I have a theory that if you pickle it I will eat it. So far it hasn't failed me. But every time I have a  pickle I think "it's delicious but I would change..." So finally I decided to do that and created my own pickling recipe. Now I may be a touch biased, but these are the most amazing pickles ever. I used this recipe to pickle cucumbers, carrots, and asparagus and all three are simply divine. Don't believe me? Try it yourself! 

The Most Amazing Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 cups water
• 1 clove peeled garlic per jar
• 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Combine all ingredients and stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Chop veggies to fit in 7 small canning jars. Fill the jars with the pickle liquid and refrigerate. Let sit 2 days before eating.

When I first lived in Japan I was great at meal planning. I had a little calendar and a menu and a grocery list that was easy to navigate. When I got pregnant that all changed. For 9 long months I couldn't even think about food without wanting to throw it up already. Meal planning went out the window and I fell into survival mode. If something sounded good (which almost never happened) I ate it. Because that was all I could eat. Shortly after E was born I got back to life a little bit, but we travelled and moved and it was difficult to plan anything. Well we're back. Mostly because I'm sick of having to pick something for dinner at 5:30 every night. And then realize that I don't have everything to make whatever it is I want. At the same time, I hate inflexible plans or over scheduling. So we came up with a compromise. We plan 10 meals for 2 weeks, leaving 2 days a week leftovers (which we always have!) or eating out. We take our list of meals for the 2 weeks, do our grocery shopping, and hang it up on the kitchen cupboard or the fridge where Aaron can see it. Then we pick what we want the day before so I can do any prep I need to and still have plenty of time to get dinner on the table. I love our system! It makes me so much happier not to have to dread or avoid dinner time. Plus then I have an excuse to try all the recipes I pin and never get around to. It's like a win-win-win.

A few of the recipes we've tried the last two weeks are fried chicken, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, citrus chicken, enchilada soup, tortilla chips, parmesan chicken, and buffalo chicken dip. I honestly enjoyed every single one of those new recipes. I also made beef & broccoli (my own made up recipe), spaghetti with meatballs (pretty standard stuff there), and a few other things. Basically we had a great variety of food and I didn't have to stress. If you want to check out tried and true recipes (and occasionally crafts) follow my Real Life Pins board! I leave little comments on what I thought of the recipes too.

So what about you? Do you meal plan? I'm always on the lookout for some great new recipes!

xo Sue

I love to bake. LOVE. All my husband has to do is hint that he'd like something sweet and I'm off making cookies or cupcakes. It's a 2-3 times a week occurrence around here. Last week I was in a bread sort of mood so of course I made two different types. The first was this simple homemade bread. Fran posted the pictures/recipe and I knew immediately that I'd be making bread that day. And it tastes even better than it looks. The other was this uh-maze-ing banana bread that Shelly shared last Christmas. It's the best banana bread recipe I've ever made and now I don't bother with others. I stick with my tried-and-true recipe from my sister. 

Do you have any go-to recipes for yummy breads? I'd love if you shared them! I'm always on the look out for something simple and tasty. 

xo Sue

One of my favorite things to do is cook. If you come to my house I will feed you. It's a fact. If I don't feed you its because you're only here about five minutes and even then I can probably sneak some food in there. Since I like to feed people I'm also a collector of quick and easy recipes. Recipes I can whip up in 10 minutes or recipes that are made with food I usually have on hand are my favorites. This one falls into the first category and usually the second as well. Recipes that fall into both? They're the best recipes in the world. It also helps that it's delicious.

Easy Chicken Salad

• 4-5 chicken breasts, cooked
• 1 package bacon, cooked
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2-3 handfuls grapes, halved
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 5-6 shakes Tabasco buffalo sauce

In a small bowl, combine mayo, sugar, lemon juice, pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and Tabasco. In a large bowl, mix chicken, bacon, celery, and grapes. Pour dressing over it and toss to evenly coat. Serve on croissants. Makes 8-10 sandwiches.

