Alphabet Soup

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week.  We did, even if it was crazy...but it always is!  It has decided to get cold lately, so I though it would be the perfect time to try out this new slow cooker recipe.  Also, for a variety of reasons, we have decided to crack down on the unhealthy eating around here.  Yes, during the holidays.  I'm crazy like that.  In light of that, I used reduced fat dairy products in this, and while I didn't actually figure out what the nutrition facts would be, it is makes for a pretty healthy recipe. Like many slow cooker recipes, this one came together rather quickly.  I did add an extra step of lightly sauteing the vegetables at the beginning, but that's because I wasn't getting the dish on as early as I'd planned, and I wanted to make sure they were well cooked.  You could most likely omit that step with no problems. This was mostly a hit all around.  D and I really liked it.  I preferred it with a dollop of sour

Wait, it's Friday?  How did that happen?  Well, I guess since yesterday was Thanksgiving, that would make today Friday.  In light of this revelation, I will be revisiting another past favorite for this week's addition to the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies:  Double Shot Mocha Chunks .  They were good.  Very good.  Sorry for the short post.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Enjoy!  :)

It's almost Thanksgiving.  Can you believe it?  I thought I'd share what's on our menu this year, and see what everyone else is cooking up.  :) We are having a hard time deciding what to serve as the main dish this year.  Munchkin is convinced that it's not Thanksgiving if we don't have turkey "it's tradition!"  Actually, tradition around here is to serve something non -traditional.  I'm thinking pork loin.  We shall see. Here's what else we have cooking up: Cornbread dressing (family recipe) Bacon Wrapped Green Beans by Our Best Bites Sweet Potatoes from Pioneer Woman Mashed Potatoes also from PW Cranberry Sauce ...ummmm, also from PW Corn on the Cob (self-explanatory) Yeast Rolls Pecan Pie from Southern Plate Sweet Potato Pie (my recipe) Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha Stewart and I'm debating Banana Pudding (my recipe) That's what we've got so far.  We always make enough to feed an army, I swear.  What

For this week's recipe, I am revisiting a cookie from early 2009 -- the Chocolate Fudge Cookie with Toffee and Dried Cherries .  It's a recipe that I received while participating in the Cookie Carnival (it is being hosted by someone different now, but still going on!).  Anyway, this week has been just too crazy for me to get any baking done, so I thought I'd pull out an old recipe to share.  It was a really good one, and I may be baking it again for a cookie exchange that I'm co-hosting in a couple of weeks (eek!).  When I first got the recipe, I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, but I liked them a lot!  I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy!  :)

Let me just get this out of the way and say that I love coffee.  I do.  I also love fancy coffee drinks.  It's a fact.  And in the winter, that means peppermint mochas.  But I don't really want to pay upwards of $4 for one every day, so I've come up with own little version to make at home.  I must say that it tastes very good, and is actually quite easy to make.  I know that several companies make flavored creamers, but I'm not a fan.  I have never liked the non-dairy creamers.  I've even tried the newer ones that are supposed to be made from milk and cream, but they didn't do it for me either.  This recipe is what works for me.  Feel free to adapt it to your tastes {obviously}.  I don't have an espresso machine of any kind, so I just use strong brewed coffee.  I have a Keurig machine and love that I can make one cup at a time, and each cup can be different from the next.  No, I was not paid by the company to say that.  I just love my machine!  Anyway

Taco seasoning is something that's used a lot around my kitchen.  I wanted to share my recipe that I use.  One nice thing about making it yourself is that {obviously} you can adjust the seasonings to fit your preferences.  This is what works for us.  I will usually just make this up as needed, but you could certainly make a larger batch and store it with your spices to have on hand.  I will add this to whatever recipe I'm using it in, and then taste and adjust as needed for that particular use.  Sometimes it needs more salt.  Other times I'm in a garlic or oregano mood.  You get the idea!  :) I keep the recipe on a little recipe holder thing that I made a few months ago.  How's that for technical?  It allows me to keep it handy, and is easy to clean if things get messy.  You'd think I would have it memorized, but no.  Taco Seasoning Mix 1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp corn flour or

I've been blogging for two years now! It's hard for me to believe it's been that long. I know I haven't been all that consistent with it, but it really has been fun! This little anniversary actually snuck up on me. I was thinking last night that I needed to see when it was. I checked, and eek! November 6th. Guess maybe I should put it on my calendar or something so I don't forget it. :) I wanted to do something special on the blog to celebrate. In typical Katy fashion, I'm going to be late to my own party, but I have a couple of things in the works that I will share soon! I've been doing a lot of thinking (stressing) lately about blogging. I never set out to try to be a big-name blogger, land a book deal, or even make a little money off my blog. I am certainly not knocking those that have those aspirations. I just...don't. I just want to have fun, but I also tend to have a "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" attitude. So

This week's recipe comes straight from Betty Crocker herself.   Er, well, the Betty Crocker website anyway!  On a side note, I almost thought about trying to be Betty Crocker for Halloween, but ran out of time and didn't.  Maybe next year... These bars are super rich!  They have a great chocolate flavor though, and the toffee bits blend in nicely.  Don't try one if you have a loose filling though.  Can you say sticky and chewy?  I would suggest cutting them into bite size pieces, especially for gift giving or treat platters. I sent about half of them to work with D and apparently they disappeared quickly, with lots of requests for the recipe coming soon after! The original recipe can be found here .  It is quite quick and easy to whip together, since it starts with a packaged sugar cookie mix.  Now, I admit that I don't usually like using mixes, but they can definitely be nice to have on hand, especially when you need to get something baking quickly during the hec