Monster Balls

This is my kids last week of school and I'm trying to get prepared for them to be home all summer. That includes, but is not limited to, stocking my pantry and fridge with snacks. These boys eat me out of my house I swear. I'm always trying to provide them with healthy snacks but they get tired of fruit, cheese and yogurt and honestly I don't blame them. I really don't want them eating chips and cookies for a snack so I wanted to get prepared and have something that they would really enjoy and feel was a yummy treat but something that I could also feel good about them eating. Enter: Monster Balls. 

This is a popular Pinterest snack and there's a lot of different recipes on there. You can add pretty much anything you want to these and they'll taste delicious. I like the "monster" version of these energy balls because it gives my boys a tiny bit of chocolate which satisfies their sweet tooth and they feel like they're getting a really special treat. These keep you full and you can make a big batch of them, leave them in the refrigerator, (these definitely taste best if they're cold) and can easily grab and go. I've tweaked with this recipe and found this to be the best tasting to me. It's super simple and requires no baking.

-2 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats (I use Quaker) 

-1.5 cups of creamy peanut butter

- a little less than 1/2 cup of honey

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips

-1/2 cup of mini M&M's

Mix together using a hand mixer until well blended. Roll into small balls and refrigerate. I leave mine in the refrigerator because I think they taste extra delicious cold! Sometimes I may sprinkle in a few more M&M's or oats or peanut butter until I feel like it's a good mix of all three. Be careful with the honey because if you put too much in there the taste can be overpowering. 

These are a great snack that everyone in our house loves. I'm going to be on the hunt for more easy, grab and go healthy snacks for summer and hopefully I can find some. If  I do I'll share them here. If you have one you love please share in the comments!!

Slow Cooker Beef Shredded Tacos

I have been making a super yummy dinner lately and I wanted to share it with you guys today. I've been pulling my slow cooker out more and more these days since Campbell has baseball. We get home late and are super hungry after his games or practices so it's nice to have something warm and ready to go when we get back home. 

When I first made this I didn't have a recipe. I went to Fresh Market and thought shredded beef tacos sounded good and assumed if I added in a little of this and that it would probably taste good and it ended up being delicious so we have had this on repeat. 

(Not my photo--wasn't in the mood to attempt to take my own pic but I found a picture that looked as close to my version of shredded tacos as I could)

Ingredients:

1 lb flank steak 

1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)

1 can of black beans (drained)

1 can of diced green chilis

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 package of Fontera Ground Beef Taco Skillet Sauce (I get the sauce at Fresh Market)

I set my slow cooker on low, place the flank steak in and salt it a good bit. Throw everything else on top then let it cook for 6-8 hours. About an hour before I think it may be done I shred the beef apart and let it cook a little longer. That's all there is to it. Super easy and seriously delicious. I actually choose to eat mine as a bowl and I'll top with a little shredded cheese, sour cream, and jalapenos but I have had it as tacos and they are so yummy. 

I'm always proud of myself when I throw something together and it ends up tasting super delicious. Having it be low key cooking and an easy clean-up makes it even better!!

Avalanche Bark

Something very tragic happened to me recently. It's really hard to even talk about it but my absolute favorite treat shop, The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, closed down here in Bentonville. I know, a moment of silence. 

All joking aside, I'm quite bummed about it. "The Mountain" as I lovingly referred to it, has been here since I moved to Bentonville. And it has been my go-to place to indulge my sweet tooth. My husband gets me a large assortment of treats for every holiday we celebrate because he knows the way to my heart. And I popped in weekly to get a small little fix. I knew the people and they knew my order--didn't even have to ask me what I wanted. I know it's a result of everything going on with Covid which makes me sad for them and so many business across this country. But they have been around for SO long and were always so busy I thought they would be okay. Unfortunately they weren't. 

Late last week I was having some RMCF withdraws so I decided to see if I could make my own RMCF goodies. If anyone would be able to know exactly how they should taste, it's yours truly. So I decided to give it a try. First I went on Pinterest to see if I could find some copycat recipes to give me a starting point. I found one for their Avalanche Bark which was one of my favorite treats. I read the recipe and it seemed simple enough. I got all of the ingredients but as I was mixing I could tell it needed a little more of this and that. I measured and mixed and refrigerated and low and behold, it LOOKED exactly like it was supposed to. I cut it into little pieces and took my first bite. Then the skies parted and a halo fell over my avalanche bark and I realized I created an EXACT replica of the beloved treat I thought I'd never get to taste again unless I was in the Charlotte airport. 

