mini French Bread Chicken Alfredo Pizza's

This is what I made for my family the other night and they were a huge hit.

This is what you need:

Alfredo Sauce

Grilled chicken: seasoned anyway you like, diced

shredded mozzarella cheese

red onion: optional but highly recommended

fresh diced tomatoes: not from a can

small french bread rolls: these ones can be found at Sam's Club

Put the pizzas under the broiler on the middle rack and melt the cheese to your likeness.

Stuffed Green Peppers: Philly Cheese steak Style

Oh my. Oh my.

These little things were so so so good!

Both my husband and I lived near Philly Pennsylvania for a while and feel in love with Philly Cheese steak sandwiches.  We are back west again so when I saw this recipe I just new I had to give it a try.

It's one of our favorites now!  yum

Just simply saute some thin slices of roast beef, onions, garlic and mushrooms in a pan, then put that into your peppers and stick that into the oven to cook.  Add some cheese in the last few minutes to melt and enjoy!

A Year of Dates with your spouse: Gift Idea

With Valentines Day coming up this is the perfect gift idea for your husband!

I am sharing this idea with you now....even though this is what i gave my husband for Christmas for his Gift of Meaning.  I have committed myself and promised my husband that I will spend more time with him this year.

with 3 kids, a full time school-working husband, and life.....need I explain why time with him is scarce :)

And this gift is going to help make that happen!

 This is what I did to put this together:

**I took $100 and put together 12 sacks (one for each month) and I randomly filled each one with instructions for the date plus an item to go along with it.  Look below for ideas.
**I labeled sacks with HOME DATE (this is something that we can do after the kids are asleep for the night)
** I labeled sacks with BABYSITTER needed or with different instructions like SUMMER Date.

Below is the list of things that I put in each sack.

HOME DATES
* Two $1.00 store puzzles to have a puzzle race.  Winner chooses their prize. (2 puzzles in sack)
*  UNO Tournament + make slushy drinks for dessert. ($5 bill for slushy ingredients in sack)
* Watch a movie on the couch-Wife Choice and make brownies.  (Box of brownie mix in the sack)
*Watch a movie on the couch- Husband Choice+Jamba Juice for dessert. (prepaid Jamba Juice card in sack)
*Nighttime Nerf Gun War in the backyard. (purchased mini Nerf guns in sack)  SUMMER DATE
*Watch home movies while sharing a Cold Stone Shake. (prepaid gift card to Cold Stone in sack)

BABYSITTER NEEDED DATES
* Go out to a movie.....(Prepaid movie gift card in sack)
* Anniversary Date.....This activity can be done after going out to dinner.  You each have $5, you have 15 minutes each to buy something for each other at the same store and those gifts are your anniversary presents for each other. ( two $5 bills in the sack)
*Out to dinner date + drive somewhere and talk. (prepaid gift card to a restaurant in the sack)
*Out to dinner date + a walk around our favorite park.  SUMMER DATE (prepaid gift card to a restaurant in the sack)
*Out to lunch after a morning hike up the canyon. SUMMER DATE  (prepaid gift card to Quizno's in sack)
* $1.00 store challenge.  5 minutes to buy something for the other person and then wrap them up and give them to each other.  This can be done after going to dinner or out to breakfast.  ($2.00 in sack)

With each sack filled with typed instruction for each date and labeled HOME date or BABYSITTER needed, I gathered them all up and put them into a very large gift bag.  This way they are all together and each month we can randomly pick from the sack.  

Now go and enjoy some alone time with your handsome husband!  

I know I will!!

Check out my previous Valentines Gift Ideas for my husband:
(Click to view)
14 Days of Valentines
Saucy gift Idea and printable
In the Mood Pillowcase

Ham and Cheese Casserole (step by step)

Ham and Cheese......yummmmm!

  

Start with some bread.  

It's better to use a good thick bread instead of the cheap sandwich bread.  Butter one side and place the butter side down in your pan.  I do 2 8x8 pans so I can have it for 2 nights of dinner.

Then dice up some ham and place that right on top of the bread. The amount depends on how much ham you like, I use about 2 cups for an 8x8 pan.

 Now dice up your cheese.  You do not want to use pre-shredded cheese for this.  It does not give you the same results.  I use about 1 cup of cheese for an 8x8 pan.  Mix it up.

 Next, butter your bread and place it butter side up.  Then poke some holes in the bread with a fork.  You will then take 1 cup of milk and 3 eggs and wisp those together and then pour it over your bread.

 After you pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread, season it with some garlic salt and my favorite is Salad Supreme from McCormick.  Cover this and place in fridge and let it sit for 6-8 hours before you cook it.  Cook for 40-50 minutes on 350*.  Let it set up for about 30 minutes before you serve it to your family.  They will love it for sure!

