Taquitos

Taco Tuesday is one of my very favorite things to make. They always taste amazing because you can totally cater them to what you're feeling like that day! Well, I'll be honest and tell you that Michael is usually in charge of Taco Tuesday, so he always makes them...another reason why they're the best! There's such a hype about Taco Tuesday, I'm totally making up a new day later in the week: Taquito Thursday (or Friday or Saturday....I could seriously eat these things any day)!! Here's to more salsa and tortillas because they're the best things ever.

This is another slow cooker meal, so definitely a huge winner in my book! I found these from @motivationmindy on Instagram and she raves about them too. They honestly taste so good. I dip them in a little bit of ranch. Have you tried the Greek Yogurt Ranch before? I'm a huge fan, the calories aren't high and when eating it, it doesn't make you feel like you're eating something gross. I was kind of thinking the taquitos would taste a little funny because sometimes homemade things son't taste as good as restaurants in my opinion. But, I will never buy taquitos again, not frozen or from a restaurant because these are that dang good! They're perfect for weeknight dinners for something quick. I also love them on the weekends because I like to eat "fun foods" on the weekends for dinner. Pizza, taquitos, sandwiches, burgers, etc. are so good when you make them at home and I like to have a fun, relaxing dinner on the weekends after I've cleaned the house and just want to relax and hang out.

The Best Navajo Tacos

Who doesn't love tacos?! They're completely catered to every single person because they can choose their own toppings, they could feed an army, and they taste amazing. When I was in high school, my cheer team always did a Navajo Taco fundraiser and it was one of my favorite thing ever, mostly because I'd get Navajo Tacos for dinner that night haha. One reason why I love these things is that they taste super fresh. Salsa, lettuce, olives, limes, whatever you want to put on them, you can! I LOVE olives, so I throw as many of those things on there as I can. And then I have to put some back to share with everyone else haha.
I'm in my last week of school for this semester and oh man, I'm so ready for it to be done! I only have 5 (FIVE!!) more things to do, including finals, for school and then I am done until the second week of January. I love December because 1) the break from school 2) my birthday month 3) our wedding anniversary 4) Christmas 5) I get to spend so much time with my family 6) Christmas lights 7) just the whole entire amazing spirit that's around during the Holidays. I can't get enough of it!

5 Best Autumn Soups

I love autumn and I'm not ashamed. Haha seriously though, it's probably my favorite season of them all. I can wear jackets and boots, and looser clothing that is way more comfortable than summer clothing. And I'm totally not a flip-flop girl so everything about this season is right up my alley. And the best part about it is that I can finally start bringing soup back to our meal plans. I try to stretch it out as long as possible, and when it's hotter outside than the soup simmering in the pot, I just know it's time to stop. But, I try to bring them back at the earliest moment that I can! These are some fall favorites that and a group of ladies and I have gotten together for everyone! Soup that everyone will be sure to love!

Zucchini Boats

Zucchini is one of my absolute favorite things to eat! I love the end of summer/beginning of fall because that's when we have tons of zucchini harvested and we can eat it any time we feel like it. Garden/farmers market zucchini is best for these boats because they're larger and easier to stuff, but these smaller ones from the grocery store work out just fine! 

I tried using ground turkey with these instead of ground beef, and I did not like it...the texture was different and taste wasn't good to me. My husband liked them, but I decided that I like the ground beef ones a ton better! I also didn't use the inside of the zucchini to mix in because I didn't think the seeds would mix very well. I liked adding the tomatoes into the recipe too!

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup is my soul food. I could leave just that sentence as the only one besides the recipe on this post, and I think I’d totally get my point across. But, I won’t do that because I always have more words. But seriously, I love soup. Almost any restaurant that has soup that I like, that will be my order even though I’ll scan the whole menu seeing what I’d like and then I still order the soup no matter what. Probably my absolute favorite soup choice is Olive Garden’s all you can eat soup, salad, and breadsticks. Oh man, I love that stuff.

These egg noodles are a game changer. That’s one thing I have a hard time with soups is when using noodles, that they expand. That’s a no-go for me because I LOVE leftovers. So sometimes I cook the noodles in a separate pot with chicken broth and drain them and then just keep them in a separate container to store and just scoop into the rest of the soup when I’m ready to eat it. But, a lot of the time I forget stuff like that. But, chicken noodle soup is my favorite with egg noodles. They expand a little bit, but not nearly as much as regular pasta so they’re usually okay to leave in with the rest of the soup.

