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Happy March everyone!! Crazy--time is flyin'. Now if we can get the weather to cooperate I will love it even more. Have you ever had a pizookie--you know a gooey cookie cooked on a pizza pan and topped with some delicious ice cream?  I think they are fabulous, a giant chocolaty goodness.  It's all about doing the normal different. I love jars for that reason.  Take the normal everyday food, put it in a jar and it magically becomes an amazing bite of deliciousness. I love the look of food in jars plus, with a jar, everyone has their own serving. My kids went wild over these.  Their own jar, with a cookie in it, and with a scoop of ice cream.  Their world couldn't get much better than that. Love it!   Pazookie [cookie in a jar] ( click here for printable version ) 12 (4 oz) jelly jars (I get mine from Amazon ) 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large...

Are you a corn tortilla family or a flour tortilla family? We are both.  Or should I say I am a corn tortilla fan and everybody else in my family is a flour fan. Growing up I don't remember having a lot of flour tortillas around.  When we had tacos, we always had corn.  I loved it and still love it to this day. The hubs on the other hand grew up in a family that only had flour tortillas around. So most of the time we compromise.  When we make tacos I do both. When we have enchiladas I do both.  But this time I decided I was going corn all the way.  I wanted it to be true enchilada style, especially since there is a local Mexican bakery and they make the best corn tortillas.  So yummy! The hubs loves enchiladas and I love finding recipes that has you make your own sauce and doesn't have any cream soups in them.  This recipe was fantastic (even if it did have corn tortillas--everybody still enjoyed it, silly kids!).  Fabulous flavor and easy, e...

 I love to have people over to my house.  Whether it's for a party, dinner, just to hang out, movie night, or whatever I look forward to it so much. All for several reasons. 1. I love to visit. Ask anyone who knows me and I think they will all answer the same.  I love to talk to people.  My kids hate me going in somewhere to drop something off because it takes me ages to leave, all because I am visiting. 2. I love getting to know new people.  You just never know when you are going to run into a "kindred spirit".  Speaking of kindred spirits I love Ann of Green Gables and totally agree with her and her kindred spirit idea. 3.  I love any excuse to make some new food.  You would think that I would use a tried and true recipe for my visitors, but no! it's a new recipe to see what they think.  Usually it works out but a few times it's been quite a disaster.  Oops! I made this for some friends the other day. I LOVE chex mixes and I love that ...

  I think I have found heaven! Not joking.   This beauty was absolutely amazing. Who knew that it would be to die for.  Last week my sisters came to visit so I used it as an excuse to make a dessert.  This way there is someone else to help me eat the deliciousness. And let me tell me we had the hardest time staying out them.  We probably ate at least 7 pieces each.  I had seen these on a round up post at Something Swanky and since Rice Krispies and I are BFFs this was a perfect choice. S'more Rice Krispies (click here for printable version) Graham cracker crust: 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup sugar 8 tbsp butter, melted Rice krispie layer: 4 tbsp butter 1 bag (10 1/2 oz) mini marshmallow 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted Marshmallow topping: 1 container (16oz) marshmallow creme 1. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray. Set aside. 2. Preheat oven to 350°F. To make the graham cracker layer. ...

Growing up we raised chickens for many years.   We raised laying hens and we raised meat chickens.  I was the primary care taker of the chickens and most of the time I didn't mind it.  Except when one of them died.  Then I would kinda freak out and beg one of my brothers to remove it for me (and sometime I will have to tell you a traumatic brother chasing sister with dead chicken story). But because of that our chickens were frozen whole.  When we wanted to cook one my mom would thaw it out (and these babies averaged at least 9 pounds a piece) and she would roast/boil/cut up or do whatever she needed to do with it.  So whole chickens are very familiar to me. When I saw this recipe I was so excited to try it because it reminded so much of growing up.  Plus I love the rotisserie chickens from the store and would love to have a way to make them on my own at home. This chicken turned out absolutely fabulous.  It was super easy to throw in the oven and...

