snickerdoodle bread

Every Christmas I make a little goodie for Matt's co-workers.  Two years ago I made homemade salsa and last year I made mini loaves pumpkin bread with cranberries added to them.  This year I decided to use a new recipe that my SIL shared with me on Pinterest.  It is so yummy!!

Original recipe found here.

You will need......

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 pkg. Hershey's cinnamon chips

Topping:
3 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONs

1. Cream butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until fluffy. Add eggs and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
3. Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
4. Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter. Set aside.
5. Spoon batter into 5-6 mini loaf pans until about 2/3 full.
6. Mix 3 T. sugar and 3 t. cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the batter in each loaf pan.
7. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.I ended up making 30 loaves of this bread, because I also made some for Pearson's MDO teachers, his MOPS teachers, and some friends of ours. For Matt's co-workers, I wrapped them up in clear celephan and tied them up with red curly ribbon, then I attached some of my cute little Becky Higgins extra Christmas cards I created!!  Sadly I didn't get any pictures of them all decorated.  They were so cute though!!  Matt said the bread and the pictures were a big hit at work so I was a happy girl!!

pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Pearson and I went to a Fisher Price House Party at a friends house the other day and the host served these delicious cookies.  I asked her for the recipe, and she said he had found it on Pinterest.  As soon as I got home, I found it on one of her boards, went to the grocery store to pick up the white chocolate chips (which happened to be the only ingredient I didn't have on hand), and made them that afternoon.  I am no food photographer, so my pictures don't even do these cookies justice.  They are so soft and delicious!!  You must go make these today!!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

{yields 48 cookies}

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter; softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

{Directions}

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy.

3. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; combine until all ingredients are incorporated. Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cherries.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!!

meatloaf meatballs

I don't know about you, but I actually like meatloaf.  I really only like my Mom and Grandma's meatloaf.  It's the best.  I tried making it once, but it just wasn't as good as theirs, so I swore I would never make it again.  It will forever be a treat to eat when they fixed it!!  

However, when my Mom stumbled across this recipe on the side of a Corn Flakes box, I knew it was the meatloaf recipe for me.  My Mom tweaked it a little from the original recipe and now it is one of our favorites.  Pearson even loves it too!!

Meatloaf Meatballs

Meatballs:

2 cups of Corn Flakes (lightly crushed)

2 tablespoons of Ketchup

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 pound of lean ground beef

Sauce:

1/2 cup of Ketchup

1-2 teaspoons of Mustard

1-2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar

Optional: Red Peppers

In a large mixing bowl, combine Corn Flakes, ketchup and egg.  Mix in ground beef.  (I just used my hands.) Shape in 1 1/4-inch meatballs.  Place on a greased broiler pan.  I use a broiler pan so the grease can drip out.  (This is one reason I love this recipe.  Meatloaf is always so greasy and this recipe isn't) Broil on one side for 5-7 minutes then turn and broil on the other side for 5-7 minutes.  

Transfer the meatballs to a glass pan.  Mix together the ketchup, mustard and brown sugar and top the meatballs.  I like to top mine with red bell peppers.  Bake the meatballs at 350 for 20 minutes!

This recipe makes about 16 meatballs.  It was enough for all three of us to eat dinner one night and then Pearson and I had it for leftovers for two days!!  It's such an easy recipe.  

And here's one more thing I love about this recipe.........  If you want to double the recipe, you can just broil the meatballs and then freeze them.  When you are ready to eat them, just pull out however many meatballs you need, make the sauce, top them, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

layered lemon dessert

This yummy lemon dessert is a new favorite of ours.  My  MIL made it for our Christmas gathering and we just couldn't get enough of it!! If you are a chocolate lover, you could totally switch the lemon pudding for chocolate pudding!

1 Stick of Butter, softened

1 Cup of Flour

½ Cup of Pecans, chopped

1 (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

2 (8 oz.) Carton of Cool Whip

1 Cup of Powdered Sugar

2 Pkgs. Lemon Instant Pudding Mix

3 Cups of Milk

Combine butter, flour and pecans and press into a 9 X 13 baking dish to make crust. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350°. Cool completely before adding 1^st layer.

1^st Layer: Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar. Fold in one 8oz. carton of Cool Whip and spread on top of cooled crust.

2^nd Layer: Mix 2 pkgs. of instant lemon pudding mix with 3 cups of milk and spread over 1^st layer.

3^rd Layer: Top with an 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip and if desired, sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Enjoy!!

taco bites

My blog has been a little quiet this week because Little Man is teething, which equals Mommy not getting much sleep.  Last night Pearson was up from 11-2 and then again from 4:30-6.  I'm pretty tired.  I went to the grocery store today, paid, and walked out of the store.  The cashier came out saying "Ma'am,  Ma'am" but I didn't even turn around because I didn't think she was talking to me.  Finally she tapped my shoulder to tell me I had forgotten my groceries.  Ha!!  I'm just a little tired.  I've lost more sleep this week I think than I did when he was a newborn.  He's always been such a good sleeper, so I'll be glad when this teething thing is over.  

