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As kids, we all have our favorite food. Growing up in a family of really good cooks, my favorites varied from family to family. Whenever relatives visited us, they used to bring the food that they cooked the best. I used to love Aunt Beth’s desserts, Aunt Carmen’s casseroles, and of course my Mom’s cooking. Until now, I still think of it that way so my favorites still remained the same. I still ask for Aunt Beth’s pie whenever she called that she would visit. I still request for Aunt Carmen to make me one of her casseroles whenever she comes and visits.

Whenever food was the topic, I couldn’t help but think of Grandma. I have to say sorry to my mother and my aunts if they happen to read this, but Grandma’s still the best. No one could compare to the dishes that she used to make for all of us. She was a bit stern, yes, most especially when it came to food. She always wanted us to eat only meals with the freshest ingredients. When she let us watch her, we always had to keep quiet, listen, and watch attentively. She made the most delicious food. Even her experiments all tasted great. This recipe from Southern Bite reminds me of those times when we fought over who got to taste her dishes first. It’s a meal full of nothing but goodness that will probably remind you a bit of your yesterdays.

Photo and recipe courtesy of the Southern Bite.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: You may require a few more cups of broth. Baking this will cause most of the moisture to absorb, so make sure that you’ve got enough liquid in there. You don’t want dry dressing.

Anyone who cooks for their family, friends, or significant others always tell me that the secret ingredient to any dish is love. It’s not just romantic love or the kind that you feel for friends and family members. It’s the love for food. It’s your desire to make people happy by preparing them dishes that will make them smile. It sounds cheesy and it’s a bit cliché, but I know how true that is. Because no matter how simple are the ingredients that you use in a dish, as long as you put your everything while making it, it will always always taste good.

Just like this dish that Southern Bite shares with us. It has the simplest ingredients. There isn’t even any special method that’s needed to employ just to create this delicious dish. But I made it once for a group of friends and they all loved it. Just the look on their faces told me that my efforts weren’t wasted. They appreciated the dish because I made it for them. It tasted delicious to them because it’s something that I created out of my desire to feed them with something really tasty. Because everyone will always, always deserve a good meal.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Southern Bite.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: Serve with your favorite fruit juice or hot tea.

Last Valentine’s Day, I was told that I would be celebrating it alone. I couldn’t blame my boyfriend because he had to work and I knew he didn’t have a choice. I didn’t like celebrating Valentine’s alone because I would just watch horror movies and I wouldn’t be able to sleep! So I decided to invite my single friends over for a night of fun talk instead. Angel, who happened to be single for just a week came along. She just broke up with her long-time boyfriend last week and she said she needed to distract herself or she’d end up bawling about her broken heart.

She did end up bawling about her broken heart. Out of support, one of our friends made her a blueberry dessert that she loved. The cries started over that. She told our friend it reminded her of the dessert her Mom used to make for her to make her feel better. We watched her cry her heart out, listened to her sobs, and witnessed her devour the whole dessert without feeling sorry that she didn’t leave us any. It had been a Blue Valentine for all of us, but I wished I was able to get a taste of that yummy blueberry dessert.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Southern Bite.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: You can use fresh berries instead. Make a berry filling (just like the ones you use on pies) instead of using preserves from a can or a bottle.

I was cleaning my attic last weekend when I came across what I used to call “memory book”. It was an old one, maybe about ten-years-old. I love doing crafts like that. Instead of just compiling the photos just like a photo album, I love writing the stories. It’s in the stories where the memories that came with the photos are preserved. I have about a dozen new scrapbooks in my study, all of them containing memories with friends and family. This one though belonged to my old archive, which I stored in the attic to make way for new memories.

I came upon one picnic photo that I had with the family years ago. It was a picnic beside a lake near our hometown. It was just us family—my parents, my brother, his wife, my niece, and I. My niece was just about two-years-old. In the photo, my niece’s cheeks were smudged with something gooey and sticky, which I now remembered as cheese. My sister-in-law fed her with a small chunk of Mom’s famous stuffed chicken. She seemed to like it so she snatched the piece and stuffed it in her mouth. Well, I can’t fault her. Mom’s stuffed chicken are the best I’ve ever tasted until now. I remembered that they had to bathe her in the lake just to remove the stickiness all over her, causing my brother to fall head first to the lake. Ah. Good times.

Photo and recipe courtesy of the Southern Bite.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: Serve with your favorite white wine.

Mom loves salad dressings. She loves them so much that she puts them in anything. If I’m addicted to cheese, she’s addicted to them. I swear I saw her use the Thousand Island dressing on bread and with peanut butter. How weird is that? But I guess this is the reason why she is able to come up with a lot of recipes that taste really good—with her experimenting with tastes like this. I remember one time when she used caesar dressing in marinading chicken breasts just because she’s tired of using the usual marinade. It tasted delicious, albeit a bit weirdly at first. It tasted nutty.

This recipe over at Southern Bite reminds me of my Mom’s weird kitchen ideas; those experiments that have gone right. This roasted garlic ranch chicken bake recipe uses ranch dressing to create a really scrumptious meal from chicken and potatoes. The philosophy behind this accidental dish is similar to a dump cake. The ingredients are put together in a dish without the cook doing some kind of mixing. They just all come together in the end, resulting to one perfect dish that everyone will love.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Southern Bite.

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: Perfectly paired with a glass of white wine.

When I was newly married my husband and I received Schwann’s Man deliveries.

We both loved getting frozen treats from this amazing company. Not only could you order all sorts of ice creams and desserts you could also get appetizers and entire meals. One of the things that caught my eye on the menu was these things called “pot stickers.” I had never in my life heard of them before. The name perplexed me because as a young bride I was desperately trying to get things not to stick to the pot lol! Anyway, they looked really good so I decided to order them.When the Schwann’s Man brought them my husband and I decided to make them for dinner. Oh. my. heavens. They were excellent!

After about a year or so, my husband and I decided that we needed to create a better budget for ourselves so the extras had to go. That emant the cancellation of the beloved Schwann’s Man and all of his pot stickers. So, I did what any good wife would do and found a recipe for those yummy little morsels. The first few tries at making pot stickers didn’t go so well, but after about the third or fourth time, I made a batch that looked like they came right off the Chinese buffet. Enjoy!

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: When you lift the lid, stand back because you will get blasted with very hot steam if you are not careful.

When it comes to casseroles, I’m all in.

I find them to be insanely easy to prepare and they are always filled with hearty ingredients. In most cases, casseroles contain all the food groups to some degree so they can easily be a one pot meal. I really like this chicken divan recipe for just that reason. It contains cheese, chicken, and broccoli. You wouldn’t even need to make anything else to go along with it if you didn’t want to. I like to serve some biscuits and applesauce with this meal but that’s because my family must have sides or they lose their minds.

We had a rotisserie chicken dinner the other night and had leftovers so I simply shredded up the chicken and made this casserole. It was so good! And guess, what? Using leftover chicken meat makes this already easy recipe even EASIER to make!

I’ve gotta say, I’m really impressed with this dish. The creamy sauce, tender chicken, and yummy cheese all complement one another to perfection. And let’s not forget about those crisp broccoli florets. Yum! If you haven’t tried making this chicken divan casserole yet then you should tonight for supper 🙂

USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: If you have leftover chicken breast from a previous meal feel free to use it in this casserole.