One Pot 30-Minute Cheeseburger Pasta

All the goodness of cheeseburgers in a quick pasta dish with peas thrown in there so you get your veggies too!

I think I'm starting to edge into the recipes I started making when we first moved back in April 2020 to our new home. I cannot express how excited I was for the amount of natural lighting - it has really made taking pictures of food way easier - especially since I have gotten rid of my DSLR and am just using my phone. This recipe was a great, easy meal for the hecticness of moving. I didn't have pictures of it, but I loved it with ketchup. It was giving me a bit of tatortot casserole vibes and it needed the ketchup to make it complete!

Linguini Carbonara

Rich classic carbonara with linguine pasta, peas, and bacon.

Matthew (my oldest) would eat carbonara every single day if he could. So we have it for dinner often and I have saved different recipes to try (my favorite is pesto carbonara). This is very much so a classic carbonara and really easy to make. It's so rich and full of flavor.

Slow Cooker Creamy Vegetable Soup

A little bit of prep work and into the slow cooker and you'll have a great meatless meal on a chilly night!

As a child, I pretty much hated vegetable soup. Not because of the vegetables, but because we ate canned soup and the vegetable soup is tomato-based. It seems a bit odd given how much I love anything tomato-based, but it was just too tomato-ey. If you know, you know. I thought I'd try this recipe because it's pretty similar to potato soup but just loaded up with some extra stuff. It turned out really well and was super delicious. Highly recommend.

Caramelized Cashew Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

Marinated chicken and caramelized cashews add so much flavor to this stir fry!

I feel like I've made a lot of stir frys over the years and continue to save stir fry recipes even if they aren't something crazy different. What was a little different about this particular stir fry is that the chicken gets marinated before lightly breaded. In addition to the marinade, you make really lovely, totally addictive caramelized cashews to go on top. I mean, these cashews are good on their own. They'd be a great snack. But they are even better on top of this stir fry.

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Have leftover mashed potatoes? Make this quick shepherd's pie!

I was a little surprised that taco seasoning was one of the ingredients for this shepherd's pie, but look, I've learned by now not to knock something until I try it. It turned out so well and while it does have an element of taconess to it, it still tastes like a shepherd's pie and really delicious. I love that there is an option for using leftover mashed potatoes because I often have them. I mean honestly this would be perfect for a dish after having tacos AND a big dinner with mashed potatoes. I think leftover taco meat would be super great in this and then you get to skip a few more steps. :)

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

This yummy crockpot stew has all the goodness of a pot pie without all the hassle of the crust.

It's soup and stew and chili season even if it's a million degrees outside. September is fall. You cannot change my mind. I really like pot pie filling but I don't like pot pie because of the crust. I love when I get the things I like without the things I don't, so, of course, I loved this stew! I was a little unsure of the Greek yogurt part, but it added a really nice, slightly sour creaminess to the stew.

Beer Cheese and Macaroni Soup

This creamy, cheesy beer soup with bacon and veggies is just what is needed on a cold night!

I am a person who does not enjoy beer as a beverage. Not in the slightest. I've tried many different kinds, but it's really just not my thing. I, however, do enjoy beer in soups and stews and savory dishes. I'm actually going to be using beer in a dessert recipe later in the year and I'm curious to see how I'll like that. Beer cheese is one of those things that I can't explain why I like. It tastes like beer. I don't like beer. But I like beer cheese. I knew this recipe would be such a quintessential cold weather kind of food. I think of it as a really good fall dish, but I also think it isn't limited to just fall :)

Chicken Pot Pie Noodle Soup

All the flavors of pot pie turned into a hearty soup that is ready in under 30 minutes!

I'm sure I've talked about it briefly over the years here and there, but I don't really care for pies - including pot pie. However, Nick and the big kids do like pot pie. So about as far as I get for compromising is making pot pie-like recipes without the pie crust like this soup. You can absolutely get away with canned chicken OR rotisserie chicken if you'd like - rotisserie chicken especially in the lemon pepper variety, I think, would make a fantastic substitute. This is totally comfort food and it pairs perfectly with a good hearty buttermilk biscuit.

Pesto Spaghetti Carbonara

A classic carbonara with an added burst of flavor from pesto

It was bound to happen and today I get to share one of my favorite recipes ever: pesto carbonara. Fun fact: I tried to make this with zoodles at the same time for Nick. It did not work. I think there is too much moisture in zoodles to keep enough heat long enough to cook the eggs. It was a sloppy mess. So I don't recommend that...just make it with regular pasta. The bit of pesto is seriously a fantastic addition to carbonara!

