More Sister Stuff

Sunny D Music

2012-03-09T17:59:00.001-07:00

Sunny D is running its "Drink Up and Download" promotion again! I love this. You enter 10 codes from participating Sunny D bottles each week for a chance to win between 1-100 songs. They have a really great selection of songs, really new ones too! I just got Selena Gomez' "Love You Like a Love Song" for example.
You are able to enter codes once a week. I have found the best deal is buying the 6-packs from Walmart. My local Walmarts have them priced at $2.00 for a 6-pack. Each bottle has two different codes one it, one on each side of the bottle, so for $2.00 you are able to get 1 1/2 weeks worth of codes. I participated in the program for 6 weeks last year and the lowest amount I ever won was 5 songs. I won 20 songs one week! You can't buy songs anywhere for that cheap! So, these are not completely free, but pretty close! Some of your local stores may have 'buy one, get one free' programs too that would make this even cheaper. There was also a coupon for $0.55 off when you buy 2 Sunny D's ($0.55/2 Sunny Delight Products 01/08/2012 SS Insert (exp 03/31/2012)). This could help get you started! Enjoy the music www.sunnyd.com.

~Stacy~

Cherry Chocolate Pie/Chocolate Cheesecake

2012-02-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is as good as any cheesecake I have had from The Cheesecake Factory! I LOVE IT! Yummy!

I will give you the link if you would like to watch the video, or try any more of their recipes. The link is. . . www.v.gd/BZrysh. This is the ACH Food Company, INC. You may recognize some of their products, Karo Syrup, Argo Baking Powder/ Cornstarch, Fleischmann's Yeast.

Anyhow, the recipe is as follows:

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
2 eggs
1/3 Whipping Cream
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1- 9 inch graham cracker crust
1 can Cherry Pie Filling (I have used strawberry and just plain whipping cream, still great!)

Melt- Chocolate in small saucepan over very low heat, stirring until completely smooth. Set aside.

Beat- cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy, then beat in melted chocolate. Gradually add corn syrup, beating until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. Mix in cream and vanilla extract; pour into pie crust.

Bake- in preheated 325° oven for 40 to 45 minutes until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refridgerate for at least 3 hours. Top with cherry pie filling; slice and serve.

Prep Time: 20 min-- Bake Time: 40-45 minutes-- Chill Time: 3 Hours-- Makes: 10 servings

Another Great Series of Books to Read!

2012-02-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

This is second series in the Percy Jackson books. They are called "The Heroes of Olympus". There will be five of these books as well. So far, only two are out :( The first book, "The Lost Hero," is about Jason, Leo, and Piper. Three new heroes we will learn about. Percy is mentioned, but only the fact that he is missing. He has been missing as long as Jason has been present and Jason can't remember anything before that period of time. They have a great mission to save Piper's Father, who has been kidnapped and another very important person, who has also been kidnapped.

"The Son of Neptune" is back to Percy who finds himself also in a different place, other than camp half-blood, with a whole new group of friends. He, Hazel, and Frank will also be placed on a new quest to kill the impossible, release a monster, to save camp all in a short period of time. Hopefully all of this will restore Percy's memory and old live.

These were both wonderful books! Loved every minute of them. I could hardly put them down. Now, I have to wait until this fall when "The Mark of Athena" will be released.

I have not read this one yet, but there is also "The Demigod Diaries" available. It is a book of several short stories of the various demigods, such as Luke Castellan, Percy, and Leo Valdez. Sounds like it could be fun too!

Book Four is Scheduled to be released Fall of 2013! (No name announced)

Book Five is Scheduled to be released Fall of 2014! (No name announced)

~Stacy~

Boys Ties

2012-02-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

For Christmas my sister in law made these darling ties for her boys. I wanted so badly to learn how, so I looked up on Pinterest, and this is what I found...

