Thursday, October 20, 2011

Breakfast Casserole

Thanks to my good friend Rachel Allen who gave me this easy overnight breakfast bake recipe the night before I needed to take a "main dish" for a brunch at MOPS. If you know anything about me, I don't eat breakfast. If I do, my idea of breakfast is a really chocolatey granola bar. So, here's to Rachel, who helped me look like I had it all together in the morning.

Ingredients:

8 slices bread, cubed
3/4 lb breakfast sausage, browned (I used 1/2lb plus about a half a cub of fried ham)
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/4 t mustard powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c milk

Layer the bread, then sausage, then cheese in a 9x13 baking dish. Mix the milk, eggs, and mustard powder, then pour evenly over the bread, sausage, and cheese. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or more (overnight). Mix cream of mushroom soup and 1/2cup milk to have ready for the morning. In the morning, preheat oven to 300*. Spread cream of mushroom/milk mixture evenly over casserole. Bake for 90 minutes or until the egdges are turning brown.

*If you like mushrooms a can of mushrooms would be a a great addition to this recipe. I think green pepper would also do well.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is so very "ish" it's not even funny. I will try hard to give amounts but please realize it's different every time I make it. I just add things til it tastes amazing and then I quit. I am laughing because my recipe literally says "add desired amount of water and boullion" and "saute some onion".... amounts? HA!

Ingredients:

1/2-1 onion, chopped (I probably do a small onion worth)
2 T oil or butter (I always like butter better)
2 chicken breasts, cubed
4-6 cups Water
4-6 bouillon cubes (1 per cup of water)
poultry seasoning
thyme
sage
rosemary
spaghetti, alfredo, egg noodles or other desired noodle
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup

Saute the onion in butter of 1-2 minutes. Add chicken and 2 bouillon cubes cook until mostly done. Here you can either add 4 cups water and 2 more bouillon and a sprinkling of each of the other spices, bring to a boil, then add desired amount of noodles. Or you can take the chicken out and boil the noodles in the water with 2 more bouillon, and a sprinkling of each spice. Either way is fine. Once the noodles are "al dente" (cooked but firm to the bite) (add back in chicken if you removed it), add 1-2 cans of cream of chicken soup. This totally depends on how creamy you want it. If it is too water add more soup, too creamy or not soupy enough, add more water.

You really can't ruin this recipe. (Unless your lid comes off one of the seasonings. I mean, I can't imagine that tasting good.) Also, if you don't have the seasonings the soup will still be great. If you can at least add some rosemary or thyme... Come to think of it, if you can, just add them all. They really do make it taste totally home made!!!

If you want to be really cool you could always make homemade noodles to. Oh my goodness they are good. I do it occasionally (when I want extra work, extra clean up, but amazing soup.) (Which actually is less often than occasionally.)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

*Hash*

Lately we've been having roast, carrots, and potatoes for dinner on my Monday night cooking club night...then Hash for Tuesday night. It's just an EASY meal for me when it's such a crazy night. And my family loves it. So... everyone in my cooking clubs- and a lot of other people keep wondering, "What the heck is Hash?" Well, I didn't know either, til I married Luke. Basically it's just leftover roast with a twist.

So, first you have to make a roast. The way I do it is turn my crockpot to high (if the roast is frozen, low if it's thawed) and put in a 2-3lb roast (or 2!). I pour about a cup of water over the top, then sprinkle it generously with garlic salt, onion salt, salt and pepper. (No, it is NOT too salty.) Then I chop an onion into 8 wedges and throw them in. I leave it on that setting from about 1pm to 3pm. At 3pm I add as many potatoes (halved) and carrots (halved...or baby carrots) as I can cram into my crockpot (and always wish for a bigger pot) and turn the setting to high. I sprinkle those with the same 4 spices. I leave it on high for about an hour then turn it to low again until it's time to eat. (if you can't be around all day, like I am, then just stick it all in (with a thawed roast) and turn it on low for about 4 hours) So, night 1 I serve that meal...

