fork at the ready....and spoon too!

The last few weeks have been jam packed with after school activities, dentist appointments and other time sapping things.   Not enough time to craft......bah.

At least I've managed to keep trying new recipes....a few didn't make the cut but most did.  One tilapia recipe was so awful, we literally walked to the trash and threw it out.  What a waste.

I tried several recipes from pinterest....click on the name to go to the link.  Some photos here are mine, some are theirs.  You can tell the difference since I take awful food photos!
If you are on pinterest and want to see my recipe changes, I put them in the comments on my "pinterest, tried and true board." 

This one is Cream Cheese Monkey Bread.   I made some changes including drizzling caramel sauce over the top when serving......guess it was good...it was gone in one fell swoop and declared a keeper!
Too bad I don't eat cream cheese.....

 I made another type of bread in the same manner called Parmesan Pull Apart Bread....with good results.  It is perfect for those times when you don't feel like baking "real" bread....or for a menu stretcher.

Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti was by far the biggest hit lately.  Oh. My. Gosh. Good.   I jazzed it up for us Louisiana folks....but the basic recipe is good too.

 Hamburger Steaks....something we southern girls know how to do, right? 
 I used to make this years ago before I met Dean.  Don't know WHY I stopped...but won't make that mistake again.  I doubled this recipe and it was ALL eaten.   
Dean and Matt groaned all night from eating so much.   I added onions and mushrooms....and it was just like home....without the black pepper crust daddy used to do.  That gravy was killer on baked potatoes! 

Last but not least is this soup called Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup.  The name is a mouthful...but the soup is a good one.   I did a few things differently basically using what I had on hand at the house...and oh my goodness, it was awesome....especially if you like tomato soup. 

I made some hefty grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with it.  The family LOVED it!

Today starts the weekend...(yay) and I get to start it off with dental work (boo).  
Maybe I should have saved some of that soup!