Santa's "Nice" List ~

Whew!!! December is a busy month! And i'm trying to cram in as much "Family Memories" as possible. Homemade ornaments, homemade christmas cards, cookies, baked goodies, driving around looking at christmas lights and going to see the Jolly fella himself. One day "Buddy" the Elf brought the kids something fun.....a Gingerbread Choo Choo Train! The kids were uber excited to dive into that project. Me...well i knew that it would be tricky getting the littles to actually put the candy on the train. SO here are a few pictures ....


The front of the train was decorated by little man. UMMMM....yep, he ate most of it. HA!


The back was little girls to decorate all her own. And she did a wonderful job.

Little girl did most of this side too. And actually has some candy on it .

And here is a front view. IT CRACKS ME UP!

And there you have it folks....Train wreck 2011 i mean Lovely Gingerbread Train 2011! It ain't perfect but i love it. :o)

I don't know about you but i STILL have a few gifts to buy. I bought most of the littles christmas gifts early this year and thank goodness i did!! I can't believe how fast certain toys fly off of the shelves.

The kids wrote a list for Santa this year....Items on that list include Woody, Jessie, Art Easel and a Inno Tab. What are some of the Hot items that your kids put on their list to Santa this year??

North Pole Breakfast 2011~

Oh the excitement!! :o) "Buddy" the elf came to us from the North Pole for a special breakfast. What a wonderful...fun filled morning we had.

The kids woke up to find a table filled with yummy goodness from the North Pole!! And who brought us this Christmas Breakfast asked my little girl????

Well that would be the little elf i told her. Buddy? Buddy's back?? Yippee!!! Just look at that face!!


At the North Pole they have Snow covered donuts and gingerbread men for breakfast. And we got to enjoy these treats this morning.

Along with Hot cocoa topped with yummy marshmallows. Buddy seems to like marshmallows...maybe they are his favorite?? hehe!!

I know they were this little fellas favorite. He was so excited that he got to drink in a "big" cup.

I watched as this little guy took his first taste of Hot Cocoa....REAL hot {warm} cocoa {not cold chocolate milk}.

Buddy left a sweet letter for both the kids letting them know that he is watching them and reporting back to the "Big Jolly Fella".

And beside the letter he left them a little gift. SOCKS of course to keep their little piggies warm all winter. :o)

All in all the North Pole Breakfast was a HUGE hit. The littles L*O*V*E*D it and now we have a new family tradition to kick off the christmas season.

Lots more family fun in store this month leading up to Christmas. Hopefully things won't get to crazy around here and i can share some of the fun. Happy Holidays!!!

Thankful~

This year has been a hard one for this family. But all i can do is thank GOD for all the blessings he HAS givin us. I have so much to be thankful for. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all have a wonderful fun filled family gathering eat until you bust Holiday!!!

Sammies ~

I'm a sandwich lover. How about you? I reciently found a new recipe for Hawiian Sweet Roll Ham Sammies and tried it out a few nights ago. And let me tell ya....they were yummy!!! These would make good snacks for game night or for a church pot luck. Warning....it is very onion-y! IF you don't like onions don't try this. I happen to love onions and with this hot sammie the onions is what makes it so yummy. .....


Hawiian Sweet Roll Ham Sammies

What you will need:
1 Pk of 12 Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 onion minced
1 stick of butter
3 tbs of dijon mustard
2 tsp worchestire sauce
3 tsp poppy seeds
Half pound shaved ham
8 slices of swiss cheese


Start by chopping or grating an onion. I use the hand chopper from Pampered Chef. I get a pretty fine mince.

Melt a stick of butter and then add the onions to the butter.

Add three tablespoons of Dijon mustard to the onions and butter.

Add two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce and stir completely.

Then add three teaspoons of poppy seeds and let simmer for a few minutes, until onions are soft.

Grab a package of the Hawaiian Sweet dinner rolls and cut the entire thing in half length wise.

Place the roll bottoms in a aluminum foil lined 13 by 9 pan. Spread the onion mixture on the entire bottom. You will want to save about 1/4 of the mixture back.

