Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Digi Day

It feels weird to be on my laptop again. I haven't even opened it in over a week. Wow! What a nice break. I'm so thankful for my sis who always picks up where I lack. We had a busy week last week. We drove 21 hours with three kiddos and a dog. It was a cinch. Thank goodness for portable DVD players and the Nintendo DS. I keep telling my kids that we used to draw pictures and look out the window. They did some of that too. :) I'm also thankful for my eight year old who re inserts the binkie and helps take care of the baby. He is so helpful.

Anyway, there is a lot going on in my digi world and I have a lot to tell you about. But keep reading! It's worth it!

I failed to tell you that I hosted last weeks Template Tuesday. I can't believe I forgot. You can get my free template here. Here is my preview and a couple of samples of the template. I've told you about templates before so I won't hash is out again, but just a reminder these are FREE and EASY!



I'll link up some full credits soon. This is my template and my adorable little babe.

You've seen this layout before but I wanted to show you how a template can be versatile. Just add your own photos and papers and change the theme completely. Full Credits Here.

You can find today's Template Tuesday here. Yay for Free fun! It's a cute one by Mandi!


Don't forget to sign up for Jessica's FREE Holiday Class! Sign up HERE!


Should I keep going? Jessica just announced 3 more brand new classes coming up for 2012. They look really fun and I can't wait for them to get started!

Class info. HERE.

Subway Art and Posters are such an "in" thing right now. I can't wait for this one. Class info. HERE.

Jessica has done Photoshop Friday Tutorials in different formats. For 2012 you can subscribe so you will never miss a tutorial. You get lots of inspiration, a template, and a PDF to follow. You don't want to miss this one. Class info. HERE.

Okay, that's enough for today. Are you overwhelmed? Don't be. Lots of exciting things going on! :) Happy Tuesday! Glad to be back. :)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Menu Monday

Hi!  Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and long weekend.  We had so much fun just pigging out and being with family.  My two favorite things.

I'm sure you've read that Monica is here visiting!  It's so fun and exciting!  We are really enjoying eachothers company.  Wish she lived here full time.  :o)  So, since she is here we are doing a combined menu. So happy I won't be doing all the cooking this week.

Monday
Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup

Tuesday
Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Rice Bake

Wednesday
Lasagna and Cheesey Garlic Bread

Thursday
Spinach Chicken Stromboli

Friday
Nachos

Saturday
Pizza

Sunday
Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Happy Monday!!



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Repost-Thanksgiving Salads

Just reading this post made my mouth water.  These have to be my favorite sweet salads at Thanksgiving dinner.  Give them a try.  You will be SO happy you did!

Are you ready for the big day? What do you have planned?  We'd love to hear what everyone is up to for the big day.  Have a great Wednesday!!

First published on November 8, 2010
This week we are doing a sweet salad that we would find at our families Thanksgiving table.  We each chose our favorite, and it turned out being the same thing.  So, the SWEET sister that I am, let Monica make it.  :o)  I picked my second favorite, and I am so happy that I did.  It's so tasty and taking the first bite of it reminded me of my Grandma's on Thanksgiving day.  Made me sad and happy at the same time.  This will be our second year without Grandma on Thanksgiving and my first year not spending at least part of the day at her home with the rest of my family.  Anyhoo...enough of the sad story.  I'm so grateful to my Grandma and Auntie and their awesome recipes, for handing them down to us kids.  And I hope our kids will want to keep them at our Thanksgiving table for years to come.

I chose to do Grandma's 7-Up Salad.  I don't know where it came from, but I can remember eating this stuff from when I was little.  Grandma wrote down this recipe for me a couple years ago.  It's so funny, because with most the recipes she wrote down for me, she would usually leave an ingredient out or be wrong on 1 or 2 of the measurements.  So the recipe I have wrote down is quite confusing with lots of crossed out things and scribbles, but it turned out just like I remembered it.  I was thinking of re-writing the recipe for my personal binder, but I think I will keep it just the way it is.  Will bring a smile to my face every time.


Here's the recipe~

2 small packages of Lemon Jell-O
2 c. boiling water
2 c. 7-Up
2 c. crushed pineapple, drained (keep the juice!)
3 bananas, cut up
1 1/2 c. mini marshmallows

Dissolve the jell-o in the boiling water, then add the 7-Up.  Pour into a 13x9 dish.  Refridgerate until syrupy.  I timed and it took a little less than an hour.  Add your pineapple, bananas, and marshmallows to jell-o and refridgerate til set.  Top with the following cream...OH SO YUMMY!  I could eat it all by itself.

