Jenna's Journey

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T19:49:00.001-06:00

A little late because I've been gone...but it's still Wednesday! I took these while they were eating, hence the foodie faces. =)

Ravioli Bake & Enter to Win!

2012-01-24T08:45:00.002-06:00

Easy, Cheesy, Ravioli Bake!

Iím betting youíve noticed I love to cook. More than that, I really enjoy making recipes my entire family can eat and enjoy. Iíve never been the mom who cooks two separate meals-one for the adults and one for the kids!

Finding recipes everyone can love is sometimes a challenge. One of my goals here is to share recipes my family truly enjoys-and recipes that are simple as well!

I have a new, SUPER EASY recipe for you. This honestly takes about 5 minutes to mix up, and then you bake it for 25 minutes. Serve it with a side of broccoli or some fruit, and you have a well rounded, easy, and FAST meal!

I took something I grew up loving to create my Easy, Cheese Ravioli bake.

As a kid, I loved Chef Boyardee, and I bet you did too! We still love the Chef Boyardee brand, and one of my favorite things about their products is that they are preservative free.

But have you ever thought of using Chef Boyardee as an ingredient in a fast, delicious meal? Thatís what Iíve done today!

The Recipe: Easy, Cheese Ravioli Bake

2 cans of Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli in Meat Sauce

1 cup (divided) of shredded Monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

4 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli with 3/4 cup shredded Monterey jack, ricotta cheese, basil and pepper.

Mix well.

Pour into a greased 8 x 8 baking dish.

Top with 1/4 cup shredded Monterey jack.

Top that with bread crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly, and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

*Note - this recipe freezes well. Just combine ingredients, and pour into greased baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and tin foil. Write baking instructions on tin foil.

Itís also an easy dish to take to friends that have a new baby!

This is such a great recipe to make with your kids. And Chef Boyardee has so many other great recipes that you and your kids can enjoy making together too!

Visit their Facebook page for more great ideas.

How would you like to win free groceries for a YEAR?! Create your very own unique recipe featuring Chef Boyardee and enter Chef Boyardeeís Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest from December 29, 2011 through March 11, 2012 for your chance to win free groceries for a year as well as one of ten $500 weekly cash prizes. Then visit Chef Boyardeeís Facebook page from March 26, 2012 through April 8, 2012 to vote for your favorite recipes from the ìMake It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest.î Each day, one voter will be selected to win a $100 cash prize.

Be sure to visit the Chef Boyardee Roundup page on BlogHer.com to check out other bloggersí recipes!

Our Weekend

2012-01-23T09:01:00.001-06:00

Wow. Some weekends are so short and others seem to last forever. And some feel like they've been both short and lasted forever. That was this weekend.

Saturday I got to spend the day with my mom which is always fun but doesn't happen often without the kids! Chris watched the boys and took them to "their" spot - a local pizza place that has mac n cheese pizza. Anytime I have a girls night or something going on, they wind up there. I've never been!

First, my mom and I went to a baby shower for my friend Elizabeth. She helped throw Brody's shower. This was part of her gift for baby Elijah:

A local shop, The Pink Lilli, made them for us. She does a great job!

After the shower, we ran a few errands and had lunch at one of my favorite local places. They have awesome tomato soup! Then we went and got our nails done together. I'm generally a pale pink shellac kinda girl, but I got this awesome dark gray last time (see here) and I loved it so much that I got it again!

Remember how I mentioned we adopted another dog? Well, anytime we pick up a dog we try to find it's home in case it was an accident and the dog just escaped. This time I was really pretty sure that it had just been dumped because of where Chris found him, but it turned out that he had escaped. The owners grandson had let him out and he ran off. So as much as we loved Aspen, we are glad he is back home with a his very loving family!

Brody has begun to try to talk much more this weekend. He's saying ball, done, Bubba (for Brayden) and book in addition to his other words. He is so proud of himself when he says something and we understand him! Ha! Brayden is a great translator - he always knows exactly what Brody is saying. It's SO cute!

And lastly, a word of warning if you car has tire pressure sensors. Three or four weeks ago my sensor went off saying my right rear tire had low pressure. I got out and looked at it, and measured it with this silver thing my brother gave me (tire gauge? I don't know what it's called). It said the tire was fine. So, meanwhile, I've completely been ignoring the warnings my car shouts at me every time I start it. Well, apparently, the sensor is actually ON the tire, so when I had my tires rotated the right rear tire became the front right tire and it actually IS low. Super low. So, just so ya know, the sensor is on the tire, and if you get a warning, just check all of your tires!

Low Fat Lunches

2012-01-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

As a stay at home mom, I am literally home everyday. My kids don't go to MDO or KDO, and we aren't at preschool age yet, which means I'm serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner, everyday. I don't really struggle with breakfast or dinner options, but for some reason, lunch stumps me.

Now, I shouldn't admit this, but we do go to Chickfila quite often. I love their Southwest Salad and the kids love their grilled nuggets and fruit cups. And I really shouldn't admit that I'm on a first name basis with most of the lunch staff, including the manager. Nope. Not admitting it.

So, I'm hoping that you all will want to participate in this little link up idea I had. If you have a low fat lunch idea (since it seems like most of us are still in "It's January! I'm dieting!" mode) then I hope you'll link it up here. Have a picture? Even better!

So, here is my contribution. It's above, in the picture. I use a 70 calorie spinach tortilla, top it with 1T of chive spread, 2T of cheese, 4 slices of (thin!) ham and 4 slices of turkey. Total calories? 350. Not bad! And you could add a ton of veggies to this if you like - tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce...I'm just not a huge fan of veggies.

So, I hope that you will link up with me and share your Low Fat Lunch Ideas! And tell your friends - the more recipes, the better!

Pins that WORKED!

2012-01-18T10:41:00.001-06:00

I have run across some seriously good pins on Pinterest lately. Ones that are just too good not to share! BTW, you can find me on Pinterest by clicking here!

First up, raise your hand if you've seen the baking soda facial floating around!

You mix 3T baking soda with 1T water and then apply it in a circular motion to your face. Let it sit for 5 minutes then rinse it off with warm water. Repeat once weekly. I did this and it was like having a microdermabrasion! My skin feels SO much softer!

(Source)

Idea #2 also uses baking soda. So, this one wasn't really a pin that I did, but the idea was inspired by a pin. The original pin used 3 or 4 chemicals and baking soda to soak and clean your grates.

What I did was sprinkle baking soda all over my stove and greats and then put a light mist of water over them. I let them sit for about 20 minutes (more is probably fine, I'm just impatient) and then used a sponge to clean them off. It worked really well!

You know I love my Apple products and when I found this tutorial with 50 tips for your iPad I read through them and pinned it. There is some really useful stuff!

(Source)

What good pins have you come across? Share the link to your pinterest page in the comments too!

Party People

2012-01-17T09:29:00.002-06:00

This post is dedicated to the kiddos! I just had way to many pictures and I don't like posts that have a bazillion pics in them, so I broke this up!

First, my little piggy, Brody! Both boys had custom shirts from SheShe Made!

Sweet Connor - I love his hair.

