Fruity Pebble Parfaits

    Every summer our church sends a group of youth to the Warren W. Willis United Methodist Camp! I went for a week every summer throughout my childhood. It's such an experience! This year I helped out by cooking a little brunch for them before they left! These little parfaits are so cute and definitely delicious!

Fruity Pebbles Parfait

Ingredients:

- Fruity Pebbles

- Frozen blueberries

- Vanilla Yogurt

     So simple! Layer everything and enjoy!!!

So many amazing memories here!!

Fairy Bite Shortbread Cookies

    With such a whimsical name, these tiny shortbread cookies are so much fun! They'd be an adorable snack for little kids. I made these over the weekend for a baby's first birthday party! They're so super easy and so cute!

Fairy Bite Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, at room temperature 

- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 2 tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add in the flour and salt. Slowly mix until completely combined. Fold in the sprinkles. Line an 8x8 baking pan with plastic wrap, leaving about an inch overhang. Press the dough into the bottom of the baking pan evenly. Remove compacted dough, using the plastic wrap overhang. You will be left with an 8x8 square of dough. Slice the dough into 1/2 inch squares. Gently place each square 1/2 inch apart onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until bottoms become slightly brown. Let cool completely and enjoy. (If you try to remove them from the cookies sheet before they've cooled, they will crumble.)

Cheesy Kielbasa Pasta

    After a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen. This kielbasa pasta dish is so easy and you can probably make it in less than 30 minutes!

Cheesy Kielbasa Pasta

Ingredients: 

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1 pound of smoked kielbasa, sliced into 1/4 inch medallions

- 1 and 1/2 cups of diced onion

- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

- 2 cups of chicken broth

- 1 (10 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (not drained)

- 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

- salt and pepper to taste

- 1 large bay leaf

- 8 ounces of dry pasta

- 1 (8 ounce) block of cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar), shredded

- thinly sliced scallions to garnish

    Over medium high heat, add the olive oil to a 4 quart saute pan. Fry the kielbasa for a few minutes, until it starts to lightly brown. Add in the onions and saute until they have softened. Add in the garlic and saute until fragrant (barely a minute). Next, add the chicken broth, tomatoes, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Let come to a simmer. Add in the pasta and let cook for about 15 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaf, and stir in 1/2 of the cheese. Top with the remaining cheese and scallions. Serve and enjoy! 

This cheese makes the recipe!!

The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I've eaten a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my days. If you love them chewy, these are the best! My younger brother has been in Afghanistan for about a month now. I really didn't know what to expect when he told me he was leaving. I definitely didn't think I'd be able to talk to him while he was away! I really love hearing from him, he sends me snapchats and scares the crap out of me sometimes. I told my mom that I wanted to send him some homemade goodies in one of the care packages that she sends him, I think these cookies are going to take a trip next month! That's the great thing about this recipe, you freeze the dough. That way, you can just take out what you'd like to bake and save the rest. You're probably going to want to bake and eat them all though!

The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of butter, softened

- 1/2 cup of shortening

- 1 and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 4 and 1/3 cup of all purpose flour

- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

- 2 teaspoons of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 (12 ounce) bag of chocolate chips

     In a stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer) beat together the butter, shortening, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mix until combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Once combined, fold in the chocolate chips. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form the cookies (you may need to refrigerate the dough for about an hour before forming the cookies). Place the formed cookies in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Once the cookies have frozen, remove the amount that you'd like to bake and place them on a cookie sheet that you've sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Make sure they are at least 3 inches apart. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. Hint: they are perfect right out of the oven! 

Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Pork Poin

    For Sunday dinner this week we grilled up a delicious pork loin. I love fresh herbs and when my mom told me she had a big rosemary plant growing in our front garden, I had to utilize it! It has almost a lemony hint to it, it's so good. We threw it on the grill and it came out great! You could definitely bake it in the oven or even mount it in a rotisserie though!

Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin

Ingredients:

- 1 pork loin (1 1/2- 2 pounds)

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced

- 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

- salt and pepper to taste

      Cover the pork loin with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. Let marinade for at least an hour. Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or grill over high heat for about 20 minutes. Make sure the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Once thoroughly cooked, let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving. 

Mom's massive rosemary plant!

