200th Blog Post!!

I can't believe this is my 200th blog post! I had so much fun recapping our favorites in my 100th Blog Post I had to do it again! This last year has been busy, I can't believe I've even had time to cook! The older my boys get the busier they become with friends, activities, and sports. This is also my 5th year teaching with my school district and Justin's 8th year working with his company (4th year as a manager) and it seems we gain more responsibilities with every year that goes by. We work more but sleep less, cook less, exercise less, see each other less... it's exhausting (and depressing). I can honestly say the one time we get to see each other and talk is when we eat breakfast and dinner. We have a strict "eat at the kitchen table together" policy when it comes to breakfast and dinner time. Even if we grab food on the go while driving we turn the radio off in the car and eat and talk. It's our time together as a family and it's very important to me.
The look of my blog changed again this year from the purple tiled background... to the new green background... I am so lucky to have a techo-savvy husband with mad Photoshop skills, he creates the best blog layouts for me!

Justin's pick-
Chad's Sesame Ginger Grilled Chicken Salad
Justin had a really hard time picking a favorite, he really wanted to pick his Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder that he picked as his favorite 100th blog post recipe. After much deliberation he picked his brother's salad. This really is an exceptional salad! This salad helped Justin broaden his horizons. He now eats salads with things like eggs, avacados, and tomatoes... things he NEVER would have eaten on a salad a year ago. This salad sparked Justin's new found love for salads, I am eternally grateful Chad!

Carrie's pick-
Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini
For my 100th blog post I listed my favorite as my Grandma's Chicken and Noodles and then here I am at 200th blog post and my favorite is my Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini! I love those comfort food recipes I grew up on! Chicken Tetrazzini is my absolute favorite, this was an easy choice! I LOVE making it on a Sunday and eating the leftovers all week long!

Andrew's pick-
Szechuan Shrimp
Hot sauce flows through Andrew's blood. We always get on to him for eating condiments as snacks, he likes to drinks packets of Taco Bell hot sauce and Cholula hot sauce. He's crazy! This SPICY Szechuan Shrimp wasn't a hit with the family but Andrew loved it!

Abbott's pick-
Easy Noodle Soup
Abbott loves comfort food! If we need to pick up a quick dinner Abbott always asks for Kentucky Fried Chicken. If I ask him what he wants me to make for dinner he will ask for mashed potatoes and gravy or this noodle soup... he actually calls it "fat noodle soup" because the noodles are plump and delicious! This soup is good but I LOVE that it only takes 20 minutes to cook!

Family Favorite Dinner
Beefy Bean Burritos
These burritos are quick, easy, and filling! It's hard to find a dinner everyone will happily eat but this is a winner at our house! The best part is that they're just as good reheated! We store all the extra burritos in a ziploc and fight over them the next day!

Family Favorite Breakfast
Cheese Omelets
Like I said before it's important to me that we eat breakfast together each morning, I make these for weekday breakfasts all the time. It only takes me 10 minutes to whip out 4 cheese omelets and they're great! I never knew how to roll an omelet before I made these, our world is forever changed for the better!

Family Favorite Dessert
Soft Sugar Cookies
These cookies are melt in your mouth delicious! They are exactly like the Lofthouse cookies you can buy at the supermarket, but those cookies are $3 a dozen and these are around $5 for 4 dozen! They're fairly easy to make and a HUGE success with our family and friends!

Family Favorite Quick and Easy
Cherry Dump Cake
I know this is a dessert as well, but we've been known to eat this for breakfast and snacks too ,-) This recipe is ridiculously easy and SO GOOD!



So, as of today my blog has had 49,115 visitors. That's incredible! I've learned so much these last 4 years, I can't wait to see what recipes I find in the next 100 posts... maybe I'll even conquer yeast!

100th Blog Post!!

This is my 100th blog post, woot woot! This is what my blog looked like in the beginning, before Justin redesigned it for me last year!

When my boys were little I was so busy going to college, starting my teaching career, and then going to college again for my masters; dinner would be something from the frozen or canned aisles at the supermarket. I've posted off and on since 2007, and what started as a fun hobby and a way to motivate myself to cook more... has become so much more! I have grown to love cooking and it has become a part of me! We used to go out to restaurants regularly, but I couldn't even tell you the last time we went to a restaurant; it's been months! What we have now is so special to me I couldn't imagine missing it to go out to a restaurant. We eat dinner at our kitchen table almost every night as a family and sometimes neighborhood kids come in to join us as well. We have a revolving door at our house as the boy's friends come and go but I know they enjoy the food because they are often asking for baggies to take some home, it makes me smile. I try out 2-3 new recipes a week so the boys always run into the kitchen to see what I am making, help stir, and lick spoons. Dinner is exciting because we are trying a new recipe or enjoying one of our favorites, we're all smiles as we giggle and tell stories. So after 3 years and 100 blog posts I thought I would share each of our favorite dinners...

Justin- Mexican Corn Chicken Chowder
I made this soup for the first time last fall and Justin fell in love. He loves when I make it on Sunday and he eats it all week long. My mother-in-law tried to make it once and substituted some of the ingredients but it wasn't as good (sorry Trish), so you must follow the ingredients exactly for it to turn out correctly. Justin will actually giggle as he warms up a bowl in the microwave, crumble tortilla chip on the top, and take his first bite... with a smile spread across his face ear to ear.

Carrie- Grandma's Chicken and Noodles
This has been my favorite dinner since I was a kid, I would request it every birthday. My grandma would make this every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, so when we eat it for dinner it feels like a treat! Thick, homemade noodles in a chicken gravy that's poured over a dollop of mashed potatoes... Mmm yum yum!

Andrew- Chinese Chicken and Rice
This is Andrew's favorite! He will do chores and back flips for me if he knows this dinner is coming up! Andrew is a picky eater and is very skeptical of trying new things so I remember when I made this the first time he was surprised and thrilled how much he enjoyed it. He loves the spicy flavor I add to the Chinese brown sauce. He would be a happy camper if I made this dinner every night!

Abbott- Baked Chicken, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, and Gravy
I haven't posted "baked chicken" because it is too simple (chicken breasts sprinkled with salt and pepper, covered in foil, and cooked in the oven). I call this "salt and pepper chicken" but Abbott has always called it "white chicken". It's so cute because anytime I say "we're having chicken for dinner" he will excitedly ask "White chicken?"! This is Abbott's absolute favorite chicken and favorite potatoes, and he eats massive amounts! Normally Abbott picks at his dinner only eating a couple bites so when I say massive I mean 2 chicken breasts and 3 cups of creamy mashed potatoes smothered in chicken gravy... then he will come back for dessert potatoes later in the evening! Abbott is only 7, I don't know where he puts it!

I am still amazed that anyone would want to read my blog! Thank you to everyone who has stopped by over the years to say hello, offer me recipes, and give me feedback! If you click the visitor locations map located on the right column of my blog you can see the countries my visitors live in. I only added the visitors map a couple months ago but since December 2008, I've had 3,426 visitors from 66 different countries! It is humbling and flattering all at the same time! Thank you for joining me on this cooking adventure, I can't wait to get started on my next 100 posts ! :-D