The next day, I chop the potatoes and carrots into bite size pieces and fry them in a layer of oil (preferrably, actually, bacon grease. Say, 2 Tablespoons...) When they seem almost fried I add chopped (bitesize) roast pieces and continue frying it all until the first piece burns. (Try not to let a bunch of first pieces burn all at once. Or you could just keep frying them until they are hot!) Now, one tip is to get the pan and oil heated up on medium heat until you can flick water into it and it sizzles. THEN and ONLY then do you add the potatoes and carrots. This is what makes them crispy. While it's all frying I like to add more garlic salt, onion salt and pepper to the pieces. Oh my goodness...until I had hash I hated roast. Now I tolerate roast to get to the hash. I've even considered making a roast and saving it for hash. But I don't think Luke would love that.

This meal is seriously SO easy. Quick clean up. And even in the summer it's do-able since it won't heat your house to blazes. Before you judge it, TRY it. At least the hash part.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Better than Mom's Green Beans

This is like...THE ONLY...way to eat green beans. Just sayin'. As I tried to write out this recipe I realized I had to add a disclaimer: this recipe is totally made up off the books. I don't even know how much I actually use of each ingredients. It's my best guess. So if you're just throwing things in..you're probably doing it JUST RIGHT.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb green beans (or bag of frozen)
3-6 slices bacon (ish..i really have no idea how much bacon it uses...)
1 T bacon grease or about 2 T margarine
1/3-1/2 cup onions, chopped
1-2 T sesame seeds
2 T apple cidar vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Cover green beans in a shallow pan and boil until crisp tender. (Obviously the frozen beans don't take as long as the fresh.) Drain and set aside. In same shallow pan (I use a 10in round by about 2-3 inch high pan) fry bacon and crumble. Use 1T bacon grease OR melt 1T butter in pan and saute onion until tender. Stir in sesame seeds until they are slightly toasted. Add vinegar and crumbled bacon; mix well; then toss with green beans until well coated. If they are too dry melt another tablespoon of butter (or bacon grease) and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.

*I often use crumbled bacon (you can get it cheap at SAMS) and butter if i don't have bacon. Or sometimes I even just fry up some ham in bacon grease and use it as the bacon.

I've definitely entertained the idea of using sesame oil in this recipe. I'll let you know if I ever do!
These are definitely not low fat, but they are stinkin' good!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Chicken Enchiladas

As a kid this was my favorite meal to go to Gramma's and have. (Besides, OF COURSE, her pizza.) I got the recipe when I got married and only then realized I had suckered for the easiest.recipe.ever to be my favorite. It's a great one to freeze because it bakes up as if it's never been frozen! Also...I've never met a kid who didn't like it!

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 pint sour cream
1 can (4oz) green chilies (I usually leave these out!)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 bunch chopped green onions
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c shredded monteray jack cheese
12 flour tortillas

Mix chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup and chilies. Place about 2 tablespoons of mixture in center of each tortilla and roll up. Place rolled tortillas seam side down in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour remaining mixture over tortillas and spread evenly. Top with grated cheese and onions. Bake uncovered at 350* for 30 minutes.
Sometimes I make this as a casserole. Cut the tortillas in 1 inch squares (pizza cutters work great for this!). half of the tortillas in lightly greased dish. Top with half of the chicken mixture, and repeat layers. Top with cheese and onions and bake as above.
If you want to freeze it then just top with saran wrap and foil or a lid.

Chicken Pot Pie

A friend shared this recipe with me early this year and I have really enjoyed having it. It is so easy and quick-especially if your chicken is already cooked and, like me, you cave and buy the store pie crusts!

Ingredients:
2 refrigerated pie crusts (usually this is just one package with 2 crusts in it)
1/3 c butter
1/3 c onion, chopped
1/3 c flour
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t salt
1/4 t poultry seasoning (can easily be done without this..i added it!)
1 3/4 c chicken broth (or water with 2 chicken boullion cubes)
1/2 c milk
2 1/2 c cooked chicken chopped or shredded
2 c frozen veggies (I just use walmart's mixed veggies!)

