Thinking Ahead...

Christmas is going to be a little different for us this year. I will be on unpaid maternity leave and there will be a new baby in the house. Despite these slight changes, I still love the traditions that Christmas brings and there are definitely a few of them that I'm looking forward to.

decorating the tree/mantle
making Christmas cookies
wrapping presents
writing Santa a letter with Ayden
all of the yummy food

I know it may seem crazy to be thinking about all of this since it's only November 3rd, but as I look out my window the park is full of workers setting up Christmas decorations. Christmas decorations already?!?! It does seem a bit early, but it's definitely got me thinking ahead.

So, I thought I'd share my absolute favorite sugar cookie recipe. I made these for our Central Services Holiday Outing three years in a row and everyone just LOVED them!

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (3oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in four until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
4. Bake for 7-10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

And to top everything off, I always make my favorite cream cheese frosting for decorating. I'm a frosting snob and use this recipe for everything...carrot cake, cupcakes, cookies...or to simply eat straight from the bowl.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine confectioners sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread onto anything...cookies, cupcakes, cake or your tongue:)

Now that I'm dying for a handful of decorated sugar cookies, I may have to see if I have a turkey or some leaves in my cookie cutter stash and make a few batches in celebration of Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Pie

It's been a while since I posted a recipe! This one is new for us and was a huge hit at the dinner table last night. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1lb spaghetti
1lb lean ground beef
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp crushed garlic (I love garlic so added 2 tbsp)
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce
8oz sour cream
1/2 chopped green onions
8oz package cream cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef. Drain and crumble. Put crumbled beef back in skillet and stir in salt, pepper, garlic, bell pepper and pasta sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. In a small bowl combine sour cream, green onion and cream cheese and set aside. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray and add the cooked spaghetti. Spread the cream cheese mixture over it, add the meat mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
5. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

Serve with some garlic bread and voila! This is a super easy dinner that even the kids will like!!

Chicken Pot Pie

One more for Roxanne...this one is loaded with yummy veggies!

Ingredients:
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 9-inch unbaked pie crusts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place one pie crust in pie plate. Pour chicken mixture onto bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over the top (I find I don't use all of the liquid mixture). Cover with top crust, seal edges and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! Even Jason, who doesn't really care for vegetables eats this one right up!

Greek Pasta Salad

This one if for my dear friend Roxanne, who is also expecting. She's having a hard time eating her veggies so I thought this one would be perfect for her...plus it's a good salad for the summer.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon white sugar
16oz cooked rotini pasta
3 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
15 cherry tomatoes, halved (I dislike tomatoes so did not add this ingredient)
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (if you're not a feta fan, use parmesan or mozzarella instead)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 4oz can whole black olives (I love olives so doubled this one)
3/4 cup sliced pepperoni, cut into strips

The best part is that you could add even more veggies...cucumbers would be yummy!

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper and sugar.
2. Add cooked pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, feta cheese, green onion, olives and pepperoni.
3. Toss until evenly coated. Cover and chill 2 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

Ground Beef 'n' Biscuits

This one's for you mom:)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce
1 10oz package frozen peas
1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (I used the flaky layers biscuits)
4oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. In a skillet over medium heat cook beef, celery and onion until meat is no longer pink and celery is tender; drain.
2. Stir in the flour, salt, oregano and pepper until blended
3. Add tomato sauce and peas; simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased 13x9x2 baking dish.
4. Seperate biscuits; arrange over beef mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for until biscuits are golden and cheese is melted.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

You've all been so patient...thank you. Now, run out and buy all the ingredients and make this sinful side dish this weekend. I could make an entire meal out of it!!!

Ingredients:
6 medium unpeeled potatoes, baked (I cheated and cooked mine in the microwave to save time)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 cups (24oz) sour cream (I only used 2 cups and it turned out perfect)
8oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
Cut baked potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Place half in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the salt, pepper and bacon. top with half of the sour cream and cheeses. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

Garlic Chicken

Ah heck, why not one more yummy recipe? We had this for dinner last night and it's become a family favorite since I first made it last summer. Super easy to make and jam packed with flavor. If you like garlic, you'll love this chicken!

Ingredients:
2 tsp crushed garlic (use the real stuff folks and the more the better...I crush way more than 2 tsp)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, bonelss chicken breast halves (since ours come 3 to a package, I only make 3)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. in a small skillet, warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors.
3. In a seperate dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
4. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil/garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow backing dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until no longer pink.

I like the coating to get nice and brown so I normally cook mine the entire 35 minutes. The boys are addicted to Rice-A-Ronie, Creamy 4 Cheese blend so we had that along with some steamed broccoli. This is always an easy meal for me to make!

Enjoy!

Awesome Creamy Corn Casserole

As promised (to my mom)...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8.5oz) package dry corn bread mix
1 (15oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14.75oz) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream
1 small onion, chopped
pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Sounds pretty difficult, huh? The original recipe didn't call for the the onion but we thought it needed a little something extra. Youre choice...onion or no onion.