Miss Cilla!
Jillian and my Brody:

Brayden had a special Angry Birds cupcake with his candles in it. It's so funny - on his birthday, which was actually Friday, we took him to Red Robin, because that's where he wanted to go (notice a bird theme here?!). They brought him dessert and sang to him. Ohmygosh, he got SO embarrassed! He covered his face and hid until it was over! But on party day, my little ham loved it!

Eating his cupcake in what I am convinced is the messiest way possible!

We had to get a family picture!

I love this - Stella and Cilla look like their planking! Ha!
Some of the kids playing the game!

Everyone had so much fun! I am so glad Brayden picked the Angry Bird theme!

Party Details

2012-01-16T09:14:00.003-06:00

I had 15 pictures for the party post, so I decided to break it up into TWO posts - this one is all of the details, and the next one is all of the kids playing.

So, Brayden choose to have an Angry Birds bird-day (hehe) party. Let me tell you, this was such a fun theme!

First up, the favors! Lindsey made all of the super cute details for this party - favor tags, banner, outdoor sign, centerpieces, cupcake toppers - anything you see that is creative, I ordered from her! So be sure to check her out!

The favor tags say "Thanks for crashing my party!" and inside the bag is a pack of coloring crayons, a Angry Bird coloring sheet and one of my friend Holly's super cute, handmade, Angry Bird sugar cookies! Holly doesn't have a cookie blog set up quite yet (I'll be sure to mention it when she does!) but you can reach her at Thedoughmestichousewife AT gmail DOT com!

The sign and centerpieces:
Super cute cupcakes and toppers! There is a new bakery in my town and they did a great job providing some tasty cupcakes!
Tables, coloring tables, balloons! We also had a banner and gift table that I managed to not get a picture of. I also forgot to get pictures of the food but we ordered BBQ and I also made a double batch of this yummy dip.

My kids have more than enough toys, so we were collecting toys for the kids at Arkansas Children's Hospital. We will be visiting in March to celebrate their 100th anniversary and Brayden is SO excited to take the toys to the kids there! Proud mom moment!
I set up two activities for the kids. One was this coloring table with Angry Birds coloring sheets. I printed these off the internet for free! We covered the table in brown butcher paper in case they went off the page!
And the BEST activity - I made a real, live, Angry Birds game for the kids to play! It was a HUGE hit! Thanks to all my friends for saving diaper boxes for me! This is what I used them for!

My mom, Chris and I covered them in brown butcher paper and stacked them up for the kids. They used plush Angry Bird toys to throw at the boxes! A few adults (who shall remain nameless) may have also played a round or two!

So those are the deets! More party pics to come!

Brayden's (actual) Birthday!

2012-01-15T10:42:00.001-06:00

Friday was Brayden's actual birthday, so my family went to lunch at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate before his big party on Saturday!

Can you tell he was happy??

Brody was completely enthralled by the big mouse. At first he was a little scared but then he wanted right up there with him!

Brayden got a few gifts (for his big party we asked that in lieu of gifts for Brayden, our friends bring gifts for the children at Arkansas Children's Hospital) and my mom brought Brody a little gift too. He was SO excited to be included!

Brayden saying thank you!
And more games. I don't have a picture but I set a new high score on the skeeball machine at Chuck E Cheese. And yes, I AM blogging that. What? I think it's an accomplishment! Hahaha!

Happy birthday to my sweet little, big, B Man!

109 Calorie Deep, Dark Chocolate Cookies

2012-01-14T09:27:00.002-06:00

I know that so many of us are using Spark People and My Fitness Pal to calculate the calories we're taking in each day. I've been on the hunt for some good, low cal desserts, because this is the area I struggle with. I could easily use up all of my 1200 calories a day on chocolate and bread. Or chocolatey bread.

Or cookies.

And then I stumbled across these cookies that use NO FLOUR and NO BUTTER and are only 109 calories EACH! Holy moly!

I made them and let me tell you, they are GOOD. You don't feel like you're giving up anything at all.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Cookies

Source: Bon Appétit

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided

3 large egg whites, room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

Happy Birthday Brayden!

2012-01-13T07:59:00.003-06:00

Today is this sweet little miracles THIRD birthday!

Where did the time go?

Brayden,

Your Daddy and I are so very proud of you. You are the kindest, smartest, sweetest big boy we know. You are the very best big brother to Brody and you love to teach him new things as well as keep him out of trouble. You enjoy learning too - anything I can teach you, you just gobble up.

Your 4-wheeler is your favorite toy to play on but you still love that little John Deere tractor that GrandDaddy bought you when you were small. Speaking of John Deere, your favorite song is John Deere Green and you love watching YouTube videos of farm equipment. You're completely convinced that you could easily drive a tractor after watching a 5 year old do it on YouTube.

You still don't really like to eat, but when you do, you prefer healthy foods. Grilled chicken on a wheat roll from Chick Fil A, with chocolate soy milk is your favorite meal. You love anything and everything I bake. If you see me make it, you can't wait to try it.

You have the sweetest manners - always saying please and thank you, or no, thank you. You also give a reason for absolutely everything. You are so ahead on your speech, it's unreal. You justify points and argue your thoughts with us.

You want to be just like your Daddy. You want to dress like him, only ride in his truck if he is home, and just do whatever it is that he is doing. We hear "I'll help you, Daddy" about 50 times a day, and it is so sweet.

When you were born, we didn't know if we would be bringing you home. We are so, so thankful that God choose to let us keep you here. We couldn't love you any more if we tried, my precious little man.

We can't wait to see what the next three years bring sweet boy.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

A normal, crazy week around here...

2012-01-12T13:33:00.002-06:00

It's Thursday, right?

Do you ever feel like that? Sometimes the days just get away from me! This week started with dental work for me. Thankfully, I was orally sedated which explains why I don't really remember Monday...

Tuesday, my brother came over to help me out since I was still a little loopy from the meds! We drove around getting a few last minute things done for Brayden's 3rd birthday party, or should I say, Bird-Day party. ;-)

We also ended up with a new dog! We have become a rescue/adoptive dog family. All three of our dogs have been rescued or adopted, and all happen to be Golden Retrievers, which are simply the best family dog.

Aspen is our newest member of the family. Chris found him, rescued him and brought him home. He looks almost exactly like one of our other dogs, Mossy. They have to be related!

Aspen:

My mom came over to watch the kiddo's so that I could meet up with my sister in law for manicures. Here's my newest color choice:

It's a Shellac called Jet Set. I love the Shellac polishes because they last a good 2-3 weeks without chipping at all.

Our oldest golden, Buster (who we think is about 10) comes into the house during the winter. This week marked his big move from outdoor dog, to indoor dog. He got shaved, bathed and now is happily residing next to me.

Tomorrow is Brayden's actual birthday, so we are taking him to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. His party is Saturday, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Easy, Cheesy, Chicken Spaghetti

2012-01-11T11:03:00.007-06:00

I love sharing easy chicken recipes, because I know that so many people, like my family, love to cook chicken dishes.

So, here is my easy, Chicken Spaghetti:

The Ingredients:

1 Spanish (yellow) onion, sliced

1 block of Velveeta

1 can of Original Rotel

2-3 chicken breast, boiled and shredded

1 bag of egg noodles

EVOO

Drizzle some EVOO and sauté your onions for about 5-10 minutes, or until they start to develop a little color.

Then add in your chicken, rotel and velveeta.

