Friday Funnies

I told the kids to sit back down in their OWN seats about 5 times. They were not listening. Then one of my kids said...

She's getting on our tails, because she is a squirrel. That's what squirrels do.

This is really funny to me because of this squirrel hair do:

Oops, I guess I lost track of days with all of these snow days!

Ampersand

This project took me all of 15 minutes! I painted a canvas with this awesome pink color.  I did 3 coats!

Then I cut out this ampersand out of white vinyl and stuck it on! Done! Another bonus, I had all of these supplies at home, so I like to think it was free! :)

It will make its debut on the bedroom gallery wall soon! 

Snow Day Spaghetti Sauce

I had great plans of letting this spaghetti sauce simmer all day in the crockpot as I sat at home enjoying my snowday. It would make my house smell good, I had all the ingredients at home, and it would be a hearty winter meal. However, plans changed when my power went out at 9:56, minutes before my 10:00 start time.

I checked with my neighbor Mary Ann, and she said she would host my crockpot!

So in the semi-dark, powerless kitchen I prepared this sauce. I opened up the cans and started dumping. I opened up WHOLE tomatoes, not crushed. So I decided to double the recipe. I could freeze the leftovers!

I had some turkey sausage left over from my quiche, so I used that. It was already cooked, and added the other lb when I was able to get to a stove, right before I served the sauce.

Then I went to my friend Megan's house to eat the spaghetti! I shared a little with Mary Ann too, after all she had to smell it all day!!



Ingredients (this is the doubled recipe)

• 2 lb. Italian sausage
• 1/2 diced onion
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
• 2 6 oz cans tomato paste
• 2 cups water
• 4 T sugar
• 2 T dried oregano
• 2 T dried basil
• 2 t fennel seed
• 2 t sea salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 t Italian seasoning

Directions
Place all ingredients in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. Add in sausage at the end if you don't want it to be too dry.

She Believed She Could, So She Did!

This quote is perfect for me. When I put my mind to something. I do it. If it is something I'm really interested in, I do it that day.

With this bedroom re-do, I knew I wanted to paint. I had the paint, tape, and supplies. I just had to find the time.

This quote was found on Pinterest, and duplicated with my Silhouette. I cut out black vinyl, and put it on a frame I bought at Hob Lob! I "framed" a piece of pink paper.

Spray Paint Love

I found this guy in the "Men's Resin" section at my favorite store, Hobby Lobby.  I was on a mission to find an affordable "head" for my gallery wall in my bedroom.  He was 50% off! AND his horns came off, which meant it would be easy to 2 tone him!

The white did need a few coats, because he had a lot of details to him...

I spray painted his horns and this little frog prince I found "18K gold"

I love him! 

Stay tuned for his debut on my wall! 

Bedroom Week

Last weekend, my main goal was to paint my bedroom.  We all know how paint turns into projects.  You can't just paint! This week, I will showcase a few of my projects. But first, here are a few before pictures.

Looking at these pictures, this room has gone thru a few make overs, none of which I really LOVED.

This is what it looked like when I moved in. 

I painted it brown. I lived with this for 2 years. 

Then I got new bedding, and decided to paint.

Then I hated my headboard, and made one. (Which later turned into this )

Then I got new furniture. I lived with half grey/half tan for a year and a half.  

So now we are on to a new journey... Of all grey walls! 

Friday Funnies

On our way home from a field trip, the kids were singing on the bus. They were singing Ke$ha's Tik Tok
"Before I leave brush my teath with a bottle of Jack..."
Then we came to a stop sign, where they had to be quiet, but a kid was sure to yell out...
Kid 1-Jack? Do you even know what Jack is?
Kid 2- Ya, its soda!

Layers of the Earth

We are learning about the layers of the Earth in science.  I had the kids make playdough and build a model Earth.  They LOVE the playdough even in 5th grade!
Here is the recipe I used:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3 T cream of tartar
2 T oil
2 cups water
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients.  Add oil, water, and food coloring.  Mix until only small lumps remain.  Cook over medium heat until dough lumps together.   Be sure to stir constantly.  Kneed untill smooth.  Dough will be sticky and hot at first.  (You can add the food coloring at the end too, if you want a variety of colors)

Birthday Wine Bottle

I learned how to make a circle with words on my Silhouette. I watched this little video. She did a great job of teaching me how!

I cut it out on vinyl and put it on a wine bottle! I had to soak the wine bottle in warm water and use Goo Gone to help me get the label off.

Chips

I got a new food processor that does amazing things! One thing it does is slices potatoes perfectly even to make homemade chips!

I drizzled them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and put them in the oven at 425* for about 10 minutes, then flipped them for another 10-15. 

They came out perfectly delicous!

Pizza Rolls

I needed a quick and easy dinner.  These little pizza rolls won! They took a TOTAL of 15 minutes!

Ingredients: 
1 roll of crescent rolls
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
Pizza Squeeze sauce
Penzey's Pizza Seasoning

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350*
Unroll triangles, layer with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.
Roll up, sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and bake for 11-13 minutes!

Done. and. done.

Things I Love

1. My Silhouette Cameo

It made these. I want to keep them.

Friday Funnies

Kid-I wish I was Mexican.
Me-Why?
Kid- Because then I could say bad words and no one would know.

Red Velvet Cookies

Happy Valentines Day! You know I can't bake, but I can share cookie recipes with you! My friend Stephanie made these and they were so yummy! For our secret Valentines at work, I gave this recipe, a box of cake mix, and a cute spatula.  I am delaying the posting of this just a tad, because I know my secret Valentine reads my blog!


