Strawberry Pretzel Desert

YUM! I got this recipe off of Landon's playgroup message board and I am sorry I waited so long to make it.

Here you go:
1. Crush 2 cups of pretzels
2. Mix the crushed pretzels with a stick of melted butter and 2 Tbs. sugar.
3. Spread evenly into a 13x9 pan and bake for 10 minutes on 350.
4. While the crust is baking, mix 8 oz cool whip, 8 oz cream cheese and 1 cup sugar.
5. After the crust has cooled, spread the mixture on top.
6. Place sliced strawberries on top of the mixture.

7. Mix a large pack of strawberry jello, 2 cups of boiling water, and 3/4 cup sugar and pour over the top of the strawberries.

8. Place the dish in the refrigerator and allow the jello to set.
I think next time I am going to cut out the sugar except the sugar that goes in the crust. It was good that sweet, but it was too sweet. This of course will make it a tad healthier as well!

Landon's verdict: he liked the mixture of cool whip, cream cheese, and sugar but that's it.

Cheese Grits, Eggs, and Sausage!

YUM! I love having breakfast for dinner. It's quick, easy, cheap, and yummy! I found these great sausage patties/links a while back. It's really turkey, but it tastes so much better and is so much better for you than regular pork sausage. I love Jimmy Dean's version especially since they are precooked and all you have to do is warm them up!


I currently have a loaf of regular old white bread in the bread machine right now. We ran out of bread yesterday so I am trying some made from the bread machine. I need to look at my recipes and see what else I can try this weekend since I am off for 3 WHOLE GLORIOUS DAYS!!!

My $15 Find!

I cannot believe it! The first store I tried and I found this...

Isn't it pretty? I am in love so far. Other than the odd smell which seems to be gone now that I have made a loaf of bread it seems just like brand new. My mom cleaned it really good for me and you can't tell that I got it used. I made a recipe out of the manual it came with and it turned out so good. Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon-Raising Bread
1.5 pound loaf
1 and 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
3 and 1/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons yeast
Mix-ins
3/4 cup raisins
1. Measure and add liquid ingredients to the bread pan.

2. Measure and add dry ingredients (except yeast) to the bread pan.

3. Use your finger to form a well (hole) in the flour where you will pour the yeast. Yeast must NEVER come into contact with a liquid when you are adding ingredients. Measure the yeast and carefully pour it into the well.

4. Follow directions according to your breadmaker.

When the bread machine beeps during the kneading cycle, raise the lid and sprinkle the raisins in, a few at a time, until they are kneaded with the dough.

This bread was so good! Especially warm with a glass of milk!

Roni and Cheese! It's What's For Dinner!

Velveeta Shells and Cheese! Want to make a 2 year-old named Landon happy? Make his favorite thing to eat. He was so excited when he saw me take the box out of the pantry. He gobbles this stuff up. The greatest thing is that it comes in a "reduced" fat option. YAY!
Don't think we are only having macaroni and cheese for dinner. I am also making BBQ chicken and broccoli. I LOVE the Steamfresh frozen veggies. Especially when I find a coupon for them and they are on sale. What's not to love about taking a bag out of the freezer, doing nothing to it other than popping it in the microwave and pushing some numbers? Then, VIOLA! you have steamed broccoli.
I promise to start posting some recipes soon. I had this week's menu planned out before I decided to start blogging about food again so no new recipes this week. I do have a LONG (think multiple pages) list of things I am planning on trying.

I also am going on the great bread machine search. I am excited about the thought of making my own bread. I am hoping we do not have a faculty meeting tomorrow so I can hit up some consignment/thrift stores to see if they have a new to me bread machine. If not...I will do it the old fashioned way in the oven until I can save money to buy a new one.

If you have any recipes or foods you would like for me to "showcase" let me know! I would be happy to try out something on my family!

In other news, we are down to just fingers left of school days! As of today, we have 10 more days until I can say goodbye to those little brats...I mean wonderful students for the summer!

