Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

This is always a delicious comforting meal! The crock pot takes all of the work out of this meal! I normally prep it the night before then throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and come home to a lovely smelling house!

Ingredients:

1 can of golden mushroom soup
1 can of cream of mushroom with roasted garlic
1 1/2 lbs of stew meat
1 package of sliced mushrooms
1 white onion
1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of beef broth base (this comes in a jar)
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
1 package of egg noodles
fresh parsley for garnish
1 tablespoon of butter.

Directions:

In a medium frying pan, melt the 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is all melted, add the stew beef. Allow the beef to sear on one side. Once the side is seared, flip and lightly sear the other side. When both sides are lightly seared, place them into a mixing bowl. Chop up the onion and mushrooms. Add them to the mixing bowl with the 2 soups, minced garlic and add 1/2 tablespoon of the beef broth base. Mix well. Add the mixture to the crock pot and place it on low. Allow this to cook for 8-10 hours. Once the meal is finished cooking, fill a large cooking pot half way with water. Set on high. Once it starts boiling, add the egg noodles and stir occasionally. While your noodles are cooking, cube up the cream cheese and slowly mix into the crock pot. Once all of the cream cheese is melted, add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of beef broth base and all of the sour cream, stirring slowly. At this point, your noodles should be finished cooking. Lightly rinse them with hot water. Plate up the pasta. Once the beef mixture is well mixed, top a generous size portion on top of the noodles and garnish with the fresh parsley. Serving this meal with buttermilk biscuits adds some flare to this meal!

Bread Dip

This recipe is super duper easy and super duper delicious! It's always a hit when I bring it to a party!

Ingredients:

(1) 16oz container of sour cream
1 package of Good Seasons garlic and herb salad dressing packet
1 bread bowl
2 fresh loaves of bread of your choice (I used 1 french bread and and 1 loaf of wheat bread)

Directions:

Mix together the sour cream and salad dressing mix. Let sit for 3 hours. Hollow out the bread bowl as shown in the picture. Fill with the dip. Cut up the breads into bite sized pieces. Serve. Yummy. Easy. Enjoy.

Crabby Bites

My mom used to make this recipe for family gatherings and it was always a great crowd pleaser! It is not an original recipe so I am giving credit where needed! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter soft

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons of mayonnaise

1 (5oz) jar of Kraft Old English cheese spread

1 (6oz) can of flaked crab meat

1 (6 count) package of English muffins.

Directions:

Pre heat your oven to 400. Mix together the first 5 ingredients. Slice the English muffins in half then quarter them like in the picture. Top the English muffins with the mixture. Place them on a cookie sheet and let them bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until browned like the above picture. Serve away!

Snow Flake Pie

Who doesn't love pie? It's one of the easiest things to make and it sure is a crowd-pleaser! I thought up this recipe in the grocery store when I was desperate to invent a dessert recipe and surprisingly it came out good!


Ingredients:

2 pre-made graham cracker pie crusts - if you want to make it homemade - go for it. I'm too lazy! (This recipe makes enough for 2 pies.)
1 box of jello instant pudding white chocolate mix
1 box of jello instant pudding cheesecake mix
4 cups of skim milk
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
1 container of fat free cool whip
12 golden oreos
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1 can of whipped cream for garnish.

Directions:

Make the jello in 1 big mixing bowl according to the directions on the box and let it sit as directed. Once the pudding is ready, mix in the white chocolate chips. Once they are well incorporated, evenly fill the pie crusts with the mixture (1/2 in each crust.) Next, top each pie with half of a container of the cool whip and smooth at the top. Make a design with the whipped cream around the edges for garnish. Next, sprinkle half of the shredded coconut on each of the pies. Lastly, crush up the oreos and sprinkle on top equally dividing the oreos in 2 for each pie. Serve! Now how easy was that?

Taco Pizza!

I love tacos and I love pizza so this recipe is the perfect combination of the two!

Ingredients:

1 pizza shell
1 can of queso cheese
1 lb of ground hamburg
1 package of taco seasoning
2 tomatoes
shredded lettuce
1 avocado
1/2 cup of sour cream


Directions:

In a medium pan, fry up the ground hamburg. When it is done cooking, add 1/2 cup of water and half of the taco seasoning packet. Place on high heat until it starts to boil, then reduce to low heat stirring occasionally. Place your oven on 350. Chop up the tomato and slice the avocado. Take the pizza shell and place an even amount of the queso on it. Make sure there is a smooth even layer. Next, sprinkle the taco meat evenly on top. Place this in the oven for about 12 minutes or until the crust is crispy. While your pizza is cooking, mix the other half of the taco seasoning with the sour cream (this will be your drizzle topping.) When the crust is crispy, take it out of the oven. Now for the toppings part, I find it easiest to cut the pizza first then "dress it." This is nice if someone doesn't like a certain ingredient or would like extra of another ingredient. I want to also add that if you plan on saving some as leftovers, it's best to not dress it until you are ready to eat it - that way the toppings won't get soggy. The way that I "dress up my pizza" is tomatoes, lettuce, avacado and drizzle on top. For the drizzle, I just took the sour cream and taco seasoning mixture that we made earlier, placed it in a ziplock bag, cut the end and applied pressure for it to come out. Feel free to be creative and add other ingredients such as beans, onions, salsa, etc!

Chewy French Toast Cookies

I can't believe I am giving away my secret recipe for the world to see! These are my boyfriend's FAVORITE cookies... "in the world", or so he says! So I guess they are too good not to share with the world! These cookies are perfect for parties, holidays or just because! I usually end up making them as "just because" cookies! They are the perfect mix of soft and chewy cookies which is my favorite! I have considered adding chocolate chips or white chocolate chips to this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter  softened
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

½  tsp of almond extract

2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 packets of maple brown sugar instant oatmeal
1 1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
Ground cinnamon for a sprinkle garnish

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix together the butter, brown sugar and cane sugar in a mixing bowl. Once this is well mixed, add 1 egg and mix. Once the first egg is mixed in, add the second egg, the vanilla and almond extract and mix until everything is incorporated. Next, add the baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well. Now add ½ of your flour until it is incorporated. Do not over mix. Add the rest of your flour until it is just incorporated.  Next add the oatmeal packets and shredded coconut and do not over mix. Mix until it is just evenly incorporated. Roll the dough into about 1 inch by 1 inch balls. Place on an un-sprayed cookie sheet in a 3x4 rows. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and allow them to cook for 8-10 minutes. These cookies are supposed to be chewy so you don’t want to overcook them. Once the cookies are to your desired chewiness, take them out of the oven and allow them to sit for five minutes. Once they have cooled, allow them to cool for another 5-10 minutes on a cookie cooling rack. Garnish with the ground cinnamon sprinkle and serve warm with a big glass of milk!