Chicken Pot Pie Biscuits

Biscuits filled with homemade and healthy chicken pot pie filling. Comes together in about a half hour and is perfect when you want a dose of comfort food with a nice hit of veggie goodness.

Creamy Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Mac and cheese inspired by Panera. Actually, it’s inspired by Pinterest since I’ve never even had Panera’s mac and cheese. When I do indulge in mac and cheese, I tend to prefer it to come from my kitchen and to be of the baked variety. I am a sucker for those crispy ever-so-slightly burnt edges. That said, I’ve been (always am…) craving Panera’s lethally delicious Broccoli Cheddar Soup, so I decided to meld the two. So, while I can’t say that I know this to be an exact replica of Panera’s popular mac & cheese, it was yummy, easy, and decadent, and the original recipe is said to come from Panera itselft. AND, it included one of my very favorite, and very under-rated cheeses, the American Cheese, white, thinly sliced from the deli. Yum.

Blue Plate Special: Sage-Apple Turkey Meatloaf with Onion-Cider Gravy

Ah, the first meal in a new home. It needs to be comforting. Seasonal. Easy. This meatloaf (served with pancetta brussels sprouts and whipped sweet potatoes) was all of those things. Kept moist (again, sorry) by shredded apple, flavored by fresh sage and covered in a gravy made of apple cider and caramelized onions – it’s a keeper.

Delicious Dogfood Casserole

So, as the originating blogger pointed out, this kinda looks like dogfood. But, BUT, it does not taste like dogfood. Good news! It’s actually really homey and comforting, and a great use up for some canned goods that are in my pantry right now. Really, it’s very much like a simplified Shepherd’s Pie, and I’ll take simplified anything these days, dogfood or otherwise.

Make Ahead Frozen Breakfast Burritos

These babies are our new best friend. I made a big batch of these on Sunday, wrapped them in plastic wrap, threw them in the freezer, and POOF, a hot, homemade breakfast that we could bring to work with us and reheat in no time. I made these with chicken sausage, but you could literally put anything you like in them. I am going to do a batch of bacon, egg, and cheese next week and another veggie filled batch in the very near future.

Sweet Potato Breakfast Taquitos

I was psyched to stumble upon this recipe this morning as I was trying to figure out to do with odds and ends still in the fridge before doing the week’s grocery shopping. I pretty much always keep corn tortillas in the house since they have a great shelf life and are more flavorful than flour tortillas.  And this time of year, I always have a random sweet potato or two hanging around that didn’t get eaten during the week. These taquitos rock! Will definitely be making again.

Cheesy Faux Sausage Balls

Gimme Lean vegetarian sausage is one of my favorite swaps for real sausage. It is low-cal, fat, sugar, and cholesterol free, and has a great sausagey flavor and texture. I’ve used it in sweeter/breakfast applications and in pasta dishes with great success. These sausage balls are doughy and cheesy and are a fantastic appetizer (or breakfast with some maple syrup!). Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Pies

I don’t make dessert too often around here (I’d rather save my calories for cheese or bacon), but I couldn’t resist these little pies. Not only are they pretty healthy (approx. 60 calories each!), but they’re MINI. Mini things are cute. And delicious!

Zucchini Rice

Looking for a use-up for your bounty of zucchini? How about a way for kids to eat vegetables without being able to avoid them? This is your dish. This will definitely be a go to for us – simple and yum.

Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

I’m way into pretty summer foods right now. You know what I’m talking about. The eye candy factor of summer food totally trumps other seasons…and while I am desperately waiting for my favorite season (fall) to arrive, I am biding my time enjoying some nice color.

Mac & Cheese Muffins

Do I even have to say anything about these little genius muffins? Legit, mac & cheese in muffin form. Handy. Convenient. Delicious. Versatile. And I can’t wait to try them in a mini-muffin tin for parties. Yum.

Truth time: I blatantly failed at following this recipe. I put the butternut squash in the microwave to defrost and promptly found it still sitting in there hours after we were done eating. Oops. And I also forgot the cream cheese, which I think would make almost anything better. Truth be told, as I made them, these were a teensy bit on the bland side — but still amazeballs good because it’s handheld pasta and melted cheese.  Try making the recipe as it was originally written, though – I know I will (try)!

Biscuit Souffle Breakfast Casserole

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I’d like to say because it’s super kid friendly, but really I just love biscuits in any form. (Remember these?) Add eggs and veggie sausage and I’m sold. In terms of the pre-made tubes of biscuits — I like the Trader Joe’s for their respectable ingredient list (all real food).

This casserole is a little like a savory french toast, and it smells heavenly while baking. Enough to wake two sleeping teenagers from their Sunday morning coma, which says a lot.

Mexican Tortilla Pizza

A success for the “kid friendly” file!  Whenever I cook for just the two of us, I ask Brian afterward if he thinks the kids would like it. I typically get a gentle “Oh, I don’t know…” or “notsomuch with x ingredient”, etc.  This recipe is a bonus because it’s mostly assembly, which is perfect for kids (or boyfriends) to help out with. So, tonight, the official Kid Friendly category on this blog is born, which hopefully will contain more than this recipe!

Oh, and I should mention how YUMMY this is. SO good. And SUPER easy. Easily made vegetarian by subtracting the beef and using with more refried beans, too, which is a double bonus.

Pappardelle with Prosciutto and Orange

I don’t like to pick favorites with my pasta, but this one is pretty special. I love egg noodles, and while this recipe calls for — nearly demands — fresh pasta, this egg pappardelle found at TJ’s is super close to fresh pasta. The combination of the salty prosciutto and sweet/tangy orange is amazing.

Taco Stuffed Zucchini

Is it possible to have a crush on a blog? If so, I currently have two hard-core crushes. Our Life in Food — my savior in my efforts to eat low-carb and not kill myself.  Seriously, I stumbled on to this blog as a “normal reader” — aka, not looking specifically for a low-carb site. Her photos are impeccable and you don’t even realize that most of the recipes avoid carbohydrates until you’re already hitting the print button.

And On the Woodside, for the kind of writing which helps you live life a little more…tenderly.  Absolutely can’t get enough.  I’ll stop there for fear of sounding like a stalker, even though I kind of am.

Anyway, I found and printed this stuffed zucchini recipe a few months back, before I realized I was obsessed with Our Life in Food.

I love mexican flavors, and again, the photo of these just called to me. I’m sorry to say that my photo is BAD, but this dish is YUMMY. Seriously yummy. The filling tastes like the best taco dip you ever had, and Brian devoured two halves in no time. Since I am such a dainty eater (…), I only had one half.  SO good, and can’t wait to eat the leftovers.

Oven Dogs

I have a soft spot for hot dogs.

And melted cheese (obvs).

Then you introduce chili and lots of fun condiments.

Then a snowstorm hits and suddenly this is the most perfect food ever.

B and I had fun making these together. They’re messy and yummy, and actually not all that bad for you, considering the turkey dogs and turkey chili we used. Next time I might ease up on the relish (a little too sweet for me) and add more mustard and some spicy stuff (jalapenos? yes. ).