Frito Chili Pie

My Walking Taco Casserole recipe is the most popular recipe I've posted. A few of you have commented saying you call it Frito Chili pie so of course I went searching to see what the difference is. Besides the obvious chili there really isn't much difference. Both dishes are very tasty.

Corn Chips

Chili

Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover bottom of baking dish with chips. Pour chili on top. Cover with cheese and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

I didn't include any measurements because I just used as much as I wanted based on the size of my dish. 

Marley & Mason's Birthday Party

Two weekends ago we had the kids birthday party. Since Marley's birthday is only 16 days before Mason's we had them together this year. I'm not sure if we'll continue having them together but it worked out well this year. Along with Marley and Mason we also celebrated my nieces' birthdays too. Mallarie turned 11 last October and Maliyah turns 8 in May.

We did a Barnyard theme for the party. I'm sure the girls weren't thrilled about that, but it was Mason's first birthday so he pulled rank this one time.

To eat we had burger and hot dogs. We also had macaroni salad, potato salad, little pigs in a blanket, and chips. I also got some little ducky candy, cow tail candy, gummy worms and some mints that were in fancy wrappers that went with the farm theme.

My cousin Nikki made each kid their own cake in the flavor of their choice. Maliyah had sprinkles, Mallarie had strawberry, Marley had oreo, and Mason had banana.  We also had ice cream. 

He loved his cake. He ate at least half of it! 

Probably the best part of the party was the bounce house we rented for the day. Since it was a farm theme we were originally going to rent a pony, but Marley said she would rather have a bounce house. I think the kids had way more fun in the bounce house. Oh who am I kidding, the adults were in there too. I heard my 30 year old brother say he wants a bounce house at his next birthday party!

And of course there were lots of great presents. 

I can't believe Marley is 5 and Mason is 1 already. 

This little housey went to market

On April 18th we officially put our house up for sale. We bought the house back in 2008. It's a cute little house, but we've outgrown it and we're wanting more land and less neighbors.  

I posted back in October of 2011 some pictures of the house when we bought it and during our renovation process. Now that it's mostly all done it's a little weird honestly. I'm used to always having some project going on. 

Half of the living room

View from the front door.

Half of the kitchen. 

The kitchen

Dining room

Our room. 

Downstairs bathroom

Office space at the top of the stairs

Marley and Mason's room. 

Hallway to bathroom and attic.

and upstairs bathroom. 

This house has come a long way since we bought it and we hope someone will enjoy it as much as we have!!

Mushroom Chicken Pasta

We went grocery shopping and Marley picked out some mushrooms. I hate mushrooms with a passion!  Then when dinner time came she was begging me to make her mushrooms for dinner. I just kind of winged it but she's been talking about this mushroom chicken stuff ever since. She even said she wanted to eat it everyday. 

Chicken breasts

mushrooms

pasta

olive oil

Pour olive oil into pan. Add chicken and cook thoroughly until no longer pink.

Mix in mushrooms and cook a little longer. I also added some more olive oil just to make sure everything was coated. 

While doing all of the above also cook your pasta.  Drain pasta and return to pan. Mix in chicken and mushrooms and stir until everything is nicely coated with the olive oil. 

That's it. It was pretty good. Mike poured some red spaghetti sauce on his. If we would of had alfredo sauce I would of had that on mine, but it was pretty tasty just how it was (Marley ate my mushrooms) 

Meatballs & Veggies

My mom used to make this when we were younger. I hated it. My brother still hates it. I like it now though and so does Mike. It's really easy to make and relatively inexpensive too. Also, you can either use store bought meatballs or make your own.

meatballs

1 package julienne potatoes

2 tbsp butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 1/3 cups milk

1 bag frozen mixed veggies

Mix potatoes, sauce mix, butter, water, milk and veggies in a pan. Heat to boiling. Stir frequently. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes. Place meatballs on top. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Makes 4-6 servings.

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes & Hot Dogs

This is a recipe I had in my recipe box. I love hot dogs so this was right up my alley.

5.25 oz box au gratin potatoes

5 oz box scalloped potatoes

hot dogs

Mix potatoes as instructed on box.  Combine the two potatoes in the crock pot. 

Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Mix in hot dogs and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

Pretty simple and very delicious!  I wasn't sure if you were supposed to cook the potatoes first because it didn't say that on my recipe card first, I did cook one box and the other I didn't and I couldn't tell a difference in taste so I would say you don't have to. Also for next time I would cut up my hot dogs before putting them into the crock pot.  

Salsa Chicken Tacos

I've had this recipe on my monthly menu for a while, but I kept skipping over it for some reason. I'm glad I finally decided to make it. It was so good. In the original recipe she serves it over rice. I thought since it was more of a mexican-ish meal that I would put it on a taco shell. Good choice!

1 pound chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 packet taco seasoning

1 cup salsa

1 cup sour cream

Place chicken, salsa, cream of chicken, and taco seasoning in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Shred chicken and return to crock pot. Cook a while longer until warm. 

We all liked it. Even Marley who has become a very picky eater lately. 

Pizza Tot Casserole

I found this recipe for pizza tot casserole here.  Sounds interesting doesn't it?!

1lb. ground beef
1 jar pizza sauce
10-15 slices pepperoni, chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 bag frozen tator tots

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brown ground beef and drain grease. Mix in pizza sauce and pepperoni. Heat for a few minutes. 

Pour meat mixture into bottom of 9x13 dish. Cover with mozzarella and tater tots. 

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until tots are crispy. 

Mini Monkey Bread

This is another recipe I've been seeing a lot on Pinterest. I made these the same night I made the zuppa toscana. Great combo!

2 (7.5 oz) cans buttermilk biscuits

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tbsp garlic powder

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray. Cut biscuits into four pieces and place in bowl. Mix butter, garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese together and pour over biscuit pieces.  Place 6-7 pieces in each muffin cup. Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

Crock pot Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana is one of the best soups you can get. If you don't know what it is, it's the potato soup from Olive Garden!!  When I found a recipe to make it in the crock pot I knew I had to make it asap!

1 lb. Italian sausage 

2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in small pieces

1 large onion , chopped

¼ c. bacon bit (optional)

2 garlic cloves , minced

16 oz. can chicken broth

4 cups water

2 c. kale or 2 c. swiss chard , chopped

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Brown your sausage. If there's any grease drain that off. 

Place sausage, chicken broth, water, onions, potatoes, and garlic in slow cooker. Add your bacon now too if you want bacon in yours.

Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or until potatoes are soft.  

Add kale and whipping cream. Mix and serve. 

SO GOOD!! I actually doubled the recipe and it filled my crock pot to the top. We each had a bowl and it barely made a dent so I have lots in the freezer. It didn't taste exactly like Olive Garden's, but it was still really good.