Frozen berry soda cobbler

This is super easy! I saw it on Pinterest and tried it out. The first time it went all wrong. I used Mountain Dew because that's what I had on hand, but it didn't fizz at all so the cake mix didn't cook at all. Lame. But this time it worked out, and here is how...

One package of frozen blackberries
One can of Sierra Mist Natural
One package of dry cake mix

I emptied the berries into a baking dish, poured the dry cake mix on top as evenly as possible, and then did the same with the can of soda.

I baked it at 350 degrees for about an hour. I just kept checking and took it out when the whole top was golden brown.

It was delicious! My 5 year old and husband put whipped cream on theirs but I'm not a fan of whipped cream so I didn't.

Cajun baked chicken stuffed with pepper jack cheese and bacon

I originally saw this on Pinterest and added it to my meal plan for this week. My fiancé and I loved it. My 5 year old thought it was too spicy, so next time I'll season her piece a bit differently.

You can find the original recipe at this link - http://cuckooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/cajun-chicken-with-pepper-jack-cheese.html?m=1 - or you can check out mine below (with very subtle changes).

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
extra light olive oil
2.5 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1.5 tbsp Italian breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper, to taste
Lots of toothpicks


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Flatten the chicken as much as possible.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.

Combine the Cajun seasoning and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.

Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach mixture onto each chicken breast. Roll or fold each chicken breast tightly and fasten the seams with several toothpicks. I used about 5 toothpicks in each. Be sure to count how many total toothpicks were used.

Brush each chicken breast with the olive oil. Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning mixture evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken (optional).

Place the chicken seam-side down onto a baking sheet with any open side facing up. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove the toothpicks before serving. Count to make sure you have removed every last toothpick.

I paired this with garlic bread and some veggies (zucchini, bell pepper, onion, etc) in a marinara sauce.

Pizza bake

Mmm! Quick, easy, delicious, and filling! This was a hit with my fiancé (he had 3 helpings) and my daughter (she went back for seconds). And me of course! Next time I will probably add another pizza-suited veggie or two, though my fiancé doesn't like olives or chunks of tomato so I'm not sure what!

Ingredients
About 2.5 cups Bisquick
About 1.25 cups water
About 2.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (14 oz) jar of pizza sauce
1 (8 oz) package of pepperoni
Half cup of sliced bell pepper
Half cup of sliced white mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking dish (approximately 13x9).

Mix the Bisquick and water until soft dough forms. Drop HALF of the dough by spoonfuls onto bottom of baking dish. The bottom of the dish will not be completely covered.

Drizzle HALF of the pizza sauce over the dough and dish.

Lay HALF of the pepperoni evenly over the dish. Sprinkle all of the vegetables on top of that.

Distribute a cup of the mozzarella evenly over the dish.

Repeat the above steps with remaining ingredients.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

Homemade chili mac with bacon

Simple and filling dish - though not too healthy LOL

Two boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese cooked as directed. While that's cooking, bake some bacon (my thick cut was at 400 degrees for maybe 17 minutes). After the mac'n'cheese is all made, add one can of chili (with or without beans - this time was without). Then cut up the slightly cooled bacon (after blotting off any grease) and mix it all together.

I add grated cheese when serving.

Reese's cookie brownies

Another idea from Pinterest :)

I make a package of chocolate chip cookies and then pressed some dough into greased cupcake tins.

Then put a Reese's cup into each cupcake tin.

After that I made a package of brownies and put a bit on the top of each Reese's.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 18 minutes and let them cool down a lot before removing from the pan and eating. They're yummy! Or as my fiancé said "they're bomb" LOL.

Chili, waffle fries, and hamburgers

A while back we had hamburgers and waffle fries... My pregnant self thought that combining the two and adding chili (with beans) would be scrumptious so I tried it, and I was right!

Literally just baked some frozen waffle cut French fries and cooked some hamburgers, tossed the burger on a bun, added chili, added some of the waffle fries, topped it with more chili, and added the top bun. Mmm!

Bacon, avocado, and Colby jack paninis

This is another one inspired by Pinterest. I saw a pin of bacon, avocado, grilled cheese sandwiches which sounded heavenly. So I got some avocados, bacon, and Colby jack cheese. I sliced up the avocado and fried the back, and made thick slices of the cheese then threw them together on some sourdough bread (no condiments) and grilled them in our panini press. Super yummy!

Next time I might try more of an avocado spread so there's definitely avocado in each bite but otherwise they were delicious.

Mexican style hotdogs

I got this idea from a local restaurant that we used to have here in town. It was a hotdog place that had a really good "southwest" hotdog. For dinner one night last week, we made our own version...

I wrapped each hotdog in a slice of bacon (got that idea online) and then fried them in a pan. After tossing that into a bun, I added homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded Mexican blend cheese, and topped it with crumbled tortilla chips. My fiancé also added green onions to his. Then on the side we just did super basic nachos and corn. Mmm.

Alfredo chicken (crockpot)

I saw a pin on Pinterest for two ingredient crockpot meals and got the idea for this. It was delicious! Could maybe use a little bit more in the spices category, but it was also great as is.

4 frozen chicken breasts,
6 red potatoes quartered,
Ground black pepper,
Minced onion,
Garlic flavored seasoning salt,
Bertolli Alfredo sauce,
Crockpot on high for 6 hours.

I'd probably do low if the breasts were thawed, but I hadn't preplanned. And the spices were just eyeballed. I added them once (as pictured) and then again once more after 3 or 4 hours (I stirred up the sauce a little bit and then added more). Also, to get all the sauce from the jar, I added some milk and shook it up, then added that in initially - a trick I learned from my mom (with red sauces I just use water).

Oreo cupcakes

I saw this idea on Pinterest a little while ago, and decided to try it out. It's super simple! After laying out your cupcake papers, put one Oreo cookie (I used the double stuffed kind) in each paper and then add your cupcake mix (I used a boxed mix). Bake as normal and then if course wait until cooled to frost them.

I would love to do a chocolate cake mix and get a peanut butter frosting - that just sounds amazing to me.