A refashion...

I have this issue with buying jean capris...

The issue is: I can't.

They either end up having a huge gap in the back...which I hate...ooorrrr they look like mom-pants, and I'm not there yet.

So...instead I decided to take a pair of jeans I no longer wear and refashion them.

Turned out pretty well I think...

Before:





















And after....

Sweet and Tangy Pot Roast

Recent recipe:

Last night we had "Sweet 'n Tangy Pot Roast"...I used the crock pot and cooked it slowly so it just fell apart last night.

Here she is...
Ingredients
1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3 lbs)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine (or beef broth)
1 envelope brown gravy mix
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Cut meat in half and place in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the water, ketchup, wine or broth, gravy mix, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.  Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender.

I normally do NOT buy the pre-mixed rice type of side dishes, but I had a coupon AND it was on sale so it was only about  $.98. So Uncle Ben's Wild Rice it was...plus green beans.

AND we were able to eat out on the porch last night.......YAY SUMMER!!













Try this out:
My Stick Family

Breakfast Burritos

Mmmmm these were soooo yumm-o.


I got the recipe from the McCormick recipe book I've been using lately.
                                                          

Recipe:
4 eggs
1/4 c milk
1 c diced ham
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tortillas
1 tbsp butter
cheddar cheese


Directions:
Mix eggs, milk, ham, seasoned salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Melt butter in a skillet. Add egg mixture and allow to cook through. Once the egg mixture has firmed up, spread some cheddar cheese on a tortilla and place egg mixture on top of cheese. Add more  cheese to top and roll up the tortilla. It is that easy!


We had wheat toast and orange juice with this dinner...it was breakfast for dinner afterall. :o) And yes we used paper plates...already had enough dishes to in the sink!


Tonight I am working on two new projects...one has been started already :

A Tempetuous Tuesday

Tempetuous...

              definitely describes my Tuesday, in more ways than one.


To combat that...here's my afternoon/evening pictorially.

and tonight we will have Grilled Cheese and Soup (tomato for me ;o] )for dinner. It only seems appropriate given the weather and my lack of enthusiasm for making dinner. Plus it's what I planned to have anyway....

Maybe I'll get ambitious and do some more organizing...we'll see.

Chicken Lasagna short cut :o)

Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups…
Takes about 30 minutes to make, 45 minutes to bake…and makes 5 servings of 2 rolls each.
What you need:
10 lasagna noodles
1 container (15 oz) of ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce
2 C rotisserie chicken
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Boil the lasagna noodles for 8 minutes. Drain/rinse in cold water to stop them from cooking. Set aside.
2. In a bowl mix ricotta, egg, Italian seasoning, garlic, and parsley
3. Spread 1/2 C of the marinara in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Spread each noodle with some ricotta, chicken, and mozzarella cheese. Roll it up and place it seam down in the baking dish. Repeat 11 more times :-p. Spread leftover marinara sauce on top of roll-ups.

4. Cover with foil and bake for about 35 min. Take off the foil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 minutes more.

so delicious

Now…alterations: I used part skim ricotta just to keep the calories/fat down. I also used dried parsley because I didn’t have fresh. For the garlic, I just crushed a clove myself…cheaper than the jarred stuff. I also did not have any "leftover rotisserie chicken". This is one of those cook once, eat thrice ideas...but I just cooked chicken for this recipe because this is what I had planned for tonight. On that note, I also decided to boil the chicken this time rather than bake it or fry it...and WOW I will boil it if I ever need it for something like this again. This may sounds silly or inexperienced of me but boiling the chicken made it MUCH easier to shred it for the roll-ups.

I served it with a  salad…and MILK of course. I must have milk with meals like this. Yum!







Now after dinner...I will enjoy this:

and my book! :o)

Mother's Day...

Today, following church, we went to home to spend the day with my mom....

And while chili for dinner might sound weird for May...it was oh about 40 degrees tops today...oye Mother Nature is cruel sometimes.

For dessert we had "Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake"...seems a little redundant but it is VERY lemon-y so this recipe means it! 

I found it at Joy the Baker's blog. 

