Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole

This creamy & cheesy Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole requires only five simple ingredients to make & can be on your dinner table in under an hour...

At least once a month, I whip up a pot of my Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner. It is so much better than most of that stuff that comes out of the can or the carton, and it also happens to be one of my daughter's favorite dinners that I make. 

My recipe makes a generous batch of this homemade goodness. And because of this, we often get tired of enjoying the leftovers before they are all gone. 

My solution? I transform some of that leftover chicken noodle soup into a creamy, cheesy, & comforting casserole perfect for busy weeknights! :) 

This easy to make Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole requires only five simple ingredients to make & can be on your dinner table in under an hour...

Easy Chicken Puttanesca Penne

You only need 30 minutes & 5 simple ingredients to whip up this family-pleasing Easy Chicken Puttanesca Sauce on a busy weeknight...

This recipe was created in partnership with Barilla, Walmart, & No Kid Hungry. All opinions & thoughts expressed below are 100% my own.

Is anyone else's head spinning from the fact that back to school is just a few short weeks away? And for some of you all, the first day of school has already come and gone! (<<My mind is still blown over that one.) 

While I am definitely looking forward to reclaiming my 6 hours of kid-free time on the weekdays, I am also a little sad that summer break is almost over. We had all these grand plans for this summer, but a few things (like that promised weekend camping trip in a tent) didn't get crossed off the family checklist this time around. That seems to happen just about every summer, right?

But now I am getting ready to switch gears from a summer break bucket list to all of those checklists that come with the beginning of a new school year. The school supply list, checking off all that required paperwork that has been signed in and turned in for kindergarten registration, shopping for the necessary back to school clothes, dorm room essentials, and last but certainly not least- weeknight meal planning. 

Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Dipping Sauce {+ a P.F. Chang's Date Night-In}

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of P.F. Chang’s Home Menu for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Although I try to meal plan almost every week, there always seem to be at least a few evenings each month when I don't have a dinner plan in place. Or I forgot to defrost meat for what I did have planned. 

Or what I did have on the meal plan for that evening isn't appealing to me that day for some reason. Or by the time 6:00 rolls around, I am out of steam for the day & just want something easy to make. 

For all of the above reasons, I try to have a few easy & quick dinner solutions tucked away inside my freezer. Meals that can be quickly defrosted or cooked or baked and that require minimal prep on my part. 

Recently I discovered P.F. Chang’s Home Menu items in the freezer aisle of my local grocery store (available in your grocer's freezer aisle nationwide), and I am smitten, folks. They now have a permanent place in my freezer as one of my new favorite quick meal solutions.

The other day I picked up the P.F. Chang's Home Menu Orange Chicken and their Chang's Cream Cheese Wontons. I decided to whip up a quick flavorful dipping sauce for the wontons. Golden honey and bold sriracha sauce come together in this delicious & quick Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Dipping Sauce. And though I call this a dipping sauce, it is also fabulous poured over plain rice... ;)

Family Dinner-In with HERDEZ® Frozen Bowls & Mockagaritas

Thank you to the makers of HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls for sponsoring and providing the tasty inspiration for today's post.  All opinions expressed below are my own.

You all know by now that most evenings of the week I cook for my family.

But let's keep it real- there are definitely nights when I don't feel like cooking.

Or nights when the day has been so trying and busy that I am tempted to pick up a pizza or take-out.  Not the healthiest or most budget friendly choice though.

I mean, what I really want to do on most evenings like those is take off for the local Mexican restaurant for dinner and margaritas, but that just isn't always in the budget for us.

That is why I am so glad that I recently discovered HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls in the freezer section at my local grocery store.  

I will admit it- I am always skeptical of frozen meals. Often times, they are just okay or downright blech. But other times, you hit a tasty frozen food jackpot.

And these Herdez Frozen Bowls are one of those rare jackpots, folks. ;)

I was really impressed with the Beef Barbacoa Bowl- tasty, perfectly seasoned tender chunks of beef served alongside Spanish style rice. 

To make family dinner-in with HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls a little more fun, I came up with a kid friendly Mockagarita recipe to share with you all...

Cream Cheese Chicken Quesadillas

Even restaurant chicken quesadillas pale in comparison to this creamy, tasty make-at-home version...

Sometimes the most loved family dinners come about when you decide to tackle a new dinner recipe, get lazy, and then improvise.

Such was the case with these amazingly simple and delicious Cream Cheese Chicken Quesadillas.

I had made these Cream Cheese Chicken Taquitos from Dimples & Delights a couple of times before when I set out to make them for a third time one fall evening.  

But it had just been one of those days where baby girl insisted on doing the very opposite of just about everything that I had asked her to do, and this mama was running out of juice... and most importantly, patience. 

The thought of rolling taquitos and heating oil, and trying to prevent the frying taquitos from burning while a wild child toddler was on the loose just didn't appeal to me that evening.

The husband had just got home from work and unbeknownst to me, he happens to be a world class quesadilla flipper from his years of working the grill at a restaurant during his college years. ;)

I was more than happy to hand off dinner cooking duties to him that evening.  So instead of fried taquitos, the chicken mixture and flour tortillas became pan toasted quesadillas.

And the result was some of the best quesadillas that have ever landed on our dinner table... or any table for that matter!  

Yes, folks. Even restaurant chicken quesadillas pale in comparison to this creamy, tasty make-at-home version...

Easy Pepperoni Pizza Waffle Pockets

These Pepperoni Pizza Waffle Pockets are simple to make, ready in minutes, and will be gobbled up by everyone in your family...

So by now, the kiddos are either out of school for the summer or will be very soon.  My son's last day as a high school freshman will actually be tomorrow.

*sigh*

How has my first baby already flown through his first full year of high school??

My mind keeps thinking ahead to 3 years from around now when he will be GRADUATING from high school...

Uhhhhhh... what!?!

I am already anticipating what I know I will inevitably hear about a million times this summer from my son...

"I'm hungry. Will you make me something?"

"Will you make me some lunch?"

"When's dinner? Is there anything to snack on?"

I have a tasty solution ready for the teenage son munchies with these super Easy Pepperoni Pizza Waffle Pockets.