There used to be a restaurant chain here in the Midwest called Max & Erma’s that had delicious chicken tortilla soup. It was creamy, lightly spicy and so comforting on a cold day.

Sadly, I think the chain mostly went out of business a few years ago, and the only one still around is at the airport, I think.

This Crockpot Taco Soup is inspired by, but quite a bit different than that restaurant soup. My version is a little lighter (less creamy) and uses ground beef instead of chicken.

Unlike many other crock pot soup recipes out there, this one doesn’t just have a dull, one-note flavor. Deeply browned ground beef, tomatoes, two types of beans, green chiles and lots of seasoning give this soup layers of comforting flavor.

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This is the best Sugar Cookie Recipe with Sour Cream

This is probably the most personal recipe on this blog – my family’s Christmas cookie recipe!

My mom got this recipe for Sour Cream Cookies from my grandma, who got it from a coworker, who probably got it from a local newspaper here in the Midwest.

What makes it so special? Two things – flavor and texture. The flavor largely comes from a generous spoonful of nutmeg. While most sugar cookie cutouts have very little flavor other than sugary dough, these ones have a subtle spice flavor.

And the sour cream keeps them extremely soft. They even stay soft for at least a week after they’re baked – an impressive feat for a sugar cookie.

My mom generously helped me translate our family recipe into a foolproof written version, and even helped me make the cookies for this post (those are her hands rolling out the dough in the step-by-step photos below).

What does sour cream do in baking?

Sour cream is magic! It serves several functions in baked goods such as these sour cream sugar cookies:

• Moisture Booster. Sour cream adds extra moisture to the cookie dough, ensuring a soft and tender final product.
• Flavor Enhancer. The subtle tang of the sour cream complements the sweetness of the other ingredients.
• Leavening Agent. The acidity of the sour cream reacts with the baking soda, resulting in a light and airy cookie.

“I had lost my grandma’s recipe last year in a house fire, so one of those small things that hit me when trying to make that holiday cheer. THANKFULLY I found this recipe and it will now be our family traditional Christmas cookie. Husband wasn’t a fan of grandma’s recipe but said I should receive a cookie award for these. Kids loved decorating them. Sturdy enough for little hands to grab, soft and chewy, subtle nutmeg flavor and holds details of cookie cutters very well.”

—Kris

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Green Bean Casserole Crockpot Recipe

If you’ve been underwhelmed by classic green bean casserole made with canned soup, I really don’t blame you. It’s not my favorite, either.

So I set out to not only give it a fresh and flavorful upgrade, but also do it in a crockpot, so your casserole doesn’t have to take up valuable oven space on Thanksgiving or Christmas. What can I say, I enjoy a challenge.

I ended up testing this recipe five times to get it just right for you. It uses fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms (no gloppy canned cream of mushroom soup).

It’s the perfect balance of cooked but not mushy, saucy but not too liquidy, and it’s the epitome of comfort food with the convenience of slow cooking.

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Ever wonder what to make with Leftover Mashed Potatoes? Here is the answer!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but with a gathering of just five people, we’re often stuck with quite a bit of leftovers after the big meal.

While you can simply reheat leftover mashed potatoes and drizzle them with homemade gravy a second time around, my favorite way to serve leftover mashed potatoes is this Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole.

Make this, and you’ll use up 4 cups of mashed potatoes, so this might be the only leftover recipe you need (or, you can easily make a half batch of this if you have less leftovers).

It’s loaded with all the good stuff, like bacon, cheese, sour cream and two kinds of onions, and topped with crushed cheese crackers for good measure.

“This recipe is a winner! Easy to improvise if needed. I made it yesterday and it turned out to be melt in your mouth, delicious and memorable. Absolutely perfect way to use up leftovers!”

—Melinda

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This Corn Casserole Recipe with Cheese is the ultimate comfort food

Don’t you just love when a side dish becomes that thing that everybody is still talking about the next day?

That’s what this Cheesy Corn Casserole is designed to do. It’s perfect for a holiday dinner or any time you’re craving comfort food.

It comes together using simple things like sweet corn, rich cheeses, a touch of seasoning and bacon. The ingredients are transformed into something so warm and comforting that it will be a star of your dinner table.

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This Elote Corn Salad is so flavorful!

Right up there with salmon pasta, this salad is one of the most popular recipes on this site!

