Aunt Lucy’s Chicken Pot Pie

  Meet Dale’s Aunt Lucy and Destiny’s best friend and 2nd cousin, Brooklyn. 

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   Lucy brought us these amazing Individual Chicken Pot Pies after Paxton was born.  As amazing as they were, I knew I didn’t want to have another baby in hopes of her making us these again, so I got brave and tried it myself.  She is a super GREAT cook, so it’s a bit intimidating to try to conquer one of her more complex recipes!

  I gotta say, supper was GREAT!  The seasonings in this dish are sooo amazing!

  Aunt Lucy’s recipe is two pages long and involves boiling an entire chicken and making your own stock with the bones. (they raise chickens, we should expect nothing less!)  This is something I fully intend to do someday soon, but for tonight, with no freshly butchered chicken at my disposal, I took some short cuts. I will be sharing a condensed version of her recipe, a “cheater version” so to speak.

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Aunt Lucy’s Chicken Pot Pies (Cheater Edition)

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1 jar canned chicken with juice, shredded

OR 

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

6 T. butter

2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock {or broth} more as needed

1 large onion, diced

3 carrots thinly sliced

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 potatoes, peeled and finely diced

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk (I use 1/2 cream)

1 tsp. thyme

3/4 cup green peas, frozen thawed

2 T. parsley

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp. Rosemary

2 frozen pie crusts, thawed {or 2 can crescents}

Egg wash:

1 egg mixed

1 T. water

  Set out pie crusts {or crescents} for easier spreading.  Cook chicken and cube chicken, set aside. 

  Preheat the oven to 400* and start to prepare your filling:

  In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and potatoes.  Cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the flour and cook stirring 6 minutes more, until starting to thicken. Stir in peas.  Whisk in 2 1/2 cups chicken stock.  Whisk in cream/milk mixture. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. 

  Add the meat, thyme, parsley, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Stir well.  Add worcestershire. Taste and adjust as necessary.  You can add more stock if it seems too thick.  Divide the warm filling among 6 – 10 oz. ramekins.

  Cut the pie crust into 6 rounds slightly larger than the ramekins.  Lay a dough round on top of each pot pie filling.  Fold the excess dough under itself and use the tines of a fork to press the dough against the ramekin.  Cut a 1 inch vent into each pie.  Apply egg wash to the dough.  Line a baking sheet with foil; place the pies on baking sheets. 

  Bake 400* for 25 minutes or until golden and filling is bubbling.  Let cool 5 minute before serving.

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  While the Chicken Pot Pies were baking, I whipped up some Oreo Stuffed Brownies, from Holly at Life As A Lofthouse.  We try not to do desserts very often, especially for the kids, but I had all the stuff for it and I knew you guys would want to check it out. 

  022They were super rich and good, especially with the leftover Cookies & Cream ice cream on the side!  I actually preferred them once they had cooled to room temperature.  Then you can really appreciate these extra chewy, rich brownies. YUM!

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Happy Cooking and Baking! 

And never fear, you too, can be the next “Aunt Lucy”.

Be brave. 

Make the Pot Pies.

Your family will thank you!

~T

Library Day & Vietnamese Fried Rice

  071Once every other month, we head to the library for new books. 

  A LOT of new books! 

  By the time we’ve picked out some for Avery, some for Ty, and chapter books for Destiny, we’ve usually got about 45 books to lug home.

  Because of this, we wait until Monday’s to go, when daddy is home from work early.  Besides helping me haul books to the car, his job is to sit in the rocking chair and read to the children who are done picking out their books, while I run around with the ones still needing to choose.  Paxton just chills in the car seat or on Daddy’s lap, but before I know it, I’ll be helping him pick books too!

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051  Ty asked to pick his own books out for the first time tonight. 

    “Well sure, buddy! Why not?”

  He came back with 9 books, all called: “The Night Before Christmas”.

  Needless to say, there were a few giggles as we put them all back, and tried again. 

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    Speaking of Tylan, he is now the proud owner of his very own library card!!!!

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  So what’s the best part of this Library Adventure??????

