Tasty Tuesday ( Macaroni and Cheese with Corn)

Macaroni and Cheese with Corn
1 pd macaroni
2 cups Velveeta
1 can corn, drained
1 can cream style corn
Boil macaroni. Transfer to greased casserole dish and add other ingredients. Bake at 350 for 45 min.

Freezer Friday (Sloppy Joe Potato Tot Casserole)

Sloppy Joe Potato Tot Casserole
1 pd ground beef
2 cups chopped onion
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
1 can Sloppy Joe Mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 (28 oz) bag of frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350. In med skillet, combine ground beef and onions. Cook 8 minutes and drain well. In a large bowl, combine beef mixture, corn, sloppy joe mix and 1 1/4 cups cheese. Pour mixture into a 2 1/2 qt baking dish, top evenly with tater tots and remaining cheese. Bake 40-45 min

welcome to what ever Wednesday

Hey Stephanie here.  My post to day may seen a little odd to some of you.  It is about cremation Jewelry.

I hear about this a few years ago and I was a little grossed out.  I had thought it was something where you could see the ashes.
But then one of my very best friend in the worlds dad passed away.  A few moths later her mom gave her a cross with a little bit if his ashes in it.  And she was very comforted by this.  I still was not sure how I felt about this but she told me you could not see the ashes it was inside the jewelry.  That made me feel a little better about it. 

As you know we lost our youngest son on December 22,2011.  While we were making the arrangements I decided to look at some of the cremation jewelry.  I was very pleased to see that it was very elegant looking.  So I decided to get some for me and all of Nicks grandmothers.  Mine is a silver turtle because Nick had a turtle for many years.

From the front you would never know that it is anything but a turtle.  But on the back there is a little place drilled out they put a little bit of Nicks ashes in there and then there is a silver screw that seals it up.  I will post pictures at the end of this post 

I have to say this has been a great comfort to me the last couple of weeks.  When I start to miss him I catch myself picking up the turtle on my necklace and holding it.  It makes me feel a little closer to him and not so sad.  

So I have come full circle and changed my mind about Cremation Jewelry it is a very special (though not for everyone) thing to help you feel close to someone who is gone from our world.

Thank you for reading this post

Stephanie

Tasty Tuesday ( Easy Chicken and Potatoes)

Easy Chicken and Potatoes

* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
* 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or mix basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder to equal same)
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
* 4 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges or thick slices

Preparation:
Place chicken in bottom of Crock Pot. Sprinkle with half of the Italian dressing, spices, and the grated cheese. Put the potatoes on top or around the chicken. Sprinkle with the rest of the dressing, spices, and cheese.

Cook on low for about 6-8 hours, or until the chicken is done and potatoes are tender

Make it Monday

Hey Stephanie here with this weeks make it Monday.
I hope everyone is having a good 2012 so far.  One of my goals for this year is to get organized.  This is a really cool idea I saw on pinterest one of my favorite sight on the web.   It is a few binders to help you get organized and they look pretty to.  So it is a win win pretty and organized. 

This week I am going to show you how I made my bill one.

It is real simple first you type up you words on pretty paper. 

Then you cut them out.  I cut mine about 1 inch wide so they would fit in the ends of the binders.

Then I made labels for each month and printed them on more pretty paper.

I then cut them out with cool sissors.  when I was done the looked like this.

I then taped them to the dividers that have a pocket on each side.

this is how they looked when they are done.  Then you just have to put them in the binder and you are ready to keep your bills in one place.

This will be great for me since I have to keep all my bills because I run a child care center in my home.  Now at the end of the year I will be able to find everything I need for tax time.

thank you for taking the time to read this.
Stephanie

Freezer Friday (Potluck Ham and Pasta Recipe)

Potluck Ham and Pasta Recipe

1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 cups 2% milk
1 jar (15 ounces) process cheese sauce
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
4 cups cubed fully cooked ham

Cook macaroni according to package directions, adding broccoli during the last 3-4 minutes; drain.
In a large Dutch oven, saute onion in butter for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, mustard, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese sauce and 1 cup cheddar cheese until blended.
Remove from the heat; stir in the ham, macaroni and broccoli. Divide between a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish and a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-35 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

You can freeze one casserole: To use thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 50-60 min.

 

Thifty Thursday

Here is a tip for you:
Throw all of your extra fresh vegetables in a ziploc bag and freeze them. Dump them in the crockpot on a cold winter day for a pot of vegetable soup!

Tasty Tuesday ( Potluck Ham and Pasta Recipe)

Potluck Ham and Pasta Recipe

1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 cups 2% milk
1 jar (15 ounces) process cheese sauce
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
4 cups cubed fully cooked ham

Cook macaroni according to package directions, adding broccoli during the last 3-4 minutes; drain.
In a large Dutch oven, saute onion in butter for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, mustard, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese sauce and 1 cup cheddar cheese until blended.
Remove from the heat; stir in the ham, macaroni and broccoli. Divide between a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish and a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-35 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

make it monday on tuesday

Hey Stephanie here sorry I had to take a break from blogging for a while but I promised Mindy I would do a make it Monday for everyone.  Then I got busy yesterday and did not get it posted.  Today's make it is totally easy and useful.  It is a shopping bag made from a t-shirt.

I did not take pictures as I made this and it is by no means a new idea.  there are tons of these on the internet right now.
But here is how I made this one

First I place the shirt on a cutting mat making sure it was nice and flat with no wrinkles.  Then I cut the bottom of the shirt off right below the arm holes.  I then sewed the bottom of the shirt shut.  I went over the seam a few times just to make sure it would be strong since I will be using it to carry food in.  I them cut about a 2 inch hole on both sides in the center of the top about 2 inches down from the top this will be the handles.  Then starting about an inch or 2 down from that hole start cutting holes all the way around the bag mine are about 1 inch and they are staggered in each row also I did not cut threw the side seam that this t-shirt had.  All done if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.
thank you for taking the time to read this
Stephanie

Tasty Tuesday ( Chicken Tater Bake)

Chicken Tater Bake ( Makes 2)

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, cubed
3 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg ( 16 oz) frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 pkg ( 32 oz) frozen tater tots

In a large saucepan combine soup, mil and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken, peas/carrots and 1 cup cheese. Transfer to two greased 8 inch baking dishes. Top with tater tots and remaining cheese. Cover and freeze one casserole ( up to 3 months). Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 for 35 minutes. Uncover, bake 5-10 minutes longer.
To use frozen casserole: Remove from freezer 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

 

This was really good! The chicken mixture reminded me of chicken pot pie

Make-it Monday

Here is a fun little mat I made with my leftover felt.