Welcome to the weekend, my friends! We decorated our Christmas tree last night (later than usual for us!) and I’m so very happy this morning as I sit here in the twinkling lights and enjoy my first cup of coffee. I’m finally feeling ready for the holidays. Christmas music is playing and I’m looking forward to a day spent mostly at home with my family. 

I’ve gifted myself a blog vacation for the rest of the year and through the first week of January. I’m looking forward to lots of sleep, delicious foods (that I won’t be photographing), and as many walks outside as I can squeeze into these chilly days. 

You’ll still hear from me on the weekends with the newsletter. And if you have questions on a recipe, please leave comments on the recipe post, so that I can help you when possible.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Cheesy Pizza Pasta with pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and onions has all of our favorite supreme pizza flavors in an awesome bowl of pasta! When you can’t decide between pizza or pasta for an Italian meal, this pizza pasta recipe is bound to make everyone happy.

Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup is a hearty soup filled with chunks of tender chicken, black beans, corn, peppers, and tomatoes. Everything comes together in a creamy rich soup base that tastes like the red chile enchiladas at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

I am all about the snacks and appetizers this time of year. Creamy Caramelized Onion Dip combines the smoothness of sour cream with irresistible onions that have been slow-cooked to perfection. This onion dip is nothing like the onion dips you’ve tried before and it will leave your taste buds craving more.

And speaking of appetizers, everyone’s favorite baked potato toppings can be turned into a Loaded Baked Potato Dip that is a guaranteed hit at every party!

This Crustless Coconut Pie is an old-fashioned custard pie filled to the brim with sweet bites of coconut. Best of all, it’s so easy to make, the kids can stir it together in about 5 minutes. The coconut lover’s in your life will go crazy over it.

I made this Nutella Cheesecake Pie several times this past summer and I’m thinking it needs to make a reappearance for Christmas this year. This easy as can be no-bake pie with an Oreo crust is a Nutella lover’s dream.

Homemade Mint Ice Cream made with fresh mint is like no other mint chocolate ice cream you’ve tried in the past. It’s cold and creamy with perfect chocola

The BEST Slow Cooker Ham Recipe [+Video]

Free up your oven by cooking your ham in the slow cooker! This slow cooker ham recipe includes a fabulous glaze and is perfect for Christmas, Easter or an easy Sunday dinner!

Every year I have the exact same issue, trying to prepare a holiday meal with one oven. I adore homemade rolls, perfectly cooked sides and a big, fat, juicy ham, so I don’t want to skip any of those recipes. The only problem is there just isn’t room to make everything and have it all hot and ready at the same time. Oven space is at a premium, people! So this year I am going to teach you how to make ham in a slow cooker.

I really don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier. And I have to beg you for just a moment to give this recipe a try. This recipe is super easy! All you do is prepare the ham like normal but then stick it in a slow cooker for 4 hours. That’s it! Juicy, tender ham ready to go and you’ve had your oven free the whole time!

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Ham

This is a crockpot ham recipe and only uses a few ingredients for the glaze. Here is your shopping list:

• Crushed Pineapple: adds flavor and texture to the glaze
• Spiral Ham: Look for a 7-10 pound bone-in ham. If you’re feeding a smaller crowd, this recipe easily can be made with a 4lb boneless spiral ham as well, just half the sauce.
• Brown Sugar: adds richness and sweetness
• Honey: adds natural sweetness
• Dijon Mustard: adds flavor
• Sure Gel: My favorite thickener! It’s so easy to use and you can’t taste it at all!
• Ham Dipping Sauces: These are totally optional but we don’t eat ham without them!

The measurements and details for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Glazed Ham in the Slow Cooker

Crockpot recipes should be simple, otherwise, what is the point?! This spiral cut ham recipe is as easy as it gets! It’s as easy as combining all the ingredients for the pineapple glaze and letting the slow cooker do its thing! Here are the steps:

1. Prep: Add half of the pineapple and pineapple juice to the slow cooker and then add the ham.
2. Combine: Add the brown sugar, honey and mustard to a small bowl and mix to combine. Rub the mixture all over the ham.
3. Cook: Add the rest of the pineapple and juice around the sides of the ham and cook on low for 4-5 hours (or on high for 2-3 hours). Make sure the lid is on securely!
4. Make Glaze: When the ham is done, remove it from the crockpot. Pour all the pineapple and juice into a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, whis

Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup is a hearty soup filled with chunks of tender chicken, black beans, corn, peppers, and tomatoes.

Everything comes together in a creamy rich soup base that tastes like the red chile enchiladas at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

Enchilada Soup

This soup can be simmered through the day in a Crock-pot, allowing dinner to be ready whenever you’re hungry. Alternatively, it can be pulled together on the stovetop in less than 20 minutes.

