It's Tuesday... and that means...

Another fabulous set of releases from the designers at TwoPeas!

My first work is using Jo Hanna's new kit Vanilla Sky.

Love



I really can't say how much I am enjoying being a part of the CT there at TwoPeas.  It's a lot of talent and I was really happy to be asked to guest during the call earlier this fall. 

Back to Menu Planning...

Monday:  Chicken Parm Sandwiches
Tuesday: Baked Potato with Chili & Cheddar cheese
Wednesday: Herb Baked Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Thurday: Spaghetti Carbonara
Friday: Penne with Tomato Sauce
Saturday: None needed
Sunday: Open House with refreshments- order pizza after

Gratitude 2010- Days 3-5

Same credits...  Enjoy.  Oh and the second one?  Yup, that's a quilt I finished last night :)

Guest Who!

is guesting on the Creative Team over at TwoPeasinaBucket for November? :)

Here's my first layout as park of this awesome team of ladies.  Truly, what a treat to be asked. 
Using new kits this week from Polka Dot Pixels (Family Day) and Edeline Marta (Snap it Templates) this layout went together SO easily!  What great kits to pick up while the ENTIRE DIGI STORE AT TWOPEAS IS 25% OFF!

Lovely Day

Thanks for looking :)

Gratitude- Day 2

Once complete, they will be bound and printed at Shutterfly. 

Day 2:  Friendships

All layouts are using the November Collaboration Kit from Owl Tree Studio & the Date it labels from Wild Blueberry Ink from October's offerings at OTS.

Pizza Balls

Awesome recipe posted by a friend of mine that works well for packing in lunches and is a great "let the kids help" type of meal.  I used mini pepperoni on mine, but obviously you can use whatever you have/want.

Pizza Balls
Ingredients

Pizza Dough:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105*-115*)
1 1/4 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
2T olive oil
2T honey
1 tsp salt

Filling
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni and any other fillings you'd like
marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.  You can make your own using tomato sauce (the kind that already has basil, oregano and garlic in it is an easy start), pizza seasoning and maybe a pinch of sugar.
parmesan cheese
olive oil
pizza or italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400*.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in medium bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Beat vigourously 20 strokes.  Let rest at least five minutes.

Roll dough out into a rectangle on a lightly dusted surface.  Using your pizza cutter, cut the dough into squares (mine made about 15-16).  Place your fillings and cheese in the middle of each square then fold them in until a little pouch is formed.  Don't worry about putting sauce in the balls, you'll dip them in it instead.  Place the dough ball into a lightly greased pie pan seam side down leaving a little space between each ball (they will continue to rise a bit).

Once all of your dough balls are in the pie pan brush the top with olive oil and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese and pizza seasoning. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are light golden brown.  Let cool a bit and then enjoy!

Gratitude Project

It's a combination of things really...  combining the idea of the December Daily projects with the 30 days of Gratitude post I saw late last month.  So these simple pages (after all, when we think about counting our blessings, it almost always goes back to being thankful for the small, simple things, yet those are what we always forget in the hustle and bustle of our days) will be combined for a finished bound book when I'm done.  Each one will have a Bible verse about Thankfulness or Gratitude.

And of course, you'll forgive me for being a tad tardy in posting Day 1.  It's another TDY week.

Kit is from the November Collab from Owl Tree Studio

Oh and my menu for this week?  It's leftovers...  I think my fridge is seriously full of them.

November Releases are AMAZING

over at Owl Tree Studio

At 9pm EST, there will be a chat with designer of the month Karla Dudley.

Her stuff is seriously gorgeous.  And her kit "Be You" is no exception.  Here's what I created with it this month:

I also used it to create the cover for my son's annual book-

 Don't forget to join us TONIGHT at 9pm.  Be there or... well... ya know ;)

Creole Beef Casserole

Adapted from Simple & Delicious
November 2010

Creole Beef Casserole
Serves: 8-12

Ingredients:
1 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups light sour cream
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (30 oz) package frozen hash browns
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 lb ground beef (original calls for 1.5 lbs but I always cut back)
1 cup ketchup
1/4 c packed brown sugar
3 tsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 c crushed cornflakes
1/4 c melted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat until the pink is gone.  Drain.
While beef is browning, in a large bowl, combine hashbrowns, onion powder, soup, cheese and sour cream.  Mix.  Turn in to a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Add the ketchup, brown sugar and remaining seasonings to the beef.  Spoon on top of potatoes in baking dish.
Top with combination of cornflakes and butter.
Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

I think you could easily freeze this by allowing the beef to cool, then adding it to the top of the potatoes. You'd add the topping right before cooking. 

Maple Pretzel Chicken

I married a Vermonter. 
This means I now carry maple syrup with me to restaurants who are known to not have the "real stuff".
And that the jug of it currently in my fridge has some small portion of sap from the trees that are on the family's property up north.
And that any recipe that crosses my path including "maple syrup" needs to be tested.

It's easy to see why this one works- the nice combo of salty and sweet.  And the kids enjoyed helping me crush the pretzels up to use in the recipe, not to mention getting seconds of it for dinner.

Maple Pretzel Chicken
From Taste of Home Simple & Delicious Nov 2010

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1-1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and preheat oven to 375.
Mix together the egg and syrup in a small shallow bowl.  Place pretzels in another.
Dredge chicken through syrup/egg mixture then coat with pretzels and place in baking dish.
Bake until internal temp reads 190 degrees (about 40 minutes).

The original recipe calls for you to flatten the chicken, then fry stop top but I didn't want to do that- more dishes to clean up and this usually turns out just as nicely.

We served with mashed potatoes.