Menu Monday

Happy Halloween!  It's supposed to turn off pretty cold this week, so I have a couple soups on the menu.  I love soup weather! 

Monday-
Halloween Candy!  ;o)  Ha ha! 
Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Tuesday-
Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday-
Simple Done Chicken Legs and Rice

Thursday-
Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Friday-
Steak and Fried Potatoes

Saturday-
Tacos

Sunday-
Ham Steaks and Mashed Taters

Monica's Menu
I love soup weather too. I've been loving my crockpot. What a handy little tool for busy days. Hope your day is filled with cute little spooks. I'm already all candied out. Seriously. No candy for me today. Blech.

Monday
Spaghetti with Eyeballs and Bone breadsticks

Tuesday
Spinach Chicken Stomboli (This week for sure!)

Wednesday
Taco Salad

Thursday
Crockpot Creamy Tortellini Soup

Friday
Mini English Muffin Pizzas

Saturday
Chili and Cornbread

Sunday
Chicken Rolls

Have a great Week!!! Happy Halloween!

Digi Day

What a week! I've been busy working on costumes and staying up way too late watching past episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I always wonder why I do this to myself. I think I secretly enjoy being tired and running on little sleep. Anyway, I did want to get one page out this week.  There are a lot of exciting top secret things coming up in the next few months at JessicaSprague.com.  It's kind of fun that I am "in" on the secrets. Stay tuned. ;)


This is a beautiful new paper pack by Cosmo Cricket. It's called Mitten Weather. Love this photos of the two kiddos. I miss those short little legs and wild hair on Maggs. Good times. Full Credit Here.

That's it this week! Have a great Thursday!

Crockpot Balsamic Chicken

I love the crockpot!  Nothing more easy than throwing everything in there and forgetting about it until dinner time.  I love the way it makes your entire house smell yummy too.  I tried this new recipe and it was good.  We gobbled it right up.

Balsamic Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

2-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each: dried oregano,basil, and rosemary (Give or take.  I don't like a lot of spices, so I didn't add as much.)
1/2 tsp thyme
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Pour the olive oil on bottom of crock pot.  Place in chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast.  Top with sliced onions then dried herbs, and garlic.  Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes.  Cook on high for 4 hours, and serve over your favorite noodles. 

Menu Monday and a WINNER!

Monica's Menu
Monday again? Fall is slipping by and the Holidays are around the corner. Makes me excited! Have a great week!

Monday
Salsa Chicken (repeat again)

Tuesday
Spinach Chicken Stromboli (repeat)

Wednesday
Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday
Crockpot Stew

Friday
Mummy Dogs (I'm sure you've seen these all over the web. I made them last year and the kids loved them!)

Saturday
Tuna Noodle Casserole

Sunday
Meatloaf


Erica's Menu

I have more than a few carryovers this week.  Our entire house, except Daddy, got the stomach bug.  It was so NOT fun!  I finally feel pretty good today, so i'm hoping to get caught up on everything and start cooking again.

Monday-
Whole Chicken, Mashed Taters and Gravy

Tuesday-
Minestrone Soupe

Wednesday-
Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday-
Nachos

Friday-
Biscuits and Gravy

Saturday-
Chicken Pillows

Sunday-
Pot Roast and Taters

And after counting all our comments and comments on the Facebook page the number generator picked...Heather!  She said, "HEY! I'M A FOLLOWER! love all your awesome recipes and crafts! What a great blog!"  Thanks for being a follower of our blog and Congrats!  Email me at enjvanbeb@yahoo.com to claim your prize!  And thanks to everyone else for entering.

Baked Ziti

I've had this in my to do folder to make for dinner for SO long.  I finally got to it, and it is now a family favorite.  My kids and husband gobbled it right up. Plus, it was really easy to throw together and you know how I love easy and yummy recipes.

Baked Ziti
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 oz) jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
6 oz provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 c sour cream
6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4-1/2 c parmesen cheese
Boil noodles according to package directions.  Drain. 

In a large pan brown your ground beef and chopped onions.  Add spaghetti sauce and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9x13 casserold dish.  Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.


Bake for 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cheeses are melted.  Enjoy!

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It's Friday!  Make sure to enter our giveaway HERE to win the fun Scentsy warmer and scent.  We will be picking a winner Sunday night and announcing it on our Menu Monday!  Remember to leave a comment for EACH thing you've done for the giveaway.  If for some reason you aren't able to comment head on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment there. 

Have a great weekend!

Ghost Cupcakes

BOO! I saw these cute little cupcakes somewhere in internet land. I have no idea who to credit these to. So I apologize for that. I knew they'd be a cinch to throw together though and they were. They'd be perfect for a Halloween party with the kiddos. I made them for a bunch of grown women and they loved them.

