drink up: mock champagne punch

If you're looking for a good punch recipe for the holidays or just for sometime in the future, bookmark this one.  A colleague of mine, Nancy, had this at a Christmas party and I made it for CJ's graduation party.  It's got a bit of a tangy flavor to it, which I really appreciate.

Mock Champagne Punch
2 - 2 liters of ginger ale
large can of pineapple juice
64 oz. white grape juice

A day before, pour one 2-liter of ginger ale into a round cake pan and freeze (I used a bundt pan, which was the perfect size).  The day of, put your ice ring in the punch bowl and add the other ingredients.

Enjoy!

my day in bullet points

My day in a handful of bullet points:

• I had the day off, the first of 11 days off.  This may come off as sarcastic, but in all seriousness, praise God for some time off.
• CJ and I had our Christmas together this morning.  He used my pinterest list and went off the list I made.  I married such a smart man.
• I went to the grocery store today.  Do you know what you shouldn't do on December 23rd?  Go to the grocery store.
• I made lunch:  Sandra Lee's cheddar-beer chicken in the crockpot, Panera Bread's mac & cheese, and pineapple casserole.
• To sum up lunch:  Sandra Lee failed me and CJ liked the Panera mac & cheese.  The pineapple casserole is an old standby.  (Want that recipe?  It's linked there on the sidebar.)
• CJ made cake/cookie pops and started to make pie crusts for Christmas meals.
• I made peanut brittle and peppermint bark in the microwave.  Both are winners.
• I made whiskey-caramel-marshmallow-bacon bark.  It's still in the freezer.  I was intrigued by the flavors.  It looks terrible though, soooo I'm not holding out on this being a winner.
• We are running our third load of dishes and the double sink is still full.
• I burnt my wrist.
• I burnt my fingernail.
• I spilled hot bacon grease on my floor.

The grocery store trip, failed lunch, weird whiskey-caramel-marshmallow-bacon bark, and hot bacon grease mess aside, it was still a good day (I wasn't at work, was I?).

Merry Christmas to you all!

henry then & now

I'm not going to lie.  Sometimes I miss this fuzzy little twelve-pound puppy:

Henry - Summer 2009

Henry - Fall 2011



Today we have a very high energy, very friendly fifty-five pound dog.  And as much as I miss the fuzzy little puppy, I definitely appreciate the fact that he can stay home alone and so long as we don't leave the kitchen trash out, he leaves our stuff alone.

(Famous last words, I'm sure.)

showing off: christmas card wreath

Thanks to Martha Stewart, we now have a new way to display Christmas cards.  Thank goodness, because my old method of hanging a piece of ribbon to the wall wasn't exactly working.

My version doesn't exactly look as pretty as Martha's and I think I have some ideas for improving it for next year.  But as soon as we get some more Christmas cards (I'm sure hoping this isn't it!), hopefully this will look a lot better!

If you're interested in making one yourself, it just takes an embroidery hoop, clothes pins, wood glue, and ribbon to throw together.

what's for dinner: baked cream cheese spaghetti

Can we say lifesaver?  This baked cream cheese spaghetti was on so many levels.

1.  I panicked one night last week because when I went to throw the next day's crockpot recipe together, it required me to do a little pre-cooking.  At 10 pm, I wasn't going to thaw out chicken, cut it into pieces, roll it in flour, and cook it first.  Also, we know that we spend too much money eating out, separately and together, and we also have a full pantry, so we've been making a concerted effort to eat in whenever possible -- and I just didn't want to break down and eat out that night.

2.  I had all but one ingredient on hand and I estimate it cost me about $5.25 to make.  Lesson:  Buy stuff when it's on sale.  I purchased spaghetti in bulk a few weeks ago (a buck per box!) and cream cheese at a $1.25/package.  The french fried onions, the only thing I didn't have on hand, were on sale for $2.99 this week.  I had green peppers leftover from our garden, plenty of homemade pasta sauce from our garden, and a small bag of frozen onions in the freezer, so that all helped.  (Another lesson?  Plant a garden.  It's cheaper to buy one pepper plant at $1.99 than to buy one pepper in the middle of winter for $1.99.)