The next few days are filled with QUIET. 

Beautiful, perfect, peaceful quiet. 

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The quiet only broken by the sound of turning pages and the occasional giggle.

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I LOVE IT!

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  Destiny is getting to be a faster reader, completing a small chapter book during her 1 hour of required reading time.  She does this during the little one’s nap on the weekends.

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It is my hearts desire, that my kids love to read.  I can only hope this promotes a life time of reading and a love for it too!

    I adore getting lost in a good Christian novel!!! But alas, I don’t even bother to get books for me anymore.  It’s just mean to see them sitting there, untouched week after week.  I haven’t checked out a book since Paxton was a few months old and reality hit.

Life with 4 is busy

  Besides, right now the Lord is asking me to blog during my down time, not read 043and I am ok with that……. 

Cause I love you guys!  🙂  

  Too bad I won’t be able to take you out to the pool with me this summer. 

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  Hmm, I might trade you in for a book those days, but don’t worry, I’ll still talk to you after the kids are asleep…….

Cause you pretty much ROCK!

~T  🙂

P.S.  Thanks to some afternoon prep work, we came home from the library and had this delicious supper ready within 10 minutes:

VIETNAMESE FRIED RICE with CHICKEN

Serves 8

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Earlier in the day to make supper go waaaay faster, cook 3 cups brown basamati rice in 6 cups of water. If you feel like continuing your early prep, go ahead and chop your onions and cube your chicken.

Heat in large electric skillet:

6 T. cooking oil

Add:

1 lb. raw chicken, cut into cubes

6 cloves garlic, pressed

1 1/2 –2 large onions, chopped

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. sugar

4 T. Soy Sauce

Stir-fry until meat is tender and hot, 2-3 minutes.

Add: 6-8 cups previously cooked rice

Stir-fry 5 minutes. 

Add:

2 cups frozen veggies such as peas, carrots or green beans

Stir well into rice-meat mixture.

Just before serving time.

Add to a cleared area, 2 eggs, beaten.

Heat and stir until eggs are cooked and mixed through.

Serve hot. 

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  This recipe is FANTASTIC! And super cheap. It comes from the “More With Less Cookbook”.  Yum-o!  Making this again ASAP.

This recipe shared with:

Everday Sisters

The Ultimate Beans & Rice Linky Party

Butterfinger Banana Cream Supreme Pie & Killer Spiders (interesting combo, right?!)

  Wierd title, I know, but I had to somehow sum up this posts topics, and I came up with nothing clever. 

  Just to clear up any confusion: there were NO spiders found in my pie.

PHEW! 

We will talk about spiders later!  First, I want to share a new dessert recipe with you, one that we made over the weekend.  It is called……   

BUTTERFINGER BANANA CREAM SUPREME PIE

  As soon as I saw it had sour cream in it, I was in! And it was very good!  The Butterfinger makes this already amazing Banana Pie recipe, unique!

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16 graham cracker squares, crushed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 T. Sugar

16 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed

8 oz. Sour cream

1 package (3.4 oz) Vanilla Instant Pudding and pie filling

2 medium bananas, sliced

1 – 8 pack (0.65 oz. each) Butterfinger bars, crushed

  Finely crush graham crackers in large zip lock bag.  Pour into small bowl, add melted butter and sugar, mix well. Press crumb mixture into pie plate. Set aside.

  In same large, now empty zip lock bag, open and crush 8 mini Butterfinger bars. Set aside.

  In a large bowl, whisk 12 oz. whipped topping and sour cream until blended.  Add pudding mix, whisk until mixture is well blended and smooth.  Spread half the filling over crust.  Slice bananas and arrange over filling.  Top with all but 1/2 cup crushed Butterfingers.  Spread remaining filling over Butterfinger Banana layer and top with remaining Cool whip.  Garnish with 1/2 cup reserved crushed Butterfingers.

Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.  Cut into wedges and enjoy!

This is so simple and so good!  Happy Pie Making!

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Moving on to the second part of my post:

Spiders.

  Oh, how I HATE Spiders!  I mean reallyreallyreally HATE them! 

