Buckeye Cheeseball

This treat is especially perfect for Ohio State fans on game day! But you don't have to be a born and bred Buckeye to enjoy this sweet pb and chocolate appetizer!

Every Christmas, I look forward to two treats that my mom-in-law makes: potato candy and buckeyes. My husband's family is from Ohio, which is referred to as "The Buckeye State" because of its buckeye trees. Buckeye seeds are little brown nut-like looking things with a little yellow eye shape on them, so when buckeye candy is made, it's with peanut butter, chocolate, and a little circle "eye" is left bare to resemble the seeds. I was so excited when I saw Erin of The Spiffy Cookie post this recipe and knew I had to make it. I do wish I had more patience to cover the cheeseball with chocolate chips more fully, but I ain't got time for that. Regardless, it was a great snack to have out on the kitchen island with tons of teddy grahams around to dig into the cheeseball.

If you're a Ohio State fan, this would be a great dish for game day! ;)

Peanut Butter S'mores Crunch Bars

What do you get when you cross s'mores with Rice Krispie treats and Reese's? Heaven!!

So this dessert is what happens when you combine s'mores with Rice Krispie Treats and Reese's cups and it is wonderful. There is so much crunch to it and it's also delicious. If you haven't tried a s'mores with a Reese's cup instead of a Hershey's bar, I highly recommend it! It's my favorite way to eat s'mores. All the elements together work so well and it's really such an easy dessert to make. You don't have to be ridiculously skilled at making desserts to make this. You layer most of the ingredients and the other half is just melting a chocolate mixture in the microwave and stirring peanut butter and Rice Krispies into it. So anyone can make this. If you have kids (or have friends with kids or you're an aunt/uncle/cousin etc to kids), this would be a great recipe to make with kids of any age.

Chicken and Zucchini Alfredo

The perfect summertime alfredo dish that is quick and easy to make!

Once summer hits, I want to eat all the zucchini I can because I know once August is over, the pickings are slim and I'm not going to find zucchini as much. This summer, zucchini just seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth at my local grocery store and it really bums me out. I keep trying to plan stuffed zucchini and then get to the grocery store and have to sub a different recipe for the week in for stuffed zucchini.

I really like this particular recipe because I don't think I have had zucchini in alfredo. It was a pretty simple recipe and it didn't take long to make. I like how the sauce is cooked in the same skillet as the zucchini and chicken and gets all that goodness that is leftover into the sauce.

Menu Plan Monday - August 28, 2017

August has flown by and I'm ridiculously excited because it's time for September! My favorite month of the year :D I'm looking forward to lots of good food this month and I'm starting out strong with some comfort foods all this week.

Monday - Carbonara with Garlic Bubble Bread
Tuesday - Browned Butter Banana Caramel Muffins // Taco Bell Chicken Quesadillas
Wednesday - Cheesy Meatball Parmesan Soup
Thursday - Grandma's Best Donuts // Copycat Popeye's Chicken
Friday - Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs
Saturday - Huevos Rancheros // Kalesidillas // M&M PB Bars
Sunday - Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to share links in the comments!

 

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Grilled Hasselback Fajita Chicken #SundaySupper

Impress all your guests when you grill this delicious hasselback chicken! 

Today's Sunday Supper Movement event is LABOR DAY MENU IDEAS hosted by Em Beitel. Labor Day is the last hurrah to celebrate summer and grill out, so I figured I would share one of my recent favorite grilled chicken recipes. I tried to make an effort to grill more this summer and this was by far my favorite favorite favorite recipe. It's pretty easy to prepare and, oh my goodness, is the payoff worth any little bit of preparation!

Caprese Steak

What's better than steak? Steak covered in cheese, tomato, basil, and balsamic vinegar!

Every time we have steak for dinner, I wish we ate it every single day. At the same time, I'm glad we don't because one, OUCH, my wallet - and two, then it wouldn't be so special when we did have steak. I would never say no to a regular steak with salt, pepper, and butter, but I also love trying new things and I was definitely sold on the caprese idea.

