Disclosure:  This post is sponsored, but all opinions are honest and are my own.  #dinnereggs

If you need to get out of the "same old thing for dinner rut", this savory Dutch baby is for you.  It is easy to prepare, but tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen.  It's perfect for a quick weeknight meal and you can change it up by varying your toppings.  

A dutch baby is kind of like a cross between an omelette and a giant popover.  It is truly delicious and this savory version is even better with herbs, parmesan cheese, basil pesto, and fresh ingredients including eggs, baby bella mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, and pancetta.  

This meal works well for families because everyone can choose their favorite slice.  I have one child who would eat fried eggs for every meal if he could.  Another who eats asparagus like french fries.  And another who loves sauteed mushrooms and pancetta.  You can vary the toppings to your families' preferences with different meats, vegetables, and cheeses, but I have to admit, this combination is completely delectable.  

Savory Dutch Baby
Serves: 6-8
Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients: 
​4 T. butter, separated
6 eggs at room temperature 
1 C. whole milk at room temperature
1 C. flour
Fresh ground salt and pepper (2-3 good grinds)
1/2 C. shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried dill

Toppings:
Basil pesto (store bought is delicious and saves time)
1 fresh tomato, diced (I used orange tomatoes from the garden)
2 oz pancetta, diced
2-3 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
A few asparagus spears, ends trimmed
1-2 eggs, fried 
1/2 lemon for fresh squeezed lemon juice
Extra shredded parmesan cheese
​
1.  Preheat oven with large 12" iron skillet in center of oven to 425 degrees F. 
2.  Melt 2 T. butter and combine with rest of the batter ingredients in an emersion blender or blender.
3.  Add 2 T. butter to the hot skillet in the oven and using oven mitts tilt or rotate skillet to coat the pan with butter.  
4.  Pour the batter into the hot pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Resist the urge to open the oven until it has baked for 15-20 minutes so it doesn't fall.  
5.  While the Dutch baby is baking, prepare toppings.  Saute pancetta and mushrooms.  In the same pan you can saute a few asparagus spears in a little butter while cooking the pancetta and mushrooms. Salt and pepper toppings to taste as you prepare them.
6.  When the dutch baby is done, let it cool slightly and settle for a couple of minutes.
7.  Spread basil pesto on the Dutch baby.  Top with asparagus, mushrooms and pancetta, and diced tomatoes or your favorite toppings.  
8.  Finish with fresh lemon juice and extra parmesan.  To easily serve, cut into slices with kitchen shears.  

Note: This is a large recipe which serves 6-8.  You can cut the recipe size down and use a smaller pan if needed.  

Have you tried CBD yet?  I have taken it before and when offered this review decided that yes it would be nice to try this formula too.  This was my first time trying the CBD Tincture formula.  It is easy to take.  I just put a dropper of the liquid under my tongue once a day in the morning or evening.  It has a slightly minty taste and is very mild.  You can also put it in food or a beverage.  

Our lives have been so busy and kind of stressful lately with our upcoming move and I feel like taking this CBD has helped me stay calm in the chaos.  In fact I had been having trouble sleeping and took a Medterra CBD + melatonin sleep tablet one night and I had the most restful night of sleep I had experienced in a long time.  

Medterra CBD Oil Tincture is made with Medterra’s 99%+ CBD and MCT oil in strengths of 500 mg, 1000 mg, and 3000 mg.  Grown and extracted in the United States, their CBD is fully compliant under the Kentucky Department of Agricultural Industrial Hemp Pilot Program.  We live in a small college town in KY (my husband teaches in the college of Ag), and the hemp industry is really growing.  There is a lot of promise for hemp in the field of agriculture here in KY.  Supporting the hemp industry supports Kentucky farmers.  

​Use promo code MomsMeet to save 15% off your first Medterra order by visiting momsmeet.link/medterra or clicking here.

Now that my summer class is over, I'm playing catch-up on the blog.  It will still be a busy month with packing up the house for our upcoming move and some traveling, but I am hoping to get a little work done here too.  This is a very old post, but one of our favorites.  I took new photos a few months ago and am finally getting this updated.  

