Taco Casserole

Taco Casserole. So good and so easy! {The Mommy Games}

I’ve forever loved Mexican food. The cheese dip, guacamole, salty chips, piles of sour cream – YUM! I would be pretty happy eating it every day, and we rarely go a week without having some kind of Mexican dish. Taco night is most certainly a favorite since the kids can either mix everything up into one big taco of their choosing (half of which inevitably ends up on the floor), or divvy it out into separate little sections. It’s amazing what giving the littles some interpretive room can do for their appetites.

It’s nice to switch it up every once in a while though, and this awesome taco casserole is just the way to do it. It gives you all that satisfying taco flavor in one easy dish. Just bring this over to the table along with a few bowls of toppings and let your family have at it. This was an instant hit in our house and has been added to the few dishes we rotate regularly. You will love how simple and delicious it is!

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Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta  Amazing flavor packed into this easy weeknight meal! {The Mommy Games}I seriously love Pinterest. I mean I just love it. I could easily spend hours searching through crafts I’ll never make, impressive recipes I’ll never try, and clothes I’ll never wear. Oh, if only my real life reflected the one I lead on Pinterest. Occasionally I give myself a good swift kick in the pants, and commit to actually creating one of these “pinned” items that I was so eager to tuck away for later. Because truthfully, sometimes these amazing gems are forgotten as soon as they are filed away. After finding a recipe for sun-dried tomato chicken, then following it to the blog who created it, I knew this would be a perfect weeknight meal. And seriously, it’s pretty freakin’ fabulous. Everyone, picky kids included, gobbled this up. It’s creamy and rich, with a slight tang from the sun-dried tomatoes. This is the kind of meal that anyone would be happy with at the end of a long day.

See, making your Pinterest dream life a reality isn’t so hard after all. Now, on to the other 872 things I have pinned

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Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs. Sticky, Saucy, and Fall-off-the-bone Delicious! {The Mommy Games}

Remember how I told you a few weeks ago {here} that I was on a quest to find summer appropriate slow cooker meals? Well, this here is a doozy. Barbecue ribs are like summer on a plate, and these are some of the best I’ve ever had. Since they are cooked low and slow in the crock pot, they are fall of the bone tender, with the added bonus of a crispy, sauce lacquered top since they are finished in the oven. Lick-your-fingers delicious. There is hardly any hands on time with getting them started, and then just a little basting & simmering once they are in the oven. Combined with fresh cut watermelon and buttered corn, this made for a quintessential summertime meal. And it didn’t last long. Both my kiddos and husband devoured these ribs, and had sauce covered faces to show for it. Definitely put these on your list to make!

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Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Peppers

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Peppers by The Mommy Games

I love my slow cooker just as much as anyone, but it doesn’t tend to get a lot of use in the summer. Heavy roasts and soups just aren’t appealing when it’s hot out.  The convenience of being able to get out and enjoy time outside, then come home to an already cooked dinner is too good to pass up though. That’s why I’ve been in major experimental mode with all kinds of slow cooker recipes that are warm weather approved. So far, anything involving chicken has been too dried out, but this one, using ground beef, is a winner. Best of all, there’s hardly 10 minutes of prep time, and you don’t even have to turn on the stove. These peppers practically scream to be paired with a big bowl of guacamole and a cold Corona. The kids loved eating the filling (they weren’t going near the actual pepper) on top of tortilla chips. These will definitely be appearing on our table many times this summer.

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Classic Roast Chicken

Classic Roast Chicken

There are a few dishes that every girl should have in her back pocket. Roast chicken is most decidedly one of them. The ingredients are few, the recipe is simple, and the presentation is so stunning your family/guests/future husband (remember the craze over engagement chicken?) will be all too convinced of your culinary awesomeness. Everyone has their own spin on what qualifies as the perfect roast chicken, but I tend to keep it classic and unadorned. Making sure the skin is brown and crisp is key, as is getting the meat to stay tender and flavorful.

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Cheese and Bean Enchiladas

Cheese & Bean Enchiladas by The Mommy Games

Mexican is my default “I’ve had a rough day” cuisine choice. Cheesy, hot goodness without any fuss is exactly what I need on days when things just aren’t going right. A good margarita (with extra salt!) or michelada doesn’t hurt either. Sometimes we do tacos, but what I really love are these been and cheese enchiladas. They’re originally adapted from something I saw in Cooking Light (don’t get too excited, they lost their “light” status as soon as I got my hands on them), and you can tell how often they frequent our table my the many markings and splattered blots all over the now very altered recipe. What makes this recipe extra grand is that the ingredients are basic pantry staples, so these could easily be dinner tonight. Just the thing to cure the Monday blues. Tequila is also strongly encouraged.

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Copycat Alice Springs Chicken

Copycat Alice Springs Chicken by The Mommy Games

Living in NYC, we have a plethora of delivery food options. Ranging from fancy steak & lobster to greasy Mexican, practically anything you want can be delivered right to your door in this fabulous city. In one of our old apartments, we lived just blocks from an Outback Steakhouse and would have that delivered at least a couple of times a month. I’m slightly obsessed with their Alice Springs Chicken dish. Chicken, cheese, bacon, mushrooms – what’s not to love? This recipe is darn near identical to what you get in the restaurant and it’s simple to boot. I always serve it along with a pile of spiced fries and extra honey mustard sauce. De-freakin-licious.

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Sausage, Fontina & Pepper Strata

Sausage, Fontina & Pepper Strata by The Mommy Games

Are you a breakfast for dinner kind of person? I am a huge breakfast for dinner person – eggs, pancakes, even cereal when I’m on my own, I seriously could eat breakfast for any meal of the day. My husband, not so much. It’s probably the only food related discrepancy we have. Since I’m the one cooking dinner, he sometimes just has to suck it up and eat what I fix, but we now have reached a very happy compromise. This casserole is the best breakfast casserole I’ve ever had. Seriously, so ridiculously good. It’s like your average breakfast casserole with the meat, cheese, and eggs, but much more polished and gourmet tasting. Make this for breakfast, brunch, or dinner and your dinning companions are bound to be swooning. The great thing is that you can prep it ahead of time, let it soak up in the fridge, then pop it in the oven when you are ready to go. This one is a keeper!

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