Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It is so easy, delicious, and creamy. This is not a healthy dish. I don't even want to know the calorie count. But, it is something we have every so often with some steamed veggies.


Pour 2 cans of golden cream of mushroom soup into a crock pot. Add one diced onion, 1/2 cup of water, and 2-3 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.

Add 2 lbs. of cubed stew meat and mix to coat.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Cut up one 8 oz. block of cream cheese. Add to the crock pot and turn it on high for 30 minutes. Stir to help get the lumps out.

Serve the meat mixture over noodles and enjoy the yumminess!

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff


2 lbs. cubed stew meat


2 cans of golden cream of mushroom soup


1 diced onion


2-3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce


1/2 cup water


8 oz. cream cheese


egg noodles


In crock pot, add soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and water. Mix well. Add meat and cook on low for 8 hours. Cube the cream cheese and add to the crock pot. Turn setting to high and cook for 30 more minutes. Stir to get the lumps out. Serve over egg noodles.

Cranberry Chicken

When my mom first told me about this recipe, I thought there wa no way I was making this for my family. The ingredients just sounded like a weird combination. However, I made it, my family tasted it, and we fell in love with it. It has become my 5 year old son's favorite dish (it asks for it on his birthday) and he is the pickiest eater I know. I've made it for friends recovering form surgery or childbirth and they've also loved it. There's only 4 ingredients: chicken, french dressing, whole berry cranberry, and dry onion soup mix.

Layer chicken in a baking dish. I use a 2 lb. package of chicken tenderloins.

Mix together one can of whole berry cranberry sauce, one packet of dry onion soup mix, and half a bottle of french dressing.

Pour the sauce over all of the chicken.

Cover te dish with foil and bakefor 1 hour at 350 degrees. Uncover and test for doneness. Pour some sauce over the chicken to coat and bake 15-20 more minutes.

I like to serve it over steamed rice and add some veggies. Trust me, you'll love this.

Creamy Mac N Cheese

How do you get this elbow macaroni...

...and all of this shredded cheddar cheese...

...to become this creamy mac n cheese dish?

I used a Pioneer Woman recipe. She is by far my favorite TV cook. I have never tried one of her recipes that I didn't like. She posts wonderful pictures of each step of the recipe. The first time I made this recipe, I baked the pasta and got the crispy topping. The second time, I stopped once the pasta was creamy and skipped the baking. It's whatever you prefer. You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Comfort Food

When you think of comfort food, what comes to mind? Warm foods, filled tummies, happy faces. Comfort foods make you feel good. The foods can be creamy and filling. You actually look forward to the leftovers.

Next week, I'll start 5 days of Comfort Foods. I've received so many great comments from friends that have tried some of the recipes I posted. I'm so glad I can offer something new for your family meals. The recipes that will be featured can be varied to suit your families tastes and diets. I always balance out our meals with plenty of delicious veggies.

Here's a sneak peek of one of the recipes:

Feeling hungry yet?

Classic Cheesecake

When there's a special day like Valentine's Day, you always need a yummy, homemade dessert. For our family's fun-filled day, I made just a classic cheesecake. I looked up Philadelphia Cream Cheese (because that's the best) and found this simple recipe.

Mix 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar, and 1/3 cup melted butter. Down the baking aisle at your grocery store, you'll find containers of already crushed graham cracker crumbs. I used that instead of spending the time crushing whole graham crackers and hoping I have the correct amount of crumbs. A container of crumbs is so much easier. Unless you have some pent up aggression to get out, then go ahead and crush away.

Press firmly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Honestly, this is the first time I've ever used a springform pan. I've always been afraid that I wouldn't do it right and my cheesecake would fall apart. However, it was so much easier than I thought!!! Now I can't wait to use it again.

Beat 4 packages of softened cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

Add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing until just blended.

Pour over the crust.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 55 minutes. Loosen cake from rim pan. Cool completely before removing the rim. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

Enjoy with your favorite toppings, such as cherries...

...or drizzle with chocolate and caramel sauce.

So simple, so easy, why would you buy another premade dessert again?

Strawberry Fudge

I saw this yummy picture on Pinterest and decided to try it. It was so easy and very tasty. I made a batch that I passed out to friends. I'm going to make another batch for my kids teachers.

Source: cookiesandcups.com via Desiree on Pinterest

You only need only 2 basic ingredients: white chocolate chips and strawberry icing.

Melt the white chocolate chips and stir to get out all the lumps. Then, mix in the icing.

Pour into a 9 x 9 inch pan. Please ignore my very old and very stained pan! Cookiesandcups.com has more details on how to make the fudge very pretty.

Let it firm up in the refrigerator and it's ready to eat!

