"Bacon makes the world go round."

Atleast, according to Kyle. *eye roll*

Tonight, I tried something completely new. As in, I've never made it before. Along with the sidedish.

Bacon wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with onion garlic cream cheese and potatoes au gratin. Let me just get my pat on the back up in here now. *pats self on back*

So, the potatoes were fantastic. But then I tasted the chicken. Let's just say, I didn't want the potatoes after that.

God bless my slow cooker.

Selena, my step-daughter helped me out tonight. She was so proud afterwards when dinner was "goooood!"

Oh good God. Oh yeah.

I freaking love my slow cooker.

I love that you can make almost anything with a slow cooker. That thing is my bitch. Heh. 

>.<

The slow cooker is definitely one of my must-haves in the kitchen. And pulled pork is one of the first meals I've made in a slow cooker. I still make it a LOT.

GAH I HATE WATING!

These Are Probably The Worst Pies In..Jackson?

While it's perhaps not the healthiest meal ever, it's still super delicious and great comfort food. The best part of chicken pot pie is that you can almost add anything to it. Any veggies you want. Yeah. GREAT way to get the kids to eat vegetables..unless you're Myriah. Then you pick out the green beans. 

Every.

Single.

One.

*sigh* This kid. She's something else. But I love her.

And now, onto the main event.

Mixing the inside goodness. *drools*

Ready for the oven. I'm WAY too impatient for this.

Tater Tots Are Nice And Round.

I first heard of tater tot casserole watching a documentary on The Duggars (who currently have the show 19 Kids And Counting..and props to them for being able to do it all). It was one of their older episodes, and they were talking about how tater tot casserole was one of their favorite foods. 

I loved just about all the ingredients they were putting into it, so I HAD to try and make it. I've been making it for a few years now, but ofcourse I had to tweak it here and there to try and make it fit me and my family best. I think I finally found the best for us!

Nomnom! Ready to be baked!

This is really great for the kids, too. What kid doesn't love tater tots?!

Beef: It's what's for dinner.

Kyle works swing shifts, so there's a fair amount of night shifts that I'm only making dinner for me and the kids. There's days he's off so I'm making dinner for everyone. Then, there's his day shift, when I make dinner for everyone, but alone. Needless to say, trying to cook ANYTHING with Gabe is tough. That kid runs to food like moths to a flame. 

I've been trying to get it through to him about the whole "HOT" thing, but he doesn't care. He wants some food, he gets some food and that's the end of it. But lately, he's been just standing between the kitchen and dining room, thank God.

Tonight, I opted for an easy choice seeing as I had to cook with Gabe at my legs. I went with some good ol' beef stroganoff. Marie Callander's ain't got shit on me.

Cooking egg noodles.

Making the sauce. Looks icky, but it's SUPER delicious.

This is something requested by a ton of kids in my family, if not my kids, then my nieces and nephews.

As shepherd's watched their flocks..er..food..by night?

I don't understand why this is called Shepherd's Pie. I probably never will. But I will always understand the deliciousness of this. Not to mention, the comfort aspect. It always seems to have a calming effect on me. Why? I'll never know. But it's a great way to get the kids (and the husband) to eat some veggies. There's nothing wrong with that!

Myriah's notorious for picking out EVERY green bean, saying "I don't LIKE this one, mommy. I don't LIKE this one." She won't do that for this. She eats it up QUICK. Hell, Selena takes 3 servings..but she's been eating 3 servings a LOT lately. Helloooooo growth spurt.

First layer...looks like puke. I'm sorry, but it does. It almost makes me not want to eat it. But it smells good. Oh, the dilemma.

Second layer, mashed potatoes! Yum! These are my cheesy garlic variety. *mouth waters*

Ready to be baked! Yay!

Italians Do It Right

I'm a huge chicken eater. I could eat chicken for every meal, every day, and not get sick of it. I get it from my daddy. ;)

I love how versatile chicken is. You can pair it with just about anything and get a whole new taste from just one main ingredient. Who can't love a food like that?!

Tonight, I made some Chicken Parmesan. Yummm..Italians sure know how to cook!

Pan frying before baking.

Mmmm I could eat it just like this!

Covered in sauce and mozzarella, ready to bake and eat! Yum!