Chicken Biscuit Rolls

Today is the first day of school for my junior year in my undergrad and I am honestly so excited to be here! Even though the work in college is difficult, it's so rewarding for me. And honestly, I wouldn't have started this blog if it wasn't for one of my classes that I took last year. We were given a project to start a blog of our choosing and post once per week. We used blogs, social media, presentations, and planning throughout the semester and I absolutely loved it! When the time came that the class was over, I decided to keep up with blogging because it was so much fun for me and I seriously enjoyed planning something out and making things the way I liked. It has helped me with social media, cooking better meals, and staying organized so much better. I believe that is one thing about college that some people misunderstand, that they're tyring to push you into a big career or something. When in reality, they're trying to help you find something that you love and enjoy doing. Even though the class I took was for a personal blog and marketing, it helped me find a hobby that I love to do!

Mashed Potatoes for Two

If you're like me, then you could eat a TON of mashed potatoes every time they are placed in front of your face. I seriously could eat a huge bowl of them all by myself. I used to love those potato pearl thingies when I was younger, and now I don't even get how I could have a little bit of those things because the real stuff is so much better! My mom only cooked potatoes about once each week, usually in a slow cooker but sometimes baked. Rarely did we have mashed potatoes because they were saved for special occasions at our house it seemed like. We regularly ate rice with our dinner and ate pasta too, so these mashed potatoes were sooo good to us growing up. Now, I still cook them just as regularly as my mom did, but I have to make sure to cook the right amount for two people.
The first couple of times I made mashed potatoes, I used about 8 potaotes, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, shredded cheese, you name it. I didn't quite know what was healthy to put in them regularly and definitely not how many potatoes to use when preparing them for only two people. So, after about one year, I've finally gotten it to be able to feed two people for two meals, and it's perfect for us since we do leftovers. So, if you're feeding four people for dinner, you'd be set there too!

Loaded Spaghetti Sauce for Two

Spaghetti is one of my favorite meals ever! I love how tasteful and filling it is every time you eat it! I am very used to cooking it with pre-made marinara sauce, but thought it would be nice to try a sauce by myself. It's been gloomy here for the past while with scattered rain showers and cloud coverage for the last couple of weeks, with the occasional sun peeking in through the clouds every once-in-a-while. So, a warm and filling meal is exactly what we needed!  I also realized that taking photos when the sun is peaking out of the clouds isn't the best idea for spaghetti sauce, lighting was pretty off when I was taking these photos, but I think that they ended up turning out okay!
I like my spaghetti sauce to be filled with everything, but you could easily take those things out and it wouldn't make that much of a difference. I changed this recipe up a bit from Fox and Briar. Her recipe is marinara sauce and it is about double the amount as mine, so try that one if you want a little more of a simple marinara sauce!

Chicken Stir-Fry for Two

Making dinner is the summer is a struggle some days! When it's so warm outside, you just don't want to turn your oven on and cook food. But sadly, you just have to eat! I have tried for months to make a stir-fry that I have actually really enjoyed. Most of the time, I just choose to make the frozen bags because it cooks so much better! I try so many different recipes and they have not worked for me. They're too spicy, soggy, meaty, etc. and I just haven't found one that I'd like to use again. It's also so difficult to find one just to feed two people! So, I decided to try one for myself, and I personally really enjoyed it. Michael said it was his favorite one yet too, so that makes two...all we need in our house!

I had to fix the problems that I didn't like. Soggy stir-fry is not something I like AT ALL!! I don't like mixing foods very much because they all mush, so I decided to cook the stir-fry and sauce seperately. I made the teriyaki in a pot and it turned out just fine! My favorite teriyaki recipe is from Food.com. There is extra sauce, but I usually save it for a couple of days and put it on leftovers and rice. I also wanted a good amount of meat to veggies. I used one chicken breast and cut it into larger pieces. I also limited the veggies what we wanted and cooked them all together! 