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you a quick and easy recipe, because that's the kind of things I've been cooking lately!!

Taco Bites

You'll need....

Wonton Wrappers

1 lb of Ground Beef

Taco Seasoning

Any Taco Toppings that you prefer

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Brown the meat and add taco seasoning according to the package.  Spray your muffin tin with Pam and place a wonton wrapper inside of each cup.  Put a scoop full of taco meat on each wonton wrapper and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 8-10 minutes then top with the toppings of your choice.  We put tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream and hot sauce on ours!!

We thought these little Taco Bites were pretty good.  I'll definitely be making them again, and I can't wait to try some more recipes out with wonton wrapper!

Enjoy!!

homemade chai tea latte

I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm not really a huge fan of hot chocolate or hot tea, so when it's cold outside that doesn't leave me too many options of warm drinks to make at home.  Last night I decided to try my hand a homemade chai tea latte.

It's no Starbuck's or Shoemaker & Hardt Chai Tea Latte, but it was pretty good!!

 You'll need....

milk

chai tea

splenda

ground nutmeg

cinnamon

Reddi Whip

And of course you'll need a cute mug!!

Boil the milk.  I boiled 2 cups to make a large latte for me and Matt to share!

For every cup of milk, use one tea bag.  

 Pour the boiling milk over the tea bags, cover with foil and let it steep for a few minutes.  Squeeze the tea bags to get all the yummy chai flavor in the milk.  

Add your desired amount of Spenda, top with whip cream and sprinkle with a little bit of ground nutmeg and cinnamon.  

  Stir it all up.  

 And enjoy!!

the P's have it

My saturday has been spent with lots of P's.  

1. Pinterest
**I'm so addicted to Pinterest.  I have actually had an account since May but I just allowed myself to get on.  I had some projects I wanted to finish before I really dove in.  I've had so much fun finding new ideas.  I have only made one craft and 3 recipes, but I plan on actually doing/cooking/making lots more of my ideas I have pinned!!

2.  Pedicure
**My SIL gave me a pedicure gifcard for my birthday.  Matt watched the baby this afternoon while I went and treated myself with a much deserved mani/pedi.  The last time I got my toes done was when I was still pregnant.  I was long overdue.  The color looks black but it's actually a deep purple.  I went with something dark in hopes that it will help bring us some fall weather!

3.  Pot Roast
**I tried a new recipe for Pot Roast today.  It was really good.  It was so nice to put dinner in the crockpot this morning, smell it all day and have a easy dinner and clean up.  I even froze 3 bags of leftover meat for BBQ sandwiches, beef nachos, and shredded beef tacos.  Yummy!!

4.  Playoffs

**I'm lovin' watching the Rangers play.  I absolutely love watching the post season games.  I actually watch the entire game.  Unfortunately I'm having a little trouble watching this game because Matt keeps flipping the channels back and forth between the Rangers and the Baylor game.

5.  Pearson
**And the majority of my day was spent with my Sweet P.  Pearson is finally out of his little fussy funk.  He was so sweet today!!

 I was afraid our day was not going to start off well since he woke up this morning screaming.  He was crying because he had rolled over in his crib (while swaddled) and couldn't get back onto his back.  Poor guy!! Thankfully our day turned around quickly!!

 Pearson has only been taking 45 minutes naps all week and he took an hour and a half nap this morning while Matt and I did some little projects around the house.

 I took Pearson with me to the grocery store this afternoon because he LOVES hanging out in the K'Tan.  He looked around almost the whole shopping trip them fell fast asleep right before we checked out.  I love that he loves the K'Tan.

 This afternoon while Matt watched Pearson he actually slept the entire time I was gone.  He took a two and a half hour nap!!  Yay for long naps!! I hoping for lots of long naps this week!! I don't have any plans this week so I would love to mess around with some Pinterest projects!!

I just put Pearson to bed with one arm swaddled in and one arm out.  I am just not ready to give the swaddle up cold turkey.  Pearson has been sleeping 12 hr at night since he was 2 months old and I just don't want anything to change.  I really think the swaddle helps him sleep better so we'll see how it goes transitioning him out of it.  I put him in bed at 7:00 tonight and he was asleep by 7:15 without a peep!! I'm praying for a restful night for my little guy.  

 Oh my goodness....I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to have my sweet, happy, content baby boy back!!

beer bread

I love homemade bread, but I never take the time to make it.  I don't have a bread maker and most recipes I've seen take took much time to make.   My Mom made us some homemade beer bread when we came home from the hospital and we loved it!  It has a different texture from regular bread and it's really sweet.  Mmmm I'm getting hungry just typing about it!!  It tastes great as a snack, as bread with a meal, or warmed up or toasted with butter and honey spread for breakfast.  