To say I was proud would be an understatement. I even grabbed my fancy camera to take pictures of it. Of course I have to share the recipe with you so you can make this treat yourself. It was really easy and requires no baking and very few ingredients!!

Ingredients: 

-16 oz white chocolate 

-1/2 cup peanut butter

-2 cups Rice Krispies

-2 cups miniature marshmallows

-1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1.) Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper; set aside. Place the minature chocolate chips in the freezer until ready to use.

2.) Combine the white chocolate and peanut butter in a bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted together.

3.) Slowly stir in Rice Krispies. Let the mixture sit and cool, stirring occasionally (about 20-30 minutes). 

4.) Gently stir in the marshmallows then the mini chocolate chips, using only a little more than half of the chocolate chips. Set the rest of the chocolate chips aside.

5.) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press in an even layer. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top. Refrigerate until set (about 30 minutes).

6.) Remove from the pan and cut into squares. 

Enjoy and let me know what you think!! 

I'm going to attempt to replicate more recipes from the RMCF....I will let you know how they turn out!

Crack Chicken

I love sharing recipes on here and now that it's fall, I feel like slow cooker recipes are in order. I have a new (to me) slow cooker recipe that I am obsessed with. It's called crack chicken and it's divine (and technically Keto friendly!) 

Crack Chicken 

Slow cooker meals are my FAVORITE because I usually have a good amount of energy to cook in the morning but by the time the afternoon rolls around I am done for the day and rarely want to cook. So if I can prep my dinner in the morning, it's a win! My mom made us this for dinner one night when we went to Little Rock and I loved it. I don't always mess with adding in the bacon and onions (tastes just as good without) and I learned to throw in about 1/2 a stick of butter with the chicken and cream cheese otherwise the cream cheese would kind of burn and not be as creamy and soft. My kids love this meal too and for some reason broccoli seems like a good side dish to go along with this so that's what we always do. I HIGHLY recommend this meal, especially now that it's fall! I probably make it three times a month. Give it a try, I know you'll love it!

A Practical Weekly Dinner Menu For A Busy Family

I feel good about myself if I prepare a nice, well balanced meal for my family every night. It feels as if it's my duty as a wife and mom. A pressure, I am the first to admit, I should not put on myself. But my mom always provided us a perfect, home cooked meal every night (and still does when we visit her house or if she comes to my house) so I guess I just feel like I should follow suit. However, I'm tired. I have three small kids and when the time comes around that it's time to start cooking dinner, it's honestly the last thing I want to do. By 4:30 I've hit my mid-afternoon crash and I just want to sit and do nothing. Unfortunately I have four other people in my home that rely on me to provide them a meal (except in the summer---my husband grills therefore does all of the cooking, bless him!) so I do my best to put good food in their bellies.
We are pretty simple in our house when it comes to our weekly dinner menu. We tend to eat the same meals over and over. Once upon a time I loved to spend an hour or more making a fancy recipe from a magazine that I grabbed at the supermarket and listen to Michael Buble on Pandora while I had a glass of Savignon Blanc. This was obviously pre-kids and those days are long gone. Now I need a meal with a quick turn around time, short prep, and as few dishes as possible. And I've gotten pretty good at finding meals that do just that.
Today I'm going to share a sample weekly dinner menu and hopefully it will help you feed your family with a little more ease and a lot less cleanup! This weekly menu is practical and probably not Pinterest worthy but definitely relatable and realistic.

*For most people, Sundays are a day where they have quite a bit of time on their hands. Take this opportunity to throw in 2 lbs of chicken in your slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. When it's done cooking later that evening, shred the chicken, put it in ziplocks and save it for meals later in the week.

Sunday - Use your shredded chicken to make chicken quesadillas!

Monday--Mondays are crazy so I like to do a slow cooker meal. Prep time for slow cooker meals are typically pretty quick. You basically just dump a bunch of stuff into your pot and set your heat on low. You can save some time by chopping veggies the night before and putting them in a ziplock in your fridge, so when you wake up in the morning you can quickly throw everything in before heading out the door. This White Chicken Chili recipe is super delicious. Don't forget your slow cooker bags for an easier clean up!