  When I first married Dale, and would spot a creepy crawling spider, I’d scream and hollar until he came and killed it for me.  Well, once we had our 4 little Fergusons, and the brave warrior & mother bear came out in me, that has slowly changed.

  First, I got brave enough to kill the nasty spider with a 2 x 4.  Ok, not a 2 x 4, but think of an object similar to that, one that would keep the spider as FAAARRRR away from my body as possible, when reaching out to smoosh it.  Then, I’d leave the dead spider AND the 2 x 4-like object right there in the spot, until Dale could come clean it up.  I thought it was a lovely arrangement.

 Dale didn’t agree.

  Next, I got brave enough, to kill the spider with a fly swatter, shrieking and screaming: “Ew!” and “Would you DIE already?” as I wacked it to pieces.  Then, I’d suck it up with our dust buster, while turning my head away, so I wouldn’t have to see it.

Ew.

  Finally, I managed to get brave enough to kill the dumb thing with my slipper.  (with some shrieking mind you) Then, I’d pick it up with toilet paper and flush it, and go sanitize the bottom of my slipper.  Gross!  I managed this daring feat, only because it was going to crawl near where my babies were playing.

Brave, right?!?!  I thought so.  I guess my biggest spider issues are the following: 

First, they are creepy.

Second, they are just plain devious. 

  They lie underneath my weapon of choice, PRETENDING to be dead.  BUT, when I just barely lift up the object of death, to see if they are smooshed to my liking…..

  AHHHHHHHHHHH! The dumb thing springs into action and darts towards my feet.  Thus provoking ear-shattering shrieking and superman like leaps on to the bed or chair nearest me. 

  Did I mention…..I hate spiders!?!?!?!

  Well, the other day, imagine my horror,  when a SPIDER crawled across my baby’s tray while he was eating his veggies. It crawled RIGHT TOWARDS HIS SWEET BABY HANDS!!!!!

I have reenacted it below, for your viewing enjoyment….

*NOTE: The “spider” (hand) you see in the photos, is not in fact, an accurate depiction of the size of the actual spider.

 (THANK THE LORD!)

  The spider I smooshed was more the size of….hmm, a small ugly creepy thing?!

Oh, that doesn’t help you?  How about the size of a pea? A teeny teeny little baby pea.

Ew.

Great, now I’ll never be able to eat peas again. 

  Ok, back to my re-enactment….

Oh my! What is that??????

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{GASP} A spider crawling towards my precious baby?!?!?!?!

There was no time for slippers, 2 x 4’s or fly swatters.  Without thinking I reached out, and…..

SMOOSHED IT WITH MY BARE HAND FINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EW! I still get the creeps thinking about it.

Here is a photo:

What do you mean, you can’t see anything?!

It’s DEAD SPIDER GUTS.   Right there!038-2

  Still don’t see it?????  Ok fine, I can’t see it either, but it’s there.  I can still feel it……{CHILLS} Gross!

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     Why are you shrieking mommy?                                 You are funny!

 Things you should know:

I check my shower for spiders every time before entering. 

I have defeated the high chair spider with my bare finger. 

The shower spider is next on my “Hit list”. 

Oh, and the creepy one guarding the back door in the garage.

I am a brave warrior.  I am a brave warrior.  I am a brave warrior. I am a…….

Scaredy cat!!!!!!!!

DAAAAAAAAA-LE!

~T

 

Updated photo: 2014-1-24
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Weekend Fun

  Anytime we have an extra fun weekend, I try my best to post about it Monday morning.  So, without further ado, another blog post called: “Weekend Fun”. 

  Not to be confused with this “Weekend Fun” or this “Weekend Fun” , either. 

  Hmm, guess I am not very creative at names for posts about weekends.   🙂

  Friday was unofficially dubbed “Grandparent’s Day” at our house:

  First, we headed to Tractor Supply with the children’s Great Grandparents, to carry out our yearly tradition of seeing the baby chickies.  The kids ADORE this and it’s so fun to do things with my grandparents now that they live near-by.

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Guess who brought their own dollars to buy chickies? 

