One Pot Clam Chowder

I LOOOOOOOOVE how easy this was! It can easily be made in less than an hour with plenty of leftovers for another round. Serves 4 total. We love a really good clan chowder. This one isn't as "thick" as I love it, but I could always add a tablespoon or so of cornstarch to thicken it up. Now I just need to find the perfect sourdough recipe and perfect that!

Enjoy!

Coconut Chicken Curry

So Aaron and I have a place in our hearts for Thai food. We'd never even really tried it until we moved to WPAFB in Dayton, Ohio. If you ever have the chance...go to Thai 9 in downtown Dayton. Just don't go anywhere else in downtown Dayton.

Anywho...I'd been looking for a red curry soup/noodley concoction that had just the right blend of spice, heat, and yummy coconut flavor. 

And this is what I came up with. It's pretty easy even though some of the ingredients look random. Enjoy!

Carne Asada

So I've always wanted to try making Carne Asada, but there are so many recipes out there, I didn't know which one would give me the most awesome flavor.

But I found it...

I loved everything listed, so I knew this was the one. 

Enjoy.

Pesto Broccoli Chicken Pasta

So this was a throw together that was super easy and super fast. I loved the creamy pesto cause that wasn't heavy at all! That's bonus for a non-red pasta dish. 

Most of this stuff you'll probably have in the fridge/pantry, but if not, it won't be hard to find. After cubing my chicken, the whole dish took about 25 minutes to finish.

Enjoy!

Catch-up Time!!

So we all know how the holidays can be....soooo much to do and so little time!! I planned on posting recipe after delicious recipe throughout the holidays, but of course I had to go and get sick. I've got a big back log of photos to be edited and posts to be made.

Here is a quick run down of what to expect!

Kick-Ass Corn Dip
Peanut Butter & Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Cookies
Pesto Broccoli Chicken Pasta
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins
Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
Bacon Clam Chowder
Chicken Fried Rice
Meatballs & Homemade Marinara
Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies
A couple freezer-ready marinades

and maybe a few more yummy things.

Stay tuned!!

Creamy Tomato & Spinach Pasta

I tried this pasta for the the first time tonight. Man oh man...do I pick some really awesome recipes :) I found it on Pinterest but tweaked it a big for my own tastes. 

I ended up serving it with my pesto chicken that I had in the freezer. BUT I could also add some cubed chicken next time if I just wanted a one-pot meal. 

Hope you all enjoy! Oh...my husband loved it too. Bonus!

Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna with Ground Turkey

If there is anything that I really really love, it's all foods that can be baked into one dish. That also provide me with multiple servings. AND anything that I can do without noodles. I love noodles, but it's nice to not have to have the extra carbs if I can help it. I didn't do a whole bunch of pictures for this because it's that easy. 

P.S. You can omit the turkey to make this vegetarian. Add some extra veggies like mushrooms to keep the quantity the same.

Green Chili Enchiladas

Hello Hello Everyone! So a few nights ago I was craving Mexican...obviously not authentic, but whatever. I've always pretty much sucked at enchiladas (kind of like my issues with Mac & Cheese), however, I think this recipe turned out pretty good!

Not pictured is a pack of skinless, boneless chicken breasts (They were thawing).

Ooey Gooey, cheesy goodness!

Enjoy!

White Wine Clam Sauce with Pasta

Nom Noms! Aaron made this for the first time a few years ago and now it's one of those random delicious dishes that we have every so often. 

Now I know that I usually take pronominal photos and I swear that I did take an awesome ingredient shot.......however, I did not remember to put an SD card in the camera (thanks for noticing sweety!) Sooooo we threw together a quick shot.

Awesome taste. Just the right amount of tartness from the wine and just enough tanginess (<sooo not a word) from the cheese. Enjoy!

Mashed Faux-Tatoes

Hey Everyone! We made another side tonight that has quickly become one of our favorites. It's easy to make, tastes delicious AND makes it easy to get in loads of extra veggies (and less carbs) later in the day.

Again, sorry for the not so hot photos. Sometimes for these quick ones, a phone is just easier.

Enjoy!

Smashed Potatoes

I love these potatoes! Just the right amount of garlic, cheese, and crispiness. Sorry for the not so hot photos. I took them with my phone :)

Enjoy!

Parmesan Zucchini Fries & Lemon Garlic Marinaded Chicken

I had a bunch of zucchini and a bit of chicken so I decided another marinade and some zucchini fries were in order! I've been wanting to try the zucchini fries forever! They didn't get as crispy as I wanted, but they still taste really good. Zucchinis are such a "wet" veggie, it's always hard to dry them out properly. So I shall try again in the future. For now though, here is Lemon Garlic Marinaded Chicken and PARMESAN Zucchini Fries. Forgive the photo that says crispy...haha. I got ahead of myself ;)

Super Easy White Chicken Chili

Just like the title says, this dish is super super easy. It's one that Aaron and I eat about once a month or so and there's always enough for about 6 bowls total. We eat two, put another two into the fridge, and freeze the rest. YES. You can put this all into a bag after it's cooked and freeze it. We usually pull it out within a month, let it thaw, then reheat it on the stove. Tastes just as good as the first time! I usually serve it up with homemade honey cornbread, but I skipped it this time around for time sake. We threw a few crushed tortilla chips on it instead. :)

Hope you all enjoy!

