easy homemade spaghetti sauce

My dad taught me how to make this sauce back when I first got married and didn't know how to cook. Before that it was Prego and ground beef! I've had Prego since, and yuck. My husband always has me make this dish the night before his PT tests, so at least I know he likes it :) It's not the fanciest sauce out there, but it works for us!

1/2 an onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic!)
1 lb ground beef (I just use the whole package, you could also use ground turkey)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
small can mushrooms  (4oz)
1.5 tbsp dried basil
tomato paste (optional, as a thickener if sauce is too thin)

Add beef, onion, and garlic to large sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until meat is full cooked. Add in tomatoes, sauce, mushrooms, and basil. Add in 1/2 can tomato paste if you don't want it really think, or 1 can if you want it thick! (My photo shows it with 1 can) Mix everything in and simmer for 30-60 minutes. You don't have to let it simmer that long, but it has more flavor! I usually let mine simmer for 35-45 minutes, then start cooking my noodles. Enjoy!

ranch pretzels...YUM!

These are OH MY GOSH delicious. Be careful, if you're not paying attention you'll eat them all. :) One of my favorite go-to snacks. Thanks to my next door neighbor, Lisa! ;)


1 package ranch dressing (dry powder)
1/2 cup vegetable oil [I use extra light olive oil]
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dill weed [left this out the first time i made them because i didnt have on hand, still tasted great]
1 lb bavarian pretzels or sourdough hard pretzels (the big fat ones)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Break pretzels into bite sized pieces

Pour pretzels onto baking pan.

Mix all other ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over pretzels. I mix all the pretzels together with a spoon afterwards to make sure they all get coated in this seasony goodness :)

Leave sit for about an hour allowing flavors to soak in. (I usually omit this step, I'm impatient lol)

Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Allow to cool and store in air-tight container or large ziploc bag.

kabob marinade

This is the best kabob marinade I have found to date. Chicken, steak, whatever, it's AMAZZZINGGG. I prefer it on chicken, it literally falls off the skewer :). The steak is amazing too, just make sure it's cubed thin enough so the marinade will penetrate all the way. If I could eat this every day...I so would. :)


3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use extra light olive oil and not near as much as it calls for)
3/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
chicken or steak, cut into bite size pieces

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground black pepper, and garlic. Mix well, and add your favorite meat. Seal the bag, and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.( Let it marinate for 24 hours, I promise..it's worth it!) Feel free to marinade some veggies too (in a separate bag of course).

the only way I'll eat grilled salmon.

I found this recipe off of allrecipes a few years ago, and OH MY GOSH. It's the only way my husband and I will eat salmon anymore. YUM! If you have some good quality salmon near you and live in a grill-able place.. you have to try this. It reminds me of bourbon chicken, and the soy sauce helps get rid of the "fishy" flavor that salmon has. 

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets, skin/bones removed (I use 2-3 small fillets for the 2 of us)
lemon pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use a 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to make it healthier)


Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper seasoning and garlic powder.

In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. [The longer you marinade the better it tastes, I let mine marinate for atleast 8 hours :)]

Preheat grill for medium heat. 

Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. I like to add a little more lemon pepper and garlic powder during grilling.

heather's big chocolate cookies

My friend Heather is AWESOME at baking. She made these one day and brought them into work, and I was hooked! You can't have just one of these cookies. If you're not careful you'll end up eating 10. That's how good these things are. I LOVE brownies, cookies, and cake...so this recipe is the best of all 3. It's like that ooey gooey brownie that we all love...but in cookie form. I'm eating one as we speak :) Doesn't help that this is like the eastiest baking recipe ever (I'm a baking newb) and it makes a TON. I end up always making over 2 dozen cookies and freezing the other half of the batter. These are a huge hit at parties.



1 pkg dry brownie mix
2 pkgs dry cake mix (I like the triple chocolate kind)
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water


Preheat oven to 325. In a LARGE bowl, mix all ingredients together. It will be very sticky.

Spoon batter onto oiled baking sheet. Bake in oven at 325 for 10 minutes. 


They will look like they're not quite done, but that's how you want them! :) I usually get 2 baking sheets going at once because there is so much batter. I'll cook 1 baking sheet while spooning batter onto another...then while the first batch cools, I'll stick the 2nd one in the oven. Goes alot quicker this way. Let cookies settle for about 10 minutes then dig in! Yumm!

oh lumpia...how i love you so.