They are so easy!!! I was able to finish all of these in 2 hours, and that included taking 3 phone calls, helping 2 people, and taking caring of my sons needs. I thought that was pretty good. I think they are so CUTE!!!

Pinsperations!

2012-02-10T13:35:00.002-07:00

I LOVE pinterest! Greatest thing ever! Of course there are a lot of Valentine Day ideas floating around out there, but for those of you who have not been converted yet...I thought I'd share some of my fav's that I've found!

You can find this here

You can find the tutorial for "the husband gift" here

And here are just some yummy cute treats you can make...

Easy Peasy..

Love crepes found here

You can make some lovely hot cocoa

Lots of food hearts shaped ideas found here

Aren't those just the funnest cupcakes!? LOVE them!

And if you have kids and want to come up with cute saying for the valentines in class you can find them here

And I just think this is AWESOME! "The Game of Love" You can find how to do it here

Hope this gives you a couple ideas if you are stumped!

Happy Valentines Day!!

--MIchelle--

Couponing!

2012-02-09T09:02:00.002-07:00

This was my first time couponing so I have to do the famous coupon post! It was so much fun! I have been wanting to start for a couple years, but it just seems so overwhelming...but I finally did it! And by big numbers were....The total came to $62 and I spent $27 for:
1 Gallon of milk
6 boxes of cereal
1 box fiber 1 bars
5 zone bars (all free :)
4 bags m & m's
15 propel
3 bags cheese
I was pretty happy and can't wait to do it again! These are the sites I used to figure it all out, and I get the 5 Sunday papers for the coupon inserts, and Grandma & Grandpa gives me one too.

http://www.couponmom.com/
http://athriftymom.com/category/albertsons/
http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/category/albertsons

--Michelle--

Baby Giraffe rattles

2012-01-19T10:37:00.001-07:00

Melanie got me started and now obsessed with Pinterest, thanks a lot MEL!! haha! I do love it, just spend a bit too much time pinning. But the other day I saw these darling little giraffe rattles, so I had to make some! There are many, many women in my ward that are pregnant at this time, so I thought I would whip up some cute baby gifts.

I think they turned out really cute! I just put a little rattle in them, so as not to annoy the parents, but still entertain the babe.

Rachel

Christmas Wreaths

2012-01-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

This is a wreath idea I got from a girl I work with. It is made out of a simple wire hanger, about 60 shatterproof ornaments and a big, festive bow. I made two of them, however, I did not get them made before Christmas was over and I did not get to hang them on either side of my garage! Next year, it will look amazing!

Here is a closer view. . .

1. To make these fun wreaths, find a nice wire hanger, like the kind you get at the dry cleaners.

2. You will untwist the hook part of the hanger with the rest of the hanger and bend and shape until you have a nice circular shape at the bottom.

3. Go ahead and start putting on the bulbs in any order you'd like, adding from the non-hook end. Don't worry about arranging them because they will arrange themselves and change whatever you did. For mine with the two tones, I tried to do about 2 or 3 gold for every 2 blues. I also used different sizes and I think it turned out really well! Just a side note, this part can be a little frustrating towards the end because the bulbs will start to pop off of their hooks as you get close to having a full hanger. Don't give up though, it will look amazing!

4. Once you are satisfied with the amount of bulbs you put on there, go ahead and re-wind the hanger back together. You will notice I went on and bent the top hook of the hanger all the way down so it would fit nicely onto either a doorhook or a nail.

5. If you are good a making bows, make a nice, big bow to cover the hanger at the top. If you are not as talented in that area, it is ok, there are many beautiful bows at any of the department stores throughout Christmas time for a reasonable price!

6. Last but not least, show off your unique wreath for all to see!

Filters

2012-01-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

So I've been meaning to post this for a while but just keep forgetting. I have found and heard of a couple good filters for your home computers. There is a lot of crap out there on the computer, and I think these are great for protecting your families. This first one, OpenDNS is a filter on your router so it will protect any device that is used on it, (computers or phones or whatev), you can click here for the first one. It's easy to install, just follow the instructions.

