A Beach Wedding & Vacation....

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If you have been keeping up with the blog's Facebook Page, then you know I haven't been posting much lately.  I've been kind of on a little "hiatus" so to speak for the last week.

My little brother and his fiancee' tied the knot this past weekend and guess who was the flower girl? 

Yep...little miss Ava ;)  

They also asked Husband Man to take their wedding photos ;)  

The wedding was on the coast of Wilmington, NC.  We had so much fun!  We turned this event into a one week vacation for us because we NEEDED it....desperately.  I cannot even remember when was the last time we left our house for one whole week.

My parents live in North Carolina so we spent some quality time with them as well.  We had so much fun connecting with family and friends we haven't seen in so long (at least 3 to 11 years) due to being stationed so far away from home.

We returned to Louisiana on Friday and have been spending the weekend getting settled back into our routine of things.

It was such a wonderful vacation and just reminded me of how much I miss and love the Carolinas!  

Congratulations to my little brother and his beautiful new wife!  We LOVE you!!

~Stay tuned for more recipes~

Vanilla and Chocolate Eclair Dessert

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What do you get when you combine graham crackers, vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, and chocolate?  You get this lovely dessert in the picture above.

Back when I was a working woman (outside the home), one of my co-workers came to a meeting toting this lovely dessert with her.

When she told me it was an Eclair Cake, the first thought that came to my mind was, "now how in the world could you take ingredients from those lovely Eclair doughnuts in the stores and make it into a cake??"

Oh...how I was so young back then!  

I didn't understand how it all could fit into a cake...lol.

I never had a chance to obtain her recipe, however, a few years later, I stumbled upon this recipe, which is VERY close to hers.  It has been in our family since then.

You will have everyone fooled into thinking you spent hours on this cake.  When really, it only takes 15 minutes to make!  That's it.  

Make it the evening before you need it and have it chill overnight in the fridge. 

So simple and easy....you can't go wrong with it :) 

Vanilla and Chocolate Eclair Dessert

(makes 18 servings)

Ingredients:

1 box of graham crackers

3 cups of cold milk

2 packages (4 serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Flavored Instant Pudding and Pie Filling

1 tub (12 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

1 container (16 oz.) chocolate fudge frosting

Strawberries (optional)

Directions:

1.  Arrange 1/3 of the crackers on the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan.  Break the crackers to fit, if necessary.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the milk, packages of Jell-O pudding, and Cool Whip.  Mix until thickened up a little.

3.  Spread half of the pudding mixture onto the graham crackers. 

4.  Place half of the remaining crackers over the pudding.

5.  Top with remaining pudding and crackers.

6.  Open your container of fudge frosting and microwave on high for one minute.

7.  Spread evenly over the crackers.

8.  Refrigerate dessert for 4 hours or overnight.  Garnish with strawberries if desired.

Libby's Notes:  You could also make this dessert in banana, double chocolate, or pistachio.  Just change up the flavor of the pudding mix :)

Recipes Source:  From the cookbook, Jell-O Classic Recipes.

Cinna-Apple Pecan Oatmeal {Slow Cooker Monday}

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Cinnamon, apples, and pecans.  They all scream FALL!!

If you put these together and mix with some other ingredients, you will have one very fabulous meal just waiting to be gobbled up.

I haven't had any luck in the slow cooker department lately so I was skeptical at trying this recipe out for fear of failure.  

However, this recipe caught my eye while surfing the net, so I had to at least give it a shot.

I have never tried pecans in my oatmeal so this experience was first for me.  I must say that I am now a fan.

This is the perfect recipe to usher in the fall season and so simple to make!  

Just peel and slice the apples, combine everything in the slow cooker, and cook on low.  That's it.  Literally.

Make it now...and report back to me later ;)

Cinna-Apple Pecan Oatmeal

(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

2 cups milk (we used 1%)

2 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup apple slices (peeled and cut)

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1 and 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions:

1.  Spray slow cooker with cooking spray to prevent food from sticking.

2.  Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl.

3.  Pour ingredients into slow cooker.

4.  Cook on low 5-6 hours.

Recipe Source:  Adapted from Get Crocked.  Original recipe HERE.  

Baked Zucchini Fries

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Ever wonder what else you can do with all that zucchini just sitting in your fridge??  I have had this same question pop up time and time again this year.

Which is why when I came across this recipe a few weeks ago over on Pinterest, I had to try it!  

I don't know about y'all, but we LOVE homemade fries over here.  We highly prefer those any day over the packaged frozen ones you can buy in the stores.  We have tried making them with a regular ole' potato and with sweet potatoes.  