Separately, cook your noodles according to the package directions.
Once cooked, add them to the chicken mixture.
Then serve!
I served mine along with some whole wheat garlic bread. Yum!

Chicken Spaghetti

Source: Jenna's Journey

1 Spanish (yellow) onion, sliced

1 block of Velveeta

1 can of Original Rotel

2-3 chicken breast, boiled and shredded

1 bag of egg noodles

EVOO

Saute onions in oil for 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Add cheese, chicken and rotel. Stir to combine, over medium heat. Cook noodles according to package directions. Add to chicken mixture, combine and serve.

Some other great, easy chicken recipes:

Chicken Roll Ups

Parmesan Chicken Salad

Mexican Chicken Ring

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Creamy Mexican Chicken

Honey Onion Chicken

The rest of my chicken recipes can be found by clicking on my recipe tab, then poultry!

Baby Shower for Hayes!

2012-01-09T17:14:00.003-06:00

Sunday evening we had a baby shower for my friend Lisa. She's having her third boy, baby Hayes at the beginning of next month!

My friend Holly made these great cookies. We were throwing a diaper shower, so one of the cookies is a diaper with Hayes' monogram on it! So cute! The nursery colors are orange, white and aqua.

I made the monogram letters - my friend Julie did this for Brody's shower and I did it for Brayden's first birthday. They are so easy!

Here is the momma to be, Lisa. She's looking at me like "put that thing away!" Ha! Lisa is hysterical, and I love spending time with her. She's also one of the cutest pregnant people you have ever seen!

I can't wait to meet baby Hayes next month!

THE GAME! Part 2 of A Trip for Two!

2012-01-09T09:47:00.001-06:00

Game Day!

Well, game day got off to a bit of a rocky start. You see, we were stuck in lovely Dallas traffic for TWO and a HALF HOURS!!! There was an accident and we literally did not move half a mile for 2 hours. So, to pass the time, I played with my new camera. Chris looks thrilled, huh?!

He was just worried that we weren't going to make it in time. But, we did! We made it to our seats 40 minutes before game time.

Here's our view:

Our marching band making out the big A:

I didn't know that The Band Perry would be there to sing the National Anthem. It was so awesome for the girl who has never been to a concert before (unless you count the Gaither Vocal Band which is gospel Christian music).

KSU had one famous supporter in a box seat - Cam from Modern Family!

I started screaming like a teenage girl at a Bieber concert! Ha! I think I freaked the people next to us out.

The KSU fan behind us grudgingly agreed to take our picture. This was after a few failed attempts at doing it ourself and he only really agreed because he was tired of me shoving my mammoth camera into his lap while trying to take this picture myself. Ha!

So, I'm really not a huge sports fan but it is SO much more enjoyable when you are actually there rooting on your team. I actually had a really great time! The only downside was that the game was late and we didn't get back to our room until around 12:30. Chris and I are like two old people and we go to bed at like 9. We had to drag ourselves up to our room, ha!

Maybe next year we'll get to go to that bowl in Orlando and we can hit up Disney Land!

A Trip for Two (Part 1): SHOPPING!

2012-01-08T10:42:00.001-06:00

Chris and I took a little vacation, just the two of us!!

We headed for Dallas for two reasons. One, I like to shop there, and two, the Razorbacks were playing in the Cotton Bowl.

You know what else Dallas has to offer? In-N-Out!

In-N-Out is my happy place. I can't believe I'm going to say this but, I love it more than Chick-fil-a. I know. Crazy. But seriously, it is so good. When we lived in California there was one 5 minutes from our house. Now we have to drive 5 HOURS! But it's so worth it!

Anyway, I was on a mission to find some good deals. And find some, I did. First, I hit up the Le Creuset outlet and scored these pans for 40% off of their already very discounted price.

Then I got a pair of my favorite J Crew jeans for $24 (normally $125). Actually, technically those were free because I was using a J Crew gift card I got for Christmas!

And at the Saks outlet they had a pair of Sperry wedges that I already own in off-white in black for $26 (normally $100) so I bought those too!

Chris also found a pair of jeans that he likes (normally $130) for $28! So, I would say we both did good!

While we were there we also visited one of my other very favorite places - Whole Foods. I know that is kind of weird. I love grocery stores, and Whole Foods in my second favorite one! In case you're wondering what could possibly top Whole Foods, it's Dean and Deluca. Ha! We ended up eating lunch there the day that we came home and I brought back some goodies that I can't get here.

Tomorrow I'll share our Game Day story!

All grown up.

2012-01-04T11:55:00.001-06:00

My little big man is acting so grown up lately.

Over my semi blog break during Christmas, he started walking most of the time. I finally got a good video of him:

He's so big! He is SO proud of himself too. He thinks he can totally keep up with his big brother now! Such a big moment for us!

I guess this means that I no longer have a baby but rather, two toddlers! Bittersweet!

I did this today.

2012-01-03T18:05:00.002-06:00

So, as you may have heard, I like Pinterest. A lot.

I am constantly finding cool information. Like this scarf tutorial:

Source

And I love it when I actually DO something that I found via Pinterest.

So, I tried out the scarf tutorial this morning:
Awesomeness.

It was easy and now I have a cute, new way to wear my scarves!

Want to follow my pins? Click here to see my pinboard!

Year End Review

2012-01-01T11:29:00.002-06:00

A look back at 2011...

We started off our year with two under two.

And then Brayden turned two!

We had a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party.

We got a little bit of snow...

And then we got a LOT of snow!

We had a baby shower for Syd...

And one for Melissa...

I posted a lot of how to's and useful information this year...

Like how to use Pinterest.

And a collection of great online daily deals and steals sites.

A basic how to on picture collages and editing.

I ended up with $27 in keychains when my son figured out how to use Ebay.

Everyone started commenting that my kids looked like twins...and boy were they right.

I posted the famous parmesan chicken salad recipe, and many of you have commented that you loved it!

My husband was baptized!

I shared throughout the year about how we utilized a chiropractor to treat Brody's reflux.

I wrote a post about some crazzzzy baby products.

And some useful ones.

I celebrated 3 years of blogging.

I shared my families garlic cheddar biscuit recipe.

And I got crafty!

I hosted the 2nd Annual Commenting Challenge.

And then I made Peanut Butter Brownie Cups.

I turned 27.

And shared a few favorite recipes.

I shared about wanting to lose some weight...

And a few updates on it. Currently, I'm down 15lbs!

I did an accent vlog.

And so did Chris!

My brother got married.

And I shared my thoughts on having two boys.

I also vlogged my very strange talent.

I gave you 150 stocking stuffer ideas.

And I dyed my hair brown.

I wrote my 1,000th post.

And featured several of your blogs in my 12 Days of Goodies.

Brody turned one!

I did a few projects with burlap.

Buddy the Elf joined our family, and I shared 25 great ideas with you for your Elf.

I hosted a Favorite Things Party.

And we had a wonderful Christmas!

Wow, this has been such a fun, busy and exciting year! I can't wait to see what 2012 will bring!

9 pans of gooey goodness...

2011-12-30T16:40:00.004-06:00

Raise your hand if you watched the Pioneer Woman make cinnamon rolls on her Christmas special!

Yeah, me too.

I've followed the PW since I started blogging in 2008. And back then she was famous for her cinnamon rolls. She still is!