Steak is steak, but when you add cheese?! That's a match made in heaven right there. Throw a little tomato and basil with it and it's gonna be the very best steak you've ever had!

Titletown Tailgate Chili

Even if you aren't at a game, this chili is going to be a hit for your whole crew!

If you need a chili for tailgating, this one is perfect! The original recipe was double the amount I made, but since I was just making it for dinner, I didn't need enough to feed a crowd. It still made a ton of chili and that was just fine by me. I love chili leftovers because the flavor just gets better as they get to meld together. If you like a spicier chili, feel free to add more jalapenos to the pot. And don't forget the cornbread muffin!

Roasted Jalapeno Egg Salad

Roasted jalapenos and bacon take this egg salad recipe to the next level!

I don't really get to enjoy egg salad very often because I'm the lone wolf in our house. I think Cami would like it if she tried it, but otherwise, it's just me. I have had this Roasted Jalapeno Egg Salad recipe saved for years, but had no clue that it was a one serving recipe. I planned on making it for myself for lunch and eating it for a few days. I was a little surprised, but happy to see that I didn't have to refrigerate it at all because honestly leftover egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad freaks me out a little.

The recipe itself was fairly easy to make. It did have a few steps to go through, but overall, it wasn't a lengthy recipe or very advanced. I added bacon bits to my mix because you can't have jalapenos and cheese without bacon! I served it up on sourdough bread, which is one of my favorite kinds of bread. Overall, this is easily my favorite recipe for egg salad. It's definitely the best egg salad I have ever eaten. It reminds me of jalapeno popper deviled eggs and I love that. I'd much rather make egg salad than deviled eggs. Because if you mess up peeling the egg for an egg salad sandwich, it's no big deal.

Menu Plan Monday - August 21, 2017

Another few requests from the family for the month of August included a pesto recipe, cheddar broccoli soup, and tatortot hotdish. I've been wanting zucchini like nonstop this summer. It's so good. Ugh! :)

Monday - Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken Pasta
Tuesday - Middle of the Cinnamon Roll Muffins // Taco Casserole
Wednesday - Cheddar Broccoli Soup with Bacon
Thursday - S'mores Donuts // Stuffed Zucchini
Friday - Spicy Chicken and Jalapeno Pizza
Saturday - Cheesy Egg Casserole // Root Beer Float Pie
Sunday - Tatortot Hotdish


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Fantastical Friday: 11 Sweet Peach Treats

August is National Peach Month and there are a few peach-themed food holidays coming up in the near future. The 22nd is Eat a Peach Day and the 24th National Peach Pie Day. I have a sweet collection of peach recipes today. I didn't include any savory dishes, but urge you to try one out if you have a recipe for one! Today's recipes are breakfast, desserts, and beverages :)

Hasselback Pizza Chicken

No boring chicken for dinner when you can stuff it with pizza fixings!

I am always looking for new ways to fix chicken because lately I've had a bit of chicken aversion. All three times I was pregnant, I had a chicken aversion and sometimes it comes back and rears its ugly head even though I'm not pregnant. I saw the video featuring this hasselback chicken on Buzzfeed Food and knew I had to try it out. Their directions were for one serving, so I modified it to fit my needs and left it open-ended down below. I find that I didn't put a teaspoon of sauce in each slit and I definitely think the mozzarella slices was a little too vague.

So with the modified recipe, I ended up with a fairly easy chicken dinner. I loved the addition of all the pizza fixings plus the cheddar cheese on top. It tastes like a pizza and that was exactly what I needed that particular day!

Peach Blackberry Sangria #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

It's time again for another Food Fight and this month's theme is RUM! Today is National Rum Day and that is how the theme was chosen. The Food Fighters were not given any particular type of dish so long as it contains rum or rum flavoring. I have to admit that I struggled a little with what I wanted to make because I don't have a lot of recipes saved with rum in them and I don't make a lot of food with rum. I did have a page from the September 2016 Food Network Magazine that was for a Mix and Match Sangria recipe. So the amounts of different ingredients are from that, but the choices were mine alone.

