September Favorites

Happy Friday!!  I've got a September favorites recap for you today.  

The best parts of this month are:

1. Flag Football has been so fun and SO HOT.  The Midwest and probably where you live have been roasting lately.  We have had to change up practices and have 8am games.  This is how hot it was for our 8am game one Saturday morning.  But we forget it all with some celebration donuts.

2. My little brother joined the 40 club.  We got to celebrate with him!

3. Peanut loves a good backpack snuggle session.

4. Olive got a surprise Fall boo basket delivery from a friend.

5. Peanut on a pumpkin blanket.  We are all ready for cooler weather.

6. We celebrated Kevin's mom's birthday.

7. Fletcher and I love a grocery store run to our favorite store - Schnucks!  We grabbed a few extra things for the week and some skeleton decorations for Halloween for the boys.

8. Pumpkin is the most handsome guy.

10. Dollar tree surprised me with this cute football garland.  It was $1.50/garland and I got three.  It worked perfect for our team - Notre Dame and it was so much cheaper than one I had seen at HomeGoods.  I think that one was smaller and not as cute for $15.  It looks really cute on my mantle.  I think they had pumpkins, mushrooms and football garlands in the Fall section.

11. Peanut is the sweetest alarm clock. He starts purring as soon as he hears your alarm go off.

12. Leo surprised us an lost a tooth at school! I  don't think it was even that wiggly, but he came home with a tiny tooth treasure box.

13. Bookclub at Pangea!  My bookclub met over a delicious dinner.  I always look forward to our monthly dinners.

14. Leo doesn't wantto listen to me telling him to brush his teeth, but he was absolutely listen to the tooth fairy about brushing his teeth.  Go figure!

15. More flag football!  Not quite so hot.  Thank goodness!  This was Leo's best game yet - one touchdown, two pulled flags, he's getting faster!

16. Car hang outs.  My kids and probably all kids love a run through their favorite drive thru with some errands and alone time with mom.  Olive's choice was Chick-Fil-A with errands at Five Below, Target and Sams.  We got caught up on all the things.

17. Did you see my recipe for Twice Baked Potato Bites?  They were so good that I made them twice!

18. We don't do scary Halloween decorations, but Leo loves to look at them in stores.  Once the temps get under 90, we'll get out the pumpkin decorations.

19. When you learn about a new lip product with a friend and then she buys you both matching lipstick to try.  This was pretty.  The color lasted for 24hours, but the texture/dry feeling on your lips might take a minute to get used to.  It never looks dry, but it feels a little dry.

20. Surprise Chick-Fil-A Chicken Minis for your teachers!?  Yes, please!  A sweet student suprised us with these one day this week.  Yum!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We've got a busy one.  See you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals

Twice Baked Potato Bites

I created a delicious recipe over the weekend and couldn't wait to share it with you.  We were having game day appetizers for dinner on Saturday.  We had fried pickles, veggies, chili, party pizzas and I added twice baked potato bites to the menu.

I had everything I needed on hand and they turned out to be the yummiest side dish/appetizer.

You need your favorite kind of potatoes.  I had these baby potatoes.  I baked 22 of them.  It filled a 9x13 pan nicely.  Drizzle them with olive oil and your favorite seasoning (Kinders - The Blend).  Bake at 350 until soft.  I baked mine for about 30 minutes.  Let cool and then cut in half.

Combine sour cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, some Kinders seasoning - measure with your heart - and stir until it is well combined.

Grab a spoon a scoop out the middles of the potato bites.

Add the middles of the potatoes to the cheese mixture and stir until well combined.

Fill the potato shells with a spoon.  Sprinkle on a little more shredded cheddar to make them pretty.

Bake at 350 until the cheese is melty.  Then broil for a couple fo minutes to get everything toasty.

Add some chopped green onions on top and serve.

These twice baked potato bites were a really yummy addition to our game day appetizer plate.  You need a fork to eat them and they are even better reheated.

I can't wait to make them again soon! Enjoy!

Nacho Bar

We had the yummiest nacho bar for dinner last weekend!  It was the perfect game day meal.  We all built our plates of nachos to perfection.  I picked up all of our favorite toppings.  This meal ended up being enough for two dinners for us.

Let me talk you through the ingredients.

Chop onions and sweet peppers up small and saute them.

Make your favorite taco meat combo.

We love Chihuahua cheese and Mateo's salsa from Costco.  My brother introduced me to this delicious cheese and it makes every kind of taco better.

Queso fresco cheese, Pablano street corn dip and we grabbed the Short Cuts pico from Schnucks.

Two kinds of chips and a few taquitos for Leo.