I think it’s because it’s a side dish that can be made in advance and has a huge amount of flavor going on.

There’s creamy cheese and mayo, tangy lime juice, herby cilantro and a little bit of heat from cayenne and chili powder.

It can be made with fresh or frozen corn, and there’s substitution options for a lot of the ingredients, making it easy to use what you already have on hand.

My favorite part is that it can be served warmed, chilled or even right at room temperature. It’s equally delicious all three ways.

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Easy Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

You may remember this technique from my potato salad with bacon, and it works just as well with pasta salads of all kinds as it does with potato salad.

This pickle pasta salad uses a technique I’ve been relying on for years – dividing the dressing in half and adding it at two different stages.

Have you ever stirred together your pasta and dressing, refrigerated your salad, and then wondered why all of your dressing has disappeared? Sometimes it seems so dry after you get it back out of the fridge, right?

With this technique, you toss freshly cooked pasta with half of the dressing, then chill the salad to allow the pasta to absorb all of that flavorful dressing.

Then, once it’s chilled, just before serving, you add the rest of the dressing and toss again.

This technique ensures that the pasta is seasoned by absorbing some of the dressing, but there’s also more dressing for the surface of the pasta. It also won’t be a gloppy mayo-laden mess from accidentally over-dressing. It’s just a perfectly dressed pasta salad.

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This potato salad with bacon uses an easy technique to ensure it is perfectly dressed when you serve it.

More so than a lot of foods, there is a HUGE number of ways to make potato salad. Sauces, add-ins and even the type of potato may vary.

But I think the one thing we can all agree on is a good version of it needs to be properly dressed. Not an overly gloppy mayo-laden mess, but definitely not dry and under-seasoned either.

This potato salad with bacon recipe uses a technique I’ve been relying on for years – dividing the dressing in half and adding it at two different stages.

Have you ever added your dressing to warm potatoes, refrigerated your salad, and then wondered where all your dressing disappeared to? The potatoes suck it all up sometimes!

With this technique, you toss the still-warm potatoes with half of the dressing, then chill the salad to allow the warm potatoes to suck up and marinate in all of that flavorful dressing.

Then, once it’s chilled, just before serving, you add the rest of the dressing and toss again.

This technique ensures that the potatoes are seasoned by absorbing some of the dressing, but there’s also more dressing for the surface of that potatoes. It’s a perfectly dressed potato salad.

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I think that I love cream cheese more than the average person. I wasn’t really aware of this until I was doing a video call with a couple of friends, while making myself a bagel, and they both were shocked and awed by how much cream cheese (and how much everything bagel seasoning) I put on said bagel.

I mean, I had just had a baby a few days prior, and my body was extra hungry. But honestly, I don’t even need to make excuses. I’m not embarrassed. The truth is, I just love cream cheese. Anytime, anywhere.

It can go savory in crab-stuffed salmon recipe and crock pot beef stroganoff. It can be used as the “sauce” on roasted cauliflower pizza. And my Baileys brownies wouldn’t be the same without their spiked cream cheese frosting.

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for the absolute best chocolate cake I’ve ever made, paired with, what else? Cream cheese frosting!

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You will love these Potato Cakes from Mashed Potatoes

The thing about three person families is that we ALWAYS have leftovers. Having grown up in a three person family, and now having a three person family of my own, I know this to be a fact. And it’s a fact I kind of love, to be honest.

We are not a family who hates leftovers. We love having leftovers, because it means that lunch for the next day is already taken care of!

But let’s be honest, some leftovers aren’t so great simply reheated as is (looking at you, sadly, salmon pasta). That’s why I have a breakfast casserole that serves as a leftover cornbread recipe, and I have a leftover turkey chili in my back pocket, too.

Mashed potatoes are another thing that I don’t love simply reheated on their own. Unlike mini Hasselback potatoes, which you can make in advance and then reheat, mashed potatoes are really best when they’re fresh.

After that, I think they’re a little better repurposed into something else, like the tops of mini shepherd’s pies, or my original leftover mashed potatoes recipe that is a casserole with lots of cheese and bacon.

Today, I’m sharing another idea for repurposing leftover mashed potatoes. This mashed potato cake recipe is similar to a dish my mom used to make for the three of us, and now I make these leftover mashed potato cakes for my family, too!

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