Apple Pie Cookie Bars

Mmmm. So these were super easy and pretty darn amazing!

Hope you enjoy!

~ Ingredients ~

Cookie layer

1 stick of butter

6 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Apple Pie layer

1 can apple pie filling

Topping layer

1 1/2 cup oats

4 tbsp butter

6 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

~ Directions ~

Turn oven on to 350 degrees (176 C)

Grease a 9x13 pan

Cream together butter and sugars. 

Add egg and vanilla

In seperate, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda). 

Add dry ingredients to wet. 

Put dough in pan and with floured hands, press into pan until bottom is covered. 

Add layer of apple filling.  

Melt butter for topping. 

Mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. 

Add to top. It won't cover everything but spread as evenly as possible. 

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before eating! 

We drizzled caramel over the top.

Enjoy!!

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!

Mint Chocolate Cookie Dough Brownies

I'm getting ready for the holidays and trying out a few new recipes. I'm also 19 weeks pregnant soooo yeah...I'm making a bunch of stuff for my cravings. No, I don't over indulge. I'll probably eat about two of these brownies, but they satisfied my craving for chocolate mint :) I made these on a Saturday night and then tried them out on Sunday morning (haha...great breakfast). They needed time to set in the fridge. So next time, I'll make them in the afternoon if I want them that night. 

Hope you enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Stuffed Cookies

You're Welcome...

White Chocolate & Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

It's that time of year folks. When I yearn for cool weather. To pull out all my boots. Slip into fleece tights and wear leg warmers around the house. When the crock pot comes out. When I start stocking up on pumpkin every time I go to the store. When my house always smells of something Fall. Pumpkins, caramel, apples, cinnamon. To kick off Fall 2014, I bring you....

White Chocolate & Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.

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.

Reese's & Chocolate Marshmallow Smore's Bars

I love some ooey gooey smore's as much as anyone....but I hate having to make a fire just to have them. Plus...they really are kind of messy. Sooo, I've got a grown up version!

If you can't find the chocolate marshmallows you see below...just get a second jar of marshmallow fluff. I made a double batch (9x13 pan) but I'm including the single bath recipe.

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!

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.

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!