Monday, April 18, 2011

Tangled Cake

The long awaited Tangled cake is finally here!

Mary's birthday was last week.  And she wanted a Rapunzel cake.   She picked out what she liked at Hy-Vee and when I saw it , I knew it was something I could do at home.





 And since I forgot to post pics of Weston's cake:
My first adventure in fondant didn't go so well.  Was a lot more work than it was worth.  Of course with three little helpers sticking little fingers in it makes the work a lot harder!

Here they are playing with the leftovers!  What a sugar high that was!








Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Meal Plan Week of April 11-17

Sorry for getting this up so late!  But I still had to share.  Monday nights dinner was new and a hit!

Monday- Mexican Chicken Nachos
Tuesday- Pizza at my moms house
Wednesday- Tater tot casserole (we didn't end up having it the last two weeks)
Thursday- Turkey Burgers
Friday- Grill out hot dogs, beans, smores
Saturday- Cajun Chicken Linguine
Sunday- Porcupine meatballs (I know a few asked for this recipe, so I'll post it later this week)


So as I said the monday nights dinner was a hit.  The girls ate it up, and didn't even realize there was corn in it!
I adapted this recipe from a mom on my mom's online board.  Thanks Sarah!

3-4 chicken breast
1 can of black beans rinsed
1 small can of corn (or frozen)
1 packet of taco seasoning , mixed with 1/2 cup water
1 cup salsa (or more to taste)

stick it all in the crock pot on low.  1/2 hour before serving, take out chicken and shred it.
mix in small thing of cream cheese, and 1 cup of velveeta.

I served it over tortilla chips.  and Mr. C just ate it like a dip when he got home.

I used three chicken breast and it made a ton for us.  Next time I would half the recipe for us.   But I would also use this as a dip to take to a potluck.  Just add a ton more velveeta and maybe a can of Rotels tomatoes and another packet of taco seasoning.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Super Yummy Brownies!

So dinner was a bust last night.  I tried making a sauce using the new Philadelphia cream cheese cooking creme.  Didn't turn out too well.  Mr. C wouldn't eat it.  The kids and I liked it ok, but won't be using it again.  Oh, well.  At least I thought ahead and made some brownies before dinner.  Just decided at the spur of the moment to make some.  I got the recipe at Tasty Kitchen.   These homemade brownies were really easy and turned out great.  And that says a lot, since I'm not a very good baker.  Mr. C even said they looked good before we cut into them.

So here is the recipe from here

  • Prep Time 
  • Cook Time 
  • Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • ½ cups Margarine
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 3 whole Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ¼ cups Cocoa Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9″ x 12″ pan. Melt margarine over low heat. Add sugar. Stir until smooth and sugar is melted. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Sift flour mixture into egg mixture. Stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a pan and bake 25–30 minutes.

Hope you enjoy these!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Swiper no Swiping!

Ryann is a punk!  This morning I poured cereal for both the girls, Lucky Charms.  Well Mary was not up yet when I went to take a shower.  When I got out Mary came in and asked where all her marshmallows were?  Ryann fessed right up.  She ate all the marshmallows right out of Mary's bowl!
And since we are on the subject of Ryann.  This little lady cracks me up.  She has been potty trained for a while now , but she still has to give herself a pat on the back every time she poops on the pot!  When I come into the bathroom to help her wipe she goes: "I pooped!, Whoo-Hoo Ryann !"
I just love her!

Skillet Lasagna

I finally found my recipe for skillet Lasagna .  I go off this recipe here
I usually use two small cans of tomato paste and up the water a little so it makes more.  We like leftover lasagna.  And I like this recipe because it uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta.   You could also easily use a jar/can of ready made spaghetti sauce to save some time.  I also just found mini lasagna noodles at my store, I like them better than the bow ties.

So what else is new with us this week?

Weston is forever climbing on the chairs and tables.  Ryann is stubborn as ever!  She cried in her room for over an hour because she didn't want to pick up the dirty clothes.  But then got mad when Weston came to help her!
Mary just wants everyone to play with her.   She is gearing up for her first dance recital soon.  I hope she learns her steps!


And here are some pictures from my girls weekend in Chicago.  I had such a fun time, I can't wait to go back with the family!  




Sunday, April 3, 2011

Meal Plan Week of April 4-10th

So here's my meal plan for this week.  I was on top of the ball today and got that and my shopping list done.  Its nice to see what other people do for dinner and get new recipe's in the rotation.  My moms board routinely does WFD (Whats for Dinner) threads to come up with new ideas.

Monday:  Breakfast - Waffles, Bacon, Fruit
Tuesday:  Tater tot casserole
Wednesday:  Creamy Chicken Pasta with broccoli
Thursday:  Leftovers
Friday: Skillet Lasagna
Saturday:  Mexi Chicken in the crockpot
Sunday:  Leftovers or Pizza

And I am pretty flexible with my menue's .  Sometimes the day does not turn out as planned and meals get switched around.   Like , tater tot casserole was on last weeks menue, but silly me forgot to buy the ground turkey.  

Now the question to ponder,  do I go to the store in the morning with two kids, or the afternoon with three kids?