Top Ten recipes

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10. If you are looking for a different way to make potatoes to go along with your meat, this is the recipe for you. Every one in my family loves these potatoes. Crispy and savory, they complement either steak or pork chops beautifully: Pioneer Woman’s hot crash potatoes.

9. Country Club Breakfast was one of my signature breakfast casseroles when I went to Mothers of Preschoolers. I’ve also made it for family brunches and Christmas morning. Make it the night before, and then throw it in the oven for an hour in the morning. Delicious!

Country Club Breakfast 2

8. There’s nothing like making soup on a snow day, and we’ve had plenty of snow days this winter! This Potato Soup is one of my favorites to make. The time spent cooking it on the stove is worth the final product.

7. My family loves Taco Night! I serve crispy corn taco shells and flour tortillas, and then everyone gets to make their own taco.

6. About 5 years ago, I compared making homemade pizza to ordering carry out pizza. Homemade pizza wins! I tell you how I make homemade pizza here: Ooh, Ahh, Pizza!

5. This chicken casserole is my go-to recipe when I’m out of dinner ideas.

Cheesy Chicken with Croutons

4 Chicken Breasts
4 slices of cheddar cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
1/4 cup cooking sherry
croutons
butter

Place chicken breasts in a 9X13 inch pan. Lay cheese slices on top of chicken. Mix soup and sherry together, and pour over chicken and cheese. Sprinkle with croutons. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serve over rice or noodles.

4. I make Mom’s Chili in the crock pot or on the stove. I serve it with homemade corn bread, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions and oyster crackers. Perfect for a cold winter’s night! And then there’s always leftovers for lunch the next day.

3. I found this recipe for Spinach Artichoke Chicken on Pinterest, and my whole family loves it!


2. When Gretchen shared this cookie recipe on her blog, I literally squealed with joy. They sounded just like the cookies my Grandma used to bake and store in a clean coffee can. I’ve served them at my church’s coffee hour and also at home, and they get rave reviews every time I bake them. (I keep the nuts out.)Chcago Crunchy Cookies 2

Chicago Crunchy Cookies

3 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup oil
1 cup oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 pkg. (12 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, milk and vanilla until creamy. Stir in the flour, alternating with the oil until smooth. Stir in Rice Krispies, chocolate chips, oatmeal and nuts until thick. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

1. My Dad’s Big Pancakes. They are good for any meal; breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner!

Big Pancakes

Tuesday Ten is hosted by Lisa from The Golden Spoons and Rabia from The Liebers, and they want to know our 10 favorite recipes! Visit their blogs for more Tuesday Ten.

What is one of your favorite foods?

Tuesday Ten

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Grateful For the Opportunity to Serve

A couple weeks ago, I joined the Illinois Field Moms for a day out. Part of our day included a visit to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The food bank is located in Geneva, IL, and is a large distribution building in the middle of an industrial area. The Field Moms were able to take a tour of the new building, which includes a clean room to repackage bulk food donations, and also a freezer docking area, which keeps frozen donations from thawing during the unloading process. Northern Illinois Food Bank distributes food, which is mostly donated, to network partners including soup kitchens and food pantries in thirteen Illinois counties. They also have a mobile pantry program, which brings food to areas that need it.

This truck is part of the Mobile Pantry Program and brings the food pantry to hungry neighbors.
This truck is part of the Mobile Pantry Program and brings the food pantry to hungry neighbors.

 
After our tour, it was time for the Field Moms to get to work. The profits from our Field Moms’ Acre and Pen provided 780 pounds of ground pork for the food bank! Presenting the pork to the Food Bank was the easy part. Then we were put to work sorting various frozen meats into 20 pound boxes. Natasha from Houseful of Nicholes and I assembled boxes like maniacs while other field moms sorted, relabeled and weighed the meat.

frozen pork
We donated 780 pounds of pork!

One of the things I learned while at the food bank is that protein can be difficult to get at a food pantry. Our local high school had a food drive last week, and so I kept this in mind and included some cans of chicken in my donation.
 
I’m so grateful that the IL Field Moms program ended on such a high note! If you are in the Chicago area and have children under the age of 18, now is the time to apply to be a 2014 Field Mom! Find out more on the website, Watch Us Grow.

mobile pantry

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Link up your Thankful posts to The Spin Cycle this week! I’m also linking up with The Thanksgiving Feast and Festivities linky party with Julie!