3.  CJ loved this recipe.  When we were engaged, I learned that he didn't like spaghetti.  (Imagine my horror.  What in the world would I cook?)  But throw in cream cheese, veggies, and meat, and he's a satisfied customer.

Enough storytelling already.  Here's the picture and recipe:

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti
from Salad in a Jar

8 oz. uncooked spaghetti
1 lb. ground beef
26.5 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 C. chopped green peppers
1/3 C. chopped onions
8 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. milk
Parmesan
French fried onions

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cook your spaghetti.  Brown your meat.  Add the two together.

Meanwhile, combine onions, pepper, and butter in a bowl and microwave on high for about 4 minutes.  Add cream cheese and milk to vegetables and stir well.

I used a 10x6" dish for this, by the way.

Then layer:
Spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti & meat
Cream cheese/veggie mix
Spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese

Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, add a layer of french fried onions, and then bake 5 minutes longer.

Enjoy!

december is finally here!

Yes, I know that technically it's been December now for 17 days.  But for quite awhile now, CJ and I have both just told ourselves that we need to get to December.  And it's finally here!

To us, December marks the point in which we can start to put this time behind us.  We will celebrate our third anniversary in a few weeks, and with the exception of seven months in the beginning of our marriage, one or both of us have been in school the rest of that time.  It was a challenge for me to work full-time and attend school full-time.  It was even more of a challenge for my husband to work full-time (that'd be 48-72 hours), attend class one night a week, and in this last semester in particular, cram in 150+ clinical hours between September and the very beginning of December.  And while there's still some more work to be done -- CJ has to pass his boards and we both need to find jobs that use our new degrees - we can breathe again.

What we learned though, is that God saw us through this period.  Loving one another is nice.  Having a supportive family and a handful of friends certainly helped too.  But God did this one, and we are so, so grateful.

CJ with his Bake Lore cake: an ambulance with a CJ wearing nursing scrubs and a firefighter helmet.  I wanted something that represented all three of his professions.

My sister-in-law's birthday was Thursday, so I asked Amy to also make watermelon cake pops -- "Saturdays," as she calls them.

The inside of the watermelon Saturdays.  These weren't watermelon flavored, but she just dyed the batter and chocolate coating to match and added mini chocolate chips for the seeds.  Love!

With my nephew Carson

Carson in his new Christmas outfit.

Free entertainment!

showing off: wooden nativity

With CJ now done with school (we'll be celebrating his graduation tomorrow -- so excited!), he managed to squeeze in a quick nativity project for me.  We stole the idea from here (thankyouverymuch pinterest).

Truth be told, I like the colors that blogger used on her nativity, so I might just repaint ours and distress them a little bit.  But for this Christmas, it'll do.  And the best part is, we had everything down to the paint and twine, so it was f-r-e-e.

Merry Christmas!  We hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season!

and for a side: stuffed mushrooms

A former co-worker of mine, Christy, shared this stuffed mushrooms recipe on her blog, Trippin' - Life with Triplets, awhile ago.  These are quick and easy to make, and they never last long.  I can't remember if I've shared this recipe before or not, but even if I have, it's worth the repeat.

I'm not going to lie.  There were more stuffed mushrooms on this plate before I remembered to take a photo.  And the next thing I know they were gone.  Apparently what CJ heard was, "Finish off the mushrooms," when I really said, "The mushrooms are ready to eat."

Anyway, I'll get on with the recipe:

Stuffed Mushrooms

from Trippin' - Life with Triplets

Serves:  Not many

1 pkg. baby portabella or white mushrooms

1/2 C. grated smoked gouda

1/4 C. crushed garlic & herb croutons

butter

salt, optional

Clean mushrooms and remove stems.  Place caps top down on baking sheet.  Put a dab of butter in each.  Pack with cheese.  Sprinkle croutons on top and sprinkle with salt.  Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

P.S.  Christy's blog is definitely worth the read.  She and her husband have a daughter and three triplet boys, so she's never short of good stories.

and for a side: twice-baked potato casserole

Can you guess where I found this recipe for twice-baked potato casserole?  If you guessed pinterest, you're right.  (Seriously?  You haven't joined YET??)

