homemade chicken noodle soup: 2012

31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi

Can't Resist Rolls (The BEST Crescent Rolls You'll Ever Eat!)

To contact us Click HERE
I'm scared of yeast. I admit that I have a total bread-phobia. Baking bread scares me.

I remember when I first got married, my mother-in-law bought me a bread maker. The first time I used it, the bread was as flat as a pancake and hard as a rock! I was mortified. I mean, who screws up bread FROM A BREAD MAKER?! I DO!!
Anyway, my sister Nicole is a great cook and she makes big yummy dinners for whatever holiday I'm in town for. She makes these awesome rolls. I devour them every. single. holiday. But three years ago, I found myself staying in California for Thanksgiving and I was SO bummed that I wouldn't be partaking of Nicole's amazing crescent rolls. So I did what any craving pregnant woman would do and busted out the cookbook she had given me that her church had put together. Lo and behold, there was her recipe for "Can't Resist Rolls".
I'm not gonna say I wasn't scared of screwing them up, because believe me I was! I had my parents driving over from Arizona to eat Thanksgiving dinner at my house and for the first time ever I was in charge of the whole turkey dinner. I definitely wanted the dinner to be nice. After reading the directions probably ten times through just to make sure I had it all down, I attempted to make rolls for the FIRST time ever! And guess what?? They were GOOD! And pretty darn easy!
Ever since that Thanksgiving, I make these awesome rolls for almost every holiday and sometimes just because. You better believe I'm making them for Christmas Eve dinner this year! You should too! They get prettier and prettier every time I do them. Practice makes perfect! :) So all of you awkward bread people, check it out! You can totally make these! And all you bread pros, check it out - these are awesome crescent rolls to make for whenever you have a roll craving. I've included pictures of most of the steps for those bread-challenged, like myself, ha!Here's what you need:
Can't Resist (Crescent) Rolls:
Printable Recipe HERE
Yield 4 dozen rolls

Ingredients:

2 (1.4-oz) packages of yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 c. milk (I use 2%)
1 c. oil (I use canola)
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. salt
8 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 c. butter (melted)

Directions:

1. In a drinking glass, dissolve yeast in warm (but not hot) water with 1 tsp. sugar. In a microwavable large mixing bowl (I used my big Pampered Chef one) warm milk, sugar and oil for one minute. Add salt.

2. Add 2 cups flour and mix with mixer. Add eggs and beat. Stir in yeast mixture. Add three cups flour, beat again. Add last 3 cups flour and mix with a spoon.

3. Cover and let rise 2-3 hours, until size doubles...

4. Once doubled, separate dough into 4 equal balls.

5. Roll out each ball individually into a 1/4" thick circle.

6. Brush with melted butter...

7. Add cut like a pizza into 12 pieces.

8. Roll into crescents...

...just like this...

9. And place on buttered cookie sheets - 2 dozen per sheet.

10. Once all dough is rolled out, cover with a dish towel and let rise for another hour.

See? All big and fluffy!

11. Now bake 'em for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees F. If you don't want to make 4 dozen dinner rolls, make 2 dozen and use the rest of the dough to make cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, etc.

Seriously, these rolls are amazing. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

If you're looking for more side dish ideas, check these out:Brown Sugar Glazed CarrotsHomemade Soft PretzelsMom's Sunday Fruit SaladCreamy Yogurt Fruit DipSO Good Mandarin Orange Salad

Click HERE to print this recipe. If you liked this recipe, PIN it! It would be wonderful if you followed me (via GFC) on the right hand side, click on "Join This Site"--> I'm also on PINTEREST and FACEBOOK too! Thanks!
LINKING THIS RECIPE TO THESE FUN PARTIES:Wednesday Extravaganza, Cast Party Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Weekend Wrap-Up Party, Foodie Friends Friday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday,

Let's Play {Community Service}

To contact us Click HERE

I learned many years ago in school, during my early-childhood education classes, the importance of play. It is said that play is a very important part of learning and growing for both children and adults. Role playing for children is how they form their own ideas of how things should be.

Here are some things I learned about play many years ago and that are still true today. Play is how we learn. Play connects us to others. Play teaches us to persevere. Play helps us grow in creativity, and flexibility. Play helps us when feeling lonely, isolated, anxious or depressed. Play helps us to develop and improve our social skills, and to learn how to cooperate with others. Play is a constructive way to pass the time. It's good for you. Play makes us happy. Play is fun and brings joy. In knowing all this, I would advocate for PLAY any day, and that's why I am!

I recently attended a conference for Bloggers called Blogalicious and had the opportunity to meet and participate with a great Community Service oriented group called Let's Play. What is Let's Play you ask? Here is what they have to say:

What Is Let's Play?

"Let's Play is a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to get kids and families active nationwide. We believe that the key to healthy living is managing calories in and calories out. Our goal is to help families achieve that balance by providing the tools, places and inspiration to make physical activity a daily priority."

Here is part of our fearless group ready for action! We took a bus from our conference down to a local inner city elementary school {Walter Bracken Elementary School in Las Vegas} where we participated in this fun community service event. Our task that day was to clean up and repaint the mural walls at their school and repaint the white stripes on their playground floor.