My variations: It was a little soft still so I stuck it in the freezer to harden even more. It's very sweet (since you're eating pure sugar!) so I may play around with the recipe. Next time I'll try less icing and/or adding a dash of vanilla extract. I also cut the fudge into squares and placed them in pretty Valentine's boxes. Remember to place a square of wax paper in between the fudge squares so they don't stick together.

Linking up here:

Valentine's Wreath

I enjoy making new wreaths and wanted something for Valentine's. After being inspired by the many Valentine's wreaths that I've seen, I came up with my own design. You just need a wreath, gray yarn, felt, gemstones, and hot glue. You probably already have most of these things at home.

Foam wreaths can be a little expensive. My friend Janelle gave me the best tip ever about foam wreaths. Go to Home Depot, buy the foam tubing for less than $1 and you can make any size wreath you want. Genius!!!! I cut the tube in half and that makes a really nice size wreath. That also means that each tube can make 2 wreaths!!!

To help create the circle, you can stick a wire hanger in the tube and then bend. However, I don't use hangers and still am able to make a nice circle. Just tape the ends together.

Now get a skein of gray yarn and tightly wrap it around the entire wreath. This does take some time so I caught up on my DVR shows while wrapping the wreath. Hot glue the end of the yarn to the back of the wreath.

I decided to add 3 felt flowers to the wreath in different colors: pink, white, and red. Actually, after I got the yarn wrapped, I just couldn't decide what I wanted to add to it. After trying different things, I finally decided on the flowers. Plus, I didn't have to go buy anything new for it.
I first learned how to make felt flowers from my friend Samantha's blog, Crafty Texas Girls. I've made them into pins and hair accesories and knew they would look perfect on the wreath. I made just a slight variation on these flowers and used 4 circles per flower. I just traced around a jar that was the size I wanted.

The circles don't have to be exactly perfect because you will fold them and won't notice the unevenness.

Fold each circle in half, then fold in half again. I like to add a dab of hot glue just inside the point to keep the 'petals' closed.

Glue the four petals on the wreath, making sure all the points were in the center of the flower. I added a red gemstone to the middle of each flower.

Cut a small piece of ribbon or yarn and glue to the back of the wreath to hang the wreath.

Hang the wreath and admire your work!

Linking up here:

Link Parties

I've decided to start trying some Link Parties. Pick a favorite blog that is having a Link Party, post a link to your blog, and instantly all the readers from that blog can see your ideas. I was hesitant at first and not sure how to do it, but my friend Samantha from Crafty Texas Girls graciously told me how.

She's also part of the Cowgirl Up! Link Party with three other bloggers. When you link to one of those blogs during the Link Party, it automatically shows up on the other blogs as well. Great idea!

So, if you have a blog, link up. If you're looking for some great ideas, click on one of the buttons below. I guarantee you'll be inspired!

Hanging Hearts

I saw these super cute hearts on Pinterest. I knew it would be so easy to make and I just made a couple variations.

Source: thepeanutpaintshop.blogspot.com via Desiree on Pinterest

First, I bought 4 wooden hearts for $.99 at Michael's and painted them. I chose just red and white because that flows better with our house. Then, I used my Cricut machine and cut out our initials. I simply Mod Podged them onto the hearts.

I got some coordinating ribbon...

...and hot glued the ribbon to the back of the hearts.

I tied a bow and glued the ends to the top heart. That's it! It was so easy, but took some time. The time consuming part was letting the paint dry and then letting the Mod Podge dry. But I love the way it looks in my house and now I have a new piece of Valentine's decor.

Linking at Debbiedoo's.

Valentine's Decor

About a week ago I asked my hubby to get out my tote with my Valentine's decor. The same plastic tote also contains my Easter and Fourth of July decorations. When I finally got all my Valentine's decorations out I realized I only had 3 decorations. Three?!?! Immediately I got on Pinterest and found some cute and simple ideas that I'll be making this weekend. For now, I'll show you what I do have.

This is my formal dining table. I used the same white tablecloth I use during Christmas. The 3 red hurricane vases are also used at Christmas. I love the red on the white.

These dishes were given to us from my parents on our 10 year anniversary a couple years ago. I'm thinking of changing the gold chargers to red chargers. What do you think?

Of course, the Valentine's mobile is my favorite because it was made last year by my son and daughter. We found the hearts online, printed them on cardstock, cut and glue to yarn.

I found this wooden sign years ago at Hobby Lobby. Just a fun decoration.

I don't even remember where I got this sign, but I liked that it was two-sided.

Those are my few, simple decorations. I really want to add to the decor, but not go crazy. What does your house look like for the upcoming holiday?