Creamy Herb Pasta

A quick, easy pasta dish with creamy herb sauce!

Hello and happy 2023! I'm attempting to see if I can get myself on a posting schedule. My goal is to maybe post once a week and go from there. I think I only posted 3 recipes last year, so I'm already a third of the way there :)

I know everyone is now very anti-words in recipe posts, but I'm going to throw some out there because I've been so MIA. I started my career in mid-2021 as an accountant for tv/film production companies at a local firm. After 14 years as a stay-at-home mom, it was a huge transition. I still struggle with trying to juggle everything but I'm trying to cut myself slack and really work on my time management. There are a lot of times where I forget to thaw meat that I need and I have to say, my 2022 birthday gift was an Instant Pot and holy baloney - that has been a lifesaver.

This recipe is a great recipe for chaotic nights. I really love when things can just be thrown together and it's very simple ingredients. I feel like you could switch up the vegetable if you really wanted to.

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!

Turkey Meatloaf

A slightly healthier version of an American classic with BBQ sauce instead of ketchup on top!

So I have this ongoing debate with my husband about how traditional meatloaf has ketchup or a tomato-based sauce on top. He thinks it's gross, but I keep telling him that's how it is made. In January 2020 when he was gone for army training, I took advantage and made meatloaf the way it should be made. This one was slightly different, what with the BBQ sauce instead of ketchup, but I really liked it. Plus this has the bonus of being turkey instead of beef, so it's a lower cholesterol version of meatloaf and I love that!

Hoisin Stir Fry Bowls

This stir fry bowl has loads of flavor and a spicy peanut sauce to finish it off!

Stir frys are the perfect quick meal. They have so much flavor and you can put so many veggies in them. My oldest in particular probably likes stir frys more than other Asian style cuisine simply because the veggies maintain their crunch and he doesn't like when veggies get soft and mushy. I adore this particular stir fry for it's peanut butter sauce and chopped peanuts topping. I don't know why but I love all of these style recipes with peanut sauces and crunchy peanuts or cashews on them. There is so much savory goodness with those additions!

Loaded Turkey Taco Salad

Load up your taco salad with all the fixings and a homemade cilantro lime dressing!

I've been making a lot of Taco Tuesday meals with turkey lately. Part of that is due to my hereditary high cholesterol kicking in and the other part is that ground turkey doesn't taste too different from ground beef with taco seasoning mixed in, so it isn't this huge "culture shock" of a different protein. I really enjoy this particular salad recipe because there are no tortillas to fuss with and I love salads. I also love that there is corn and beans plus a homemade cilantro lime dressing that is super quick to make.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

These peppers are stuffed with turkey, quinoa, beans, corn, and lots of flavor!

My family probably gets annoyed with how much I love stuffed peppers, but I do! I don't really have a rhyme or reason and they probably wouldn't say anything if the peppers were cut up and I made a casserole of sorts instead. But they deal with it because I love it and I'm the one making dinner. :) I personally really enjoy this recipe because it reminds me of a crockpot quinoa recipe that I sometimes make for Taco Tuesdays - in fact, I'm making it in May. Love that there is more than just quinoa and meat.

PF Chang's Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This copycat recipe is simple and quick and perfect for a meal on a busy day or night.

Spring break is upon us and honestly it's super weird. That's when my kids left in-person school last year and didn't go back. It's strange to me to see recipes from a year ago and think of the struggle that was finding foods. I've always loved meal planning but I found out just how hard that was when the supply is inconsistent. Especially when it's meat and produce that are affected. It took months for our stores to fully recover and I think now a year later, they finally are just putting out toilet paper and paper towels without them being ransacked. This recipe was one I kept hoping to make but struggled to find butter lettuce leaves. I was really happy to finally find them and be able to make it.

Turkey Parmesan Pasta

This amazing 7 ingredient dinner is ready in under 30 minutes and is a one pot meal!

I really love pasta dishes because they are so quick and they are typically easy on the wallet too. I was happy to find this really easy recipe because I have been trying to use more ground turkey than beef. Again, this is a really simple dish to throw together with only 7 ingredients. You may already have many of these on hand. It's a one pot meal - some of my favorites - and it's ready in under 30 minutes.

Turkey Taco Salad + Meal Prep Instructions

This is a great and healthy taco dish that is perfect for meal prepping into 6 ready-to-go portions!

I just want to start out by saying this actually supposed to be a meal prep food. However, in 2020, there was absolutely no reason for me to meal prep. I'm going to leave the instructions on how to do this for meal prepping if that is something you are looking for. We ended up just having this for dinner and it was fantastic. I have spoken here and there about how we are making the switch to subbing turkey for red meat here and there to help with my borderline high cholesterol (hereditary - yay!).

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. :)

Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese

Rich bolognese that tastes like it's been slow-simmered for hours, but is ready in under 30 minutes!

I think I've posted quite a few bolognese recipes, but I just love them so much! I've never really liked any other style of homemade spaghetti sauce. The heavy cream adds so much richness to the sauce. Also I just really love adding veggies like carrots and celery in spaghetti sauce. It's a great way to get some more veggies!

Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

Stuff them and slow cook them and then enjoy these super easy stuffed peppers for dinner!

I adore stuffed peppers and try and make them as much as I can. I was intrigued by this slow cooker version, especially since you don't cook the meat beforehand, which is just strange when you're used to cooking everything first before putting it into the pepper. I love recipes where you get a full pepper to yourself instead of half a pepper. Honestly, it's easier to eat a half pepper, but it's easier to stuff a full pepper. As I near the time where I will begin working after 13 years as a stay at home mom, I'm definitely leaning on finding the best slow cooker recipes so I can have them in my arsenal!