Egg Drop Soup

This soup is unbelievably easy to make and it's definitely one you won't forget any time soon!

Happy New Year! This year I will be posting less often due to being a full college student and having a lot on my plate (pun intended) with 3 kids, school, extra curricular activities, etc. I have definitely been struggling to get my posts up on time the last few months, so I'm removing that stressor. I will be posting my Menu Plan Monday posts each week because I love being able to share the recipes I'm making and sharing the blog love because they are often from different food bloggers. I will also be posting two recipes each week - Wednesday and Friday postings. I have tons of recipes that I have made and have yet to share, so I'm not worried about running out of recipes. However, I don't have near as much time to type things up as I used to. So a little bit of a schedule change and dropping Throwback Thursdays and Fantastical Fridays, but still plenty of awesome recipes in store for y'all!

I am excited for a whole new year of new recipes to try. Last year, I tried quite a few new foods including egg drop soup. I figured if I could make carbonara and enjoy it and not worry about undercooked eggs happening (says the person who eats raw cookie dough), then egg drop soup was definitely something I could make. This was incredibly quick and easy with very inexpensive ingredients to boot.  Definitely something I could see making sure I have the frozen veggies and wonton strips for in case a rare snow day happens and we can't get down the hill to the grocery store!

German Pea Soup with Egg Dumplings

This wonderful soup is classic in so many ways but has the addition of egg dumplings to really set it apart.

I've never been a big fan of dumplings, but I like to try new things and since we've been trying a lot of German food lately, I thought this soup would be the perfect recipe to try. The egg dumplings made me a little nervous, but they ended up being relatively easy to make and they tasted a lot like gnocchi. In fact, I think the consistency is almost dead on for gnocchi and I really enjoyed that a lot. I also used a ham hock for the very first time, which was really interesting to say the least. I wanted to stay as close to the original recipe as possible when I first made it and I didn't change anything the second time I made it. This soup reminds me a lot of beef stew but also vegetable soup. It's like the two had a baby together and this was result. So definitely give it a try! I haven't yet asked my sister-in-law (who is German) if this is an authentic recipe that is eaten in Germany, but I thought I'd share the name of the soup in German for fun: Erbsensuppe mit Eierschwämmchen.

Chicken a la King

This comfort meal is ready in under 30 minutes and is made in one pot!

I was introduced to chicken a la king in middle school during Wednesday night church. We did youth group and then some ladies in the church made dinner for us. I always looked forward to chicken a la king because it was so good. Stick to your ribs, warm you from your toes type of comfort food. I made this chicken a la king sans mushrooms because 3 out of the 4 of us eating it don't eat mushrooms. We also served it with biscuits instead of over egg noodles because Nick is doing a keto diet. This is such a quick meal and it's made in one pot, so it's a really fantastic QUICK comfort food recipe.

Easy Egg Drop Soup

This soup is so easy to make and you can make it with add-ins or without!

Easy Egg Drop Soup is one of my favorite quick soup recipes that I love to make in a bind. There is room to have add-ins to make it more filling, like chicken, tofu, bok choy, and mushrooms. You can add some, none, or all! It's totally up to you. The base is the same and is wonderful on its own. This recipe really is easy and it's so quick. My older two kids love cooking and have nailed frying eggs, making mac and cheese, and making grilled cheese sandwiches. I think if they could make those, they could definitely make this soup.

Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins #SundaySupper

Your family will be on pins and needles waiting for this meal to hit the dinnertable!

If y'all have been around for a while, you know I participate in Sunday Supper often. What is Sunday Supper? It's a movement started by Isabel Laessig to inspire others to spend more time around the family table. Each week, a community of bloggers shares recipes from a particular theme. This month marks the 6th anniversary of the very first virtual Sunday Supper event and it's also Sunday Supper Month. Take the pledge and join the Sunday Supper Movement to bring back family dinners!

Since it is Sunday Supper Month, today's event is SUNDAY SUPPER RECIPES. These recipes are ones that may take a little longer to make and the whole family waits in anticipation to all gather around the dinner table and share together. This fits me so well because Sundays are days I have more time to make dinner and tend to make more time-consuming feasts on those days.

Today, I am sharing these Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins. On the surface, they sound like they would be an appetizer, but they definitely are a main course meal. It's definitely a different take on shepherd's pie where the potatoes become the vessel and they aren't in a casserole dish. I feel all the elements are very classic shepherd's pie but it is all about that crispy potato skin!

Cheesy Jalapeno Tuna Casserole

Boring tuna noodle casserole, begone! This casserole is spicy and cheesy in all the best ways!