My favorite part of this recipe is that there are only 4 ingredients.  Yup, just 4 ingredients.  

It's SO easy to make!!

3 bottles of any kind of light beer

2 1/2 cups of sugar

7 cups of self rising four

1/2 stick of butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Pour batter into 3 greased loaf pans.  Bake for 45 minutes then take out of the oven.  Melt the butter and brush onto the top of each loaf.  Bake for 15 more minutes.  

That's it!! Easy huh?

If you want to make it a little different you can add 2 more ingredients. 

And voila......Cinnamon Raisin Bread.  

You can add however many raisins and however much cinnamon as you would like. I add alot of cinnamon because that's they I like it.  And here's a little tip.......before you add the raisins, coat them in a little bit of flour and it will help them not sink to the bottom of the loaf pan.  

There you have it!! 

Homemade beer bread.  

Go make some, but beware......

you won't be able to stay out of it!!

fish tacos

I made fish tacos for the first time this week and they were delicious!! I will definitely be adding them to our rotation of meals!! 

There isn't really a recipe for the tacos.  You can make them really however you like.  The only recipe you need is for the awesome sauce that we topped them with.

Here's how I made our fish tacos.....

Fish:

Season talapia with a little bit of Old Bay, chili powder, and cumin then pan fry. 

Sauce:

Mix 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup mayo, 1 T chili powder, 1 tsp cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1 tsp. sugar, a dash of cumin, a dash of Old Bay, and a squirt of lime juice.

Tacos:

You can use hard or soft shells.  We topped ours with lettuce, tomatoes, & avocados, but the sky is the limit with these tacos!! 

I served our fish tacos with my Easy Cheesy Corn Casserole.  

(P.S. I've decided that I like to use Rotel instead of jalepenos in this casserole.)

ham {turkey} rolls

As I am nearing the end of my pregnancy, I'm spending less and less time in the kitchen.  I'm just totally exhausted when I get home from school, so I'm loving easy recipes like this one!! My Mom and Grandma make this for big crowds and parties all the time.  

Here's what you'll need.....

(I halfed this recipe twice for Matt and I because that's all the bread I had.  But a  half recipe would perfect for dinner and a couple of lunches.  These sandwiches warm up great.)

2 trays of Hawaiin Rolls

2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 T. dried onion

1 lb of shaved ham or turkey

{the original recipe calls for ham, but we prefer turkey}

1 stick of butter melted

1 1/2 tsp. dried mustard

1 1/2 tsp. sesame seed

Keep the package of rolls together and slice the rolls right down the middle.  Put the bottom layer of rolls in a pan.  Cover with turkey an cheese.

Make the sauce by mixing Worcestershire sauce, onion, melted butter, and dried mustard.

Place the top layer of rolls back on and drizzle the sauce over the rolls.  Sprinkle with sesame seed.

Cover with foil and place in refrigerator overnight.  You don't have to do this, but they taste so much better when they have the night to soak up all the juices.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!!

fajita pizza

We love pizza at The Link Home.  And we love fajitas at The Link Home. 

So put them together and you get one of our favorite meals!!

Fajita Pizza

Here's what you'll need to make fajita pizza.

Pizza Crust

Chicken Tenders

Fajita Seasoning

Refried Beans

Mozzarella Cheese

Hot Sauce

{I usually use my homemade salsa, but I used Picante today for time sake.}

Onion

Any other toppings you like

{Matt likes Olives}

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the onion, heat a little oil in a skillet, sprinkle fajita seasoning over the onions and saute.

 Heat a little oil in another skillet, sprinkle fajita seasoning on chicken and grill.

While the chicken and onions are cooking, spray a cookie sheet with Pam and unroll the dough to be the size of the pan.  Partially bake the dough 6-8 minutes.  

When the chicken is finished cooking, let it cool for a little bit then cut into bite size pieces.  

After the pizza crust has partially baked, spread a thin layer of refried bean on the crust.  

 Spread the chicken, onions and olives on the pizza.  Put little spoonfuls of hot sauce all over then sprinkle with cheese.

 Bake 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

 And there you have it....Fajita pizza.  Serve with sour cream and hot sauce. 

Enjoy!!

french toast casserole

I love having breakfast for dinner!!  It's always quick.  It's always easy. And it's always yummy!!

This recipe was super easy to make and I had everything on hand.  

Here's what you'll will need...

Cubed French Bread {I used leftover}

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk

4 Tablespoons of sugar (divided)

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of margarine, softened

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter an 8x8 in baking pan.  

Line the bottom of the pan with bread cubes.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt and vanilla. {I sprinkled in a little cinnamon too.} Pour egg mixture over bread.  Dot with margarine and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.  Bake in preheated oven about 45-50 minutes, until top is golden.  

Drizzle with warm syrup and serve with bacon. 

Enjoy!!