Week One Dinner Plan

I'm excited to start sharing dinner plans with all of you. One of the hardest things for me when we were first married was planing meals. My mom did a wonderful job of it growing up. She would let each child pick a meal they wanted from a list and we would help make that meal on the night it was planned for. She let us help with shopping at times, and it was always fun to be part of the whole meal process. After a while into our marriage, I decided I wanted to plan meals a little better and did just what my mom did, planning meals and shopping once each week for all of them. This actually saves money, because taking daily trips to the sotre, you don't see how much money you are spending on food, where when you take one trip you see how much you are putting towards your groceries, and make sure that you're only purchasing needed items.

Spinach and Basil Lasagna

This was my very first time making lasagna and I loved it! We usually opt for Stouffer's Lasagna, but thought that we would like a healthier option. We also knew exactly what was being put into this dish, and that's a lot more reasurring than eating frozen food. I found this recipe from Healthy Seasonal Recipes and I love how it can be catered toward your preferences of cheese, noodles, and beef. The spinach is also a plus, spinach is always a plus actually!
I halved this recipe, and it still could've fed 4-6 people. We had leftovers and then some. But, it's a great aount of lasagna for two people still, it would easily last three meals! We really loved this recipe and I am so excited for you all to try it!
I was surprised at the simplicity of this lasagna, I think I have always thought it was a very difficult meal to prepare, and while it did take more time than some meals, it wasn't the most difficult meal I have prepared, and didn't take up a lot of my time. This recipe is your meat, carbs, and vegetables all rolled into one. I still steamed some broccoli for more veggies, but I spend about the same amount of time in preparation of this meal as most meals, it just took a little longer to cook. It tasted fresh, healthy, and warmed us right up. I'll definately be keeping this meal on our meal plans!

Baked Chicken Rolls

This is perfect for a summer dinner. The fresh chives and parsley make it refreshing and the small size of each piece keeps it light. We served it with rice and asparagus and I don't think that I could have loved it more!
I honestly don't think I could rave enough about family recipes. I received a bunch of them from my grandma at my bridal shower and they are some of my favorites. They're so classic and just yummy! These chicken rolls were made by my mom growing up and she said this was the meal she requested for her birthday dinners as a young girl. They're a bit of a change from your regular baked chicken so it's a little refreshing to have the switch-up. I made them for my family and my younger brothers really enjoyed them, because my mom hadn't made them in a while. It's always fun for younger children because they're automatically fascinated with the toothpicks in them and somehow makes it more interesting to eat. Everyone will love this meal when you make it!
This is a pretty simple meal. I like to use chicken tenders because it makes them a lot easier, but you can use chicken breasts and cut them up to the size of tenders (about 3-4 pieces of the breast make a good size). I like to use fresh chives and parsley for this recipe also! And, as always, this recipe feeds two people plus leftovers! This can easily be doubles or tripled to feed more mouths!

Garlic Lime Sautéed Chicken

Summer is here and lime is one of my favorite flavors of this season! The lime perfects this chicken and compliments the garlic so well. Cayenne pepper and paprika give this chicken just a little kick to liven up your dinners! Sometimes, even when the A.C. is on full blast, turning the oven on in the summer is just a bad idea. It heats up the house and makes cooking a not-so-fun activity. This dish is sautéed on the stove, so there is still a little bit of heat, but definately less that won't warm up your entire home.

I have always loved summer, but after being in college, I have a whole new appreciation for this break! Besides work, there aren't as many responsibilities (homework, studying for tests, projects, and everything else that comes along with school) that take up my day-to-day. My husband works 10 hour days, and I work early in the morning, so we only get to spend our evenings together. We pretty much have time for exercising and eating, and maybe visiting our families before we fall asleep to wake up early again in the morning. It's busy, but on the weekends we get to fish, swim at the lake, hike, and spend time with our families, so I'd say all of the busyness is worth it!

Yummy Ritz Cracker Chicken

One of my favorite things about getting married and recieving new family members is the new food that I have been introduced to- you know, added to the great people you are now faily with!  You grow up eating food that is familiar to your specific family and heritage and you absolutely love it, but becoming a part in a new family, you are able to try so many new things. One of my favorites that my mother-in-law makes is what they call "Yummy Chicken". It's covered in Ritz Crackers and is crispy and buttery, such a perfect chicken bake!

