What We Have Been Eating

I haven't made a WWHBE post in forever!! The last one was almost a year ago! Things have been really crazy for us this year and I haven't had the time or state of mind to record many of our meals. On a good day I will remember and snap a couple shots but that is usually about as far as it goes. I have been trying to focus more on actual meal planning lately. In order to get the most out of my coupons, I match them with things that are on sale in the stores weekly add, but sometimes I just wish someone would say, "Here, you are making this for dinner, here is your grocery list, have a nice week." Funny enough, you can hire people to do this for you on the Internet at a site called emeals. Maybe something to think about. In the meantime, here is What We have been eating!

Quesadillas 3 Ways...I am a sucker for slapping something into a tortilla and calling it a day. I had some chicken and a lot of tortillas so I made 3 different kinds of quesadillas.

My Traditional Quesadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Ortega Taco Sauce
 Chicken {I used Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Strips}
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Place one tortilla into a skillet, top with sauce, then chicken, then the cheese. Place 2nd tortilla on top and cook on both side until tortillas a crisp and cheese melted.


Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Chicken
Ranch Dressing
Bacon { I like to use the bagged real bacon pieces}
Shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese

Follow same assembly instructions as above.

Pizzadilla

2 Flour Tortillas
Pizza Sauce
mini peperoni's
mozzarella cheese

Follow same assembly instructions as above.

I put some of each sauce in little cups for dipping and BAM, dinner! Something for everyone.


Another winter favorite this year is a Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles recipe I stole from my sister in law.

What you need

Bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Stick of butter {and a couple pats for your veggies}
1 Can of cream of chicken soup
2 Boxes of chicken stock
1 Package of egg noodles {I use Reemes}
Carrots
Celery
S&P

Place your bag of chicken {still frozen}, chicken stock, soup, and butter into your crock pot and turn on high. Cook until chicken falls apart on its own, then shred while still in crock pot.

Saute you chopped carrots and celery in butter until they start to soften. Add noodles and softened veggies back into the crock pot and add more stock. Continue cooking until noodles are done, adding more stock when needed.

What have you been eating? Go to crock pot meals? Interesting quesadillas?

Cavatini

SO, I am a food rut kinda of person. I LOVE to cook new things and am in no way a picky eater but when I find something I really like, well..I REALLY like it, like all the time. This isn't a bad thing most of the time, except for when it comes to restaurant food. Like the time I discovered the spicy chicken soup at Carraba's and wanted to eat there like 3 times a week. Good for me and my belly but not for the family pocket book. One of my go to restaurant meals around Washington is the cavatini at Bobes. For you out of towners that don't know, Bobes is an family owned Italianish restaurant here in town that has the BEST pizza, lots of sandwich's, pastas, and even grill foods during the week. If you are a teenager and are from Washington, Indiana, you have more than likely worked at this place and I am not exception.  Another previous "Bobe's girl" posted a while back about making cavatini for her family at home { You can check out her blog here} DUUUHHHH! Why have I never tried this? I have made other versions of restaurant foods so I don't know why I never thought to duplicate recipes I already KNOW how to make. So I did...and it was gooood!

Here's my version.

What you need

1 Box of pasta {bobes uses some shell version I couldn't find so I used rigatoni}
1 lb of ground hamburger
1/2 large onion
1 green pepper
pepperonis
shredded mozzarella
Jarred spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 400.

Boil pasta until slightly under cooked {it will cook more in the oven}

Meanwhile, brown meat on stove top, drain, and add sauce.

Chop onion and green pepper to your preferred size. {Bobe's also adds mushrooms}

Layer pasta into bottom of baking dish, top with sauce and meat mixture. Push desired amount of pepperonis down into mix.

Then top with UNCOOKED peppers and onion.

Top with shredded cheese and a few more pepperonis.

Bake until cheese is melted and pepperonis have started to curl.

Dish it out and get down!!

A Very LOVE-ly Valentines Day

So, I am only 6 days past Valentines Day. This is an improvement over the month that passed before I posted about Christmas, but still I need to get with the program and try to make a little more time for blogging and keeping things current. Until then, here is to the past...

Valentines Day...We tried to keep busy to avoid the fact that our main man daddy..and head Valentine..was not with us. We got to work the night before and enlisted the help of my nephew in decorating up some cookies.

Of course after about 2 cookies each, they were playing pirates with spatulas and I was left to decorate the rest..

After the sugar rush and bedtime, I got to work on Isabelle's Valentines for her class party. I found a cute printable on this blog that I cut out and attached to some packs of candy.

I snuck one cookie and called it a night..

The next morning I got the best Valentines gift a mother could ask for! My children slept in!!! Yaaaaay! This has happened to me maybe 1 other time EVER in my mom lifetime..

Valentine #1 after waking up to her goodies

Still having some sleepy eye going

 While the kids ate breakfast and watched some cartoons, I whipped up a little snack for Isabelle's class party.

Sweet Valentines Party Mix

**What you will need**

Chex, rice and corn
popcorn
pretzels
mm candies
sprinkles
mini marshmallows
white candy coating

In a large bowl, combine the chex, popcorn, and pretzels. Melt down white candy coating and drizzle over mixture. Turn to coat. Add in chocolate candies, marshmallows, and sprinkles and turn to coat again. Let set for 20-30 minutes and then break apart into serving dish or snack bags.

Isabelle was ready to get crafty herself and got working on some love chains for decorating.

Working hard

It was a BEAUTIFUL day out so we decided to take a little drive out to Glendale lake for some fresh air and a reminder of what life outdoors can be like.

My #2 Valentine, Prince Charming

Showing off his teeth

Walking down to the lake

It was wiinnndddyy

Prince not so Charming

At least someone was enjoying it

Looking for fish at the hatchery

We were all frozen solid so decided, how much colder could we get? Why not ice cream?

 

That night, my mother in law had a sitter come to the house and keep the grand kids, while we adults all went out to dinner to celebrate my El cunado aka brother in laws birthday.

 

 

Nana Anna and Papaw Alan came along. Such a wonderful example of Love on Valentines Day.

We had a great time laughing and chatting kids free. Well, except for one special kid..

Baby Brielle, our newest and smallest Valentine..

There's a lot of love in our family. On Valentines Day and everyday <3 font="">