Spring SNOW

 

 

Yes, it's March

 

Yes, that IS snow..

 

Yes, it's Spring

 

*Sigh*

 

Socks says: "Can I go out Huh? Can I, Can I PLEASE??"

 

 

                                      Graycie says: "It did WHAT?
                                       You have GOT to be kidding me!"

Two Fierce Hunters

Two fierce, little hunters (Socks and Graycie) hunting their prey (stinkbug)

Two little hunters whose goal is too far away

Two little hunters with crestfallen faces

Mom stepped in and took the fun away
written by Jonathan and Renee

 

 

                                      
                                                   FIERCE!!

Trip

Whew! We went on a quick trip to Ohio for my nephew's wedding.  Sunshine went to the doggie hotel (my friends house) and the baby kitties stayed here..alone..bless their little hearts.

 

This is my Dad's Mom.

She will be 98 in April and she made homemade sticky rolls

for us for breakfast.  They were absolutely delicious!!!

 

My sister is very creative and had a cowboy theme for the rehearsal dinner. We, the women, went to the restaurant and decorated before the rehearsal and then came back for the dinner. My sister and her husband invited family and out of town guests to the dinner too.

 

Grandma getting into the theme!

 

 

Isn't the cake great??? My sister gave the cake lady

 a red bandanna as a guideline to make the cake.

 

 

The outside decorations. The paper bags are luminaries. They couldn't put candles in the bags so she bought little flashlights.They worked great!

 

 

This quilt is my Grandma's and she said it was her Mothers. The bride made my nephew a scrapbook of all the places they have visited and things they have done while dating and it was on display. It is beautiful.

 

 

Table decorations

 

The Bride and Groom!

 

This is the "Party Bus" that the Groomsmen took

the Groom in to the Bachelor Party!

After the wedding ceremony

 the Bride and Groom left the church this way!!

So perfect since he is a Farmer!

 

 
 This is where I adopted Socks and Graycie from so I took pictures for them of their "relatives"

All ready to go decorate for the rehearsal dinner..

wait..what is wrong with this picture????

Never done THAT before

 

 

Saying Goodbye to Grandma until next time!

 

Whew..finally back in the mountains.

Ohio is SO flat!

 

We picked up Sunshine on the way home

and she is SO happy to see us!

 

                                            See, she is smiling!

 

Oops "somebody" dumped the kitty litter and was trying to clean it up...

 

We were only gone a couple days but we had a really good time visiting with my family. I only get to see them a couple times a year so I try to make the most of it when I do get to see them. Thankfully my Mom's sister and her husband made the trip from Tenn. to Ohio too so I was able to visit with them too. We laughed so hard while we took an unexpected tour of the Amish countryside!

Reese's Brownies

I made these brownies today. Actually I made 3 batches of brownies.  Jonathan needed some brownies for a bake sale so I made 1 batch of brownies with chocolate chips, one with Reese's Cups and one batch with chocolate chips and walnuts. I saw the  Reese's recipe on Pinterest and thought I would try it.

 

 

 I took a regular brownie mix and followed the directions on the box for "cake like" brownies. I poured half of the mix in the 13x9 dish.  Then I put the unwrapped Reese's cups on top of the batter and then covered with the rest of the brownie batter.

 

They baked for about 30 min. until a toothpick inserted 2 inches for the side came out clean.

 

Jonathan and I had to try them before he took the rest to sell...I liked them because you can see and taste the peanut butter part.

YUMMY!!

 

Parmesan Chicken (Chicken Clouds)

This past week I have been sick so Jonathan has been taking care of me while hubby has been working. One night Jonathan made "Chicken Clouds" at least that is what we call this recipe. The official name is Parmesan Chicken. There are several versions I have seen. the first one I saw was on the label of a jar of Miracle Whip and the latest version I saw on Duke's Mayonnaise so you can use whatever kind of Mayo or Salad Dressing you like really. If hubby is eating with us I use Mayo and if not I use Miracle Whip.

Parmesan Chicken

½ Cup Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

4 teaspoons Italian Bread Crumbs

Combine Mayo and cheese and spread on top of chicken

Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top

Bake at 425 for 20 min. or until internal temperature of chicken is 165

 

Jonathan cut the recipe in half

since he was only cooking 2 pieces of chicken

 

He fixed "box noodles" with it and green beans

with salt, pepper and real bacon bits

 

                                 That's it..It is SO yummy

Oven S'mores

Oh. My. Goodness!! I made these tonight and they are the bomb!! I found this recipe on Pinterest

   S’mores Bars in the Oven

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

 In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

 Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

 Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe by Lovin’ From the Oven

The ingredients.

 

                               This is what the crust looks like after
                          adding the flour mixture to the creamed butter.
                                     I'm using the mixer from my Grandma!

 

I had to trim my Hersey Bars to fit.

 A little off the rounded corners and

1 row off the one edge.

 For the top layer I took pieces of the dough in my hands and flattened it and then covered the top. Making sure all the Marshmallow Creme was covered.

 

Done baking. Now the recipe says to cool completely before cutting..hmm not sure that is going to happen with 2 grown boys here this weekend....

                                             Oops...not quite cool when I cut it. This is
                                     VERY rich and VERY delicious!!!

 

Tater Tot Casserole

This dinner is so easy and versatile. When we had cable tv I used to like to watch 19 kids and counting.They had at least one episode where they were talking about making dinner and they were having Tater Tot Casserole. So I went online and found this recipe at http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/tater-topped-casserole-111257.aspx

Their recipe is very good but tonight I was in a hurry and made my own version. Jonathan loves soup and he will try different kinds. I had bought a Campbell's vegetable medley but he decided he didn't want that kind so it has been in the cupboard. While the ground beef was browning I searched the pantry and came up with Campbell's Cheese soup and the Vegetable medley. So, here is my version:
Tater Tot Casserole
1 # Ground Beef
1 can mixed vegetables or vegetable of your choice. I have used frozen corn or green beans or Veg All..just whatever you have on hand.
1 can cheddar cheese soup or nacho cheese soup or cream of mushroom...
16 oz of Frozen Tater Tots (about half of a bag)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, season salt..whatever you use to season your ground beef while it cooks...diced onions...
about 2 cups shredded cheese. I used Sharp Cheddar

 

Brown the ground beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then add the canned vegetables (drained) I used the soup which I drained.

 

Spray a 2 Qt (I used a 4 qt dish but a 2 qt is plenty big enough) casserole dish with pan spray then put the ground beef and vegetable mix in the bottom. Then add the Cheddar Cheese Soup ( Kraft recipe added milk to their soup...I just used it concentrated) Spread evenly over the beef mixture then the shredded cheese and top with the Tater Tots. Sprinkle Season Salt on top of the Tater Tots

 

Bake at 375 for 45 min

                                                    Done!
Tater Topped Casserole from the Kraft Foods Web Site

What You Need

1

lb. ground beef

1

small onion, finely chopped

1

can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/4

cup milk

1

cup frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas)

1

cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1

lb. (1/2 of 32-oz. pkg.) frozen bite-size seasoned potato nuggets

Make It

HEAT oven to 375ºF.
BROWN meat with onions in large skillet; drain. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole.
MIX soup and milk; pour over meat mixture. Top with layers of remaining ingredients.
BAKE 45 min. or until potatoes are golden brown and casserole is heated through.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Healthy Living

Save 50 calories and 7g of fat per serving by preparing with lean ground beef, reduced-fat condensed cream of mushroom soup and KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Cheddar Cheese.

Substitute

Substitute frozen peas or frozen corn for the frozen mixed vegetables.