2 eggs, beaten
4 Tbsp butter
3/4 c. pineapple juice
1 c. sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 pint heavy whipping cream

Put eggs, butter, juice, sugar, and flour in a sauce pan and heat on med-high heat whisking the entire time until thick.  Take off heat and let cool.  Once cool, whip the heavy cream til stiff peaks form.  Fold the two together and top the Jell-O.  Refridgerate until ready to serve and ENJOY!

---------------

Oh Thanksgiving. It's so dear to my heart. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday hands down. There is nothing better to me than spending a day with people I love cooking, baking, and just being together. I feel nothing but joy when I think of Thanksgivings past. It's just a really happy time for me. I'm excited to share some of that with you this month.

Yes, Erica was nice and let me do our favorite sweet Thanksgiving salad. This one is actually relatively new. My Auntie Linda introduced it to the family within the last 10 years. We loved it and we have had it every year since. I have shared it with others and made it for many holiday parties. Whip it up and share. It's delish.


Cranberry Salad
1 lb. fresh cranberries
1- 15 oz. can crushed pinepple drained (I added a bit of the juice, mostly by accident but it worked) :)
1 cup sugar
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 lb. bag of mini marshmallows (I used a 10 oz. bag and it was fine)

Grind cranberries until finely chopped. (I use my food processor for this. It's very quick.) Add sugar and pineapple and chill for 1 hour. Whip cream and add marshmallows. Fold cream and mallows into the cranberry mixture and chill overnight. This is such a pretty dish. Definitely festive for the holidays.

Oh yum. Thanks Auntie for this family favorite. :)

Have a happy Monday!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Repost-Thanksgiving Pie

 Mmmmm...Pie! Here is a post we did on a couple of our favorite family pie recipes.  These are a staple at any Thanksgiving dinner. What is your favorite kind of pie? 

First published on November 15, 2010
Pie is just something we grew up on. It wasn't necessarily a Thanksgiving treat. My Grandpa loved Lemon Meringue and a good Apple Pie and my dear Grandma was so good to whip one up every now and then. It wasn't uncommon to find an Apple Pie in the freezer ready when Grandpa needed it. She was such a good wife and a wonderful cook. More than once she would tell me the old saying, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach".

Grandma used very simple recipes. For her lemon pie she used the recipe on the Jello box, her pecan was the Karo Syrup recipe. I still love these recipes and prefer them over some fancy pies. For our match-up this week we wanted to share a pie.

Both my dad and my hubby love Pecan Pie. I wanted to try a new recipe although I should have just stuck with what I know. Honestly, mine was a trial for me and it ended up being just okay. So, I'm just going to link the recipe in case you feel like trying it too. But I am going to post my mother-in-laws recipe because it's delicious and my hubby loves it although I promise you can't go wrong with the good ole Karo Syrup recipe. :)


Pecan Pie
1 cup Karo Syrup (light or dark, your preference)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbls. flour
3 whole eggs
1 teas. vanilla
1/3 cup butter melted
1 heaping cup pecan halves or chopped pecans

Lightly beat eggs. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake for 45 min. at  350. Turn down to 300 for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!

--------------------
I chose to make a Banana Cream Pie.  I am not a huge fan of it, but my hubby loves it, so I had to make him happy.  If I would have made one of my favorites then I would have eaten the entire thing, and that's not a good thing.  I'm not a huge fan of most pies.  I don't know why?  Like Monica said, pie was a big thing with our family.  My Grandma was always serving it after our Sunday dinners.  I ate it cause it made her happy.  :o)  It was good, but nothing like her cheesecake. 

I have a Banana Cream Pie recipe I usually use and it's easy, but I wanted to try something a little more difficult.  I made it and the hubs liked it 100 times better than my normal one.  It really wasn't too hard, and the end result...there is no more pie. 

I'm not about pretty...I'm all about tasty!  ;o)
Here's the recipe~

Banana Cream Pie
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 bananas, sliced

For the crust-
1 1/2 c. crushed Nilla cookies
6 Tbsp butter, melted

Mix your butter and cookies together and spread out in a 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Let it cool completely.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken and get bubbly.  Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from heat.

Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes, keep stirring!  Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.

Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.  Refrigerate a couple hours or over night.  I topped mine with whipped cream, but do what you want or like.  :o)  ENJOY! 
 

Monday, November 21, 2011

Menu Monday

This menu isn't gonna be much fun, because it's Thanksgiving week!  Yay!  I can't wait to see all my family.  And did you you know Monica is only a hundred miles away from me?!  I'm so happy her and her family made it safely.  The rest of the week, i'll be featuring fun Thanksgiving recipes.  And then hopefully by next week we will be back into the groove of things.  This time of year is CRAZY!

Monday
Meatloaf and Au Gratin Potatoes

Tuesday
It's my daughters 12th birthday and she has requested I make my Sweet and Sour Chicken

Wednesday
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Thursday
Thanksgiving Day!