I've been thinking lately about some things.  Mostly about women/mom things. You see I want to be amazing.  All too often I think that means amazing at every single thing.  Amazing at cooking, parenting, cleaning, working, laundry, decorating, driving, exercising, and so many others. I think so many other women think the same thing too.  But too often we fall short in most of those categories and then we think we are not good at anything.  We fail to see all the things we do well and only pay attention to all the things we don't do well. It makes me sad.  Mostly because I am guilty of it too.  I want to be the super mom, the super wife, and the super woman.  And it's super according to what we THINK others think we should be doing.  But we shouldn't be comparing.  We are all at different points so comparisons are so pointless, they just make you feel worse. So this is to all those women that don't think they are very super.  You are...

So it's been 8 months since I have been eating gluten free.  For the most part it's been relatively easy.  When it makes me feel so much better, it's easier to do the right thing and eat well. But being this far out, I am starting to have some cravings.  Especially as the hubs pulls out freshly baked chocolate peanut butter cookies (just last night--I might add!).  My mouth starts to water and I really want one of those bad boys with a cold glass of milk. I have so far resisted my cravings but I was on a mission to make a cookie that I could have and one that doesn't require the "gluten free flours" that are very hard to find where I live.  So after 4 batches and lots of input from friends (thanks guys!) I have decided this is the one.   I love it.  And the best part is that it is super easy and all the ingredients are basics from your kitchen.  Saaweeet!!  And this cookie is amazing with Reeses Chocolate hearts on the top, mmmm....I think I ...

We are snowed in here.  How about you?  I saw the storms all over the States and so thankful that we still have power and are enjoying being cooped up inside and warm. When it starts to snow I immediately want to make something warm and yummy.  Soup usually wins out but the crockpot is near the top of my list too. I've mentioned in the past we are a meat loving family.  I try to limit how much meat we eat but I grew up in a house where we raised our own chickens (for meat and for eggs), raised a cow to butcher and put in the freezer, and bought a pig from the local fair to add to freezer too. So needless to say I have meat on the brain when it comes to dinner.  I really have to work hard on finding ways to make something without meat.  One thing I loved growing up was my mom's meatloaf.  Simple, delicious, and no weird things hiding in it.  My kids love meatloaf too.  So when I came across this idea of putting the meatloaf in the crockpot--I ...

There is something about the month of February that I really like.  Maybe it's because January is over (which always seems to be quite dreary) or maybe because things are starting to warm up a bit and I can feel the tiniest bit of spring coming. Maybe it's because it's my youngest birthday is this month and he always gets so excited for the big day that I can't help but be excited with him. Or maybe it's because "love is in the air" (not kidding on this one--there are some ladies in the family that are getting quite serious with some boys and it's very fun to see their giddiness and hope that I wasn't so giddy when I was in that stage of life!). Or maybe it's because we love brownies at our house. So sorry if you're on brownie overload.  We obviously can't get enough at our house. Especially when you dress them up and put 3 amazing layers on top.  They can only get better right? We made these for some friends that came over--because, le...

We have a routine at our house when it comes to breakfast.  It's pretty simple and it always goes like this: (on the way home from the gym): Me: What do you want for breakfast? The hubs: I don't know. Yep that's our routine.  Not that cool I know but I hate making the decision of what to eat every morning and he never feels like anything in particular. I don't mind making breakfast at all. I just mind deciding on what to eat.  The kiddos are pretty good at eating what's in front of them so that's nice but still! Plus I like to make things in the morning that are filling but still fast and easy.  I have our morning routine down to the minute so it's important that breakfast only take a certain amount of time. There are certain members in my family that love eggs (and throw huge fits when we don't have them for breakfast everyday).  So I try to make an egg dish at least every other day. This is a super easy way to have this popular Mexican dish.  Because I...

A couple days ago I got to attend a local event called "Death by Chocolate" with several wonderful friends.  Doesn't that just sound fabulous? Perfect for this girl, that's for sure. They have 5 businesses in 5 categories submit a recipe and everyone in attendance gets to sample all the delicious treats and vote on the winner in each category. We had such a blast trying the different items but after coming home I was craving chocolate cake.  Three of the 5 categories I couldn't eat so I was on a mission to make some that I could eat. I have always wanted to make a flourless cake because of it's high chocolate content (yeah!) and see if it compared to regular chocolate cake.  Wow!  The texture is slightly different (more dense) but the taste was absolutely fabulous, especially with strawberry ice cream on top. Totally satisfied my chocolate craving and this is on the menu for Valentine's Day. So yummy. Flourless Chocolate Cake ( click here for printable ver...