Now we can add zucchini to our list ;)

These turned out VERY well and are soooo addicting to eat!  You can't just eat one.  They are crispy and crunchy out the outside..and firm but soft on the inside.

We had ours with ranch dressing, however, you can eat them with marinara sauce or just eat em' plain.  

What a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies too!  

Try em out and see for yourself ;)  

Baked Zucchini Fries

(one zucchini makes 10-12 fries)

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini, sliced into skinny sticks

2 large eggs, beaten

3 heaping Tbsp. of flour

1 cup bread crumbs (we used Panko)

4 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  We placed tin foil over a baking sheet and sprayed it.  Set aside.

2.  In a small bowl, beat eggs with fork until well mixed.  

3.  In another bowl, place the flour.

4.  In a third bowl, place your bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.  Mix till well combined.

5.  Dip the zucchini sticks into the flour, then eggs, and then into the bread crumbs, making sure to coat all the sides well.  Place on prepared baking sheet.  

6.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the outside is golden brown and crispy.  

7.  Serve with Ranch dressing, marinara sauce, or just plain.  

Recipe Source:  Adapted from the blog, The Comfort of Cooking.  Original recipe HERE.

Blessed Opportunities...Again!

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************UPDATE***************

The second article has been published, click HERE to read and share ;)

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I am taking a break from posting a recipe today to let y'all in on something big that just happened to me recently.  

When I say big...I mean...big!  

Military Spouse Magazine has been looking for Military Spouse writers from each branch of the Armed Forces.  When I found this out, I took a chance and submitted a little piece to them called, "Cookbooks and Combat Boots."  

Well my friends....they enjoyed it so much that they asked me to write two articles for their online publication....but that's not all....

If these two articles do well, depending on the response...they will possibly look into making it an online series, titled "Cookbooks and Combat Boots."  Yes...you heard right...a 'series.' ;)  

I am beyond thrilled that they even wanted me to write two articles for them to publish online.  I mean...little ole' me...writing for a National publicized magazine's online population. It completely blew my mind when I received the news!

My focus for these two articles will obviously be about food and how it ties into my experience with life and being a Military Spouse.  

I can't do this alone though.  

This is where you, my readers, come in to save the day....

The articles have already been written and published.  All you have to do is go the magazine's site and read it.  That's it ;)  

No gimmicks.  No entering of contests.  Just pure and simple reading :)  If you feel the urge to share the article, please do so...however, it will not be needed :)  

The first article can be found HERE.
The second article can be found HERE.

I can't say again how blessed of an opportunity this is for me and how truly grateful I am to all of my readers :)

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!

....look out for more recipes coming your way...

Pumpkin Pie Pudding {Slow Cooker Monday}

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It has been almost a month since I have posted on this blog. 

Part of my absence had to do with family visiting, another part of it had to do with home renovations, and yet, another part of it had to do with recipes that have not worked out for me.

It just seemed that no matter which meal I picked to try, my slow cooker was determined to utter these words to me, "This will not be a blog-worthy recipe today.  Keep trying."  

It was like it was sitting on the counter, laughing it up each time I poured ingredients into it.  It made me leary of trying new recipes, for fear of them failing and wasting money on groceries.

I pressed on though and after weeks of doing battle, I finally won with this dessert!

If you enjoy pumpkin pie, then you will LOVE this recipe!

It has all the ingredients that remind you of autumn...

cinnamon, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice....shall I go on??

This literally is like eating a slice of pumpkin pie, minus the crust.  

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, dump it all in the slow cooker, and cook on low for 3-4 hours.  

Easy peasy.  You can't go wrong with this recipe.  You just can't.

As for my slow cooker, I am at one with it now...wonder how long it will last? ;)

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

(makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

One (15 oz.) can pumpkin pie puree' (NOT the pumpkin pie filling)

One (12 oz.) can of evaporated milk 

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup all purpose baking mix (we used Bisquick)

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp. butter, melted

2 and 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. of vanilla extract

Whipped cream, pecans, and ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1.  Spray slow cooker with cooking spray to prevent the pudding from sticking to the surface.

2.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl, except for the whipped cream and pecans.

3.  Place ingredients in the slow cooker.  

4.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

5.  Garnish each serving with whipped cream, pecans, and ground cinnamon if desired.

Recipe Source:  Adapted from Gooseberry Patch's 101 Slow Cooker Recipes.  Original recipe HERE.