Cheesy Chicken Noodles

Sometimes a recipe comes along that is so quick, so easy, dirties so few dishes, that you make it like...a lot.

This is one of those recipes.

Let me list everything that is awesome about this dish:

1. It's delicious.
2. Michael loves it.
3. It's pretty darn healthy.
4. I pretty much always have all these ingredients on hand.
5. Can be made with 1 pot/pan.
6. QUICK.

Pinch of Yum described this as a hybrid macaroni and cheese and chicken noodle soup. I don't know about that...I do know it tastes alarmingly like a casserole my mom made for me growing up-only this is like a bzillion times better for you, and tastes better too (don't you love it when that works out? Sorry mom!) This is one of my go-to meals for Michael and I when I just don't have the time/energy/supplies to make something else. It is always a winner. The only thing that can make it slightly more complicated is the fact that I roast chicken breasts for the shredded chicken, but you can really just buy a rotisserie chicken, use leftovers, or probably even use that canned stuff. I don't know. But, even with the extra step of roasting the chicken, it is still sooooo simple! LOOOVE IT!

S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love s'mores.

A LOT.

Always have.

You see, me and s'mores go way back.

I may seem like I'm not much of a country girl but that's just because...well...

I'm not.

But I was raised as one. Went camping all the time. Learned how to bait my own hook (fishing) when I was 6. Had frequent bonfires in my backyard. One of the only fond camping/bonfire memories I have is of s'mores. Oooh I waited for the s'mores all day long, like they were my reward for dealing with all the dirt and bugs and allergy attacks. It was all worth it to have a delicious sandwich of golden toasted marshmallows, rich, gooey chocolate, and crisp, wonderful graham crackers. Like nirvana. The one downside to s'mores is how messy they are. In a perfect world, I like to have 2 marshmallows for 1 s'more. This, however, results in globs of marshmallow ending up on my face, shirt, hands, hair, etc. Immediately following my s'mores binges, I was always rushed towards the nearest sink to rinse off all the residue. 

Totally worth it.

Graham Crackers

After announcing I had made some s'mores desserts (yes...with an "s") last week, I felt I couldn't be too mean and hold out on you for long. Obviously, this is not a s'mores recipe. But it is a base component! In the effort to make as much from scratch, un-processed, etc. I decided to use homemade graham crackers for the base of the dessert that I will be sharing Wednesday. But then I still had a lot left over. So I used them for the crust for the pie. Then I still had a lot left over. So I used them for the crust of another s'mores related dessert that I will also, eventually, share. I even had enough graham crackers to snack on after all that! 

Suffice it to say, these were put to use.

I'd been wanting to make homemade graham crackers for awhile. And I've seen recipes for them posted everywhere, and they all seemed to vary a great deal. But, when I saw Annie's Eats post sharing these, I knew they had to be good. She swore up and down that these tasted just like the real thing, PLUS I had pretty much all the ingredients on hand. It was really a good situation. About a week after finding the recipe, I made them. And was shocked by 3 things.

1. How ridiculously easy these are.
2. How good they smell.
3. They forreals taste like graham crackers (a bit softer in texture, but who cares? And honestly..that could totally be my fault from doing something wrong, like not rolling them out thin enough perhaps.)

Oh yeah, and how many crackers this recipe made. It really does give you a good amount. They store great, too. Oddly enough, I almost found that with time they tasted more and more like normal graham crackers. I don't know if it was just because I'd gotten used to how these tasted or if the actual lack of freshness contributed. It doesn't really matter.

I seriously believe you NEED to make these. Make them for your kids (if you have them). Make them for s'mores. Make them for smearing with peanut butter. Make them into a graham cracker crust. Use them for whatever graham cracker needs you have because, trust me, YOU WILL NEVER BUY GRAHAM CRACKERS AGAIN.

I know I won't.*

*(probably)