These were a one bowl from scratch chocolate cupcake. Super easy and by far my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. I'm serious, they are amazing. I'll credit Martha for these. You can find the recipe HERE.

While these were baking I made two small batches of Marshmallow Fondant. I have made this before and have had good and bad luck with the recipe. In Utah I mostly had bad luck, I'm not sure if the dry climate helped me with that. I attempted it again though and it turned out perfect this time. Marshmallow Fondant is fun to play with and the ideas are endless. You can flavor it and color it anyway you like. It's tastes so much better than the premade fondant you can purchase.

I also whipped up a basic vanilla buttercream. I am not an expert at many things, well pretty much nothing, but I am good at making a buttercream. I don't have a specific recipe I follow it just comes together through experience and some failures. Back when I needed a recipe I liked this one. Mine is pretty much the same, although please don't add all shortening in your buttercream. They don't call it BUTTERcream for nothing. :)

Once the cupcakes are cool I frosted them and stuck a Tootsie Pop in them. I rolled out the fondant and cut into large circles using a large cookie cutter I have. I draped them over the Tootsie Pop and drew on the eyes. Easie Peasie and oh so cute.

I needed one little happy ghost. :)

Marshmallow Fondant
This makes a small batch. Enough to cover a single layer 10 inch round.

1 cup mini marshmallows
1 Tbsp water
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Place marshmallows in a standard 1 cup measuring cup and push down and pack them in. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Just long enough for them to soften and puff up. Take out and stir with a spoon until it is well combined. If the marshmallows aren't melted, put it back in for 10 seconds or so. You don't want to put it in too long though because the moisture gets all sucked out. At this point it looks kind of soupy.

Add the sugar and mix and fold until it is all incorporated and it is no longer sticky. When it is cool enough you can knead it with your hands. I just knead it in the bowl. It should be a nice dough now. You can roll it out or shape it however you'd like.

A couple of tips
If it's a touch sticky and you don't feel like it needs more sugar, you can leave it on the counter to air dry for 10 minutes or so, then knead again.

Use powdered sugar or a thin layer of shortening on your counter when rolling out.

If you want to add a flavoring, cut back on the water by as much flavoring you add.

I got this recipe years ago from the Wilton.com forums. Let me know if you have any questions!

Enjoy and Happy Thursday!

Don't forget to enter are Giveaway HERE!

Digi Day

It's been a couple of weeks since I did a Digi Day. I have a handful of layouts that I've completed and wanted to share. First off, I wanted to tell you about a new class at JessicaSprague.com. It's another in the Mouse, Paper, Scissors Class. This one is called Mouse, Paper, Scissors Give. It is a Hybrid class that brings in the best of both worlds. You'll do some designing on your computer, print, then get your hands dirty putting together a gorgeous project you can gift for the Holidays. These classes are super fun. Check it out. Registration is limited and the class is filling up! Oh, also, with the cost of the class you get all the goodies mailed to you to make your projects. This class is also for Beginner Photoshop users. So don't feel discouraged by the computer part. If you've wanted to try your hand at Digi but don't want to give up the paper and glue, then this class is for you!

Okay, here are my layouts this week!

I did this layout a few months ago but somehow missed posting it. I love this photo of my hubby with my son. Warms my heart. That lil boy is now 8. *sigh* This paper is by Echo Park. It's their Dots and Stripes line. Super cute stuff. Full Credits Here.

I love any picture of my pops hanging with my kids. These are the pictures they will cherish forever. This template is by Splendid Fiins. Love the big Photo. Full Credits Here.

And here is that 8 year old! I love these photos of him. He is such a good boy. This template is by The Queen of Quirk and paper by Cosmo Cricket. Full Credits Here.

Here is my sweet baby growing way too fast. Template and Paper by Creativity by Crystal. Full Credits Here.

Love this main photo. Ben is not upset, he is actually being VERY serious about his big brother role. I love it. He was so sweet that day. Template and paper by Creativity by Crystal. Full Credits Here.

Well, happy Tuesday! Don't forget to enter into our Giveaway. I would love to win that warmer! So cute. Enter HERE!

Menu Monday

Monica's Menu
Monday seems to come around quickly, don't you think? I have a couple of carryovers this week and some new recipes. I got the Our Best Bites cookbook from my in laws for my birthday so I'll be trying out some of those recipes in the following weeks.

Monday
Crescent Beef Casserole

Tuesday
Homemade Pizza

Wednesday
Spinach Chicken Stomboli (Our Best Bites)

Crockpot Thursday
Salsa Chicken

Friday
Sweet and Sour Meatballs over Rice (OBB)

Saturday
Cafe Rio Style Pork Salads (OBB)

Sunday
Meatloaf and Mashed Taters

Erica's Menu
I have a few carryovers too.  We had a busy week, and weekend.  We got by with Daddy gone, a little touch of the bug, and very little sleep.  It turned off chilly here again, so it's time for some warm dinners!  Yay!  My favorite type of meals.