Red Velvet Cookies

Ingredients:
• Box of Red Velvet cake mix
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 eggs

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Put small balls of cookies onto cookie sheet. (They expand quite a bit) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool, then frost.

Frosting

Ingredients:
• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese
• 3 ½ T sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 8oz carton of heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Mix together one package of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until that is combined. Then slowly mix in a small carton of heaving whipping cream. Beat until peaks form.

Frost cookies. They are really good if you store them in the fridge!

Tortellini Soup!

This soup is so easy! Abbey, this one is for you, it is another "dump" soup! It is also vegetarian and pretty healthy. My friend Emily made it for our soup swap!

 

 

 

Tortellini Soup with Chunky Tomatoes and Spinach

 

Ingredients:

• 1  tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) Italian diced tomatoes, including juices
• 9-10 ounces tortellini (fresh or frozen), any variety
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian herb seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

 

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, and saute for 1 minute.

 

Add broth and tomatoes. Turn heat to high, cover and bring to a boil.

 

Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

 

Within the last minute of cooking the tortellini, stir in Italian herb seasoning, crushed red pepper and spinach. Taste, and add salt and pepper seasoning, as desired.

 

Serve immediately, garnishing each bowl with Parmesan cheese.

 

Chopped Spinach- I might have chopped it a little too much, but it made it look more like parsley than spinach.

 

 

 

 

Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese!

 

Adapted from http://www.alidaskitchen.com

 

Mardi Gras Jambalaya

I wanted to make Jambalaya for Mardi Gras, in the past, I made it in the crock pot, but didn't have time for that today. So I altered my recipe just a tad, and didn't give it the slow cooker treatment.  

If you live in the KC area, I strongly suggest you go visit Werner's in Mission.  They have amazing sausage that they make in house! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 medium white onion diced
• ½ red pepper, diced
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, with juices
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1T. Cajun spice
• 1t. oregano
• 1t. thyme
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• **½ cup leftover spaghetti sauce

Directions: 

In a large pot, heat 1 T olive oil, and brown sausage andonion.

Add garlic and red pepper, until cooked.

Add diced tomatoes chicken broth, and spices, and bring to aboil.

Add 1 cup uncooked rice.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

*This recipe can also be made with out pre-cooking the onionand sausage, and simmering it in a crock-pot on low all day.  Add the rice 30 minutes before you want to serve. 

**This is not necessary, I just wanted to use it up.  You may want to use more tomatoes, 28oz can instead, if you don't have leftovers. 

Brisket Enchiladas

If you make a big brisket, you can only eat BBQ sandies for so many days.  Then you have to find something else to do with it! I was craving Mexican, so I whipped this up.  It was so nice not to have to cook the meat, and it took me about 5 minutes to put this together.

Ingredients: 

2 Cups Mamma's Brisket , shredded

1 14.5oz can Enchilada sauce (I used Hy-Vee brand)

1 4oz can of diced green chilis

6 corn tortillas

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Directions: 

1. Mix brisket, green chilis, and 1/4 cup enchilada sauce together. 

2. Fill corn tortillas with meat mixture, and roll. Place in greesed 8x8 pan. 

3. Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce over rolled enchiladas.  (you may want to use less sauce, mine were pretty saucy) But, if you make a larger portion, the whole can will be perfect!

4. Sprinkle cheese on top. 

5. Bake for 25 minutes at 350*. 

Serve with sour cream

Valentine's Day Iron On & Card

I love making the kiddos shirts for every holiday, but there are getting to be too many! For Valentine's Day I decided to send Valentines with an iron on decal, so their Mamma's can put them on any shirt (maybe even cover up a stained one!)

I put a little note that said:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet
and so are you!

PS: Directions for Momma's
1. Peel of paper backing
2. Iron on (60 seconds dry heat) to your choice of shirt.

I made a little card, and mailed them off!

Baby A!

I ended up making 20 decals! Can't wait to see them on the kiddos! 

Friday Funnies- Call in Sick

Miss Cremer, we liked that sub because she takes naps. You should call in sick. If they want to face time you just put some red make up on your cheeks!

Mamma's Brisket

This is the recipe my mom always uses when she makes brisket.  It is easy, so I have been afraid to try anything else!

Ingredients: 
4-6 lb. beef brisket
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 or 2 tsp. onion salt
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 bottle liquid smoke
2 or 3 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. celery salt

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and rub into trimmed meat. Put in baking dish, seal in foil and refrigerate overnight. Bake with fat side up at 250 for 6-8 hours. Let set 1 hour before slicing. Serve with BBQ sauce.

L-O-V-E

You may recognize these letters from Christmas. I had them spelling NOEL. The Letters V & E are from Hobby Lobby, heart is from Target, and I made the L out of wood.

Frame has a glitter and burlap heart made from my Silhouette and double sided adhesive.

Valentine Decorations

I made this heart banner using Silhouette's double sided adhesive and glitter.

It was quick and easy! 

First I folded over a piece of burlap, and sewed it across.  Next I cut each one into a rectangle.  Then I cut out hearts on my Silhouette using double sided adhesive. (Do not cut intricate designs with this! It is hard to make the little pieces come out!) 

Then I stuck it onto the banner.  I sprinkled fine red glitter on each one.  I did it on top of a plate, to be sure not to waste glitter (or get it everywhere).  

Then I cut the rectangles into banner shapes, and fed twin through the casing that I made.  

Friday Funnies- Super Bowl

Me- Who knows who is playing in the Super Bowl this weekend?
Kid- The Chiefs!

If you are from KC you will find this HILARIOUS! The Chiefs ARE NOT GOOD!