Friday, March 25, 2011

Another Taggie Blanket

How cuteeeeeeeeeeee is this?!



I'm in love with this pattern on the fabric. So cute! Loveee making these too! Getting my practice in then I want to start selling them! :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Chocolate chip blueberry muffins

These muffins are so easy to make, and so so good!!

You'll need:
Dry Ingred-
1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingred-
2 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla

Extras-
3/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup choc chips

Do this:
Preheat oven to 375 and grease your muffin tin

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Whisk together the wet ingredients. (seperate bowls for dry, wet)

Then I dumped all the wet into my mixing bowl and added half the dry, mixed. then added the rest of the dry and mixed it all together. Add in chocolate chips and mix. Then add in the blueberries and STIR BY HAND so you don't crush them!

Put them in your muffin tin- 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool in pan until you can get them out wihtout burning your hand. Put them on a wire cooling rack and then store in air tight container. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Cheesy Chicken & broccoli hashbrown bake

This was a recipe given to me by a good friend for the crockpot... well I tried it in the crockpot and it didn't turn out AT ALL. I don't know what I did wrong, but I won't attempt it in there again. I tweeked the recipe a bit and turned it into a casserole and let me tell you... DELICIOUS! Even little picky Emma (when did this happen? driving me nuts) scarfed it down!!

You'll need:
26 oz bag of frozen hashbrowns (thawed out a bit)
3 large chicken breast (or more if you like) *PRECOOK THIS*
2 cups broccoli (I used frozen because I didn't have any fresh, but either would work!)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can fiesta nacho cheese soup (next time I might do 2 of these and omit the chix soup)
1 soup can filled with milk
pepper

Do this:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Thaw out your chicken and cut it into small cubes. Precook them in a skillet until juices run clear.
In a greased glass casserole dish, mix in the hashbrowns and broccoli.
In a small bowl, mix together 2 cans of soup and milk. Pour into hashbrown mixture.
Add cooked chicken. 
Mix it all up well. Sprinkle in some pepper (however much you want, I never measure)
Cook for about 45 minutes to an hour!

This would be good with just about anything! Mix in ham instead of chicken, or peas instead of broccoli!

-B

Chicken Tacos!

This family LOVES tacos!! We have them at least once a week! To change it up a bit, I decided to make chicken tacos last minute instead, and I think i've found a new love!!

Here's what I did:
Thawed out about 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cut them into small chunks and started to cook them on the stove. Once they were pretty cooked, I shredded them with two forks. Mixed in a little bit of water and an half a packet of taco seasoning and finished cooking them the rest of the way- I think about 10-15 minutes. Then just do them up like regular tacos!! We did them in flour tortillas with lettuce, cheese, tomatos, and sour cream! YUM!

Next time, i'm adding in some corn, and a cup of salsa to the chicken while it's cooking!!

Sheesh, it's been awhile!

I must get back to blogging every day! I've just been so busy lately... not to mention tired!!

We've tried a few new recipes lately i'll post here shortly. I think I'll keep posting them each as their own blog post, just so it's easier to find in the menu for you all! :)

So what's been happening lately with us?? Kyle finally got his big diesel truck back out. Ohhh how i've missed that thing!! Especially the smell and the rumble it makes. So sexy! I've been sewing away. New idea- dog beds!! I bet those would be easy peasy to make!

I woke up this morning to SKUNK. Oh man, the entire downstairs smelled like skunk SOOOO BAD. Called my dad (thanks for the rescue, dad!) and he came out here to confirm that it was indeed a skunk. Stinky thing has dug a hole under the house... theres a part added on, so theres no basement = perfect place to nest! YUCK. Got a live trap, and the guys are going to hand that one. I'd probably cry if I had to do it! Poor skunky didn't know what he was getting himself into. I just want this house to stop smelling soooo bad! Thankfully the weather is actually really nice lately, we've had the windows open all day airing out the house!

Now, onto the recipes... chicken tacos and a cheesy chicken hashbrown bake!!

-B

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

My sewing and crafts

Well... I started sewing again. I haven't done it in ages so I'm kind of teaching myself as I go. I really love to sew! I sat for 2 hours today making stuff and didn't even realize how long it had been! I thought i'd show ya a few of the things i've made :)

First up, my very first time with the sewing machine... a baby boy taggie blanket. Don't you just want to cuddle with it?? 
Next, a pink one. I LOVE this fabric!! I've got this thing for skulls.. and when you mix it with pink.. holy cuteness!! Still need to practice, those tags are uneven! I accidentally missed a tag on this one, so Emma is using it for her babies! :)
Today I was working on camera strap covers. I made 3 different ones... a pink skull (of course), butterflies, and a kitty one for my momma! Those still need practice... i'm sure my photographer best friend will LOVE all these practice items!