Preheat oven to 425*. Place one pie crust in ungreased 9in pie plate.
In 2qt saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Saute onion about 2 minutes while stirring. Add salt and pepper; then add flour alternately with milk and chicken broth. (I've found it easiest to add some flour and stir it until the mixture is fairly clumpy, then add some milk until it is fairly juicy again, then add the rest of the flour and then the rest of the broth. This is to keep the flour from clumping in the liquid.) Stir mixture until boiling and thickened (a few minutes). Stir in chicken and mixed veggies.
Pour into pie crust. Top with 2nd crust and seal edges and flute. Cut slits on top. If you are going to bake it, nows the time to do that for 15 minutes. Then cover with a pie crust shield and bake 20-25 more minutes. Let stand AT LEAST 5 minutes before serving to let it thicken.
If you want to freeze it put it in the fridge until it is cold then cover with wax paper then either foil or saran wrap and place in freezer. Bake the same way when totally thawed.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A-mazing Mocha Punch

Punch? Really? This is so much better than a meazly "punch"...maybe it should be called Mocha Madness...or something super dramatic. It's fantastic! You'll want to try it! It's a hit any time of the year, but I always crave it during these hot summer months! I'm SO sorry I don't have a picture!

Mocha (Madness) Punch

6 cups water
1/2 c instant chocolate drink mix
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c instant coffee granules
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/2 gallon chocolate or chocolate chunk ice cream
Whipped cream (optional)
Chocolate curls (also optional)

In microwave safe measuring cup bring 1 1/2 cups of the water to a boil. Stir in chocolate drink mix, sugar, and coffee granules until dissolved. Refrigerate until cold. (I usually leave it overnight or all day.)

About 30 minutes before you want to serve the punch (20 minutes if it's super warm out) add 4 1/2 cups water and mix well. Pour into punch bowl and add half of each tub of ice cream by scoopfuls. Stir in and let set for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ice cream by the scoopful and stir again. Serve when it is slightly melted. Garnish with a dallop of whipped cream an a few chocolate curls if desired.

ENJOY this amazing-ness. Even my picky coffee hater (yes they exist..sigh!) brothers like this drink!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Everyday Cricut is having a give-away! If you're interested in the NEW Expression 2 check out their site! (click on the Everyday Cricut badge I have on my home page!) Also, check out there blog-you'll love it even if you don't win the cricut!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef
1 pkg onion soup mix
1 can evaporated milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans fancy cut green beans
8 slices American cheese
1 bag tater tots

Brown hamburger. Spread evenly in bottom of ungreased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top of hamburger. In large bowl mix green beans, evaporated milk, and mushroom soup. Pour over hamburger. Top with american cheese, then tater tots.

If you want to freeze this, cover with seran wrap and a lid, or tin foil. Thaw completely before baking.

Bake at 400* until tater tots are crisp and cheese is bubbly. If the cheese is bubbly, but tater tots need crisped-turn on broil on hi for about 1 minute.

Monday, March 7, 2011

3-4 Month Bear Pages

These are Kaden's 3 month and 4 month scrap pages. I liked how these turned out, which was good after struggling with them for a while-then putting them away, then getting them out again! It finally came to me and I was pleased. Like I've said before-the bear photos are actually the harder ones to put together. I had thought they'd be easiest. After thinking about it, I've decided it's because there isn't a lot of variety of phrases or things like that to add!

I stacked an orange button under a blue button. They fit perfectly and really complimented the colors I'd chosen. I also flip-flopped the main background colors because I just couldn't figure out how to make his shirts "work" with the colors!



I just love this 4. I haven't figured out what it is about it, but this part is my favorite.

It's hard to believe he was ever so little!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bar-B-Q Meatballs (over rice)

I promise you will get compliments on these meatballs every single time. It makes a lot (hence the 3lbs of meat!) but I love to make the meatballs (minus the sauce) and freeze half for a later date. (I'm all about only cooking half the time!!!) If you want to turn them to appetizers you can just make them smaller..and they are GREAT even without rice.

Ingredients:
3lbs ground hamburger
2 c quick cooking oats
2 eggs
1 (13oz) can evaporated milk
1 c chopped onion (or 2-3 t onion powder)
1/2 t black pepper
2 t salt
2 t chili powder
1/2 t garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix all ingredients well. Form into 1 1/2 inch balls. (The Pampered Chef Medium Scoop is THE BEST for this job!) Place in large lightly greased pan (or 2 9x13)and bake for 20-30 minutes-until they are no longer pink in the middle. At this point you can freeze half, or choose to make it all.

BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
2 c tomato ketchup
1 c brown sugar
2 t liquid smoke
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 c chopped onion (1 teaspoon onion powder)

Place balls in crockpot and pour sauce over them (make sure to cover them all evenly!) Heat until warm. If you don't want to use a crock pot I have heated the sauce in the micowave (careful with the ketchup so it doesn't burn!) and poured over the meatballs while they are still hot! In that case you would want to start your rice before making the sauce so it will be done when the meatballs are ready.

*For those of you who don't like onion (You know who you are...) I think the onion really adds to the recipe. I highly reccomend subsituting some onion powder in it's place. I promise you won't hate it...I have snuck this past many an onion-hater this way! You onion loves can laugh...but you don't know what else I've snuck past you! (Like wild game, veggies, etc...) I put the amounts next to the onion in the recipe for all you weirdos (uh..I mean...ahh..nevermind.)

I'll add a picture next time I make them!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

1-2 Month Bear Pages


My Cricut saved these pages-although, the are still definitely not my favorites! I'm so glad I took monthly pictures of Kaden with his bear! The lettering was cut on the Sesame Street Font cartridge. I love this shapes font for little boys!


If I were to re-do these pages I would add more colors. It's tricky, though, when I have a lot of pictures to fit on such a small page. The longer I go on this scrapbook the more I am a believer in 12x12 size! I still may add "bling" or something to these pages if I am inspired...Like I said before...these aren't my favorite pages. I thought the bear pictures would be the easiest pages-but that is proving false! Here are the pages individually.


Was he not seriously the cutest baby ever!

Alfredo Potato Lasagna

This is what we had for dinner tonight. My camera seems to have gone AWOL, so no pictures! If you are planning to make this recipe, keep in mind that it takes an hour and ten minutes to bake, then another 10 to cool. I tried to have it in the oven by 3:45pm to be ready to eat around 5:15pm. I am not giving the exact recipe since I made some changes that I think enhanced the flavor.

Ingredients:
1 jar (12-16oz) Alfredo sauce (the more flavor the better, in my opinion)
1 cup milk
3 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
5 T parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese
16oz bag of frozen broccoli, thawed (or equivelant of fresh broccoli!)
2- 2 1/2 cups cubed ham

1. Mix alfredo sauce and milk and whisk together. Peel and slice the potatoes. If you have the Pampered Chef Ultimate Mandolin this is a GREAT fast way to slice those potatoes!

2. Lightly grease the bottom of a deep 9x13 pan. Pour 3/4 cup of the alfredo mixture onto bottom of pan. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the parmesan cheese over potatoes, then salt and pepper to taste. (I did a good healthy layer of both and it wasn't quite enough.) Sprinkle 1/3 of the ham, broccoli, and cheese. Lay another 1/3 of the potatoes, then another 1/3 of ham, broccoli and cheese. Follow that layer with the rest of the potatoes, ham, broccoli and cheese. Pour the rest of the alfredo mixture over that and top with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

3. Cover, and bake at 400* for 45 minutes. Uncover; reduce heat to 350* and back for another 25 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes to thicken and cool before serving.

It really was a tasty meal-for potatoes! (If you know me well, you know I really don't like potatoes a whole lot. But I really enjoyed this recipe!) Also, I used parmesan garlic alfredo sauce. I think the 3 cheeses kind would be good too! The more flavor the better!

YOu can make this and freeze it, the only catch is that it does need to be completely thawed before you start baking or the potatoes won't get done! To do this I take it out the night before and put it on the counter on a dish towel and let it sit overnight.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Gramma's Lasagna

Ingredients:
3/4 lb hamburger
3/4 lb mild italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced OR 3/8 t garlic powder
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup salsa (medium is what I use)
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
2 t sugar
1 t chili powder
1 t fennel seed (I don't actually put this in, most of the time)
1 t dried oregono
1 t dried basil
12ish lasagna noodles
1 (16oz) carton cottage cheese
4 cups shredded mozerella (I actually do cheddar and mozerella together)
3/4 parmesan cheese