Grab some shaved ham, about a half a pound, and seven to eight slices of swiss cheese. Put the ham on top of the onions and then add the slices of cheese.

Add the roll tops on the cheese.

Now, with the remaining onion mixtures, spread over the top of the rolls.

Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to use. Bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes, covered with foil.

When you remove from the oven, slice down the roll lines.

Meal Planning ~

I do not always have time to do a good meal plan for the week. And for awhile we were eating the same things week after week. The kids were getting board with breakfast and lunches. Lately i have been trying ALOT of new recipes {thanks to a certain website ;) } and i needed some way for myself to make sure to write down a good meal plan for the family. I pulled this cute little book with empty lined pages from the craft room......

And decided it was going to be my new "Meal Planning Book". I pick these up from Ross or TJ Maxx when i see them on the clearance isle. I have them for gifts or i use them for personal use cause i'm a note taker. I started my Meal Plan by writing the days of the week with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Then i start filling in the blanks. Sounds easy enough....so why is this hard for me? Maybe i'm lazy...ha!

Now don't look to hard...i have some misspelled words. HA! Kids were running around me and asking me like 5 pazzzillion questions. So i may have misspelled Raisins. And i may have done it 2 or 3 times. That is ok....i know i did it. I can laugh and move on.

Ok....back to my meal plan. So on the front page i wrote down all the meals for the week. On the back of the page i wrote down my real grocery list. Groceries only. If i need anything else from the store i use a sticky note to do so. That way i know what i need per recipe. I do this week after week making sure i write down at least 2 new recipes per week. Then when i'm having an off week and don't have alot of time to meal plan i can just go back and "reuse" a week. And i instantly have my grocery list. I think this is going to be great. And a great way to work new recipes into the rotation. Because what i have realized real fast about trying new recipes is that it can get pretty pricey. This keeps me on budget and helps me keep up healthy eating habits. Win win in my book. ;)

How do you Meal Plan? Do you plan weekly or monthly?

Sing Off ~

Ok...i'm usually slow to see shows. Mostly i catch them after they are off on netflix cause i can view at my own time. Today i was flipping thru the channels and stumbled upon this show called The Sing Off. Have you seen it?? I'm watching it on Oxygen but i'm seeing old shows. It is on NBC live. The reason i stopped is i heard acappella singing. I don't know about you but i love hearing songs in acappella. Something about it gives me chills. It is an amazing gift that some people can sing like this. The first song i heard on the show was by the group Pentatonix. They were doing "Love Lockdown". I have to say i loved it. They did such a good job. I had to rewind and watch it again. They delivered this flawlessly. Again...chills! I finished watching the show and they had some amazing talent. Sorry...way better than american idol. :P If you haven't seen it....check it out. If you have seen it....let me know who is your fav.!! :)

Happy Friday!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner ~

I have been trying out alot of new recipes lately. ;o) The hubs is loving it. Seems as though we get stuck in a dinner rut and make the same things over and over. And i still have my favs that i like to make on friday night. In our house friday night is usually taco or pizza night. But lately i have been making a point to try new things. So this weekend i made two new chicken dinners. One was a winner and the other was a bust. So i thought i would share my new chicken {winner} recipe.

What you will need:

8 ounces uncooked rigatoni
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped purple onion (about 1 medium)
1 (10-oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts
1 (14.5-oz.) can Italian-style diced tomatoes
1 (8-oz.) container chive-and-onion cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese


Preparation
1. Prepare rigatoni according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, spread oil on bottom of an 11- x 7-inch baking dish; add onion in a single layer.
3. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or just until tender. Transfer onion to a large bowl, and set aside.
4. Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between layers of paper towels.
5. Stir rigatoni, spinach, chicken, and next 4 ingredients into onion in bowl. Spoon mixture into baking dish, and sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake, covered, at 375° for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.

And this is what you end up with.....a big dish of Yummy! :o) Add and salad and your done. Easy and pretty healthy. This would be a great dinner to make, double and freeze.

Are you trying any new recipes lately? Got any winners....please share.