Friday
Something easy peasy

Saturday
Thanksgiving with my familia.  Monica will be here!!

Sunday
Leftovers

Pretty simple, right?  Hope you all have a great Monday! 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ginger and Molasses Cupcakes (MSC)

It's time for another Martha Stewart Cupcake. This month the cupcake was chosen by Beurrista. I love the taste of Gingerbread. It's one of those tastes that take me back to being a child. When I was little my Aunt Linda came to stay with us while my dad was deployed somewhere. It must have been the Holiday season because she wanted to make real gingerbread houses. She mixed up the dough and we cut out the shapes and baked them up. The smell alone is amazing. I honestly don't remember how the houses turned out but I remember feeling happy and excited. I love my Auntie for those memories.

This cupcake really does have the taste and flavor of a spicy gingerbread. The cupcake had a nice crumb. They baked up with a flat top that went a bit over the edge of the pan. I actually loved that. The edges were sweet and crispy. I sent my husband to the store to get my ginger root and whipping cream. I put 9 oz. on the list but he only brought me 3 oz. Who knows. So I supplemented with some ginger powder and I think they tasted great. I can't imagine adding 6 more ounces. I bet Martha's are pretty spicy. Instead of whipping cream he brought me Redi-whip. I know, right? Silly guy. Oh well, all in all these are a tasty Holiday cupcake.


You can find the recipe HERE.

Enjoy!


Monday, November 14, 2011

Menu Monday

Erica's Menu
Hi, Everyone!  Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  Mine was alright.  We got 2 snow storms, and it makes me excited for the cold weather.  I truly enjoy it when I don't have to be out driving in it. 

I actually did pretty good on my menu last week.  Only skipped 2 days where I just didn't feel like cooking.  Ever have those nights?  After church yesterday, I just felt emotionally, mentally, and physically exhuasted.  I went to bed super early, and now i'm feeling pretty good this morning.  So, here's to an awesome week!  :o)

Monday
Sour Cream Noodle Bake


Tuesday
Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

Wednesday
Good and Melty English Muffins



Thursday
Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Friday
Meatloaf and Au Gratin Potatoes



Saturday
Whatever night, I'll be heading out on a girls day, and don't know if i'll be home in time for dinner.

Sunday 
Taco Salads


Monica's Menu
This is going to be a busy week. Aaron has finals this week for his fifth quarter in medical school. So exciting! Only two more to go! We are also headed West this weekend to spend the holidays with family. We are super excited to see everyone. So, I'm giving you Monday through Thursday this week, after that, who knows. :) 

Monday

Tuesday
Spaghetti Squash with Chicken

Wednesday
BBQ Chicken Pizza with Sweet and Sour Onions and Smoked Gouda Cheese

Thursday
Crockpot Green Chili Chicken and Rice

Okay, have a great week!


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Digi Day

Hello Friends! Happy Thursday! The weeks are flying by, right? Makes me excited and nervous at the same time! Okay, today I have two layouts for you and a couple of cool announcements.

First, last week JessicaSprague.com announced that Becky Higgins would be joining the team with Project Life. This week they announced that Pink Paislee will be joining the design team too. For all you traditional scrappers, you know who Pink Paislee is. They have beautiful papers and elements. There products debut on Monday so check them out!

Also, registration is open for Jessica's FREE webinar coming up on Friday, November 18th! If you or a friend or family member have been thinking of dipping your toes into the digital scrapbooking world, join Jessica for a live webinar where she will walk you through creating a digital scrapbooking layout using Photoshop Elements. She'll even provide a free quick page to get you started.  When you are through, you will have a beautiful layout, with photos and journaling that will wow your family and friends! There are two times available, so hopefully one will fit your schedule. And feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would be interested. Space is limited, so reserve your spot. You can register HERE.



Yay! Lots of exciting stuff going on. Okay, here are my two layouts for the week.

I know, I know, this is a teeny tiny picture for such a big page. This is a photo taken with my old phone I just had to document. I love the relationship between my oldest and youngest. He makes me pretty proud and I didn't want this photo to get lost on my hard drive. Also, the white splatters will be available Monday. They are by LivE Designs. Full Credits Here.

I love these pictures. In June I told you about our little blueberry farm adventure. It was such a fun time to have Aaron's parents here all to ourselves. Loved it. This title was done using LivE Designs' Alpha Stampede. So cute. Full Credits Here.

