Happy Valentine’s Day!  Nothing says Valentine’s Day more than chocolate covered strawberries!  Well, maybe red roses?  I would still rather have strawberries!  These chocolate covered strawberries are so easy I almost hate to call it a recipe.  All you need is chocolate and some strawberries.  Literally.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries are a tradition in our house for Valentine’s Day!  I always make them for my kids teachers – current and past-  and the office staff.  As a matter of fact, they’ve come to expect it.  I even got a text this morning from one of my sons’ former teachers and she told me it might be here favorite tradition ever!  I always make enough of these to keep some for our family to have for dessert on Valentine’s Day.  Today, I put one in each of my kids’ lunchboxes.  I just pop a few into a cellophane bag and tie it with a cute ribbon.

Happy Fat Tuesday!  To celebrate Mardi Gras we are having this Cajun Red Beans and Rice dish tonight!  Every year I like to make something Cajun for dinner on Fat Tuesday.  I decided to experiment and make my own Red Beans and Rice recipe this year.  I think the addition of the sausage will go over well and really makes it into a meal instead of just a side dish.

You are going to start by sautéing the “trinity” of Cajun food, onion, pepper and celery.  After that, you will brown the sausage and just pour in your cans of beans add your Cajun seasoning and let it simmer.  It seriously could not be easier.

This Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup is so hearty and satisfying.  The bit of spiciness from the sausage combined with the Italian herbs, tomatoes, broth and wine are the perfect match for the cheese tortellini.  Even your non-soup eaters will enjoy this one!

My mom got this recipe years ago at the Soup Fest at church.  When she initially told me that it had Italian sausage in it, I was skeptical.  I didn’t think I liked Italian sausage, but this soup changed my mind!

This Italian Beef is the perfect dinner for a cold winter night.  The Italian spices cooked in with the beef roast will make your house smell amazing!  The fact that you can make this in the slow cooker while you are gone all day will make this one of your favorite meals!

Every time I make this recipe, it transcends me to Junior High and High School.  This recipe actually came from a fundraiser dinner that my youth group at church would do every winter.  It was called “A Little Bit of Italy”.  We served lasagna, tagliarini (hey, it’s as Italian as it gets here in SoILL) and this Italian Beef.  The sponsors would cook the food with help from parents and the kids would wait the tables. It was always a well attended fundraiser in our community.  People from other churches would even come.  I’m pretty sure this Italian beef was one of the reasons.  Ahhhh, sweet memories!

Happy New Year!!!  I can’t believe it’s 2018!  The holidays were so busy for my family that I didn’t get to share our Christmas favorites with you, but I will be making that up to you with this recipe! What could be better than a warm, buttery biscuit?  A warm, buttery biscuit dripping with chocolate gravy!

I know when you think of biscuits and gravy you automatically think of the white cream gravy with sausage served for breakfast.  This chocolate gravy with biscuits will change the way you think of biscuits and gravy forever……promise!

What is Thanksgiving dinner without sweet potatoes?  I can guarantee you are going to LOVE this Sweet Potato Casserole!  For years I thought I didn’t like sweet potatoes until I tried this casserole.  It is seriously TO DIE FOR!

The recipe calls for baking the sweet potatoes, but you can cook the sweet potatoes any way you like.  I have baked them and I have peeled and boiled them and the recipe turned out the same.

It’s Thanksgiving Week!!!  You know what that means……more Thanksgiving recipes!  On the menu today is Broccoli Rice Casserole.  I love how creamy and cheesy the rice and broccoli get when they are baked in this casserole.  This delicious Broccoli and Rice Casserole is on our Thanksgiving table every year!

I think this will be my 19th Thanksgiving to make this recipe.  This Broccoli Rice Casserole was the first dish I took to a family function after I got married.  I had always liked broccoli casseroles, especially the ones with rice, so I started looking through various cookbooks I had been given as wedding presents.  When I came across this one, I immediately knew that’s what I was looking for. It has been a hit since then and everyone just automatically assumes that I will be bringing it for Thanksgiving every year.  It really is good!  

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is next week!  How has the year flown by so quickly?  I am going to post a few of our Thanksgiving staples here in the next week.  I decided to start with my favorite Cranberry  Relish.  The great thing about this cranberry relish is that it can be made ahead of time and frozen.  I think the more things that you can prepare ahead of time, the better.  Even though we don’t host the meal at our house, it still seems to be a hectic day.

Once you see how easy it is to make your own Cranberry Relish, you will not want the store-bought stuff!  This version is so fresh and citrusy and it could not be easier to make!

Now that fall is in full swing it has had me in the mood to make some of our favorite fall treats! What is better than caramel corn? How could you go wrong with popcorn, brown sugar, butter and vanilla? Popcorn is one of my absolute favorite foods. I can eat it in just about any variety. I made a batch of this delicious caramel corn over the weekend and my family went crazy over it!