In a large kettle or dutch oven, brown beef, sausage, onion and garlic. Cook until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain excess grease. (I buy really lean meat and don't end up draining it, but do drain if there is a lot of grease!) Stir in the next 9 ingredients (through basil). Cook lasagna noodles according to pkg directions, drain, and rinse in cold water. In a greased 9x13 pan (the taller the better, this is really a deep lasagna!) layer 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the meat sauce, 1/2 of the cottage cheese, 1/3 of the mozarella cheese, and 1/3 of the parmesan. Repeat. Top with remaining 1/3 noodles, meat sauce, mozarella and parmesan. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes; uncover and bake for 20 minutes longer. Let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

This recipe freezes really well. Just spray some tin foil with cooking spray and wrap it tightly around the pan. If you are using a plastic lid I reccomend spraying it or using seran wrap first to help it seal. Freeze for up to 2 months. I usually do 2 of these when I'm going to all the work. Then I have a meal in the freezer for some lazy day, or for when I have company coming over!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Outdoor Fun

These next two scrapbook pages are when Kaden was 2 months old. We took about a week-long trip to Montana to visit around. The weekend was spent visiting Howes at their campsite near Anaconda, MT. Kaden was just 2 months old and just too cuddly not to spend a lot of time with him in the hammock!



I love my stencils (from the Target dollar bin one lucky day!) that allow me to have little journal areas.

I cut the "outdoor" from the Sesame Street Fonts cartridge. I originally planned to use the individual letters on a blue shadow, but when it came down to it, I just loved the outline the cricut formed when cutting the word. I really love that with the cricut you can use the outline or the letters...sometimes both! So the letters that didn't get used get put in a container of random letters...they come in useful for many things...AND I feel great that there is NO waste this way! The "fun" was a word sticker I had that is made to pop out from the page. It really adds a lot to the layout-in case you can't tell from the picture!

I ony did one set of pages today since I've been taking a few more pictures. I don't want to overload my post with more than one set of pages. This set of pages are some of my favorite so far.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Scrap, scrap, and more scrap...booking that is.

These are pages of Kaden's first pictures. The first picture has his baby announcement and the pictures we took right before heading home from the hospital in his first outfit. I had a hard time making these pictures fit until I added the light blue. It will be one of the few times "other" color is added to the album than the main 5 I chose in the beginning. I just found the picture the hospital took and am going to try to add that one to the page with the baby announcement somehow. It would fit in great if I can manage it!


These next 2 pages are of our trip to Keystone/Hill City with PCA Engineering (Luke's work) when Kaden was 1 month old. We stayed in some cabins and on one of the days we took the train from Hill City to Keystone. Since we took the train we couldn't take a stroller and it ended up being about 100 degrees that day. Kaden blew out of his diaper 2 times and didn't want to eat because he was so hot. The picture of him sleeping on the floor was in a restaurant and it was about the only time he slept all day, I think! I really like how these pages turned out-simple and fun.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Subway Flatbread? At home? I THINK SO.

I forgot to take a picture of the WHOLE sandwhich so I had to take one of Luke's half eaten one! Sorry about that! They were just SOOOO good..who remembers to take a picture of such a goodlooking, mouthwatering, sandwhich? This flat bread is actually really easy once you get the hang of it. Give it a try! The only thing i reccomend is reheating it (like they do at Subway) before using! I did that in my toaster oven on bake at 350*, but the microwave would work just fine too.

Ingredients:
1 c warm water
1 pkg (1 T) yeast
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
3 T milk
1 t salt
3-5 cups flour
1/4-1/2 c butter
onion salt
garlic salt