For those of you who live around here or are from around here...I would compare this to Lemon Loaf from Upper Crust in Fredonia or Starbucks Lemon Cake.

It was YUMM-O! 

My bargain of the day...

When I was younger shoes were it for me. I looooooooooved shoes. We're talking many, many, many pairs, and I never wanted to get rid of any.

I have since curbed this obsession some and limit myself when it comes to shoes. However, tonight I found one very cute pair...and at a steal.

They were originally $22.99, but I got them for $8!! Eeeeeeiiii!! :o) And I THINK they will go quite well with the skirt I made last night. I know it seems like a little thing, but to me its a big thing.

The source of my pride tonight...

I have a few "occasions" coming up that I need to somewhat dress up for. I found this fabric the other day on a trip to JoAnns and tried to imagine a skirt as I stood there staring at it and contemplating buying it. Well obviously I did, and I am very glad I did. I pictured a very "Mrs. Cleaver" type of skirt and me making it with that cheesy music on those Kelly Ripa commercials for Electrolux Appliances playing in my head. This however did NOT happen. I don't know about anyone else who tries their hands at sewing clothing but patterns are pathological liars. I looked at the measurements and decided I needed to make a size 12 (not my typical size, mind you! only another reason to hate patterns)...BUT when I cut it all out, darted where I needed to put darts, and sewed the zipper in........

IT  DIDN'T FIT!!!!! >:O and oooh I was fuming.

Thank goodness I have a patient husband who knew this and knew that his "suggestions" and my  barking back were purely because I was upset that this image of a perfect little skirt was quickly fading. And if I'm going to be really honest, he is the one who gave me the suggestions for how to make it work out. I took out 2 of the darts suggested on the pattern and voila! :o)

So tonight I made this...

What do you think?! =)

Pieces of tonight...

Tonight--> Big thunderstorm = quiet, crafty time, while Aaron watches Ghost Hunters.

Sneak Peeks:

Tuscan Chicken...

As some of you know I like to plan my meals out for the entire month. It seems crazy and daunting but honestly it is easy, I promise. One of these days I will share how I do this. Planning for the whole month seemed ridiculous at first but it honestly makes my life easier. And this way, in the morning I can look and see what we're having that night and 

1. know when I need to start dinner by and 

2. what, if anything, needs to be taken out of the freezer to thaw out during the day
3. helps me plan and make my list for the grocery shopping (keeps our grocery bill to somewhere in the $40-$50 range each week)

Monday night was originally "Tuscan Chicken" night but with all of the leftovers from Aaron's birthday soiree I decided to bump it to Tuesday. The plan is a convenience tool... and by no means set in stone! :o) So last night was just going to be Tuscan Chicken night but it also turned into Tuscan Pork Chop night too. My mom was over in my end of the county at my sister's softball game and was going to stop by afterward (about the time Aaron would be home and we'd be having dinner). Chicken and my mom have a very adverse relationship...so I decided to do a couple pork chops for her and my sister. 

Here is the recipe: 

It is from 

Tuscan Chicken

1.5 lbs chicken breast, cut into quarters

1/2 cup of milk

1/4 c flour

1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp of black pepper

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare baking pan, spray with nonstick spray.

2. Mix flour and seasonings together in a Ziploc bag. 

3. Moisten chicken with the milk and then toss in the Ziploc bag to cover with flour mixture.

4. Bake in prepared dish for 15-20 min.

Alterations: 

Obviously I did both chicken and pork chops, like I said before. I did not cut the chicken or the pork chops up...I just wanted to leave them whole. I also sort of doubled the recipe just because I was doing more than 1.5 lbs of chicken. We were out of oregano...(I KNOW! weird, I've never been OUT of oregano). I used Italian Seasoning instead. I also cooked them at a lower temperature just so they were not done too fast. 

We had pasta with a pesto sauce and a small salad with the Tuscan Chicken and overall I was pretty pleased with the meal. All three of us, Aaron, my mom and I, decided that "Tuscan Chicken" tasted very close to "Shake and Bake". 

One more successful dinner down :o)

Tonight...a NEW breakfast casserole recipe...courtesy of the same cookbook!