 Enjoy!!

Simple Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwiches

 Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of my favorite dishes......but making it from scratch makes me tired just thinking about it :)  So I did the next best thing and turned them into sandwiches for my family.

 Here is what I did:

*I flatted out some chicken breasts and then grilled them up using our favorite seasonings (garlic salt, pepper, season all, grill seasoning)
*after the chicken is cooked, let it rest while you get your buns ready
*on a jelly roll pan, I open up each set of buns and place both sides on the sheet.  I then place a slice of provolone cheese on 1 of the pairs of buns (you could use any cheese you like but this is our favorite).  I then place them under the broiler......make sure to watch them carefully because they go fast.  This is to melt the cheese and toast the buns.
*I also warm up some lunch meat ham in a pan on the stove top and once that is ready you can build your sandwiches. Since I flattened out the chicken breasts before hand, I was able to cut them in half which was a perfect size for our buns.
*We loved Dijon mustard on our sandwiches but honey mustard is a good choice as well.

Enjoy!!

Ramen Noodle Burritos

Ramen Noodles.......you know you make them.  

You might even eat them too.

Ok, it's personal confession time for me.  I make them for my kids and I even make them for myself once in a while. Especially now that I am on light bed rest.  

The one thing I HATE the most about them is how messy and sticky they can be when your kids are dropping them all over the floor or they were sticking to their clothes eating them.  My solution to that was to wrap them up in a tortilla that had been warmed up with some cheese, just to contain the mess.  And you know something, they taste even better this way and I do not have to pick them up off the floor (or leave them for a day and then vacuum them up later).  Serve them up with a side of cottage cheese or some veggies and your not so healthy lunch or dinner will not make you feel as guilty.   

**to make them all you do is cook them for the 3 minutes, drain out all of the water, add seasoning mix and your ready to add to a tortilla!!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I am so proud of myself.......

This was the first meal I cooked in a week!!  And it tasted amazing!

I cook 99% of the meals in my house but this week I have been sick, along with my kids.

 Just how sick?? A chronic sinus infection, croup, pink eye, leg cramps, ear infections and so on......and let us not forget I am pregnant and I can not take much of anything to help.  I think the tears from extreme pain convinced my doctor to let me take an antibiotic. See, when you are a high risk pregnancy you just can't take anything :)  I did tell him that I would take 9 months of nausea again over all this sickness stuff....and I am not kidding!!!

ok, ok, back to the food.....because that is why you are are here anyway right?! 

 After eating pretty much nothing all week, I went hunting for a good recipe I have not made in a while and I found this one.  Sounded good, tasted even better.  And of course it was hand written in pencil on an index card with no reference as to where it came from, so I am not taking credit for the recipe myself.  I wish I remembered where or who gave it to me. 

Here is what you do:
3-4 chicken breasts   (I cut mine into 3 strips so they would cook faster)
1 cup of plain yogurt  (I used Yoplait's plain Greek yogurt)
2 cups of crushed Ritz crackers
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese   (I used the real stuff....not the green bottle kind)
1 T of garlic salt
1 tsp salt   (I left this out because my Ritz were already salted)

**Mix all the ingredients together EXCEPT the yogurt.  Roll your chicken in the yogurt then roll the chicken into the cracker mixture.  Place on a foil lined oven pan and cook in the oven for 45 minutes on 350*
I served mine with rice and a veggie

YUM!!

Summertime "Stew"

 Who says you can't have stew in the summertime?

Change it up a bit and make it with summertime veggies and meat and you have yourself a simple and scrumptious dinner for your family.

 This is what I use in my summer stew: 

green and yellow peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, onions, carrots, pineapple tidbits (drained), Johnsonville Beddar Cheddar sausages.

Dice up all your veggies and sausage and put into a bowl. Season with olive oil, garlic salt, steak seasoning and a little kosher salt.  Mix all together then lay it all out on a large jelly roll pan.  Cover with foil and cook in your oven on 325* for 45-60 minutes.  You can serve it right up like this or it is lovely over rice.

Enjoy!

Honey Lime Enchiladas and Garlic Black Beans and Rice

oh, my.  I have a new love in my life.

Just look at it.

 This recipe is a must try.  I came across it a few months ago and we have had to have it several times since for dinner in our house.  So I just wanted to pass it on to all of you. I add more green sauce then it call for, so it's not as dry.

 As for the Garlic Black Beans and Rice.......that I came up with on my own and after a few tweaks I have come up with the perfect side dish for the enchiladas.