I've wanted to make these since I first read her recipe all those years ago. I was terrified. Why? It involved yeast. Rising. Dough. Sccccarrrrry.

But, after watching her make them on the food network, I thought, I can do that! And I did!

I have a few tips for you if you're wanting to make these gooey, delicious rolls. Everything always looks SO much easier on TV than it really is, no? So, here are my trail and errors for ya:

1.) Use a BIG counter.

Seriously, the biggest space you have. Some of my twitter friends said they used their dining room tables. I started rolling out half of my dough on the counter that I usually use. What a bad idea. First, I sterilized the counter because I'm a freak like that. Then I rolled it out, put the butter, sugar and cinnamon on it and started to roll it up. It was too long for the counter and as I rolled, everything dripped out, onto my cabinets and the floor. Gross. Gooey. MESS. So, I stopped, cleaned everything up and then had to sterilize another counter.

2.) Melt 2 extra sticks of butter.

You have to add melted butter to the pan. I ended up stopping and starting to melt extra butter just for this purpose. And if you have too much use it in your icing.

3.) Let em' rise.

The recipe says to let them rise for 20 minutes. I highly recommend letting them rise longer than that (this is after they are sliced and in the pan). I let mine rise about 35 minutes and they were big and beautiful.

4.) You can omit and freeze.

I don't like coffee. So, as a tip, you can leave the coffee out of the icing. I just added a little more milk to compensate. Also, you can freeze them. I baked them, iced them and the froze some. You could also freeze the icing separately too.

And for good measure, I'll repost her recipe here. Note - this recipe made 9 pans for me. Also, I made the dough 2 days before I actually made the rolls.

Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

Source: The PW

Ingredients

1 quart Whole Milk

1 cup Vegetable Oil

1 cup Sugar

2 packages Active Dry Yeast

8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder

1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt

Plenty Of Melted Butter

2 cups Sugar

Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

_____

MAPLE FROSTING:

1 bag Powdered Sugar

2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring

½ cups Milk

¼ cups Melted Butter

¼ cups Brewed Coffee

⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees.

Christmas Day!

2011-12-28T13:45:00.002-06:00

I'm still playing catch up. =)

So, on Christmas Day, I mentioned that Brody woke up with croup. I have to say, in general, if Brody is sick, you know it. My neighbors probably know it too. In fact, anyone within a one mile radius knows it. He's loud and cranky and just in a bad mood (Brayden is completely the opposite - I never know when he's sick because he's always so happy!).

Apparently, we received a Christmas miracle because though he was pretty sick, this little guy was so dang happy! He was smiling and walking and waving and talking!

So, first thing in the morning we opened our stockings:

These pictures crack me up - especially the first one. Gosh, they DO look like twins sometimes!

Then we headed back out to the cabin for Christmas Day. We usually stay overnight but with the kids not feeling 100%, we decided to sleep at our own house. They are excellent sleepers at home (8pm - 9am everyday!) but they don't sleep as well elsewhere.

This is us with my parents:

I did a theme gift for my mother in law. She loves pictures, so we got her a nice wooden frame, a digital frame and a canvas picture of us.

Brayden saw this red four wheeler months ago at Toys R Us. He has talked about it non stop since! He just knew Santa would bring it for him and he was right!

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas! Remember the reason for the season!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Christmas Eve, a Gingerbread House & Bellie

2011-12-27T14:13:00.002-06:00

We always go out to our family cabin for Christmas, and this year was no exception. My parents brought their St. Bernard, Bellie, this year. She is the sweetest, most gentle giant you've ever met! My kids adore Miss Belle.

Brayden had croup last week. When Brody didn't get it, we thought we were good. On Christmas Eve I thought he was getting a cold - by Christmas Day, he had full on croup too! Poor boys!

Since it was Christmas Eve, it was Buddy's last day to make an appearance. It took Brayden awhile to spot him, up high on the mantel!

Chris and I decided to build a gingerbread house for the kids. We had the best time working on it and decided that we will do one every year!
The front:
The back:
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I'll post about Christmas Day tomorrow!

Colorful Tradition - Our Videos

2011-12-22T09:48:00.001-06:00

There are some great houses in my local area that do it all up at Christmastime! Every night in December, we take the kids for a drive to look at all of the great light displays. Here are my three favorite ones from this year!

These were all shot on my iPhone, so sorry for the background noise and quality!

House 1 is my very favorite. They've been on CNN a few times! This is the only one of the three that isn't set to music, but the lights are spectacular!

House #2 is set to music. And you have to love the running Razorback in the side yard.

House #3 we discovered last night! There is an empty lot across the street so we were able to park and watch!

This is one of our favorite traditions. Sometimes we go get a Starbucks and drive around, or I'll plug my Spotify into my car and we'll listen to Christmas music (our favorite is Third Days Christmas Album).

Do you like to go look at the lights?

From Us to You...

2011-12-21T15:56:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Seeing Santa

2011-12-20T13:42:00.005-06:00

My blogger friend, Mrs Monologues, is collecting soda pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House! We learned a lot about all of the wonderful things the RMH does while Brayden was at Arkansas Children's Hospital. Help her reach her goal of 15,000 tabs to benefit the RMH charity! Click here for deets!

While we were at the Landing in Branson we went to see Santa! It was a cool setup - they have this gigantic Christmas tree and Santa is in the bottom of it. It's set up like his gift wrapping workshop.

Brayden was pretty excited. He really wanted to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. Brody was a different story.

Brody looking at Brayden like, why are you talking to this man? He's a stranger!

Brody looking at me begging for help!
Hopefully next year we will have TWO happy boys getting their picture taken with Santa! Last year Brody was happy and Brayden was crying!

Well, technically Brody was asleep...

But still...considerably happy.

Here's to next year!

Christmas Party, Lights & A Sickie

2011-12-19T12:47:00.002-06:00

I'm so behind, but I'm going to try to catch up!

Brayden got really sick and Chris ended up taking him to the ER yesterday. He has a viral infection and croup - which we've never had before. Now we have to keep the kids separated which is a challenge! Brayden is staying upstairs with Chris and Brody is downstairs with me. Poor Brody's heart is broken - he is with his brother every day and doesn't understand why he can't be now!

But back to last week...

Thursday night my inlaws came into town to keep the boys while Chris and I went to a Christmas party. My mother in law, Lori took our picture! We never get a picture of the two of us! Thanks Lori!

Brody had to sneak into it, but that's okay. Ha!

Friday we loaded up the car and took off with my parents to Branson. We were taking the kids to look at the lights in Kimberling City and also to go to Silver Dollar City. I ended up changing my mind about going to Silver Dollar City (and now I'm so glad I did!) and ended up just driving around looking at lights.

We stayed at the Landing and there is a shopping center below it. I finished up my Christmas shopping and we ate at the Macaroni Grill (my favorite place - we don't have one here).

My mom and Brayden:

Chris and Brody. And Chris' Cousin Eddie hat. If you watch Christmas Vacation, you'll totally get that.
Sunday Chris took me to see the Nutcracker. It was a classical performance instead of that new contemporary ballet which I don't like. Ha! I'm very picky about my ballet. I danced classical pointe for many years. It was pretty good - and then we came home to a very sick little Brayden. He was fine earlier in the day, but he looked awful when we got back home. Chris ended up spending close to 3 hours in the ER with him. I was worried because he was running a 103 temp and it wasn't coming down with tylenol. He is a little better today. Hopefully he will be completely well in time for Christmas!