The second one is called K9 web protection, and it just goes on the one computer you install it on, and that one you can find here.

On both of these you can create your settings of everything you want blocked. You can also put in certain website you'd like blocked. However you'd like to customize it to your own families needs. And as the women of the house I think it's good for you to be the one to put it on, and to be in charge of the passwords and blocks and everything, just for preventative measures. But that's my own personal opinion. Anyways, take it or leave it, but just thought I'd share.

--Michelle--

Here is one just for the kids! It is awesome and it is just $4.99 for THE YEAR! www.kangaplace.com. Try a free 30 day trial and if you don't love it, no worries, don't pay the $4.99.

Basically, you can either have this set as your home page or just have the icon on your desktop and teach your kids where to go. You follow the steps and build a "pouch" for each child in your home with their favorite games, ones you already approve of and know are safe, and then when they want to play the computer, they log onto their pouch and can play any of the games in there. It is brilliant! If there is a website you know is fine and is not in their preapproved games, they have steps to add that too.

These are my friends who created this website and I am so proud to recommend it. It really is fantastic. My kids LOVE it and so do I. I feel completely confident they are safe while playing the computer now and they know what they can do. We have added websites they play at school to so they can do school stuff as well. I hope you enjoy this too!

--Stacy--

Scripture Reading

2012-01-11T12:24:00.003-07:00

So all through seminary and religion classes I would for the most part read the sections (Book of Mormon Part 1 &2 Old Testament, New Testament etc. ) we were studying, so with that being said, sadly & embarrassing to say I've never read the Book of Mormon all the way through until I was 22. And I really have to make goals to read everyday, because I slack off a lot. So I was on Pinterest at the beginning of the year and found this...

You can find it here. And I'm so excited! I've been doing awesome! You read about 7 pages a day. And that's the other funny part, is when I would read my scriptures I would usually just read like a chapter or a couple verses, whatever I had time for. And now doing this it's easy ready that much at a time. So that's my resolution this year...to read all of the scriptures! I just printed off the schedule and put it in the front of my scriptures and mark it off everyday. So i'll send out the invite for whoever wants to join me in my endeavor! :)

--Michelle

Christmas Jars

2012-01-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago a neighbor gave us a book called "Christmas Jars" by Jason F. Wright. I immediately read the book and loved it! I had Austin read it and he loved it and the idea behind the book. So we started a Christmas Jar. At the time we were poor residents hardly spending any money at all, but that first year we were able to give away about $60 in change that we had collected. And WOW! I cannot tell you how wonderful of a feeling it is to help someone else like that. Seriously. It is such a good lesson for a family. My kids are SO excited every single time they add money to the Christmas Jar. Every year about a month before Christmas, during Family Home Evening, we challenge the kids to think of someone to give our Jar to, and this year they had a suggestion that night. It had already been on their mind and they had been thinking of who could use it! I was so proud of them. We used their suggestion and they were again SO EXCITED when it came time to deliver the JAR. What a wonderful lesson for children.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to every family.

Neighbor Gifts

2012-01-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is what we did this year for neighbor gifts.

We gave the root beer to our neighbors that we didn't know very well

And gave the gum to our friends.

--Michelle

Tortilla Pizza

2011-12-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

We had these tortilla pizza's at my mom's house this past visit. They were delicious and so easy. The boys loved it because they could make their pizza just how they like it and felt like they had a HUGE pizza all to themselves.

Ingredients Needed:

Flour Tortillas (two per pizza)

Pizza sauce (homemade or your favorite canned)

Cheese

Any other toppings you like:

Pepperoni, Sausage, Olives, Mushrooms, Peppers, Pineapple, etc

You start with one tortilla on your cooking sheet. Add a small layer of cheese, followed by your second tortilla. Add your pizza sauce and build the rest of you toppings to your preference. They take about 15-20 minutes to cook on 350°.