In mixing bowl sprinkle yeast over water. Add sugar and let sit til frothy. Beat egg and add to yeast water along with milk and salt. Stir in half of the flour until mixture is creamy. Mix in enough flour to form a soft dough. Knead 6-8 minutes. In warm place, let dough raise until doubled (45-60 minutes). Punch down and divide 6-12 balls (depending on desired size of bread. 6 balls should do 6 approximately 6in x 6in pieces (maybe bigger)-pefect for sandwiches like Subway. Twelve would do about 12 3-inch rounds-this would be good if you are just serving the flat bread with soup.)Let balls rest for 15 minutes. Heat grill pan (this makes fun grill marks on the bread, but I'm guessing a frying pan or griddle would work well aslo) over high heat. Punch down then roll out 1 of the rolls of dough. Roll it to about 1/2 centemeter (almost 1/4 inch thick.) I've shown a ruler to help those of you who might be challenged in the area of depth measurement!
Remember, that's 1/4 of the inch side, or 1/2 of the centemeter side. These will expand a little while cooking so make sure they aren't TOO thick. But if they are too thin they will come out more like cracker bread than the doughy yummy flatbread we're all wanting! After you've got one rolled out turn the heat down to LOW for the grill pan. Melt 1/4 cup butter and add onion salt and garlic salt to taste. Brush over rolled out dough. The picture shown here was one of my first "tries" which was rolled out too thin. I wanted to just show you a picture to show how I don't make sure it's a perfect square. Also, I found it super easy to roll it out on my stone pizza pan with my pastry roller (which you can barely see in the corner of the picture) instead of a big rolling pin.
Next, lay it face down in the grill pan and cook (for me, it took about 2-3 minutes on low-2 setting. But watch it carefully!) I do not reccomend using the top part of a grill pan for these. It will bubble on the top side as shown in this picture.
If desired butter the uncooked side and flip over.
It may seem a little doughy when you take it out of the pan-and you will just have to experiment with your stove and your pan to see where perfection lies. For me, it looked a little doughy but turns out it wasn't doughy at all when we ate it. I really super hope someone out there tries this and loves it as much as I did! When I get my southwestern sauce perfected I promise to share that too! One of these days I'm gonna have the upper hand on Subway...one of these days...

Friday, January 28, 2011

More Scrap Pages

Pages 8-9 are of our Happy Family. The yellow card is from Kaden's 2 day Dr. appointment-it has Kaden's size and weight from that visit. I love to keep little things like this for the baby book even if it does make it harder to get it to "fit in" with the page layout and colors! Also, more journaling! It says, "Newborn Pictures with your bear from Grandpa and Grandma Bradley" And there started what was the main inspiration of this scrapbook. You'll have to stay tuned to see where it goes!
"

Right now, these next two pages are pages 10-11. I'm unsure if that is where they will stay. I chose to do a Daddy and son page because I kept running across pictures that I wanted to put in his scrapbook that didn't necessarily "fit" with the pages I had in mind. I love this page because it just looks FUN...it is all ages from birth to 4 months which is why I am unsure if it will stay in this order. Notice the buttons. I just love buttons in a baby scrapbook. I try not to over use them!


So there you go! Pages 12-15 will be coming soon!

Ultrasound & Birth pages

Here are pages 4-7 of Kaden's baby book. Pages 4-5 are some of the ultra sound pictures from my pregnancy. These pages always remind me of the little boy at the daycare I worked at while I was pregnant. The kid was about 2 1/2 (Kaden's age now, actually!)-anyway-he would NOT believe there was a baby in my tummy. He even told his mom I was lying to him. It was pretty innocent and cute. Anyway, back to the pages- I have a stencil I got at Walmart that lets me "trace" an area to journal in. You'll see it in many of my pages.


Pages 6-7 are some of my favorites, but probably only because they are pictures of the first time I ever saw my baby boy. I learned not to use "dries clear" glue on the clear parts. I haven't yet figure out exactly what you can use, since photo squares, and clear tape don't work well either. So until I figure it out, I am using glue sticks. It seems to work well. Also, for this page I used the measuring tape they used to measure his head and chest as well as the tag off his crib at the hospital. The bands on the 2nd page are his ankle band and my wrist band. It doesn't fit as well with the jungle theme, but that's hardly noticeable unless I point it out, right? Espeically since I managed to squeeze in that cute little giraffe!

Introducing Scrapbooking into this Blog...

Right now I'm *supposed* to be baking bread, paying bills, and filing. This is my newest procrastination method.
I've decided to add my scrapbooking pages to my blog. I just have to. I'm sorry to those of you who just want recipes-by maybe I can inspire you to scrapbook? OR, maybe it'll just confirm that you don't want to get into such a big project! I'll start with Kaden's scrapbook (which is barely started) and throw in some pages from the scrapbook I made for my Grandparents last year. And someday I might even be brave enough to share my first ever pages-of my wedding.