I have had sangria once and it was many years ago, right before I got pregnant with Mason. I had a peach sangria at TGIFriday's. It was so delicious and I hands-down knew I wanted peaches in this sangria paired with white wine and white rum. Nick wanted to do all berries, so I compromised with blackberries going into the mix as well. The recipe called for superfine sugar or light brown sugar and I used vanilla sugar that I had purchased for Kasekuchen. This is a pretty strong sangria and I personally would love to try it with a sweeter wine because I am not a dry wine aficionado. Maybe a tad less rum, although everyone else loved it. The peach and blackberry with lemon was delicious though!

The cups before the Sprite was added...

Lemon Sage Chicken

A fancied up fried chicken recipe with tons of bright lemony flavor and delicious sage to top it off.

Sage is one of my favorite spices, but I don't use it enough and I don't know why! I absolutely could not wait to try this recipe out because it also has lemon with that sage. I was interested in the fried sage leaves, not sure how that would turn out, but it was fantastic! The breaded chicken with lemon wedges and fried sage leaves with a little sauce to top it off...was all so wonderful.

Menu Plan Monday - August 14, 2017

I'm looking forward to so many recipes this week, but especially Sunday's pot roast, which we have dubbed "The Roast". I ask what everyone wants to eat in the month and get told "The Roast" pretty much every month.

Monday - Spaghetti with Crusty Baguettes
Tuesday - Cream Cheese Chocolate and Peanut Butter Muffins // Mexican Ranch Chicken Salad
Wednesday - Stir Fry Soup
Thursday - Baked Blueberry Cake Donuts // Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
Friday - Guberburgers
Saturday - Sourdough Coffee Cake // Cherry Delight
Sunday - Mississippi Pot Roast

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One Dish Taco Goulash #SundaySupper

This recipe is easy peasy and perfect for busy school nights.

Today's Sunday Supper Movement event is BACK TO SCHOOL DINNERS. In this event, you will find the perfect meals for busy school nights, so be sure to scroll to the bottom to see all the recipes for today. I decided to go with a one pot meal because to me, one pot/skillet/dish meals are the easiest recipes for busy nights. I hate doing dishes and I certainly don't want to do them after a really long, hectic day.

When I was a kid, we had a lot of the same foods over and over again and one of my favorites was goulash. My mom made it with a can of tomato soup, ground beef, onions, and pasta. Still to this day, I crave it every so often because it was such a staple for a fast, easy, inexpensive dinner. My mom definitely knew what she was doing. I love this variation of goulash because it's a little more hearty and it just right for Taco Tuesday.

Chicken Tetrazzini

This classic comfort meal is switched up with some green beans in the mix!

I know it's totally the wrong way to make tetrazzini, but I don't make mine with mushrooms. If you want it the right way, you can sweat the mushrooms with the shallots. I don't hate mushrooms - I just don't go out of my way to eat them, especially not in large pieces. This tetrazzini is also a little different because it has green beans mixed in...which I actually love. No need to worry about making a side, the veggie is already in the dish!

Tuna Melt Quesadillas

I never thought in a million years I'd eat a tuna quesadilla, but these are the bomb!

I always get a little nervous when I make a recipe with an ingredient that I know some of the family doesn't eat. In these quesadillas, that ingredient is mayonnaise. Nick hates mayonnaise. Matthew "hates" mayonnaise. Realistically, he doesn't. He used to eat tuna salad sandwiches for lunch all the time at school and didn't believe me that there is mayonnaise in tuna salad. He didn't see me make these quesadillas...and he told me that they were in his top FIVE favorite recipes. Not top ten, top FIVE. Then I revealed the mayonnaise component and he was like "Meh, they weren't that great." Mind you, I got this all on film LOL. Does anyone else have a "picky eater"? The convenient picky eater is what that child is.

