Ramen Chicken Noodle Soup

I am not that big of a fan of chicken noodle soup, I never make it because in the end I have to force myself to eat it because I've never had one that was good enough for me to want seconds. I saw this recipe for an Asian chicken noodle soup and I was quite intrigued and so I decided to make it and I was truly impressed. This was a delicious soup and it was so easy to make this flavorful broth especially since I just happen to have all these Asian ingredients in my pantry. This will definitely become a winter staple in our household. 

S'mores Cookies

I definitely have an obsession with s'mores desserts and so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try and that was the best idea ever. These are so delicious and they taste like a real s'more without all the messiness.

Fall Cheese Ball

I made this festive cheese ball for Halloween and it tasted great. It is a Mexican flavored cheese ball that is quite impressive with looks and taste, yet really easy to make. I think this turned out awesome  (even with my mini pepper stem garnish) and it really is great for any festivity during the fall season. 

Caesar Salad Dressing/Wrap

I never realized how easy it is to make homemade Caesar Salad dressing until I found this recipe on Pinterest. It truly is so easy and delicious when made at home. Also, I have learned that I usually tend to have all the necessary ingredients on hand at all times and so it is really easy to whip up for a meal, especially for these Caesar Salad wraps I have grown fond of making.

Homemade Cookies On A Whim

 

 We love to bake cookies on a whim and so I used to prepare cookie dough and then freeze it until I realized how difficult it was to spoon out cookies from frozen cookie dough. I then came up with a better idea to prep my own portioned sized frozen cookie dough so that I can easily prep and cook just the amount of cookies I want without having to wait for the dough to defrost to scoop. I have started to do this and it really is a game changer. Once I prepare the dough, I use a cookie scoop to scoop out perfect portion sizes and set them on a plate/pan to stick in the freezer to allow them to freeze individually. Once each portion is frozen, usually it takes 4 hours minimum (I usually just leave them overnight) then you can combine all the frozen portioned cookies together in a ziplock bag. It is important to freeze them separated first so that they don't all stick together. Then when you are ready to bake the cookies, place the desired amount of cookies on a cookie sheet while the oven is preheating. Sometimes depending on how long it takes for your oven to preheat, it could take an extra one or two minutes in baking time to reach the correct consistency. Enjoy!!!

Step One: Prep Cookie Dough

Step Two: Scoop Individual Sized Cookies for Freezing

Step Three: Combine The Frozen Cookie Dough in One Freezer Safe Bag

Step Four: Store Cookies in Freezer Until Ready to Bake

Step Five: Place Cookies on Cookie Sheet While Oven Preheats, Bake

Step Six: Enjoy!!! Homemade Cookies On A Whim

Reuben Quesadilla

Reuben Quesadilla

Well yesterday was St. Patty's day and so of course we made some corned beef and cabbage for dinner even though neither of us is Irish, but it's a good excuse for some good eats. I was especially excited because Costco was selling some organic corned beef with no added nitrates, etc., which is great for preggo me. The corned beef and cabbage was delicious yesterday but tonight's Reuben Quesadillas were truly the best. I highly recommend that everyone give this a try with their leftover corned beef, so delicious!

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Corned beef, prepared and cooked, shredded
Saurkraut or cooked cabbage, shredded
White Cheddar cheese, shredded or Swiss cheese
Thousand Island dressing (I made my own and added some horseradish for a kick)

Open Face Reuben Quesadilla

Reuben Quesadilla

Beef and Noodle Bake

 I found a recipe on Pinterest for this interesting casserole dish, I had looked up the ingredients but when it came time to prepare the dish, the link I had pinned no longer worked. So, instead I prepared the dish how I would have thought it to be prepped. This was very easy to make and pretty delicious. As Nick put it, the flavors are unique but in a good way. Just a different taste than the dishes we usually prepare. It was a nice change of pace. 

DIY Nursery Alphabet

For my recent baby shower, I found this wonderful idea on Pinterest to have guests decorate a letter from the alphabet to put up in the nursery. It seemed like a good idea and a fun activity to have available. I also figured we might not get enough participants but that’s okay because then I could just decorate the remaining letters myself. Well to my surprise, this activity was a huge hit. Not only did we run out of letters (because some people did more than one each), but the craft table was busy the entire shower. We had a co-ed shower and so even more surprising was how many men participated in this activity. There was a moment where I was worried we would have too many pink letters, but my girlfriend who helped with hosting, stepped in and removed the pink paints after she saw there were 5 letters in pink already (great job Meggie!!!). Another complete shocker was how well it all came together, not a single letter was the same color as the one next to it. This seriously is my most favorite thing in our little girl’s nursery now and we will treasure it forever. I just love the fact that every letter was crafted by one of our loved ones just for her, it is just so wonderful. 

Home Improvements

 

As my avid followers (mom and dad) already know, Nick and I relocated to Michigan over the summer, bought a house, started new jobs, and found out we were expecting. It has been quite the whirlwind getting our lives settled in Michigan. So far so good though. I promised I would share some pictures of our improvements we’ve made on our house and so I bring you this Home Improvements post. Later I will post our Before and After furniture projects, etc.

Oreo Pops

Oreo Pops

 Our families recently held a baby shower for us back at home in California. I wanted to do my part in helping by adding to the party favor aspect of the shower, a candy bar. I found this easy recipe to make these impressive yet easy Oreo pops. I decided to give it a go. The process was quite easy, just time consuming. It took me 3-4 hours one evening to completely make around 40 Oreo pops including wrapping them up ready to fly cross country. The best part about these is their WOW factor, they are so impressive looking and ridiculously tasty. I will do this again the next time duty calls.