Cooking At Home

Restaurants are closing and people are freaking out and I’m all “good thing I’m a dang good cook!” I mean according to my 3 children and husband...although I think Troy says I’m his favorite cook because he knows better.

I’m going to share a lot of our family favorites below. Now just remember though that whenever you introduce a new meal to your family there will be at least one child who believes that you are trying to make them meet Jesus much sooner than expected. There was the one time that Cambric was all “WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? DO YOU HATE ME?” Then after spending some time thinking about his life choices in his room, he decided to finally eat dinner and then was all “Oh this isn’t bad.” (Insert big fat eye roll) But personally I’m always entertained when one of the kids acts like a fool to us. The others take it as an opportunity to SHINE. “Mommy this is the best dinner you have ever made. Mommy you are such a good cook. I love your food Mommy.” I make sure to let them go over to the scoreboard and give themselves “favorite points”. Kidding, I don’t have a Favorite Kid scoreboard….but that kinda sounds like a good idea. Maybe they win something at the end of the week if they ended up with the most points. Oh how the wheels are turning…..

Anyways, these recipes are not healthy. Well maybe a few. All this virus talk has me thinking of comfort foods. These are recipes that we have tried and enjoy. A lot of nights we do something quicker like grilled chicken with some sides or in the nicer months (basically March-November) Troy will put something like a tri tip on the grill and we will make meals off that a few nights. But when I do have the time, I’ll try something new I found on IG or go to one of the recipes below. Now may the odds be ever in your favor while going to the store and getting these ingredients.

*I’ll start off with my beloved Pioneer Woman:

Bowtie Chicken Alfredo: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/bowtie-chicken-alfredo/

“Pink Noodles”: This is Cambric’s favorite. We use chicken instead of shrimp. Also her recipe is slightly different in the cookbook which I prefer. It uses a 14oz can of tomato sauce and only ½ cup of dry white wine (I use cooking wine). https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/penne_a_la_betsy/

Chicken Spaghetti: *not made with velveeta https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chicken_spaghet/

Comfort Meatballs: I will make these sometimes to take to new parents. Comforting and filling. https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/bbq-meatballs-comfort-food-to-the-max/

Low-carb burgers: I prefer my burgers like this now...and I LOVE bread people. Plus the “sauce” is yummy! https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/low-carb-burgers/

Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas: A favorite for Troy and I. For the boys we just leave off the pineapple cause they are WEIRD. https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/grilled-chicken-pineapple-quesadillas/

Bowtie Lasagna:Fast and yummy. Double win! https://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/07/a-tasty-recipe-bowtie-lasagna/

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars: Troy took these to work and a few of the guys started making them but with different jams and they were all like “oh you should try blackberry. It’s so good.” lol

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/video-strawberry-oatmeal-bars/

Ok I’ll stop with her stuff. Haha

Tomato Spinach Chicken Spaghetti: I REALLY like this. One of Troy’s favorites. Not crazy heavy like most spaghetti. https://juliasalbum.com/tomato-spinach-chicken-spaghetti/

Bacon Pineapple BBQ Chicken: https://juliasalbum.com/bacon-pineapple-bbq-chicken/

Lasagna Stuffed Peppers: No pasta but still so good. And My kids actually eat the peppers! WINNING. https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/lasagna-stuffed-peppers-low-carb-gluten-free/

Baked Apples with streusel topping: Cause we all will need dessert these next few weeks. I may pair it with ice cream sometimes. http://nonrecipe.blogspot.com/2012/03/baked-apples-with-oatmeal-streusel.html

Cheesy Taco Skillet: For some reason she took the zucchini out of the recipe but when you cook the veggies add a diced up zucchini in there. My kids never notice. MUHAHAHAHA! https://sweetcsdesigns.com/one-pot-cheesy-taco-skillet/

Banana Crumb Muffins: SO good and I don’t like banana bread. This is a Troy request.

https://dinnerthendessert.com/best-ever-banana-crumb-muffins/

Triple Berry Baked Oatmeal: https://happyhealthymama.com/triple-berry-baked-oatmeal.html

Caprese Pasta Salad: https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/caprese-pesto-pasta-salad/

Easy Korean Beef: *disclaimer, Troy liked it the first time and then decided the 2nd time he didn’t. Too sweet for him. I may have added more brown sugar than was needed. :) https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/cheater-korean-beef/

Ok I think I’ll wrap it up there. I hope you try some of these and enjoy it. Post a comment with a recipe you enjoy making so we can all add it to our collection while we are staying close to home. :)

Until the next tale…