Blueberry oatmeal crisp bars

Blueberry bars made with oatmeal and cinnamon make a delightful and easy dessert. The oatmeal crisp topping also doubles as the crust and frozen blueberries make this a treat to whip up all year round.

Our freezer is still stocked with summer blueberries from our annual blueberry picking day. We love to use them all year round and bring a taste of summer during the winter months. I have made these bars using our frozen blueberries a couple of times now and they are so good! They are so easy to whip up. You don't even need to thaw the blueberries. The hardest part of this dessert is waiting for it to cool before slicing and eating. We love all sorts of fruit crisps and crumbles, and this one is a favorite of my blueberry loving kids.

I have modified the below recipe from this one here. I first made these as a dessert for our twins' half-birthday and they gobbled them up. I am going to try them again with other berries like raspberries and blackberries and I think they will be equally delicious. These bars are not overly sweet, so they could even pass for a breakfast if you wanted.

So the next time you need a quick and easy dessert, give these a try. You may even already have everything you need at home. 

Slow cooker chicken bacon ranch sliders

Disclosure: This recipe is being shared as part of #NationalSlowCookerMonth. I received products from our event sponsor Rhodes Bake N Serve Bread for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Creamy ranch chicken is slow cooked and topped with bacon and cheese on slider sized rolls for a delicious family pleasing meal.

I hope you've been enjoying all the delicious slow cooker recipe ideas this week! I love, love using the slow cooker for our meals. I use it all year round and it is such a time saver for busy families and for when you have small kids like me and want to make a good dinner, but don't always have the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the kitchen in the evening.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for these yummy sliders! These little sandwiches are definitely a family friendly meal and are easy to make. These rolls from Rhodes Bane N Serve are so soft and fluffy and perfect for these sliders. I've been buying these dinner rolls for a long time because my kids love them and I often serve them as one of the "safe foods" for dinner when we are having something new or something I know my kids may be wary of trying. However, using them as slider rolls takes them to a whole new level of yummy! They are warm and soft and perfect for the whole family. Sliders are also a fun size for little ones!

We had these with a side of vegetables and fries for our meal. They'd also be a great sandwich for a game day party. They were a hit and will be making more appearances on our menu.

Slow cooker sausage pasta e fajioli soup

Disclosure: This recipe is being shared as part of #NationalSlowCookerMonth. I received products from our event sponsor Camellia Brand Beans for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Hearty, warming, and delicious soup is what you need on a cold winter day. This slow cooker soup is full of vegetables, beans, sausage, and pasta for a complete and filling meal.

Slow cookers are such a terrific kitchen tool to have around! Mine gets a lot of use. One of the great things about a slow cooker is that they keep food warm and ready for evenings when you need to stagger your family's dinner. Some nights I'm at exercise class, or my husband works late or has a meeting, and having dinner cooked and set to warm allows everyone to eat when they need to (and we don't have to worry about picking up something or rummaging through the fridge to come up with something to eat). 

This is a soup I've been making quite frequently this fall and winter. For this recipe, I've made it with dried beans. Dried beans and such a frugal way to add protein to your meals. I definitely want to start using them again more often. I also like the way the hold their shape better than canned beans, especially during a longer cooking process like a slow cooking soup. I really enjoyed working with these Camellia Brand beans for this recipe and I'll be making it a point to use dried beans more regularly now. 

I hope you are enjoying all the yummy slow cooker recipes this week! Don't forget to check out the rest of today's recipes at the bottom of this post and enter the giveaway!

Slow cooker creamy chicken and tomato pasta sauce

Disclosure: This recipe is being shared as part of #NationalSlowCookerMonth. I received products from our sponsors for this event. As always, all opinions are my own.

This creamy, flavorful, and simple pasta sauce is sure to become a family favorite! Your slow cooker does the work and you have a hearty dish for a weeknight dinner.

Did you know January is National Slow Cooker Month?? I didn't until recently and I'm happy to be sharing some new slow cooker recipes this week along with some of my blogger friends! Visit the bottom of this post for more recipes and to enter an awesome giveaway!

This recipe is a favorite of mine. It's a recipe that I've been making for a while and I adapted it from here. It's always a favorite in our house and I like to serve it with my kids' favorite pasta shape - "bow ties" or farfalle, along with a side of green beans, broccoli, or a salad. It's a perfect meal for a chilly day and an easy weeknight meal. Plus it's very kid-friendly, which is always a bonus around here!

Pasta dishes make an appearance on our menu about once per week because my whole family loves pasta meals. I try to switch it up from the usual spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce or macaroni and cheese so that my kids are exposed to different ways to enjoy one of their favorites. My kids are still learning to enjoy eating (except in the form of things like nuggets haha), but this is a way that they like it. 

If you are looking for meals, recipes, ideas, and resources for feeding your family with little kids, please don't forget to join my Facebook group: Feeding our Families & Raising Adventurous Eaters.

Chicken, corn, and rivel soup

Creamy, thick, and hearty soup that is loaded with tender chicken, sweet corn, carrots, and fluffy rivel dumplings! This is a soup to warm you up from the inside out on a cold winter day.

It's National Soup Swap Day! I'm sharing a new soup recipe today to celebrate along with a few other blogger friends. Soup is one of my favorite cold-weather meals to make and eat. I have so many soup recipes on the blog already. I was trying to come up with something new and came across a corn and rivel soup in one of my old Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks. Given how much I love rivels, I decided I'd use that as a base, but make it more hearty and delicious with extra vegetables, chicken, and more. I wanted to add some more color as well so I used carrots in this soup. I think peas would also be a nice addition.

Rivels are a rustic dumpling and are commonly found in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. This is not the first time I've shared rivels. I previously shared a recipe for Ham, Bean, and Rivel Soup, which was a dish my mom made when I was a kid. I like to make the ham soup when we have leftover ham. It's a filling and frugal meal! However, I never really thought to use rivels in other soups until now. This chicken and corn soup is thick and creamy like a chowder and so very yummy and filling. It's a meal all on its own, though a side salad or bread would also fill it out.

Soup is a great way to warm up and feed your family. What's your favorite soup to make on a cold evening?