When you start something like this you definitely have your favorite pages and your "other" pages. Those are the ones you aren't exactly proud of but you're not gonna try to redo them because they kicked your butt the first time. I'll try to make sure I let you know which ones are which! So, without further ado, here is the first 3 pages of Kaden's scrapbook. Keep in mind-I didn't have my (amazingly wonderful) Cricut when I started this one!

Kaden's scrapbook is a Horizontal 8 1/2in X 11in size book which makes page layouts interesting! I decided early on to have a jungle theme for his book as well as 5 different colors to work with. Lesson number 1 (you learn as you go) five colors is too few. In the future, I will pick 5 solids and 5 prints or something like that. This first page just introduces my favorite little boy with some of my favorite first pictures of him. He looks so relaxed!

The next two photos are the next pages. As you open the book you'll see these pages together, so try to imagine it that way! I decided to go back in time to my (lovely) pregnant days. This was a fun and easy layout because the pictures put themselves in order. Please try not to notice how huge I got. He was a big baby, okay!


I just noticed as I was "previewing" my blog to make sure I had the pictures in the right order that there is an ELEPHANT on the same page as my huge preggo pics. REALLY, Bethany??? REALLY? I so did not mean for that, but, it is somewhat ironic. SIGH. This really is what I mean by "learning as you go"... Note to self: no more elephants on pages with pregnant women". The END.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Chicken & Cabbage Salad

I found this recipe while I was re-organizing my recipe books last night. I love this salad...but it's one I would never have picked out of a book. I had it at a party one time and I was sold! I changed it a tiny bit to fit my taste! I hope you love it as much as I do. I'll try to get a picture the next time I make it. It makes a lot, so I usually make half, or make it for a potluck.

Salad Ingredients:
1 small head cabbage
3 chicken breasts
3 green onions
1 package oriental (or beef) flavored Ramen noodles (save packet for dressing)
1/8-1/4 c slivered almonds OR sunflower seeds
1 c oil
1/4 c vinegar
1/4 c sugar
Ramen flavor packet

Directions:
Cube chicken breasts then cook fully. Meanwhile, shred cabbage and place in large bowl. Break up Ramen noodles into small pieces (save packet for dressing), and slice green onions. Combine chicken, noodles, green onions, and almonds/sunflower seeds with cabbage.

Next combine the oil, vinegar, sugar and flavoring packet from the Ramen and mix well. About 1/2 hour before serving, pour dressing over salad and mix well.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Crockpot Chicken (or Beef!) Stroganoff

Dinner's on! And it's only noon!!! That's because I found me some crockpot recipes to try, and BOY AM I EXCITED! I know some of you out there (including my very own sister in law!) have a THING against crockpot foods....I have this to say to you. Get over it. You've probably only had foods that came from the campbell's "I don't have any taste" cookbook or some 3 ingredient or less thing. I LOVE my crockpot, and I'm not afraid to say it. For the rest of you, here's the recipe I'm trying. It originally calls for chicken, but I'm in the mood for some good red meat SOOOO true to my subconcious need to change every recipe, I have modified it some. I'll give it both ways in case you want to try the chicken one!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves, cubed
(1lb-ish cubed deer or beef steak)
2 T butter or margarine
1 pkg (.7 oz) Italian Dressing Mix
1 (10.75 oz) can Cream of Chicken soup
(Cream of Mushroom would be good with the beef)
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese
OPTIONAL: 1 can sliced mushrooms or equivilant fresh
frozen broccoli (for the beef kind, not sure about broccoli with chicken..maybe?)

Throw the cubed chicken (beef) into the crockpot along with the butter and Italian Dressing Mix. Cook on low for 5 hours. One half hour before serving add the soup, cream cheese, and veggies and cook on HIGH until heated through. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

POINTS: 10 per serving
makes 4 servings
14 points if served over 3/4 cup cooked rice OR egg noodles. 13 points if served over 1/2 cup cooked rice.
Weight Watchers has changed their point system, so this point value is only valid with their NEW system. (My GUESS is that it'd be a few less points with the "old" system, but I can't be sure) Curse you WW for changing what I knew so well.

*I'm thinking I might try it next time with some garlic added. We'll see how that goes.*