We eat lots of first time meals around our house.  Most of the time it doesn't work out.  But this potato casserole is an entirely different story.  I was eating it before I even had a chance to throw it in the oven.  I practically licked my plate clean.  It's just that good.

Looks delicious, right?

Henry helped out with this one.  It had bacon in it, after all.  But in his credit, Henry is a pretty good helper.  I'm not going to lie.  He's a good mop substitute.

I'll quit jabbering and just share the recipe already.

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole
From Sippity Sup
Serves at least 8

5 lb. potatoes
10 slices bacon
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 C. unsalted butter, melted
1 C. sour cream
1/4 C. chives, minced
2-1/2 C. cheddar cheese
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:
Preheat ovento 350 degrees.  Peel potatoes and cut into 1" chunks.  Place in large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes.  Drain and return to pan.

In the meantime, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add bacon and cook until crisp.  Drain, cool, and crumble into pieces.

Mash your potatoes.  Stir in butter, cream cheese, and sour cream.  Add in chives, 2 C. cheddar, half of your bacon, salt, and pepper, and stir.

Transfer to a dish (buttered or sprayed with Pam).  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake about 30 minutes or until your top is slightly golden.  Garnish with remaining bacon.

Hope you all enjoy this one as much as we did!

what's for dinner: cheeseburger soup

A few weeks ago, I made cheeseburger soup and it was pretty darn good, if I do say so. This was my mom's recipe, although it looks suspiciously like something Taste of Home posted.  Maybe mom ripped them off?  Or vice versa?

Either way, here's the really professional-looking photo I took:

And here's the recipe:

Cheeseburger Soup

From my mom and/or Taste of Home, altered a bit

1/2 lb. ground beef

3/4 C. chopped onion

4 Tbsp. butter

3 C. chicken broth

4 C. diced, peeled potatoes

1/4 C. flour

2 C. Velveeta

1 1/2 C. milk

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 C. sour cream

Directions:

Brown beef and drain.  Saute onions in 1 Tbsp. butter.  Add broth, beef, onion mixture, and potatoes to pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

In a saucepan, melt remainder of butter.  Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  Add cheese, milk, salt, and pepper.  Cook until cheese melts.

Remove heat and add sour cream.  Then add everything to the beef and mixture mix.

Molly's notes:

For starters, this recipe also calls for carrots and celery.  I hate celery and thought it'd be weird to have carrots floating around in there, so I omitted both of those.

I'm pretty sure I probably used a whole pound of ground beef.  And I didn't use 2 cups of Velveeta.  Actually, come to think of it, this one calls for American cheese.  But Velveeta is better.  I didn't measure out 2 cups either.  I figured I couldn't go wrong with more Velveeta.  Also, I think I ended up using 4 potatoes, not 4 cups of potatoes.  I also can't remember if I added in the sour cream at the end.

Next time, I'll take better notes while I'm making the soup.  Just play around with it until you figure out what suits your taste buds best.  Enjoy!

Oh and one last thing...  It kind of bugs my mom when she gives a recipe away and then someone takes it to an event where they can count on her being there.  So if you know my mom and are headed to the same pitch-in meal as she is -- highly unlikely, I know -- just don't bring this soup.

showing off: snack bags

I thought I'd take a break from posting recipes -- since there are lots more to come -- to show off my latest creation, reusable snack bags!  I bought a pattern off of etsy months ago (there are plenty of free versions out there too, by the way -- not sure why I didn't use one of those), got stumped by the pattern, and had to wait until my friend, Leah, was able to come over and show me how to do it.  I'm not sure these are any cheaper than plastic bags, but I suppose I feel a little good about not throwing as many plastic bags in the garbage as before...



Fun, right?  Stella thinks so.