscuit at a time, press each biscuit flat. Put in 2 pepperoni's and the desired amount of cheese. Fold up sides into a ball and put into a greased 9x13 pan close together. Brush the tops with oil and sprinkle with seasonings and Parmesan cheese. Bake in oven at 425 degrees for 18-22 minutes. For 10 minutes have them covered with foil and for the last 8-12 minutes remove the foil so they can brown.

Slow Cooker Fajitas

If your fam is anything like mine, Fajitas are a required food at least once a month. Nothing beats the flavor of marinated lime chicken, hot off the grill with fresh peppers and onions slightly sauteed for flavor but still with a perfect crunch, all perfectly placed on a grilled tortilla with sour cream, cheese and fresh tomatoes! 

But unfortunately for us, grilled chicken hot off the grill isn't always an option (Mr. Amazing isn't always home on time :). And because I had a jam-packed day and soccer practices in the early evening, I decided to try a crock-pot version instead!

I made up a marinade from Weber I got on clearance at Smith's and poured it over frozen chicken and strips of bell peppers and onion rings. After 7 hours, the chicken shredded perfectly and was ready for a browned tortilla.

Verdict: It's a keeper. I still say hot off the grill wins by a few points, and in the future I think I will just do the chicken in the slow cooker and then saute the peppers and onions right before we eat! But it's definitely easier and quicker, so I'll definitely be repeating it!

3 chicken breasts

3-4 bell peppers, cut in strips 

1 large onion, cut into rings

Tortillas

Sour cream

Cheese

Chopped tomatoes

Put chicken into slow cooker and cover with your fav marinade. Cook on low for 7-8 hours and shred. You can either add the onions and bell peppers with the chicken at the beginning or saute them right before you eat in a pan. Heat up a skillet on medium heat and brown the tortillas on each side. Serve with all your fav toppings!

World's Best Taco Soup

Mr. Amazing does not like Taco Soup. I've tried numerous variations in hopes of converting him. He has to call it Chili to choke it down haha. But when I saw this recipe from iheartnaptime.net, I knew I had to give it a shot!

Well, it didn't work haha. I told him this one had tons more good stuff in it, but when he tried it he said "it tastes like taco soup." Oh well. Can't win them all!

But the rest of us loved it, so it's a keeper! It does taste like Taco Soup, but so much heartier!!! Everyone was stuffed after 1 bowl and it made double the amount of my normal recipe! It would be super easy to make this into a freezer meal, too, either before or after cooking it!

1 lb hamburger

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 med sweet onion

½ green bell pepper chopped

½ red bell pepper chopped

½ orange or yellow bell pepper chopped

1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can corn

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

¼ cup salsa

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Brown hamburger in a large pan. Add in onion and bell peppers and sauté for a few minutes. Add to slow cooker. Add in remaining ingredients and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Top with your favorite toppings and tortilla chips.

Quick Banana Bread

When Grandma showed up with 6 overripe bananas that needed used immediately and with a lack of desire time to whip up a couple batches of banana bread, I decided to try out artsyfartsymama.com's easy version. Although I would have to say this has more of a light cake with banana flavor appeal that actual banana bread, the way my kids ate through 2 loaves in 8 minutes deemed it a keeper! And hands down it is a lot easier and quicker! 

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs

3 overripe bananas, mashed

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix everything together and pour into greased bread pans (I find it cooks better if they aren't super thick which is why I do 2 pans. You can do just 1 pan with it being really thick if you want though). Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Egg in a Hole

Ree, from thepioneerwoman.com, has some killer recipes that this family loves. And this one has just been added to the list! My kids love (love, love!) over-easy eggs with toast and beg Mr. Amazing to make it for them often (I'm a scrambled eggs only kinda gal so they know who to ask if they want it done right haha ;). So when I found this recipe that combined the two, it was guaranteed to be a keeper. And it is! And with Grandma's hearty whole wheat bread, it only took 1-2 of these babies for the kids to be stuffed! 

1 slice of your fav bread

1 Tbsp butter

1 whole egg

Salt and Pepper to taste

With a biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass, press a hole in the center of the slice of bread. Next preheat a skillet over medium low heat and melt a tbsp of butter in it. When the butter is spread out, place the piece of bread in the skillet and crack the egg straight into the center of the hole. Cook for a good minute or so and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then flip it over with a spatula and cook another minute of so. Let it cook until the yolk feels soft without feeling over-jiggly. If using a griddle to cook (like you cook pancakes on) then butter the bread itself like you would grilled-cheese sandwiches.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Photo from thecountrycook.net

Her pic is way better than mine and she deserves all the credit for this meal!

So I found this recipe from Brandie at thecountrycook.net, and my mouth immediately began to water. Just the name of it made me want it instantly,  but the picture got my mouth watering! I couldn't wait to try it out on my family the next day, and I have to say, THANK YOU BRANDIE! My family snarfed this down. I kid you not. They ate their fill before soccer practices and when we got back 2 hours later, they finished it off. Mr. Amazing will eat anything I cook and is usually accompanied by a "thank you" and hopefully "that was good." Well this one got me one heck of a kiss and a raving review that included the desire for it to be made again, and soon! This is an incredible make-over on normal tater-tot casserole recipes and it has made the dang good recipe list!

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots

1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the

bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Add diced chicken on top.  Season with salt & pepper. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top. Cover and cook on low about 4-5 hours.

