All Natural Orange Cleaner

I had heard about this and wanted to try it but always threw my orange peels out before I remembered to do it! We have a bag of mini oranges we bought last week so I decided now was the time! I peeled the oranges and put them into individual snack baggies, took the peels and placed them in a canning jar, then filled the jar with vinegar. In 2 weeks I will have an all natural, non-toxic cleaner for my home! So excited, I can't wait to start using it!

White Chicken Enchiladas (My 2012 Christmas Enchiladas)

We don't do a "traditional" Christmas dinner here. We decided a few years ago that we wanted to eat something we really enjoyed on Christmas and since we are a military family, many years it has just been the 4 of us for holiday meals. Enchiladas are one of our favorite meals and I have a few recipes I like to go between. This year I decided to try a new one that I had found on Pinterest. I was extremely happy with this recipe and will be adding it to our list of go-to enchiladas!

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (add spices of your choice when cooking your chicken)

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Oven Baked Tacos

So, I've been on a really big Pinterest kick for quite some time now and I don't see it coming to an end any time soon! I love trying new recipes, I try to make at least one new thing per week. That's how I've always been since my husband and I got married 10 years ago and Pinterest in just feeding my addiction! A lot of my recipes I'll be posting are ones I have tried from Pinterest. I don't know protocol for giving props to the original poster so I'm just gonna say Pinterest is where I got it from and now here it is on my blog! Boom, done!


I will usually always try any recipe that has to do with Mexican food. I don't know if it's from growing up in Southern California or just my love for carb filled, cheesy goodness but I just love it. I had to try this recipe out because it looked amazing and is a fairly easy recipe! I was right on both counts and this is something I will be making again!

Oven Baked Taco Shells

Working with 6 tortillas at a time, wrap in a barely damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on High until steamed, about 30 seconds. Lay the tortillas on a clean work surface and coat both sides with cooking spray. Then carefully drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. Bake at 375°F until crispy, 7 to 10 minutes.

These turned out better than any premade taco shell I have EVER eaten! I will be making all of my hard taco shells from now on!

Baked Tacos

• 2 lbs ground beef (I prefer turkey)
• 1 can refried beans (low fat to make it slightly easier on the thighs)
• 15 ounce tomato sauce
• 1 pkg taco seasoning or 2-3 Tablespoons of your own concoction
• 2 cups shredded cheese 
• 18-20 hard taco shells 
• Your favorite taco toppings (Guacamole is always a must for us)

Brown ground beef. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.
Spoon mixture into taco shells.
Place filled shells into a sprayed 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

Done. Easy. Amazing. You're welcome.

Knock-off Frappuccino

I found this recipe and decided to try it out since I am pretty much a coffee addict. It tastes just like a certain brand name that comes in a glass bottle! ;) Change it up with different flavored coffee and creamers!

10 cups of coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamer of your preference

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

This is one of my favorite fall recipes, I have to say it's even better than pumpkin pie!

Ingredients

1 box (18 oz. size) Yellow Cake Mix, Divided
1 whole Egg, Lightly Beaten
½ cups Butter, Melted
1 cup Sugar, Divided
2 teaspoons Cinnamon, Divided
½ teaspoons Ginger
¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Canned Pumpkin
⅔ cups Evaporated Milk
2 whole Eggs
¼ cups Cold Butter, Diced

Directions

This recipe has three parts, a crust, a filling and a topping. Before you start anything, preheat your oven to 350F, and get out a 13×9 pan.

For the crust:
Reserve 1 cup of the cake mix for the topping. Pour remaining cake mix into a bowl, then stir in the one beaten egg and the 1/2 cup of melted butter until the mixture is well combined. Press evenly into the 13×9 pan and set aside.

For the filling:
Combine 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, the ginger, cloves, salt, pumpkin, evaporated milk and 2 eggs together. Using a whisk, stir until smooth. Pour over the crust.

For the topping:
Stir together the 1 cup of reserved cake mix, and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut in the 1/4 cup of butter dice using a pastry blender or a fork. Sprinkle evenly over the filling.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow to cool completely, cut into bars, and serve! I like to top mine with whipped cream!

Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole

Whipped sweet potatoes or yams are one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes! I used canned yams this year to make it just a bit easier on myself since this was my first year doing Thanksgiving and there was a total of 11 people here! I doubled the recipe so I could make sure that I'd have plenty of leftovers!

Ingredients

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peel and cubed (or the canned equivalent)

2 tablespoons orange juice

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter, cubed

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

In a large saucepan cook sweet potatoes in salted water over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, or until done. Drain, and add orange juice, brown sugar, nutmeg and butter. Whip until smooth. Spread into a medium size casserole dish and top with marshmallows.

Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until marshmallows are golden brown.

Crockpot Mac & Cheese

On Thanksgiving day, I found my daughter sneaking out of the kitchen with a mouth full of food. I told her to take me in and show me what she was eating since her mouth was too full to tell me. I'm expecting her to point out the pumpkin squares or the apple dumplings but she walks to the crockpot and points to the mac & cheese! She asked if she could have more and I told her it was time for dessert and she said she would rather have the mac & cheese. She is a mac & cheese addict and says this is her favorite mac & cheese ever. This coming from the child that returned her mac & cheese to the kitchen at a very popular diner in California stating that it wasn't good enough for her, lol. Yeah, I have my hands full!

I am a firm believer that if you have a crockpot recipe, you shouldn't have to cook something before putting it into the crockpot! That takes the convenience out of it and requires me to do actual work, lol! I had done an internet search for crockpot mac & cheese and this was one of the very few recipes I found in which you didn't have to pre-cook the noodles. I've made this twice now and have to say it is my favorite mac & cheese recipe, crockpot or not!

Ingredients

Cooking oil spray

2 1/2 cups milk

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions

Spray the pot of the slow cooker or if using a liner bag, spray the bag well.  In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporated milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot.  Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.  

Turn slow cooker on low and cook 3-4 hours, or until the macaroni is tender. I stir it every hour and then every 20-30 minutes the last hour it is cooking so it doesn't start to crisp around the sides. Do not let it cook over 4 hours. Serve immediately.