Last night, DH spent a little time with a new slide scanner. He scanned several and one of them was this picture of our older son’s 6th birthday in 1985.
I used the same pan (and a cat cake pan that is just as old) for his twins’ first birthday last year.
DD#3 wanted it for her birthday just a few weeks ago.
I also have a star. That’s the extent of my themed cake pans. They’ve been well used over the years. Worth every penny. 🙂
~~Rhonda
I’m hoping for sunshine this week, though the forecast does not look promising. So I’m staying indoors, looking out. I feel like Happy looks…I need a cozy spot to curl up until spring comes.
The menu has to accommodate a couple of busy nights this week. And we didn’t get to the Bisquik chicken fingers last week, so have it planned again. DD asked for it particularly, so I’ll try to get it done this time.
Monday
pizza with homemade crust
Tuesday
grilled cheese sandwiches
tomato soup
Wednesday
Bisquick chicken fingers
honey mustard dipping sauce
oven fried potato wedges
carrot/celery sticks
Thursday
leftovers
Friday
pasta with walnut sauce
Ceasar salad
Saturday
crock pot beef stew
Sunday
crock pot chicken cordon bleu
spinach salad with strawberries
broccoli
corn
mixed berry clafouti
More menu and recipes ideas can be found at Menu Plan Monday.
~~Rhonda 🙂
Redecorating the guest room, which was such a priority just before the holidays, has slowed way down. Thank goodness! I have been enjoying some time off from that project. I was just in there, though, sitting in the comfy chair, pondering some rearranging. I realized I hadn’t shown you the drapes! Laurie, my very sweet and dear friend, volunteered to make the drapery panels for the room.
Laurie saw this idea in a decorating magazine. So cute! And it leaves the beveled glass door panes free of covering, which I like a lot. Here, they are pulled to the left.
They can stand at both sides of the door.
Or be pulled shut when privacy is wanted. I have the panels for the window on the left wall in this picture. Laurie is working on the ones for the opposite larger window. For the holidays, we repurposed sheer panels that came from the master bedroom, which got new panels this year. These look perfect in this room and I plan to leave them up, under the drapes.
I *love* them. Exactly what I had in mind. BTW, I also love, love, love the darker blue ceiling! This room has 8′ ceilings and I was worried the dark color would not work. But it looks great and gets a lot of compliments when visitors see the room.
~~Rhonda
This afternoon I tried the recipe for Farm-Country Multi Grain Bread. Delicious!
2 cups milk
1 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup wheat germ (or substitute whole wheat flour)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more if needed
Heat the milk to about 115*. Pour the milk into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the oats, sugar, butter and salt, and mix well, using the dough hook.
Add the eggs and mix well. Add the yeast, wheat germ and whole wheat flour. Mix well. Add the remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for about five minutes.
Pour a little oil into the bottom of the bowl and turn the dough to coat well. Cover with a dish towel and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, for about an hour.
Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.
Cut in half and form two loaves.
Place the loaves into greased loaf pans and let rise for about an hour, until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 350* for 55-60 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack and cover with a dish towel to cool. My bread turned out darker than the original recipe because I added milled flax seed in place of wheat germ.
Everyone loved the bread. I’ll make this again. Soon. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
A birthday gift, Blokus has proven to be lots of fun. It is easy to play, at any skill level, and can be used by 2-4 players. We broke it out this afternoon and gave it a try. Fun!
~~Rhonda
Yesterday, as I drove to school to pick up DD, the air smelled like spring. It’s on its way! We went out to do some yard work today, but, even though the thermometer said 50, the 16 mph wind said 40. Too chilly for me.
We put down one load of mulch and picked up quite a few bundled Christmas tree lights that were still sitting under the red bud trees. DH is cutting up the apple tree that fell over last summer. I took a few pictures and then came in to warm up. I’ll wait for a sunnier and warmer day to be outside.
The first crocus of the year popped up today.
The daffodils are working their way skyward, as well.
There are a few buds showing. A promising sign of spring!
The garden sorrel is poking its way through the winter debris.
