Roast Beef, Funeral Potatoes, Bread Crumb Green Beans

I know I've been quiet lately, and to all of you who read my blog, I apologize! Baby's nighttime sleeping difficulties have gotten out of control, and this sleep-deprived mama barely has time or energy to make a sandwich, let alone find a new recipe to make!

To make it up to you, I have a triple recipe post for today! This was a special meal we were planning around Easter, but due to various circumstances, we didn't get to it until this past week. Hubby helped with this one - he has a talent with the green beans!

I know the funeral potatoes are more of a western thing, but I fell in love with them the first time I had them and I can't stay away from good food, no matter where it's popular!

Chicken and Noodles

So I'm breaking the norm a little bit since this recipe is pretty time-consuming. It also isn't as cheap as my other recipes, but it feeds a lot more, so it evens out.

This is a recipe I attempted to recreate from what my grandmother used to make me and my sisters when we were kids. She loved to work all day to make this meal and feed her constantly hungry grandkids. We could seriously eat this stuff all day (and we did). It was especially important to me that I try to make this exactly like she did. It's been seven years since she passed away, and it made me feel closer to her. 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 package of No Yolks extra broad egg noodles
2 celery stalks
3 carrots
1/4 onion
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Christmas Cookies

'Tis the season for holiday baking! Every year we make plates and plates of sugar cookies to give to friends, neighbors, and families from church so I thought I'd share the recipe. Please note, this recipe is not for the faint of heart. It involves a little more effort than the easy, simple recipes I try to provide on my blog, but since it's only once a year that I have to put in some extra effort, I think it's worth it ☺

Ingredients

2 sticks butter or margarine
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
5 cups flour

Other items needed:

wax paper
rolling pin
cookie cutters
vanilla frosting
sprinkles
food coloring (if you want to go all out for this. I just stuck with normal white frosting because I'm boring)

Fried Chicken

Hey there! Sorry it's been a long time, but holiday madness is here in full swing!

This was a spontaneous attempt on my part. We're trying to save as much money as we can to give ourselves a little cushion for the new year, so I didn't do any meal planning. But we had chicken, eggs, flour, and bread crumbs, so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot!

There are many different ways to make fried chicken. Obviously this isn't going to be the "finger-licking" fried chicken you can get from fast food or anything, but it sure is delicious!

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp butter
1 lemon cut into wedges (I omitted this. I think lemon with chicken is gross)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

'Tis the season... for pumpkin recipes!

I'm trying to instill fun Fall traditions with our family that I didn't really get to do growing up. First, I carved my first Jack-O-Lantern. Next, I made my first batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I thought I would share with you, since they were a great success!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine ingredients

Preheat oven to 375.

Normally I throw caution to the wind and just throw the ingredients together unceremoniously. But there is a benefit to separating them, and that's what I did with this recipe. It makes the flour especially more manageable. 

Honey Garlic Meatballs

As of three weeks ago, I had never tried a slow cooker meatball recipe in my life! My argument for this was that it's only meatballs. If I'm going to use a slow cooker, I'd at least like to make a full meal with it.

For Baby's first birthday party, I wanted a selection of meat to label it "Carnivore Cave" for a dinosaur-themed party. So I decided to try this honey garlic meatballs recipe, and it is so delicious! This can be served as an hors d'oeuvre, or you can throw it on top of rice or pasta! 

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup ketchup

2 TB soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28oz)  bag fully cooked, frozen meatballs

Green Smoothie

Straying a bit from the dinner theme, here's my go-to green smoothie recipe. I drink a green smoothie every day - or every day I can manage. One batch in the blender usually lasts me three days, unless Hubby takes some - and sometimes he does, because it's so delicious! You can't even taste the spinach (and I'm not lying). This smoothie really cleanses me and helps prepare me for a healthy day. I drink one every morning as part of my goal to have veggies with every meal. I highly recommend it!

Ingredients
2 cups spinach
2 cups water*
2 bananas
1 cup frozen mangos
1 cup frozen pinapple

*For a thinner drink, I usually do 2 cups juice (your choice - I use Cran-Grape) and 1/2 cup water. I prefer my smoothies to have the consistency of juice instead of frosties. Adding juice will also make it sweeter.