Yup, my kiddos.

  We now have 5 more Feathered Fergusons to add to our flock.

  Destiny used her garage sale money to buy 2 chickens and plans to sell the eggs to raise money for a horse or something fabulous.  This will be SUCH a good opportunity for her to learn to tithe and save.

 Tylan used his birthday dollars to buy 2 also.  He helps gather eggs and can also plan to split egg money with big sis.  We’ll need to sit down to explain tithing and saving to him, but I think he’ll catch on in no time!  I am still looking for those cool banks that look like 3 buildings, each with their on money slot: a church, a bank and a toy store.  Tithe, save and spend!

Avery doesn’t have any dollars yet, but since there were 5 Australorp chickens, she got the bonus chicken as a present from the other 2 kids.  🙂  No egg money for her yet, not until she is old enough to feed, water and gather on her own.

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  We made the new baby chickie’s a home in an old washtub out in the garage with a heat lamp.  I am unsure how long they need to remain under the lamp, but Google should be able to help answer that!  We have a second chicken coop we discovered in the back of an old garage on our property, and it shares a courtyard with our existing chicken coop.  We plan to divide up the courtyard with chicken wire and protect these chickens from the territorial first batch so they don’t peck them to death. 

Who knew Chicken’s could be so vicious?  Not this countrified city girl!

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Feeding time!080  Next, we ate lunch at Grandma’s restaurant, yum!  I have no photos because well, I was feeding my face and it didn’t cross my mind.  I had a Schnitzel which is a pork sandwich on Rye. Delish!  My kids had their usual, Chalupa’s.  And Dale had chicken and rice with spring rolls.

  After naps, we headed to the next “Grandparent’s day” stop, my Great Aunt and Uncle’s house in Yoder, a sweet little Amish town.  These are the folks whom Destiny dubbed “Gwamma” and “Gwampa” back in the day before my grandparents moved here from Phoenix, and they graciously adopted our kids as grandkids.  They asked if they could babysit so we could have a date night. 

  A date night?

 Uh, yes please!

  We had an errand to do in Mt. Hope, so we decided the sensible thing to do would be to get Subway and eat in the car while we drove.  I am telling you, everything changes once you have multiple kids!  Sensible as it sounds, I packed all the fun supper accessories to go with our purchased sandwich, and we had a lovely chat as we drove and ate…interruption free! 

  When we returned to Yoder, we got a milkshake to share from a local joint called “Bulls-Eye Grill”.  It was awesome, Dale swore it tasted just like a raspberry Push-up Pop from when he was a kid. 

  We decided to walk around Yoder a bit.  Dale took my hand as we walked, and I have to say, I scarcely knew how to hold it anymore! LOL 🙂  I am so used to holding the hand of my kids, I almost couldn’t figure out where my fingers were supposed to go!!!!!  Date nights are nice, aren’t they?! 

  We had fun window shopping and taking pictures of each other and the scenery after I discovered my camera was still in the car from our Chickie Adventure earlier in the day. 

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It’s too bright Dale, I can’t see you!

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  These cows were standing so nicely for my photo…..

Until I thought it’d be fun to MOO at them. 

  Dale joined in, and they took off like I had shot them with more than my camera. 

Hmm, my little dairy farmer must not speak fluent cow anymore?!131

  Reality started setting in, along with the setting sun, and we knew it was time to get the kiddos home and to bed.  It had been such a fun and busy week and weekend with the excitement of Papa and Drea and now these fun Grandparents dates, all packed in one day.  133

   And just when I thought they day couldn’t get any better, a fun surprise was waiting for me in the mailbox:

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  It was from my new blogger friend, Lark from Lark’s Country Heart. She awarded me Second place in the recipe contest she had and had sent me my prize.  According to Dale’s motto, usually second place is the first loser, but look at this stuff…..Winner all the way!

He totally agreed.

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What a fun and generous gift!  I am SO excited to cook with these new beautiful things.  Thanks a million, Lark! Your thoughtful gift was the perfect ending to a super perfect day! 🙂

Hope you all have a Happy Monday!