Freezer Meal Exchange - HOW TO!

2011-12-16T10:55:00.001-06:00

Last week I mentioned that some friends and I were doing a freezer meal exchange. I've gotten a lot of questions on how that worked and how you can organize one.

Here's how it works:

First, you need to figure out how many people will be participating.

If you have 2-4 people I would suggest making 3-4 meals each (times the number of people in your group). For larger groups you can make less meals. Our group had 6 people this time and so we each made 2 meals, 6 times, and therefore we all had 12 total meals (including 2 of our own).

Next up, pick a swap date.

I have read where other groups get together and they all cook in one home. Personally, I don't know how on earth that would work! I used up my entire kitchen getting my stuff made! I would recommend just picking meal swap day where you can all meet at someones home and switch off meals. I had to drive the farthest to get to the swap, so I took some big ice chests with me to transport my food.

The food!

Send out an email to everyone who is participating and ask them to reply to all with what they are making. Also, if anyone has any major food allergies, make sure they mention that. This will help you avoid taking home 6 bags of chili or making something with peanuts when people can't eat it. You don't want to waste all that hard work and you do want variety!

Figuring out what to make can be a little tricky. This time I made Chicken Enchiladas and my Chicken Roll Ups. I probably won't do something like that next time. Why? Because every, single item I made was hand rolled. I ended up making 58 roll ups and 6 dozen enchiladas. It takes forever! Making one or the other with something easier would have been great though!

Here are some meal ideas that would be great to take and freeze:

Turkey Chili

Turkey Meatballs

Creamy Mexican Chicken

Chicken and Rice - make the chicken and send the box of 5 minute rice

I hope this helps you start your own freezer meal group!

Another Version of the Famous Roll Ups!

2011-12-15T14:02:00.003-06:00

The most popular recipe in my blog's recipe section are my Chicken Roll Ups. How can you not love them? Cheese, chicken, cream cheese, some more cheese....they are heavenly. The also freeze well and kids will eat them! It's such a win, win!

So, I had the idea to make another version of my Roll Ups. I wanted it to remain something that would freeze well and that kids would like, and my kids? They love pizza. So that's what I did!

Pizza Roll Ups!

Pizza Roll Ups

Via Jenna's Journey Blog

2 packages of buttery crescent rolls

1 package of turkey pepperoni

1 block of grated Monterey jack cheese

1 jar of Enrico's pizza sauce

Optional - Italian breadcrumbs and melted butter

Lay out your crescent rolls.

On the wide lower portion, put about 1 tablespoon of sauce, topped with 2 tablespoons of cheese and 4-6 turkey pepperonis. You can always add other pizza toppings you enjoy - this is just the basic recipe.

Carefully roll everything up, keeping all the ingredients inside.

Place on a sprayed baking sheet.

**Optional - top with melted butter and Italian breadcrumbs

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Serve with extra sauce!

I hope you enjoy these as much as the originals! And if you don't like turkey pepperoni, just substitute for your favorite pizza toppings.

Favorite Things Party

2011-12-14T10:33:00.004-06:00

Last night was a girls night out that I'd really been looking forward to - I organized a Favorite Things Party! I saw this idea on Pinterest a few months ago and filed it away for Christmas. There are several ways to do it. We had ours at a restaurant because we all have young kids and it would be too hard to do it at someones home.

Here are the rules we used:

- Pick ONE favorite thing that you discovered this year or have just plain loved forever.

- Buy FIVE of that ONE thing.

- You can't spend more than $20 total for all five items.

How it works:

- Everyone writes their name down on a slip of paper FIVE times.

- Each person draws FIVE names - you can't draw your own name or the same name twice.

- You take a gift from each of the names that you drew.

Everyone takes home five great gifts!

Here was mine:

The tin is what I used to put the slips of paper in for us all to draw from. My gift was Chocolate Covered Ritz Crackers. They just have them out for Christmas and they are SOOOO good. And all of my girlfriends know I'm a huge chocoholic so it was very fitting.

Here is what I brought home:From my friend Jennifer, who always has wonderfully poofed hair - a can of Freeze It! I was so excited!

From Stacey, a realllllly yummy smelling candle and a hot chocolate mix!

From Lindsay, Burt Bees! Which I love!

From Brittany, a Bath & Body Works antibacterial soap and hand soap! They smell so good!

And from Lisa, a ceramic pot keeper - you throw it in your boiling water and it won't boil over!

I didn't get Rebekah's gift because we only draw 5, but she brought thank you notecards!

(All of their blogs are on my blogroll under people I know)

We had such a fun time and are already plotting when we can do this again....Valentines Day? Easter? I don't know, but I can't wait!

What would your gift be??

Swedish Meatballs

2011-12-13T11:55:00.003-06:00

I never liked Swedish Meatballs.

Granted, up until this year, I'd only had them once in my life.

When I was a kid, we lived in a very diverse area and one of my good friends mom made these all the time. Maybe they were just more...authentic? I don't know, but I didn't like them.

But these....these, I like. And Brayden, my three year old? This is his very favorite meal. I can't believe it, but he likes them more than my chicken roll ups.

I found this recipe on Skinny Taste and decided to play around with it and make it more my own. The biggest difference is that I par cook my meatballs. I don't like relying on simmering them the whole time to cook them through. I also make a bigger batch and removed some ingredients/changed up the amounts.

So, here is my adapted version, which makes about 55 golf ball sized meatballs:

Swedish Meatballs

From: Jenna's Journey, adapted from Skinny Taste

• 1 T olive oil

• 2 small onions, minced - or 1 large onion, minced

• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup minced parsley

• 2 lb 90% lean beef

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper and salt

• 1/2 tsp allspice

• 4 cups reduced sodium beef stock

• 8 oz light cream cheese

Combine in a large bowl: onions, garlic, 2 eggs, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, allspice and beef. Mix well.

Line a sheet pan with tin foil. Roll meatballs into golf sized balls.

Once completed, heat a large pan over med high heat. Add oil. Cook meatballs until browned on both sides - they will NOT be cooked all the way through.

Once meatballs are cooked, remove them to a plate or sheet tray. Continue until all are cooked.

Add beef stock to a pot. Heat until boiling, add meatballs and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook with a LID on for about 20 minutes, or until meat is completely cooked.

Remove meatballs with a slotted spoon. Add broth to a blender with cream cheese. Pulse until well blended, then add back to the pan. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add meat. Serve over egg noodles.

25 Elf on the Shelf Ideas for TODDLERS!

2011-12-12T08:00:00.003-06:00

I have seen a few posts out there with some Elf on the Shelf ideas...but most of them don't apply to me (yet!) because I have two toddlers! So, I've compiled a list of ideas that we've done and a few that you all submitted and came up with my favorite 25 ideas JUST FOR TODDLERS!!

We abide by the "no touching Buddy" rule, so most of my list has Buddy (our elf) just out of reach. Also, most of these ideas are FREE or really inexpensive!

So, here we go!

*Note: Due to my copyright, please do not copy and paste this post.

Feel free to link back to it or pin any of the pictures though!!! Happy Pinning!