Monday
Whole Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and gravy

Tuesday
Biscuits and Gravy

Wednesday
Minetsrone Soup

Thursday
Chicken Enchiladas

Friday
Chicken Noodle Soup over Mashed Potatoes

Saturday
Steaks

Sunday
Chicken Pillows

And there ya have it. Nothing fancy!!  Hope you all had a fun weekend! 

Did you remember to enter our recent giveaway?  If not click HERE and go enter to win the fabulous Scentsy warmer and scent.  You can leave up to 3 comments, so go now and DO IT!  :o)

Happy Monday!!!

MSC Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes and a Giveaway

It's been a long time since I've participated in my Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I've been wanting to jump in again and what better way than to host a cupcake. If you are fellow Cupcake lover, welcome to our blog!

Okay, I think by now you've figured out how much we love pumpkin. When flipping through my MSC book these have caught my eye on a few occasions. If you've ever been to The Old Spaghetti Factory then you may have tried their Brown Butter Spaghetti with Mizithra Cheese. I love that stuff. It is no where near healthy but the nutty flavor of the browned butter and the Salty Cheese is a delicious combo. With this recipe your mixing browned butter with pumpkin. I knew it would be a hit.

Browned butter is pretty much burnt butter. It's easy to do but needs a watchful eye. It can get too dark pretty quickly and needs to be poured off when done into a bowl to stop the cooking. Even the smell makes me happy. The cupcakes turned out moist and not overly dense as some of Martha's cupcakes tend to do. I thought it had a nice crumb and a wonderful pumpkin spice flavor. These are topped off with a Brown-Butter icing. Mmmmm, this icing is rich and so yummy. I may have had a spoonful.

Anyway, if you need a new tasty Fall recipe, give these a try. They really were simple to toss together. The longest part being browning the butter. It is well worth it though! Happy Friday!

Brown Butter Icing

I searched Martha's website for the Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes and couldn't find it. Darn it. I try hard to give credit where credit is due and not type out copy righted recipes. If you really want this recipe, email me and I'll see what I can do. Or you can buy this cookbook HERE.

Edited to Add: A fellow blogger found the recip HERE. The only difference is the cupcakes have an extra 1/2 cup sugar. Just add it with the brown sugar. Yay! So glad you have the recipe!

And to celebrate the Fall season we are doing a fun giveaway!!  Our friend Tori is sponsering this giveaway for a fun scentsy warmer and scent!!

I absolutely love Love LOVE all my warmers and scents.  Makes my house smell so yummy and cozy!  And what is more fitting than this cute Pumpkin warmer?!

And to go with it this awesome scent!

Yummy!!

You have 3 chances to win this fun giveaway.  All you have to do is #1 become a follower of our blog, and leave a comment.  If you already are a follower then leave us a comment and just say, "HEY!"  #2  Like our facebook page and leave us a comment saying that you 'Like' us.  And #3, share with your friends and family about our blog and this fun giveaway.  I'm thinking once we get to 200 followers we will do another fun giveaway!!

If you want to order some of the fun stuff from Scentsy, head on over to Tori's page and order away!  Seriously, I have never been happier with a product!  I use it every single day.  Love all the variety of smells!!  Go HERE to order.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

I love Bakerella. If you've seen a cakepop than you have been influenced by Bakerella. She is kindof the leading gal in the CakePop arena. And if you've ever had a cake ball then you know that they are pretty much amazing.

I've been following Bakerella for a few years now and have loved all of her creations. Fall 2009 she did mini Pumpkin Pies and I loved them. I had completely forgotten about them until in comes Pinterest. Thank goodness for Pinterest. It reminds me of all the beautiful and delicious creations I yearn to make...someday. :) Well, lucky for these little guys, someday had come.

You can find her Pumpkin Pie Bites post here. I pretty much followed her directions to a T. Although, I used the Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe which I think is perfect and my mother in laws crust recipe, which I think is perfect too. I happened to have the exact same cookie cutter she had so they were a cinch to make. You could easily use a round cookie cutter and add your own stem or not. They turned out adorable and were a hit. These are perfect for a Fall get together. Your friends will love them!

Yeah, I took that bite. Look at that flakey crust! Yum!

Delicious!

Have a Great Thursday!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pumpkin

Since I was canning pickled beets all day yesterday, I didn't have much time to do anything else.  So today I decided to a post on all the pumpkin yumminess that Monica and I have made over the past year.  If you've tried any of them let us know what you thought.  My favorite has to be the pumpkin roll and the pancakes.  YUM! 