This recipe is one of my favorites. Our neighbor across the street is from the Philippines and was nice enough to grace us with such amazing food. For those of you who don't know what a lumpia is, it's sort of like a mini egg-roll, but way better! It does take some time to prepare, but I assure you it's WELL worth the time spent. Once you try them you'll be hooked! This recipe makes 30-50 depending on how much you fill them so it's a great item to have for a party or get together...though I recommend making 2 or 3 batches. Everyone will be begging you for the recipe. :)

EDIT: I actually tried baking these a few nights ago, and OMG. They were almost as good and wayyyy less calories. Though you HAVE to try them fried atleast once, if you're looking for a healthy alternative, baking them is the way to go. 450 degrees for 20 min, flipping over once (no need to thaw).

1 lb. ground pork (I just use the whole package, around 1.5 lbs..can also sub ground turkey or ground beef if they don't have pork)

1 medium sized carrot, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (Progresso garlic and herb)
1 egg
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

lumpia wrappers

sweet chili sauce, for dipping

vegetable oil, for frying

In a large bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients. I use my hands to mix it all together.

Now the lumpia wrappers should be in the freezer section of your grocery store. Our grocery store has it's own section for lumpias, they might also be called spring/egg roll wrappers. Once your wrappers have thawed a little bit, take a pair of kitchen shears and cut them diagonally.  You don't have to cut/peel the entire package at once. Ooh I almost forgot...peel off the front and back layer...the package I get, the outside wrappers are shiny and almost plastic-like.

Carefully peel apart each wrapper, try not to rip them as they are fragile! These take a while to peel, so if you notice that your wrappers are starting to dry up, place inside of a wet paper towel. :)

For this next part, you'll want to make sure you have a tiny bowl of water and a plate for your lumpias. Once you have a good amount of wrappers peeled and ready to go, take a small spoonful of the pork mix and spread it along the bottom of the wrapper. Don't put too much on there, or else the pork won't cook all the way through! 

Now the folding begins. Take each of the sides, and fold them in, tucking them in with the meat.

Roll the meat up until you get to the tip of the wrapper. 

With one hand, take a few fingers, dip them in the water bowl, and wet the tip of the wrapper, then fold the rest up. The water acts as a glue to keep the wrapper from coming apart. You should now have one lumpia. Yay!

Continue to do this until you've used up all of your pork mix or until you're too tired to do anymore for the day! ;)

Now that you have your lumpias ready to fry, heat up your vegetable oil in a frying pan, with enough oil to submerge the lumpias. You don't have to fry them all up at once, whatever you don't want to fry up, just put in a bag and store in the freezer until you're ready for more!

Now that your oil is hot, throw a few of these bad boys in there and fry away, flipping once to make sure that both sides get nice and brown/crispy. I'll admit I burned my first few, if the oil is too hot, the outside will cook too fast and end up burnt by the time the pork is cooked. Burnt lumpias don't taste yummy.

Let them cool off for a bit before you dig in... and make sure you dip them in the sweet chili sauce! Below is a picture of what I use. I found the sauce in the "oriental food" section of our grocery store, next to the soy sauce. They don't taste the same without it :) Hope you love them just as much as I do!

Here's a photo of the baked ones I made the other night. They're still super yummy!!

they should call this sneaky punch...

I had a little party planned for the weekend, and wanted a tasty punch to go along with it. I was looking for a cheap recipe that would quench everyone's thirst. This one does just that. You can't taste the alcohol at all, so make sure you keep track of how much you drink :)

1 bottle (750 ml size) Southern Comfort 
6 ounces lemon juice
6 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate
6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
3 liters 7Up/Sprite

Chill ingredients. Mix first 4 ingredients in a large punch bowl. Add 7Up/Sprite. Float block of ice, garnish with fruit slices. 

My first blog.

I'm not a chef, and I don't claim to be...but I love food and I love to cook. I made this blog for my friends, family, and fellow military wives who want to make a nice home cooked meal, but don't know where to start. I understand that life gets in the way, and by the time you get home, wondering what to make for dinner becomes that one dreaded question. I didn't learn to cook until about 3 years ago when I got married, and have only recently been able to explore my love for the kitchen. I don't have the best camera or cooking utensils, but I do my best with what I'm given. I promise you'll love every bite of what you make! With that said, I have come across some very amazing recipes, and it would be a crime for me not to share them with you! :)

Dani