What's For Dinner After The Holidays?

Happy Holidays! Or post holiday, or whatever you prefer. Anyway, I hope this post finds you healthy and not too full of Christmas leftovers. Don't get me wrong - I love leftovers. But sometimes...they can become a tiny bit boring.

So I gathered a few of my favorite go-to recipes that are easy to pull together but add a bit of fresh taste to your normal dinner menu. I dug up several beef recipes and threw in a pork chop recipe just for fun! I hope you try one out on your family this week.

English Beef Pot Pie

Beef Carbonnade

Alene's Pork Chops

Basic Meat Loaf

Crock Pot Onion Swiss Steak

Regardless of what's for dinner, enjoy the rest of your holidays and for some of you, winter break!

Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite post holidays easy meal or visit Annie's Recipes for more great dinner recipes and ideas!

All Souped Up for Christmas!

Outside my front door the wind is blowing and howling and gusting and wreaking havoc with my trash bins! One trip to the mail box and I am chilled to the bone. So it has me pondering life's great question: What's for dinner? Soup!

With all hurry and scurry and flurries leading up to Christmas, who has time to make a huge detailed dinner every evening the next few nights. You'll busy wrapping, laughing and merry-making. So keep dinner simple. Make soup. I've gathered a few of my favorites to make it just that much easier on you! Enjoy.

Beef Stew

Chicken & Dumplings

Crock Pot Chili

Crock Pot Goulash

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Whether it's snowing or blowing in your neck of the woods you and your family will appreciate a warm, filling soup or stew this evening! Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite hearty soup or stew recipe or visit Annie's Recipes for more soup ideas!

Divine Desserts for the Holidays!

Can you believe Christmas is less than two weeks away? It's literally just around the corner. I don't know about you but I have plenty of shopping, wrapping and baking left to do. Thankfully, my approach to the holidays is a laid back one - whatever I get done, I get done.

And speaking of done - I've rounded up some delicious desserts for you to bake this holiday season to share with loved ones or enjoy at home. These lovely concoctions are sure to make your Christmas taste divine!

Angel Food Cake

Blueberry Pie

Boston Creme Pie

Blueberry Square Cake

Brownie Pudding Cake

However you prepare for the festivities of the season, enjoy a little time in the kitchen creating something sweet and inspired! Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite holiday dessert recipes of visit Annie's Recipes for more divine dessert ideas!

Happy Holidays!

More Homemade Gift Ideas for Christmas

I love giving gifts at Christmas. And I don't want to sacrifice the meaning behind the gift. My mom taught me a secret to gift giving at Christmas. She bakes a lot of her gifts. Mom (to this day) makes Gingie cookies using my great-grandmother's old German recipe.

(Sorry, it really is a protected family secret.) She packages them up for special people like my grandfather and uncles' families. And it's a once a year thing. Making the Gingies is truly a labor of love. It takes all day to make one or two batches and (having helped many times) it's strenuous for a cookie recipe.

My grandfather looks forward to his bag of Gingie cookies more than almost any other gift. He freezes them and only takes out one or two per week, making them last well into March! He treasures those cookies because they remind him of his mother, now passed on.

I challenge you to find your own signature holiday recipe that you can create and pass on for years to come, and that your family will come to treasure. Here are a few recipes to get you started.

Fudge Sandwich Cookies

Peach Cobbler Crumb Cake

Apple Butter

Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies Mix

Rock Candy

Make your gift giving a little easier by baking the gifts this year. Visit Annie's Recipes for more dessert and holiday baking recipes or connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite Christmas goodie recipe!

Baked Gift Ideas for Christmas!

And now the question of the season: (drum roll please) Do you bake any of your gifts for Christmas? We do! I should clarify. I bake. Hubby stuffs tins, gift bags and his mouth with goodies, post baking. We usually give baked goodies to the neighbors, teachers and friends. Because all of our close neighbors have little kids I try to keep things simple but yummy (stuff kids will eat that parents can enjoy too).

In trying to find new recipes to add to my growing repertoire of easy treats, I found some sweet looking goodies to share with you! These all look delicious and are just the tip of the baking iceberg as far as what you'll find in our Dessert section.

