Recipe Review #2 for 2012

Hey All, 

We were wanting something different to eat.  You know when you want something but you don't have a clue as to what you want.  Jene` had some stuffed mushrooms at a friend's house over the holidays so I decided to see what I could find.  I came across some that had sausage in them but I have one that won't eat sausage.  I finally found one over on allrecipes.com that sounded like my family might eat.  It was made with stuffing and had imitation crab meat in it.  I had all the ingredients except the imitation crab meat and mushrooms so that was also a plus.  That night for dinner we had spaghetti, stuffed mushrooms and garlic bread.  I should have made more mushrooms because that is what all but one wanted to eat.  They were gone in no time not a morsel left.

The mixture was made from a stuffing mix and had cream cheese and imitation crab meat in it.  Shhhh we don't want the little munchkin to know it had the crab meat.  He ate the stuffing mix out of the mushroom but wouldn't eat the mushroom.  Oh and he also didn't know that there was also some mushrooms in the stuffing because I had chopped up the stems and put into the stuffing.  I know I'm such a bad mom for tricking my child like that.  But he ate it!

There was a lot of the mixture leftover and we liked them so much that I bought some more mushrooms and made them again.  This time I put a blob of the stuffing mix in a corner of the pan so the little munchkin could enjoy it without wasting the mushroom.  This recipe is a keeper! 

You can find  Gary's Stuffed Mushrooms  here on allrecipe.com.  The only change I made to the recipe was I decreased the butter.  It just seemed like it a lot of butter so I cut it in half.  There wasn't any complaints.  The kids are already asking when I am going to make them again.

Take Care :)

Random Thoughts

Hey All,

I planned on blogging every couple days and look at how that has worked out.  It's been one of those weeks that nothing has gone as planned.  But it hasn't been a bad week just a busy one.  At the beginning of the school year I had started volunteering at the school library once a week for a couple hours.  The least I could do to help out with all the budget cuts.  Once a week turned into twice a week and sometimes more.  It was getting bad right before winter break and I just thought after the break it would get back to normal.  We only had school 3 and a half days this week and I worked in the library all 4 days.  That sounds like a lot but I was only there about 11 hours. 

I remember going to the library in elementary school and you picked out a book and went back to your classroom.  Our library wasn't even a room the halls had shelves lined down them filled with books.  Today the librarian has more to do than check in/out books and reshelf them.  Our librarian teaches every grade level from kindergarten to fifth grade.  Let me rephrase that our media teacher teaches.  Because the library is no longer called the library it is the media center.  Our librarian is no longer the librarian she is the media teacher.  I have seen the 4th graders learn how to use an atlas and a phone book.  The kindergarten kids learn the parts of a book.  The 1st grade students learn what a fable is and the 2nd graders learn how to use the computer to find a book.  The 3rd grade kids learn how to use a dictionary and 5th grader's learn how to use reference books or to look up information on the computer. 

Maybe someday when the economy gets better and the schools don't have to worry about budget cuts I could get an assistant job.  The way I see this new experience is I'm learning a new skill.  Maybe someday I can get paid for the skills I'm learning.  I help the students find books and check out, check in books and reshelf.  Run copies, lament, and cut for different projects that are going to be done.  Do the displays on the tops of the shelves.  There is still a lot more I need to learn but I am enjoying every minute of this new experience.

Now to get the weekend underway.  The teens are spending it with grandpa and to visit with their aunt and uncle from Florida.  The little munchkin has a history project he has to work on and study for a huge social studies test.  So I think I'll try to work on this ornament project I started.  I have it pictured in my mind what I want now it's just doing it to see how it turns out.  I also need to raid hubby's closet and find a shirt that he won't miss.  Hmmmm.... still trying to figure out that one.  Hopefully next week I will have two projects to share.

Tomorrow my baby girl turns 20.  How can my little princess be 20 already?  Ya know what I think we will skip her birthday this year.  I know I have tried that in the past without success but she isn't going to be here so we will just pretend the day hasn't come.  She will just have to stay 19 for another year or two.   