Tuesday--Taco Tuesday. Because you can never eat enough Mexican in a week.

Wednesday--We eat the meatloaf from Fresh Market every Wednesday. It's on sale for $5.99 and comes in a pan, all ready to go. All you have to do is cook it in the oven for an hour. We roast fresh veggies in the oven to go with it or do a side salad. Check your favorite super market for something like this to make life easy mid week!

Thursday--Use that chicken you made earlier in the week to make these Chicken and Avocado Burrito Wraps. It's one of my favorites and it's so easy to prep and cook (like, 10 minutes tops). I love pairing with quinoa and a salad.

Friday--Pizza night. Get your favorite pizza and have a movie night with your family! Our very favorite pizza is from Newks. There isn't a single pizza of theirs that I don't love but the Newks Q is my very favorite!

Saturday--End your week with a delicious and nice meal. I made this Balsamic Steak Sheet Pan Dinner for my family over the holidays and it got rave reviews. The meal was delicious and I did it all on my own. Normally Scott would handle a steak meal but I took the reigns and this was super easy and SO delicious!! 10 minutes prep time and the oven does the rest for you.

Most of the meals I make my kids will eat something of. It's not uncommon for me to make a box of rice during the week and save the leftovers for them to eat as a side dish to something. They all like chicken so if I make chicken early in the week I can save some and they will eat it as an entrée. They don't love taco meat but they love cheese tacos. They won't eat meatloaf so I'll put leftover chicken on their plate that night. I prefer to not make two entirely separate meals so I try to make it easy on myself and plan ahead.
I hope this was a helpful and practical dinner menu for you!

Christmas Treats

The holidays are for baking! At least I think so. It seems like there's always an excuse to bake a sweet, holiday themed treat during the month of December. We love making sweet treats for Santa and desserts for all of our holiday parties. I never seem to mind going the extra mile during the holidays.....maybe I'm a little jollier, who knows! These are all so fun and cute and not complicated. The kids enjoy these delicious treats and I do too! Today I thought I'd share my favorites!

Melted Snowman Chocolate Bark

These are so adorable and pretty easy to make. You can get creative with what all you want to use to make the snowmen but you get the idea. So fun!

Melted Snowmen Oreo Ball

To be honest I could not get mine to look like this. Making them look like actual snowmen was too hard for me. I ended up just throwing christmasy sprinkles all over them and called it a day. These are SO delicious

Christmas Tree Brownies

So easy to make and the kids love them! I didn't mess with the peppermint stick but if you're feeling ambitious go for it!

Christmas Popcorn

LOVE this popcorn. We make it every year. It makes a lot so if you want to make treats for teachers, neighbors, co-workers or friends, this is a great option!

Rudolph Cookies

I made these for Scott and I for our first Christmas as a married couple. This was in ye olden days before good ol' Pinterest. I must have seen it in a magazine, who knows. These are cute, easy and peanut butter cookies with chocolate is always delicious!

Halloween Treats

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to share these fun, delicious treats with you today. My kids love baking and helping me cook and I enjoy letting them do it (when I'm in the right mood for it!). These festive treats are a great activity to do with your kids and bonus--you get to indulge in a delicious sweet when it's over. Click the link under the photo for the recipe.

I've shared Pretzel Hugs on here before. They're one of my favorite treats to make. They're super quick and easy to do and great for parties. My kids can easily help me make these and they love to do it. The great thing about Pretzel Hugs is you can easily theme them for any holiday or celebration. These Halloween ones are so fun! Bennett just saw this picture and declared "I want to make these!!" so it looks like we'll be making these later today. Honestly, can't wait! So fun!

Halloween Pretzel Hugs

Turn your leftover Halloween candy into brownies! So adorable and fun! Perfect for kids and adults!! Bennett and Campbell are having Halloween parties at school, I'm thinking Bennett's preschool class would love these treats for their party. I may have to make them for him and his little friends!

Witches Brew Brownies 

If brownies aren't your thing, stick your leftover Halloween candy into a pie! I've done this many times after Halloween in order to use up all of that candy. Now that my kids are older they are getting good at this trick-or-treating business and their candy buckets are now over-flowing with goodies--too many goodies. Using their candy for brownies or a pie is a good solution to make the candy go away quicker!!