Can’t stop spring when the time is right. ~~Rhonda 🙂
Recently I posted a cheesy potato soup recipe, which was pretty good, but I have a better one now. 🙂 I have a tried and true recipe for a potato sausage casserole that I often take to church dinners. I modified that to make soup for a church dinner and made it again last weekend for an easy lunch that could sit and wait till we were ready.
2 1/2 pounds white potatoes, diced (can be peeled or not)
1 pound Kielbasa sausage, diced and browned
8 oz. jar Cheez Whiz [I used half a 16 oz. jar, as that’s what I had on hand]
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 T. dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
milk, cream, and/or half and half
Dice the potatoes, cover with water and boil until just tender.
As the potatoes boil, dice the sausage and brown it in a skillet. Drain well.
[Update…I now broil the sausage on a foil-lined cookie sheet instead of browning it in a pan. Much easier clean up.]
When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and return to the pot. Add the sausage and other ingredients, except for the milk. Stir to blend well.
Pour enough milk (may use half ‘n half and/or cream, as well) to cover the contents of the pan. Heat to simmer and serve.
To make the original recipe as a casserole, follow above, but leave out the milk. Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake, covered, in a 350* oven for an hour. Remove the lid/cover and bake 10 minutes longer.
I like to double the recipe (leaving out the milk) and put it into a greased crock pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours and you have a great take-along dish for a potluck dinner or even a wiener roast. It always gets rave reviews.
~~Rhonda 🙂
Time for a confession…I have never made enchiladas before. I was looking for a recipe to use a pound of ground beef for supper and came across this enchilada recipe.
Another confession…I improvised quite a bit. Is that fair when you’ve never tried a particular kind of recipe before??
These are the ingredients for the original recipe:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 diced fresh jalapeno pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup water
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 cup plain yogurt
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
I used a pound of ground round, instead of one and a half pounds, as that’s what I had. I had 8 oz. of left over Cheez Whiz in the fridge, so I added that to the meat after it had browned.
I didn’t have a packet of taco seasoning mix, so I added (without measuring) a little dry onion flakes, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper, dash of hot sauce, and some parsley.
Instead of adding water, I added the juice from a can of corn I used for a black bean and corn salad. I could have left this out, as I wasn’t using the taco seasoning packet.
Instead of yogurt, I used 1/2 c. sour cream. I *did* use cream of chicken soup and the mozzarella cheese, though I plan to use cheddar cheese next time I make the recipe.
Instead of corn tortillas, I used whole wheat ones as that is what I had on hand.
And I added enchilada sauce to the recipe.
Hmmm…doesn’t sound like the same recipe, does it? To make it the way I did, begin by preheating your oven to 350*. Pour a little enchilada sauce into the bottom of a greased casserole dish.
Brown the meat, and add the seasonings and the Cheez Whiz.
In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream, the soup, and the mozzarella cheese.
Warm a stack of six tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften them, so they are easy to roll.
Spread 1/6th of the meat mixture over half the tortilla, and spoon about 3 Tablespoons of cheese mixture over the the meat. Don’t bother to measure, just put a big dollop on top the meat.
Roll the tortillas and place on top the enchilada sauce in the greased pan.
Spread any remaining cheese mixture over the enchiladas and top with enchilada sauce.
My glass dish is a bit smaller than a 9×13 pan. Six enchiladas fit perfectly.
Bake 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Let set about ten minutes prior to serving.
I served black beans and corn salad with it. It would be good with cornbread or tortilla chips, too.
DH liked it and would like to see it on the menu again. Several of the reviews I read regarding the original recipe said it was even better as leftovers. DD wasn’t home for supper but sampled a forkful when she came home. She liked it, too, so this will definitely find its way to our supper table again.
Layered, instead of rolled, it would probably make a good enchilada casserole for a potluck dinner.
~~Rhonda
It takes no more than a bit of ribbon to put the kitties in a playful mood.
Zilli wanted a turn with the ribbon…
…but it doesn’t take much to set Zak and Zilli off when they are playing together. Before long they were flying around the room…
Happy peeked in to see what was going on, but refused to participate. She’s not a party animal.
The birthday balloon was particularly intriguing to Niko.
Even when it was tied to the upper cabinets, he considered going for it. We had to put it away before he gave up.
After play time, some lap time. Niko won’t jump into just anyone’s lap, either. You have to be special.
~~Rhonda