Many times when I go to a party, potluck or some other function, I end up finding a great new dish that I’d like to make myself.  When I complement the person, they say, “Oh, it’s really easy.  You just need a little broccoli, some onions, a little this, and a little of that.”  It’s so frustrating because you can’t repeat the dish without the recipe.

Then Wednesday I made a sausage and spinach quiche.  Wouldn’t you know it, someone asked me what was in it.  I think I said something like, “Uhhhhh, some sausage, eggs, spinach, cheese, uhhhh.  Hmmm. Let …read more

When it comes to holidays, Better Homes & Gardens always has great ideas. I always find myself thinking, “That looks easy. Why didn’t I think of that?”. Since their ideas are so cute, I thought you all might need some inspiration for Halloween treats this week. After all, Halloween is only a few day away.
This time, I included a short description of the things needed for each of these cupcake ideas. Perhaps that will help you save some time as you scan through the list. If you’re like me, you’d rather choose a project that you already have the supplies …read more

Fall is here and many of you are looking to cook and bake with yummy ingredients such as pumpkin, cinnamon, and apples.  I’ve searched the internet and found 20 great sounding pumpkin recipes.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal at GoodLife Eats
Pumpkin Waffles at Smitten Kitchen
Black Bean Pumpkin Soup at Smitten Kitchen
Pumpkin Spice Latte from Kettle and Cup
Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte from A Year of Slow Cooking
Creamy and Spicy Pumpkin Soup (low carb) at Low Carb Diets
Spicy Pumpkin Bisque at About.com Home Cooking
Baked Stuffed Pumpkin at About.com Home Cooking
Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake at Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup at Think …read more

I have never purchased a store made cake for my kids’ birthdays.  For a few years, I was fortunate to have my mom make the cakes for me.  Due to travel reasons, my mom can’t make the cakes any longer so I try to save money by finding something cute that I can do myself.  Usually I do quite a bit of searching on the internet, decide on some options I can do myself, and then present those to my kids to choose from.  Here are some cool cakes and cupcakes I’ve found.

Animals

frog cupcakes
barn cake with farm animal cupcakes
pony cake
panda cake
monkey cake
dinosaur cake

Sports

easy …read more

A few months ago, I posted a week of Mexican recipes for your enjoyment.  Last week, I made some shredded Mexican beef and wanted to give you the recipe to add to the collection. 

This recipe is great for burritos, tacos, taquitos, and more.  I usually cook a 3-4 pound roast with this recipe and then save half of the cooked roast for the freezer.  It’s nice to pull the cooked beef out of the freezer and have meat that’s ready to use!
 In a crock pot add:

roast (I use one that’s about 3 pounds.)
1 onion, sliced
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
2 beef boullion cubes
Adobo seasoning (salt …read more

I have never purchased a birthday cake for my children. In past years, I was fortunate enough to use my mom’s cake decorating skills to get fabulous cakes. Last year was one of those times.
My son wanted a Lightning McQueen cake for his birthday. I looked around in the stores and tried to figure out what I was going to do. Then I decided to buy the car figurines from the toy section. At $12 for three cars, I thought it was a bit pricey but it was cheaper than buying a cake and then at least he would have …read more

I have been a tad spoiled. In past years, my parents would travel to my kid’s birthday parties and my mom would bake and decorate the cakes. She used to work in a bakery and she always does such a great job with designing and decorating cakes.  By the way, you should have seen the Barbie Princess one she did last year.  I’ll have to put that in another post. 
Anyway, this is the second year that I haven’t had my mom’s cake abilities at hand.  After all, five hours is a bit far to travel for a party.  With a …read more

A few weeks ago, I gave you the recipe for the ridiculously easy blueberry cobbler.  This recipe only requires five ingredients – butter, sugar, self-rising flour, milk, and fruit.  Harris Teeter had a big sale on strawberries so I decided to make a strawberry cobbler.  Since we were having company, I doubled the recipe.  Here it is before putting it in the oven to bake.

And after baking . . .

Mmmmmm. Warm delicious goodness. And oh so easy to do.
So far, I’ve tried this recipe with canned peaches, blueberries, and strawberries.  It’s simple to switch it around according to your tastes and …read more

Last week was Cuddlebug’s 4th birthday.  Although we already had a party for him, I wanted to make a cake for his actual birthday.  I wanted something that he would like, but that wouldn’t take a long time.  And I needed a cake that was fairly easy, since I’m not a cake decorator. 
A few months ago, I let you all know about the cute cupcakes from Bright Ideas.  In their ideas were some baseball cupcakes.  These looked very simple.  I took their idea and modified it into a cake.

I simply made a regular box of cake mix (any flavor will do) and I …read more

You may be looking at the title of this post and be wondering what in the world is sharing prepared foods.  I’ll share a little story of how this worked for me.

Several years ago before I had children, I had a very close friend.  We did almost everything together.  We were both married without children and we shared similar interest and faith.  We went to church together, shopped for clothes and groceries, clipped coupons for one another, watched movies, went out to eat, and hung out together.  
My friend and I also did a lot of cooking.  Sometimes my husband and …read more