Our garden is pretty sparse this year.  We have tomatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes.  We didn't plant much since we will be moving in a month, but did put a few things in the community garden since my husband runs it.  I love recipes that use fresh summer vegetables this time of year so if you planted eggplant, keep this one handy.  You will love it!  

I will admit, this is not my kids' favorite, but my husband and I love it.  So invite some grown-ups over, open a bottle of wine and enjoy a slow summer night.  Bonus, the left-overs are delicious too!  

Here's the line-up.  You need to get your batter ready in three bowls like this for coating the eggplant.  

Once the eggplant slices are coated, you will bake them on a wire rack on a baking pan till crisp.  

Then remove the wire rack and arrange eggplant overlapping on a baking pan.  Drizzle sauce on the eggplant and then top with mozzarella and parmesan.  Broil till cheese melts.  

Serve with spaghetti pasta and extra sauce and parmesan.  A salad would round this meal out nicely.  

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• Fresh ground salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs (Italian or plain)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided (or more)
• 2 eggplants
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1.  In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the oil. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the Italian seasoning, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes. 

2.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Set up a breading station using 3 dishes.  In the first dish, add the flour and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  In the second dish whisk the eggs with 1/2 cup water. In the third dish combine the panko crumbs and 2 tablespoons Parmesan and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Peel and slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices.  Coat them in flour, then in the egg wash and then in the panko crumbs. 

3.  Spray the racks with cooking spray.  Arrange the eggplant on 2 sheet trays fitted with racks and bake in oven until crispy, about 20 to 25 minutes.  

4.  Turn the oven to broil.  Put the eggplant, overlapping, into a baking dish in rows.  Cover each row with about a cup of sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.  Put under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 3 to 4 minutes.  When broiling leave the oven door cracked open and put the pan on the top rack in the oven.  Serve the eggplant parmesan with spaghetti noodles and the remaining sauce.

This easy, healthy quinoa salad is one of our favorite summer treats.  It is so versatile, you can change up the ingredients to your liking.  This simple recipe has our favorite mix-ins, but you could add your favorite veggies or even some feta cheese or diced salami.  

This is so easy!  You just make some quinoa then mix everything in.  

This easy salad is perfect for busy summer days.  If you follow me on instagram or facebook you may have seen that we are in the process of packing for a move.  Moving with four kids is never easy, but we are still looking for a house, I am taking a summer grad class, and my husband has been gone a lot for conferences.  My mom came and helped for a week so we got a lot accomplished.  Thank you, mom!  So during this crazy busy summer, dinner is going to be easy!  

Quinoa Salad
 
Ingredients
 
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. garlic, minced
2 cups quinoa
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
½ medium onion, diced (I like red or sweet)
2 tomatoes, diced
3-4 mini sweet peppers diced
1 (3.8 oz.) can black olives, sliced and drained
¼ cup plus 2 T. olive oil
1 ½ T. balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs to taste and for garnish (chives, basil, parsley, whatever you like)
 

1. Combine the vegetable broth, garlic and quinoa in a pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 12 minutes until done. 
2. Combine cooked quinoa and all other ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir.  Serve warm or chilled.  I like it best chilled, especially in this warm weather.  

I don't know about you, but our lives are crazy busy this time of year.  Our big evening time commitment has been baseball practice and games.  And with all four boys home from school and bouncing off the walls, it's a little harder to do anything too complicated.  Plus I don't like to spend a long time in the kitchen when it warms up outside.  

We love Mexican style food so I usually have everything on hand to make quick and easy dishes like this taco pie.  Some more of our favorites...Kid Friendly Oven Baked Tacos, Easy Weeknight Chicken Fajitas, Easy Enchilladas.  

I should also mention that I don't use any taco or any other prepackaged seasoning mixes.  I generally avoid those kinds of processed foods, plus I think real food seasoned simply just tastes better.  This recipe is so simple.  Just 6 ingredients plus salt and pepper to taste and all of your favorite sides and condiments.  We love guacamole and make it all the time.  This will be so good with fresh tomatoes and salsa this time of year.  