The Pizza Sauce we used, I got from www.allrecipe.com. The direct link to it is: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/exquisite-pizza-sauce/detail.aspx. It is called Exquisite Pizza Sauce. I thought it was really tasty. I did not have any marjaram or cayenne peper on hand so I did not put any in it and it was still delicious. It calls for:

1 can (6oz) Tomato Paste

6 oz Warm Water

3 Tbsp Grated Parmasean Cheese

1 tsp Minced Garlic

2 Tbsp Honey

3/4 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 tsp Dried Oregano

1/4 tsp Dried Marjoram

1/4 tsp Dried Basil

1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/8 tsp Dried Red Pepper Flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese.
Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

Enjoy- Stacy

Raspberry Jello Dessert

2011-12-22T22:31:00.001-07:00

This Jello recipe was given to me by one of my sisters, Heather! It is so yummy and easy! I just took a double batch to our church's Christmas Party and is was gone fast! I thought is was kind of festive too! Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy too!

1 Small pkg Raspberry Jello

1 16 oz Container of Yogurt (raspberry flavored if you can find it, if not strawberry or vanilla)

1 container of cool whip

1 16 oz bag frozen raspberries

First mix the yogurt and the jello together. Then fold in the cool whip. Finally, just before serving, add the raspberries.

I have not tried it with other flavors but I bet would be delicious with others like strawberry!

Stacy

Christmas Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

So my family has a tradition each year that before Christmas, we decorate a Gingerbread house for a family night. We let the boys do all of the decorating after we have pieced it together. This year, I found this cute 5 house set at Walmart for about $10.00. What a steal! The boys each got to decorate their very own and we still had some left over that we decorated with friends later.

~Stacy~

Mary's Baby Shower

2011-11-22T10:09:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Mary's Shower. It turned out really nice.

Hope everyone had a fun time!

Add more photos if you have them!

Enjoy!

Rachel

Breakfast smoothie

2011-11-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Lately I have also been trying to eat a little more healthy. I try to work out 4-5 times a week. Before I start my workout I have been trying these Access bars from Meleluca. They say they turn fat into fuel. I am not sold on them yet. Then I do my workout, which by the way... I LOVE the Jillian Micheals DVD's, no kidding, I work harder in those videos than any other workout, including 1 1/2 hrs of basketball! Anywho, After my workout I make myself a breakfast smoothie. It is similar to Michelle's, but different.

1/2 C. yogurt
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. frozen fruit (I have a freezer full, but my favorite is peach with a few strawberries)

Blend and drink.

LOVE IT!!

I am not a great one at drinking milk, so this gets me my milk and some extra calcium in the yogurt. I really do love this for breakfast.

Enjoy!

Rachel

Yummy, yummy soup

2011-11-20T18:41:00.003-07:00

I LOVE shrimp. So anytime I see a new recipe for shrimp I like to try it. Kennedy and I would watch Rachael Ray together sometimes when Tori was at school. One day she had this as her demonstration, and I literally tried it that night... I was not disappointed! It is so good. I can't wait until it starts to turn cold so I can make this soup. Making it tomorrow!!! Happy day!

Sausage and Shrimp in one pot

Ingredients
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound hot or sweet bulk Italian sausage or 1 pound of links, split from casings
2 cubanelle peppers, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1 15-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1 pound large, peeled, deveined shrimp
A handful of basil leaves, torn or shredded
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, a handful, chopped
1 loaf ciabatta bread (Ijust made my own french bread)

Heat a large, high-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat with EVOO, a couple of turns of the pan. Add the sausage, crumble and brown 3-4 minutes then add peppers, onions and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes more so the vegetables start to soften.

Add tomatoes, stock and bay leaf, stir and bring up to a boil. Add shrimp and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook 5 minutes, uncover and stir in basil and parsley. Turn off heat.