Lemon Butter Cookies

    This recipe is so simple! It's basically a sugar cookie recipe with a little pop of lemon! I started my new job at Lockheed Martin last week, it's pretty tough. Getting up at 3 in the morning to make it to work by 4:30. It's definitely going to take some getting used to. I really like the people that I work with though, and I'm working in a kitchen. So, I am definitely in my element. I can't wait to try out new recipes with my new friends! I brought my lemon cookies in this morning so they could taste test them for me, I got two thumbs up!

Lemon Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of butter at room temperature

- 2/3 cup of sugar

- 1 egg

- the zest of one lemon (about 2 teaspoons)

- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

- 2 1/2 cups of flour

- confectioners sugar for dusting

     Beat together the butter and sugar. Then, mix in the egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Slowly incorporate in the flour. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Remove from the refrigerator and roll dough into 1- 1 1/2 inch balls. Place on the prepared cookies sheet, about two inches apart. Lightly press down the cookies with the back of a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms start to become a golden brown. Remove from the oven and dust with confectioners sugar. 

Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondies

    I had some friends over for dinner yesterday and tried a few new recipes out on their palates! For the main course, I made meatballs. But, not just any meatballs, Salisbury Steak Meatballs! I served them over mashed potatoes and they were delish! I paired them with some cabbage steaks and glazed carrots! For dessert, these Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondies! My uncle picked up a huge package of cherries while he was visiting over the weekend, I came upon this recipe and knew I had to make them!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, melted

- 1 cup of packed light brown sugar

- 1 large egg

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 1 cup of flour

- a pinch of salt

- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

- 1 cup of fresh cherries, pitted, and chopped into fourths

     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking pan with tin foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter and brown sugar until combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Fold in the flour and salt until just combined. Lightly fold in the chocolate and cherries. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Wait and let them cool for an hour after baking before slicing. 

Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breast

    I don't normally dabble with split chicken breasts, there are a lot of little rib bones in there. But, this recipe was really good... like, really good. I had never heard of rubbing baking powder on the chicken before you bake it, it works though. I threw some sweet potato rounds drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper in the oven with them for about 10-15 minutes. So good! I like to leave the skin on them so it gets nice and crispy!

Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

- 2 large split chicken breasts, skin-on, cut into thirds

- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

- 1/2 teaspoon on celery salt

- 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper 

- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

     Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and place a baking rack on top, spray both with non-stick spray. Combine all of the spices and the baking powder in a small bowl and then sprinkle on all surfaces of the chicken. Place the chicken pieces on the baking rack with the thinner pieces towards the middle. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

Bacon Ranch Spinach Pinwheels

    I've been playing around with the idea of tortilla pinwheels. I tried the buffalo chicken pinwheel a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't impressed. For our fourth of July shindig I actually made two different pinwheels. One was a cheddar, black olive, and green onion version that was pretty good. I really liked these ranch and bacon spinach pinwheels though!

Bacon Ranch Spinach Pinwheels

Ingredients:

- 1 (10 ounce) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

- 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, half of a package

- 1/2 cup of sour cream

- 1/2 of an envelope of ranch dip mix

- 3 bacon strips, cooked and chopped (about 1/4 cup)

- 3 green onions, chopped

- 3 or 4 (10 inch) flour tortillas

    In a medium sized bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch mix. Stir in the green onions, bacon, and spinach. Spread the mixture onto the tortillas, roll them up, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour. Remove from refrigerator and slice into pinwheels. Serve chilled.

Easy Corn Dip

    I made this recipe for our last camping trip a couple of weeks ago and I made it again yesterday for our little fourth of July cook-out. It's the perfect recipe for a party because it makes a lot of dip. I'm not a big fan of really spicy foods, so it's not too spicy. If you do like spicy foods, try adding some finely diced jalapeno in the mix!

Easy Corn Dip

Ingredients:

- 3 (15 ounce) cans of whole kernel corn, drained well

- 1 (10 ounce) can of Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies), drained

- 1 (7 ounce) can of chopped green chilies, drained

- 5 green onions, diced

- 1 cup of sour cream

- 3/4 cup of mayonnaise

- 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

- salt and pepper to taste

    Mix all of the ingredients together and chill for an hour or two before serving with tortilla chips or fritos scoops.