The little witch is impatiently trying to get my attention so I guess I had better go walk her.  Buuuut it's cold out there!!!!!!!!! 

Take Care :)
          

Recipe Review #1 for 2012

Hey All,

I have two recipes to tell you about.  Sorry no pictures I forgot to take them.  The first recipe is from Grandma's Vintage Recipes it's a Spinach Casserole I made to take to our family Christmas dinner.  I love spinach and wanted to make something different to take this year.  This yummy spinach has sour cream and onion soup mix in it.  Out of 7 adults only 1 didn't like it but then again he doesn't like spinach to begin with.  The 3 teens liked the spinach but they didn't like the bread topping.  The 4 tweens wouldn't even try it they avoided that dish as if it had poison in it.

I will be making this again but I might try putting french fried onions on the top instead of the bread topping to see if the kids like that any better.  But I thought it was very good just the way it was.

The second one is a chicken sandwich recipe I found over on allrecipes.com.  I was looking for some crockpot recipes and came across this and had to try it.  Savory Chicken Sandwiches  and let me tell you that word savory should be yum-a-lishous.  I did make one change to the recipe it calls for bone in chicken breast and thighs and to take them out after cooked and shred them and then put the shredded meat back into the pot.  I used a 2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken breast instead and about a half hour before I was ready to serve I took a fork and shredded them right in the pot.  Easy Peasy!

This recipe will be going onto the 2012 menu often.  Everyone loved them and it's a good thing it makes a large batch because we each had 2 of them.  And still had enough leftover for lunch the next day.

If you are wanting something different for dinner both these recipes are worth checking out.

Take Care :)  
                                      

What's for Dinner?

Hey All,

Do you have a meal you fix every year on the first day of the new year?  Is it a tradition or a superstition?  Or maybe now has become a little of both?  We will be having our usual southern style New Year's Day dinner it is has become a tradition for me but a superstition for my hubby.  He believes if you don't have collard greens, black eyed peas, and pork roast you will have bad luck all year.

New Year's Day Menu:

collard greens
black eyed peas
pork roast
mashed potatoes & gravy
green beans
mac & cheese
cornbread

Whether it be tradition or superstition the good news for me is I won't have to cook tomorrow.  Leftovers!

Happy New Year's and may 2012 be good to you!

Vickie

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Take Care :)

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas! 

Take Care :)

Memorial Weekend and Bandana Pocketbook

Hey All,

The kids are out of school!  Where oh where did the year go?  I swear they just started if time starts going by any faster than it already is there won't be any reason to get up.  Of course the boys are excited about no school and wanting the summer to stroll along slowly.  Colin is not looking forward about the 4th grade but Dale is excited about his senior year. 

Memorial Weekend was a fun filled time.  We spent the long weekend on the go and only came home long enough to eat or sleep. 

We spent Saturday afternoon at the YMCA for the first day of the season of the pool opening.  It was HOT! Colin had a blast.

Sunday afternoon we went to Riverwalk Carolinas which is a new walking trail to walk next to the river.  Sadly part of it was closed because of all the downed trees from the storm we had a few weeks ago. 

After returning home we decided to go to a friend's house at the lake. 

As you can see we weren't prepared to go swimming.  I didn't even think about taking his swim trunks I thought they were going to fish.  But there were so many boats and jet skies out that it wouldn't have done any good.  So they decided to go swimming instead.

Monday we went to Columbia and went to the zoo.  One advantage to having a large family is sometimes it's cheaper to buy a season pass for a year.  That is what we did so now we can go back whenever and it's paid for.  It was going to cost more for us to get in than a family season pass cost.  Duh!  Family pass it was. Jene` even showed up to spend the day with us and she brought one of her friends to hang out with.  It was a fun filled scorching hot day!

 Oh Dale you and your texting!   Colin, Zac, Jene` and Dale

 Oh my this was so cool!!!!!  You got to walk in with the kangaroos.  It was a blast watching them hop along with you. 