We were greeted by the principal of Bracken Elementary and some of her staff and were told what needed to be done. Once they had a plan laid out for us we were ready for action.

We grabbed our tools, found our spots on the playground and got straight to work. Now the FUN begins!

The beautiful murals on their walls have already been pencil sketched out for us and we fill in the areas with paint.

I enjoy a fun but tedious job for a while, of filling in the cracks with a sky blue paint!

We even had a bloggers daughter as our littlest painting helper. She was a natural Picasso too!

All in all it was a great morning of community service! We got out and away from our conference for a while, bonded as a smaller group, and did some good for the community. We got out and played with paint for a bit so the children who come out to enjoy this school can have a bright and pleasant environment to PLAY in. It doesn't get much better than that!

I highly recommend getting involved in helping make your community better for the children in it. Check out the Let's Play Website to see how you can get involved in both your community and to see tips for getting your own family out to PLAY more. Be sure to follow them on Facebook (where you can sign the Let's Play Pledge) and Twitter to be first to hear any news. How have you promoted PLAY in your community? What will you do to promote PLAY now?

Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie

To contact us Click HERE
A few short days ago, I told you about how my husband had come down with a severe cold. It should be with little surprise that I am now, too. With every last drop of chicken noodle soup now consumed, I had to turn to another comfort food for some relief.

We call this dish shepherd's pie around here; however, its correct name is cottage pie. From what I understand, both dishes are basically the same with the only variation being the type of meat used in the dish. For shepherd's pie, lamb is used. For cottage pie, beef is used.

Regardless of what we call it, cottage (shepherd's) pie is hearty comfort food at its best. Serve with warm biscuits or crusty bread... A perfect meal for warming a sick, old soul on this cold and blustery April day.

Ingredients
5 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 Tbs. sour cream
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

1 to 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1 c. water
3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. ketchup
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 carrots, diced
2 medium onions, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 c. frozen corn
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

salt and pepper
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven broiler.

In a medium pot, cover potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until completely soft. Drain and mash. Add sour cream, milk, 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and salt/pepper to taste. Mix to thoroughly combine. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef. Drain any fat, then return to skillet. Add garlic, brown gravy mix, water, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and salt/pepper to taste. Mix well. Reduce heat to low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Spread evenly into a medium sized casserole dish. Set aside.

In the same skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add vegetables, Italian seasoning and salt/pepper to taste. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Spread evenly over meat mixture. Spread mashed potatoes evenly over vegetable layer. Top with remaining 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese. Place in broiler to brown potatoes and cheese, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Christmas 2012

To contact us Click HERE
Grayson Boy must have been on Santa's nice list this year- well if not Santa, at least the Grandparent's good list. Its a tradition that Santa sends an early present to you- usually PJs and Slippers for Christmas morning. Santa knew Grayson already had some nifty new slippers, so he sent PJs and a book instead.

Then in our spanking new jammies we put out cookies and milk for Santa

However, Grayson decided he needed to sample them before Santa got a taste. Despite Daddy warning that's a good way to get on the naughty list.

Cookie thief.

Trying to get a family photo where Momma doesn't have half closed eyes- fail.

However, Santa mustnt' have minded becauseChristmas morning looked something like this:

Santa left his footprints by the cookies and milk

Checking them out!

Patrick's parents stay with us for the holidays, so Grayson gets to wake up with two of his favorite people in the house. When they are around- Patrick and I do not exist. Christmas day is crazy. We start at home, then head to my Mom's, then my Dad's, my Grandma's then Patricks Grandparents. Time is budgeted and a schedule is made. However Grayson tossed us off the schedule by taking a 2.5 hour nap at Nana's. Here's a little snap shot into the day.

Pappy made him a fire truck pedal car for Christmas- the back half is a super sweet bookshelf/toybox. Grayson loves it...Momma isnt so sure about all of the alarms Pap installed on the sucker though.

Opening gifts with Nana

Loved this face when he saw his remote controlled car.

The year of the cars- Grayson was also gifted his own truck by my dad.

We always end the evening at Gong and Pap's. Its full of food, family and presents. This is my favorite picture- the four generations of K men. Every year it gets more an more apparent that this child will look NOTHING like me as he gets older.

In other news, I now own my own toy store- its located where my dining room used to be. Feel free to stop on by and play sometime! Merry Christmas 2012!

2012- A Year in Review.

To contact us Click HERE
This year has been crazy amazing. When I look back at my posts from January I realize my little man was only turning 4 months old and wasn't able to talk, walk or really interact all that much. Some days, not going to lie, I really miss those days- at least the non-mobile part. Dude runs around like a crazy person. Her es a look back at the things that made this year incredible. January brought my first ever tips and tricks post- and its been a favorite with over 1.5 million (HOLY FREAKING EFF!) page views. Grayson hit the four month mark, and we shared our must haves. From that list, we still play with the turtle, the bunny and Scout- so they were some pretty darn good picks! I shared some cold weather favorite recipes and how to make homemade baby food. To top it off I celebrated my 27th birthday with my favorite little man in my arms. February was busy with the first round of teething troubles (teeth suck sometimes!). You lovely ladies shared some great tips for what worked with your kiddos to ease tooth pain- a frozen washcloth filled with applesauce has been a fave! Tips and Tricks 2 hit the old blog this month. I also got to see a girl send my little boy his first valentine- hello heart breaker.