Ingredients:  
1 1/2 lb. ground venison or lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel, I use mild store brand)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
8-12 oz. shredded cheese (depending on how cheesy you like it)
Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  Brown meat with onion, garlic and cumin.  Add tomatoes and half the cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Use a large oven proof skillet or transfer to an oven safe dish.
3.  Add remaining cheese on top.  
4.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Serve with your favorites: 
Tortilla chips
Hard or soft taco shells
Lettuce
Tomato
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Corn
Cilantro
Lime

Disclosure:  I received complimentary product in exchange for an honest review.  ​

You may not be thinking about cozy pajamas in May, but these Ugly Christmas Sweater pajamas are perfect for cool spring nights.  And if you are traveling at all this summer, they are extra snuggly for cold air conditioned hotel rooms.  We have been traveling a lot and we experienced some cold stormy weather last weekend so I was glad to have these warm, cozy jammies in my suitcase.  

And here's the fun part, remember the attic scene in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation when Clark got stuck in the attic wearing these dinosaur pajamas.  National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time and now I have my own dinosaur pajamas just like Clark Griswold!  

I ordered a woman's medium, but the small probably would have fit just fine.  I am on the tall side so I wanted the extra length of a medium.  These are made from soft velour fabric.  The pants are elastic at the waist and the top is button front.  These are super comfy, the coziest pajamas!  

Want to win your own favorite pajamas from UglyChristmasSweater.com?  Winner's choice of any pajamas or onesie.  

I never intended to write this recipe as a post, but when this throw-together leftover soup was so good, I knew I had to.  I had a nice size piece of leftover roast beef that we just weren't finishing in the fridge so I decided to make this leftover makeover recipe for dinner last night and we loved it.  

One thing I love about making soup is how forgiving it is.  You could substitute your meats and vegetables in this soup and try different combinations to use what you have on hand and clean out your fridge.  A great way to reduce food waste.  

To start this soup, I sauteed onion, mushrooms, and garlic in a little olive oil to tenderize and caramelize.  I ended up adding a little butter when I thought it needed it.  Then I added the rest of the ingredients and continued to cook over a medium heat until soup started to bubble.  I then reduced heat to a simmer and continued to cook for 25-30 minutes.  

Easy, healthy and delicious soup perfect for busy weeknights and a great way to use up leftovers and reduce your food waste.  Which will save you money too.  The less food you waste, the more money you will save.  

Note:  If you do not have leftover roast, you could use beef for stew or ground beef or venison.  You would need to brown the meat first with the onion, mushrooms, and garlic.  If you are using beef for stew instead of leftover roast, you may need to simmer longer to make sure meat is tender.  

Ingredients:
2-3 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, chopped 
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. butter (if you need it while sauteing)
1-2 pounds leftover beef roast, cubed
1 can 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes
1 bag (10-16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
1 quart (4 cups) vegetable or beef broth
2 cups water
1 tsp. creole seasoning (We like Tony Chachere's)
Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste

​1.  Saute onion, mushrooms, and garlic adding a little butter for flavor as needed in a dutch oven or large pot.  Cook until vegetables tenderize and caramelize a little.  
2.  Add beef, diced tomatoes, mixed vegetables, broth, water, and seasonings.  Bring to a low bubble, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes (20-30) to blend flavors.   

I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

Allergy season is always a tough time for me.  It has been so bad in the past that I have had to lie down with a wet wash cloth over my eyes to feel some relief.  My eyes are sensitive.  It doesn't take much for them to water, even bright sunlight can have me squinting and tearing up.  I knew I was a good candidate to try Similasan Allergy Eye Relief because of my experiences with seasonal allergies.  

My husband and I have both been using these eye drops this allergy season and have found them refreshing and soothing.  So much better than the itching, watering, burning, downright painful experiences of my past.  

These drops come in a glass bottle so you actually squeeze the plastic tip instead of the bottle.  It seems a little odd at first, but they are actually very easy to use.  

Similasan Allergy Eye Relief drops are made with natural active ingredients of Eyebright (Euphrasia) and Sabadilla which are flowers.  Eyebright (Euphrasia) is intended to temporarily relieve minor symptoms such as a thick mucus and/or watery discharge, redness, and swelling of the eyelid. Sabadilla is intended to temporarily relieve minor symptoms such as watering eyes and eyelid redness.  