Candy Bar Pie

Brownie S'mores with a Halloween twist. How cute! I haven't made this recipe yet but I pinned it years ago and I'm thinking it's time. My boys would love this treat and it sounds delicious. It's a little more time consuming than the other recipes but it would be a perfect thing to do on a cold, rainy October day. 

Ghostly Peeps: Brownie S'mores

Fall Snack

I make "fall snack" every year. Campbell dubbed it "fall snack" when he was two and thus the tradition began. I love making this for my kids. It's fun and gives me that warm fuzzy fall feeling!! This is hands down their favorite snack. They just love a good trail mix! I do it differently every year and every year I share on here my mixes of choice. This years fall snack got rave reviews and was declared the best one yet. I made this one a more Halloween mix and figured next month I can go with a little more of an autumn feeling.

-Goldfish
-Bugles
-Candy Corn Shaped Marshmallows
-Teddy Grams
-Halloween Pretzels
-Muddy Buddies
-Cheerios
-Halloween M&M's
-Spider rings for fun (and the kids favorite part)

Here's a little tip so you don't have to buy giant bags of each item (unless you want to). I buy those $1 snack size cups of the cereal, goldfish and teddy grams. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? I just wanted to make a smaller batch so it would stay fresh so I bought the smallest bags of everything I could find. Although maybe I should have gone with the big ones because this didn't even last 24 hours. 

I got my super adorable Halloween bowl HERE. I ordered it a few years ago and I guess I should get a new one to include Baby Wells! These bowls are sooooo cute and they ship super fast! This site has a ton of personalized goodies and they're all very reasonably priced.
Hope you enjoy Fall Snack!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's fall and fall + slow cookers go hand in hand, don't you think? Last week I pulled my slow cooker out for the first time in several months and decided to let it cook dinner for me. I absolutely love my slow cooker. It makes my life so. much. easier. and any recipe I can find that tastes yummy and cooks in a slow cooker is an automatic favorite for Chef Kara.
I am a huge fan of soups and chicken tortilla soup is one of my favorites. The chicken tortilla soup at On The Border is a particular favorite of mine and years and years ago I decided to try to recreate it myself. I shared the recipe on here at the time but I cooked it all on the stove. This was pre-kids and before I felt the need to simplify my life. Scott mentioned to me last week that my chicken tortilla soup sounded really good to him and asked if I'd make it. It occurred to me that I could totally throw it in the slow cooker so that's what I did. And the result was delicious. I shared it on my Instagram stories and had so many ask for it so I thought I'd put it on here too.

Ingredients:
- 2 boxes of chicken broth
- 1 package of boneless, skinless chicken
- 1 squash and zucchini quartered
- 1/4 purple onion chopped
- 1/2 cup of baby carrots chopped
- 1 can of rotel
- salt and pepper to taste
- shredded cheese
- tortilla chips

Directions: 
Simply throw everything into your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. After about 6 hours I take my chicken out and shred it then return to the slow cooker. I crumble tortilla chips in the bottle of my bowl, ladle the soup over it, then top with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. It's so delicious and easy and bonus--very low calorie!!

Monster Energy Balls

I wanted to share a new (to me) recipe with you guys. A sweet friend brought me some of these a few weeks ago and I have made them myself two times since. They are an awesome snack for everyone in my house. They keep me full, they're easy to just grab and go, and I don't feel too guilty eating a few a day. My boys love them too but I think I love them more than anyone. 

Monster Energy Balls

If you search for energy ball recipes on Pinterest there are SO many different types. I like the "monster" version for the kids and it's a nice little sweet treat for myself as well. Plus I love the crunch of the M&M. These are no bake and super quick to whip together. It's a nice little snack to have on hand that isn't goldfish or fruit snacks or chips....we eat way too many of those around here. Give these a try! I know you'll love them. 

Quick & Easy Recipes

It's been a minute since I shared some easy recipes with you guys so I thought I'd do that today. I've tried a few new recipes that I've saved on Pinterest and they're all super yummy and have been repeated several times since we first tried them. As always, quick and easy is key for me! Here's a few new ones for you to try. Click the link under the photo for the recipe.

