Abbie Lynn <3

Would you believe me if I said it snowed in our area yesterday? We are in Central California so not only is this rare, but rain is also rare. I woke up at 4:50am to rain and wind and it's supposed to be like this through Tuesday. I have a little anxiety from last month when we had a huge storm (power lines down, it took me 1.5 hours to get Jace at school, we had a child who is still missing who got swept away in the flooding) and it will haunt me for a long time.  Anyways, I finally have the chance to share a Chicken Sesame recipe that I made earlier this week (or maybe last week, I'm not entirely sure) and it's from Kidney.org and can be found HERE . The original recipe is for the grill and we made ours on the stove.   Ingredients: 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (just spray a pan, add it to the stove on medium heat and let the seeds cook for a few minutes) 2 tsp ground ginger 2 tbsp honey 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce 1 tbsp Sherry Wine Vinegar 2 large chicken breasts Direc

This Stovetop Queso Cheese Dip was made for the Superbowl but you can really use it for any occasion! One bite and you will be in heaven! The original recipe is from Food Folks and Fun (I have made several recipes by them) and can be found HERE . This recipe is a smoked recipe but I changed the directions below since we just made ours on the stove.  Ingredients: 2 pounds Velveeta Cheese 1 pound ground beef 8oz sharp cheddar cheese 1 tbsp onion powder 1 large can diced tomatoes with green chilis 1 tbsp garlic powder 1/3 cup heavy cream Directions: Brown the ground beef in a large pot until done, about 5-7 minutes. Add the onion powder. Drain ground beef. Chop the Velveeta Cheese so it's in chunks. Add cheddar cheese, tomatoes, garlic powder and heavy cream to the same pot. Stir together until combined.  Simmer for 40 minutes. Serve with Fritos Scoops. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a super easy and super delicious taco dip, this is it! This is perfect for the Superbowl, family gatherings, or a weekend snack. All you need is 1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese, one taco seasoning packet, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, and grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half.  Step 1 - Mix the taco seasoning and cream cheese until smooth. I recommend leaving the cream cheese out to room temperature the morning you are using it or put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Add that layer as a bottom layer on a wide tray.  Step 2 - Add the shredded cheese.  Step 3 - Add shredded lettuce.  Step 4 - Add tomatoes. Step 5 - Place in the fridge for 1-3 hours. Step 6 - Enjoy with Fritos Scooops! 

One final recipe before watching the Superbowl - and although I will be late - I do have some Superbowl recipes that I will be writing about as well. We made this Stir Fry Lo Mein Chicken and Broccoli Recipe earlier this week. The original recipe was for a beef and broccoli recipe but we love our chicken! The original recipe we pulled from was from Serious Eats and can be found HERE . I removed salt because we don't use salt often in our recipes to cut down on sodium.  Ingredients for the chicken: 1-2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp monkfruit 1/8 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp Sherry cooking wine 1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce 1 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp cornstarch Ingredients for the sauce: 1 tbsp sesame oil 4 tsp soy sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce  1/4 tsp monkfruit 1 tsp Sherry cooking wine 1 tbsp water Ingredients for the Noodles: We used Ramen noodles and lo mein noodles (we just removed the seasoning packets) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1-2 big broccoli, cut into

Another day, another delicious chicken recipe. This time it's a Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs with Potatoes recipe. The full original recipe can be found HERE . I eliminated garlic clove and salt from the original recipe. Ingredients: 3-5 boneless chicken thighs 3/4 tbsp garlic powder 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 cup honey 2 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard 1 1/2 tbsp honey mustard 1/4 cup water 2 potatoes, cut into chunks Dried thyme or Oregano Directions: Season chicken thighs with pepper and garlic powder. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, make the sauce by combining both mustards, honey and water and mix well.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet (preferably one that can go into the oven) and sear the chicken until it becomes golden and crisp - 3-5 minutes on each side.  Add thyme or oregano, mustard sauce, and potatoes to the skillet and combine all around the chicken. Bring the sauce to a simmer for about 5 minutes and season with more pepper.  Transfer to an oven-safe skillet or pan an

I know, I know, it seems like every recipe lately has been a chicken recipe but, what can I say, we are starting to find better and better chicken recipes so that truly is a lot of what we have had lately. Earlier this week we had Chicken Fried Chicken and it was SO good. That is another thing I say often, but really, I will definitely be making this again and I wish I would have made more. The original recipe can be found HERE . I purchased a country gravy packet so I didn't make the gravy portion that is in the original recipe. I don't typically use salt so I did not add it. I used milk in place of buttermilk and no hot sauce. Ingredients: 10 thin sliced chicken breasts 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 1/2 cup milk 1 egg Vegetable oil for frying Directions: Heat oil in a large pan on the stove. Once you can flick water on it and it starts to sizzle, that's when you know it's ready. While it's getting ready, in a