1.) Make it snow! String cotton balls onto fishing line or thread and tape to the window. This was a hit with my 2 year old who has been begging for snow since we had a small dusting last week!

2.) Find him with the Nativity - bringing Baby Jesus a gift.
3.) Fishing goldfish out of a bowl with a twig/string fishing pole. You can dye the water blue!

4.) Make a sugar snow angel! I've seen this done with flour, but who wants to clean that mess up? Try sugar and do it on a plate! Fast cleanup!

5.) Have your elf bring donuts one day - and mini donuts for himself! There was a great idea on Pinterest using cheerios for elf donuts - dipped in chocolate or powdered sugar.

6.) Send your elf on a zipline adventure! We strung thread from one chandelier to another and used a bread twist tie to secure his hands!

7.) Find him cruising around in a toy car or in our case, a toy bulldozer.

8.) Sometimes we just put Buddy in an unusual place - I added this decoration to our breakfast table so the kids would be able to eat with him!

9.) Have your elf build a Lego fort to hide out in!

10.) Put your elf with your advent calendar - I did this on Day 1 of the calendar. Since ours is a Choo Choo, Buddy was the conductor!

11.) Find him reading a book - during nap time, he will "magically" put the book down so you can read it to your child after nap time!

12.) Of course we found Buddy in our tree - he was a reminder that we don't touch the ornaments! And since they can't touch Buddy, this worked like a charm!

13.) Hanging out, playing a toddler matching card game...you can play with him if he's not touching the cards!

14.) Playing with the toys...what good elf can resist getting into the kids toys at night while their asleep?
15.) Find him in the fridge with their milk - turned red or green with food coloring!

16.) Exercising - Brayden found Buddy hanging out with my recumbent bike!

17.) Crocheting or knitting a scarf!

18.) Buddy made the kids pancakes on his first weekend at our house! They were very special pancakes with sprinkles! Elf Cakes!
19.) Find him attached to the vacuum or steam mop - helping young kids learn to help clean up! Plus, my kids flip out over the vacuum so they think this is the coolest thing EVER!

20.) On Buddy's first day, he brought a special treat for the boys stockings!
21.) Taking a "bubble bath" in mini marshmallows!

22.) Tee-peeing the tree.

23.) Cutting out snowflakes out of coffee filters and putting them all over the house.

24.) Drinking syrup with a straw.

25.) Having a tea party with other stuffed animals.

What's your favorite Elf on the Shelf idea?

A few of my favorite...

2011-12-08T13:57:00.009-06:00

PINS!

It's been awhile since I did a Pinterest inspired post! I just adore Pinterest. I have found so many wonderful ideas and used them as inspiration to come up with my own recipes and crafts. I've even posted a few of my Pinterest re-do's like this one.

So, here are a few of my favorite pins from the past couple of weeks!

Isn't this a great idea? It's a silicone attachment to make pouring easier!

Source

This was just hilarious. I might have to do this when my boys are older!

Source

This one is sort of gross...but at the same time, good to see! If you've been losing weight like I have (down 15lbs!) it can be frustrating when you step on the scale to see that you're only down 1lb. This puts it more into perspective!

Source

This is a great craft idea - it would be perfect for teacher gifts!

Tutorial Here

This is great too - I'm working on my Elf on the Shelf post just for toddlers, and I thought you all might enjoy this tutorial!

Tutorial Here

Pinterest is such a great resource for inspiring your own creativity! Do you follow any pinners that you love? Leave the link to their (and your!) pinterest accounts so we can all follow!

You can find my Pinterest by clicking here!

The Way I Spent My Tuesday...

2011-12-06T15:15:00.004-06:00

A few of my friends have a freezer meal group that meets once a month. It actually started last month but I couldn't make it, so this is my first time to participate!

There will be six of us and we are each making two meals (times six). For my two contributions, I'm bringing Chicken Rolls Ups and Chicken Enchiladas.

Figuring out how much I needed of everything was sort of a guessing game! Today I worked on the Roll Ups and did some prep for the enchiladas.

First, I used my food processor to grate 6lbs of cheese - ever wondered what 6lbs of grated cheese looks like? Here you go:

I boiled 25 chicken breasts - I did it in four batches(half is for the enchiladas). My time saving trick for shredded chicken is to use your stand mixer. Make sure to do it while the chicken is hot or at the very least, warm. Put the chicken in, lock your mixer and then turn it on the lowest setting for about 1 minute. You'll have perfectly shredded chicken, every time.

I also cooked and shredded some additional chicken for myself - I'll keep it in the freezer to save myself some time later. I have so many recipes that call for cooked, shredded chicken, and since everything was already out and being used, why not?!

Then I assembled my 56 chicken roll ups!

I put them on parchment lined baking sheets and threw them (okay, gently placed them) in my big freezer until they were hard enough to bag up. I wrote the baking instructions on the bags for everyone The only thing I didn't do is brush them with butter and top them with bread crumbs because I didn't know how that would hold up during the freezing process. Has anyone done that? I'm curious. Hopefully, everyone will have those on hand and can do that if they want!

Tomorrow I'll be working on the enchiladas! I already have my chicken cooked and shredded and my cheese shredded! That will definitely save some time!

Are you in a freezer meal club? What's your favorite meal to exchange? I need ideas for next month!

All Aboard the Santa Express

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

My friend Lindsay was telling me about a Santa Express train ride just for kids, and it sounded like such a fun idea that we decided to go to! Santa rides the train with you and it's decorated for Christmas, and I thought the kids would love it.

So this Saturday we bundled up and headed to the train station. Brayden was SO excited. He's all about Thomas the Train right now so this was so up his alley.

The four of us:

I was concerned about what the kids were going to think of Santa this year. Brayden did a good job of convincing me that he was excited to talk to Santa, so I wasn't too concerned about him. Last year he was deathly afraid of him! Well, this year it turned out to be Brody's turn to be afraid...

This picture cracks me up. Brody's screaming and Brayden is rolling his eyes at him:
Once he was safely back in Daddy's arms, Santa didn't seem so bad:
You can see a little more of the train car we were in here. The cars are restored from the twenties, I think.
The conductor was a really sweet older man. He and his wife actually got married on the train right about where we were sitting.

Brayden with the conductor:
Chris, holding Brody with a Brayden at either side (Lindsay's oldest son is also named Brayden) looking out the back window of the train car:
Our trip lasted about 45 minutes once we got going. There were five train cars of people and when we were supposed to leave the station a couple called and said they would be late, so they actually held the whole train up for about 30-40 minutes to wait for them, which was kind of weird! It was a fun trip and I think the kids would enjoy it again next year!

Peppermint Nutella Hot Chocolate

2011-12-02T13:22:00.002-06:00

I am a HUGE fan of hot chocolate...Chris calls me a hot chocolate connoisseur. I have tried just about every brand of hot chocolate and I would drink it all day long if I could!

This is a recipe I make at home, and it's just too good not to share. If you've read this blog for any length of time you probably know I also have a nutella addiction...ohmygosh, that stuff if so good!

So, I combined a few of my favorite things when I came up with this recipe. I hope you'll love it as much as we do!

Peppermint Nutella Hot Chocolate

From: Jenna's Journey

For 2 mugs:

4-5 cups of 2% milk

3/4 cup Nutella

2 peppermint sticks or candy canes (I use the peppermint stirrers that are dipped in chocolate. You can find them here).

