It came.

The Pioneer Woman's cookbook is here! It was such a pleasant surprise in the mailbox. I had pre-ordered it so long ago I had forgotten. There are some great new recipes in it that are not on her website. I have already marked numerous pages of recipes to try. She even has her step by step photos, just like her blog. I will be sure and post her recipes as I try them. She never disappoints!

Pizza Pasta

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. We close on our new house in 2 weeks so things have been busy. I hope to be back to normal postings by mid-November.

This recipe came from allrecipes.com. It was so quick and easy and the whole family enjoyed it. I do think a sauce makes or breaks a dish so don't use cheap sauce. I found the "mini" pepperoni at the store this week and thought they worked perfectly for this dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked egg noodles (I used rotini)
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
• 16 ounces pizza sauce
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• (I also added black olives)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cook noodles according to package directions.
3. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, (olives), pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, top with the cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Chicken Tortilla Soup in the Slow Cooker

I had originally found this recipe on allrecipes.com but I made a number of changes to it. I put this in the slow cooker for about 7 hours and it was the perfect meal to come home to after church. The house smelled wonderful!

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken
2 10oz. cans mild Rotel
1 10oz. can enchilada sauce (I used Macayo's)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 10 oz. pkg. frozen corn
1 Tbsp. cilantro

tortilla chips
shredded cheese
sour cream

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker, except chips, cheese, and sour cream. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken after 5-6 hours using two forks.
2. Top with shredded cheese, a heavy dollop of sour cream, and tortilla chips (crunched up). Yum!

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and new my family would love it. My husband loves anything with bell peppers in it. It did not disappoint and everyone enjoyed it. It is a super simple fix it and forget about it meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips (I used pre-cut stir fry meat)
  
• garlic powder to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped (I used one red, one green)
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
   

*I thought the gravy was a bit runny so I added ultra gel , a natural thickening agent.

Before & After Nightstand

Yet another Goodwill find. I think we ended up buying three different night stands for my little girl before settling on this one. This before picture is after I had already started sanding it, but you get the idea. It had a brass circular knob on it originally too. After-

I sanded it and gave it a light coat of celery paint. I distressed it a little to tie in with the rest of her furniture. The little pink glass knob is my favorite part! I can't wait to move and get started on her room. (And yes, she currently shares her room with our office and that is the side of our desk in the picture. Bet you can't guess why we're moving!)

Happy October!

I had originally told myself I wasn't going to decorate for fall this year since we are going to be moving and I should be packing my house not decorating it. Then I went blog hopping and saw everyone's cute decor and and I couldn't help myself, I had to decorate.