 Oh yes there is even a Botanical Garden to go through.  It was beautiful!  I can't wait to go back in late September when it's a bit cooler so we can enjoy it more.

 Crazy kid couldn't wait to sit on the elephant.  Dale won out on that one. 

 Look at the size of this turtle!  If we wasn't standing there watching it eat the grass you would have thought it was a statue because of the coloring. 

 Oh yes then it was time to sit on this little turtle.  Just look at how good they are getting along.  It was a wonderful family day! 

Today we went to a birthday party for my niece.  She has decided at the ripe old age of 7 that she is too old for baby dolls, tea parties, and anything associated with being a little kid.  So I made her a pocketbook out of a bandana and filled it with bracelets, beaded necklaces and silly bandz. 

I cut a bandana in half and folded one half together wrong side facing.  Sewed down the two sides and then turned it right side out.  I took a shoelace and cut it in half and used one to sew each end to each inside seam.  The other half I placed in the middle and sewed to attach it on the inside of both sides.  I then cut it in the middle so I could tie it to close the purse.  So with one bandana and one pair of shoelaces you can make two of these little purses.

I better go see what everyone is doing it's too quiet.

Take Care :) 



What Can I Make With These?

I pulled out a bunch of stuff from the crafting closet to try to do something with it.  I mean what good is it doing just sitting in the closet.  I pulled out a little of this and a little of that at random.  There is some odd and end fabric, some shirts the boys have outgrown, a top sheet (I don't even remember having it),and an old dress.  There are also some pipe cleaners, craft sticks, a couple hoops, and a couple of old picture frames that really need some kind of makeover.  There are some recycling things I've collected like lids from jars and bottles, jars, light bulbs, puzzle pieces, and some foam trays.   So the question of the day is what can I make with these?  My goal is to find something to make with the majority of this stuff during the month.  Put it to some good use instead of sitting and taking up space.  And not to mention my crafting closet needs a good cleaning out and this is the way to do it.  If you have any ideas please let me know.

Take Care :) 

Blog Catchup

Hey All,

Do you remember a couple months ago when someone had ran into Colin and he went flying onto the pavement at school?  Three of his teeth were broke and he had to have 2 root canals.  Here is the final fix they used a compound to build up the 3 teeth because he is too young for crowns.  He has to be careful because they will break easily.  But for now they are fixed.

Geeze a year has gone by already he went for his yearly eye exam and these are his new glasses.  It's hard getting a picture of this child with his eyes open.

We spent some of Earth Day at Lowe's.  Colin and daddy made this birdhouse that attaches to a window in the build and grow clinic. 

They gave each child a reusable bag to go along with their kit.  They were also giving away one tree per family.  Got to LOVE it!  We gave our tree to a friend who was getting ready to move into a new home.  It's not like we need another tree with the also 100 or more that we already have. 

I wanted to get these pictures up before another day slipped by into another month.

Take Care :)



A Surprise Package

Hey All,

Who doesn't like getting a surprise package in the mail?  I do!!!  I went to my mailbox yesterday and pulled out what seemed to be a letter from my cousin.  I opened it and instead of a letter I found this...

It's a Streak-Less Wiping Cloth The Next Generation to wash almost anything with.  You just wet it with warm water and wring out and wipe off whatever.  I only had about a half hour before I had to leave and go to school for pickup but I couldn't wait to try it out.  I washed the sliding glass doors, bathroom mirrors, a small part of the bathroom tiles.  I didn't have to use any windex or cleaners.  WOW!  And the best part when it dried NO STREAKS!!!! 

While waiting in the carpool lane I called my cousin to thank her for the wonderful gift.  I asked her where she had gotten it from and she said from their local furniture store.  They purchase them from the Amish when they go to pick up furniture in Lancaster.  I'm going to have to do some searching and see where I can get these.  

Thanks again Mel I love it!!!

Take Care :)