This recipe is one of those that's to your own taste when it comes to the proportions. This is why I've listed 2-3 handfuls of grapes and 4-5 chicken breasts. If you want more or less you should definitely try it that way! This is the best ratio I've found so far. It's the perfect mix of crunchy, sweet, and salty. Enjoy! 

xo Sue

Growing up I have these vivid memories of my mama canning food in the kitchen. Peaches, pears, jams and jellies, and always salsa. A few days ago she harvested her garden and came back with just enough tomatoes to make her delicious salsa. It wasn't enough to can (because lets be honest, that stuff goes quickly!) but it was enough to make the recipe I remember from years ago and that was good enough for me. The way my mom cooks is very entertaining and as I get older I find I cook the same way. I used to be a very strict recipe follower. Now I look at a recipe and change it to fit my tastes as I go. So thanks for that mom! But really, this recipe should be followed. It's perfect.

Mama's Homemade Salsa

• 12 large tomatoes
• 3 large bell peppers
• 1 large onion
• 2-6 jalapeño peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

Blanche, skin, and core the tomatoes. Chop all vegetables into large pieces (see above). Using a food processor, dice the vegetables up into chunky pieces. Add everything to a large pot and cook on med/high heat for 1-2 hours until you've achieved the consistency you want. Store in the fridge or can it to make it last longer! 

Also, if your name is Everly, this is how you help when your mom and grandma make salsa. Enjoy!

xo Sue

This is the tastiest broccoli salad I've ever had, and I'm not just saying that because I'm sharing it on my blog! Every time I try a different broccoli salad I find myself comparing it to this one and it never quite measures up. For the last 7 years this has been my go-to salad for parties and dinners (don't fix what's not broken, right?). It's so yum and I always get asked for the recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 3 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 lb mushrooms
• 1 bunch of broccoli, cut up
• 1/2 purple onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked crispy & chopped 

Mix mayo, sugar, vinegar, & balsamic. Chill for 3 hours. Marinate mushrooms in dressing 1 hour, chilled. Combine dressing mix, broccoli, onion, cheese, & bacon. Chill until serving. You can double or triple this recipe easily for bigger groups.

xo Sue

One of my favorite things in the morning is a hot breakfast. It just gets me going right away. The downside to that is having to wake up and make that hot breakfast. The solution? This easy breakfast casserole. It cooks in the crock pot while I sleep and is absolutely delicious. I originally found the recipe here but modified it a little bit to fit my taste. Because lets be honest, everything is better with sausage or bacon added.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

• 5 cups frozen hashbrowns
• 1 package cooked bacon or sausage
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients into your crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Wake up to a delicious, hot breakfast. The pictures below are after it was done cooking, the top was before I stirred it all up and the bottom was after. It looks like mush. It tastes amazing. Aaron requests this all the time now.

xo Sue

So Christmas is coming quickly and I am thinking of possible presents for friends and neighbors. I want to make something easy and simple that others will hopefully enjoy! Every year my mom makes plates of Christmas cookies to take to friends and I would like to start something like that this year. I was thinking of what I could make and one of my go-to recipes came to mind. I love banana bread and it is very simple to make! I think there will be a slice or two on my Christmas treat plates this year! As we get closer to Christmas I will post more recipes of goodies that I will include on my gift plates :)

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Butter

2 Eggs

1 tsp Lemon or Lime juice

4-5 mashed ripe Bananas

2 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Directions:

In a mixing bowl cream your sugar, butter, eggs and lemon juice. 

Add bananas and mix well.

Sift in flour and baking soda. Beat until blended.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

When it is golden brown and firm in the middle it is ready to come out. You will be able to see very easily if the middle isn't cooked through. Let it cool for half an hour before you remove it from the pan. 

Place on a cutting board and slice it up. You can add it to a plate of goodies for neighbors or keep it all for yourself! 

