How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103, ESV)
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8, ESV).
I have a young and busy family and I love to cook for them. Sometimes that spills over into my writing and you get a devotional all about that!
I got so many emails, notes and comments about how much you all love the recipe ideas I posted with the devotionals that I decided to catalog some of them here so they’d be easier to find. I hope you enjoy some creative time in the kitchen and maybe use this as an opportunity to share in a meal with family and friends!
Don’t forget to link some of your favorite recipe finds so we can all enjoy them!
My Favorite Recipe Files:
- Apple Washington: The first time I had baked apples I was a kid staying over at a friend’s house for a birthday sleepover. Her mom made them for dinner and I fell in love. Apple Washington is just baked apples with even more deliciousness—cinnamon and brown sugar topping. It’s a sweet treat that fills your house with the very best scents of fall. So, it’s a bonus—good food plus aromatherapy. Can’t beat that!
- Baked Potato Casserole: I found this recipe on a coupon for evaporated milk in my Sunday paper. It’s a hit with a potato lover like me!
- Banana Muffins: My kids beg me to buy bananas. I buy them. They eat one. They enjoy it. Then they refuse to eat any more from the bunch. A week later, I have soft, overripe bananas on my counter. Happens every time. So, I discovered this totally moist and delicious banana muffin recipe. I add in some cinnamon applesauce to make the batter extra moist and give it that cinnamon and spice taste. It’s a cold morning treat and perfect with a cup of tea!
- Beef Stroganoff: This is one of my favorites! I’ve tried many variations of this dish, but this is the recipe I like the best. I use fresh mushrooms, (not canned), add a tiny bit of minced garlic and skip the white wine. It’s delicious with homemade bread to soak up the sauce!
- Bread Dipping Spices: Our favorite restaurant is Carrabas. They serve up this aromatic blend of spices on a plate smothered in olive oil and then give you a basket of warm bread for dipping. It’s heavenly. Here’s a “look-alike” recipe that I love to serve at home.
- Cheesecake: I was afraid to make cheesecake. It looked hard and sounded far too difficult to waste the ingredients attempting. But I wanted to make something special for Christmas dinner and searched the Internet for the perfect cheesecake recipe. This is it. It’s creamy, heavy, and I snuck pieces out of my refrigerator at night so no one knew how much I ate.
- Chocolate Covered Popcorn: This is yummier than it sounds. Somehow popcorn and chocolate are perfect for each other. It’s also a snap. Yummy + easy = a favorite snack.
- Cream Cheese Potato Soup (like Panera’s)
- Crock Pot Kielbasa Bean Soup: This is a Weight Watcher’s recipe, so that’s an extra bonus to the fact that it is tasty, satisfying, and so simple to make! I just toss everything into the Crock Pot in the morning for dinner that night. I add rice to the soup and it’s perfect!
- Crock Pot Salsa Chicken: One of my most favorite and absolute easiest recipes of all time! I skip the beans and corn and just put boneless skinless chicken breasts and salsa in my crockpot. Then I shred the chicken and serve it up on tortillas with some Spanish rice and cheese. It’s fabulous as leftovers served up with tortilla chips.
- Croutons: I’m a salad fanatic. Really. And the only thing better than fresh vegetables sprinkled with cheese is when you top it off with homemade croutons. These are delicious straight out of the oven and a great way to use up bread that the grocery store is selling at desperately reduced prices!
- Ham & Cheddar In A Loaf (from Kraft)
- Homemade Play Doh: Not for eating!! Still, every mom of young children or teacher or Sunday School teacher needs a go-to homemade play doh recipe. This is mine. Although, I often have to add extra flour to this mix to cut down on the stickiness. Still, I store it in a Ziploc bag and it lasts for pretty much forever. You can’t beat that!
- Hot Crab Dip: Every few months, I dream up an excuse to make this. I have to serve it at a baby shower, a church luncheon, a treat for the teachers at school. Whatever. It’s all just to give me a reason to make this Crock Pot full of totally fantastic crab dip. I top with some cheddar or Colby and Monterey Jack cheese.
- Milk and Honey Bread: This is my absolute most favorite homemade bread recipe. It slices up beautifully and is perfect for breakfast toast, sandwiches for lunch or covered in butter with a Crock Pot meal for dinner.
- Pumpkin Bread: I adore pumpkin bread! This recipe is so moist and delicious. It makes a huge batch, so I either bake up two normal-sized loaves (one for us and one to share) or I bake up three smaller loaves and give them out as gifts. I make it the first day in the fall that it hits below 70 degrees!
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup: This is a wonderful Crock Pot soup to enjoy on a cold and rainy day. I’m not a fan of cilantro. I tried it in this soup and ended up trying to pick out every last leaf. So, even though I know people will tell me this soup isn’t “genuine” enough without the cilantro in it, I’m happy to skip it and eat a soup I actually love.
- Sugar Cookies: I’ve never been a big fan of sugar cookies, but I have kids. That means we do the whole cut out cookies and decorate them thing. I found this recipe and it’s perfect. I’ve become a fan. These sugar cookies turn out so soft, tasty, and are easy to cut out without crumbling.
- Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue: This recipe is a cinch to make in my Crock Pot. I was skeptical about mixing barbecue sauce and Italian dressing, but it’s delicious. Since I don’t like sweet barbecue, I skipped the brown sugar. Isn’t that the great thing about cooking? You have the freedom to change things up! I served the chicken up on toasted rolls.
Where I Hang Out When I’m Looking for Food Inspiration:
Heather C. King - Room to Breathe 