Chicken and Avocado Burrito Wraps

This is my new favorite thing to make for dinner. I probably make it every other week. I love to serve quinoa and brown rice on the side and have a bowl of salsa to dip the burritos in. They remind me of the chicken roll ups from Taziki's and this is soooooo quick and easy to make. It calls for cilantro but I never put that in there because who has cilantro just laying around? Even my boys eat them!! So, so yummy.

Creole Chicken with Field Pea Succotash 

This is my very favorite crock pot meal and I cannot believe I haven't shared it on here before!!!! I've been making this for a little over a year now. It is a staple in our house (I think Scott gets tired of it but it's so easy to make!!) and I have the recipe memorized by now. It is literally just 3 bags of frozen veggies and chicken + a little seasoning. I keep the frozen veggies in stock in my house so I can easily throw this together. The recipe calls for bone in chicken but I do boneless because it scares me that one of us may choke on a bone since the meat gets so tender in a crock pot. I know corn is technically considered a carb BUT I consider this meal carb free and a healthy dinner option. So yum, soooo easy, and guilt free in my opinion!

Peanut Butter Apple Slices

I'm not even sure if clicking on the recipe is necessary because I think the photo speaks for itself for this snack. I love apples and peanut butter and this puts an extra little twist on a classic favorite. Since apples and peanut butter are both filling, I'm planning on making these for myself quite a bit while I'm nursing because I'm always SO hungry. 

That's all I've got for now! Give them all a try because I know you'll love them!!

Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Bars

Today was my "day off" since the boys were in school so I decided to spend it doing some Christmas shopping. While I was out and about, I popped in Williams Sonoma and discovered something life changing. Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Bars. 

I walked in and immediately smelled something amazing. I shopped around a bit then made my way over to their little taste testing area and asked what it was and if I could try it. I wasn't even finished eating it before I grabbed the ingredients and recipe and declared I was making it for Thanksgiving. The lady told me they are known for this incredible dessert and it's always a huge hit in the fall. I cannot even say enough about how yummy it was. I wanted to share because if you are wanting to make the perfect Thanksgiving dessert that everyone will absolutely love, this is it!

You need these two Williams Sonoma ingredients. You can find the rest of the recipe HERE. I'm telling you, this is delicious and I can't wait to make it for everybody for Thanksgiving. 

They were also sampling out their hot apple cider and it was incredibly delicious too so I went ahead and added that to my bundle of goodies as well. Ooey Gooey Pumpkin bread washed down with hot apple cider? Sounds like the perfect Thanksgiving combo to me! 

Chicken & Dumplings

A few weeks ago I shared a super simple and incredibly delicious recipe on my Instagram stories and had a crazy amount of feedback on it. So many tried it, loved it, wanted to try it, have it on their list to try, etc. I decided to share the recipe on here. A friend and neighbor made this for us when Campbell was born. I immediately texted her and asked for the recipe because Scott and I were raving about how delicious it was. It seemed like a meal she slaved over the stove to make so when she told me how easy it was, I loved it even more! I put a tiny little twist on it to make it my own and this is officially a fall and winter staple meal in our house! Even my boys love it and it always makes plenty to have for leftovers the next day which is a win in my book.

Ingredients:
-1 Rotisserie Chicken
-1 bag of Reames Frozen Noodles
-2 boxes of chicken broth
-1-2 tablespoons of butter
-salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Boil your chicken broth in a large pot (I use my dutch oven) on your stove. Once the broth comes to a rolling boil, add the Reames frozen noodles and butter. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender. There will still be quite a bit of broth. Turn it down to low and add the shredded rotisserie chicken then salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for a few minutes to get thicker and allow all of the ingredients to mix well together.
That's all there is to it! It's SO yummy. There is still a bit of broth in the pot which I personally like. I usually use a strainer to scoop out the noodles into a bowl or plate and I soak the extra broth up with Sister Schubert rolls. The reason I like to have a little extra broth is because it makes the noodles taste extra delicious when you have them for leftovers the next day. The broth keeps them from getting too dry. This really is one of those recipes where you can cater it to your own liking. More broth, less broth, more butter, less butter, etc. You can make it your own but this is how I do it! It really is the perfect meal to serve your family on a cold day and I haven't met a person yet who doesn't proclaim how yummy it is with each bite!