Pumpkin Roll

 Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cupcakes

 Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

 

So there you have it.  They are all awesome, so you wouldn't go wrong trying any of them.  Hope you are having a great week so far.  Now it is time for me to go clean the beet juice off my kitchen and get caught up on the rest of the To Do list.  :o)  

Menu Monday

Does your week ever go as planned?  Mine doesn't.  I told myself I would cook every single night this week, and I didn't.  :o)  I can't help it when the sweet husband orders pizza one night and then we go to a birthday party another night.  It's ok with me though.  I think all of us need a break from the kitchen every now and then. 

Now this week, I am gonna try to cook every night!  Ha ha!  Not.  Fall is in the air.  Jason went out early this morning to go find his deer and then leaving this weekend to find his elk.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hunting season?  O'well...pretty soon the snow will be falling and i'll have him all to myself.  YAY!

Here's my menu for the week.

Monday
Ham and Potato Soup with Rolls

Tuesday
Baked Ziti

Wednesday
Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday
Ham, Bacon and Ranch Wraps

Friday
Mac and Cheese and Hotdogs

Saturday
Probably take the kiddies to the Drive In.  Mmmmm...Patty Melt, Fries, and an Iron port, PLEASE!  :o)

Sunday
Whole Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

On the agenda this week-get those breakfast burritoes made,  (Yeah, I didn't do them last week.) Can some pickled beets, crochet some more, bake up some bread for the week, and LAUNDRY!  Have a great week!!!

Monica's Menu
I don't know what she's talking about. My week goes as planned every week. No bumps in the road just smooth sailing here. Yeah right! My house has been a mess since Abi was born. I just keep telling myself, "take it one day at a time". Occasionally life gets crazy and I end up getting Happy Meals for the kiddos. Not ideal, but I'm hoping six other home cooked meals is not too bad. So we try again this week. Here is my menu!

Monday
French Dip Sandwiches

Tuesday
Blackened Chicken with Fettucini Alfredo

Wednesday
Homemade Pizza

Thursday
Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Friday
Sloppy Joes

Saturday
Homemade Baked Chicken Strips and Oven Fries

Sunday
Ranch Chicken

Have a great week!

Special K Peanut Butter Cookies

These were yummy and quick to throw together.  Just what I wanted!!  The kids love them too, so this will be something I make often.  And it's got Special K in it, so it must be healthy, right?!  Does it count on the Special K diet?!  Hmmmm...:o)

1 c. sugar
1 c. white corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 1/3 c. peanut butter
4 c. Special K cereal

In a 2 quart microwave safe bowl combine sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until it comes to a boil and dissolves all the sugar.  Stir in peanut butter and then cereal.  Spoon mixture onto parchment paper and let it cool before you eat it...if you can wait that long.  Pretty dang good!!

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Have a great weekend!  Stay warm..or cool.  :o)  It is so chilly here!  I love it!  Perfect weather for all my favorite foods.  Bye!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had the pleasure of opening my very first can of pumpkin this season. Why does that make me so happy? Aw, I just love Fall. LOVE it. I'm sure you all have your own Pumpkin Chocolate Chipe Cookie recipe, but I thought I'd share my go to. They are easy to whip up and sooooo tasty. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients minus the chocolate chips. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the creamed sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough using a spoon or your handy dandy cookie scoop onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are light brown. Cool. Enjoy!!!!!

Menu Monday

Monica's Menu Okay, I'm just coming out of two incredibly busy weeks. Phew. Here is my menu for the week. :)

Monday
Tacos (These are Maggie's favorite and she has requested them again.)

Tuesday
Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake (Say that three times fast!)
This recipe is from the Picky Palate

Wednesday
Tofu Stirfry (Again)

Crockpot Thursday
White Chicken Chili

Friday
Baked Penne

Saturday
French Dips

Sunday
Porkchops with Scalloped Potatoes


Erica's Menu
My days haven't been too terrible busy, but I've just been in this lazy funk that I need to snap out of.  Hopefully today will be the day!  :o)  Here's my menu for the week...

Monday
Hamburger Gravy over toast (I still haven't made it!)

Tuesday
Chicken strips and oven fries  (HA!  Another one I haven't made yet!)

Wednesday
Grilled Ham and Cheese with Tomato soup 

Thursday
Crockpot Chili

Friday
Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday
Tacos

Sunday
Ham and Potato Soup with Homemade Wheat Rolls

Aslo on the agenda is to finish some crafts/gifts that i've started, and make some breakfast burritos to freeze so my husband and daughter have something quick to grab in the morning.  Guess I better get busy...