This is a very simple recipe, and it is a switch-up from your regular battered chicken. Using plain yogurt makes it savory and really keeps the chicken soft while cooking. 

My awesome sister-in-law runs a food blog, High Heels and Grills, and I retrieved the recipe from there. My recipe is catered to a smaller number of people, so check out her Baked Ritz Garlic Parmesan Chicken Strips if you're making these for more than about 2-3 people (or you can just double this recipe, but I'd totally recommend reading her posts because they're great)! 

The simplicity of this recipe is unreal! All you need is chicken, plain yogurt, Ritz crackers, parmesan cheese, garlic & seasoned salt, butter, and salt & pepper. I just crumble up the Ritz in their packaging and put them in, it's a lot less time consuming than transferring them to a plasticbag. I also like to experiment with the different flavors of crackers, so far, the "Everything" flavor has been my favorite.  SO EASY!! You can bake it on a cookie sheet, or a 3x19, and it turns out perfect every single time. 

Grandma's Chicken Marinade

For my wedding, one of my sweet grandmas made me recipe cards, and they're some of my favorite to try because I know that my mom grew up with these recipes and they are true and tested by somebody who I trust. Do you ever try recipes on Pinterest and they just don't work out? I made one of those today that was a gravy and it's so  disappointing, it was even for a dinner at a friend's house, so we couldn't even bring it- good thing she had extra gravy for the meal. My mom said she has a curse that always ruins food whenever she is cooking it for company. I'm pretty sure that I inherited that from her because I have that struggle quite often!
This recipe is, as always my style, super easy. It's a chicken marinade so I love to put it in the morning and let it sit throughout the day and let it marinade all day long. I like to put it in a large bowl or in a Ziploc bag. Whenever my parents marinaded chicken, they'd use soda in it and I loved it, the carbonation makes it taste so much better! Sprite is best for chicken marinade and Coke for a red meat!

Thai Coconut-Curry Broiled Tilapia

This is, HANDS DOWN, my new favorite tilapia recipe. Oh my goodness, it's amazing. Not a curry fan? Originally, me neither. But this completely converted me. My mom made this a few times when I was in high school, so I thought I'd give it a try again since we're trying to eat more fish. We love it! I've made it a few times, but made sure to add the fresh ginger and garlic and it MAKES it!
It's a super easy recipe, surprisingly. And again, fish is full of Omega-3's, so it's incredibly good for you! The original recipe is from Food.com , which I feel is always a trustworthy site. For spices, I also use good old McCormick, they are always perfect for my needs!

Tilapia Tips 

Keep your tilapia frozen. When thawing out, don't defrost in microwave like other meats. It thaws out super fast! Tilapia is pre-packaged individually, keep them in the plastic when thawing out. Fill a medium-sized bowl with lukewarm water and place tilapia filets into the bowl until thaw, refreshing the water every 5 minutes (only have to replace once for a a few fish-for more, you'll have to replace more). You can also place packaged filets inside of a colander and run slightly warmed water over them until thawed. 

Take the fish out of the packaging and rinse off. This gets the not-so-good, slimy, fishy taste off of them a little more and leaves the good taste. Another way you can do this, is soak them in a brine mixture in the fridge for about 10 minutes (1 cup of water to 1 tsp. salt). This makes them taste way better!

Lemon Garlic Slow Cooker Chicken

I am ALWAYS searching for a new slow cooker meal. They’re my favorite because I can just throw them in and then they’re all ready for dinner. With the warmer months coming up, I think I am looking for them a lot more now. The oven heats up the house too much, so the slow cooker is usually my go-to. I feel like this is a great recipe because it’s pretty healthy, a lot of the recipes I find for chicken and the slow cooker have a lot of creamy soups and other fattening ingredients. I love those recipes, and that’s the problem, I eat too much of it and it’s unhealthy, so I have to save them for special occasions- not every day! I was so excited when I found this recipe and it tasted SO GOOD paired with rice and green beans. Have you ever had green beans with lemons or lemon pepper, it’s amazing. So, I had to try them with this and oh my, delicious! 

