Category: Recipes

5 COZY FALL MEALS (QUICK & EASY!)

If you need some meal inspiration this fall that check the boxes for being quick, easy and yummy, you’ve come to the right place. As a busy mom of 4 I wanted to share 5 cozy fall meals that are quick and easy, that everyone (including my picky kiddos) enjoy.

  1. Instapot Chicken & Rice Soup
  2. Instapot Mississippi Pot Roast
  3. Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Chicken and Roasted Vegetables
  4. Tortellini with a Fall Salad (SOOO good)
  5. Beef Stroganoff over Rice

To see these recipes in the making, you can watch this video.

Instapot Chicken & Rice Soup

Dice vegetables below and saute in butter in instapot

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 onion

Add in the below ingredients to the instapot veggies

  • 3 cans chicken breast
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup rice medely (white, brown, wild) – can just use one if it’s all you have on hand
  • salt, pepper, thyme to taste + a bay leaf

Then pressure cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make a roux (2Tbsp butter & 2Tbsp flour) in a skillet on the stove that you will mix in with the soup when it is done cooking in the instapot.

Instapot Mississippi Pot Roast

I used this recipe, and just adjusted to instapot by cooking 20min per pound of meat, and adding in a cup of beef broth.

Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

  • 2 lbs of chicken thighs – marinated in salt, pepper, garlic powder, honey & mustard (just eyeball it!)
  • 2 onions – chopped
  • 1lb brussels sprouts – marinated in oil, salt & pepper
  • 1 butternut squash – halved and brushed with oil, salt & pepper (cook this face down on the baking sheet)

Place ingredients on sheet pan and bake for ~40 mins at 400 degrees. After done, drizzle balsamic glaze on the brussels sprouts and serve.

Tortellini with a Fall Salad

The tortellini is easy. Just follow the directions on the package, mine was boil for 7 mins. Then I just added a red sauce.

For the salad, you’re going to make the dressing in a jar and shake to mix. Then pour 3/4 the dressing over the kale and massage it in. After that, add all of the other salad ingredients. If eating right away (or within the hour) add the rest of the dressing and toss the salad to combine. If eating later, hold off adding the rest of the ingredients and tossing the salad until ready to serve.

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3T apple cider vinegar
  • 1T dijon
  • 1 minced clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

Salad:

  • 10 c (about 1 big bunch/ 2 small bunches) chopped kale
  • 1 1/2 lb roasted sweet potato or butternut squash
  • 1 diced apple
  • 1/2 cup roasted pecans
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (you could also use pomegranate!)
  • 1/2 cup (2oz) feta cheese (goat also works really well)

Beef Stroganoff over Rice

I use this recipe and serve it over rice instead of with noodles. You could do noodles or potatoes though if you wish!

That’s it for today, I hope you enjoy these recipes this fall (or winter)! Let me know what you think.

Weekly Meal Plan

Here are the recipes for the meal plan that I shared in the YT video!

Sunday: Mississippi Pot Roast

Monday: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tuesday: Sausage & Gnocchi Soup – from this cookbook – worth getting!

Wednesday: Taquitos w/ Rice & Beans

Thursday: *LEFTOVERS*

Saturday: Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin (w/ baked potatoes & a vegetable) – from this cookbook too.. lot’s of good recipes in it!

Friday: Quinoa ‘enchiladas’ w/ cornbread – see below – comes out more like a chili

Instructions: Add all ingredients below into a crockpot and cook on low for 3 hours. Then serve with avocado, lime, cilantro, tortilla chips, etc… Can also add shredded chicken if you wish.

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

1 cup uncooked quinoa

10 oz enchilada sauce

4.5 oz can chopped green chilis

14.5 oz can black beans

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 Tbsp fresh cilantro

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I tinkered around with this cookie recipe around Christmas time 2020 when I was on bedrest, pregnant with my third baby. It was such a hit it became my husbands favorite Christmas cookie of all time, and definitely is one of my favorites as well. The way I make it is to become a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips. I think they come out the best that way. You could add walnuts as well if you are a nut lover.