Here it goes:
2 cans of black beans
4-7 whole cloves of garlic cut in half (don't mince, you want just the flavor and you will need the cloves large enough to pick out of the beans later)
a pinch of Kosher salt
2 cups of cooked white rice (minute rice is great)

Cook beans and garlic on a low simmer for about 1 hour (if you can do longer the flavor is better)

 Once the beans have simmered, pick out all the cloves of garlic.  No one wants to bite into a whole clove of garlic so make sure to get them all out :)

Add the cooked rice to the beans, mix well and set them aside while you make these amazing enchiladas!

 Then dish up all the loveliness on a plate and enjoy!!

Breakfast Cups Recipe

I love breakfast food!

 So when I saw THIS recipe I knew I had to try it.  And I am here to tell you that it is a new family favorite!

 We also made them by scrambling the egg before putting on top the bread and cheese......we did not like them as well but it's a personal preference.  Also, I don't know if it was my weird oven but if you notice the hard film on the very top of the eggs in the first 2 pictures???  It was hard and we had to peel it off before we could take a bite.  I have since made them a few times and all I did was add a little cheese on top....and problem solved!  They are so yummy! 

Philly Cheese Steak Panini

Looks yummy.

Come on, I know you think so.

My husband and I had the awesome privilege of living in Pennsylvania for a few years.  And while we were there we had a chance to eat the real authentic Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches......and they two were amazing.  You have never had a real one unless you are sitting in PA sinking your teeth into one. 

honest.

But I tried my best to impress my hubby a few weeks ago when I made him one of these, using his new Panini maker that the hottest Santa gave him for Christmas :)

Here is what I did:

thinly sliced roast beef

mozzarella cheese (or your favorite cheese that melts easily)

Grill up some onions and green peppers together but in a separate pan

good quality crusty bread

assemble your sandwiches, then spread olive oil on the bread before you put them on the grill to get the fun grill marks. 

Cook till your cheese is all meltly-gooey-yummy. 

Easy and delish!

Dinner Ideas for the week before Christmas

*** updated***

Are you ready for a BUSY week??...... or am I the only one that feels that way a week before Christmas?  Here are a few ideas for dinner this week.  Sometimes the hardest thing about cooking dinner is deciding what to have.  Hope this helps :)

Click here for the above recipe! 

 Lemon Chicken

 Honey Mustard Pork

Grilled pork with a sauce made with honey, dijon mustard and mayo.  Easy as that!!

Chicken tacos:

cooked chicken in the crock pot with a small amount of water and 2 packets of taco seasoning.  Shredded the chicken once cooked then placed it back in the sauce until it was time for dinner.  Seasoned mexi rice packet from the store, a can a black beans, tomato, cheese and green onion for garnish

Just click on recipes in my side bar and you will find many more ideas for dinner 

plus a bunch of other recipes there.

Good luck!!

Witches Weekend Party Ideas

Every Year in October......

all the witches on my husbands side gather for a Witches Wackiest Weekend.  They come from all different places and gather together for a weekend free of all warlocks, ghouls and goblins.(husbands and kids)

 We enjoy horrifying moments, cackling confessions, screaming conversations and twisted tales.

 We have different contests for wildest nails, spellbound accessories, eye popping socks and bewitching presentation of a treat.

 And everyone wears funky eyelashes......even grandma!

 Take a peek inside our party.......
Here are just a few of the fun ideas my husbands family came up with this year.

Witch Broom pens (raffia and electric tape)

 Everyone is paired up with a cousin to take turns making meals.  My SIL and I were assigned a lunch. 

So we did a Witch's Cafe type lunch.

 I decorated water bottles with decorative packing tape and added the labels that I found HERE.

 We planned a fun menu and printed out menus so everyone could have reading what they were going to be served for lunch.

 Dessert was soooooo good that it was gone before I could get a picture of it. 

My SIL made Carmel Crud with Axed Apples (apple nachos). 

Sliced apples topped with melted Carmel, chocolate, marshmallow's, toffee and coconut.  DELISH!! 

 Witches Blood sauce and Mummy Brains (sweet and sour meatballs)

served on top maggots (brown rice)

 Graveyard greens served with fresh flesh (yummo green salad)

PLUS little gummy crock roaches hidden inside the salad.  

hehehehehe

 Then everyone was asked to bring a treat to share with everyone.  Here are just a few of their fabulous ideas.  Really, I married into a incredibly talented family :)

 Howling snack bags, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, rye bread with melted cheese and green onions on top, and this rice krispie witch hat.....that won the door prize this year! 

 Aunt Pam host's this even every year at her house and she had this fabulous display of Huckleberry drinks and cackling treats!

 For my treat I made Witch Fingers (nutter butters) and Mummy Eyeballs (oreos)

It was a great time. 

We sleep over Friday night and then spend all day Saturday eating and doing a bunch of different crafts.

We made wooden pumpkins, Halloween lanterns, rings and necklaces, and also did a lot of different vinyl lettering on tiles.