Faith, Food and Family

New YouTube video is up! Check out my YouTube Channel Faith, Food and Family ! This recipe is so good! I highly recommend you make it soon! Plus it’s so easy to throw in the crockpot! Crockpot Southwestern Taco Chili Ingredients: 1 pound of Velveeta cubed or 2 8oz packages of the Velveeta Shreds 1 ½ pounds of ground beef, cooked 1 can of cream style corn 2 cans of Rotel 1 tsp cumin 1 pkg of taco seasoning Combine all ingredients in your crockpot. Cook on High for 3 hours or Low for 4-5. Serve with desired toppings. Some suggestions are tortilla chips or strips, sour cream, jalapenos, and avocadoes. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Let me know if you try it!

Nov. 2020 update: Hi all! I am updating this recipe as it has changed for us over the years. Also, I am featuring it over on my new YouTube Channel Faith, Food and Family ! Make sure to check that What's for Dinner video out. Updated recipe: Tater Tot Casserole Ingredients: 1 pound of ground beef, cooked 1 32 oz bag of tater tots 1 cup of milk 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (you can use a mix or chicken and mushroom, chicken and celery, or whatever combo you like) 1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice (I usually use cheddar or triple cheddar) Preheat your overn to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the 2 cans of cream of chicken soups and the milk. In a 9x13 pan, spread cooked hamburger meat evenly on the bottom. Pour tater tots on top and distribute evenly. Pour soup/milk mixture on top and bake for about an hour. When it is hot and bubbly, remove from oven and add shredded cheese. you can use more that a cup if you like. Place back in the oven for about 5 mi...

I don't know about you but I really enjoy ranch dressing. The stuff in the bottle is okay, but if you look at the ingredients it contains some not so good stuff like MSG and added sugar. It also has a lot of added sodium. I'm trying to watch my sodium so I decided to make a salt-free ranch mix, then I can control the salt whenever I make the dressing or add it to a recipe. It's super easy to make your own ranch mix. If you make a batch of this up, you can have it already on hand to make ranch dressing or add it into other recipes. Let's get started! Salt-free Ranch Dressing Mix Ingredients: 4 Tbsp of dried parsley 4 tsp of dried dill 4 tsp of onion powder 4 tsp of minced dried onion 2 tsp of garlic powder 1 tsp of ground black pepper Combine the spices in a bowl and from here you can process them for a bit in a mini food processor to mix well and make some of the parsley smaller or you can use a coffee grinder as a spice grinder. Then place in a contai...

I hope that all of you have had a blessed Christmas and New Year! I know many of us start the New Year off with the resolution to eat healthier. I definitely want to be on the path to being healthier and am trying to make better choices along the way. Sometimes that can be hard when things are busy but baby steps help. So hopefully I will have lots of new recipes to post of some yummy goodies that are healthy as well! I feel that chicken salad is a pretty healthy dish. Especially if you are careful to check the ingredients of the mayonnaise. I use Hellmann's Olive Oil mayonnaise and really enjoy it. Chicken salad is a favorite of mine, but I usually make the same recipe. Chicken, mayo, dill, celery, nuts, etc. Sometimes I add grapes to it as well. However, this time I tried something a bit different. I added relish and hard boiled eggs. I loved the result! This chicken salad is so good! I hope you try it and if you do, let me know what you think! The Best Chicken Salad ...

Do you buy ground beef or have your meat gound up fresh? I love to have ours ground up fresh. It's the only way I buy it. I usually use sirloin tip or london broil, and have used a couple of other cuts before too. I just watch for it to go on sale. Sirloin tip was on sale this time and I decided to make meatloaf again. I wanted something different for this one, so I thought why not stuff it with smoked gouda cheese! This was really good. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Smoked Gouda Stuffed Meatloaf 2 tablespoons butter 2 onions, diced 5 cloves of garlic, minced ½ cup of ketchup (I used just a tad less than ½ cup) ¾ cup of breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon of thyme 2 eggs 2 pounds of ground beef 1/3 pound of smoked gouda, cut into sticks (like cheese sticks only smaller) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter and then add the diced onion. Sauté until translucent. Add the minced garlic, allowing it to cook for a minute or two. ...

There is a take and bake place in town that has the most amazing lemon chicken artichoke soup. I decided to try to make a copy of it at home. This soup isn’t exactly like the one at the local shop here, but it’s close. This recipe is so good and highly addictive! I encourage you to try it as soon as you can! Lemon Chicken Artichoke Soup Ingredients: ½ stick of butter 1 tbsp oilive oil 5 cloves of garlic, minced 2 yellow onions, diced 2 12oz jars of quartered artichoke hearts in water (drained, rinsed and diced) 2-3 lemons 2-3 cups of cooked chicken breasts, diced 1 tsp of dried oregano 8 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth 2 cups of half & half Salt and pepper to taste In a 5-6 qt. stockpot over medium heat, melt butter and add the olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent, add the garlic and then cook for a minute more. Add the artichoke hearts and salt and pepper if desired and cook for 3-5 minutes. Next, add your chicken stock. Allow this to come to ...