I digress. I was a little weary of these quesadillas not turning out well despite the fact that I really wanted to them. I was so happy that they DID turn out well. So well! Matthew, Cami, and I devoured them. We wanted more. This is seriously such a good recipe if you love tuna melts.

One Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl

Chicken burritos don't have to be messy - this burrito bowl is made in one pot!

I like to not complicate things some nights and throw together a one pot meal. I honestly can say that I despise doing dishes. It's my least favorite chore. I will take an opportunity to not dirty both saucepans, all my skillets, and every large utensil I've ever owned. Taco Tuesdays are usually pretty quick meals that don't dirty too many dishes, but I like to switch things up and not do tacos each week.  This burrito bowl is totally acceptable for Tuesday and it keeps with the ease of Tuesday's meals. It's a really great dish. Next time I make it, I'm definitely adding a bell pepper and a jalapeno to the onions to add more crunch to it because I feel that's about the only thing it lacked.

Menu Plan Monday - August 7, 2017

My family requested an alfredo dish, steak fajitas, and tomato soup with grilled cheese for the month of August and that's what is happening this week :) Today is the first day of school for my big kids and I'm so excited. #momlife

Monday - Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti
Tuesday - Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Muffins // Steak Fajitas
Wednesday - Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup with grilled cheese
Thursday - Snickerdoodle Crumble Donuts // Asian Turkey Meatballs with Easy Thai Noodles
Friday - Extra Cheese Pizza and wings
Saturday - Chorizo Hashbrown Casserole // Soft Baked PB Chocolate Swirl Cookies
Sunday - Baked Buttery Herb Chicken and Potatoes

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Fantastical Friday: Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

Happy Friday and Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!
YASSSSSSSSS!!!

Many of the last themed Fantastical Fridays I have shared have included a combination of recipes from other blogs and my own. Some of them don't include any of my own blog's recipes. Today, however, all the recipes are from my blog and they are all, as you may have guessed, chocolate chip cookie recipes! I had a few chocolate chunk recipes, but I didn't include those. So without further ado, let's get into all these cookies!

Circus Animal Cookie Pie

This no bake pie is the perfect summer dessert that will bring you back to your childhood!

This was my very first homemade pudding pie and I really loved it. I served it up for family dinner dessert and everyone was in agreeance that it was such a mouthwateringly delicious dessert. I think circus animal cookies are one of my all-time favorite snack from my childhood that I still eat to this day and I love how colorful the pie ends up with the addition of sprinkles :)

20-Minute Cheesy Veggie Pasta Bake

This quick and tasty pasta dish contains zucchini and ground turkey and is super delicious

If a dish boasts to be ready in 20 minutes, I'm going to try it. It's a no-brainer. Even on days that aren't busy, I really like having the option to make a quick dinner, so there is more time for activities. (har de har) My name is Sarah and I'm a pastaholic. I have no plans of stopping any time soon. So with that being said, pasta and quick equals a GREAT recipe. I love that this one is very cheesy and I love that it contains zucchini, arguably the best vegetable. I added turkey to the original recipe, so my nearly-solely-carnivore family wouldn't complain, but you can absolutely remove that from the recipe for a vegetarian option. I definitely wouldn't judge you for it because I think this has so much flavor and is definitely filling enough without the addition of meat. However, it was very tasty with ground turkey.

Beef Burrito Skillet

One skillet, under 30 minutes meal to the rescue when you want tacos, but not tacos!

Dear Americanized Mexican food,
Stop being so hard to photograph.
Sincerely,
Sarah

But in all seriousness despite this style of food being uncooperative for photographing, it's a great way to mix up Taco Tuesday and make something other than tacos. It has most of the elements of a regular taco, but it's made in one skillet. I have made a few recipes here and there that include some type of beans in the taco meat, but never kidney beans. I was pretty stoked and very excited to see how it would turn out. I thought the kidney beans worked perfectly well in this dish and loved how quick and easy it was to throw it all together.