One of my favorite hobbies is cooking – I have always loved it! Maybe it’s because I come from a long line of great cooks. My grandma can make the best black eyed peas in the world, they’ll literally make you wanna slap your momma, my aunt taught me how to make a BOMB homemade alfredo sauce and my mom perfected my favorite meal in the world, beef tips & gravy! I grew up in the kitchen, throwing stuff together just because it just sounded good and praying for the best. Sometimes even pretending that I was Rachel Ray and my little brother was my audience that I was cooking for. 

Whenever I feel lonely or stressed out, I find myself in the kitchen. So it’s no surprise that when the entire world shut down in March of last year, I ended up with more food than I knew what to do with! (and the extra weight to go along with it, haha!)  I tried some new foods, created a few recipes and mastered some of my favorites! Ina Garten once said “Cookings is one of those great gifts you can give to someone you love.” So here I am, sharing a few of my favorite recipes with you! 

Also, I will give you a fair warning – I never claimed to be a ‘healthy’ cook, I am more of a comfort food eater and these recipes reflect that! 

White Chicken Chili

1 pound of cooked shredded chicken

32 ounces of chicken broth

1 can of green chilis 

2 cans of northern beans (I used canned because it’s easier, but you can use dried if you prefer)

1 small yellow  onion, diced

1 tbsp of oregano

Salt & pepper 

Put all of the ingredients above into the crock pot on high for 4 hours or on low for 8

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

16 ounces of sour cream

Once everything has cooked in crock pot for the right amount of time, stir in these two ingredients! 

After everything is stirred in and the sour cream has melted, you are good to go! Serve over rice or macaroni noodles (our favorite!) 

BangBang Shrimp

1-2 pounds of deveined shrimp (frozen or fresh, doesn’t matter!)

1 jar of Frank’s Sweet Chili sauce 

1 cup of flour

Salt & pepper 

2 cups of vegetable oil 

Mix together flour, salt & pepper – if you want it to have a kick, add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper to the flour mix as well! 

Make sure the shrimp is thawed out and dried with a paper towel. Once dried, you will toss in your flour mix and flash fry in the oil. You will fry for about a minute on each side until completely cooked. 

Once all of the shrimp is cooked, toss shrimp in ½ of the bottle of Sweet chili sauce! 

You can eat this by itself as an appetizer, the meat portion of your dinner, or throw it on top of a Ceasar salad (our favorite!)

My famous Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole! 

1 1/2 bag of tater tots (I usually thaw them out overnight before I cook them!)

3 eggs 

2 cups of milk 

2 tablespoons of butter 

Shredded cheddar cheese 

Velveeta – 2 mini blocks 

1 pack of bacon

1 pack of sausage (if you want it!) 

8×12 casserole dish 

Spray the baking dish and pour tater tots into the dish! Then beat the 3 eggs, add a splash of milk and pour egg mixture over tater tots. 

Make a cheese sauce with butter, milk, velveeta and cheddar cheese. You’ll want everything melted and smooth. It should be sort of thick, like a gravy! 

Sprinkle cooked bacon and sausage crumbles over tater tots then pour cheese sauce over tots and meat! 

Then sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese on top of the casserole! Bake for 45 minutes at 350! 

We would love to hear how these recipes worked for your family! Also, please share your favorite recipes in the comments, we’d love to try them!