Faith, Food and Family

Hi everyone! I can't believe how fast Thanksgiving and Christmas flew by. It seems like time just goes too quickly. In this new year, I am going to be more attentive to my blog. Other things have just kept my attention away and I have missed it greatly! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus! I know many of us entertain on New Years Eve, so I thought I would feature some of my past recipes that would be great to have for guests. Hope you enjoy! Savory Baked Sandwiches with Pesto Burrito Pizza Jalapeno Chicken Dip Heavenly Ham Dip Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip Mini Burgers/Sliders Fried Pork Dumplings with Peanut Dipping Sauce Chicken Quesadillas Sweets Strawberry Margarita Squares Heath Bar Crunch Cake Cream Cheese Bars Peanut Butter Cup Trifle Chocolate Crescent Rolls No Bake Cookies Ooey Gooey German Chocolate Brownies Blondies I hope you enjoy these recipes and have a safe and happy New Year! God bless! Happy eating, Amanda

Princess came home with an assignment to to a Civil War project. There were several options but she and I always gravitate to the ones that involve cooking. So we chose to make a recipe from the Civil War time to share with her class. Can I just say how grateful I am for the internet when it comes to these school projects? We looked online and found many different recipes. I wanted one that used ingredients I already had on hand and hopefully one that would be a bit tasty. I finally found a forum where people were sharing Civil War recipes and someone had shared one for Oatmeal Pie from Charleston, South Carolina. Apparently, during the Civil War, pecans were in short supply. So oatmeal was subbed for pecans to make a sort of mock pecan pie. This recipe is very tasty and really easy. It does remind me of a pecan pie, but at the same time a little reminiscent of an apple crisp because of the oatmeal and the cinnamon. Very delicious! I'm hoping her class really enjoys it. She said th...

Can't believe that fall will be here soon! I love fall. The colors of leaves changing, the crisp blue skies, cooler weather and yummy foods that are so nice to enjoy during that time of year. For me, that means more soups, chili's, casseroles, yummy breads and muffins. What are your favorite things about fall? Speaking of casseroles, I am totally addicted to this yummy delicious chicken casserole! It's a great quick dinner for those nights you don't have much time if you keep cooked chicken in your freezer. Having precooked chicken and ground beef is such a help for those nights you need something fast. To me this is pure comfort food. I usually serve it with brown rice and steamed broccoli. It would also be great with mashed potatoes or noodles. Delicious! Chicken Casserole 2-3 cups of chicken, cooked and chopped 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1/2-1 cup of sour cream (I usually don't measure and this really depends on personal preference) 1 cu...

I love looking at the Cooking for your Family board over at Babycenter . They have a recipe review thread where everyone reviews the recipes they made. It's a great way to find new ideas. Well, one lady posted that she had made this recipe for Dill Pickle Faux-Fried Chicken which is from A Good Appetite . I was really happy with this recipe! The kids loved it! Definitely something different to do with chicken and a good way to use up that pickle juice. I did the recipe a bit different but not much. For the original recipe, click on the link above. Here's what I did.... Dill Pickle Faux-Fried Chicken 2-4 cups of pickle juice 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 cups of Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing mix 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (you could use more or less if you wanted) 2 eggs Marinate chicken breasts for at least 2 hours (I did all day) in the pickle juice. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet lined with foil and then ...

I had been craving pork chops and hadn't had them in awhile. I like to get the boneless pork loins and have them sliced into chops. I can usually catch them on sale for a little under $2 a pound so that's when I get them. This time I thought I'd bake them but wanted to do something that wouldn't dry them out since they are on the leaner side. I decided to do these Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy and they were so yummy! Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy 8 boneless pork loin chops (mine ere 1/2" thick) 1 can of healthy request cream of mushroom soup 1/2 packet of onion soup mix 1/2 cup of reduced fat sour cream 1/2 cup of milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine soup, onion soup mix, sour cream and milk together. In a baking dish, arrange pork chops in a single layer. Pour soup mixture on top of the chops and spread around coating each one. Cover and bake for about 1 hour or so. I went a little over an hour. They were tender and yummy! I served...

I say almost because this is not breaded and fried like most. I had a pack of chicken breasts in the fridge that I needed to use up and wanted to try something different. I decided to do this and it turned out very yummy! Easy Almost Chicken Parmesan 3-5 chicken breasts depending on size (I have found this can vary greatly depending on brand) 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic) shredded cheese (I used a pizza blend that contained mozzarella, provolone, parmesean and romano) 1 box of spaghetti noodles (I used Ronzoni Garden Delight Spaghetti noodles) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer chicken in a baking dish and pour spaghetti sauce on top of the chicken breasts. Cover with foil and bake for 1 to 1.5 hours. I always check my chicken with a meat thermometer so you may be able to go on the shorter end of cooking depending on your oven. During the last several minutes of the chicken cooking, cook noodles as directed on the package. I strained them and...

My mom had us over for the 4th of July to have dinner. I made a dessert to bring along to share. I had these a couple of years ago and had always meant to make them but never did. They are a very refreshing dessert for summertime. You have the salty of the pretzel crust, sourness of the 1st layer from the margarita mix. Then the sweetness of the strawberry top layer. It's a perfect combo! So delicious! I meant to garnish these but didn't have a chance. They would look lovely with some whipped topping, sliced strawberry and maybe a small slice of lime on top. Strawberry Margarita Squares Crust: 2 cups pretzels (1 cup crushed) 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/4 cup sugar Filling: 2 pkgs. (8oz each) cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup thawed, frozen margarita mix, concentrate (non-alcoholic) 2 containers (8oz each) cool whip, thawed 1 pkg. (3oz) strawberry gelatin 1/2 cup boiling water 1 pkg (10 oz) frozen sliced strawberries in syrup fresh strawberry slices (for garnish-optional) lime slices ...

I found this Burrito Pizza recipe at Good Cheap Eats . I thought it looked so different and fresh and wanted to try it right away. The results were out of this world! I did two things differently. I bought a crust from Papa Murphy's . They only charge $2 for an unbaked pizza dough already rolled out and on a pan for baking. Not too bad IMO! The other thing I did was use jarred jalapenos instead of fresh. I happen to have them on hand and enjoy their flavor. Next time, I think I will serve the peppers separately though. I had some who felt it was too spicy and others who liked it. So I think serving them on the side would be a great idea. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did! I'll let you check her site for the recipe in case you want to make homemade dough. She has a recipe for that too. Lots of yummy goodies on her site! Happy Eating! Amanda

Hi everyone! I am so sorry that I have disappeared for so long. It's been a rough little bit for us. We had a bad car accident right before Thanksgiving, lots of sickness and snow mixed in there as well. I've just had things going on that didn't allow me to blog like I would have liked. I've missed blogging and all of you very much! Now on to what my post is really about. Birthdays! Tomorrow is my birthday and all week I have been receiving some wonderful coupons from different restaurants in my email. Most restaurants have some sort of email list you can join. For many of them, you actually receive a coupon for some kind of discount/free food just for joining. Most also send something on your birthday and the anniversary of the date you subscribed to their emails. Plus special email only discounts throughout the year. I would encourage you to look up your favorite restaurants and see what you can find. These are the ones that I have signed up for. I'm also includin...