White Chicken Chili & Pretzel Hugs

It's been a while since I've shared some of my favorite recipes. I wanted to share two super simple (because if it's not simple I'm most likely not going to cook it) recipes with y'all today. This first one is actually in my slow cooker right now. I knew it was going to be rainy today and it's only 71 degrees which is crazy for August in Arkansas! When I was meal planning earlier this week I thought this sounded like the perfect meal to have for dinner tonight. I dropped the boys off at school today then came back home and threw the ingredients for this meal in my slow cooker. My house smells delicious right now! Slow cooker meals are seriously just the way to go. They make my life so much easier. This white chicken chili recipe is super simple and very yummy!! Click the link under the photo for the recipe.

Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili

Another recipe (I mean I guess it's a recipe....it's so simple it almost seems silly to call it a recipe) that I love to have for a sweet treat are pretzel hugs. My sister-in-law made these last year for us to snack on during the holidays. I had never had them before and I couldn't stop eating them. They're so simple to make but beware because they're also so simple to just continue to pop in your mouth and before you know it you've had a dozen of them! Pretzel Hugs are perfect for parties, tailgates, holidays (you can use the seasonal M&M's to make them festive!) or if you just want to make some to have around the house for a little treat. Everyone will love them!

Pretzel Hugs

Hot Spinach Dip

I love spinach dip and I wanted to share my favorite spinach dip recipe with you guys today. The recipe came from a friend but the more I made it, the more I put my own little twist on it until I felt like it was perfect! Unlike my other go-to spinach dip recipe which is a cold dip, this one is hot. Warm with a hint of a kick!! It's my fav and an easy one to whip together for a party, have as a side dish, or as a yummy snack to nibble on throughout the week.

What you need:
-8oz cream cheese
-8oz bag of shredded pepper jack cheese
-1 cup of parmesan cheese
-1 pkg of frozen chopped spinach thawed
-2 cans of rotel (I do one hot and one regular)

Add all ingredients together in a sauce pan on your stove top. Mix on medium low until melted together. Serve warm with chips. It's so delicious! I know you'll love it.

Fall Snack Mix

Something I did last fall for Campbell was make him, what he called, "Fall Snack" and he loved it. I was reminded of it a few days ago and I need to go to the grocery store to grab some items to make Campbell's beloved "Fall Snack." It's simply a mix of different sweet and salty goodies. I mixed it all up and kept it in a huge ziplock bag so that it would stay fresh and we could eat on it for a long time. We all enjoyed it and it was a nice change to the typical snacks we have laying around the house. I'm not saying this is a healthy snack option but it's fall and fall is fun so lets live a little and have some fall snack! It's great to have laying around your house or a fun and festive treat to take to a fall party! Here's some ideas on what you can put in your fall snack mix!

-Goldfish
-Cheese-Its
-Yogurt Melts
-Chex Cereal (I like the honey flavor)
-Bugles
-Craisins
-Honeycomb Cereal
-Pretzels
-Candy Corn Pumpkins
-Chex Mix
-Popcorn
-Peanuts
-M&M's
-Cheerios
-Candy Corn
-Marshmallows
-Reeces Pieces
-Teddy Grahams
-Raisins
-Crunch N Munch
-Chex Muddy Buddy
-Chocolate Chips

Last year I mixed goldfish, chex honey cereal, reeces pieces, pretzels, yogurt melts and teddy grahams together and it was a hit! I may try some different combos this year but I know that whatever I choose, it will be devoured and requested so often it will become annoying. Ha! Are there any good fall snack mix ingredients I'm not thinking of? If so, leave it in the comments!

Game Day Recipes

Game days are fun. I love the feelings of Saturdays in the fall. Football on the TV, wearing my colors with pride, and also, eating a lot of yummy food. Game days are a great excuse for eating a lot of dips and making Razorback shaped brownies. Or at least that's how it works in my house. Today I wanted to share with all of you some of my favorite game day recipes. These are my go-to's on Saturday's. Maybe not all of them every Saturday....or maybe all of them! Click the links under the photos to go to the recipe.

Ham and Cheese Sliders



I make these almost every game day. Everyone loves them. This is the perfect game day sandwich. I make these sandwiches so often and the recipe is so easy that I don't even have to look at the recipe anymore. I whip these up quickly and there's rarely any leftovers but if there are, they re-heat amazingly. Y-U-M.