I haven't made meatloaf in forever and thought it would be yummy so I decided to make it. This time to be a bit healthier, I decided to add some veggies to my meatloaf. I really enjoyed the results. I have to warn you here that I am trying to watch our sodium a bit, so if you choose to make this, you can adjust the recipe to add more salt. This is a good way to sneak veggies into kids, you could even puree the veggies if you wanted to before adding them to the meat so they can't be identified. I like to leave them like they are though. Veggie packed Meatloaf 2 tablespoons of butter 1 cup of finely diced onion 1 rib of celery, finely diced 1 carrot, diced finely 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced ½ of an 8oz can of tomato sauce 1 cup of breadcrumbs 2 eggs, large 2 pounds of ground beef ketchup Preheat your over to 350 degrees. In a saute pan over medium heat, melt butter and then add the diced celery, onion and carrot. Saute for 3-5 minutes allowing the veggies ...

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...

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

We have a bakery in town that makes caramel apple bread. It is so yummy. It's also priced to where it's something I rarely ever buy. That's why I made up the Apple Butterscotch Bread . But today I decided to buy a loaf. It has probably been a year since I bought a loaf. They also sell a cinnamon butter that is just heavenly on the bread. However, it's an extra $4 to buy it. So you're looking at $10 for a loaf of very yummy bread and a package of very yummy cinnamon butter. Too much for me to spend on bread and butter so I made my own cinnamon butter at home! It's super easy and so good. Here ya go! Cinnamon Butter 1 stick of butter (softened, I even like to microwave it just a bit to get it slightly runny, it makes it easier to blend together) 1/2 cup of powdered sugar 1 1/2- 2 tsp of cinnamon (depends on how strong you want it, I used closer to 2 tsp) Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until combined well. It should be nice and creamy. S...

Hi everyone! I didn't remember to take a picture of this but it was sooo good. Easy Slow Cooker Stroganoff 2-3 pounds of beef stew meat (I used part beef stew meat and part stir fry strips that were marked down) 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup 1 packet of onion soup mix 8oz beef broth 1 small jar of sliced mushrooms Place meat in the crockpot. I mixed the soup, soup mix, broth and mushrooms in a bowl and then poured on top of the meat. I am sure you could just dump everything in as well. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or until meat is tender. This was so yummy! It was plenty salty enough and I used the healthy request cream of mushroom soup with reduced sodium. So I wouldn't add any additional salt. Serve over noodles or rice. Delicious!! Check out more yummy recipes at Tempt My Tummy at Blessed With Grace !

I decided to take a look at the most popular recipes from 2009. So here they are! :) Enjoy! 1. Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole 2. Duggar Family Tater Tot Casserole 3. Peanut Butter Cup Trifle 4. Innkeeper Pie 5. Chicken Tortilla Soup 6. Mini Burgers/Sliders 7. Homemade Waffles 8. Breakfast Casserole 9. Bacon Cheddar Burgers 10. Blondies

Sorry I've been absent a bit. Things have been hectic here and haven't had a chance to try any new recipes to post. However, I finally got to make these so I'm posting it for you here. These are so yummy! I got the recipe from a lady named Jessica on the Cooking For Your Family board. The only thing I change is that I use a bit more mushrooms and green chilies instead of green pepper. You can use different cheeses. I used colby and monterey jack this time. I think my oven temp was a bit off because my enchiladas weren't as dry as when I had made them before. Just make sure that most of the sauce it absorbed and the tops appear dry. This is so good! Pan-Roasted Mushroom & Pepper Pork Enchiladas: Ingredients: 1 lb pork tenderloin (boneless) 1 green bell pepper, finely diced 1/2 tin presliced/prewashed mushrooms 1 small (or 1/2 med) Vidalia onion, finely diced 6-8 ounces fat free cream cheese 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or favorite melting cheese) vegetable oil ...

I know it's summer but it hasn't been as hot here and I was wanting chicken noodle soup. My tummy hasn't felt great today. Not sure if it was something I ate or a virus. And one of the things I like to eat when my tummy doesn't feel as good (once I feel like eating anyway) is potatoes diced and boiled in chicken broth. So I thought why not chicken noodle soup! I decided to use my crockpot because I like to make a large amount at a time. That also helped not heat the house up so I can enjoy soup. My favorite noodles to use in chicken noodle soup is the real homemade dried noodles. I found these at Kroger. They're a bit more expensive so we don't eat them often. When I make this soup, I've never used a recipe. So amounts are not exact and can be played with depending on your liking. Chicken Noodle Soup 3 cans of chicken broth 3-4 cups of water 2-3 tbsp of chicken base 2-3 cups of diced potatoes 16 oz bag of frozen veggies 2-3 cups of extra veggies of your choi...

A good friend of mine brought by 2 large zucchini that she had. I had been wanting to make zucchini bread for awhile but never bought any for that purpose. So when she offered some extra produce she had I was excited! This is the recipe I decided to try. It's adapted from this recipe at Allrecipes . Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup white sugar 1 cup of brown sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups grated zucchini 1 cup chopped chocolate chips Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add choclate chips and toss them around in the flour mixture. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into pre...