~T

“The Surprise” Highlight Reel

  Meet Dad & Drea: 

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  As I mentioned in an earlier post, they arrived Friday, and surprised me with a random, totally un-expected, appearance from far-away Florida. 

  We have enjoyed 6 fun-filled days with them, just hanging out and catching up.  It’s nice to have guests that “get” the difficulty of hauling around little ones.  They were so respectful of our daily routine, being content just to hang out at home, and do whatever they could to help us stay on a normal schedule during their days here.

  They are on their way to Arizona for 2 weeks of biking (not the pedal kind) in the mountains and desserts of the southwest. 

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We are trying to convince them to stop back through “on the way” back home, but I am not sure we have succeeded yet.  🙂

  Without further ado, here is the Highlight Reel of an amazing week:

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New bunks for the boy’s room brought from Florida…..

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Slumber Party anyone?190

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A new to me dining set, again from Dad & Drea’s furniture store.  Happy Early 30th Birthday to me! I’m in LOVE!

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Fun in the sun!

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  Thanks for coming to see us, Papa & Drea! You guys always bless us with your generosity, laughter and fun-loving spirits.  We miss you already!!!!!

Safe travels & all our love,

~ Dale, Tonya & 4 little Fergusons  🙂  XXOO

 

The Best Italian Beef Sandwiches

  So I know I say this a lot, but the things I type out and present to you are “The Best” that I have found for that category of recipes so far.  (It’s always subject to change!)  So, with that being said, here we go:

  These Italian Beef Sandwiches, made conveniently in the crock pot, are THE BEST shredded sandwiches I have ever had. 

EVER. EVER. EVER.

  We adore all the wonderful seasonings called for in this recipe.  If you stay home all day, beware, your mouth will be watering as you await the supper hour.  And you might be tempted to lift the lid and snitch, but don’t, you are stronger than that.  It’ll be oh-so worth it! 

  Oh, and no skipping the butter toasted bun and broiled provolone cheese, they are non-negotiable!  Yum.

  Without further ado…..THE BEST…..

ITALIAN BEEF SANDWICHES

(click on the title to be taken to TK to print)

  • 4 cups Beef Broth
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1½ teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1½ teaspoon Oregano
  • 1½ teaspoon Basil
  • 1½ teaspoon Onion Powder
  • 1½ teaspoon Parsley
  • 1½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1 whole Bay Leaf
  • 2 envelopes Italian Salad Dressing Mix (1 Ounce Packets)
  • 3 pounds Chuck Roast, thawed 
  • 8 whole Wheat Hoagie Buns, 1 Side Buttered
  • 8 pieces Of Sliced Provolone Cheese
  • Butter for buns

Preparation Instructions

Combine broth with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.

Trim fat and place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. If cooking on low, at the 8 hour mark, remove bay leaf and use two forks to shred the meat, and then leave lid off for the rest of the cooking time (if cooking on high, do this with about 1/2 hour left); this allows the juice to soak into the meat.

Serve shredded meat on toasted hoagie rolls. On a cookie sheet, put your desired amount of meat on the roll bottom, top with provolone cheese. Butter top piece of bread and lay butter side up in the same pan. Broil everything for just a minute to melt the cheese and toast the top bun. 

Assemble sandwich and….enjoy!!! Serve with seasoned tater tots and carrot sticks.

 

Enjoy! It’s so stinkin’ incredible!

~T

 

 

4 Cheese Lasagna Rolls

   This is so yummy and comes together really easily! 

4 Cheese Lasagna Rolls

  • 10 whole Lasagna Noodles (I Did 5 Wheat & 5 Spinach)
  • 16 ounces, fluid Jar Alfredo Sauce
  • 24 ounces, fluid Meatless Spaghetti Sauce
  • 4 ounces, weight Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread
  • 2 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1-½ cup Shredded Swiss
  • 2 cups Freshly Shredded Mozzarella
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Basil, Divided
  • 8-12 whole Chicken Breasts, Marinated In Italian Dressing & grilled (depends on your crowd size: figure 1 breast per person, plus 2 for inside the lasagna rolls)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Send hubby out to the BBQ to grill the Italian dressing marinated chicken, seasoning to taste, and discarding marinade.