Crisp bread in the hot oven. Serve stoup in shallow bowls with crusty bread alongside for mopping.

I will post a picture when I make it again this week.

Enjoy!
Rachel

Baby Weight

2011-11-14T10:37:00.001-07:00

So it's been three months since I had Brynlee..and a couple weeks ago I just had it with my body and decided I really need to get serious if I'm going to loose this dang baby weight. So I decided to eat REALLY healthy and see what that does for me. So I talked to Mary who is an expert at being skinny (and knowing how to get there) and she helped me decide what I needed to do. I had took all of my body measurements about a month ago, because I was hoping I'd be able to loose a lot in a month, so I was doing some little work outs, measured myself two weeks later...nothing. So thats when I talked to Mary! And came up with a little menu. In a week an half I have lost 11.5 inches and 7 pounds! And I have done workouts at least 3 days a week. Anyways for breakfast I have an amazing smoothie! Here's what I put in it....

3/4 cup of ice

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 whole banana

6 to 7 frozen strawberries (you can get a 6lb bag at Costco for like 8.50)

1 tbsp honey

about 3/4 cup either skim milk or apple juice (yummy fresh apple juice I got from making apple sauce) but you could use any juice, milk or just water.

Blend it all up and it's AMAZING! I love it! I know oatmeal is really good for you...but I HATE eating it the normal way, but this way it gets your dose in and tastes amazing!

I also went to Costco it get a HUGE bag of spinach! I think it was like a 4 lb bag. And sometimes I do make green smoothies and put some spinach in that also. But what I really use it for is salad's. And they also taste AMAZING! I load on the veggies like tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, cucumbers, avocados or whatever else you'd like. Then I'll put boiled eggs and make up some chicken to put on top. It's SO yummy...and filling! I use a raspberry vinaigrette. Sometimes I also put a lot of fruit on and that's yummy too.

And if I don't have that for lunch then I'll have it for dinner...or I'll just make up a nice little talapia or chicken dinner with a veggie and some fruit. It's working for me. After Halloween I just had it! I was eating like total crap so I decided I needed to just eat totally healthy...and I love it!

-Michelle

Free Gift

2011-11-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

The blog howdoesshe is celebrating their "2 year anniversary" and is teaming up with a company called Paper Coterie and giving everyone a $30 credit on their site towards whatever you'd like, you just have to pay the shipping. So I just got on there and they have some cute things, I'm going to do myself a cute little calendar. Check it out here! http://www.howdoesshe.com/happy-birthday-howdoesshe-free-gift-for-everyone

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-11-06T20:16:00.003-07:00

These cookies are amazing. Whenever fall hits this is my go-to recipe! It's simple and it makes a lot of cookies.

1 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 large can pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla

Mix these together and then add:

2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
5 1/2 cups flour

Mix together and then add

large package of chocolate chips (the more the better)

Put spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet

Bake @ 400 for 13 minutes

(Note, brandname Pumpkin like Libby's makes for the best tasting cookies.)

Enjoy!
-Meagan

Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup

2011-11-03T18:39:00.000-06:00

We get bountiful baskets quite often and it is about this time of the year when I start getting squashes that I have no idea what to do with them. Some I have never heard of. Last year we got a BIG butternut squash in the basket and I went in search for a new and interesting recipe to try. When I talked to Mom she said she had just tried a good one, and this is it. We tried it and everyone loved it. I have to admit though, I did not mention that it was a squash soup until after dinner was over. Austin DID NOT believe me, but he still likes it! ;)

So here it is...

1 1/2 - 2 lb. butternut squash. Cut, clean out, and lightly coat the cut side with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, or spray with olive oil. Bake on a cookie sheet with the cut side down. Bake at 350 for about one hour or until soft.

Remove from oven, cool, remove skin. Place squash in blender with 2 cups chicken stock; pulse until smooth.

