birthday bouquet...

my only-est girl turned 4 recently, and instead of doing a traditional cake, i decided to give her a flower pot filled with sugar cookies!  she was thrilled with them, and it was super easy!

i started off using a package of sugar cookies from betty crocker, and made the recipe off the back for the cut-out cookies. (cheating, i know, but i was short on time).  at Easter time, i found a wilton cookie pan mold with flowers on it.  i filled the cookie tin with the cookie dough, stuck in the wilton cookie sticks at varying lengths and baked.  it was super easy!  and they came out beautifully once they cooled a bit.

i enlisted the help of daddy to decorate her flower pot, which i got at wal-mart for $3.99.  he painted it with fireworks, flowers, fish, and a happy birthday sign along the top. i am glad he is artistic, because my painting would have been disastrous.

why the face?  because of this:

there wasn’t any way he could fix it!

next i mad rice krispie treats and molded them into the pot.  in retrospect, i should have used cocoa krispies to look more like dirt, but this worked.

i positioned some extra cookie sticks in the treats so that i wouldn’t have to force the actual cookies into hardened treats.  i am very glad i did this, because i probably would have broken a cookie or two trying to get them in.

i decorated the cookies with various brands of cookie icing.  quick drying proved to be the easiest to work with.  they didn’t turn out too badly, although i think my creativity lacked immensely.

stinkerbell loved the way they smelled!! (who doesn’t love the fragrance of sugar cookies?) she kept ‘sniffing’ her bouquet!

everyone enjoyed eating them.  they were HUGE, though.  way more sugar in one sitting than my kids are used to.  they had to go run it off outside for about 2 hours!

all in all, a success, i think!  if you decide to make these, would you link to my blog and let me see them?  i would love to have new ideas for the next time.

linking to Mingle Monday today with Robyn at addapinch.com

delicious fruit salad

i used to make an apple salad with mayonnaise that i LOVED, but i didn't make it very often because the mayo is just not good for you. i found a recipe for a lighter version, and made it the other day for a side during lunch. i found it on Menus4Moms.com, which i have found to be a great resource for meal plans when i am stuck.

Apple, Grape and Walnut salad

• 3 sliced and cored Granny Smith apples
• 1 bunch red grapes, pulled from the stems
• chopped walnuts
• 8 oz. vanilla yogurt
• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened

Mix the cream cheese and yogurt until well blended (we used our bullet blender). put fruit, etc in a bowl and mix in the yogurt blend. refrigerate :)

i didn't have any grapes the second time i made it, so we added raisins instead. another good add-in would be celery or pineapple chunks.

yummy!! and so much better for me :)

Ham and Noodle Casserole

i just made this last night and realized that a friend of mine had asked me for this recipe and i totally forgot to give it to her (sorry, heather!). so i thought i would post it.

Ham and Noodle Casserole (Taste of Home, Light and Tasty, adapted)

shopping list:

8 oz elbow noodles
12 oz cottage cheese
3/4 c sour cream
1/4 c milk
2 T flour
3 T grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dill weed
1 cup chopped cooked ham
10 oz frozen peas

1. cook noodles according to package, drain
2. mix in a large bowl: cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, flour, parmesan, dill weed
3. add ham and noodles and mix in.
4 pour into 9x13 pan sprayed with non-stick
5. bake, covered, about 25 minutes at 350
6. top with frozen peas and return to oven, covered, for 5 minutes

enjoy :)

my kids love this meal, and french bread is a really nice side. it serves our family of five with leftovers for lunch the next day for the kids.

this also freezes beautifully! multiply the needed ingredients by 4, and then mix everything together up to the peas. place in 1 gallon freezer ziploc bags and lay flat in freezer. on the day you want to serve it, pull it out in the morning to thaw, and then follow directions #5 and 6.

Chicken Rollups from scratch :)

my mom made this great recipe when i was growing up. i have no idea where it came from, so i cannot give credit where it is due, sorry! she doesn't make it anymore, and for the life of me i cannot understand why. it is just so yummy! she could have made it weekly and i would have been happy. on trips home from college i would request this and dad's meatloaf (the likes of which will never be posted because it is one of those family secrets that can never be divulged).

not only is it yummy, it is easy.

e. a. s. y.

and i figured out how to make it even cheaper than it was before :)

the cheaper version takes a little more effort, but if you have any eager kitchen helpers, it can be lots of fun as well!

Cheap Chicken Rollups

• make a basic bread dough in your bread maker. we made the wheat roll dough recipe.

• while it is becoming yummy dough, take 2 chicken breasts, throw them in a pan on the stovetop and cook til the juices run clear. let cool and cut into smaller than bite-sized pieces. you are going to be stuffing the rolls later on and they need to be small. if you have the patience small shredding works best.

• mix the chicken pieces with 1-1 1/2 cups cheese. we use colby jack. cheddar works nicely, too.

• if you have trouble getting your kids to eat veggies, you can process the veggie of your choice down to near liquid and throw it in as well.

• if you don't mind getting dishes dirty, throw the chicken, cheese and veggies into a food processor. you will be able to stuff more into your rolls.

• after the dough is done resting (per your breadmaker directions) divide the dough in half. we got 12 rolls out of half the dough and that fed all 5 of us happily with leftovers for daddy's lunch tomorrow. freeze the extra.

• split the remainder in half again and roll each out into a 6 inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. cut into 6 wedges. place a generous amount of filling into the middle of the base and roll like a crescent roll from fat end to point. place in a 9x13 greased casserole. repeat til you have 12.

• let raise about 15 minutes, pour on a can of cream of celery soup (or whatever cream soup you like) mixed with 1/2 can of water, put into a 350 degree oven and cook til tops are lightly browned- about 45 minutes. serve with veggie of your choosing and devour!

CHEATER version:

aka: the more expensive route! (you can knock off over 5$ by using the above method)

use 2- 8 count crescent roll tubes found in the refrigerated section
use 1 large can chicken breast

same amounts of cheese, soup, veggies.

some great substitutions could be chicken, swiss and spinach with cream of chicken soup; ham, cheese, broccoli with cream of broccoli soup; turkey, cheddar and carrots with cream of celery soup.

breakfast variations: scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, tomato, whatever!!

have fun with it! let me know if you try it :)