Last Post of 2010

We took down and put away all the Christmas trees and decorations today. Well all except for the 4' tree that's in B.'s room. We'll get to that one in the next couple of days. I'm sitting here waiting for the crust to bake for my Lemon Pudding Dessert that I'm taking to my Mom's tomorrow. Everytime we have a get together she asks me to bring it. It's a recipe I got out of a Taste of Home magazine a long time ago - about 9-10 years ago. I've made it so many times I've lost count. I will be sure to share the recipe here in the next few days or so. My husband, daughter and I are enjoying a quiet evening at home on this New Year's Eve. Thank goodness the Chinese celebrate their New Years on a different day because my husband was able to get us some yummy Chinese take-out earlier this evening. :) My husband has been on vacation the past 1-1/2 weeks or so and lately we have been staying up until 3:00-4:00 a.m. so needless to say I am tired. lol! Last night he downloaded this really cute/funny/romantic movie through Netflix called "The Ugly Truth" and we watched it late last night. OMG, it is sooooo FUNNY! We really enjoyed watching it. And I ended up buying a few of the songs from the movie in the iTunes store for my iPod - some Katy Perry and Natasha Bedingfield. Our nephew told us about an app you can download called Shazam the other night. It is the neatest thing because if you're watching a movie or hear a song somewhere - you just open it on your iPod and hold it up to the speaker and it will tell you the name of the song and who sings it! My husband downloaded the free version and gave it a try last night and it worked! Too cool. I am really lovin' my new iPod. There are so many cool things I can do with it.

The crust for my dessert is out of the oven and cooling now. I'm gonna finish making that and then play Scrabble with B.  It's pretty much become a tradition for us to play games on New Year's Eve and since Santa brought B. Scrabble for Christmas, we'll be playing that and, of course, watching the ball drop later on. :)

Hope you all are having a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve! :)

Spinach-Noodle Casserole

I swear this is my last post today. Third time's a charm, right?? lol! I guess you could say I'm making up for the 2 weeks that I didn't post on here. :)

I started making Spinach-Noodle Casserole almost a year ago, back in January of this year. I got the recipe from my Southern Living "Our Favorite Recipes" cookbook and I make it quite often. And, obviously, it's what we had for supper tonight. lol! We all love it here in my family since it uses three of our favorite ingredients - spinach, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. It takes just a bit of effort to make it, but it is so worth it. The leftovers are just as delicious, and although I haven't tried freezing it, the recipe in the cookbook says that it freezes well.....


SPINACH-NOODLE CASSEROLE

1-1/4 lbs. ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. minced garlic from jar)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
24 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
10 oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed & drained
8 oz. (2 c.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I shred it myself)
1-1/2 c. sour cream
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. garlic salt
12 oz. wide egg noodles, cooked
Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook ground beef, garlic, salt and pepper until meat is no longer pink; drain and return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning and let simmer while you're waiting for the egg noodles to cook, etc.

Combine spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, egg, and garlic salt in a large mixing bowl. Fold in cooked egg noodles. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" (2-quart) baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Hope you enjoy and that you all have a safe New Year's Eve tomorrow. We'll be taking down all the Christmas decorations tomorrow morning. I wish we could leave them up longer. We have 4 Christmas trees up in our house and I love all the lights and decorations.

Have a good evening, everyone,

My New Cinch Is Here! :)

I know - two posts in one day - wow! lol! As I was typing up my Layered Taco Casserole recipe post, the man in brown showed up to deliver my new Cinch! *major happy dance!* My wonderful husband ordered it for me off HSN Christmas night and I am soooo excited that it's here. What is it? you ask. Well, it's a book binding tool. I've taken a real interest in mini albums this past year thanks to all the talented folks over on YouTube where there is TONS of scrappy inspiration and I've learned so much watching all their vids. With my new Cinch, I can punch the holes for mini scrapbook albums, recipe books, calendars, journals, B. can use it for school projects when she gets older, etc. etc. and since it's made by We R Memory Keepers, it can punch through all sorts of material - thick chipboard, acrylic, paper, etc. etc. It also binds the project together and you can choose which holes you want to punch or not by pulling out or pushing in the pegs to customize the look of your book. Very cool. The base is about 6" wide, but the guide pulls out for bigger projects. So I can make any size book, calendar, etc. that I want. Plus the instructions are right on the base telling you which pegs to pull for whatever size project you're binding. I have more than several WRMK tools that I already scrapbook with and I absolutely love them all. They are good-quality tools that I get alot of use out of (Crop-a-Dile Big Bite, magnetic cutting mat and magnetic metal ruler, and I have 3 of the 4 Corner Chompers that they came out with). Love them all especially because of the variety of materials that the Big Bite, Corner Chompers and, now, the Cinch will cut through.

