Easy Pasta Salad: Recipe

Let me start this post by saying that no, I have NOT been cooking since our sweet baby arrived last week! However, the weekend before we had her, we attended a pot luck dinner for the Boy Scout troop Dan volunteers with.

It was an award ceremony / rank promotion, and it was really cool to talk more to the people he works with each week and meet the high school student he has spent so much time with helping him achieve the special God and Life award!

Everyone was supposed to bring something, and not knowing when I would go into labor, I opted for this SUPER easy pasta salad that my mom (and many others, I'm sure) has been making for as long as I can remember.

The only thing you have to remember is that the noodles will have to cool after being boiled before you can add the other ingredients. 

I doubled this recipe for the event, but in hindsight, I wish I hadn't. There was SO MUCH food there. 

And now for the good part... the recipe!

Do you like pasta salad?

What is your go-to dish for a pot luck?

    

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins: Recipe

It's Friday again, and since it's finally September, I am sharing this super awesome pumpkin muffin recipe with you all!

Recipe is subjective, though. I feel pretty silly even sharing this one. It's all over Pinterest, though, so I had to give it a try... and what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my results with you? ;-)

I'll admit it. I thought they were going to be dry and dense... and not very good. Luckily, that was not the case! The canned pumpkin turned these bad boys out just right!

This recipe made 12 muffins for us. We ate them ALL within a few days. I totally meant to freeze some for easy snacks for after Baby Cookie gets here... but that went out the door when we tasted how good these are. Plus, they're so easy, I'm sure I can whip up another batch soon!

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package cake mix (any kind - I used butter pecan here, but I've heard spice, carrot, and yellow all work really well!)

• 1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

• OPTIONAL: chocolate chips / cream cheese frosting

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and the pumpkin.

3. Use a beater to mix until batter is consistent.

4. Add chocolate chips if you are using. (I used the mini ones in mine!)

5. Scoop the mixture into muffin liners.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine needed 22 minutes exactly).

7. Try to let them cool before digging in... but we couldn't wait that long!

Are you a 'pumpkin' person?

What's your favorite kind of muffin?

    

The Month of May

May is not over quite yet, but it sure has flown by! I remember last May... leading up to Dan's Air Force Academy graduation and our wedding. The end of the school year and all the craziness that comes along with it.

This year has been slightly calmer, but I think May will always just be one of those months for us. It holds so many events of years' past, and Timehop sure doesn't help.

I have been aching to re-live last May. It was seriously such a magical month. But no worries - this month has been pretty great too! ...with the exception of another ER visit.

We bought some supplies to get started decorating Baby Cookie's room...

We went out together for Cinco de Mayo... don't worry, mine's a virgin daiquiri.

I had some hot cocoa to soak up the last few moments of cooler weather...

Gilligan was handsome as always... he loves hiding in the windows. 

I had another trip to the ER for kidney stones. This time, they admitted me to Labor and Delivery since that's where you go after 20 weeks, and I was 22 weeks. They didn't really know what to do, though... because they do babies, not kidney stones. 

We drove an hour to Columbus to watch Dan's old flying team from the Academy practice and compete at Nationals. It was so cool because I was never able to attend a competition when Dan was on the team because I was always busy teaching... so it was a lot of fun seeing them! 

I made delicious (and super easy!) cookies to take to the flying team... don't worry, I'll share the recipe for these bad boys soon! 

We pretended to be healthy eaters by devouring this berry salad. Just kidding. We both love fruit. We just eat a lot of other desserts too to balance it out. ;-) 

See? Carrot cake muffins stuffed with cream cheese. SO good. I'll share the recipe for these soon as well. 

I was trying to take a selfie with Smudge in our backyard last week... and somehow, this is the best we could get. He just wouldn't look at the camera and instead wanted to block my face. Maybe he was sparing you guys. 

On a random Monday night, we decided we had a hankering for something sweet (go figure, right?), so we went to our backyard fire pit and made s'mores. So worth it! And we had a great time sitting out there in the dark talking. 

How has May been for you?
Do you have one month that always seems busier than others?


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Easy Waldorf Salad: Recipe

Is it already Friday again? Hey, I'm not complaining! But that means it's time for another recipe, and I am so excited to share one of my favorite cold side dishes ever... Waldorf salad! 

If you are having company over and need one more item to go with the fabulous meal you have prepared, why not try this out? Now that it's warming up outside, it's even better - but I won't lie: Waldorf salad is even on my Thanksgiving menu. Yum. 

It goes great with BBQ, grilled meats, or anything heartier. It lightens up the meal just enough... and I find that even people who claim to not like celery enjoy this salad. Maybe it's the crispness of the green apples... I don't know. But it's a winner for sure.

A lot of people make this with grapes instead of raisins... and I totally like it that way sometimes. Just know that you can substitute them, and the salad will still be delicious. And I also wanted to point out how I love that this is called "salad" because it's definitely not very healthy... but it makes me feel better. 

You can also choose to use walnuts instead of pecans. I enjoy both, but sadly, I am allergic to walnuts... so I try my very best not to eat them. Luckily, pecans are just as delicious, and they work very well in this recipe. You choose whichever you like best! There's a lot of room to play around. 

I just made this for Easter last month, but now I want it again. Just reading the ingredients list has me craving it. I guess there are worse dishes to crave, right? ;-) 

Do you like Waldorf salad?

What's your favorite side dish?

    

Easy Red Velvet Cookies: Recipe

When I first decided that I was going to do the 12 Days of Christmas for my husband, I knew that day one would entail something he loves: baked goods! I didn't want to be that mean lady and just give him ONE, though, just because it was day one... so I made him ONE batch of cookies.

He loves red velvet everything, so I knew these would be a hit. Little did I know that they'd be a hit with me too - because of how simple they are to make! Seriously!

Easy Red Velvet Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tsp cornstarch

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

• 1 box red velvet cake mix 

• 2 eggs (beaten)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375º.

2. In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine butter, cake mix, and eggs.

4. Roll into one inch balls.

5. Roll balls in powdered sugar mixture.

6. Place balls on baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10-11 minutes - until set. 

8. Store in a Ziploc container.

Make these. Seriously. It'll take you less than 20 minutes, and they are just incredible. 

• Do you like red velvet goodies?
• What is your favorite type of cookie?