Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Last week I tried a new crockpot soup recipe.  It's from Today's Mama and I found it via 365 Days of Slow Cooking.  I paired the soup with homemade Honey Oatmeal Bread and it was a delicious meal.  I'm looking forward to making it often this winter!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
Honey Oatmeal Bread

Alpha Chi Brunch

A few weeks ago I hosted an Alpha Chi Alum group at my home for a morning meeting.  I loved the treats that I served and wanted to share in case you need an easy brunch menu that can be (mostly) done ahead of time.

Easy Monkey Bread Breakfast Ring

Note: In the future, I will probably tear my biscuits in half before putting them in the pan because putting them in there whole means you get a huge piece when you get one to put on your plate.

When I made it: Morning of because it's EASY to throw together

Poppyseed Bread

Note: I'm not sure if I just read the recipe wrong or what but I used the disposable bread pans and since they were small I split the recipe up into six of them.  That still gave me fantastic bread but gave me very short slices.  I would recommend using those pans but filling each one up before moving on to the next pan.

When I made it: Day before and warmed in 300 degree oven before serving

Fiber One Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Note: These are fantastic and one of my go-to muffins for weekend mornings.  The mix made almost 50 mini muffins though so make sure you need enough before you start making mini ones instead of regular sized ones!

When I made them: Day before and served them room temperature (could also reheat)

I also had two friends bring items and they brought a bowl of sliced fruit with dip and a breakfast casserole.  I served lemonade (for the kids), orange juice, and water.

James' First Birthday Dinner Menu

I often have a hard time coming up with complete menu's.  So I thought I'd share our menu for James' birthday dinner.  We had around 20 family members and ended up with just enough food.  Next time I'll make more because I would much rather have too much than not enough!

James' First Birthday Dinner

Two recipes of Crock Pot Barbecue

(with buns -- both slider size and regular size)
(I accidentally got beef instead of pork but Jason claimed that it tasted fine.  I would make sure that you get close to 5 lb roasts if possible, because mine were closer to 4 and we didn't have quite enough.)

Large bowl of cut fruit

One recipe of Broccoli Salad

One recipe of Mrs. Kelly's Baked Beans

One recipe of Corn Casserole

(So, so, so good! Should have had at least two recipes of this!)

One recipe of Slim Potato Casserole

(this was a little bland but at the same time too peppery -- it could have used a lot more cheese!)

One recipe of Arkansas Green Beans

(Jason said that these were the best green beans that he's ever had.  I would have to agree.  They were out of this world!)

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Cheesy Chicken Crescents

I have seen recipes that involved using crescent rolls to make a ring and so when I was searching for dinner a few weeks ago I thought that I would take that idea and modify it to what I had on hand.  What resulted was a meal that I loved and every single member of our family ate!  Plus, it was somewhat healthy!  I hope it's a hit with your family too!

Cheesy Chicken Crescents
Serves 4-6

2 tubes of Crescent Rolls
1 package of pre-cooked chicken
1/2 can of Organic Soybeans
2 handfuls of Spinach, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can of Cream of Cheddar Soup
1 cup of Cheddar Cheese

1. Mix chicken, soybeans, spinach, and soup.
2. Lay crescent roll triangles out overlapping to create a sunburst/ring shape.
3. Spoon chicken mixture onto large part of crescent rolls.
4. Wrap crescent roll dough around chicken mixture.
5. Top with cheddar cheese.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

For two people with such a sweet tooth this recipe has become our kryptonite.  It is astonishingly easy and AMAZING! If you haven't seen this on Pinterest yet then you need to go and repine it and make it the next chance you get.  So good and so easy!

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

1 box Yellow or White Cake Mix
2 Eggs, beaten
5 T melted Butter
2 cups Chocolate Chips (or M and M's or anything!)

Mix together, put in greased pan, bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes!

*Recipe via Lazy Mom.  She has great recipes! Go check her out!

James' Christening Menu

On Sunday we had James' Christening and afterwards our family came over to our home to enjoy lunch.  Mom and I put together and meal and I was very happy with the way it turned out and the ease that it took to prepare everything.  We fed almost 25 people with this so I wanted to share what we had made in case you are in need of an easy menu for a lot of people!

Slow Cooker BBQ (2 recipes, cooked on Low for 13 hours) with Buns

Slow Cooker Baked Beans (recipe below)

Strawberry Spinach Salad (substituted Strawberry's for Apple's)

Cut Fruit

The Pioneer Woman's Fancy Macaroni

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Cake

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Baked Beans

Ketchup

Yellow Mustard

Chopped Onions

Bacon

Brown Sugar

Worcestershire Sauce

1. Mix all together in a slow cooker and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8.

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

I haven't been doing Recipe Wednesday lately because the recipes that I've been cooking are mostly from eMeals and I don't feel like it would be right to share those recipes online.  But last weekend my parents had us over for a Memorial Day cookout and in addition to the rest of the wonderful meal they made a grilled salad that was amazing!  I took some pictures before we served it and wanted to share the recipe because it truly was maybe one of the best salads that I've ever had!

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

Yields 6 servings

1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon Coarse salt

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for Romaine

Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper

1/3 cup Shaved Red Onion

3 hearts Romain, halved lengthwise, left attached at the stem end

15 mint leaves, sliced

4 ounces Feta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1. In a nonreactive bowl, toss tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let sit 15 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add vinaigrette to tomatoes, stir in red onion and refrigerate.

2. Heat a charcoal or gas grille to medium-high.  Brush cut sides of lettuce with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place lettuce on grille, cut side down, and allow to char lightly, 3 minutes per side.  Remove lettuce to a platter.

3. Fold mint and feta into tomato mixture.  Spoon tomato mixture over romaine and drizzle some of the marinade over the dish.  Serve immediately.

*Recipe via iVillage