The Cinch uses 2:1 pitch wires and they say you can find them at an office supply store. So I'm gonna check Office Max before I order any online. Mine was part of a bundle from HSN and came with a few binding wires and two each of 12" x 12", 8" x 8" and 6" x 6" thick book board. The binding wires come in different diameters and colors too. So fun and I can't wait to make something with it! :)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year! :)

Lovin' my new iPod & Layered Taco Casserole

Hello fellow bloggers,


I hope you all are having a wonderful week and that you had a Merry Christmas. :) B. was spoiled by Santa once again this year. She had asked him for an iPod, and sure enough, there was one under the tree for her on Christmas morning. After seeing how awesomely cool it is, my husband went out after Christmas and bought an iPod touch 4g for both himself and one for me too! :)  It's amazing all the stuff this little thing does. I downloaded a free app called Big Oven. It's a recipe app that has all sorts of recipes that people have shared on there along with pics. It's similiar to All Recipes (another favorite app and website of mine). With the Big Oven app you can save recipes to try later, bookmark your favorites, etc. I found this awesomely delicious recipe on there that I just couldn't wait to try called Layered Taco Casserole. I love love LOVE Mexican food and,  OMG, this is sooooo good! I made it last night for supper  and there were hardly any leftovers. It was that good.  This is another keeper for sure and I'll be making it again soon...

LAYERED TACO CASSEROLE


1 lb. ground beef
3/4 c. water
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 c. small-curd cottage cheese
8 oz. pkg. (2 c.) Mexican-blend cheese, shredded
1 medium onion (about 1 c.), chopped
12 6" flour tortillas
shredded lettuce
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly coat a 13" x 9" x 2" (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

In large skillet, cook ground beef until brown. Drain fat. Return to pan and stir in water, taco seasoning mix, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5-6 minutes  or to desired consistency; set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine cottage cheese, Mexican-blend cheese, and chopped onion.

Place 6 flour tortillas in prepared baking dish. Top with half of the ground beef and dollop with half the cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until heated through.

Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and a little sour cream on the side.

Enjoy! :)

Snowman Soup Pockets & Some Stitchin' Goodies

I've been crazy busy getting ready for the school Christmas party tomorrow, wrapping birthday & Christmas presents, and getting ready for B's upcoming birthday party. This is her first birthday party with her friends and she is so excited.

I saw this really cool idea on YouTube about a month ago for hot cocoa pockets. I decided to kick it up a notch and make them into "Snowman Soup Pockets" by including a packet of hot cocoa with marshmallows (the "snowman soup" part) and a stirring stick - a candy cane. The pockets are made out of Bazzill swiss-dotted cardstock that I scored with my Martha Stewart Score Board (love this thing), I rounded the corners with my Corner Chomper using the 1/2" side, and used red sticky tape to hold it together (this stuff is awesome, I highly recommend it for projects like this). The patterned paper on the front is by Imaginisce. I love how I can use my scrapbooking supplies for so much more than just scrapbooking. I printed out the cute poem in light blue and red, punched it out with a 2-1/2" circle punch, and cut the scallop circle out on my Cricut with the Storybook cartridge. B will be giving these out to her classmates tomorrow during the party. Then it's 2 weeks of Christmas break. We are so ready....

 

 The poem on the tag says:

"So, you've been real good this year
Always glad to hear it
With freezing weather drawing near
You'll need to warm the spirit...

So here's a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick,
Add hot water, sip it slow,
It's sure to do the trick!"

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I recently placed my first order for cross stitch charts in over 2 years. They arrived yesterday and I think the elf one is sooo stinkin' cute!! It came with little gold glass beads for the top of the elf's shoes. I can't wait to stitch that one first. Gotta get my gingerbread man done first, of course.....

