Personalized Loaded Nachos Recipe for Gameday with Smart & Final

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

So let's talk football food! Obviously it's football season- if you don't know that, then I kind of envy you! In my family, if there's a game happening (college or pro), you can bet it's on.  Other than cheering for my Fighting Irish, I'm only in it for the food! I created this easy, customizable, crowd-pleasing recipe & it'll make your life even easier on game day! 

I shopped for my ingredient at Smart & Final and grabbed most of them from the canned good aisle and at the end stopped in their produce section and grabbed the rest! Smart & Final carries warehouse size items without a club fee, making shopping easy, less expensive and less daunting to shop in than a big warehouse store. Smart & Final is a perfect place to shop for all your food needs. Easy as can be & their First Street products stood up to the crowd taste test.

So once you've got all your goodness home for a great price, prep it by rinsing, chopping and throwing it in some bowls.

Here's what I use- green onions, avocado, corn black beans, tomato and shredded cheese. Obviously if you're using tomato you'll need to chop it up....I'm not a fan so I opted not to! Make sure your tortilla chips are bite-size so they fit in those cute party cups. They look like short, wide paper cups. Be sure everyone writes their name on theirs so they get the ones they made!

Heat oven to 375 & start by layering chips in your bowl, sprinkle some cheese, corn & beans...

add your avocado (and tomatoes if you choose) then pack on the cheese...

Top with green onions and throw everyone's on a baking sheet & bake for 8-10 minutes.

Hand those out and everyone's got exactly what they want on their nachos! Instant crowd pleaser and little time and effort from you. 

#ChooseSmart with Smart & Final:

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My pinterest feed is filling with pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING, so that must mean fall is almost here! Despite the still burning temperatures here in the desert, I'm more than willing to embrace delicious flavors while I wait for the weather to catch on. So I'm re-sharing my favorite recipe, one of those "it wouldn't be *blank* without them" recipes.  Well, it wouldn't be fall without these delicious pumpkin chocolate chunk cookies!

They are delicious, light & fluffy cookies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Mix oil & sugar. Blend in egg, pumpkin, milk and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonful on greased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sparkling Dishes & a Sparkling Soda Recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #collectivebias

I can't be the only one who finds it totally frustrating when you run your dishwasher and when you go to unload it, you find your dishes are STILL dirty and have watermarks.  As if you didn't have enough to do, now you have to scrub them and run it again and cross your fingers you have clean dishes for dinner! So now that you're all fired up, let me introduce you to the  best dishwashing detergent that will change all of that once & for all...

Finish Quantum™ Tablets.

I buy mine at Walmart for the best price and I even have a coupon for you to use to get your own #SparklySavings!  Now you really have no excuse to try (& get hooked on) this product.

I've switched dishwashing detergents a few times in the past few years and have yet to find one like this.  It cleans without me having to scrub every spec off my dishes and I never have that moment of worry when I go to unload my dishwasher. 

Here's undeniable proof that the deteregent I had been using, wasn't getting my glasses nearly as sparkling as Finish did- without changing any way I did my dishes!

                                My LAST detergent            vs.                     Finish Quantum

With all the extra time & happiness I had from sparkling clean dishes, I had my own sparkling celebration!  Start with crushed ice, add 1 Almond Joy Coffee creamer, strawberry soda, a squeeze of a lime and enjoy! Because even though you didn't work hard for those sparkling dishes, you still deserve a reward!

The Best Protein Shake

Ingredients:  

1-2 Tablespoons Powdered Peanut Butter

1 scoop Muscle Milk (I use chocolate)

1 & 1/2 sliced & frozen bananas

enough Dark Chocolate Almond Milk to make smooth

Add ingredients in blender and gradually add Almond Milk to desired shake thickness. Enjoy!

Sprinkled Animal Crackers

Start with a good old fashioned animal cracker, dip in melted white chocolate-shaking off excess, then dip in shallow bowl of sprinkles, lay on cookie sheet to cool completely. Then enjoy your sprinkly animal-chocolatey goodness!

Downright Dirty Dr. Pepper

That's right folks....it's my guiltiest, most delicious guilty pleasure! This Dr. Pepper is so dirty...it's downright dirty! Ready for some of this goodness?

Grab a Dr Pepper, some crushed ice and some Almond Joy coffee creamer. 

Now you go & enjoy yourself that tall glass of goodness....you're welcome.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I want to share one of my favorite fall recipes that my mom always makes during this time of the year. 

These cookies scream fall to me & my husband (or my son) can't get enough of them this year!

They are delicious, light & fluffy cookies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat overnto 375. Mix oil & sugar. Blend in egg, pumpkin, milk and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonful on greased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Recipe Review: Cupcake Frosting

So I'm not normally one to review recipes or create my own...but after pinning this  Vanilla Buttercream frosting recipe for my son's birthday party & it getting repinned 257 times since....I figured I'd let everyone know my thoughts after having used it.

I wanted something thick enough to pipe, but not sickly sweet & you guys- this frosting delivered!

I normally totally mess up butter creams or get annoyed when they don't hold shape, but this recipe was fool proof. This is officially my new go-to piping frosting recipe!  (p.s. I used normal milk rather than cream & it still turned out amazing!)

White Chocolate Oatmeal Crasin Cookies

    Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. butter (softened)
• 2 c. oats
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. white chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. Crasins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together brown sugar & butter until light & fluffy.  Add in vanilla & egg.  Stir in flour, baking soda, salt & oats.

Fold in chocolate chips and Crasins.
Drop by tablespoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are light brown.

Enjoy!

Deliciously Delish!

Pinterest has become my go-to source for recipes.  

So many yummy ideas for dinners, treats, and snacks. Here is my most recent endeavor:

via lauren's lastest

I followed her recipe and am in love!  I doubled the recipe, because both my husband and I love to snack.  

So easy, and a lot cheaper than Chewy bars.  Here's my tip: make sure you press everything firmly.

To store mine, I wrapped each individual bar in wax paper and twisted the ends.

What are you waiting for? Go make some deliciousness for yourself!