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This recipe is an all-time favorite at our house!

Aunt Christine loves to experiment with food. Some of her concoctions are really good, like over-the-top good! I saw her in action for a few times already, and when she’s on a roll, we will have a really good dish served to us. However, there are times when she just seems to put everything together without thinking about how it tastes. She once made a casserole out of spaghetti leftovers and blueberry jam. While it smelled okay, it didn’t taste as good.

But we still had to eat it because we’re taught to appreciate everything that’s been served to us. But I have to admit that we save our children from such a situation and just allow them to eat breakfast cereal whenever it happens. We’re sneaky parents, yes. This chicken noodle casserole recipe reminds me of Aunt Christine’s best experiment dishes.

While this is not an unusual dish, it reminds me of those family reunions. Everyone just feels happy and comfortable, even when eating such an unusual dish. It’s true that when you eat a dish with your family, it always tastes a hundred times better. It’s family. Family will always be comfort, security, and fun.

If you want a full copy of this chicken casserole recipe, you can find the list of ingredients and instructions on the next page. Enjoy this dish!

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Quick Tip: You can use shredded chicken that you may have in your freezer, or you can buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and shred it.

You can kiss your old recipe goodbye.

I had a bit of an accident-turned-blessing incident a few nights ago as I was trying this new stew recipe that my friend suggested. It’s a different type of stew, something that I haven’t tried yet before; so I was a bit cautious in making it. Unfortunately, my kids had a fight just as I was stirring it. I had to turn the heat off and settle my kids. When I came back, I was a bit distracted so I poured the cheese meant for my salad, in the stew. It turned out really great.

The sauce thickened (I poured a lot of cheese because we love a lot of cheese in our salads) and gave that nutty flavor on the stew. The recipe is officially on my rotation now, with that little twist. While my husband was eating, he told me he had tasted this stew before. However, my version was a whole lot tastier. He asked me what I put in there and I told him it was cheese!

And he said, “cheese really makes everything taste better, doesn’t it?” And I couldn’t agree more. I think I have mentioned once how I put cheese in everything I eat. Just like this cheesy chicken rice recipe. It is really a super dish that attests to my husband’s statement. It’s a complete meal with everything you love on it including chicken and cheese.

So if you’re a cheese fanatic, you can’t miss this recipe!

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Quick Tip: You can cook the rice the night before and stick it in a fridge.

I should start a talk show and name it home cookin’ show because, with the way I have been talking about hearty meals lately, I should have about a hundred episodes by now. It’s our form of saving grace that ensures us that our family will have a warm good meal even if we are too busy to cook mega-meals. Nothing beats making a hearty casserole for your family because they are easy to make and they taste great on any night of the week.

A couple of nights ago, my husband came home with a bunch of folders in his hands. He came home several times before with this bundle, and I knew what it meant. He brought work home, and that’s not a good sign. Whenever he brings work home, it means he will stay up the whole night for it. It means another sleepless night that he doesn’t deserve with the way he’s working hard. But it’s a job, and a job will always be a job.

To help him relax before diving back into his work, I always make a relaxing bath for him. And then while he’s soaking in the hot tub, I would put the finishing touches on the meal. That night, we had these super awesome beef noodles.

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Quick Tip: Serve this with a plate of green salad and crusty bread.

A hot meal is the perfect cure for a tired body mind.

While I was still working in a corporate office, I love coming home to an apartment filled with an amazing scent coming from the kitchen. That was how I dealt with my busy schedule back then; I relied on my slow cooker. I woke up a few minutes earlier than usual, put everything in my crockpot, and start preparing for the day. Whenever I came home, I didn’t have to worry about dinner at all.

Now that I have a work-from-home job, I rarely go out. I usually just meet with my team about twice a month, and I stay at home for the rest of the days. It’s convenient for me because I could look after our children and take care of them. I also have time to prepare meals for my family. Yes, I do have my busy days, but at least take-out is now out of the equation. I can cook anything in my kitchen because it’s just there, waiting for me to occupy it and make use of it.