This recipe is pretty simple and yields about 3 dozen cookies. You can see us making them in action here.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients

1 cup + 2T butter, softened  (you basically want it room temperature – not cold, not melting – this is important)

3/4 cup white sugar 

3/4 cup brown sugar 

2 eggs 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

⅔ cup cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

¼ teaspoon salt 

2 cups white chocolate chips 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Directions

Preheat oven to 350 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the first 5 ingredients until light and fluffy.

Combine the rest of the ingredients except for the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Once combined, gradually add the mix into the butter/sugar mixture until well blended.

Mix in the white chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scoop (I use this 1.5 Tbsp one) to drop cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or just until set (they will finish cooking as they cool on the cookie sheet). Once cooled for a little, transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Slow Cooker Recipe

I first tried this meal when getting prepped for Rosemary to be born. I wanted to have lots of dinners freezer ready so that I didn’t have to make dinner for awhile after she was born. It was sooo good and such a comfort meal that I knew I wanted to make it again when we started getting into colder weather. Below is my adaptation of this recipe – I just tweaked a couple things to my preference. Mainly, I didn’t think it needed as much ham or cheese as the original recipe called for. This really does make a great freezer meal and the directions are pretty much to layer the ingredients in a bag instead of the slow cooker and freeze, but you can get more in depth directions on her site.

This recipe makes enough for about 6 people.

Ingredients for Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
  • 8 oz. deli ham
  • 10.75 oz. can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 box of instant stuffing
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Instructions for Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

You can see me make this recipe in this video

  1. Melt the butter and combine it with the cream of chicken soup and milk to make a ‘soup’
  2. Cut the chicken into cubes and place it at the bottom of the slow cooker.
  3. Pour half of the soup mixture over the chicken.
  4. Cut the ham into bite sized pieces and spread half of it over the chicken.
  5. Sprinkle half the cheese on top.
  6. Add half of the stuffing on top.
  7. Layer the remaining ham, cheese, and stuffing on top.
  8. Cook on low for 4 hours.

It’s that easy!! And it’s super delicious too. I have paired this with asparagus, broccoli, and most recently carrots & snap peas. I would say any vegetable would make a great side dish to this.

Hope you enjoy!

Starbucks Fall Drinks At Home

Save some money and get better flavor by making your own Starbucks fall drinks at home! The recipes are below, and you can watch how they are made here

White Chocolate Mocha

3T white chocolate chips

1/2 C espresso coffee

1/2 C Milk

Whipped Cream to top

Melt the chocolate chips with the milk, add your coffee and top with whipped cream!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup espresso blend coffee

2 T pumpkin puree

1 1/2 T sugar (or 1T agave)

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice

Whipped cream to top

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium low heat until sugar is dissolved and milk is warm. Top with whipped cream.

Addie’s Yummy & Healthy Granola Recipe

I happened to come up with this recipe because my store bought granola habit was getting expensive and out of hand. I couldn’t find a recipe online that spoke to me so I came up with this. Man, am I glad I did!! This recipe is not only healthy, but also so delicious and sooo easy to make (I skip the multiple steps that most recipes have). And one of the best parts about this recipe is that it’s completely customizable to whatever your preferences are. I hope you enjoy!

Healthy Granola Ingredients

6 cups oats

2 cups nuts

2 cups dried fruit or other favorite mix in

1/3 c – 1/2 c almond butter**

½ c coconut oil

½ c maple syrup

2t cinnamon**

1 1/2 t vanilla

2t salt

**For a fall version I like to substitute the almond butter for pumpkin puree & the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice.

My favorite nut combo is 3/4c pecans, 3/4c cashews, 1/2c pepitas (I like walnuts too) and my favorite other mix-ins are 1c dried cranberries and 1c shredded coconut (sometimes I’ll do cocoa nibs as well).

The best part about this recipe is that it doesn’t matter what you use in which combination as long as the nut ratio is about 2 cups and the other stuff is about 2 cups.

Healthy Granola Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients dry ingredients together in a stand mixer. Then add wet ingredients and mix well.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the oats are nicely toasted.

Let completely cool before transferring to a storage jar.

NOTE: If you are using chocolate in your granola you can choose to add it to the granola with everything else prior to baking OR mix it in after baking when the granola cools. Personally I think it is easier to do it all at the same time and I don’t mind the chocolate a little schmelty, but it is up to you!