Enjoy!

Rempel Family Meatloaf

I have no idea who the Rempel's are, but they make a mean meatloaf! I used to make the standard meatloaf, but once I made this tasty version there was no going back.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup crushed butter round crackers
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (1oz) package dry onion soup mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons steak sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix the ground beef, crushed crackers, cheddar cheese and onion soup mix in a large bowl until well combined.
3. Wisk the eggs, ketchup and steak sauce in a seperate bowl until smooth. Mix the egg mixture into the meat until evenly combined. Press into a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the meatloaf is no longer pink in the center, 45-60 minutes.

In my oven, it takes exactly 50 minutes for it to be perfect. There will be some grease in the bottom of the pan due to the meat/cheese thing going on. I just pour it out before transferring the meatloaf to a plate.

We had this for dinner last night with Ranch Mashed Potatoes and Creamy Corn Casserole. I'll post the directions for the casserole some other time.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:
1 package Pillsbury Classic Fudge Brownie mix

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 canPillbury Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degree. In a medium bowl, beat brownie mix, melted butter, cream cheese and egg until well blended (dough will be sticky).


2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets to make 24 cookies (I only got 18); smooth edge of each to form round cookie.


3. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and peanut butter with spoon until mixture forms a ball. with hands, roll rounded teaspoonfuls peanut butter mixture into 24 balls. Lightly press 1 ball into center of each ball of dough.


4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on cookie sheets for at least 30 minutes.


5. Spread thin layer of frosting over peanut butter portion of each cooled cookie.

Spanish Rice Bake

This is a new recipe that I tried out Monday night. The boys gobbled it down and I took leftovers to my parents house for Peter to eat Tuesday night. It ended up getting fantastic reviews from everyone and it was easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can canned tomatoes, sliced
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/2 cup taco sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch black pepper
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain excess fat and transfer beef to a large pot over medium low heat. Stir in the onion, green bell pepper, tomatoes, water, rice, taco sauce, salt, brown sugar, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.
3. Let this simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, then transport this to a 2 qt casserole dish. Press Down firmly and sprinkle witht he shredded cheddar cheese.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

So Very Tired

I feel like I have a newborn all over again. Except with a newborn you can feed them and they go right back to sleep. Not Jameson...we were up from 1:30 to 3 this morning. I finally gave up and brought him into our bed. He slept until 6:15 while I was still up at 4:45 to get ready for work. I feel hungover and I didn't have a drop of alcohol last night.

I'm excited about this weekend. Not anything extremely major going on but it should be a fun/productive weekend. Tomorrow the boys and I are taking a road trip with Mimi to Barnesville (about an hour away) to check out a different scrapbook store. I'm sure daddy will be working so I need to get the boys out of the house. Sunday we're staying home to clean and start packing for St. George. It's supposed to be beautiful all weekend (high 70's) so we can open windows, air out the house and have the kids play outside while we get some serious work done. With all of the exciting new shows on TV and kick ass Stephenie Meyer books to read, I've sort of been neglecting the homestead.

This is what we're having for dinner tonight:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 (14.5oz) cans chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Boil the chicken and shred. In a large pot combine chicken, garlic and cumin. Mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lime juice and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

2. Break up some tortilla chips into individual bowls and pour soup over the chips. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy and hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Divine Casserole

I finished editing last weekend's photos but ran into some trouble with Blogger so had to give up on my post. I'll try getting them up tonight but I've been up since 2am and am making no promises. Sooooo, I decided to post one of the boys favorite dishes. This is super tasty and is even better the second day.

Ingredients:

1 (8oz) package egg noodles (I buy the mini size for the kids)

1 lb ground beef

1 (6oz) can tomato paste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 drops hot pepper sauce (I use about 6 drops)

1 pinch oregano

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 (8oz) container cottage cheese

1/2 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook 8-10 minutes or until al dente.

2. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no longer pink, drain. Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and oregano, set aside.

3. In a seperate skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Saute the chopped onion until translucent. In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream and sauteed onions.

4. Place 1/2 of cooked noodles in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Drizzle with 1/2 of the melted butter. Cover with cheese mixture. Spread remaining noodles over cheese mixture and drizzle with remaining butter. Cover with meat mixture.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

I don't know about the rest of you, but I LOVE to cook. I mean it! I just get sick of making the same things over and over again. I'm always searching for new recipes and love to use my family as guinea pigs. If something passes the taste inspection, I'll be sure to share the recipe here.

So I mentioned in my previous post that Ayden had a huge meal last night. It definitely had something to do with this new recipe that I found for baked chicken nuggets. Baked would imply healthy, but I think coating the chicken in butter first sort of screws that up.

Ingredients:
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch size pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter in a bowl for dipping.
3. Dip chicken pieces into melted butter first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place well coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

That's it! They're delicious!!!