Cowboy Salsa

This is a pretty popular salsa known under many names, but I call in Cowboy Salsa, because I am a die hard Wyoming-ite and therefore, a salsa that is this amazing needs some association with us Cowboys :) (even if I am just a wanna-be cowboy haha). My daughter's fav snack ever, she sees me buy an avocado and she starts jumping for joy...

1 can black beans, rinsed, drained

1 can corn, drained

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch cilantro chopped

1 avocado

1 tomato

Salt to taste

1 pkg Italian Dressing mixed up according to directions. Not a requirement, but it does taste better if you can make the dressing up a few hours in advance and let it refrigerate.

Mix everything together but the dressing. Only add dressing right before serving. Watch the bowl disappear in record time (or hide what is left in the fridge in the furthest part of the fridge for that midnight craving :)

Mama’s French Bread Pizza

I might have just been given the easiest meal in the world to make. Seriously. This is SO GOOD! And ridiculously easy! From Priscilla from our recipe group, I say THANK YOU!! My kids had this gone within minutes, I kid you not! The secret really is the garlic butter, so unless you have a killer garlic butter recipe (and are more gung-ho than I am), then buy a bakery garlic french bread loaf that already has it spread on! We did discover that there was too much in the middle and not enough on the sides so next time I will spread around the butter more evenly first. Perfect as is, my kids have asked that next time we try adding a few toppings (jalapenos for Rachel, pepperoni for baby doll, etc). The best part was how fast this came together. It took about 4 minutes to get into the oven and was ready to eat in 13. It just doesn't get any better than that! 

Garlic French bread (the bakery kind that already has garlic butter spread on it)

Mayonnaise

2 tomatoes

Colby or Pizza blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spread mayo over the garlic butter on both halves. Slice tomatoes and arrange on the halves. Cover with desired amount of cheese. Place in oven and bake for 13 minutes or until cheese is melted and French bread is toasted. Slice up and enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn & Black Beans

From overthebigmoon.com, this one is a keeper! Holy buckets! Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water! This is definitely going to be doubled for an extra freezer meal! My family loved this one served on heated tortillas with all the toppings. The only thing I would add is some fresh cilantro at the end when it is done.

1 ½ lbs chicken breast

Juice from 2 limes

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn

2 minced garlic cloves

½ red onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with tortillas and toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cheese, and fresh chopped cilantro.

The Best Buttermilk Cornbread

This cornbread is so good that I couldn't even snatch a picture of it before it was half gone! Still ranked in the top 20 on allrecipes.com, this buttermilk cornbread is almost like cake. It's divine! Never really haven eaten cornbread til I married my hubby who lived in the south for 2 years, I was never a big fan. That all changed when I found this recipe a few years ago. Now it's a staple. It's a snack! And it is a requirement for stew! Only 1 thing makes this better... and it requires being awesome, and therefore I am disqualified. But my mom, she's awesome. She dehydrates her own corn. And when she wants a little piece of heaven, she freshly grinds enough corn for the corn meal. And that my friends, makes this even better than best. Yes, that is possible :)

½ cup butter

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

½ tsp baking soda

1 cup cornmeal 

1 cup flour

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin tin cups.

Melt butter and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk and baking soda. Add to mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. (I always double this and just put in a 9x13 and cook a little longer).

Our Fav Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Heaven in a bowl. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, tweaked it a bit according to other's opinions and voila! Perfection! Out here in Wyoming, this is a staple in our family in the winter! Double batch it for left-overs or freeze for another day. Pair it with some cornbread and you will have one happy family!

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp paprika

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 ½ cups beef broth

5-6 potatoes

4 carrots sliced

2 stalks celery

1 pkg McCormicks beef stew seasoning. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bag. Coat the meat with it. Sear meat. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour 2 cups beef broth into pan to deglaze then pour over beef. Add rest of broth and all other ingredients. Stir and cook for 10 hours on low.

(Note: I'm rather horrible at adding the exact amount of veggies. I just dice, throw in, and when it fills up the pot just right, I stop :) Therefore, I almost always end up using 3 cans of beef broth or whatever it takes to get it right to the top of the veggies and meat).

Dang Good Wrap!

Some men starve when they have to cook their own meals. Some men eat out. And then some men cook themselves some dang good food!!!! My husband cooks quite frequently in our home as it is (much to our delight), and it is no different when he is left to fend for himself for 5 days! This guy can cook! When he showed me this picture later of one of the meals he made for himself, not only was my mouth watering, but it also became a requirement to make some more for us all to try haha! 

1 lb pork (marinate in your fav sauce)

1 tomato, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 can black beans

2 cups cooked rice

Shredded Cheese

Tortillas

Cook up the pork and dice meat. Layer rice, beans, onion, meat, tomato and cheese on a tortilla. Enjoy!

Mock Filet Mignon

So these are totally going on the Dang Good menu! My sweet friend Jen invited our family over for dinner and served us these little babies! Talk about good! And even better...they are easy to make and can be frozen! All my kids loved them, and I seriously can't wait to make a batch so that I can make extras for another meal. Hope you enjoy as much as we did! And thanks Jen, for yet another, Dang Good Recipe!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (uncooked)

3/4 cup cooked rice

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

Enough strips of bacon for however many balls you make.

Combine everything but the bacon. Shape into balls and wrap bacon around each. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 450 for 30 min. Devour :)