Miss us yet? This past week was a whirlwind with my sister being here, finishing up my Christmas shopping, potty training, and dealing with 2 sick boys. I promise I will try to make it up to you this week.
Monica's visit was short, but so much fun. We didn't do much, but we did visit and we did get to eat dinner together every night for almost a week. Can't wait for her next visit. :o)
Hope you all had a great and safe weekend. Here is my menu for the week.
Erica's Menu
Monday
Chicken BBQ Ranch Wraps
Tuesday
Tacos
Wednesday
Ham and Potato Soup
Thursday
Homemade Mac and Cheese and Hotdogs
Friday
Beef Gravy over toast
Saturday
Ham and Cheese Bagels
Sunday
Simply Done Chicken Legs
Have an awesome Monday! Stay warm!
Monday, December 5, 2011
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!
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!!
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!
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.
Banana Cream Pie
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.
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!
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!
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!
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