Chocolate Bar Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

German Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Raisin Jumbles

Chocolate Turtle Candy

As you are preparing for the holidays, don't forget to visit our Bread and Muffins section too. I love it when the neighbors bring me banana bread or blueberry muffins at Christmas - makes for some find Christmas morning eating!

Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite holiday baking recipes or visit Annie's Recipes for more delicious ideas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey pilgrims! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? If you're not well...join the rest of us scrambling with last minute grocery lists, menu fails or travel preparations. (Remind me, who's idea was it to go to Montana for Thanksgiving?)

If you are, well good for you. And here are some tasty treats you can bake with all your free time and our free recipes. You will then become the Jedi master of Thanksgiving dinner. Well done you!

7-Up Apple Dumplings

Banana Buttermilk Cake

Chocolate Caramel Drop Cookies

Pa Dutch Batter Fried Apples

Soft Amish Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whether you are stuck in a checkout line at the nearest Wal-mart, getting ready to depart for Thanksgiving in Timbuktu or working your way up to Jedi Master of turkeys, enjoy your holiday!

Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite Thanksgiving treat or visit Annie's Recipes for a dizzy list of dessert recipes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fresh Ideas for Thanksgiving Desserts

What's on the menu for your Thanksgiving Dinner? Let's assume you've got your turkey bought, stuffing recipe selected and green bean casserole coming with Aunt Margaret. What's for dessert?

Are you sticking with the traditional fair like pumpkin pie or a nice fruit pie? Or...are you willing to be a little adventurous this year? I've collected some dessert alternatives to add a little flair to your fair and keep your family and dinner guests smiling.

Apple Crunch Muffins

Carrot Cake with Lemon Cheese

Cherry Pecan Bread

Holiday Fruit Cocktail Cake

Peach Dump Cake

Whether you try one of these tasty treats on Thanksgiving or save them for another day, I think you'll enjoy the results! Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite Thanksgiving recipe or visit Annie's Recipes for more dessert ideas!

Awesome Amish Recipes For November

Let's face it. The Amish know their way around the kitchen. Whether it's cooking up a casserole, baking a roast or whipping up a delicious dessert - those Amish folk don't hesitate to rule the hearth. I have found their recipes share certain qualities such as hearty, healthy, comforting and savory.

I thought you might want to try your hand at a little Awesome Amish cooking during the fall and winter seasons. So I gathered just a sample of Amish goodies to tempt your taste buds and appetite. Head over to Annie's for many more Amish recipes and kitchen wisdom.

Amish Apple Crisp

Amish Funnel Cake

Amish Chicken Casserole

Amish Apple Cake

Amish Baked Chicken

Have some fun in the kitchen this month and get your Amish kitchen groove on! Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite Amish recipe or visit Annie's Recipes for all sorts of good stuff to make in the kitchen!

Nutty About Nuts!

I don't know about you but I am a peanut fanatic, more specifically peanut butter, but I am open to other nuts too. So it got me thinking. I haven't done a blog post just focused on nut recipes and the people who love them.

So here's one for all the nutty nut lovers of the world. And yes, I snuck in a couple of peanut butter recipes.  I couldn't resist!

Peanut Butter Bars

Pecan Dijon Chicken Salad

Never Fail Peanut Butter Fudge

Diabetic Pecan Fudge

Almond Cake Bars

Celebrate your nuttiness and try some of our recipes featuring the nuts you love. Connect with us on Facebook and share your favorite nut or visit Annie's Recipes to find more nut recipes for all the nuts in your home!

Happy Vegetarian Lovers Month!

It's also Spinach Lovers Month, if you must know. Although I myself am not a vegetarian there is something to be said for the merits of living and eating a vegetarian lifestyle and diet. I love eating fresh veggies right out of my garden, or savoring the flavor of steaming vegetables right out of my steamer.

There are only a few vegetables I don't enjoy but I have left them out of this discussion, for your sake. I did drum up some delicious veggie dishes to delight your taste buds and get you to eat your vegetables. You bring the veggies and I'll bring the free recipes!

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Cucumber Salad

Bread & Butter Pickles

Greek Salad Pitas

Pumpkin Pasta

My favorite recipe from this list has got to be the Pumpkin Pasta, hands down. What's your favorite veggie dish? Connect with us on Facebook to share it with us. Or visit Annie's Recipes to find more free recipes to help you celebrate Vegetarian Lovers Month!