Cream Cheese Sausage Dip

Again, another easy recipe that's so easy to make I don't even need to look at the recipe because there's only three ingredients!!! Sausage, cream cheese and rotel. Mix together and you're done. I actually always do two blocks of cream cheese and two cans of rotel otherwise it's very sausage-y. Do whatever your taste buds feel necessary!

Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix Spinach Dip

I love spinach dip and this is a recipe I've been enjoying for decades now. It's simply the recipe on the back of the Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix package. This is a cold dip and I serve it at almost every party I throw. It's easy to make ahead of time and it tastes delicious for days.

Euna Mae's Strawberry Cake

With all this salty you're gonna need some sweet and this strawberry cake will be your favorite game day food of them all. Make this cake the night before and it will be all ready for you to indulge in on game day. This strawberry cake is sinfully delicious and I haven't met one person yet who doesn't go back for seconds. 





Chicken and Rice Casserole

So you guys are loving my easy meals posts. I'm so glad! I've gotten so many emails and comments from y'all saying you've tried some of the dishes and loved them. I probably have one more post I can gather up but after that I'm probably out. I've said before that we basically make the same dishes over and over. I like to venture out and make a new Pinterest recipe every now and then. And Scott grills for us a lot, especially in the summer. But for the most part I just recycle the same recipes every month. In the fall I'll have to share my favorite game day foods. They are yummy! But today I wanted to share this recipe that I posted on my Instagram Stories last week and had a lot of people ask me about. It's so easy I was able to share how to make it in one, 15 second story. But it was probably a little fast and I got asked how to make it so I thought I'd just post it on here.

There's a lot of chicken and rice casserole dishes out there but in my family, when we say we're having chicken and rice casserole, this is what we mean. My Mom made this meal for us when I was growing up and it was always one of our family favorites. Now I make it for my family and my boys love it! I think it's a perfect meal for little kiddos but an adult pallet can appreciate it too! It has so much flavor and it is seriously the easiest meal to make. I know I've claimed that about a lot of my meals before, but for real, this one is. Top three easiest recipes I make for sure.

Ingredients:
-Minute Rice (I do brown)
-Boneless, Skinless chicken breast or tenderloins
-1 can of golden mushroom soup
-1 pkg of Liptons Dry Onion Soup Mix

Directions:
-Cook your rice. I do 2 cups which equals 4 servings but you can do more if you have more mouths to feed.
-While your rice is cooking, mix together the soup, soup mix, and one can of water until well blended.
-Place cooked rice in the bottom of a casserole dish.
-Lay the chicken tenderloins on top of the rice
-Pour soup mix on top.
-Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Please excuse the bad photo. I saved it from my Insta Stories after I started getting a lot of feedback and it's the only photo I have of the meal before it was plated. But this is what it looks like once it's been cooked. And I totally use disposable casserole pans all the time for easy cleanup.

There you go! That's all there is to it. This is the exact same "sauce" I use when I make a pork tenderloin in my crockpot also. I swear it tastes good poured over anything. I promise you will love this meal and it may become a favorite in your family too!

Easy Meals Part Two

Y'all loved my post about quick and easy dinners I wrote a few weeks ago so I thought I would write another one just to give you a few more ideas. Like the previous post, these meals are super simple to make and some of our favorites here in the Johnson house. Simply click the links under the photos for the recipes.

MONDAY

Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb and Chicken Orzo

 

Anything in a slow cooker automatically makes dinner easy. This dish is fantastic. It has so much flavor and everyone in my family enjoys it. The recipe says to brown your chicken on the stove for a few minutes but I skip that step. I just put it directly in the crock pot and cook it a little longer than the recipe calls for. Like I said, I'm all about easy and don't want to do the extra step of cooking it on the stove then having an extra dish to clean. But if you don't mind doing that part then go for it!

 

TUESDAY

Ranch Pork Chops Sheet Pan Dinner

 

I said last time that I love sheet pan dinners and this one is yummy because I also really love ranch. A frozen bag of broccoli that you can throw in the microwave is the perfect veggie to add on the side of this meal. Campbell will actually eat broccoli as long as we tell him they're mini trees. Whatever works!

 

WEDNESDAY

Euna Maes 30 Minute Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pasta

 

This meal is heaven. I said last time how much I love Euna Maes (do y'all follow her on IG?). She is my pastors wife and is coming out with a cookbook soon. There isn't one meal of hers I've made that wasn't absolutely delicious. This pasta is so yummy and super easy to make but it makes a ton of food so you would have plenty for leftovers the next night if you wanted.

