Spicy Sausage Pasta...

This Spicy Sausage Pasta is a fantastic easy weeknight comfort meal; it's really quick to throw together and the results are so delicious! We usually use a penne or rotini pasta and typically use about 10 oz of pasta in this dish as we love this as a left over.

Our finished product...

 Yum...comfort food ready for consumption...

Tip from Rebecca's kitchen: using whole wheat pasta is an easy way to make this dish just a little healthier! Also, we've used turkey sausage on occasion when making this dish which is an option instead of beef sausage. If you prefer really spicy foods you could always use original Ro-Tel instead of mild in this dish to kick it up a notch!

Sweet and Sour Chicken...

Okay, so I'll be completely honest, this dish does take some effort, but oh my goodness it is SO good; it's definitely worth the work!! I'll totally stand by this statement, and I know my neighbor whom I've prepared this for will back me up...it is as good as, if not better than, take out Chinese!!

As Mel states on her blog, this Sweet & Sour Chicken is the most popular dish on her blog and I can see why!

Delicious chicken right out of the oven...

Plated and ready to be devoured...

Tip from Rebecca's kitchen: We usually cut the recipe in half but make the full amount of sauce because this sauce is freaking amazing! An 8x8 pan usually works well for us since it's half the amount of chicken. We serve ours over brown rice, and this is one of those dishes where there is never a leftover in site!

Prosciutto, Asparagus, Mushroom Pasta....

This dish is one of my husband's favorites and actually one that inspired me to start this little food blog after I passed it on to a neighbor who shared that it has quickly become one of the their favorite weeknight meals as well!

Try this Prosciutto, Asparagus, Mushroom Pasta the next time you want a hearty, quick delicious weeknight meal. It's so satisfying and I love that there are so many vegetables in the dish, and of course you can never go wrong with creamy pasta!

Tip from Rebecca's Kitchen: It's typically far cheaper to buy your prosciutto at the deli counter then in the already prepackaged prosciutto that's near the specialty cheeses. I learned this the hard way initially and discovered that it's often $2 or more cheaper to just have it sliced at the deli counter!

We used to make this with spaghetti noodles as the recipe calls for, but now that our toddler eats our meals with us I've started using rotini noodles so he's easily able to eat this dish with us. One of Ian's favorite food is actually asparagus, so this dish is an all around family favorite at our house. And you guessed it, it's a delicious leftover for lunches the next day!

Mocha Cappuccino Puppy Chow...

Don't say you haven't been warned, this snack is SO addicting and will not last long if you make it! Came across this Mocha Cappuccino Puppy Chow recipe on Pinterest and decided to throw it together for a neighborhood get-together. It had been years since I'd had puppy chow and wow, I had forgotten how tasty it can be, but this new spin on it brought it to a whole new level!

If you have a sweet tooth this is sure to satisfy. Careful though, it's hard to stop eating it! I've found this is one of those dessert snacks that it's best if I only make when we're going to be able to share it with others to ensure it is not all consumed only by us! My husband with the huge sweet tooth has deemed this one superior to the original puppy chow recipe, and he doesn't mess around!

I made mine without the Espresso candy cups she listed in her recipe as I couldn't find any at our grocery store, and it was still amazing!

Oatmeal Banana Chai & Toddler Muffins...

We love muffins at our house and our son, Ian, especially loves them. They make a great snack for him when we're on the go or after nap, and since he's an active toddler these are a great healthy snack he can eat while moving about. Multitasking already! These are two of his current favorites.

So I first came across these Oatmeal Banana Muffins on Pinterest and thought they looked awesome since we love oatmeal and bananas! I decided to add my own little spin on them by including Chai seeds, I add in a Tablespoon thus making them Oatmeal Banana Chai Muffins:) They've been a favorite of Ian's for a couple of months now and are so easy to throw together!

The ingredients I used to whip these up...

Finished product...

I got those reusable Wilton silicone muffin cups several years ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and they have held up awesome! I love them and we use them on a very regular basis The worst part is they're hand wash only, but they're totally worth it to me, and the muffins pop out of them easily. I'd highly recommend picking some up next time you see them out shopping; we haven't used paper muffins liners in years.

