Sweet Cornbread - and Creamy Honey Butter

This cornbread is perfect alongside a bowl of soup or EVEN all. by. itself!  It is so yummy that when my oldest son gets home from school he wants it as his snack.  It's almost like a cake, but not that sweet, but yes - that good.  And then top it with this yummy and super-easy-to-make honey butter and you've got yourself a keeper.  I thought with all the soup recipes I've been sharing I should share one of our favorite go-to bread recipes when we have soup.  I hope you love it as much as we do! 

Sweet Cornbread
Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients
Cornbread:
1/2 cup cornmeal
*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup milk
Honey Butter:
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup marshmallow fluff

Directions
For the cornbread:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
Add dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk.  Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny).  Pour into prepared baking pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the Honey Butter:
Whip all ingredients together with an electric mixer  until well combined.  Serve at room temperature.  You can store any leftovers in the refrigerator and then soften it up a little when you'd like to use it again.

*You can substitute some of the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour if you'd like.  I like to do half all-purpose and half whole-wheat flour a lot of the time when I make this.
*You can also decrease the sugar amount by almost half if you'd like.  The cornbread still turns out very sweet and delicious.

Recipe Source: melskitchencafe.com

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Energy Bites

I'm always on the look out for healthier snack options for my family.  Yes, the Oreo's still find their way into my pantry, who am I kidding?  But I'm trying my best (one step at a time) to feed my family healthier.  Now there are a lot of different "No-Bake Energy Bite" recipes out there and I've tried a handful of them, but my favorite so far is this one.  It has to be the combination of the cocoa powder and peanut butter that seal the deal for me.  I like the ones with chocolate chips, but I never have mini chocolate chips on hand and the regular sized chocolate chips are just too big in my opinion.  In this recipe, the smoothness of the cocoa powder and peanut butter make me happy and at the same time I love the added texture of the oatmeal and seeds.  It makes my mama heart a little happier when I see my kids reach in the fridge and grab one of these as an after-school and/or bed-time treat.  In my head I'm silently saying, "YES!"  

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Energy Bites
Yield: Makes about 20-25 balls

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal, raw
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup coconut flakes, toasted and cooled (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon chia seeds, optional

Directions
In a mixing bowl. stir together peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined and evenly coated.  Cover mixture and chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, to make the mix easier to handle and mold.

Once chilled, roll into 1-inch balls (or whatever size you would like).  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Recipe Source: Marsha Peterson, a friend of mine from church.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup - The Best.

A few years ago - ok, maybe almost like 10! - my sister Karen introduced this recipe to me.  I've been making it regularly ever since.  I've tried multiple homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipes, but I always come back to this one.  Karen told me how every Halloween night she makes a few different kinds of soups and leaves them on the stove with some bread on the side so throughout the night her busy kids can come and choose their soup whenever they have time amongst their other busy Halloween plans.  I loved the soup and bread idea on Halloween night so we've adopted it, too.  Thanks Karen!

This recipe is easy and super delicious.  It's another one of Colby's regularly requested dinners when I ask him to help me with my meal planning.  I'm pretty sure it's the noodles that make this recipe irresistible.  I also think it tastes better if the chicken is seasoned a little.  I've done plain boiled chicken and it just doesn't pass the test as well as chicken I've cooked in the crockpot with salt and pepper and chicken stock, or leftover rotisserie chicken like Karen suggested.  We've also made this with leftover turkey and turkey stock from Thanksgiving or whenever Colby has smoked a turkey and it's still way good.

I'm sure any kind of frozen egg noodle would work but these are perfect!  You only use 1/2 of the 24oz bag, so save the other half for the next time you make this soup!

 Seasoned chicken or leftover Rotisserie chicken adds great flavor.

Those rolls in the background can't wait to be dipped in the broth.  Don't you worry little rolls, I will dip you.  And the other ones I will spread butter on you and eat you with a smile on my face.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup - The Best.
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 bag of sliced carrots
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2 quarts water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced or shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon basil
1 cup frozen peas
12 oz Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles (they're in the frozen section)

Directions
In a large pot over medium-high heat boil vegetables, water and bouillon cubes for 20 minutes.  Add cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, basil and peas.  Bring everything to a boil then add Reames frozen noodles and cook an additional 5 minutes.  Serve warm with warm rolls.  Soooo good.

Recipe Source: my sister, Karen Wilkinson

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I know I'm giving this to you the day of St. Patrick's Day, but if you are still in need of a fun St. Patrick's Day dessert for tonight this one is too easy and tastes just like Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies.  It's delicious.

Now normally Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is green, right?  I bought my ice cream at Aldi's and for some reason it's not very green at all.  Don't let that deceive you though because it's still as minty delicious as ever.  If you're making this for St. Patrick's Day though you probably want to make sure the ice-cream is green.

This recipe has two ingredients, just needs an hour or so in the freezer to set and you are good to go.  By the time you get home from the store your ice cream will probably be softened enough to go right ahead and whip up this pie.  It's really so simple.  I mean - two ingredients... you can't get much easier than that!  My kid's loved this dessert.  I have a feeling we'll be making this again soon.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1.5 quarts green Mint Chocolate chip ice-cream

1 pre-made Oreo cookie crust

Whipped cream, optional

Chocolate shavings, optional

Directions

1. Put ice cream in the container on the counter to soften a little.  When it's softened, put the ice cream in a mixing bowl and stir until it's a soft serve consistence.  Spread evenly in the Oreo crust.  Try not to overfill the crust.

2. Put it into the freezer to get firm for at least an hour.

3. Remove pie from the freezer and decorate with whipped cream and grated chocolate if desired.

Recipe Source: barbarabakes.com