While squash is baking, cut a Kilbasa sausage into slices and then into small pieces, if desired. Simmer with 2 1/2 C. chopped onion until onion is tender and sausage is browned. Drain off grease and set aside.

In a pot, cook 1 C. wild rice in 4 C. of chicken stock until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Cool.

In a large pot add squash mixture and 6 additional cups of chicken stock; simmer. Then add the onion/sausage along with 2 cans drained whole kernel corn. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add rice and simmer for another 10 minutes. Just before serving add 1 1/2 C half and half and heat on low until soup is warm. Top with T. chopped Parsley; season with salt and pepper.

My family are not fans of onions, so I do not include the onion at all.

Grocery list:
1 1/2 - 2 lb butternut squash
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Onion
Kilbasa sausage (I have omitted this before, but we like it included better)
1 C. wild rice
12 C. chicken stock
2 cans of whole kernel corn
1 1/2 C. half and half (I have substituted whole milk when I forgot the 1/2 and 1/2)
Parsley for garnish, if you like

Enjoy!!

Rachel

Date Night

2011-11-03T18:26:00.002-06:00

So I found an amazing blog that has tons of fun dates on a budget on Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest) it's http://loveactually-blog-ideas.blogspot.com/ So I decided to try one of them and we had a BLAST! We did the bookstore date night. And here's how it went...we went to Barnes and Noble and we had a list of books to find. You can split up or look together. Find your books and then find a little nook in the store to share your findings. I had two sets of book lists for us the first set was:

#1 find a recipe to cook for your date

A: Peachy Dream Tarts (peaches are my absolute FAVORITE!)

M: Flaming Weenies (it was from a hillrious redneck cookbook)

#2 Find a book that reminds you of your childhood
A: Walter the Farting Dog
M: Corduroy
If you'd like you can read them to each other also :)

#3 Find a funny joke to tell your date
We told more that one, and it was fun, we just sat and laughed for a while

Then we got our 2nd list of books, split up and did it all over again.

#1 Find a new date idea to do on a future date night

A: Go to a concert

M: Play pool (I found a cool book that had a tiny pool set you could play on the cover)

#2 Find a quiz to take together
We went to the magazine section and looked FOREVER..but found nothing, which is odd because you always see quizes in magazines...so we moved on.

#3 Find a map or book of your DREAM vacation
A: Wonders of the World (he's already been to 3...lucky!)
M: I have so many I couldn't find something on Bora Bora, so I narrowed it down to Africa, Thailand &Italy

The great thing about Barnes and Noble is they have a Starbucks in it..so you can get yourself a delicious Strawberry Frappuccino & have dessert and you read your books. We would recommend a bookstore date night!

Michelle

Mummy Cupcakes

2011-11-02T10:53:00.000-06:00

Everyone was saying they wanted to know how to make these so here you go:
You will need:
1 cake mix
Chocolate frosting (I just bought mine)
tic-tacs (orange or green)
fondant icing (recipe below)

The fondant icing is best made the night before and stored in the fridge, but I didn't realize that and made mine when I was ready to frost the cupcakes, so I made it and put it in the freezer for 1 hour and it worked great too. Make your cupcakes according to box directions and let cool. When your fondant icing is ready to use, roll it out thin, then cut strips using a pizza cutter. After I cut one way making thin strips of all sizes (thicker and skinnier strips), I cut the other direction the length of a cupcake (about 2-3 inches) so they were all strips fit perfect for a cup cake. Frost your cupcakes with the chocolate frosting. Put tic-tacs on for the eyes, about 2/3 of the way up on the cup cake so it's equivalent to a face and then layer your fondant icing around it. It is so easy to do, if you make your fondant the night before, once your cupcakes are cooled I bet you could be done rolling out fondant and decorating cupcakes in a half hour tops.