Also, I have Pinterest to thank for these delicious Toddler Muffins which, trust me, adults like just as much as kids. They've got bananas, carrots, oat bran, & squash. I also of course add some Chai seeds to give them another health boost.

Tip from Rebecca's kitchen: You can use either the baby food squash that the recipe calls for or I've also cooked a butternut squash then used some of that and froze the rest for the next time I wanted to make these muffins.
Also, both of these muffins freeze great! Whenever I make a batch of muffins for Ian, I always leave out just a couple for the next day or so and then freeze the rest taking out one at a time the night before or morning of when we'll need them so they can defrost on the counter and then be ready for later in the day. Put them in the microwave for 10 seconds or so after defrosting and it's like they just came out of the oven!

Hope you or the little ones in your life enjoy these muffins!

Almond Crusted Pork Tenderloin and Shrimp Feta Mac & Cheese...

We love to make this Almond Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Mango Relish when we have friends over or for special occasions! It was first made for us by my dear friend and former co-worker Susan after we had Ian, and it quickly became a favorite of ours. We have always baked it in the oven, but there is also the option of cooking it on the grill. The mango relish is flavorful and fresh; we usually add extra mint when we make ours. Honestly, the mango relish itself would probably make an awesome appetizer with some pita or tortilla chips. We typically have some leftovers and it's still really delicious the next day!

Tip from Rebecca's Kitchen: We've found it's easier to roll the pork with the rub and almonds in a separate pan (or even just on some foil on the counter) before transferring it to the cookie sheet. This is because pieces that fall off the pork tend to burn at the high temperature. It really doesn't hurt anything since it just burns on the foil, but it can make the kitchen smokey.

Pork Tenderloin ready to hit the oven...

 Sliced, plated, and ready to be served...

 LOVE this mango relish! Seriously, it looks so pretty and is SO delicious...

Next up, we love this Shrimp Feta Mac n Cheese, but when we're serving it with the pork tenderloin we usually leave out the shrimp so it's more of a side dish. When we make it as an entree itself for dinner we add in 1/2 pound of shrimp. And to make things easier I just buy the frozen precooked shrimp so I always have it on hand when I want to use it in a dish. I usually cut this recipe in half, make it in an 8x8 pan, and use a bit less lemon zest than what the recipe calls for. If you're not big on lemon you could definitely leave this step out and it would still be delicious. The Gruyere cheese is part of what makes this so delicious, and since I cut the recipe in half and only need 4 oz for the dish it helps to cut the cost down as well. I have never used as much dill as the recipe calls for, typically just 1/2 Tbsp and I use dried dill. This also makes an awesome leftover! When we make it as an entree for dinner we always have leftovers and love to heat it up for lunches the next day or two. You'll start to see on this blog -- we're big on leftovers in our house and love having extras for lunch the next day!

Tip from Rebecca's Kitchen: When mixing the sauce I've found it can thicken quickly so be ready. Also, if it thickens up too fast you can always add a little extra milk to it once you've mixed it with the pasta!

Feta Mac & Cheese read for the oven...

 Fresh out of the oven & ready to dig in...

 Dinner is served....

A warm comfort breakfast, slow cooker apple cinnamon steel cut oatmeal!

We've been getting loads of snow this past month here in Kansas, and to me nothing says comfort on those cold wintry mornings like waking up to a warm bowl of oatmeal. Until a few months ago I had never heard of steel cut oats, but now I'm totally hooked; these are even healthier for you then old fashioned rolled oats!!!

This recipe from The Yummy Life for slow cooker apple cinnamon steel cut oatmeal has become one of our favorite cold weather breakfasts, and my son, who is a toddler, cannot get enough of it! I followed her tips on putting everything in a glass bowl in the crock pot and then just filling the crock pot itself with water about halfway up the bowl. This makes putting the bowl of left over oatmeal in the fridge easier, and we just continue to warm up the extras each morning until its all gone. The great thing about this recipe is you just throw it all in the crock pot before bed and wake up in the morning to a delicious healthy breakfast!

 

Just add some raisins, and dependent on how creamy you like your oatmeal maybe a bit of extra milk, and you have one delicious comfort breakfast! Oh, and it makes the house smell SO good too!