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and nutella. Bring to desired temperature, whisking constantly. Pour into mugs and add the peppermint. It will melt and infuse the whole cup with minty goodness. Enjoy!

The Arrival of Buddy

2011-12-01T14:22:00.002-06:00

Last week, The Elf On The Shelf movie came on TV, and I watched it with Brayden. He was fascinated! I knew that we needed our very own Elf.

The next day I went and picked one up. During the kids nap time, Chris and I wrapped it in Santa paper (you know, since it's supposed to be sent by Santa) and put it on the porch. When they woke up, I rang the doorbell before we got them. Brayden wanted to know who was here so we let him open the door...

And he knew exactly what it was!
The Elf! We let him pick a name and he picked...Buddy. Ha! He had seen Elf with Will Ferrell on the day before and I guess the name stuck with him. So cute.
And Buddy's first appearance ended up being on our mantle. He brought little M&M candy canes for the boys:
Let me tell you, Buddy may stick around our house ALL.YEAR. If Brayden is acting up all I have to do is say "Buddy" and he stops his bad behavior. He knows that Buddy will tell Santa if he's being a bad boy. Genius, I say.

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? I'm going to put together a collection of ideas (where to put your elf, especially for toddlers) - Any you want to share?

DIY: Highchair Birthday Ribbon

2011-11-30T08:09:00.001-06:00

I've had a couple of emails asking how we made Brody's highchair ribbon thingy. That's the technical term.

It's SO easy. It took us less than 10 minutes to do this.

The secret is the tape.

What you'll need:

Scotch Brand double sided FOAM tape

Ribbon - I used 6 different kinds. Be sure to have a thick ribbon for the band at the top.

Measure your high chair. This highchair is actually mine and my brothers from when we were babies. It stays at our cabin and so I wasn't able to measure it exactly, but I guessed and it turned out fine.

Cut your foam tape into workable strips. I cut mine into 12" lengths.

Measure and cut your one piece of ribbon for the top band. Flip it over to the pretty side is face down on your table. Start with one piece of your foam tape. Put it in the middle of your ribbon and then peel the backing off.

From there, cut your strips of ribbon to the desired length. Again, I didn't measure, because I didn't want them to be super uniform looking. Place the ribbon, pretty side down, onto the tape.

Continue until you are done! It's the easiest decoration we did and one of the cutest!

DIY: What $5 in Burlap Can Do

2011-11-29T08:11:00.003-06:00

I have a thing for burlap.

Luckily, so does Chris.

Which means, this Christmas, we are burlaped out. In fact, if I knew how to sew, and I don't, I'd make some new, burlap stockings. Hmmm, maybe I can do that with a glue gun...

Anyway, I went to Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and burlap by the yard was half off, so I bought three yards. It cost me less than $5. I also bought three yards of off-white linen, for $3.

And I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I saw this pin of a burlap and linen tree skirt and I really wanted to make it. If you want to see the tutorial I found via pinterest, it's here.

The thing is, I don't have a lot of patience. For that reason, I am not a great crafter. So I did my skirt a little differently and probably a lot quicker.

Here's how I did it.

*Note - I glued mine onto my old tree skirt which was made of felt, without any problems.

First, cut your burlap and linen into 4-5 inch strips, all the way down the three yards.

Next, and this is different, I didn't pin anything. Not even the burlap, which is quite a bit harder to work with than the linen.

I folded, put a line of glue, pushed down on it with a folded over paper towel - which prevents you from being burned - and then put a dot of glue to hold the ruffle. With the linen, you don't need that extra dot because the linen will hold the ruffle pattern much more easily.

So. Simple.

I finished up in about two hours.

The only problem was that I had burlap left over. So what's a girl to do?

Cut more strips, and use it as garland on the tree of course!

And that, my friends, is what $5 in burlap can do for you!

My Very Own Cyber Monday Deal!

2011-11-28T07:28:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are in full on Christmas mode now, and I can't wait to share my decorations and a DIY post with you soon!

I am excited to announce that I will now be selling sponsor space on my right hand sidebar. If you are interested in sponsoring my blog, just email me at EmailJennasJourney AT gmail DOT com for a Media Kit.

Annnnnd, since it's Cyber Monday, if you mention this post, I'll give you 50% off your first month! This offer is good through Friday!

Thanksgiving Snapshots

2011-11-26T14:51:00.003-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year! Some of my family was in from California and Arizona, so we had a pretty full house, which was really nice. I spent my whole day in the kitchen with my mom and Chris was in charge of the camera. We ended up with a lot of pictures of the food and none of the kids! Hopefully my dad has some!

But for now, here's me in the kitchen, slicing my most hated food ever, eggs. Haha!

My mom stirring up her famous cornbread dressing:
My dad always brings fried turkey and I made a ham, but this year Chris got in on the action with a brined and smoked turkey breast. It was SO good:

The table:
We had such a great time seeing my family. It was my grandma (my dad's mom) & my grandpa's (my mom's dad) first time to meet Brody, which was really special. Everyone enjoyed watching football and Christmas movies and eating all day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family as well!

Sin Dip

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

I made this for Brody's birthday party, and I wanted to share the recipe with you!

Sin Dip

1 loaf of french bread - I use a French Niche from Panera Bread. A sourdough round would be great too!

1 block (8 oz) of cream cheese

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz of light sour cream

1 cup of deli ham, sliced thin and then chopped small

3 green onions, sliced into thin rings

1 t worcestershire

1 t Louisiana Hot Sauce

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. You can do this ahead of time and then put it in tupperware and keep it in the fridge which is what I did.

When you are ready to make it, hollow out your bread (for the niche, I cut a thin slice off the top, then ran a serrated knife around the edge forming a rectangle, and pulled the center out). Keep the part you take out and cube it for dipping later.

Put your dip mix into the bread bowl and wrap the whole thing in foil. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes then take the foil off the top and bake for 10-15 more minutes, just until the dip is hot.

Remove from the oven and stir well. Serve with bread cubes.

Happy birthday Brody!

2011-11-23T08:19:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it - but today is Brody's first birthday!

This year has flown by! It seems like yesterday we were in the hospital...

And now look at my big little man!

Here are your 1 year milestones Brody!

You've taken 5 steps several times.

You weigh about 23lbs.

You wear a size 5 diaper, and size 18-24 month clothing.

You hate shoes and do anything you can to take them off. And you try to eat them.

You love food. You can't stand to be anywhere near a table if you aren't getting something to eat.

You are incredibly serious. You study everything and are very hesitant around new people.

You say mama, dada, something like bubba for Brayden, yeah and no. You try to say Grammy.

You lose your mind if Chris, my mom or I walk away from you. You seem to think we are never coming back, even if I'm just going to the laundry room. It completely breaks your heart.

You are so sweet. You love to give kisses and be held.

Your favorite thing is a stuffed bunny rabbit. You have to have it to sleep with and you love to carry it around.

You want to be wherever Brayden is. It doesn't matter what he's doing - if he's in timeout, you are sitting with him!

You are the sweetest, smiliest, most serious little boy and we can't imagine our life without you! Happy birthday my precious Brody!

The Party

2011-11-22T11:55:00.001-06:00

I missed one detail yesterday - the 12 months of pictures banner - we actually included a picture of Brody when he was one week old as well!