Making Chocolate Pudding

Landon loves chocolate pudding and rarely wastes a drop of it. I have had two boxes of instant pudding in the pantry for a while now and kept putting it off making it. Well...I picked Landon up today and asked him if he wanted to make chocolate pudding. He said "YEAH!" It actually turned out better than I thought. Here are some pictures of him being a great little chef:
First you start off with a box of pudding mix and milk. How much easier could it get?
After putting in the milk, allow the 2 year old to pour the mix into the milk and hold your breath hoping it all makes it in there:
Next give the 2 year old the whisk and let him have at it. All the while holding your breath and hoping the little white dog patiently waiting below for anything to drop doesn't get covered with chocolate pudding.
Sorry there will not be any exciting posts about recipes tonight because we are having this:
Could it get an easier? It was a long weekend and I am still tired. This beats the alternative of eating out and I earn $.10 for my school by cutting off the Box Top!

Turkey Ham, Spanish Rice, and Green Beans

So I figured I would start adding meal ideas to my blog. I am hoping this will inspire me to start cooking more. With the summer coming up I can also venture out and try new recipes. We tried something new tonight that I HAD to blog about because it was so good! We had Jenni-O Turkey Ham for dinner and it was delish!
We were hesitant at first but it was really good. Landon thought it was a hot dog cut up so score there! He had 3 servings! The best part is the nutritional information:
Nutrition (per serving)
Serving Size 56 g
Calories 70
Calories From Fat 30
Total Fat 3.0 g
Saturated Fat 1.0 g
Trans Fat .0 g
Cholesterol 35 mg
Sodium 500 mg
Total Carbohydrates 1 g

Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 1 g
Protein 9 g
Vitamin A 0 %
Vitamin C 2 %
Iron 4 %
Calcium 0 %

In addition, we had green beans brought to you by...
We also has Spanish Rice. It was really easy to make! Put a can of cubed tomatoes in juice in a saucepan with a little bit of salt and pepper and let them simmer for a little while.
Next take 1 1/2 cups rice and add the tomatoes + water (tomatoes and water should equal 2 1/4 cups) and mix them together.

I used a rice steam and after about an hour I ended up with this:

Serve it all up and you have a good meal!

Check Out My New Banner!

Isn't it awesome? Nikki made it for me and I am in love with it! THANK YOU NIKKI!

What's Blooming At Our House!

I love this time of year. I can walk outside and see flowers all over the place. Want a taste of it? Check out below to see what is blooming at our house currently.

Here is one of our MANY MANY MANY lilies we have blooming all around our house:

Here is one of my day lilies I got from the lily farm. The place is awesome! Check out their website: Daylily and Hosta Garden

Here is a Diantha that I got marked down at Lowes during their "frost damage" sale:

Here is a dark purple Petunia I got once again at the awesome sale:

Here's our Columbine:

Our Dogwood tree is finally blooming:

Here's our wild strawberry plant we have a runner in one of the beds:

Here's the Tangerine Trumpet Vine we have going around our garage:

More Petunias from the sale:

A sad looking Gerbera Daisy:

Not sure what this is, but it sure is pretty:

Here's my flower I got for Mother's Day from my parents:

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

We had a great time meeting up with some of the mommys off of iVillage in Atlanta at the gardens. Toney and Olivia came up from Columbia and we rode with them with Amy and her girls and mom meeting us at my house and following us. Landon wasn't too sure about riding in a different car at first but quickly realized it wasn't so bad.

From what I could tell, all of the kids has a blast. Here are some pictures from the day:
Here's Chicken Little actually playing in the fountain. I was happy to see that his fear or water is now gone.


Here's Landon with his lollipop he got for sitting so good during the group picture (see below). He sat there for the longest time as still as he could be with his lollipop.
Here's Landon almost as tall as a Day Lily. I cannot believe he is almost 3 feet tall as well.
Here's Olivia, Ryan, and Landon waiting patiently for lunch. How good are they?

Here's the group picture that everyone sat for waiting on their lollipop.

Here's Landon and Lydia in the clubhouse. Lydia "saw" a snake and of course Landon did too. They had a blast in there.