One of my favorite things about going out to dinner with Currey is when he leans over during a meal and tells me that I could recreate whatever it is we are eating at home. It’s a boost of confidence and reassuring that he thinks I can recreate restaurant dishes at home. The best part…
Milk Bar Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies
Have you ever heard of Milk Bar? I hadn’t until Christmas of this year. I made Crack Pie. Yes, it’s called that because it’s so addictive. I was skeptical but people crowded around and ate the pie out of the pan. It was that good. I then realized that Milk Bar has a cookbook and…
Homemade Steak Sauce
We’ve spent the last 2 weeks celebrating Currey and it has been a blast! While I believe all birthdays should be big celebrations, he turned 30 this year so lots of celebrations were necessary. We got away just the 2 of us for a couple of days and have also enjoyed lots of celebratory dinners…
Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
I just realized that Blythe’s cake never made it up on the blog so today I’m doing a very belated birthday post. Blythe’s birthday was very eventful but not it the way that I had been planning! Our sweet girl got the stomach flu on her birthday. It was miserable! She’s never had the stomach…
Barbecue Chicken Salad
Although I haven’t written about it often, I am indeed on a budget when I go to the grocery store. I’ve found that to stick to my budget I can only pay cash and I spend $100 to feed our family for the week. That covers all our household supplies like toiletries in addition to 3 meals…
Tiramisu
I’m so excited to announce that I have a new feature on the blog. I’ve created a Recipe Bucket List. It’s a list that has been swimming around in my head for months. There are recipes that I want to make that are not typical weekly fare. Recipes that are more involved, take more time…
Maple Bacon Brussel Sprouts
On Saturday night, we had an at home date night. It was perfection! We made a last minute decision to enjoy dinner in so we threw a menu together before I headed to the grocery store that afternoon. I was craving a steak which Currey always grills to perfection. I had pinned a Brussel Sprout…
Mexican Hot Chocolate
I don’t know what the weather has been like where you are but at our house it’s been cold and rainy. I’ve already forgotten that I was wearing flip-flops and t-shirts a few days ago. I’m ready for sunshine and warm weather! Since it has been dreary, I’ve been drinking hot chocolate. My current obsession…
S’mores Sticks
For Bennett’s birthday, I wanted lots of sweets. While I’ve yet to make a Pioneer Woman recipe that we didn’t love, I knew that sweet treats would be what people remembered. I saw an adorable picture on Pinterest for s’mores sticks and I was immediately reminded of a campfire. I’ve never made anything like this…
Caramel Cupcakes
My first job out of school was working with women reacclimating to life after prison. I worked on the South Side of Chicago with a diverse and caring group of women. I was welcomed into their community and was challenged by the injustice and heartbreak that I often saw. I was out of my comfort…
Frito Pie Bar
When I started planning Bennett’s birthday, I knew I wanted a western theme. We were going to be in Texas and it just seemed fitting. I started dreaming and pinning ideas to Pinterest. As the date got closer, I made some changes because I wanted the day to be fun. I didn’t want to be…
April Giveaway!
