8.31.2012

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole


A wonderful week night casserole the whole family can enjoy! It's a nice twist on the regular baked potato casserole.


Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken breasts, cubed or shredded
  • 10-12 small red potatoes diced
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1  tsp. salt
  • 1 TBS. freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 TBS. garlic powder 
  • 2 c. Mexican Blend Cheese
  • 1/2 c. crumbled bacon 
  • 1/2 c. chopped green onion 
Directions

Preheat your oven to 475.  In a large bowl, mix together olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  Add the potatoes and coat with mixture.  Place the potatoes into a greased baking dish, leave as much of the mix as possible.  Bake potatoes for 1 hr, flip the potatoes every 15-20 mins. Check with a fork to ensure the potatoes are done.  While the potatoes are baking, coat the chicken with the left over mixture and cook in a skillet over medium heat, until the chicken is done (no longer pink inside!)  Once the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 400.  Add the chicken, cheese, bacon & green onions. Put the casserole back in the oven and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve with sour cream  or ranch dressing

****Please take the time to read this you can make a difference in an innocent child's life!


Enjoy!






**recipe altered from original recipe here


Noah's Singin' Debut!


As I have said before, my little munchkin loves to sing!

He sings the 'I Love You' song on a daily basis... and I never tire of hearing it!


8.29.2012

Spicy Asian Chicken


This Spicy Asian Chicken is a great meal to spice up your week night menu. It is scrumptious!

I served it with white rice and Parmesan Roasted Broccoli (I will be posting the broccoli recipe tomorrow!)

It served as a terrific side and really complimented the flavors of the chicken and rice.

Spicy Asian Chicken: Ingredients

Directions

In a large saucepan, add olive oil and brown chicken on high for 5 minutes, turning occasionally for an even brown (will be a light brown.) Remove from burner and add water, vinegar, Allegro Marinade, agave nectar, sugar, minced garlic, ground ginger, Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce and cook on high until sauce comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Then remove cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce, or until the sauce begins to thicken, occasionally turning the drumsticks. Once the sauce is thick, remove the chicken, pouring the sauce over the drumsticks once plated. Add scallions and Enjoy!


8.28.2012

Super Silly!

If I could only use ONE word to describe my son (which by the way is really hard because he is so many wonderful things) it would have to be....Silly!

It isn't unusual for Noah to be running about, flapping his arms, dancing around, sticking his tongue out and laughing hysterically. He is constantly coming up to me and saying, "Mommy, look I'm making a silly face!" All the while, contorting his face in the most awful ways. He is anything but dull... Always energized and always always just plain silly!

And it is one of the many things that I love about him.

Yes, he is sporting his 'big boy unerwears'


I just love that little face!


Hysterical! 

I asked him to show me his 'mad face.' Haha... he did a pretty good job!
Always smiling!
 Always laughing.
My sweet, silly boy!

And the person he gets all of his silliness from, his Daddy, who will probably kill me if he sees this!

Rotel Chicken Spaghetti

One of my favorite things to do on Pinterest is find new recipes. I am always pinning all kinds of deliciousness during my late night pin-a-thons, but even more fun than pinning these gems is actually trying them. 

Rotel Chicken Spaghetti
  First of all, let me just tell you it was very hard to take a good picture of this. But I promise it is so so yummy! Just one of those foods that just doesn't photograph well! >I apologize<

I served it with a side salad and dinner rolls... and we had lots of leftovers >aka tonight's dinner as well!< 

Ingredients

3 large boneless chicken breasts
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (10 oz) Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
1 clove garlic, minced  
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 – 8 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
8 oz spaghetti, cooked and drained 

Directions

 Cut up chicken into small, bite size pieces.In a large skillet melt butter. Then add the cubed chicken, minced garlic & onion powder. Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is done (no longer pink!) Stir in soup, cheese and Rotel tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, and cook until the cheese melts, stirring constantly. Stir in the spaghetti noodles and pour into a lightly greased 2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes


Bon Appétit!

AND don't forget to check out my awesome giveaway HERE! Drawing ends Sept. 14th!

8.24.2012

Pinteresting Things- Fall Edition!


In the spirit of the upcoming season, Fall >my favorite<, I have been on the hunt for some terrific Fall pins. And Pinterest has not disappointed!