For first birthdays, we do family only parties, and this year my grandma, grandpa and his wife, Bonnie all came into town (from Arizona and California) for the party.

Here's Brody about to eat his birthday lunch.

The two grandmas - Chris' mom and my mom:
Brayden pushing Brody around on one of their toys:
The happy birthday boy in his adorable birthday shirt! Thanks to Jennifer at Brayla Bee's for making it so quickly for me!
Brayden opening Brody's gifts:
Brody supervising from his new truck and pointing out which gift to open next:
The cake!
I ended up cutting a slice for him - he did NOT like the mess on his hands. He didn't actually eat any of it because he was so distracted by the mess!
I can't believe that tomorrow he will officially be ONE!

Brody's First Birthday Party Details!

2011-11-21T13:06:00.004-06:00

There were too many pictures for me to do Brody's party in one post, so I'm breaking it down a little bit!

This first post is all of the details of his party!

Chris and I made everything ourselves, which was a fun undertaking for two not very crafty people!

The one thing that we did that isn't in this post, but will be in the next one is his 12 months of pictures.

First, his birthday banner:

Chris designed everything in Photoshop and we put it together. Here are the cupcake toppers and the food signs:

Now I didn't make this - here is Brody's smash cake! There is a local bakery that has competed on the Food Network Challenge many times (and won!) and they made this cake. I drew it out and took in color swatches for them, ha! I'm a teensy bit OCD.

I made the FAMOUS Parmesan Chicken Salad. It was a hit!
My mom made her pasta salad but substituted bow tie pasta instead of rotini. It was so cute!
She also made my very favorite spinach dip. I'll post the recipe soon. I made another dip that I'll be sharing on a separate post so that I can file it into my recipes section!

The drinks sign!
So those are some of the details! Pictures of the birthday boy are coming tomorrow!

Notice Anything Different?

2011-11-18T13:27:00.003-06:00

Have you noticed anything different around here? My sweet friend and blog designer Jenn from Munchkin Land Designs has given me a little holiday face lift! You like?

Well, don't tell anyone (ok, tell EVERYONE!) but it can be YOURS too!

Jenn has come up with a great idea. Custom blog designs can sometimes be pricy when you are just wanting to change your look up for Christmas, right? So this year, she designed three GORGEOUS templates - each with two options - with or without a photo header. For the non-photo header version, it's $30 and with a photo, just $35!

Here is template #1 - with a photo ($35):

And without a photo ($30)
And Template #2, with a photo:
Without the photo:

My blog is Template #3, with a photo, but here is the version without a photo:

Aren't these awesome?! Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go check them out now! =)

DAY 12! Last recipe of the 12 Days of Goodies!

2011-11-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

Today is the last day of the 12 Days of Goodies! I hope you have found many great recipes to make this upcoming season!

This last recipe comes to you from...MY HUSBAND!

Chris makes this Saltine Toffee - it's wonderful and it's easy. He actually made the batch pictured here the other night!

Saltine Toffee

1 sleeve of Saltine Crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1.5 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with foil. You don't want to get the toffee directly on the pan - it's ridiculously hard to clean up.

Line out your saltines in one even layer.

Next, melt your sugar and butter over medium-high heat and bring them to a boil, stirring continuously. Once a boil is reached, stir for about 3 minutes, then immediately pour it evenly over the saltines. Spread.

Bake for 5 minutes then evenly distribute the chocolate chips over the top. Let them melt for a few minutes, then use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top. Let harden. Use the tip of a knife to break into pieces.

Note - you might want to keep these in a tin rather than a ziplock.

PART 2 - Day 11 of the 12 Days of Goodies!

2011-11-17T13:00:00.000-06:00

Ready for part 2 of day 11? This recipe is also from my friend Kat!

I “discovered” these amazing cream cheese brownies right around the time that Jon and I got married. One thing that you should know about my husband is that he has a sweet tooth (or 20) and I learned early on that he can put away a whole pack of Oreo cookies in one sitting. When Jon and I moved in together, I couldn’t bake but was set on learning. Thankfully, Jon ate my burnt, soggy, and sometimes kind of salty cookies, encouraging me to keep going (the sweet tooth probably had a little something to do with that). Thankfully for him, I finally figured it out, right in time to find this recipe in one of Jon’s old Betty Crocker cookbooks. I’ve been making them ever since – toying with different combinations of cocoa powder, additions of chocolate chips, and substitutions of some of the ingredients for the healthier options.

I wanted to share with you the (almost) original recipe for the Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Brownies. I promise you that you will absolutely love the creamy cheese filling sandwiched between the fluffy brownie mix.

Cream Cheese Brownies

(adapted from Betty Crocker Cookbook)

1 cup butter or stick margarine

4 ounces unsweeted baking chocolate

Cream Cheese Filling

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 large eggs

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling

2 packaged (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease buttom and sides of 13 by 9 pan with shortening.

Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Make cream cheese filling.

Beat chocolate mixture, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Beat in flour and salt on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium for 1 minute.

Spread half of the brownie mixture in pan. Spread cream cheese filling over the batter, then spread the rest of the brownie mix on top. Make sure that all the cream cheese is covered.

Bake 45-50 minutes, cool, cut, eat.

Day 11 PART ONE - 12 Days of Goodies

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Day 11 is coming to you in two parts, both from my dear blog friend Kat who blogs about food, parenting, and other daily happenings at Living Like the Kings. I've never met her but I feel like I know her, and if you don't read her blog, you should! You'll love it!

We all have that dessert. You know the one that mom makes for special occasions. The one that you think of when you’re looking forward to coming home during college breaks. The one that you count on when you’ve had a bad week. The one that has been passed on through generations and generations in your family.

To me, that dessert is Muraveinik, or, if directly translated, Anthill.

You see, I’m Russian and I’m rather fond of Russian food, especially dishes that have been made by generations of my family that are rarely written down in any books but rather passed along from mom to daughter. Fact is that when I was a teenager, I couldn’t care less for the recipes that my mom tried so hard to teach me (I was way more interested in boy, concerts, and clothes). But as I got older, got married, and started a family of my own, I began to crave the food that surrounded me during my childhood. I plead my mom to teach me the different ways that she cooks and spend hours translating the measurements and ingredients to adjust them to my American ways.

And today I am sharing one of those special recipes with you.

Muraveinik

3.5 Cups Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

8 oz Sour Cream

4 sticks of butter (2 for the cookie dough and 2 for the cream)

1 Can Boiled Sweetened Condensed Milk

Boiled Sweetened Condensed Milk (usually made ahead of time)

Boil a can (or a few to save on energy) of sweetened condensed milk for 3-4 hours on the stove top, submerged in water. Make sure that the cans are fully submerged in water at all times to avoid the mess that may ruin your kitchen forever.

Muraveinik

Mix the flour, sugar, sour cream, and 2 sticks of butter together (I use my hands) until it is fully combined. Use a meat grinder to make even, thin noodles with the dough and lay if flat on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven until golden (don’t let it turn dark) at 350 degrees.

To make the cream, mix the boiled sweetened condensed milk with the remaining 2 sticks of butter.

Once cookies are baked, let them cool and crumble them into little pieces. Mix in the cream and form into an anthill. Refrigerate before serving.