Ragu Stuffed Peppers

Hello, rich turkey ragu stuffed peppers with couscous and asiago cheese!

I'm kind of obsessed with stuffed peppers. I'm honestly not too sure why but I think it's due to the fact that I keep finding such good recipes for them. I am trying to remember the last time I was disappointed by a stuffed pepper and I don't think it exists. What I really enjoy about this recipe is that there's ground turkey instead of beef (a substitute we've made a lot recently to try and limit red meat) and it was our first experience with couscous - which I think was a hit for all of us. I also have never really used asiago cheese on its own (always in an Italian mix) and really enjoyed it by itself. The ragu in this recipe is actually from a pasta recipe that I've posted previously on a different blog (and is linked at the bottom of this post) so I knew it would be great. All of the parts combined made for a wonderful stuffed pepper recipe.

Salisbury Steak Meatballs

These slow cooker meatballs taste like the best salisbury steak ever - no tv dinner salisbury here!

I don't make a lot of salisbury steak because I was basically traumatized by the school lunch salisbury steak and the tv dinner salisbury steak. Neither are good. Neither are even the least bit palatable. I have made homemade salisbury steak and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to try a version of it as meatballs. I grew up eating a lot of dishes with meatballs. I loved when my mom made scalloped potatoes with meatballs instead of ham. This recipe had me expecting very similar vibes to that and I was right. I love the gravy and onion bits with the meatballs

Cilantro Lime Turkey Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Simple ingredients combined to make a mouth-watering stuffed pepper that you will want to eat every day for forever.

I adore stuffed peppers and try to make them at least once a month. I've also started to really enjoy cilantro and lime together and you'll probably see more and more cilantro lime recipes on the blog. These peppers are probably my all-time favorite stuffed peppers and that was a really hard place for this recipe to unseat. I had one recipe that was my favorite for many many years. The filling itself is so addictive! The pepperjack cheese is a perfect match for the cilantro lime too.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Subwhales

Even if you haven't seen the movie, these Subwhales are an epicly cute way to make a sub sandwich!

During my husband's third deployment, I tried to make the time pass more quickly for my kids with a lot of activities. Our favorite thing to do was go to the movies and we had a blast seeing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, as the first one was one of our favorites to watch at home. The food creatures aka the foodimals were truly hilarious and even now that the kids are much older (how has it already been 5 years?!), we still adore the movie. We have made these Subwhales a number of times because they are an easy sub sandwich with some fun whale elements to them.

Even if you have a child who isn't familiar with the foodimals in the movie, this is such an adorable way to make a sub sandwich! I included a picture of the movie subwhales so you can see what we were going for!

via Google images

Turkey Bacon Chili Mac

A twist on a beloved comfort food classic with ground turkey, bell pepper, and bacon!

I think most kids can attest to chili mac being a staple in their childhood diet. I, on the other hand, did not have chili mac until I had dinner at my now-husband's house as a teenager. His mom fixed chili mac and I fell in love. It has all the comfort of quick skillet meals and it can pack a punch. It can be topped with tons of cheese or none. This particular chili mac recipe is made with ground turkey instead of ground beef and also has bacon. I believe my mom-in-law uses chili sauce and adds cheese to hers. This one is a little different, but still is very fantastic. We did top ours with green onions, but I did not get a picture of it on the plate. If you were a fan of chili mac as a child, you will definitely want to make this version.

The Junkyard Special Sandwich

You've heard of everything but the kitchen sink, well, this junkyard special sandwich will blow you out of the water with all its wonderful toppings!

I love sandwiches that get lots of toppings thrown on them. This particular sandwich is called the Junkyard Special and I love that name. It's a copycat from a place called Sarcone's Deli in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It contains two types of meat (prosciutto and turkey), two types of cheese (provolone and mozzarella), plus spinach, roasted red peppers, and basil. Provolone is by far my favorite sandwich cheese and I typically eat turkey sandwiches, so this sandwich was really up my alley. It just had a few extra goodies on it. The roasted red peppers and melty, gooey mozzarella really added to this sandwich so well. I loved the sweetness and juiciness of the peppers with all the other more savory flavors. The mozzarella just married everything together and made it feel more hearty. This is definitely a sandwich you will want to make and if you don't share with a friend, I don't blame you!

Meatball and Orzo Soup #SundaySupper

This turkey meatball and orzo pasta soup is such a comforting meal and reminiscent of Italian wedding soup!

Good morning, everyone! I'm back for yet another Sunday Supper Movement event. Today's theme is COMFORT FOOD SOUP AND STEW RECIPES, which means I'm about to have at least a dozen new recipes to try on Wednesdays. I am such a happy camper because although I have plenty of soup recipes already, I tend to gravitate towards a handful of recipes.

Today, I decided to share this meatball and orzo soup. I think that my family liked it so much because it reminded us of Italian wedding soup.

Three Quick & Easy Recipes

I'm a contributor over at Knoxville Moms Blog and have recently started a "Quick & Easy Recipe" series of posts. Today I wanted to share the last three posts I've done here on my own blog and urge you to check them out. All three are fantastic dishes!

Chicken Alfredo Baked Penne

Pesto Tortellini with Chicken

Penne with Turkey Ragu

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