just kari

I have to share one of the gifts that we got for our housewarming party last year.  My cousin's wife got it for us and she said she knew it was a weird gift and that I may think I will never use it, but once I try it, I will love it!  I finally got it out a couple weeks ago and she was right! There are so many different things you can do with this.  You can make dinner AND dessert with one machine...love!  I believe she said she got it at Dillard's but you can find them on Amazon  or QVC .  I'm pretty sure you can also find them at stores like Wal-Mart and such. Love this chili pepper handle :) Ours is the El Paso Chili Company brand but there are many other brands out there. I probably could have browned it a little more but I was scared I would burn it! We just threw chicken and cheese in ours but the possibilities are endless!!  Here are a couple recipes I found online that I want to try. Spinach and Mushroom Quesadilla Steak...

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!  I had so much fun preparing this post...I got to drink booze and eat cake!   Now, that's what I call lucky!  The hubs and I decided to stay home since we have been under allergy attack all week.  I'm ok with having seasonal allergies...but not EVERY season!!  I'm so excited to share all the goodies we made for our St. Patrick's Night In so let's just dive right in! ♣  Grasshopper Cake  ♣ Ingredients 1 Box White Cake Mix  Ingredients called for on the Back of the Box: egg whites, oil and water 2 1/2 tsp. Mint Extract Green Food Color 1 16 oz. Jar Hot Fudge Topping 1 8 oz. Container Whipped Topping, thawed Creme de Menthe Chocolate Candies, chopped into pieces Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Spray 9x13 cake pan (you also make cupcakes with this) with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Mix cake mix according to the directions on the back of the box. ...

At my sister's house, they like to do a little something called Pancake Sunday. The girls get the strawberries and grapes ready. Addy puts all the small grapes to the side because they are "bad" :) What are some of your family meal traditions??

I have to share this EASY recipe that is a tradition in our family.  Sausage balls are one of my favorite things to take to work when we have a snack day.  They only seem to come around during the holidays though...I really should make them more often. What You Need: 3 1/2 C. Bisquick 1 Package of Shredded American Cheese 1 lb Sausage 1 Small Can of Green Chilis or about 6 Sliced Jalepenos - chopped What You Do: Mix everything together in a big bowl until thoroughly mixed (you may have to add a little bit of water). Bake at 350° for about 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Yumm!!!

A co-worker recently shared this amazingly EASY recipe with me and I decided to test it out this weekend.  The word "easy" doesn't even begin to do this recipe justice.  It's effortless, painless, uncomplicated...you get the idea!  (btw, I just inserted the word easy into Word for laughs and those are the words I came up with...I thought they were more dramatic) What You Need: Roast - I used a chuck roast that I got from my dad (he owns cattle so I'm kinda spoiled with my meat!) That kinda sounded dirty...get your minds out of the gutter and back to the kitchen! 1 Can of Root Beer (I used diet) 1 Bottle of BBQ What You Do: 1.  Place roast in crock pot and pour can of root beer on top.  Note - it will not cover the roast. 2.  Cook on low for about 8-10 hours until roast falls apart. 3.  Drain and shred. 4.  Pour BBQ on top and stir to fully coat meat with sauce. I made mine into sandwiches but you could do so much ...

With the weather starting to cool off, it's time to start adding soup to my weekly menu.  I have to be honest, my heart skipped a beat when I found this recipe!!   What You Need: 2 T. Olive Oil 1 1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage 3 C. Chopped Onions 4 Garlic Cloves, minced 2 tsp. Dried Oregano 1/2 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 2 T. Tomato Paste 1 28-oz. Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes 2 Bay Leaves 6 C. Chicken Stock 8 oz. Lasagna Noodles, broken into bite sized pieces 1/2 C. Finely Chopped Fresh Basil Leaves Salt and Pepper 8 oz. Ricotta Cheese 1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese 2 C. Mozzarella Cheese What You Do: 1.  Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add sausage, breaking into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes.  Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add tomato paste and stir well.  Cook for 3-4 minute...

I had some bananas that I needed to use up so I decided to make some muffins this weekend.  (Random Fact About Me: Banana peels gross me out!). Also, I may have thrown in a chocolate chip or two that the original recipe didn't call for!! What You Need: Muffins 1 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour 1 tsp. Baking Soda 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1/2 tsp. Salt 3 Bananas, mashed 3/4 C. White Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1/3 C. Butter, melted Topping 1/3 C. Packed Brown Sugar 2 T. All-Purpose Flour 1/8 tsp. Ground Cinnamon 1 T. Butter What You Do: 1. Preheat oven to 375° F.  Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. 2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.  Spoon batter into muffin cups. 3. For the topping - I...