{Renaissance Man}

We don't give gifts to Chad's coworkers for Christmas, we normally bake. This year Chad wanted to make them a SUPER SPECIAL goody, and he made it all by himself! Quite the renaissance man I have on my hands. If anyone has ever made a cheese cake you know how tedious it can be, he did a great job and I am sure the guys at the funeral home loved it!

Red Velvet Cheesecake 

{it is slap your momma good. I know, I almost slapped Big Val the first time she ever made it...}

Poring the batter into the pan, after he pondered why in the world he put vinegar in a cheesecake...

Baked and settled, 3 hours after we started!!!

Making the cream cheese icing, YUM!!

All done!

This really is an amazing desert, it has a chocolate crust, red velvet cheesecake and a cream cheese icing. Heaven on a plate!

{Kraft foods, how we get to eat a homemade meal each night...}

I have a long commute, we all know this. Because of this it is really easy to fall into the eating out all of the time trap. Due to our new venture of Dave Ramsey's total money makeover and our vanity for our waistlines so not expand we try to cook every night except Friday and Saturday. My sister-in-law, Kristy, introduced me to Kraft Food & Family Magazine and let me tell you, it is AMAZING!!! Over the past week and a half I have made the three recipes below and ALL of them were amazing. And, best part- they don't take very many ingredients, don't take too much time and there is PLENTY left over so we eat it for a couple of days. They include the nutritional information with each recipe as well as tips to make it healthier and how to spice it up!

Here are the three dishes I have made:

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Breakfast Bake {I served this with a side salad}

French Onion-Pork Chop Skillet {This has been our FAVORITE!}

{Baby, its cold outside!}

Well, it is finally fall. We had the windows open last night and I froze! Charlotte won't even go out on the cold grass. And...we turned our heat on this morning! I love the smell of the first time the heat runs after the spring and summer.

Chad made dinner last night! He made the Cooking Light Meatloaf and some garlic mashed potatoes {they were the Publix brand instant Garlic mashed potatoes and they were DELICIOUS!!!!} It was such a treat to come home and have dinner made, and yummy comfort food at that. I think I will keep him around. :)

{How thrifty am I?}

I ate a tofu taco from my beloved Barberitos last night and my tummy is PISSED. I have not felt well all day so dinner was a challenge tonight. My hubby wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup, yummy, sounds great! One problem- when I made the grocery store run the other day I did not plan this as a meal so we didn't have any soup. Well, I wasn't going to let that stop me! I found a can of Hunt's tomato sauce in the pantry added it to a pot with some milk {and baking soda so the milk wouldn't curdle}, dried basil and some minced garlic cloves. Let me tell you, it was slap your momma good! I think I impressed Chad with my culinary skills tonight. Paula ain't got nothin' on me!