December Re-Make Re-Cap

Here we are -- the last day of 2012! I hope this was a good year for all of you. Our year definitely had its highs and lows, and I'm ready for a fresh start in 2013. Lots of fun things are in the works for 2013 -- my 30th birthday, and most likely a trip to New Orleans with Joe for our anniversary in August! I'm so excited to see what the new year has in store for our family, and for all of you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the internet this year. I wish you all happiness, health, joy, and love as we ring in 2013.

Although I don't feel like I did a lot of cooking during December, I still have quite a list of recipes to share with you today!

Creamy chicken lasagna. I still make this dish exactly as written in the original recipe I posted, and my entire family loves it. It's so creamy and cheesy and comforting, perfect for the cold winter days we've been having this month.

This Texas fudge cake is probably my favorite chocolate cake to make. It's dangerous to have this recipe in my arsenal, because it's so easy, and I always have the ingredients on hand. And it's so delicious, it's hard to stop after just one slice!

I still stand by my statement that this roasted tomato soup is the best ever. I always serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches, and it's probably one of my favorite meals.

These two-bean and rice burritos come together so quickly, and they're a delicious lighter way to enjoy Mexican food. I keep the bean mixture pretty mild so the boys will still eat it without claiming that the beans are "crunchy" (what they call spicy food).

I made these bacon and egg quesadillas three times this month: twice for dinner and once for breakfast. These are seriously so good, and you can use whatever kind of cheese you like. They're like eating a breakfast sandwich in quesadilla form.

I made this bacon fried rice this month, but instead of making the teriyaki chicken, I just diced up a couple of cooked chicken breasts and added them directly to the rice. But no matter how you make the chicken, the rice is the star of this meal. I happily ate the leftovers for lunch for two days afterwards.

I made lasagna for our Christmas dinner this year, but unfortunately I was too sick with the stomach flu to really enjoy it. The boys and Joe happily ate it for days, though. This was the first recipe I ever posted on this blog, and I've made some changes in the nearly five (!!!) years since. I think this one is due for a repost soon!

I made these sweet and sour meatballs for one of our family Christmas gatherings, only this time I used BBQ sauce instead of chili sauce. They're delicious both ways; I love these because they're so adaptable, and everyone always gobbles them up.

This chicken, potato, and green bean one-dish dinner is probably one of my new favorite meals. It's easily assembled (you could even do it ahead of time) and it cooks all together in one casserole dish. It's flavorful and comforting, and clean-up is a breeze.

Man, are these foil-baked chicken parmesan sandwiches ever delicious. I could probably eat them once a week. We had these for dinner last night, and this time I splurged and used fresh mozzarella. Mmmm.

I made these cinnamon cream cheese crescents for our Christmas brunch, and they were the hit of the morning. They're so simple, and the flavors are just delicious.

These buried cherry cookies were on my Christmas cookie trays again this year, and once again, they were a big hit. They're so adorable, and everyone always loves the surprise of the cherry under the frosting.

Buckeyes are another yearly staple on my cookie trays. They're always the first thing to get eaten, which I can totally understand. It's hard for me to stop eating them!

I've been making these Nutter Butter Santas for years, and they're a huge hit with people, especially kids. They're a bit tedious to make, but I think they're worth it!

Thes soft sugar cookie bars were on my cookie trays, too, decorated with Christmas frosting and sprinkles of course. I really try to find an excuse to make these for every single holiday, and I could actually eat them much more often than that; they're that good.

Listen, I know there are toxins in snow and that no matter how clean it looks, it's not really clean. I know it's not good to eat. But one time every year, my boys and I make snow ice cream. Once a year isn't going to hurt them, and it's so much fun to watch them! Andrew and Will love the entire process of collecting the snow, pouring in the sweetened condensed milk, and mixing the ice cream together. And of course, they love eating it! Since we've gotten a lot of snow recently, I figured now was a good time to make it. So we made it yesterday and had a blast, and now we'll look forward to doing it again next year.