For the fondant:
You will need:
1/2 bag of mini marshmallows (16 ounce size) use a good quality brand
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 1/2 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup Crisco (for greasing hands and counter top)

Melt marshmallows and a tablespoon of water in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and continue microwaving 30 seconds at a time until all melted. It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes total. Grease your hands and counter top generously with Crisco. Place 2 cups of powdered sugar in a pile on the crisco-d countertop and pour melted marshmallows on top. Start needing like you would bread dough. This stuff and sticky at this stage, and be careful because it's hot at the beginning. Continue regreasing hands and countertop as needed. Add the rest of the powdered sugar (1/2 cup) and knead some more. Regrease when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and knead in). It usually takes about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing easily. Form it in a ball and put a small coating of Crisco around it. Wrap twice in plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. It sounds more complicated than it is, it's really easy.

Hope you guys enjoy!
Heather

The Best Chicken Enchiladas EVER!

2011-11-02T10:48:00.000-06:00

So this is a recipe that was first introduced to us by our sister Heather. She learned it when she was a teenager. We have loved it so much that we have since taught it to all of the sisters and many of our friends too. Most of our husbands love it. My husband, for example, will actually eat these as leftovers and love it! That says a lot! So here they are.

Chicken Enchiladas

4-5 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
1- 8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 C Salsa (I recommend mild)
1- 8 oz Can Tomato Sauce
1- 10 oz Can Enchilada Sauce (again I recommend mild)
8-10 Flour Tortilla Shells
2 C Shredded Cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and spray a 9X13 pan with non-stick spray.

2. Cook chicken breasts in microwave in 5 minute increments, flipping inbetween until fully cooked, then shred.

3. Combine Cream Cheese, Salsa, and Shredded Chicken in a medium sized mixing bowl and set aside.

4. In a seperate medium sized mixing bowl, combine the Enchilada Sauce and the Tomato Sauce and set aside.

5. Now begin to fill the tortillas. Take one large spoonful of the Chicken and Cream Cheese mixture and spread it on one half of the tortilla shell, then roll up. Continue filling the tortillas until the mixture is gone.

6. Cover the filled Tortilla Shells with the Enchilada Sauce mixture. Then Sprinkle the Shredded Cheese over the top until evenly spread.

7. Bake on 350° for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the mixture is bubbling.

I usually serve this with canned corn and some biscuits. The biscuits I will usually melt some butter in a pie dish while the enchiladas are cooking. Once it is melted, I will sprinkle a little bit of garlic powder on it, open the biscuits in a can and dip them on one side then flip them to the other side to cook. I spread a little parmasan cheese on them and let them bake for about the last 10 mintues of the enchilatas. My family loves this meal!
Stacy

More Halloween Fun

2011-11-02T10:26:00.001-06:00

The Bats and Pumpkins

The Mummies

The whole group together with the twinkie mummies

and an oreo spider!

My boys and I had some friends come over to make mummy cookies and twinkies. This turned into making bats and pumpkins too. It was really fun and I was impressed with how creative the kids could be. My oldest made pirate pumpkins and put "stitches" on the mummies for effect. The recipe below is for the cookies and the frosting we used. The cookies are so soft and delicious. I will often add just a little bit of vanilla to them also, but you don't have to. For this recipe it made about 6-7 dozen cookies. We had to make double the recipe for frosting and I still ran out, so it makes a lot!

Soft Sugar Cookies

2 C Sugar
1 C Butter, softened
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Eggs
1 C Milk
4-6 C Flour

Cream the sugar, butter and eggs. Add the baking powder, soda and salt. Then add the milk and slowly start adding the flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Refrigerate for easier rolling. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/2" thick. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Sugar Cookie Frosting

4 oz Cream Cheese
1 Cube Butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla
4 C Powdered Sugar

Combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add powdered milk until frosting is the consistency you would like. If it gets to thick, add a small amount of milk to thin. Separate into bowls to mix colors.
Stacy

The Witches are out...

