Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

We were blessed to be invited to a friends house today.  Thanksgiving is changing as the kids are living farther away from home.  So we combined our families and had a great time hanging out. 

We worked on and finished a pretty lighthouse puzzle.
 Then we taught them Settlers. 


Luke, Bob, Kristen

 Notice how nice they are posing.  Then there is the Annanie klan.    If only I could get a picture with Christopher's eyes open.  O'well.  I am just happy he is IN the picture.

My favorite part of the meal was this delicious ham! 
Honey Baked, YUMMY!

Psalm 100:4

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

Tonight I tried a new recipe.  I took it from one of my Taste Of Home cookbooks.  I did cut the spices in half because I wasn't sure how spicey it would have been.  It was just right for us.  This one made the cut for the menu board!  Click on the link below to see the recipe.


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Wall Art

I have been busy this week making these canvas.  I saw the idea on a craft website.  You can watch a video and read her direction on the site.  Here is how I made mine,

I used two 11x14 canvases
 I bought an old book from a used book store.  I found an old text book on the study of birds.  You could use an old dictionary (sorry I gave mine a way) or encyclopedia pages.  Tear out interesting pages and Mod Poge them onto the canvases. 

You can't see, but i drew my branches on the canvases with a pencil.

I googled bird silhouette's and printed them onto card stock.  Cut them out so you can use them for patterns.

Next I took a Sharpie and traced my branches and birds onto the canvases.

Then all you have to do is color in the branches, add leaves, and enjoy.  I would recommend using a new black sharpie.  Let the first coat dry and go over it again.  I colored mine three times to get it to look really black.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Chicken Tator Bake

Tonight we had leftovers.  Tomorrow I will be taking my favorite Veteran out for his free meal at Applebee's.  So Saturday I will be making this casserole.  It is a new one for us, so I will let you know how of we like it. 
It is from my favorite magazine Taste of Home and you can find the recipe HERE  I think it will be similar to the chicken pot pie, only with a tator tot crust/topping.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Todays recipe is Sweet and Sour Meatballs.  I got this recipe from a military wife in El Paso, Texas.  I have picked up a lot of recipes from women from all over the world.  Don't forget to check out the rest of my recipes on the RECIPE LINK tab.


 
Meatball Ingredients:

1lb Hamburger meat
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tbs Onion
Dash of salt
1 Egg
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Make into 1 - 1.5 inch balls.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Flipping after 15 minutes. 
You can double this recipe and make some meatballs to freeze for later.

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Cornstarch
1 13oz Pineapple chunks
1/3 Vinegar
1 Tbs Soy sauce
Chopped green pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large sauce pan and heat to a boil.   Add meatballs and simmer while you cook rice.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Chicken Pot Pie

Todays recipe is Chicken Pot Pie.  I have never made one these, EVER.  I don't know why, it was sooooo yummy!  You could make your own crust, (I have never done that either.) but I used the premade crust.  I plan to make it again with our left over Thanksgiving turkey.   
INGREDIENTS



Crust:  1box refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
 
Filling:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken broth 
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 1/2 cup cooked diced potato

Thanks for stopping by..............

Monday, November 7, 2011

New Recipe Week

Lately I have been trying new recipes. I have a large collection of recipes that I have never tried. Now that the nest is empty it is time try some of them out, RIGHT?

So this week I will share a new recipe each day.
Today it is quick snack called Cinnamon Crisps.

Ingredients:
6 Flour tortillas, 1 TBS Water, 1 tsp Vanilla, Cooking spray, Sugar and Cinnamon


Spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray and cut them in 8 pieces each.  Mix the water and vanilla. Brush each piece with water mixture.
Sprinkle both sides with sugar mixture.

 

Put them on a cooling rack and then put that on top of a cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes.
Keep an eye on them, they crisp up quickly.

I was able to fit three cut tortillas on the sheet.
Take them off the grate and let them cool.
Enjoy them as is or add them
to a bowl of ice cream and fresh fruit! So Yummy.



 



Saturday, November 5, 2011

Works of HEart

I signed up for another class over at Homegrown Hospitality called Works of HEart.
If you are into the mixed media scene, you love this class. You get really messy, while creating some cool projects.
Here is a small canvas I got in the mail and I create a neat little picture for my craft room.


Next I took an old composition book and create a journal.

I think I am going to write down quotes, sayings, Bible verses.... inside of it.  Maybe someday my
children will find it and read it.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Memo Board Tutorial

I made a memo board for my craft room. 
It cost me about $5.00 to make. 
Supplies:
20x30 foam core board, batting, 2/3 yard fabric,
2 spools of ribbon, duct tape, glue gum, buttons and thread

First cover your board with the batting. 
Attach it with duct tape.

Make sure you iron the fabric!
Do the same with the fabric.


Next lay out the ribbon and cut it a couple
 inches longer than the board.
I used the glue gun to glue the ribbons to the
back of the board.

I used 6 black buttons and 6 white buttons.  I attached the black onto the board with thread through the
back of the board.  Then I hot glued the
 white buttons on top or the ribbon.

Here it is hung up on my wall.  I am going to tuck pictures, postcards, ideas... on my board. 
I think this
would make a great Christmas
gift or a nice way to help
organize things in an office.
Thanks for stopping by..........................

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Weekend Crop

Spent the weekend in Ocean City, MD with these crazy scrapbookers. Since moving to VA I only get to see them a few times a year. We had great fun scrapping, chatting, and eating for two days.



 
This year Michael and I spent a lot of time in Florida.  We were able to visit nine lighthouses.  In order to get my lighthouse pages done quickly I used all the same stamps, paint, and die cuts on each page.  I had these done in a couple of hours.  I like quick and easy!Next I worked on our Disney albumn.  We were there for five days. 

 Again I used both tradional pages and the We R Memory page protectors.  Doing it this way I was able to use most all of my pictures. 






 In the spring time Epcot has a flower show.  They create topiaries of all the Disney characters.  Then they plant millions of flowers around the park.  Since I LOVE taking pictures of flowers this had to be my favorite park.


 Epcot was very informative and fun at the same time.  We learned about different cultures.  I could have spent a few days at this park.

 We didn't spend a lot of time at Disney's Studios. If we ever go again I would like to check this place out!