Easy Corn Casserole

This is another sister's boyfriend's mom steal. And she credits allrecipes.com. Excellent.

EASY CORN CASSEROLE
1/2 cup butter, mented
2 eggs, beaten,
1 (8.5 oz) package dry corn bread mix
1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained.
1 (14.75 oz) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, combine ingredients.
3. Bake for 50 minutes or until top is golden brown

I'm Baaa-aaaack!

Okay, that was spooky. I promise to never do that again.

The point is. I'm back online! FINALLY. You'd think it had been a lot longer than 4 days.

We're moved. We have a phone line again and I'm so happy! I'm also exhausted! Who knew we had accrued so. Much. Stuff. We haven't stopped for days (until today, my eldest is FIVE!) and it seems as though the boxes are just multiplying! How do they DO that?!

So! I'll keep this short. Everything went well and I'm tired but exhilirated! Hubby goes back to work tomorrow and we'll see what our first semi-normal day feels like.

And I'll tell you about my sweet time with my little girl on her birthday another time. Until then, enjoy these completely unedited (b/c I have no time for playing with them yet!) pictures.

Chocolate and Fruit Trifle

This is magical. Heavenly. Sinful. Delicious. Or as Pioneer Woman would say, Deliciously, delicous. Did I mention that I really love this dessert? Obviously I do not make it often enough because it has reached other worldly goodness in my mind. Not to mention it's so pretty.

This was one of the recipes that my mother-in-law gave me when I got married. Bless her. So, without further ado...

Chocolate and Fruit Trifle

1 18 1/4 oz. devil's food cake mix
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup cold water
1 3/4 oz package vanilla pudding
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon orange juice

Prepare cake batter as directed. Pour into greased 15 x 10 baking pan (I think this is called a bar pan). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until done. Cool completely. Crumble enough cake to measure 8 cups; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine milk and water until smooth. Add pudding mix; beat on low speed for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Fold in the whipped cream.

To assemble, spread 2 1/2 cups pudding mixture in a 4 qt. glass bowl. Top with half of the crumbled cake; sprinkle with one tablespoon orange juice. Arrange half the berries and kiwi over cake. Repeat pudding and cake layers; sprinkle with remaining fruit around edge of bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Spinach Salad

My mother-in-law introduced us to this salad one weekend at the lake. And I discovered that I could eat salad like nobody. The homemade dressing makes it.

Spinach Salad

Strawberries (about 20 large) cleaned, cut in half or quartered
Red grapes (washed, halved)
Almonds (slivered) 1/2 cup
Bacon (fried crisp, crumbled)
Sliced red or vadalia onion - 3-4 slices (I often leave this one out)
1 bag baby spinach

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire

We're So Close!

Well, our big move is in 3 days. And there's so much going on in those 3 days. I feel like it will never get here, I've been so excited! Most everything is packed and we're about to be eating off paper. There isn't a whole lot more that we can do to prepare... I think that's what's got me counting off the seconds. What a transition! Please pray for us that everything goes well on moving day and falls into place as we get settled!


The kids are excited and liked the house a lot when they got to visit. Maryanna is most impatient to spend the night at Grandma's the night before. I'm excited to get up Friday morning and be able to put all of this planning into action!


Poor Lola is teething though. And she's broken out on the backs of her knees. I'm trying to treat it but I thought it was eczema and Hubby seems to think it's more like a heat rash. She's working on her eye and stomach teeth (which are the worst ones in my opinion) which usually causes an eczema upset, but this heat... and she's so chubby... You get my confusion? We'll keep working at it until we figure it out.


Meanwhile, I think we'll try to get a few errands run and whatever last minute packing we can do.


Tomorrow I'll post my favorite spinach salad.

Kraft's Best Chocolate Cheesecake

We like our chocolate really rich. And by we, I mean my mama and me. While my mother and I could eat this entire cake everyone else can only handle a few bites.

Soooooo gooooood....

Our Best Chocolate Cheesecake

18 OREO Cookies, crushed
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, slightly cooled
3 eggs
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Strawberry Whipped Topping or COOL WHIP French Vanilla Whipped Topping
1-1/2 cups assorted seasonal fruit (chopped strawberries and sliced kiwi)

Make It

HEAT oven to 325°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min. BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add chocolate; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
BAKE 45 to 55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with COOL WHIP and fruit.
For more recipes like this visit kraftfoods.com

Happy Father's Day!

What a day! To my Dad, I love you and am so thankful for you! To my Hubby, I love you and I can't imagine my life or our family without you.