However you make it, your family and friends are sure to love this Chicken Enchilada Soup.

Soups are a fall dinner favorite and I am making the most of the soup weather over here. It seems like half the pics on my camera these days are soups or stews. This is my oldest son’s favorite soup these days.

I make this soup on a fairly regular rotation and realized the other day it was way past time to update the photos and share it with you again!

Creamy Enchilada Soup

Chicken enchilada soup is an extremely versatile recipe. I constantly adapt it to what is on hand. Last year, I used some of the leftover turkey to make a batch of this soup. You can swap in whichever beans you like best as well.

Top your bowl of soup with whatever makes each person the happiest: shredded cheese, sour cream, extra cilantro and green onions, or tortilla strips.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• yellow onion
• garlic
• cooked chicken
• chicken broth
• petite diced tomatoes
• red enchilada sauce
• chopped green chile (frozen, canned, or fresh is fine)
• black beans
• corn
• taco seasoning
• heavy cream
• salt and pepper

Read more

Slow Cooker Prime Rib Recipe

One more prime rib recipe! We’ve done prime rib in every possible way, so we are rounding out our collection with this slow cooker prime rib! We couldn’t leave out the trusty slow cooker!

We’ve roasted prime rib, smoked prime rib, and cooked prime rib in the Instant Pot so all we are missing is the slow cooker. You’ve asked and we are answering! Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner or just a nice Sunday dinner, prime rib in the slow cooker is a great option!

I am a huge fan of making dinner in the slow cooker. Some days just call for a crock pot meal. I especially like them for Sunday dinner. I can throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning, and then dinner is ready at meal time. So easy!

Now you can have this decadent main dish with the convenience and ease of the slow cooker! There’s not much to it, so let’s jump into this prime rib recipe…

How to Buy the Right Prime Rib?

I’m going to go against almost everything I believe and tell you to get a boneless prime rib for this recipe. We found it works way better in a slow cooker to not have the bones in the roast. Go figure! No bone-in for this recipe!

You will want to talk to your butcher and ask for a prime rib roast with an untrimmed fat cap (ideally ½ inch thick). We prefer the flavor and texture of prime-grade beef, but choice grade will work as well, just ask the butcher which he has. Choice grade will be cheaper.

How to Make Prime Rib in the Slow Cooker?

Making a prime rib in a slow cooker is about as easy as it gets. It just takes a little prep on the roast itself, and then the slow cooker does all the rest.

Start by cutting slits into the fat pad on the top of the meat. Cut at a diagonal and then cut slits in the opposite direction so that a diamond patter is formed. You can watch the beginning of the video for our absolute best prime rib for a demonstration of this step.

Rub salt and pepper all over the meat and down in the slits you just cut. Place the roast in a baking dish and let it sit in the refrigerator uncovered for 12-24 hours. This allows the prime rib to get nice and dry so that beautiful crust forms on the outside when it cooks.

After the roast has rested in the refrigerator, pull it out and let it sit on the counter for an hour to take the chill off and come to room temperature. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and sear all sides of the meat until golden brown.

Thoroughly mix together the butter, rosemary and garlic. Place the browned roast in the crockpot fat side up and rub the butter mixture all over the top of the roast. Cook the prime rib on low for 3-5 hours depending on how done you want the roast to be. We like ours medium (140 degrees F) which takes about 3.5-4 hours (Rare – 130 degrees F, medium rare – 135 degrees F).

When the roast has reached t

Green Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies [+Video]

Huge, soft green mint chocolate chip cookies are just what you need for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a holiday that I don’t do much for, much to my children’s chagrin, but these cookies are totally in my wheelhouse!

I failed HARD last St Patrick’s day. You guys, my kids are older, who knew it would break some hearts to not make something green for St Paddy’s? I bought Lucky Charms that turn the milk green, I thought that would be so fun since I never buy marshmallow cereal. (No judgments if you do, I just hate that as they are putting away cereal bowls they are already asking for a snack because it didn’t fill them up.)

I mean, ok I do have a little guy, but he wasn’t even the upset one, it was the 10 going on 11 year old that was so sad. Yeash. I busted out some green cookies, borrowed a gold spray painted box from the neighbor and Cade bought all sorts of green candies and even pop to stuff inside.

I’ll probably never go to that extent again, it’s just not my holiday, but the winner of the night did in fact end up being these cookies and I just had to share them with all of you this year.

What Ingredients Do I Need for Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Imagine a fairly standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, with a few extra ingredients to make them mi