Christmas

Design for Christmas. This is so simple to make. Buy a clear glass vase and place glass or plastic (plastic if you have kids) Christmas bulbs in it. You can mix the colors and different shapes and sizes.

Recipe: Peanut butter cookies

My sister gave me this recipe and it is too simple.

1 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix and drop by Tbsp. onto cookie sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes. I doubled the recipe. You'll need a glass of milk with these!

Recipe: Nacho cheese tacos

Campbell's soup recipe -

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Campbell's Fiesta Nacho cheese soup
1/2 c. water
1 pkg. taco mix
flour taco or hard shells

Cook beef and drain off fat. Add soup and water. Warm then place on shells and add lettuce and salsa. Can add some shredded cheese.

Recipe: Buffalo chicken sandwich

Quick and easy!

Tyson's chicken patties

Red Hot Buffalo sauce

Ranch or Blue cheese

Cook chicken as directed on package. Add 1/2 cup of sauce in bowl and coat each side of the pattie.

Could also cut the pattie into strips and add lettuce and tomato and wrap in a flour tortilla.

Recipe: Spinach dip

1 c Mayonnaise

1 c sour cream

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad dressing mix

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

Thaw frozen spinach in a colander and run cold water. Squeeze spinach to remove liquid.

Mix mayonnaise, sour cream and salad dressing until well blended. Add spinach and refrigerate. Makes 3 cups

Tip: toys

Happy meal toys from McDonald's make great toys for camping and the beach.

Quick Tip: Nectarines

Place nectarines in a brown paper bag for a day or two to ripen.

Tip: Flat iron

To prevent burning your vanity, purchase a ceramic platter to lay your curling iron on. I bought this one at T.J. Maxx for $6.00.

Recipe: Shrimp Kabobs

You'll love this one!

1 pound fresh or frozen medium-large shrimp, cleaned

1 green or red pepper, cut into pieces

1/4 medium pineapple, cut into chunks (you can use can)

4 green onions, cut into 1" pieces

Barbecue sauce

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Alternate shrimp, green pepper, pineapple and green onions on skewers. Grill the kabobs over medium coals for 6-8 minutes or until shrimp are opaque, turning once and brushing w/ sauce halfway through grilling. Note - soak wood skewers for 20 minutes before preparing the kabobs.

Check this out!

Check out Boboli's web site to see how to grill pizza.

Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2 ( 1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

3 eggs

2 c white sugar

1 c vegetable oil

2 c grated zucchini

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9x5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Microwave chocolate squares until melted. Stirring occasionally until chocolate is smooth. In a lg. bowl, mix eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate squares, beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour in to the pans and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Quick Tip: Strawberries

Pick fully-ripe, firm strawberries with a deep red color. Wash berries in several changes of cold water. If you want to freeze the berries whole you will want to remove the stems and place the berries in several rows on a cookie sheet and freeze. When the berries are frozen then place them in a large freezer bag and store in the freezer. You can also mix 1 cup of sugar with 6 cups of cut berries and place in pint freezer container.

Tip: Mason Jars

I like to use Mason Jars to store my brown sugar and powdered sugar in. You can also use the smaller jars for baking powder and soda.

Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes

5 large baking potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 (10 oz.) can of condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

ground pepper to taste. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 1 1/2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the soup, onion and black pepper in a bowl. Arrange one layer of sliced potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish. Spoon one layer of soup mixture, then continue layering until all of the ingredients have been used. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Bake for 45 minutes until cheese is bubbly and potatoes are fully cooked.

Quick tip: rent movies

Do you know where you can rent movies for free??? The local library! I don't know how long it has been since I've paid for a movie rental. When I know of a new dvd coming out in the stores I go online to my local library and place my name on a list to reserve that movie. Very simple. Just saw the movie "New in Town."

Recipe: Smores

We've been using this recipe for a while now. It's very simple and cheap.

1 package of chocolate striped cookies (Any kind will do. I use Aldi's brand because the packages are under $2.00.)

1 package of marshmallows

After you heat the marshmallow place it between two cookies. Note: if you are using metal hot dog sticks, spray them first with cooking spray. When finished you can clean the sticks with wet wipes or soak in hot soapy water.

Kitchen tip: recipe card holder

I use a plastic picture frames to slide my recipe cards in so they don't get splatter on them. The frames come in all different sizes. This one is a 5x7.

Recipe: Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza

1 frozen loaf (Rhodes bread) thaw for the day or 1 prepared pizza crust
1 - 2 chicken breast cooked and cubed (boil 45 minutes to cook)
1/2 cup Buffalo red hot sauce or 1 (2 oz) bottle of sauce
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 cup Ranch salad dressing or Blue cheese dressing
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are using Rhodes dough for the crust, bake it for 10 minutes before adding the toppings. Then combine the chicken, melted butter and hot sauce. Mix well. Spread salad dressing over pizza crust, then top w/ chicken mixture and sprinkle w/ cheese. Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. About 10 minutes. Let set for a couple of minutes before slicing.

Recipe: Fruit dip

1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 (7oz.) jar of marshmallow cream

blend well and chill.

Bird Bath

When buying a bird bath, make sure that it's only 2 inches deep in the center of the bowl. This is to prevent young birds from drowning.

Recipe: Fried Chicken

This is a very simple recipe. The chicken is baked in the oven.

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp pepper

2 1/2-3 pound cut up chicken (chicken fryer)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a 13x9x2 inches rectangular pan heat up butter until melted. Mix flour, salt, paprika and pepper. Coat chicken w/ flour mixture. Place skin sides down in pan. Bake 30 minutes uncovered. Turn chicken and bake 30 minutes longer. 6 servings

Hummingbird: food recipe

Bring 4 cups water to a boil and stir in 1 cup sugar. Stir to dissolve about 1 - 2 minutes. When cool, pour into the a pitcher or an old pop liter bottle and refrigerate until needed. You do not need to add food coloring. When the weather gets hot (80's and 90's) don't let the food set in the feeders for more than a couple of days. You'll make the birds sick.

Grandma Ida

This poem I found goes out to my cousin Michele. Her grandmother Ida past away yesterday.

God needed one more to fill the empty space,he looked around the hospital and saw your sweet face,when you stopped breathing,we knew you were gone,you went so peacefully,so we knew you chose the right home,we knew your skies weren't so blue,and the roads were getting too tough for you,but you fought that fight,and you did the best you could do,the best part was you didn't die alone,the day God sent you home.