Hubby did a rare thing yesterday. When I asked him what he'd like for dessert on Father's Day HE ACTUALLY TOLD ME. So! We had Strawberry Pretzel Cake today - which I'm not sure I've ever really had before (I tend to opt for the chocolate dessert) - and it was delicious. (Can you say it's delicious if you made it?) Anyway, apparently it's one of Hubby's favorite summertime dishes and I've never made it in the 10 years that I've known him!


Good stuff.


And I actually have a picture to share with you this time! But, next time I'll put cool whip on top to make it prettier - just so you know.


Also, I got this from allrecipes.com. I'm sensing a theme here.


Judy's Strawberry Pretzel Salad


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix together the pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.


2. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.


3. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.

Cowboy Caviar

Hubby absolutely adores this stuff. Well, so do I, actually. It's obviously great as an appetizer around football season, but we could eat it anytime, anywhere. So goooooooood. Seriously, now I want some.

1 15 oz can shoepeg corn, drained
1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained
1 avocado, peeled and diced
2/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
3-4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp ground cumin

In a medium bowl, combine corn, black-eyed peas, avocado, cilantro, green onions, and tomatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin. Add to the vegetable mixture and toss to coat.

Serve with tortilla chips or toasted pita chips. Makes 4-6 servings.

Best Ever Pasta Salad

This recipe I hounded my sister's boyfriend's mom till she relented and told me she got it at allrecipes.com. She added a couple of things that I included for you here (don't you love me). So, thanks, Connie!

BEST EVER PASTA SALAD (allrecipes.com)
1 (16 oz) pkg dry penne pasta
2 large cucumbers, peeled and cubed (I like using European cucumbers)
2 roma (plum) tomatoes chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
3 tablespoons dried dill weed
2 tablespoons lemon pepper

Connie adds black olives, which I think is de-lish.

Directions:
1. Bring large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Combine pasta with other ingredients. Serve as is or chill for 45 minutes.

Baby Shower Cake

Mom came up today to spend some time with us and I'm so glad that she did. My only goal for the day was to decorate a cake I volunteered to do for a friend's baby shower. I knew we'd be moving in the middle of this but I just really wanted to do their cake. Anyhow, again, I'm so glad Mom came. I don't know if I would have ever gotten this done today without her. So, here's the latest. The flowers turned out a little to orangey and darker than I would have liked, but overall I'm pretty pleased.

Broccoli & Rice Casserole

As a child, this was one of my favorite holiday dishes. Oh, we had it when it wasn't Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving, but I knew I could count on consuming large amounts of Broccoli and Rice Casserole if it was a holiday. Love this stuff. This version is my mom's (which I loved most), who does not need a recipe to turn around and whip something like this out. However, I drug this out of her because I am not good at going recipe-less! That just sounds ugly, doesn't it? So here goes...

Broccoli and Rice

1 large bag of frozen, chopped broccoli
2 cups of minute or brown rice
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 stick margarine
1 jar of cheese whiz
salt and pepper

In large casserole dish combine broccoli, rice, and mushroom soup (plus 2 cups of water).
Melt margarine and cheese wiz in microwave and pour in and mix well.
Salt and pepper to taste and cover and bake for 90 minutes at 350.

Baked Beans

In honor of summer, I thought this ought to be my next recipe post. Again, I can't take credit for this one (I think you'll find I can't take credit for any of them, I just collected them all). My mother-in-law made me a wonderful binder of all of their family favorites when I got married. This one was included and I'm told it is a dear friend's great-grandfather's. Enjoy!

2 15 ounce cans pork and beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup bbq sauce (Hubby prefers Gates)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dry mustard
bacon strips
ketchup

Mix together beans, brown sugar, molasses, bbq sauce, onion and dry mustard.

Place half the beans in a 1 quart casserole. Top with bacon strips. Then, add the remaining beans and top with more bacon strips.

Spread ketchup on top and bake at 350 for 2-3 hours (longer the better).

Let set about 45 minutes before serving.

*Smoked ham in place of the bacon in the middle is great. Continue to use the bacon on top.

I didn't post pictures from my baby's 1st birthday!

Okay, I should be ashamed of myself. You'll notice that I have not been consistent in my blogging. Especially if you take a look at the last year. That period of time between December and April we were sick. A LOT. And blogging pretty much went out the window. L's first birthday party was the second weekend in February and even that weekend I was deathly ill. Awful stuff.

Moving on.

So! I didn't post about Lola's first birthday. Without further ado, here you go.