Via bhg

This, quite possibly, is the most beautifully decorated pumpkin I have ever laid eyes on. I love everything about it, but mostly its simplicity. It's not over the top but it still looks gorgeous. I am in love with it. Who knew a person could be so obsessive over a pumpkin?

via bhg

I love the idea of displaying your pumpkins on candlesticks. And you can customize your precious punkins to suit your style. A definite winner!

via Home is Where My Story Begins

Okay, this one is just plain awesome!! Though they may look like festive Fall pillows, they were originally... PLACEMATS! Crazy right?! You just tear open the seam, stuff it, and hand sew the section you opened back up. Maybe I am just easily impressed... but my mind was blown. Cute throw pillows on the cheap! Winner!

via Pam Brandon, Disney Parks Food Writer
You cannot talk about Fall favorites and not include soup because... well, because you simply can't have one without the other. Fall and soup are like peanut butter & jelly. They just go together. This particular recipe comes from Disneyland's Carnation Café. I am really excited to try this one!

via Cooking Classy
This Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip looks absolutely divine. The perfect dessert to sweeten up those taste buds after a warm, hearty meal. Another great pin!

I am looking so so forward to the most fabulous season of all.


8.18.2012

Who Reads Your Blog?

So, have you ever heard of StatCounter ?

No?!

Well, hop on the bandwagon already! 
It's absolutely terrific! Especially if you are all 'nosey' like me and curious about who reads your blog. I get so excited when I see IP addresses from several different countries popping by my blog! 

StatCounter breaks down where they are from ( city & state if they live in the U.S.) what they viewed on your page and how long they lingered. So you get a great idea of what your readers like best!

It also tells you what they downloaded from your blog....and any keywords a reader typed in that redirected them to your blog.... and what your blog ranked in the search results!

See!
Okay, if you are as blind as I am I highly doubt you can read that without clicking on it to enlarge it lol. 

Oh, and thanks Bing.com for redirecting Mr. or Ms. May 3rd to my blog with that search entry. I am truly flattered. HAHA!

Anyways, I absolutely love this site and it's FREE!


8.16.2012

Party Planning!

My oldest son's birthday is coming up.... >in like 3 months ;) < and the party planning has begun! 'Round here we don't do ordinary store bought party decorations... oh no, I get my craft on. 

The hardest part this year was deciding on the theme... Oh the many themes there are to choose from. It was difficult. So I went straight to the birthday boy himself and asked him which he would like best. I was afraid he would pick some impossible, totally 'out there' theme... but he didn't and he knew exactly what he wanted, which makes my job much easier.

Before getting his input... I had a few themes in mind that I really like:

The Three Little Bears
Via lilsugar
 
I love love love this adorable theme... and with it being my son's 3rd birthday, I thought the number play would be fitting.

Outer Space
Via lilsugar
 My son is obsessed with anything and everything to do with space. He has been known to inform me on several different occasions that he wants... or rather needs a rocket ship.... I mean that's completely reasonable, right?! 

Vintage Train Station
Via Kara's Party Ideas
  How adorable is that set up? Noah loves trains... like every other little boy! I liked the idea of having the dining room set up like an old train station... how fun?! And the train set for food displays? Genuis!

Cookies & Milk
Via Kara's Party Ideas
  I seriously wanted to just pull every detail of this party out of my computer! What child (or adult for that matter) doesn't love milk & cookies?! This one is bound to be a hit.

But as much as I obsessed over each of these themes, my ultimate goal is to make my son happy.... Even if my top choice differs from his. Which is...

Blues Clues
One of his favorite shows.

Challenge accepted!

I plan to use our dining room as a recreation of the opening scene of the show... the house, the sky, the tree, the mailbox, hanging clouds, and clues (paw prints) everywhere!

I have many more ideas... and as not-so-thrilled as I was in the beginning over the theme choice I am now excited! And I know he will love it. 

Can't wait to see that reaction!





  

8.13.2012

My Sons :)

On Saturday, I got out the camera and decided to snap some pics of my boys... My gorgeous, growing boys!

I could stare at their sweet faces all day... and as a stay-at-home Mom, I have that privilege!
























My world, captured!