Boil your lasagna noodles in a large pot. Cook according to package directions. Drain and then place lasagna noodles on a clean cutting board.

  In a large bowl mix garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. basil, parmesan cheese, swiss shreds, and cream cheese spread. Mix. Pour in alfredo sauce and mix all together well. By this time, hubs should be in with your beautifully grilled chicken breasts, pull 2 of them, cube them & add to alfredo mixture.
Keep remaining breasts warm until dinner.

  Pour one cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 2 quart rectangle baking dish. Spread chicken alfredo mixture onto one lasagna noodle about 2/3 of the way up. Roll noodle up and place in dish. Repeat with all remaining noodles. Cover with remaining spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/2 tsp. basil.
Bake, uncovered for 25-30, or until hot & bubbly.

Serve with remaining chicken breasts and sautéed veggies.

 So, I had NOTHING on hand to make a salad, like I typically choose to make with an Italian-type meal, so we did sautéed veggies instead.  I had mushrooms, and peppers and onions, so I sautéed them in butter and seasoned them with Italian seasonings.

  I have to tell you, it was the PERFECT flavor to compliment this dinner, and forget the salad, this meal will be served with those veggies from now on!

    Look at all this cheesy gooey goodness!  What a great side dish……

Happy Cooking!

~T

Surprise!

  I had one of the best surprises of my life this weekend……

  Before I tell you, let me give you a bit of a back story.  All week Dale had been, um, needy?! Annoying.  No, I’ll stick with needy.  Super needy, which is way out of character!  He kept saying things like:

“Babe, what do we have next Saturday, can you clear the calendar?  I just want to be with you and spend some time together.” 

“Honey, I really want to have lunch with you on Friday! Can you make that work?”

  See, I was super-duper stressed trying to get ready for this private clothing sale followed by a garage sale for ALL my baby stuff this week..  I spent HOURS and HOURS, days and days, pricing and sorting at my mom’s house.  You know I am super anal, so each table was organized by size, season and neatly arranged in rows. 

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I was honored he was seeking me out, but really?! This week of ALL weeks!?

  I got done quickly Friday morning, with the finishing touches for the sale, (ready to start at 2 that afternoon) and called to say Yes, I was indeed going to be able to have lunch with him like normal, as “Family Friday” lunch at Grandma’s restaurant dictates.  He was happy. 

  Well good for him. 

  I was stressed, but whatever, as long as it meant that much to him, I could make it work. I was semi-honored, semi-annoyed at this new clingly Dale.

  I was standing next to our table, cutting the children’s food, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned and gasped:

“Drea?!”

A million thoughts flashed through my mind! Drea, here in KANSAS? But she belongs in FLORIDA?!  What in the world?

  I turned the other direction and saw my Dad, whom I affectionately still call, “Daddy”, and promptly screamed. 

Loudly.

 I then burst into tears, jumped up and down, still screaming, then going back and forth between Dad and Drea, hugging them, and basically bawling my eyes out. 

  It was the best surprise EVER!

  When I finally got myself under control, I looked around to see who witnessed my scene and saw everyone wiping tears from their eyes. 

  I love people who have “never let anyone cry alone” policies.  🙂  They said it was very touching moment to witness.  Dale didn’t have my camera to capture the moment, of course, so it’s all kinda a blur to me.  He said it was just the reaction he was hoping for.

We sat down to a nice lunch, and I found out that Dale had known about this surprise for weeks.  Thus the neediness!  It all suddenly made sense.  No wonder he didn’t want me to have a garage sale this weekend, our special guests were only able to stay through Wednesday, before they continued on the journey to their original destination.  They made a 600 mile “jaunt”, just for us.  🙂

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  We enjoyed a fun weekend, and the garage sale went exceptionally well, despite horrible winds Friday, that blew clothes and entire clothing racks clear across the driveway, and bitter cold rainy stormy Saturday!