Garlic Pesto Chicken & Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Growing up in my family, pasta was king. We had Grandma's spaghetti and meatballs or gnocchi for every holiday and plenty of days in between, so I'm very partial to a really good pasta dish.

I came across a photo on Pinterest titled "Garlic Pesto Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce Pasta". Of course I was interested, and of course because it looked so good, the link went nowhere. Just my luck.

Sooooo I decided to do it myself. No joke, we almost licked our plates. This stuff was that good. I'm surprised we had sauce left for the noodles because I kept eating it out of the pan.

Super easy and well worth it! I would actually pay money to eat this dish again. A great thing about this dish is that you can eat the two together OR separately. We had them together, but I'm going to make more of the chicken and freeze it for future dinners too. Sooo yummy!

~ Garlic Pesto Chicken & Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce ~

Serves 2-3

Chicken Penne Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes & Mushrooms

I love love love pastas and I love anything that can be lightened up and even frozen for future use. I found a recipe that was similar to this, but I did make quite a few changes.

I will note, that the end result tasted good but I felt like the sauce was a bit thin. Might have needed more flour and less milk.

Anyways, it still tasted yummy and I'll make note of any changes I would make for next time :)

Sausage & Bean Dinner

Ohhh ohhh ohhh. I've been eagerly waiting to do this recipe again. It's one of my super easy fall favorites AND it's great if you want to make ahead and freeze too.

The dried mustard and hint of honey is the perfect combo in this hearty concoction. PS...you'll notice we added rice. If I were going to freeze it, I would have left that out and added it whenever I ended up cooking it. You could throw it into the bag anyways (uncooked). It will cook up in the crock pot when needed.

Sausage & Bean Dinner

Aaron's Chicken Matzoball Soup

This is another one of our fall favorites. Aaron's favorite soup is Chicken Noodle. But I'm not a huge fan. Usually when we would make soup and sandwiches, I would have tomato and he would have chicken noodle...from a can. Once we started making our own however, we both loved the other one's favorite. (See http://homesweetspice.blogspot.com/2013/10/creamy-tomato-soup.html for my favorite creamy tomato soup).

So here is Aaron's Chicken Matzoball soup. It makes at least 6 servings. And we have not tried freezing it. Adjust the amounts for how much you want.

The next time we make this, I'll take more photos.

Chicken Teriyaki Noodle Bowls

So last night I was craving a bit of Asian food. Which is not easy to come by in our part of Germany...at least, not within 5 minutes. So I decided to throw together some Chicken Teriyaki Noodle Bowls. This was pretty simple, all I needed to get was the veggie mix. We do have a pretty stocked pantry though, so double check if you need extra items. 

*You'll notice that some of my items are in German but it's the same as the American products.

Creamy Tomato Soup

I don't know if it's just the fall & winter time, or if I just love soup...it's such a cozy meal that I don't care why. Last year, Aaron and I started making our own soups at home. Which also meant that we could freeze portions of them for meals later on (<--LOVE doing that!). After I had my wisdom teeth pulled, this was my requested meal. Mmmmm. However, Aaron is not a fan of chopping onions...

This post is all about our delicious and creamy tomato soup. Unfortunately these photos are from the last time we made it and I did not get an ingredients picture. It's a pretty simple recipe though!

Mexican Style Zucchini Boats

I can't tell you how much I love using zucchini. Especially in dinners as a substitute for noodles or as a veggie "filler". Cooked zucchini doesn't have a super strong taste, but I can add it to lots of dishes and get my veggies in without the taste taking over the dish.

Tonight I wanted to do zucchini boats. These are always yummy. But I love anything spicy so a Mexican flavor was a must.

Please note that a lot of my cooking is "by taste". I may put certain amounts in the ingredients lists, but you can add or subtract depending on your own taste.

*6 boats - serves 3-4

~ Ingredients ~

Along with a 9x13 pan I used the following:

• 3 zucchini
• 1 can rotel
• 1 can non fat refried beans (realized that great northern beans would also be a great choice)
• 1 pound beef (sorry, I didn't realize I was out of turkey which is what I was going to use)
• 1 cup cheese
• 1 6 ounce container of greek yogart
• about 30 tortilla chips (crushed)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (not pictured)
• salt and pepper
• *1/2 tsp. ground cumin if you have it

~ Directions ~