 


Thanks for stoppin' by,

Sharing Some Recipes, Etc.

 Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I tried a new recipe today that I found on the internet awhile ago. I changed it up just a bit, and it turned out delicious. This is another "keeper" for sure...

CROCKPOT CHICKEN BREASTS

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 packet Italian dressing mix (dry)

Place chicken in 3-quart crockpot; brush chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with Italian seasoning mix.  Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6-7 hours. Add sauce ingredients during last hour of cooking time....

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (1/2 tsp. minced garlic from jar)

Mix together and pour over chicken during the last hour of cooking; turning the crockpot back up to high during that last hour. Shred chicken, stir sauce and chicken together and serve over cooked egg noodles.

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I finally figured out what my daughter will be giving her teacher this year for Christmas... a gift jar filled to the brim with these yummy, addictive Holiday Pretzel Treats. I found the recipe last December on www.familyfun.com and my daughter loves helping me make them. I found these 30 oz. food-safe plastic jars at JoAnn Fabrics 50% off. They're perfect for gifts-in-a-jar. It  takes a pound of the candy cane kisses to make enough pretzel treats to fill up a jar of this size. The cute tag was made with the help of my Cricut and the Christmas Cheer cartridge. Of course, I had to add a little red bling for the nose. :) I'll be making more of these to give out as gifts this year...

HOLIDAY PRETZEL TREATS

Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels
Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Holiday M&M's candy (red & green)

Heat oven to 170 degrees. Set a number of the pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on baking sheet. Place an unwrapped Hershey's Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each pretzel. Bake for 4-6 minutes until chocolates soften. Remove from oven and quickly press an M&M into the center of each Kiss. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then place the baking sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes 'til the Kisses set. Tastes best at room temperature. These are REALLY addictive!! Looks pretty on a cookie tray or you could put them in clear bags tied with colorful ribbon to give out as gifts during the holidays. Or, make a gift jar like I did. :)

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I found these huge 1+ lb. bags of the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses at Kroger. Everywhere else sells the small bags. So I went there this afternoon to get a couple more (I say more because this is the 2nd batch of the pretzel treats that my daughter and I have made this week. :). Anyway, we got a couple more of these big bags of the candy cane kisses and the rest of the ingredients for the pretzel treats. As I was walking past the magazine area on my way to the registers, I glanced over real quick not really expecting to find anything interesting, when I was completely surprised to find they had this year's Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue on the shelf. I've always had to order mine online or from a cross stitch shop somewhere. So what a pleasant surprise it was to find it in a local grocery store for once. I look forward to the JCS Ornament issue each year because it always has alot of cross stitch ornament patterns by some of my favorite cross stitch designers, plus some yummy-looking recipes that they share.

Needless to say, no stitching has gotten done today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to my gingerbread man....

Thanks for stopping by,

Welcome Back Stitching Mojo

Monday, December 13, 2010

Hi, and welcome to my blog! :) After being on a 1-1/2 year hiatus from stitching while I focused on scrapbooking, I've finally gotten the desire to stitch again and am actually excited about it. I'm starting with something small - a gingerbread man ornament for my Christmas tree in the kitchen/dining room which I started stitching over the weekend. I will post a pic once it's finished.

Other than finding my stitching mojo, my Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge that I bought during Scrapbook Pal's sale last week showed up today. So I'm super excited about that. My wonderful husband just got me a Cricut Expression a couple of months ago and I'm totally loving it. I wanted an Expression for a long time (at least a year) and it's so nice to finally have one sitting on my scrapping table in all of it's glory. I use it pretty much every time I scrapbook and have even made a few cards so far with it. I've had the smaller version of the Cricut - the "baby bug" for over 1-1/2 years now. I bought  it slightly used and have used it a lot too, but felt limited with what I could do with it and am so glad I was able to upgrade to the Expression. Now I'm a happy camper. :)

It has been frigid cold here and the kids have been enjoying 2-hour delays in the mornings before school due to the snow, ice, and the freezing temperatures. We all get to sleep in once again tomorrow morning. (woohoo! :) B's birthday will be during Christmas break and so I brought in some cupcakes & HiC juice boxes to her class so she could celebrate with her classmates today....

I'll be trying a new crockpot chicken recipe tomorrow. If it turns out good, I'll be sure to share it here. :)

Thanks for stopping by...