My amazing Nana got me a bread maker for Christmas and I have been so excited to use it. I used it this past weekend and I was a little nervous because I've never used a bread maker before. I do remember my mom making bread when we were growing up and I remember the smell and how it made the whole house smell amazing. I started looking at recipes online and realized that the recipe I wanted to make required bread machine yeast and bread machine flour. I never knew there was such thing! So I ordered it from Amazon, did my first loaf and, let me tell you, it was really good! I was rather impressed for my first time making bread in the bread maker. The recipe is from All Recipes and can be found HERE .  Ingredients: 1 cup warm water 2 tbsp monkfruit .25oz bread machine yeast 1/4 cup vegetable oil 3 cups bread flour 1 tsp salt Directions: Place water, monkfruit (sugar) and yeast in the pan of the bread machine. The water should look like dirty water and it may foam a little bit. After

I am officially in my 8th year of entering and winning giveaways, sweepstakes and freebies. I can't believe that I have been entering for 8 years! I have won so many amazing things and it has become a second job for me. Most of my wins are from Instagram or email. In the past, a lot of my wins were on Facebook but it seems like I don't win on that platform as much now.  If you want to enter giveaways and need a tagging buddy, please send me a message before you start tagging me and we can tag each other.  Facebook Page - Personal Twitter Page - Personal Instagram Page - Personal Below is a list of freebies that I have won every year since 2015: Freebies 2015 Freebies 2016 Freebies 2017 Freebies 2018 Freebies 2019 Freebies 2020 Freebies 2021 Freebies 2022  So far, my favorite wins have been a meet and greet with Sublime with Rome, $4,000 in Visa gift cards ($2,000 for me and $2,000 for my fiance), concert tickets to see Pitbull in concert, a $600 gift card to Nordstrom, and 6 va

Earlier this week we made this delicious Baked Breaded Chicken recipe from Food Folks and Fun . This isn't the first Food Folks and Fun recipe we have made. This recipe is super easy to make. We had two large chicken breasts and the only recommendation I have is cutting them in half if they are large so they cook faster. Besides that, this went perfectly with broccoli and mashed potatoes with gravy.  Ingredients: 2 large chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3 cups buttermilk 2 cups bisquik 1 tbsp season salt 3 eggs 1/2 cup unsalted butter (I only buy unsalted) Directions: Place chicken breasts in a bowl and cover them with buttermilk. Let milk soak for 20 minutes.  In a medium bowl, stir the baking mix and seasoned salt. In another bowl, mix the three eggs. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a cast iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Slice the butter into tbsp sized pieces and place in the pan. Place the pan in the oven for five minutes to let the butter melt.  Whi

A few nights ago we made these delicious Cajun Chicken Thighs. The original recipe is from Kidney Health (CA) and is a grilling recipe. We put ours in the oven and baked them and they were delicious. Kevin and I absolutely loved them and this will be in our regular dinner rotation. These chicken thighs are not really spicy and go perfectly with broccoli and rice.  Ingredients: - 16 boneless skinless chicken thighs (I made 5 but the rub makes up to 16) - 1 tbsp brown sugar - 1 tbsp smoked paprika - 1 tbsp garlic powder - 1 tbsp onion powder - 2 tsp That's Amore by Pinch Spice Market - Black pepper - Olive Oil and/or Vegetable Oil Directions: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except the chicken thighs and oil.  Rinse the chicken thighs and pat dry. Brush with oil and coat with the rub. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serve with broccoli and rice.  PS: The photo doesn't do it any justice. Our plates were clean!

Happy Friday! I can finally say that I am so happy that the weekend is here. It seems like I always have a "crazy week" but I am so ready for a break. I just want to lay in bed and binge watch "You" on Netflix. Anyone else? Earlier this week we made this delicious Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe. This recipe from Moms Dish can be found here: https://momsdish.com/recipe/421/easy-sweet-and-sour-chicken I initially royally messed up on making this chicken but I kind of turned it into my own (and I've fried chicken enough to know how to do it) so my updated directions are below. I removed salt from the ingredients (I hardly ever use salt), I used garlic powder instead of garlic cloves, and did not use garlic parsley salt. Ingredients: 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 cup cornstarch 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2-1 cup of vegetable oil 2 eggs 1/2 cup sugar/monkfruit 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce 1/3 cup no sugar ketchup 1/2 cup apple cider vi