Have an awesome Thursday!! Sign up for that Free webinar if you are even a little curious about digi scrapping. :)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet Cake

Pinterest!  The most amazing website out there!  Besides our blog, of course.  I have discovered so many yummy recipes and food blogs.  This is one of them.  It was awesome!  My hubs enjoyed it the most and has been taking it with him for breakfast until it was all gone.  1 sheet pan is way too big for my little family, so if you make this, make it for a big crowd. They'll be happy you did.


Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet Cake
1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
3.4 ounce box Vanilla Instant Pudding
1/2 cup sour cream
15 ounce can pumpkin
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a big sheet pan with cooking spray. 

In your mixing bowl add cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, milk, pudding, sour cream, and pumpkin.  Mix until well combined.  Pour into prepared pan and spread it out evenly.

Melt butter in microwave safe bowl.  Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon.  Stir until combined.  Drizzle over cake batter evenly.  Then take a knife and run it through to swirl the cake. 

Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked through.  In a medium bowl combine powdered sugar and heavy cream.  Start with a 1/4 c. and if the glaze needs to be thinner add more.  I think I could have got away with a double batch of the glaze.  Let it cool before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Source-Picky Palate  (This woman is AMAZING)

I have my daughter's birthday party to plan!  She will be 12!!!  She is inviting a few friends over for pizza and a movie this weekend.  I'm super excited for her.  Think i'll be making her favorite chocolate sheet cake.  Mmmm...that's all I need is more sweets.  O'well.  I think I've given up the diet until after New Years.  Yeah!

Have a fantabulous day!!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Menu Monday

Happy Monday! Sorry I'm late today. It turned out to be a very busy day!

Monday
Spinach Bacon Quiche

Tuesday
Taco Soup

Wednesday
BBQ Chicken

Thursday
Minestrone Soup

Friday
Honey Sauced Chicken

Saturday
Homemade Pizza

Sunday
Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Have a great week!!! :)

Erica's Menu-

Monday
Hotdog Boats

Tuesday
Cheddar Broccoli Soup


Wednesday
Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

Thursday
Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Friday
Tacos

Saturday
Pizza Night

Sunday
Sloppy Joes and Chips

See you tomorrow!!!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies

I've been wanting to make sugar cookies for awhile. Halloween came and went so on to the next Holiday right? That's what is so wonderful about sugar cookies is the fact you can make them anytime of year. I know there are a million sugar cookie recipes out there but this one is my favorite. I discovered this recipe years ago while teaching special education in Logan. My students would make these and sell them at the school store. It is a soft sugar cookie. The best kind. Plus they are really quick to whip up. You just need to refridgerate them for a few hours. So it's best to do them at night for the following day or first thing in the morning for the afternoon.

Erica posted this recipe last Fall. You can find it here.

This is a big cookie. Super soft and yummy. I used a butter knife to spread the orange frosting, then a pastry bag with Wilton tip # to make the stem and leaves.

This is a variation on a cookie done by Pillsbury. I couldn't find candy corn at my local grocer. Seriously. So I used sour patch kids. I love sour patch kids but my kids pick them off. I also used mini M&Ms for the eyes and then Wilton tip #4 to pipe the beak and feet. Quick, easy, and cute!

Sugar cookies are so fun to give away. Put this on your to do list to do with the kids sometime this Holiday season. Have a great Thursday!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Lemon Burst Cookies

I know these aren't much of a fall flavor, but I seen the picture and the recipe and my brain kept thinking about them.  I had to try them!!  I actually baked them up this morning, and have already eaten a few...or 10!?  Ha ha!  My Coy loves them too.  They didn't come out as puffy as I thought they would, but they were still tasty and very easy to throw together. 




Lemon Burst Cookies
1 box lemon cake mix
1 egg
1-8 oz container of cool whip
1/2 c. powdered sugar for coating

Mix together cake mix, egg, and cool whip until well combined.  Put the powedered sugar in a seperate bowl.  With a cookie scoop, or spoon, spoon your batter into the powdered sugar and roll it around to coat.  Put it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake on 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

Source-Tidy Mom

I'm sure you could change up the cake mix if you want too.  Experiment!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Digi Day

I don't have any layouts to show you today BUT JessicaSprague.com made a big announcement last Friday that I wanted to share with you. Jessica Sprague is partnering up with Becky Higgins to bring Project Life to you in the digital format. This is so exciting in so many ways. I have been a huge fan of Becky Higgins since she started with Creating Keepsakes many years ago. Lately I've had my eye on her Project Life products. I love how she documents the everyday. If scrapbooking seems insanely silly and overwhelming to you then you need to check out Project Life. Whether you do the traditional, digital, or even hybrid format, it is an awesome, simple, make sense way to get all your photos, your life, into a book. You really need to check it out.


Here is an article about the partnership. Read more about Project Life here. Coming to JessicaSprague.com the end of this month!! Woohoo! Can't wait. :)
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