Chicken and Broccoli Pie

This was my first time making a pot pie with a Bisquick crust, apparently they're pretty common, I never knew. It turned out really good though. I liked the way it seeped into the pie. I've always made my pies with a top and bottom pie crust, which is really good too. This Bisquick version is just so much quicker , love it!

Ingredients:
10 oz. frozen chopped broccoli
2 cups shredded cheese
1 1/2 cup cooked, chopped chicken
2/3 cups chopped onion

Mix above ingredients together and place in a greased deep-dish pie pan.

In a blender mix:
1 1/3 cup milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup Bisquick
3/4 tsp. each, salt and pepper

Blend together. Pour over ingredients in pie pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 25- 35 minutes. (Toothpick should come out clean) Cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Lamp Re-Do

I recently bought this lamp at Goodwill for $2.50. Since I am really good at remembering to take before pictures, you'll just have to imagine the base was red. I am in the process of doing my son's room in a vintage airplane theme, hence the shade fabric. I gave the base two coats of blue spray paint.
I measured and traced out the fabric for the lamp shade, then glued it on . I had originally put navy trim around the top and bottom too, but decided I liked it better without and ripped it off.

I think the whole project cost me less then $6 bucks! Not bad for a little lamp.

Baked Mostaccioli

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and thought it sounded good. I usually can't go wrong when I make a pasta dish. The kids love anything with noodles and my husband really likes Italian sausage so it was a winner in our house. It does make a ton though! There is 2 pounds of meat in this sucker so a little goes a long way. Next time I'll freeze half for an emergency meal. (By the way Tasty Kitchen is the Pioneer Woman's new recipe website and she recently finished writing her very first cookbook which you can pre-order now on Amazon. Just thought I'd share for those of you who love her as much as I do!)

Ingredients:
1 pound Ground Beef
1 pound Italian Sausage
2 pinch(es) Garlic Sal, (I used 1 clove of garlic, minced)
45 ounces jar Spaghetti Sauce (I'm a Prego fan)
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning (to Taste)
1 box(es) Mostaccioli Noodles
6 slices American Cheese
6 slices Mozzarella Cheese (get Slices, NOT Shredded)
6 slices Provolone Cheese

Directions:
1. Boil your noodles according to the box.
2. Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage and garlic.
3. Add spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning to browned meat and let simmer for about 15-20 mins.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Grease a 9×13 glass dish and layer 1/2 of your noodles. Tear up 3 pieces of American cheese and3 pieces of mozzarella cheese, and place on top of noodles. (**placing the cheese on the noodles is a VERY important secret step)
Next pour 1/2 of your meat sauce over the cheese and noodles.
Now add the other 1/2 of your noodles and top with the other 3 slices of American cheese and 3 slices of provolone cheese.
Pour other 1/2 of your sauce over the 2nd layer of cheese and noodles, then top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
6. Place in oven on 350F for 45 mins.

Chocolate covered Caramel Pretzel Rods

First off, thank you Melody from Cheat Day Cafe for this awesome recipe! I made these as a party favor for my sister's baby shower and they turned out so yummy! The homemade caramel is a must!

Ingredients:
Pretzel rods (recipe makes about 50!)
Whole package of Chocolate candy quick (found at Wal-Mart)
Vanilla candy melts to drizzle (optional)
Caramel ingredients (listed below)

First make a batch of caramel:
1c. Karo syrup
1c. Brown sugar
1c. White sugar
1 cube of butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Put first 5 ingredients in a large sauce pan over medium heat and stir until melted and combined. Bring to a boil and stir for five minutes. Be careful to keep stirring so that it doesn't start to burn on the bottom of the pan. Take caramel off the burner after 5 minutes.Put the hot caramel in a deep container. I used my Pyrex 4 cup measuring cup.
Prepare a couple cookie sheets lined with wax paper.Dip pretzel rod in caramel, about 3/4 of the way and let it drip off any excess caramel. Then lay the rod on the cookie sheet.Repeat with remaining pretzels.
Put cookie sheets in the fridge to help set up caramel.Once caramel is set, lift up each pretzel rod off the wax paper and mold caramel around the rod since it will puddle on the sides as it cools.
Prepare the cookie sheets again with new pieces of wax paper.Melt chocolate in a deep container and dip caramel covered pretzel rods.Place chocolate covered pretzel rods on cookie sheets and place in fridge to set up.
In a zip lock baggie, melt the vanilla candy melts in the microwave. When completely melted, cut a tiny hole in the corner and drizzle the chocolate on the rods.Place back into the fridge to set up.

Baby Shower

This is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging..... I threw a baby shower for my sister this weekend. Notice the not so cute "onesie "cookies....I have no icing skills. dang! I did however make the chocolate covered caramel pretzel rods...recipe to come, thanks Melody!
Look at these adorable cupcakes! They were made by the amazing Sherry Sedillo! They were white cake filled with raspberries, delicious! (e-mail if you'd like her contact information)

I made a diaper cake and baby blocks.

The yummy food. It was a morning shower so I went with breakfast foods.

And had to have the cute clothes line!

Slacker...

So sorry for the lack of posting lately....life is crazy busy for me right now! I promise to get a new post up soon, so make sure and check back. Have a good day!

Skillet Chicken Pitas

Believe it or not this is my first time making pitas! It never really crossed my mind to make them until I saw this yummy recipe in a magazine a while ago. My husband really enjoyed them and asked why I don't make them more often. I guess I will now! Perfect summer meal that can be made ahead of time.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cilantro
1/4 cup Asian sweet chili sauce (I got mine at Sprout's)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" strips/chunks
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into bite size strips

2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. lime juice

8 pita rounds
8 leaves of lettuce

Directions:
1. In a ziploc bag combine 1/3 cup cilantro, chili sauce, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, garlic, oil, and salt. Add Chicken, seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken mixture and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add red pepper and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink. Transfer chicken to a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate 1-8 hours.
3. For dressing, combine mayo, 1/2 cup cilantro, and 2 Tbsp. lime juice.

To serve, top each pita with a leaf of lettuce, spoon chicken mixture over half, and drizzle with dressing.

Barbecued Beef

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. prepared Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp.ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 4lb. boneless chuck roast

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except roast.
2. Place roast in a slow cooker, pour ketchup mixture over top. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
3. Remove chuck roast from slow cooker, shred with a fork, and return to slow cooker for approximately 1 hour.

Chicken Wire Bow Holder

I've seen the chicken wire memo boards all over blog world lately and thought I could easily turn one into a bow holder, so...
I picked this guy up at 1/2 off day at Goodwill for $3.99..... gave him a couple coats of celery spray paint, stapled chicken wire to the back...

and wallah- a brand new bow holder that might actually hold all of my daughter's bows. The best part is that I can hang it high enough where she can't reach it and pull them all off. Love it.

Slow Cooker Baked Chicken

Wow, talk about fall of the bone, tender chicken! My kids absolutely loved this. They each had three servings, yes three! It was such a simple fix it and forget about it meal. Just what I needed! You can also try stuffing the chicken with veggies or dressing. I'm going to next time, that way it is a one pot meal.

Ingredients:
1 2-3lb. whole chicken (just make sure it will fit in your slow cooker)
salt & pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 cup chicken broth
butter

Directions:
1. Wad three pieces of foil into 3" balls. Place them in the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Rinse chicken, inside and out, under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken with butter and season to your liking, try to season under the skin as well.
3. Place chicken on top of foil balls in slow cooker. Pour chicken broth into the bottom of slow cooker.
4. Set slow cooker to high heat for 1 hour, then turn down to low heat for 8-10 hours.

*recipe found on allrecipes.com