Here is a helpful tip: I like to make this every month or so and slice it up. I keep out a few slices to eat for the next couple of days but I will put the rest in sandwich bags and throw them in the freezer. I found that if I put a whole loaf in the freezer I never pull it out... so I place them in individual bags so I can pull one out at night and then enjoy it for breakfast the next morning! 

I hope you enjoy banana bread as much as I do!!!!

xo Shelly

I really do love to cook. What I don't love is deciding what to cook (or cleaning up after myself but it's part of life). So last week I was making my grocery list and having a hard time actually putting anything on it. I opened up my Pinterest food board and told Aaron to pick two things he wanted me to make. I didn't have to decide and I still got to cook delicious food. Win-win. 

My husband is from Kansas City, Missouri and they take their BBQ very seriously there. He spends the entire summer grilling for me and I love it. When winter strikes I rarely get home cooked burgers, steaks, or ribs and I definitely miss it. So when Aaron said he wanted me to make him ribs I was a little nervous. He's very picky about his BBQ (and now so am I)! But I found this recipe for crock pot BBQ ribs and decided I'd at least give it a try. Now I'm so glad I did because we definitely have a new favorite in our home.

Crock Pot BBQ Ribs

• 2.5 lbs ribs (approx)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite kind)

Mix paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, and s&p together in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over your ribs, covering both sides. 

Put the ribs in your slow cooker by propping them up against the sides, thicker side down, meat side against the wall. Pour BBQ sauce all over the ribs. Cover and cook for 6-7 hours on low. Line a baking sheet with foil and move the ribs from the slow cooker to the baking sheet, bone side up. 

Strain all the remaining juice from the slow cooker into a small sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and simmer to reduce the sauce, about 15 minutes. Turn on your oven broiler. Brush the ribs with your sauce and broil about 4 minutes. Flip the ribs over, brush them (generously!) with sauce and broil for 8-10 more minutes. 

Serve any remaining sauce on the side with the ribs. And enjoy! Seriously, these pictures do not do the ribs justice (sorry, they're from my iPhone!). If there is one recipe from our blog that you ever try this should be it. Aaron is already asking me to make it again.

xo Sue

Today I was feeling a little creative and wanted to do something fun for dinner. I have made pizza plenty of times and thought that would be a good option since I didn't have much time to make something fancy. So... I pulled up my trusty Pinterest boards and found the idea of making a Calzone! I pulled out my Momma´s pizza dough recipe, threw on a few ingredients and put it in to bake. It was quick and easy. Best of all it tasted delicious! Hope you enjoy!

Yummy Calzone!

Becky's Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Toppings:

Marinara sauce

Cheese

Pepperoni

(Anything you really want!)

1 egg

Parmesan cheese

Italian Herb mix

Directions:

1- Mix water, yeast, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Let it rise for a few minutes.

2- Add flour and salt. Mix for 3-5 minutes. Roll out dough into a rectangular shape (mine is not the best example...!) Preheat your oven to 425 at this point. Transfer to a baking sheet with a little bit of corn meal on it for easy removal- trust me! I forgot this step and regretted it later when I had to after I had made it all pretty!!!

3- Add your sauce down the middle length-wise. Sprinkle cheese on top of that.

4- Place pepperoni along the top of cheese. (Add any other ingredients that you would like in your Calzone) I put a little extra cheese I had shredded on top of the pepperoni. 

5- Cut slits into the sides of your dough along both sides of the toppings. Try to make the same number of slits on both sides and keep them around the same width as much as your can.

6- Start folding the slices one by one, weaving them together. 

7- Tuck the last slice under the bottom when you get to the end.

8- This is when I had to transfer it... but hopefully you did that before it looked this pretty! Mine stretched all funny once I moved it... Anyways, I will remember next time! Back to the recipe... Whip the egg in a bowl and brush it over the top of your Calzone. (My egg mixture got a little messy... sorry!)