This recipe is perfect! The lemon-garlic mixture has a fresh taste to it and it compliments the chicken very well. It’s super easy too: mix the spices and pat onto chicken, throw onto fryer for about 2 min. each side, and throw into the crockpot with liquids and garlic. Simple as that! 

Blackened Tilapia Tacos- Cajun Style

These are some of my favorite things to make these days, we constantly have them on repeat at our home. I usually try to do a 3-4 week meal turnover but these are a weekly event over here and we haven't gotten sick of them yet. Fiesta for your tastebuds right here, and not even kidding.

These are super easy, and oh so healthy for you. In the past, I have had the hardest time getting myself to eat fish. I love seafood when I am near the ocean, it's so fresh and one of my favorite things to eat. But, living in a rural area in the middle of the dessert, you don't get that fresh seafood very often. Fish has tons of Omega-3 and it is so needed for your health. It's something that you can't get as well from supplements, but I know that I can't go without the benefits from Omega-3's! So, I know that I have to eat fish to receive those benefits. Frozen seafood tastes very different than fresh, but I have finally found this recipe from The Chunky Chef and it has changed the tilapia world for me! Another great thing about this recipe is you can choose for yourself how spicy it will be!

Tilapia Tips 

Keep your tilapia frozen. When thawing out, don't defrost in microwave like other meats. It thaws out super fast! Tilapia is pre-packaged individually, keep them in the plastic when thawing out. Fill a medium-sized bowl with lukewarm water and place tilapia filets into the bowl until thaw, refreshing the water every 5 minutes (only have to replace once for a a few fish-for more, you'll have to replace more). You can also place packaged filets inside of a colander and run slightly warmed water over them until thawed. 

Take the fish out of the packaging and rinse off. This gets the not-so-good, slimy, fishy taste off of them a little more and leaves the good taste. Another way you can do this, is soak them in a brine mixture in the fridge for about 10 minutes (1 cup of water to 1 tsp. salt). This makes them taste way better!

Quinoa Chicken Nuggets

You know those days when you're just wanting to eat out but you know that it won't be good for you? I have those days, and found the perfect recipe to feed that craving! It's a mix of healthy and fun, and it's super easy too. 

I usually love Wendy's Chicken Nuggets, is that terrible of me?! But I know how unhealthy they are and I know that home cooked meals make me feel so much better.

This is your typical breaded chicken recipe, but even better since it's covered in quinoa (sidenote: did you know that quinoa has all of the essential amino acids? That's why everyone is telling you how good it is and recommending you to eat it-so, so good for you). Recipe was retreived from Creme De La Crumb. 

It's so easy to make this!
Start with cooking your quinoa, I like to do this a little ahead of time because it's super hot afterwards and I like to let it cool down before covering the chicken with it.

Chicken Pot Pie

I could probably live off of the Marie Calendar's personal meat pies. I thought that I'd try making one of my own, and opted for a full-size pie becuase it means more (which is always better in this situation). I found the best recipe from our local cookbook! 

It took me a little bit of personal talking into, because I was so worried that I was going to do it incorrectly and dinner would be a disaster. Fortunately, that was not the case and it turned out great! My only problem was that it tasted a little bit bland, it definately needed more than just a little bit of salt and pepper. After a few trials, I was able to discover the right taste!

How To
The recipe is super simple, something that surpised me the first time that I made it. 
I start out with cooking the chicken in the oven while I am boiling the vegetables (potatoes and carrots only) until they're finished cooking. Before cooking the vegetables, I cube the potatoes and slice the carrots into small rounds (I usually use petite carrots). I boil some water and throw them in there with the salt. I cook them until the potatoes are about to fall apart, almost the doneness of mashed potatoes, because they turn out to be super creamy in the finished pie and it's the best! When they're almost finished, I start on the gravy. If I cook the gravy too far ahead, it thickens up too much before pouring it into the pie shells. Preheat the oven to 425° when the chicken is finished cooking. 

Finishing Up
When everything is done cooking, start preparing the pie shells. With the first shell, keep in the tin and place on a cookie sheet. Pour the cooked vegetables and then layer frozen peas and then chicken, finishing with gravy. Place second pie shell, still in tin, on top. Slowly remove the tin and pinch edges together. Gravy might pour out, but that's what the pie tin is for! The pie is done when the top is a golden brown.