Before.

During.

After.

Hilarious

M just stuck her head in the back door and said, 'Mommy! I had a brilliant plan!!!'

Enchilada Stacks

In an effort to organize my recipes and have them at my fingertips at all times no matter where I am, I'm going to try and post one once a day.



I love it when I post my goals on a public forum so that when I fail I do so in front of the entire world. Oh well. Can't say that I don't share my flaws with you.



I can't take credit for this recipe. A dear friend brought this for my family when I had baby #3. And then I laid seige to her inbox until she shared the recipe with me. They are wonderful.



ENCHILADA STACKS



Number of servings: 8

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked shredded chicken

3/4 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups sour cream

1tbsp. cilantro
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

pepper and salt to taste
1/2 c. chopped green onion

1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. chopped green chilies

10 flour tortillas
1 (10oz.) can mild enchilada sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare filling: Combine cooked chicken, sour cream, 1 c. of cheese, green onion, green chilies, cumin, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fry tortillas: Heat oil over med. heat. Cook tortillas one at a time, frying on both sides until done. Drain on paper towels.

Assemble the stack: Pour enchilada sauce onto a deep plate. Dip one side of a tortilla into the sauce, then place it, sauce side down on a baking sheet. Spread small portion of the filling to cover the tortilla. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, sauce, and filling, stacking one tortilla on top of another and ending with a tortilla. Should use five tortillas in a stack with a total of two stacks.

Pour any remaining enchilada sauce over top of stacks, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. (Note: At this time, the stacks can be refrigerated a few hours till ready to bake and serve.) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Cards

In an effort to post my cards (note the new name of the blog) I thought I'd have a free-for-all. In no particular order, here you go.

If I have created a card for you and you do not see it below, it was in an effort to protect your identity (in other words, I didn't know if you would want me to or not).

Day to Day Goals

We were home ALL DAY TODAY. Yes, I know that's not that big a deal to most of you out there, but it's a feat around here. Especially, if I can get through the whole day and make sure everyone gets all of the attention that they need AND not lose my temper. The kids just need more entertaining when we're home and by the time Hubby gets home at the end of the day someone at some point has done something to cause me to lose my cool (potty accident, hitting, spilt milk, etc.).

One of my current goals (to help prevent me from getting to the breaking point and therefore snapping at the kids when they're cranky) is to praise as often, if not more than, I instruct or discipline. FYI, I usually have about 10 different goals like this that I'm holding together on a regular basis. On the days that I can manage to do this, we usually have amazing days. 'I love my life' type days. But, sadly, more often than not this is a pretty difficult thing to do. And NOT because my kids aren't amazing. My 4 1/2 and 3 year old do an exception job of using their manners and minding their Mommy. My 16 month old is a very low maintenance, sweet, wonderful 3rd born. But, the things they do get in trouble for are usually things they have just gotten in trouble for 3 minutes ago. Just kidding 7 minutes ago.

You get the picture.

So, back to my previous point, we had an amazing day, home all day today. I would be remiss if I did not point out that my amazing days always have one thing in common. Prayer time. A committing of my day to God. A request for reserves of patience and strength that I do not have. When I spend this time with my God in the mornings I actually have a fighting chance of putting any of my goals in place for the day...

Praising the kids.
Eating right.
Disciplining without heat.
Staying focused on household chores without getting tunnel vision and getting frustrated when the kids need attention.
Keeping my other interests (cakes/photographs & graphics/blogging) to a minimum during the day when the kids are/ought to be my focus.

I'll stop there. You can see that this could get out of hand quickly. Each day is another opportunity to have an amazing day. I think we're having them more and more often. I think.

Powell's Birthday Party

My little boy turned 3 this month. I can't hardly believe it. He is so...precious.

Rotten stinker.

Here are the pictures from his birthday party. Brilliant as I am I set the party right at the end of nap time and he wasn't ready for guests when the party started.

Cake directions at Andrea's Recipes.

Which is how this came to be.

And this.

And this. Look at that face.

And then there's this one. She so didn't care who's birthday it was - she was just so excited about the cake. I jest.

Here's little Lo in Grandma's lap. Eatin' up everyone's cake.

And here's Powell swinging his heart out. I think he stayed here for an hour as uncle after uncle, aunt after aunt and grandparent after grandparent took turns pushing him. Talk about a great party.

And here's Sweet Lily. I don't know how many times this girl took a spill in the pool or on the slip n- slide, but keep on she did!

And another year has passed. I think the bittersweetness might end me. These kids, these kids!