March- we made it six months!! Woo!!

This month Grayson's little personality really started to develop, but I realized it was eerily similar to his fathers as I shared my realization that Dear Lord, he is his father's child. It warmed up in March and we hit the road in flip flops to stroll the 'hood nearly every single day. It was glorious. What wasn't so glorious? Surviving our first round of the fever- which made me wonder how I could go days in college with little to no sleep but now can no longer function. Hello old age, nice to meet you. In April I shared one of my all time fave recipes Cheese steak Pizza and hosted my very first giveaway from Fashion to Figure. I shared with you that if you rub eucalyptus oil on your tootsies and slap on some fuzzy socks and no more coughing fits!! Woo! Grayson got to meet the Easter Bunny, and didnt hate him nearly as much as he hated Santa Clause. We celebrated Grayson's first Easter complete with family, food, fun and a bunny on his bum- hes so going to hate me when hes older.

On May 1st Grayson figured out how to crawl- and we knew then we were in trouble. It was an athletic month of sorts- I started and gave up on the Couch 2 5K program. My amazing hubs and his Momma ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon while I ate some delish doughnuts from Peace, Love and Little Doughnuts. Grayson even started swim lessons and discovered his love for both the water and making kissy noises at his cute 16 year old instructor. That month Grayson also decided that in order to get the ladies he had to give up his bink, and tossed it away cold turkey on his own which admittedly made Momma a little sad.

June brought the end of the school year- wooo!! I was super excited to spend time with my little man and check things off of my summer bucket list. We visited the Aviary and the Children's Museum, both musts if you're in the Pittsburgh area with kiddos. Grayson also chose this month to udder his first word, Mama! You better bet your sweet bottom that I still remind Daddy to this very day that I was his first word, and as soon as we move to a house with a yard there will be a pony delivered for that sweet boy. We also got a few projects done around the house, like the amazing porch beautification care of Thompson's Water Seal! In July we spent alot of our time in the swimming pool. Tips and Tricks July hit the blog, and was rewarded with so many sweet comments from all of you. I shared some more about me with the ABC's of Me. Because its never too early to start planning a good party, I shared my first birthday inspiration board for Grayson Boy's upcoming fete. I let you guys in on the secret that I am far too cheap to pay for it, so I clean my tile and grout myself with the help of my Bissle Carpet Cleaner. We took our first Family Road Trip to Tennessee, and I planned for our upcoming trip to Williams burg. I also shared recipes for Cookie Dough Dip, Crock Pot Mexican Chicken and Summer Pickles.

In August I asked someone to bring me an adult beverage, because Grayson began to climb on every stinking thing he could get his hands on. At 11 months old I was convinced he was trying everything he could to not make it to his first birthday. I shared some of the projects I was working on for the party that he was so desperately trying to avoid, like the high chair re-do and the fabric birthday banner. My deepest secrets (okay, not all of them) were revealed when I shared if you really knew me and I was thrilled to learn that I have other ketchup obsessed loves out there. I also let the sarcastic comments fly in sometimes people can be so stupid, my answers to all of the dumb pregnancy/baby questions I had received over the past year. September- my baby is a year old. How the HELL did that happen? I never shared a 12 month post, because honestly, I couldn't bring myself to write it. I cried like an insane person every time I tried. Its still sitting in my draft pile, and I promise to post it someday when I can get through the first paragraph without needing to use the booger sucker on myself. I went back to school, got a sweet new blog layout, Grayson started walking, we took one year pictures, and had one amazing party for my favorite little man.

In October I shared how I had the patience to sew 20 little super hero capes for Graysons party guests. We went to the pumpkin patch with our playgroup friends and trick or treated at the zoo. Hubs and I celebrated two years of marriage and I shared with the world and my kiddo how I met his Daddy.

I got around in November to posting about Grayson's first real Halloween and how once he figured out that the strangers were giving out candy he was all into it. I talked about what it meant to me to be a boy momma then I lamented about how much I need a baby girl when I found Sweet Baby Jean Hair Accessories. Grayson had his first haircut, where a few tears were shed by him and by me. To wrap up the month I shared the 30 things I am thankful for- friends, family, and of course all of you lovelies!

In December I kind of sucked at blogging. Sorry 'bout that. Christmas snuck up on me and school was ridiculously busy. We did all of our favorite traditions and I shared with you our hunt for the K family Christmas tree and a recap of Christmas 2012. Its been an amazing year- that's for sure! I cant believe all of the things that my kid learned to do, how hes grown and how hubs and I have grown and learned. Here's to bringing in 2013 in true old lady style- Ill be snug in my bed when the ball drops. In my defense we have a sick little bean and haven't had much sleep around these parts in a few nights. Ill be back tomorrow to share my goals for 2013! Be safe, my lovelies, and have a very Blessed and Happy New Year!

27 Aralık 2012 Perşembe