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   Destiny came after school Friday, to sell Butterscotch Oatmeal M & M cookies and rocks. (which she left at home, so cookies it was!)

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  She made $20 before tithing, saving and “overhead fees”. (meaning she has to pay for the M&M’s)  We want her to learn to manage her money, as well as use this opportunity to teach her how a business works.  She was so proud!

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  Sunday, we became members of the church we’ve been attending for almost 10 years…..

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 Then, as tradition states when Papa & Drea come to visit, we eat lunch at The Airport Steakhouse. YUM!

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115Hmm, can you guess where the TV showing the “Big Game” was located?!?!?!

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Since the weather was gorgeous, we spent the rest of the day outside reading, playing baseball, jumping on the trampoline, and just having fun!!!!!

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187                                                           Being on vacation is SUCH hard work!!!! 

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  Destiny is off for Spring Break this week, so we plan to just lay low, hang out, BBQ and enjoy Papa & Drea while they are here.

In other weekend news:

Paxton pulled himself up to standing, using the front of the couch. WHAT?! He just turned 7 months!!!!  He was so darn proud.

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 linkypartybutton-1 The Korean Noodle Bowl Recipe I submitted won 2nd in the “Made it On Monday” contest through this site.

Horray!   🙂

 

 

 

  Hope you had a great weekend too……I’m off to Bible Study and then to spend some more time with mi familia before they head out Wednesday.

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Happy Monday!

~T

Cheesy BBQ Casserole

  Yesterday was GORGEOUS! Like 85* and perfect out!!!!

  Man, I love Spring time!  There is something so exciting about coming out of the dead of Winter into Spring. Full of new life and new beginnings! The birds are back and singing in the trees, the new shoots of green grass are poking through the dead brown grass of winter,  and the days of summer are just around the corner. 

  On days like this, all I want to do is get outside, and play with my kids, rather than be in the kitchen all afternoon, working on dinner prep!  So yesterday, for a special treat, I let Tylan skip his “resting time” in his bed, to go lay on a quilt outside and read, and bird watch with his toilet paper roll binoculars, until I could join him.

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  He was a bit lonely and kept wanting to talk to me through the kitchen window, so when I heard Paxton wake up, I took him out to keep his big brother company until I could join them.

  This is the site that greeted me next time I stepped to the kitchen sink:

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Precious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  My agenda, once chores were done, was to paint my toes and hang with my boys!  (Avery was still napping at this point.)  I had a “helper” that made toe painting interesting, but I eventually got it done. 117

  Done that is, after a major re-do, from a diapered bottom sitting smack down on my still wet big toe!  🙂 

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  Next up: the recipe!

   This recipe was so simple I almost skipped it!   I am not a recipe snob! (ok, maybe kinda!)  But I had to wonder how good it could be with such basic ingredients?!?!?!! 🙂 

  I seriously almost didn’t make it, but turns out, it tasted great!  The perfect “throw together” meal after an extra busy day of laying in the sun and painting my nails. 🙂

  The BBQ sauce makes this dish deeeeelicious!  I used Sweet Baby Ray’s, my FAVORITE BBQ sauce.

Cheesy BBQ Casserole 

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  • 3 cups Macaroni Style Uncooked Pasta (Long Sticks, Not Traditional Macaroni)
  • 1 pound Ground Beef
  • 1 whole Medium Onion
  • ¼ cups Fresh Parsley
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 2 cups Of Your Favorite BBQ Sauce
  • 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
  • 2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese
  • BBQ Sauce As Garnish
Preparation Instructions

Heat oven to 350*. Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray. (I used my P. Chef round baker.)
Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8-10 minutes until beef is brown, drain.
Stir pasta, 3 T. Parsley, milk, BBQ sauce, mozzarella cheese and 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese into beef in skillet. Stir well.
Spoon mixture into casserole dish.
Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, parsley, plus a swirl of BBQ sauce across the entire surface.
Bake uncovered 30-40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!  I am off to work my “4 & No More” Baby Stuff Sale at my mom’s house, today and tomorrow.  Not to mention, next week is Spring Break for Destiny!

WOO-HOO 🙂

~T