Real life with Lar

Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes in a Bourbon Cream Sauce An easy yet decadent recipe sure to make your family feel loved and happy. It's that time of year when Louisville, Kentucky starts the 2 week Derby Celebration.  I know, I know a 2 week celebration for a 2 minute horse race? Well, it is the most exciting 2 minutes of the year in our humble opinion. Kentucky has been our home for over 17 years, and every year is just as exciting as the first one.  Another thing that Kentucky is famous for, besides the Derby, is bourbon. So I thought it would be fun to share a recipe I created that includes a delicious bourbon cream sauce. (Although the bourbon is optional it takes this amazing sauce to the next level! Trust me! 😏) I love to create in the kitchen. It helps me to unwind after a stressful day.  I never really liked to cook but a friend of mine told me some years back that, "Cooking was a labor of love. Just look at how happy your fami...

Chicken Love Soup I love scooping the soup up with these chips! Is there anything better than a nice warm cup of soup?  I love soup on a cold winter day. Snuggled up on the couch, watching a good movie, and enjoying a delicious cup of soup is a bit of heaven of earth, in my opinion. Only thing that would make it more cozy is big fluffy snow flakes falling outside.   My foodie friend Robyn is the inspiration for this yummy warming soup. This is actually my all time favorite soup.  I have just tweaked it a little for my family, but I'll link her original recipe here... h ttp://housewifecooking.blogspot.com/2009/04/creamy-tortilla-soup.html Robyn's original recipe includes how she makes fresh tortilla strips.  I use the Garden of Eatin Red Hot Blue Corn Chips. Beware they are addicting.   Here's my spin on Chicken LOVE Soup... You will need... 3 Shallots, peeled and chopped 1 c Red Onion, diced 1 T. Vegetabl...

Poodle Noodles (Name explained in the post😎) In the heart of Chinatown, in Washington DC, we found this awesome Chinese restaurant. It made the most  delicious noodle dish. It was a combination of fresh made noodles, fried garlic, shredded vegetables tossed in a sesame oil  and topped with chili sauce. For less than $5 each we could get a HUGE bowl of this amazing noodle dish. When we got home from our second vacation from Washington DC I decided to come up with my own version for the noodle dish. It was a hit. Whenever the girls requested the noodle dish my youngest girl (Who was obsessed with the Dr. Suess book "Fox in Socks") would say, 'Momma can you make some POODLE EATIN NOODLES'. This was her favorite page to read in the whole book and the name stuck. It's an easy, quick, tasty recipe. All you need is... 1    Bottle of House of Tsang Peanut sauce 1-2 Bags of Broccoli Slaw  1    Large Onion, thinly sliced 2T ...

Chicken  Burritos I know I have said this before but it is worth mentioning again. Nothing helps make the weekday dinners go smoother than a little meal prep. The #1 tip is to bake a big pack of chicken. You can make casseroles, throw it shredded into salads, and the list goes on and on. Today I am going to share the  recipe for the most delicious Chicken Burritos.  Literally takes less than 15 minutes to make and your family will love them.  Here's what you need: 2-3 cups Cooked shredded Chicken Breast 2 T of Butter 1 T Garlic Powder Cayenne Pepper (to taste) Package of Flour Tortillas (you could use Corn if you wanted tacos instead) 1 15 oz can of Fat Free Refried Beans (we are going to add in our own fat) 4 Slices Bacon/Pancetta  ( you could also use Chorizo) Toppings: Sour Cream Avocado Cilantro Salsa Green Onion Lime  Shredded Cheese To make... In a pan over med heat add the bacon or choriz...

Chicken Tetrazzini In 2003/2004 I joined an online forum called 'Happy Housewives'. I met some amazing women that I am happy to say I'm still friends with to this day. One of the ladies that I admired (and still do) is named, Dawn. She is an amazing cook and is one of the inspirations for my passion for cooking. (I'll be mentioning other inspirational women in future blog posts).  One day on the forum I was complaining about cooking and how much I felt it was such a chore. Dawn told me to "Look at cooking as an act of love, not a chore." Just that little change in attitude made me look at cooking in a different way. I saw how much my family enjoyed eating together. I developed a passion to become more skilled and creative in the kitchen. I'm not perfect by any means but I now view my cooking as an act of love to my family and a creative outlet for me.  As you would imagine, my family loves it. This recipe was first given to me by Dawn. She...

Chicken Green Chile Casserole In my opinion, nothing is as comforting as a good chicken casserole. They are easy to prepare and you can in most cases, make it ahead of time. Having some casserole recipes in your recipe arsenal is just the thing to help a busy parent. With the kids going back to school and those school sports games going into full gear we need all the help we can get.  As I mentioned before, baking up a big batch of boneless skinless chicken breasts on the weekend helps SO MUCH. Especially if you want to make a few dishes that require cooked chicken during the week. Just bake, shred, and then separate the shredded chicken into freezer bags (about 2 cups in each bag). You now have chicken for your weekday dinners and a huge time saver during the week.  The casserole I want to share with you today is a hit every time I make it. It's not my own recipe and you can find variations all over the internet. I'm sure it will soon join your weeknight ...

Italian Chicken Grandson Approved I've been with Smokin Hot hubby over 30 years. I was so excited to make him dinner one night when we were first dating. My mom gave me her recipe for pot roast because she figured I couldn't mess it up. Well, she was wrong. It came out so salty and I was devastated. But my amazing man asked for seconds, ate it all, and still asked me to marry him so I knew it was true love. 😉 I had no clue how to cook and truly thought if something had too many steps then it was too complicated. Fortunately, one of the ladies in our church gave me Southern Cooking 1986 Cookbook . On page 222, I  found the Italian Chicken recipe and thought I'd give it a try. I took it one step at a time and it turned out great. Over the past 27/28 years I have tweaked it a bit to make it my own but the inspiration came from the cookbook.  Every time Smokin eats Italian Chicken the horrible memory of that first dinner fades just a little more. ...