9- Sprinkle a good amount of Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning on top.

10- Bake on 425 for 15 minutes. Pull it out when the crust is looking brown and yummy!

11- Let it set for a few minutes so the sauce doesn't spill all over the place. Slice it up and enjoy!!!

Though eleven steps that I have listed may seem like a lot, it really isn't. I just broke it down really simply so I could add all the pictures that I took! It took me less than 15 minutes to put it all together and another 15 to bake. While it was baking I cleaned up my kitchen and had only a few small dishes left once we finished dinner. It worked out really well for a busy night!! Thanks for reading!

xo Shelly

Okay, I don't know how many of you readers enjoy Thai food but my husband and I love it! Especially when you involve peanuts in the mix. I found this recipe on Pinterest... (big surprise) but have changed it up a little. I read the reviews before I attempted it and most people said they altered it. The first time I tried it, I stuck fairly close to the original recipe and it was okay, not fabulous. Well, tonight was my second attempt and I changed it up quite a bit and LOVED IT!!! This was what I was looking for the first time around so I am glad I gave it another chance. So.... here is my wonderful (if I do say so myself!) version of:

Thai Peanut Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

2 medium onions, cut into wedges

3 medium carrots, sliced

1 small red pepper, cut into strips

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken, cut into small chunks

1 cup chicken broth

4 Tbsp chunky (or creamy) peanut butter

1/2 tsp finely shredded lime peel

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

4 tsp red curry paste

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup frozen peas (I left it out this time because Aaron doesn't like them much)

chopped peanuts (optional)

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker add onions, carrots, and peppers.

2. Top veggies with chicken.

3. In a medium bowl, mix broth, peanut butter, lime peel, lime juice, soy sauce, tapioca, ginger, curry paste, and garlic well. Pour over the chicken and veggies. Cook for 5-6 hours.

4. Ten minutes before serving stir in the coconut milk (and peas if desired). Cover for 5 minutes more. Serve over rice and sprinkle peanuts on top.

Though there are quite a few ingredients in this dish it is worth it! Most of them save well until the next time you use them. My family has really enjoyed this tasty dinner and I hope that you will like it too! Let me know how your experience goes :)

xo Shelly

I found this recipe on Twitter with a title like- What to do with all that Halloween candy! This yummy treat sure put my leftover Reese's to work!

Reese's Peanut Butter Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

8 Reese's peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper- butter paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt- stir until moistened. Transfer batter to the pan and smooth out. Arrange peanut butter cups on top of the dough.

3. Bake 45-50 minutes until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Lift out parchment paper and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

My family really enjoyed this little treat! It is very rich so you only need one square to be happy. I was very impressed with this recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!

xo Shelly

Hello to all of Sue's blogging friends! I will admit I laughed internally when Sue asked me to blog with her... If any of you have checked out my family blog you will see that I am just beginning this blogging thing and still have a lot to learn. My first thoughts were 'what on earth will I write about?" Luckily Sue said I can post about my Pinterest attempts which I am enjoying!

That aside, this first recipe was given to me by my neighbor out of an old cookbook. I made this last night for a small ward holiday party and it was a huge success for most people. My husband told me it tastes just like pumpkin pie (which he is not a huge fan of anyways) so I will leave it for you to decide for yourselves. I enjoyed this seasonal dessert very much!

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients: 

Crust- 

1 package yellow cake mix (save out 1 cup)

1 egg

1/2 cup melted and cooled butter

Middle-

1 (1 lb 13 oz) can pumpkin

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

Topping-

1 cup cake mix

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, softened

Directions:

Crust- Combine and press in bottom of greased 9x13 inch pan.

Middle- Mix ingredients and pour over top of crust.

Topping- On top of middle, crumble up topping mixture. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Check middle with a toothpick. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Yields 12 large servings.

Enjoy!

xo Shelly