2011-10-31T08:39:00.003-06:00

I invited a few ladies over for a Witches party. It was a TON of fun to get ready for. I have never been one to decorate for Halloween, but this year I went all out. The kids and I hung spider webs all over the house, pumpkins and witches everywhere. Heather let me borrow all of her decorations to make it even better! The decorating turned out awesome.

I had decided to do soups and breadsticks, with some treats too. I made 3 of my favorite soups, some yummy breadsticks and some witches brew (apple cider). Meagan made some of her famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Thank you!

Some of the decor...

All of the witches.

I was so impressed at how everyone dressed up. Everyone was so cute (or scary). One of the witches even had fake teeth made just for the night!!

Our witches wands

Happy Halloween!

Rachel

Halloween Party

2011-10-29T12:40:00.003-06:00

So we had a little Halloween Party on Friday, and I had so much fun making all of these little treats. For these cupcakes I just food colored the vanilla batter and frosted orange, and just put reece's pieces on top.

I attempted to make mummy cupcakes, but Heather's turned out so much cuter!

Some of our few decorations

Mummy prezel sticks. Which I think turned out to be my favorites. You just dip them into white chocolate. Use milk chocolate for the eyes dipped on with a fork, and put the rest of the white chocolate in a bag and drizzle it over the top. So cute!

Frankenstien pudding was a close runner up. I think they turned out pretty cute. Once again I just put green food coloring into vanilla pudding, 3/4 of the way, and filled up the rest with smashed oreos and drew on the faces.

We didn't quite get to carving pumkins before the party, so just threw on a little vinyl!

Happy Halloween everybody!!!

-Michelle

"Sweet as Pie" Cupcakes

2011-10-26T16:32:00.002-06:00

I found this recipe in the "Disney Family Fun" magazine while sitting at the doctors office today. With fall in the air and Thanksgiving coming up I thought it was a good time to share this cute idea for something to do with the kids. So here are the instructions that came out of the magazine and off their website.
Stacy

"These cute cherry pies have a secret: they're cupcakes in disguise.

Ingredients

Instructions

Bake a dozen of your favorite cupcakes. Tint a 16-ounce can of white frosting with 3 drops yellow food coloring and either 1 teaspoon cocoa powder or 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup, then frost the cupcakes.
Transfer the remaining frosting to a ziplock bag, snip off a corner, and set the bag aside. Press red chocolate candies (such as M&M's) onto the top of each cupcake as shown, then use the bagged frosting to pipe a lattice pattern over them and a zigzag crust around the edge. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Notes:: This recipe was adapted from What's New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson"

Great Books to Read

2011-10-26T16:17:00.001-06:00

So, I have just started reading the 'Percy Jackson' series of books by Rick Riordan. Let me just say, what a good, wholesome series this is so far! I finished the first one, "The Lightening Thief" in just a couple of days. It was a very easy read and very entertaining. If you liked Greek Mythology, you will enjoy these books very much. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 and only because there were so many of the Greek Myth characters I could not remember who were in the story and maybe could have been re-introduced to our memories a little better! But all in all, great book, great story!
Stacy

Candy Corns

2011-10-24T08:27:00.001-06:00

So the other day as I was blog surfing I came across this post for candy corns. It was so cute I went out and bought the cones that day. Then I went back to find the instructions and couldn't find the blog. So here are my instructions...

Supplies you need:

Styrofoam cones (any size you want)

Yellow, Orange, and White Yarn

Hot glue gun

I started by marking where I wanted each section to start. Then I liberally applied hot glue to the top and bottom edges and a couple of lines in the middle.

You need to start with either the yellow or white, I chose yellow.

Then just wrap it around a million times, or until it is as big and thick as you like.

Cut yarn and tuck the end in.

Repeat the same process with the White yarn.

For the orange, glue the same as the others and wrap and wrap, around and around. The only hint I have for this one is just make sure you make the orange level with the other two colors.

Now you are finished!

I think these are just darling.

thanks for looking!

Rachel