The very best queso is this Rancho's queso from Sams.  It tastes like restaurant queso and is so good!

A variety of taco sauces.

Yum!!  This was one of our favorite dinners!  Every plate looked different and every person was so happy.

You'll have to put a nacho bar on your menu soon!

Appetizers for Dinner

My family loves when we have appetizers for dinner.  I make some homemade and buy some yummy frozen apps.  Everyone loves building their own plates of appetizer yumminess.

Appetizer spread:

Reheated pizza

Homemade pico & chips

Mini Tacos from Sams + toppings

Chips & Queso

Mozzerella sticks

Breadsticks

Fruit & veggies

A few other ideas:
Spinach artichoke dip

Meatballs

Pulled pork sliders

Taquitos

Quesadillas

All of these combos would be delicious!

This would be the perfect menu for game day or fun dinner for your family on a regular night!

What an election night!  Kevin and I stayed up way too late (just like we did in 2016) to enjoy the election highlights.  I'm heading to bed optimistic and so excited for the days ahead.

I put together a USA treat board for our Election Night watch party last night.  The kids were thrilled!

Mild Buffalo Chicken Dip

I have the yummiest appetizer recipe to share with you today!  It would be perfect for a Super Bowl party or any gathering where you need to bring an easy appetizer.  A friend shared her Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe with me and then I made it my own.  We loved it when she made it for us.  Kevin, please skip the net two sentences.

Don't tell Kevin that this recipe contains cream cheese AND ranch dressing because he hates both.  But somehow the combo of flavors tricks him and he loves this stuff :)

Ingredients:

1 block of cream cheese softened

1/2 c ranch dressing

1/2 c Mild Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce

1 10oz can drained shredded white meat chicken

1 c freshly shredded cheese - (I did a mix of pepper jack, sharp cheddar and mozzarella)

1/2 c sliced green onions

Tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients on low in your crock pot.  Stir it all until well combined once it all gets warm in the crock pot.  

You can easily double or triple this recipe if you are making this for a crowd.  My measurements worked well for serving my family.  This dip is delicious right out of the crock pot and it is delicious reheated as leftovers.  I think it would also make a delicious quesadilla.  

I just learned that you could buy Frank's Red Hot Wings sauce in MILD.  I can't handle spicy food so this was such a fun find.  I just assumed all Franks Red Hot sauce was HOT.  It has the best flavor without any heat.  Win win for me.  And maybe some of you!

I'm working on my Super Bowl menu and I think this recipe is a definite!  My family requested chili and I love some potato skins or mozzarella sticks.  Football food is my favorite.

Must Make Appetizers

I really love appetizers and I would put these at the very top of my list.  They're easy to make and so good.  Must makes for sure - Bacon Wrapped Smokies & Baked Potato Sliders.  I made both of them for my family for New Year's Eve and we loved them.  They'd be perfect for any gathering or the upcoming Superbowl.

This is probably the best appetizer I make.

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

The ingredient list is small and they're simple.  People always ask me for the recipe and rave about them when I make them for an event.

Ingredients:

1 pkg of little smokies

1 pkg of thick cut bacon

brown sugar

tooth picks

 

Directions:

Cut entire package of bacon into fourths.  It is easiest to just open the package and cut the whole slab of bacon into fourths at once.  Then wrap each little smokey in bacon and secure it with a toothpick.  Line a 9x13 glass pan with all of the smokies.  Sprinkle brown sugar on top of all of them.  Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes until they crisp up.  I like to check on them about half way through and pour off any liquid.  This really helps them to crisp up.  Let cool and enjoy!

Baked Potato Sliders

I love potatoes in any form.  I also love a good loaded baked potato.  These were easy to make and really easy to eat.  I customized them to work for my family and you can customize them for your crowd.

Ingredients:

6 of Your favorite big potatoes (I used Russet and would like to try red potatoes)

salt/pepper/your favorite seasonings

olive oil

toppings: Sliced green onions, your favorite cheeses (I used grated Parmesan cheese & sharp cheddar), bacon and sour cream

Directions:

Wash your potatoes well and slice them uniformly.  Lay them out on a greased baking sheet.  Top them with olive oil and your favorite seasonings.  Let them bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes.  Check on them half way through and flip them.  Pull them out of the oven when they start to brown and are soft - check with a fork.  Top them with your favorite toppings.  Serve with a side of sour cream.  Yum!

Baked and ready for toppings!

I loaded my potatoes up with every topping.  The kids requested plain to dip in ketchup, just cheese and bacon + green onions.  We all loved them!  I like to buy the squeeze containers of sour cream and it worked perfectly to top each slider with a dab of sour cream.

These are both so good - I hope you have a reason to make them soon!