 

THURSDAY

Zatarain's Red Beans And Rice

 

This meal really doesn't get easier. I didn't add a link because all you need to do is go to the store and grab a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice. I cook it in chicken broth to give it more flavor. If I'm feeling really ambitious I'll slice then cook andouille sausage to add in with it but I normally just get a rotisserie chicken and throw in some chicken with the red beans and rice. Top with a little Tony Cachere's seasoning and you have a supper yummy, super easy dinner! We love this meal.

 

FRIDAY

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

 

I love BBQ and this recipe is so easy. I usually just grab some cole slaw from the store and open up a can of BBQ beans to go on the side. The easy trick to making canned BBQ beans taste good is to drain them completely, put them on a pot on the stove then mix in your favorite BBQ sauce. Sprinkle in about two tablespoons of brown sugar and you've got some yummy beans. I usually do a side of mac and cheese for the boys whenever we do BBQ. Not exactly the healthiest meal but it's Friday so who cares?



My Favorite Easy Recipes

One of the hardest of my daily tasks is cooking dinner for my family and I know I'm not alone in this! I'm on some mom groups on Facebook and a very common question is how to cook a nice meal for your family when you have needy little kids under your feet. It most definitely can be overwhelming but my New Years Resolution was to be better about meal planning so I could cook my family nice, delicious, and mostly healthy meals every night and I'm happy to say I've really stuck with my resolution. I don't make anything complicated and everything I cook is quick, easy and minimal cleanup. Today I thought I'd share a weekly (Monday-Friday) dinner menu for those of you who need some ideas. These are my go-to's (I feel like I rotate the same dozen meals over and over most of the time) and I know you and your family will love them! (Click the links under the photos to see the recipe)

MONDAY

Euna Mae's Cream Cheese Chicken Enchilidas



 

Whenever I cook this, I make it the night before but I save the last three steps for right before I stick it in the oven. It's not hard to make it during the day (or naptime) but it's just one of those easy ones where you can prep ahead of time which is why it's a go-to for me. And also because it's delicious. It makes a ton of leftovers which I love so if you don't want to cook the next night, just reheat these up!

 

TUESDAY

 

This is a recipe I just came up with (I've shared it on my Instagram stories before) and I make this almost every week because it's so, so simple. I get my trusty slow cooker out and simply throw in a pork loin, red potatoes, baby carrots and green beans. In a bowl I mix together a can of golden mushroom soup, a can of water and Liptons dry onion soup mix. I pour the mixture over the meat and vegetables and cook on low for 8 hours. Right before it's time to eat I usually throw some Pillsbury crescent rolls in the oven because they're so yummy and flaky and everyone in my house loves them. This is without a doubt the easiest meal I make and it's super yummy too!

 

WEDNESDAY

 Lawrys Crispy Oven Bake

Sheet pan meals are my best friend and this one is really yummy. I love this Lawrys Crispy Oven Bake. There are several things you can do with it but I just use chicken tenderloins and chop up my favorite veggies, throw it all on a sheet pan and bake it for 25-30 minutes. If I have red potatoes in my house I'll chop those up and throw them on the sheet pan as well, otherwise I'll just make some rice to go with this meal. Campbell LOVES this chicken which is awesome because he never eats protein....but he'll eat this! 

 

THURSDAY

One Pot Creamy Chicken and Rice

 

This dish is so delicious, so easy, and the cleanup is a snap. I make a few small changes to the recipe. Sometimes I leave out the carrots unless I have them and the time to grate them. Instead of celery I do frozen green peas because my boys love peas. I also just do minute brown rice and I don't add parsley because who cares? You'll love this dish and so will your kids.

 

FRIDAY

Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Brussels Sprouts

 

Like I said before, I do a lot of sheet pan meals. They're just so easy. I usually just do chicken and veggies but when I'm craving something other than chicken, I go for this. Sometimes I go through the trouble of making the seasoning/rub they provide in the recipe but usually I just throw on my favorite pre-made seasoning and call it good.

 

So there you go! Some of our go-to's and really, really easy meals to make with very minimal cleanup. What are some of your favorites? Leave them in the comments below! If you like this post, let me know and I can do another one. I've got more simple, easy recipes if you want to hear about them!