Recently, I can feel how my husband is grateful. He comes home to a hot home cooked meal every night and he looks really happy about that. When I asked him about it, all he said was, “it’s like earning a reward after a hard day’s work.” Let your family come home and enjoy home cooked meals like this honey pork steak recipe. It’s full of flavors and tastes so homey that anyone who will eat it will surely feel relaxed and comforted.

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Quick Tip: Using thawed meat is recommended. It is to make sure your meat is cooked to the proper temperature in the center without drying out the outer meat.

My Mom always says that I can go a long way with a basic cake recipe.

A lot of the cakes I learned from her were really the basic ones: butter cake, chiffon cake, upside down cake, and pound cakes. She said I can always give it a makeover with frosting, glaze, or whatever I would love to put on top. But the most important thing should be done first… I need to have the perfect base. And that is the cake itself. I believe her. I always go a long way with a basic cake recipe.

All I have to do whenever I am in need of baking a cake is to think of the frosting or glaze that will go perfectly with it. My family loves my basic cakes. One of their favorites is the basic vanilla cake, which I always pair off with buttercream frosting. I think it’s because of the simplicity of the taste; it doesn’t taste overwhelming.

This vanilla buttermilk cake recipe tastes so simple yet so decadent. You can eat it plain because it tastes great. But you can also eat it with your favorite fruits, ice cream, or frosting. My kids super loved this cake as well as my husband. You can’t go wrong with making this cake, whether you’ll bring this to parties or serve this to friends. Enjoy this cake recipe with the ones you love!

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Quick Tip: You can serve this cake plain, with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, or with your favorite frosting.

One of my friends, Susan, often tells me that I don’t need to think so hard about making meals for the family. A lot of ingredients can be made into something new and delicious, and I will never run out of options. I told her it’s easy for her to say because she’s really a good cook who studied in culinary school. And she told me she was once like me; someone who just learned what she knew in the kitchen from her mother. And I realized how right she was.

We all learned the basics in our home kitchen, and from either our moms or our dads. Mom’s recipes (and Grandma’s) helped me a lot when I became a mother. Because when you started to become a mother, you would adjust, and this was one of those things I had an easy time adjusting.

So Susan told me that I just always need to know what’s inside my fridge, and that’s the most important thing. Because when you’re aware of what’s inside your fridge, it’ll be easy to put together things inside your head. I do that, but it feels more real when it comes from other people.

This chili tortilla bake recipe from Taste of Home makes use of the ingredients you mostly see in your pantry, most especially if you love Tex-Mex flavors. So if you want a copy of this recipe, head on over to the next page!

Photo courtesy of Averie Cooks. Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home.

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Quick Tip: Just in case you don’t have tomato sauce, you can use tomato soup instead.

Almost too pretty to eat!

After my friend discovered how much I love her cookies, she sent me these lavender lemon sable cookies in a pretty blue tin can that housed about fifty or so of these cookies. At first, I didn’t want to eat them yet because well, they looked pretty in that tin can. I wasn’t sure how she managed to assemble them inside without the glaze rubbing off of each other, but they were lined up so well inside that I felt like I would destroy the design if I picked one.

Erm… it wasn’t me who actually started it. It was one of my friend’s sons. She visited me to catch up for a while and I really didn’t have anything to put together in the house.

I remembered I had these and served these to them straight from the tin can. I was kind of praying they wouldn’t want to eat, but well, they couldn’t say no to the delicious cookies. I almost cringed when I saw her son dip his hand inside and picked up a couple with the glaze grazing his hand.

The three of us, including my sons, ended up devouring the entire can because the cookies were truly amazing. Well, just like they say, if you couldn’t stop them, join them!

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Quick Tip: These cookies are perfect for gifts. Just make sure you place them carefully in your chosen containers.