I suppose that's all i've got today! I'm working on the CUTEST little baby boy cuddle blankie right now. I really really want to have a boy soon!! *wink wink*

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Creamy tortellini with broccoli and ham

Miss Emma's all time favorite meal! Looks like a lot to do, but it's really very easy and oh so good!

Creamy Tortellini

Need:
1 package refridgerated cheese tortellini
1 cup chopped fresh broccoli
1/4 cup butter, chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup half and half cream
1 1/2 cup cubed fully cooked ham (or ham lunchmeat)
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup parmesan Cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp pepper
1 med tomato, seeded and chopped

Do:
-Cook tortellini according to package. Add broccoli during last 5 minutes of cooking.
-In skillet, over med heat, melt butter. stir in flour until smooth. gradually add milk and cream. Bring to boil, cook and stir 1 min. Turn down to low heat
-Add ham, parm cheese, cream cheese, basil, garlic powder, and pepper. Cook and stir until cream cheese is melted. Stir in Tomato. drain tortellini mixture. Add to pan and heat through.

Cheeseburger soup

Emma and I love soup... and we both love cheeseburgers! This made a huge batch, and we froze half for another day!

Cheeseburger soup

Need:
-1/2 pound ground beef
-3/4 cup chopped onion
-3/4 cup shredded carrots
-3/4 cup chopped celery
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-1 teaspoon dried parsley
-4 tablespoons butter
-3 cups chicken broth
-4 cups cubed potatoes
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-2 cups cubed Cheddar cheese
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1/4 cup sour cream

Do:
-In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat.
- boil carrots and potatoes until soft, drain and add to butter in large pot
-brown hamburger and drain, add to veggies
-Stir in basil and parsley. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
-Melt the remainder of butter and stir in flour. Add milk, stirring until smooth
-Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through.

Apple Crisp

Who doesn't love apple crisp, especially on a nice fall day! I love using granny smith apples, the favorite of our household! You can make this with pears too!

Apple Crisp 

 Need:
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 cup sliced apples
1/4 cup water

Do:
In greased baking dish, lay in apples. sprinkle water over them.
Combine until crumbly: flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and margarine. Sprinkle over apples
bake at 350 for 40 minutes

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tasty Tuesdays- Nacho tortilla lasagna bake

How about a great recipe on Tasty Tuesdays?! I was trying to decide what to make for dinner the other night choosing from 2 recipes... and decided to combine them! We ended up with something along the lines of a semi-spicy nacho tortilla lasagna bake. I'm one of those people that just kind of throws things together and doesn't measure very well, so i'll try to estimate what I use!


You'll need:
1 pound hamburger
1 packet taco seasoning
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp hot chili seasoning
a couple shakes of pepper
a couple shakes of cayenne pepper
a couple shakes of onion powder
1/4 chopped green pepper
1 can (8oz chopped green chilies)
1/2 can sweet corn, drained
1/2 can tomato sauce
1/2 can spicy chili beans
5 flour tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream (or more if you like)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
some crushed up doritos or tortilla chips.
chopped lettuce if you like it.


Preheat oven to 375 and grease a glass baking dish. Brown hamburger and green pepper in a skillet and drain grease. Add taco seasoning, water, chili seasoning, pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder and mix. Add chilies, tomato sauce, corn, and spicy chili beans. Let everything heat up and mix completely.


 In the grease dish, put down a layer of tortillas, spread on sour cream. Layer on meat mixture, sprinkle with crushed chips and cheese. Add on another layer of tortillas, sour cream, meat, and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with lettuce (and more sour cream if you like it!) and enjoy! YUM!






~Brittney

Introduction

Hey all! With a little push from one of my best friends, i've decided to make a blog. I'm just a stay at home momma to my 3 year old little girl Emma... and on this blog you'll find silly little things happening throughout our day, recipes, and projects that we're doing!

I guess i'll give you a little background about myself. Let's see. My name is Brittney. I live in a teeny tiny little town in the midwest. I love reading sappy romance books. I'm addicted to the show Gilmore Girls. I've got all 7 seasons on DVD and I have seen them each a thousand times. I've got the cutest and most creative little girl in the whole wide world. I married my best friend, Kyle, on October 16th, 2010. I've got 2 furbaby cats, Indy and Jasper. I love going on walks. I really enjoy spring and fall... I would skip summer and winter if I could. My very favorite thing to do, aside from just hanging out with my friends and family, is cooking and baking! I'm sure you'll see loads of recipes and photos on here. I just started taking up sewing again. I haven't touched a sewing machine in YEARS (my grandma helped me make a pillow, a dress, and other odds and ends for 4H when I was younger) and i'm pretty proud that I actually remembered how to use one after a quick refreshing from my mother-in-law. I guess that's it for now. Hopefully these become a little more interesting! :)