I was hosting a bridal shower for a friend of mine at our house. She didn’t have any sisters, so I was always that person for her. When she told me she was getting married, finally, I was so over the top excited for her. She had been waiting for this moment forever it seemed. I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure that her wedding was one that she never forgot. We have a large building on our property, so it was the perfect location for all of her friends and family to gather for her special bridal day. I enlisted the help of a few people to help with supplying the foods, but I already knew what I was going to contribute.

Back when we were in college together, this girl practically lived on canned ravioli. She would eat the stuff nearly every single day for at least one of her meals. She never got sick of the stuff either. I asked her many times about that, and she always said it was so tasty.

So, I had a recipe from Group Recipes for a ravioli casserole that I knew was going to be ideal for her party. I had to make up a few pans of it to ensure there would be enough to go around, but it wasn’t much harder than operating the can opener really.

Recipe courtesy of Group Recipes. Photo credits go to The Frugal Pantry.

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Quick Tip: Use any pasta shape that you have on hand.

My sister had gone and done a trip to a different abroad for a year so she could explore and help the world in the way she thought that she needed to. That was probably the longest year of my life. It seemed like she had been gone for 10 years when we talked on the phone one of the final times before she was coming home. It was only going to be a few weeks until we would be reunited again. I had always been very close to her growing up, and even in our adult years. It was like I had lost a piece of me for a while when she was gone and having her back would make me feel whole again.

I asked her what she wanted when she came home as far as a welcome home party. She was never one for real big groups, so as I predicted, she requested something small with just close family and maybe a few friends. So, to pass that last bit of time, I started planning.

We had about 20 people or so on the guest list, and that was going to be plenty for her. I worked on the menu including an appetizer, entree, salads, desserts, and the extras. For a starter, we were going to have some of her favorite ingredients, cream cheese and bacon, wrapped up into a yummy crescent… just like this recipe from Group Recipes.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Group Recipes.

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Quick Tip: Add some hot sauce to your filling for an little extra heat.

You’re only 2 steps away from eating the yummiest casserole on the planet!

Summer vacation was almost upon us. The kids weren’t even out of school yet and they were asking about having friends come and stay the night. I don’t mind having the extra people around, but it would be nice to finish up the school year before they start asking about what’s going on over the summer. These kids are always going 100 miles a minute it seems like. It’s impossible to keep up sometimes! Of course, I told them that they could and would have friends over all throughout the season so not to worry.

The first week they were over, it didn’t fail… there were a few extra kids that were walking around the house in their pajamas. That meant that I was going to be in charge of feeding all these little people in the morning. It’s so hard when you don’t know what they are going to like.

When I have no clue what to feed those that are hanging around, I usually just turn to this hash brown casserole that I found on Group Recipes. Even with the veggies in there, I never hear any complaints!

Recipe courtesy of Group Recipes. Photo credits go to Meals By Sheri.

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Quick Tip: Green peppers can be used instead of chilies.

I was so looking forward to summer vacation. Something about not having to pack a lunch for three kids every morning sounded pretty good to me. That, and not having to try and get three cranky kids out of bed every morning. I started counting down the days. The closer we got to the end of the school year though, the more events started popping up. Various camps, clubs, and sporting clinics were weasling their way into my relaxing summer. So much for that idea. Well, at least I wasn’t having to get up at the crack of dawn for these kinds of things so I had to stay positive.

The evenings were looking like they were going to be just as busy, if not busier! I decided I wasn’t going to go crazy over all that was happening. I was just going to make sure to do some good planning and organizing.

Part of that included getting easy meals that I could prepare on those nights when we were going to be running in seven different directions. This Johnny Marzetti casserole took first place after I made it once.

Recipe courtesy of NeighborFood. Photo credits go to Wikipedia.

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Quick Tip: Use whatever shaped pasta you have in the pantry.

I can’t even begin to guess how many hot dogs we go through in the summer time. With three kids running around and the grill constantly going, it’s one of my go-tos most days of the week. My husband and I are a bit more adventurous and go for things like pork, chicken, and steak, but the kids are fine with a plain hot dog. One day when I opened the freezer to pull out something for dinner, I was disappointed to see we didn’t have anything to thaw out. I considered going to the grocery store, but a quick glance at the clock told me that wasn’t happening before the kids got home from school.

Instead, I decided that we would just go with the standard hot dog on the grill. I wanted to jazz them up a bit though for me and the hubby. There’s just something about eating a hot dog by itself that disappoints me. I feel like I haven’t really eaten a meal, just a snack. Then, I’m back in the fridge looking for something else later on.

To prevent that from happening, I made these chili mac and cheese dogs from NeighboorFood. They were just what I was looking for. It was like having a complete meal right inside that tasty hot dog bun!

Recipe courtesy of NeighborFood. Photo credits go to Disney Parks.

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Quick Tip: Spring for the expensive hot dogs… you won’t regret it!

We had everything we always needed growing up, and that was plenty to keep us happy. That’s what brought my husband and I together. We both grew up with not a lot of money or possessions, but we were satisfied with that. It was a great upbringing on both ends. After we got married and started growing as a family, we became more and more successful. We were still happy with minimal possessions, but we did want for one thing and that was a camper. We had always tent camped and that was fine, but we wanted to really go all out with our favorite hobby, so we took the plunge.

One of the first trips that we took in it, we did adults only. It was a much more relaxing trip. Not that I don’t love my kiddies to the moon and back, but they can be a lot of work. I had the menu all prepared before we left, because I didn’t want to be stuck cooking the whole time.

I made these breakfast burgers with bourbon bacon jam from NeighborFood one morning and holy cow. They were so good. We polished them off so fast, I wish I would have made more! Next time for sure.

Recipe and photo courtesy of NeighborFood.

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Quick Tip: You can also make these into sliders!

My husband and I were high school sweethearts. We met in the ninth grade and started dating. One of the lucky couples, we have been happily together ever since. My parents didn’t want me dating that young, as most parents don’t, but they saw something special about him. They knew how much I was in love too, so they took a chance. I’m glad they did. Now, we have three kids, a house, a dog, and everything else that we’ve ever dreamed of. Life is good! When we were first dating, we used to go to a little diner that was close to the school. That was the first time that I ever had a reuben sandwich.

My husband was crazy about them and ordered them every time we went. I am someone who likes to explore the menu so I tried all kinds of different things. When I finally got around to his choice, I understood the appeal. We started getting them together each time after that.

Every place I go, I always have to try the reuben if they have it on the menu. You can imagine both of our excitement when I uncovered this little gem of a recipe on NeighborFood. Holy smokes. Who needs to go out to eat when you can make this at home!

Recipe and photo courtesy of NeighborFood.

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Quick Tip: Turkey can be used in place of the corned beef.