These eye drops do not contain antihistamines or vasoconstrictors.  

• Vasoconstrictors: harsh chemicals that constrict blood vessels and as a result cause what’s known as the “rebound effect,” typically if used more than four times per day. Often found in eye drops indicated for allergies or redness, common vasoconstrictor chemicals are naphazoline hydrochloride and tetrahydrozoline.
  
• Antihistamines: harsh chemicals such as Pheniramine maleate or ketotifen fumarate found in competitive allergy eye drops.
  

Similasan Allergy Eye Relief drops are available at a long list of retailers including Amazon, CVS, Dollar General, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Meijer, and Walmart.  

You may have already seen this on facebook and instagram because this proud mama posted it everywhere.  My husband who tends to be really creative made a fairy garden last week with the boys to enter in the Murray Woman's Club Floral and Iris Show.  

The boys gathered everything for this project from the yard and the arboretum which is basically an extension of the back yard.  

So much detail!  They meticulously glued sticks together to build the house and furniture using a hot glue gun.  

I love this little fishing pole.  My husband made a little clay fish to dangle on the line.  

They even made a little clothes line and tiny iridescent clothes to hang on the line.  This stone was borrowed from our flower beds.  

The boys made this tiny pecan shell vase and arranged small flowers in it.  Our oldest made this little table and stool from sticks and an acorn.  

My husband chipped away bits of stone from the large stone to make these little stepping stones.  

I think this little tree is adorable.  It is made from four pieces of Juniper glued together.  
​

The boys were so excited to win 1st place in the fairy garden competition!  

I made a quick video of the fairy garden and posted to youtube.  

The boys did an amazing job and had fun doing it!  I am so proud of them and my awesome husband.  

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of McCain Foods. The opinions and text are all mine. #MyMcCainPotatoes #CollectiveBias

If you have been to our house for any type of get-together, you have probably had our pork carnitas. We love pork carnitas!  It's one of our favorite things to serve when gathering around the TV to watch the big game with family and friends.    

I decided to take my pork carnitas up a notch with McCain® potatoes to get game day ready!  Doesn't that look delicious!  Crispy fries on top of pork carnitas!  Yum!  
​

McCain® products are available at Walmart in the frozen potatoes section.  There is even a handy sign above the potatoes section so you can't miss it.  

McCain® potatoes are the perfect addition to this game day pork carnitas spread.  I used McCain® Seasoned Curly Fries Seasoned Potato Fries which add a burst of delicious flavor to any meal.  The kids loved them.  I also used McCain® Extra Crispy Crinkle Fries which were my husband's favorite and McCain® Craft Beer Battered Thin Cut Fries which were my favorite.  

This is the perfect game day spread for watching the big game with family and friends!  With so many choices, there is something for everyone.  

Serve in tortillas or alone.  McCain potatoes make the perfect crispy topping for pork carnitas.  

Ingredients:  
4 or more pounds pork shoulder ( also known as Boston butt)
Small amount of oil
1/2 T. (approximately) fresh ground salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 T. oregano
1T. cumin
1 sweet onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C. orange juice
1 C. or more real sugar cola 
Fresh squeezed lime juice and more fresh ground salt and pepper for flavoring the finished pork.
McCain frozen potatoes of choice

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  
2.  Cut the meat into chunks and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin.  Brown the meat in a small amount of oil (I use coconut oil) in a large dutch oven.  
3.  Then add onion, garlic, orange juice, and cola.  
4.  Cook covered in the oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or so, until the meat easily shreds with a fork.  
5.  Remove any bones and shred the meat adding extra cooking liquid back to the meat.   If you like you can put the meat under the broiler to crisp the edges for 5 to 10 minutes.  
6.  Salt and pepper to taste and squeeze fresh lime juice over the top.  
7.  Prepare McCain potatoes according to package directions. 

Serve pork carnitas with McCain potatoes, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, salsa, guacamole, tortillas, sour cream, and sliced limes for the perfect game day spread.  

I serve in an iron skillet because I think it looks attractive, but it is also handy for re-warming the meat on the stove if desired.  When re-warming, add a small amount of cola or broth to the skillet for moisture.