One of my favorite cookbooks ever is Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook and I have already made multiple recipes multiple times from it. This tuna casserole is one of those recipes I have made multiple times because we all love it so much. It also makes so much casserole that we have lots of leftovers. What I love about this recipe is that it takes classic elements of a tuna noodle casserole like cream of mushroom soup, peas, and a crunchy chip topping and then takes them to the next level. Jalapeno kettle chips, an insane amount of cheese, fresh jalapenos, and corkscrew pasta make this the most awesome tuna casserole EVER.

Beef and Broccoli Noodle Bowls

Itadakimasu! This bowl of ramen, beef, broccoli, and other goodies is the perfect weeknight meal!

Ramen is becoming more and more frequent on the meal plan in my house. Part of it is because ramen is delicious and the other, because it is super common for some form of anime to be playing on the tv at any given time. Granted this dish isn't like the ramen I see most on anime, it still makes me want to yell Itadakimasu {let's eat in Japanese}!

Chrissy's Pot Pie Soup

This ridiculously fantastic soup is creamy and rich with pie crust dippers that can fool you into thinking you have a pot pie in front of you.

One of the few foods I do not care for is pot pie. I'm not sure if it's because I grew up having the mini pre-prepared pot pies or just my dislike of pie crust, but either way...pot pie is not my favorite. So why on earth am I sharing a recipe that's so close to pot pie? Because I LOVE this soup so much. I have taken to trying to find compromises for foods my family loves and I don't like because it's not fair to them to not get to eat something because *I* don't like it. Sometimes this results in me finding a recipe I actually really like and can make me into a believer - this is why I now like Chicken Parm and Philly Cheesesteaks.

I looked through the Cravings cookbook and saw the picture for this soup and although I've made a pot pie soup before, I figured this one seemed more authentic to pot pie and it also had pieces of crust that the others would love (and I could omit in my own bowl, if I wanted). This is definitely a more time-consuming soup recipe, but with the end result, every second spent on this soup was so worth it. The soup was creamy but not too thick. I loved having chicken AND ham. The veggies were reminiscent of pot pie and you also get little bursts of flavor from the pearl onions. What I was surprised with is that I actually really loved the pie crust pieces. They were salty and crunchy and DEFINITELY will always be welcome in my bowl. Nick and the big kids agreed that this was a worthy substitute for actual pot pie and was very very delicious. Most definitely a keeper!

Light Chicken Pot Pie

This lighter version features Greek yogurt and one crispy crust on top that is incredible!

Surprise, surprise - as a child, I hated pot pie. I'm honestly still not the biggest fan of it now as an adult. However, Nick and the big kids love pot pie and I try to compromise and find ways to stomach pot pie and still make it for them. The reason why I don't like pot pie is because of the crust. I've never been big on eating pie crusts. I wanted to try this particular recipe because there is half the amount of crust and I thought that I could deal with that.

I went in with very low expectations and was very shocked when I ended up loving this recipe. The crust is crispy and thin and it just tastes different than normal pie crust. The filling was wonderful and I think the combination really just solidified that I can eat pot pie if it's made like this! Nick and the big kids also really loved the recipe, so I think we have found that compromise that makes everyone happy.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This classic beef stew is slow cooked for 6 to 8 hours until it reaches perfection!

It has taken me an eternity to find a classic beef stew recipe that reminds me of the one my mom made in childhood. The closest I have come is buying a packet of flavoring at the store, but I'm always wanting to make a homemade version. I always fear that the packets will disappear.

This recipe was one I had clipped from a pile of hoarded food magazines (although not a Food Network one) and so I no longer have any idea what magazine it came from and cannot attribute it like I wanted to. If it looks familiar to you, let me know. I always want to properly give credit to whomever created a recipe. Especially when the recipe is as amazing as this one is!

It was precisely what I was hoping for, in that it tastes just like the beef stew of my childhood. It has all the right veggies and the big hunks of meat and potatoes. It's the perfect meal for fall and winter. I can't wait to make it this fall and winter over and over again!

One Pot Ham & Pasta Skillet

A perfectly simple spring dish that can be enjoyed all year round - and in a flash, ready in under 30 minutes.

Hello, spring! Hello, seasonal allergies! LOL

I am back with a simple, wonderful one pot skillet dish. This one features some very spring ingredients. I dig any type of recipe that is made in one pot or skillet or pan and especially if that one dish recipe is made in under 30 minutes with very little prep. This recipe you only have to chop the onions and that's the only prep there is. Every other ingredient is already prepped and you just have to measure and dump it in. So that's a winner winner ham dinner in my book.