Congrats to Ruth B! You are the April Giveaway Winner!!! ****************************This Giveaway is Now CLosed****************************** Where does the time go? I’ve been absent from the blog again. We just returned from a trip to Texas to celebrate Bennett’s 1st birthday. I’ll be sharing recipes and pictures from his party in the near future. I took…
Calzones
Hello world! We are recovering from our second round of the stomach flu in 3 weeks so my series on freezer meals has been sidelined. Having my kids have the stomach flu is one of my hardest parenting experiences to date. It’s so hard to watch your kids be miserable! So glad that we are…
Baked Ziti
Can I just make a blanket apology for the pictures for this week of posts? I was much more focused on getting lots of food cranked out in a timely manner so the pictures of food are lacking. We’ll call it an exercise in creativity. I’ll write about food and you can imagine it to…
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
When our kids were born, one of the biggest blessings to me were the dinners that so many of our friends brought us. After 6 weeks of at least 3 meals a week, we had to start asking people to stop brining food because we just couldn’t eat everything that we had. I appreciated not…
Panakuken
Like so many other students heading to college, I went potluck for a roommate. While we dealt with the usual issues of being a freshman and living with a stranger, my roommate, Sarah Ruth, and I got along well. We actually lived together for 2 years before living with other people. The picture below was…
Trail Mix Krispie Treats
Can I tell you that I feel old? We’ve returned home after spending a long weekend with our youth group on our winter retreat. Our students reported that it was “the best retreat ever” and I’d have to agree. We spent our days in sessions, cheering on our broomball team, zip lining, snow tubing and…
Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies
If you’ve followed the blog long, you know I’m a fan of all things homemade but sometimes I just need a quick and easy treat. We needed a simple dessert for our small group a couple of weeks ago and my sweet husband reminded of an old favorite, chocolate chip sandwich cookies. These cookies came…
beef stroganoff
Remember when I posted steak fingers? They were so delicious. So delicious in fact that I made them several times over a 3 week period back in the fall. Do you know what happens when I fall in love with a recipe and then make it repeatedly? We burn out on it. In our experience,…
Cupcake Shakes
Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m not sure how you celebrate but this year we have a low key dinner planned at home. I’m making a new recipe for gnocchi that I hope is a winner. Gnocchi is one of Currey’s favorites. Our dinner will be simple so I’ve been searching for a fun dessert. While looking…
February Giveaway!
Congrats to Betsy Timbie! You are the February Giveaway Winner!!! ********************This Giveaway is Now Closed******************** Hello faithful readers! What better way to kick off a week celebrating love than with a giveaway of products that I can’t get enough of. Seriously, giveaways are so fun. I really enjoy hearing from all of you and its…
Steak and Potato Hash
Occasionally, I’ll see a recipe on another blog or on Pinterest and it’s all I can think about until I make it. While I realize this is not normal behavior it’s how my mind works. What can I say? I’m quirky! When I saw this recipe for steak and potato hash at Simply Scratch I…
Waffle Iron Cinnamon Rolls
As I’m sure you have noticed by now, I’m a big fan of Pinterest. The funny thing is, when it first launched I just didn’t get it. It seemed as though all my friends were talking about spending too much time on Pinterest and all the great ideas they’d found. Once I got an account…
White Hot Chocolate
Is it just me or are single serving desserts taking over Pinterest? While I love the idea of having a small sweet treat after dinner, sometimes a mug of cake or cookie doesn’t seem practical. Or maybe it’s that I realize, 1 cookie won’t do it for me and I know eating an entire pan…
Kids in the Kitchen
I am frequently asked about what my kids do while I cook so I thought I’d take time to chat with y’all about it. Like most moms, I spend lots of time in the kitchen. Our reality is that Currey is usually home while I’m cooking dinner so he hangs out with the kids while I…
Shirley Temples with Homemade Grenadine
With any celebratory occasion, I like to have a unique drink. Sure, I’m a big fan of water, but fun drinks add to the festivities. I thought it would be fun to serve Shirley Temples. It was a special treat drink for me growing up and I thought it would be fun to share with…
Chili’s Southwest Eggrolls
Our evening of great food continued with Chili’s Southwest Egg rolls. I’m not sure why Chili’s inspired the entire menu but it was worth every last calorie! Again, these would make a great addition to any Super Bowl party. I’m thinking I may make them for our youth group party. There was something so nostalgic…
Pioneer Woman’s Salsa and Chili’s Skillet Queso
This year we celebrated students heading to college from our youth group. With Christmas Break approaching, we began planning a dinner so we could spend time together while these girls were home from school. It was a joy to have these girls in our home again and I loved that we picked up right where…
Monkey Bread
Two times a month we host a Moms Group at our house. It’s a crazy morning full of laughter and energy. The kids play while the moms enjoy coffee and a breakfast treat. Ok. That makes it seem much more leisurely than it is. We are wrangling kids, feeding kids, filling sippy cups but no…
Frito Pie
When I was in high school, we had off campus lunch. I’m not sure who thought it was a great idea to let 2000 students, who were new drivers, leave every day at lunch time but to us it was the highlight of the day. We would pile into cars and speed away to our…