What I Wore the Week of Valentine's

 I have had this sweatshirt and "down" vest for a few years now.  But, is is great for staying warm.  Which, is exactly what I have trying to do... I has been insanely cold out lately.

I got them both at Hollister.

 I have also had this brown sweatshirt for a couple years now.  It is also from Hollister.  And I just wore an Under Armour shirt under it.

 This last fall I really wanted to get a flannel, plaid shirt.  I found one (this one) at Old Navy.  The vest I got a year ago at Gap Ourlet.

 I got this sweater and vest for this last Christmas.  They are both from Old Navy.

Valentine's Day.  I just had to wear something pink.  I got both the light-weight sweatshirt and vest for Tj Maxx.  They are both Nike.

I have had some lucky finds at Tj Maxx in the athletic section.  A lot of the time you can find name brand items for only a fraction of the price!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope everyone had a great one.

I have been busy making lots of valentines.  I love it!

 My sister made a cake for our 4-H club.  She likes making box cakes, which I don't believe in, but I do have to admit that her cake does look festive... so might as well take a picture.

I made a bunch of cards.  I didn't make each one for anyone in particular, but just to have a variety to pick form to give out.

We sent some relatives a valentine package.  I only took pictures of the one for my Grandma and Grandpa, but we did sent another package to some other relatives.

I found a box and then wrapped the sides in white construction paper.  Then we all signed it, and wrote a little note if we wanted to.

 Ready to be mailed!

My Mom wanted to make some sugar cookies.  I decided to write, with frosting, "Jesus Loves You!" on them.  They are going to be snack this Sunday for my Sunday School kids.  I also plan to make them a little goodie of puppy chow to take home.  I am going to sent it home with them in some little valentine boxes we have.

I made caramel corn (recipe coming soon) for some friends at school.

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Pizza Casserole

 This is one of those easy, go-to, quick, and delicious dishes.  My Mom has been making it for a long time.  Usually, she makes it without any of the optional add-ins, and it is still really good.  But, if you want to zest the dish up a little, go-ahead and add any of the add-ins you want.

My Mom was planning on making it the other night, but I had a cooking urge, so I made it.  I decided to try it with the add-ins and it was delicious!

A couple notes:  You may not need to use the entire package of cooked noodles.  Just add enough to your liking.  Also, if it seems to be a little too dry you can juice it up some with more ketchup.

Pizza Casserole

2 lbs. cooked ground beef
1 can pizza sauce
1 can tomato soup
ketchup (about 1/3 cup)
brown sugar (about 2 T.)
cheese (about 1/2 cup - part mixed in & part on top)
cooked noodles

Optional Add-Ins:

chopped onion or minced onion (1 T.)
chopped green pepper or minced green pepper (1 T.)
oregano (1 t.)
Italian seasoning (1/2 t.)
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Mix all the ingredient together.  Bake at 350 degrees until hot, about 1 hour.

Usually we have the hamburger all cooked up and ready to go before hand - either in the fridge or the freezer.  So, then we just mix all the ingredients together.  But, if you are cooking the meat right before you make it, you can cook and drain it, and then add the other ingredients, except the noodles, and let it simmer until blended.  Then you can mix the meat mixture with the noodles and bake in a casserole dish.



Enjoy!  It was sooo good!

Salad Elaine

So, I feel like I have been posting a lot of recipes lately.  But, I feel that I have a handful of delicious recipes that I want to post.  So why not post them?

This salad is delicious.  My Mom was given the recipe a while back.  It is so good.  Usually my Mom serves it as more of a side dish.  But why not add some grilled chicken on top to make it a main dish.

I like it when we have just some of the dressing mixed up in the fridge so that I can make myself a personal little salad... because the dressing is so good!  But, you can definitely make the dressing and toss it all with the salad ingredients (in larger quantities than if it were for just one) for a side dish to pass.



Salad Elaine

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. salt
3 T. minced or grated onion
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 c. vegetable (canola) oil

Whisk together, adding the oil.  You can use a shaker bottle or a small blender to make the dressing.  I did it by hand.

Salad:
Romaine (torn into bite size pieces) - you could probably use about any good lettuce
Red grapes (destemmed; probably a good idea to cut them in half)
Chopped apples
Chopped celery
Toasted walnuts
Gorgonzola cheese

Toss the salad ingredients and dress the salad with the dressing.

Just do whatever amounts of the salad ingredients that you would like.

When I made my little salad (picture), I didn't do the cheese because I am not a big cheese fan.  I have also substituted the grapes for raisins.

Enjoy!!  It seems so elegant!

Mom's Banana Muffins

This morning I go up and made a big batch of banana muffins.  Today I had nothing scheduled to do.  No school, no work, and no church to have to go to right away in the morning.  I stayed in my pjs until noon.  I have been in a cooking mood, so I didn't only bake up some banana muffins, but I also made some potato salad (I have been hungry for potato salad.... summer needs to come sooner) and beans to go with supper tonight.  Then this afternoon I went for the best run I have had since last July.  It is actually really nice out - it is supposed to get really cold again.  I ran 4 miles in 32:07!!!

This is my Mom's banana muffin recipe.  They are so good.  They are the ones she always makes.  It is a very large batch - it makes 3 dozen.  Make sure you use a very large bowl to mix the batter.  You probably will have to use an electric hand mixer.  A typical Kitchen Aid stand mixer just won't do it.

Some in our family like plain, some like just chocolate chip, and some like nut chocolate chip.  So, we some of each.  You can make this into bread.  But, we prefer muffins.  Whenever we make muffins we then freeze whatever we don't eat that day, so that we can pull one or two muffins out whenever we want one.  And... we always have a hard time getting to bread to bake thoroughly.

We always have bananas at our house.  So, we get lots of ripe bananas.  When we get a ripe one, we like to peel it and then freeze it.  We will keep a freezer bag or container in to freezer for the bananas.  Then, when we are going to make some banana muffins, we pull the bananas out of the freezer and let them defrost.  After the bananas have been frozen and then thawed out, there will be some juice from the bananas.  Go ahead and add some of that juice into the batter!


Mom's Banana Muffins

1 cup butter
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 cups sugar
6 beaten eggs
3 cups mashed bananas
1 cup light sour cream or yogurt (I like to use plain, nonfat, greek yogurt)
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking soda
Chocolate Chips
Chopped Nuts (walnuts) 

1. Cream together the butter, apple sauce, and sugar.
2. Add the beaten eggs.
3. Add the remaining ingredients.
4. Mix.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 24 minutes.  

Enjoy!

What I Wore {Some} in January

This month I have not been good about taking pictures of what I wore.  Usually I am rushing out the door to school.  Well, I did get a few pictures!

It has been EXTREMELY cold out.  It seems like most days the high is 0 degrees.  So, I have been trying to dress super warm.  I think our school is kept to the colder side.  Once in a while I will walk into a classroom that is actually warm and comfortable.  But, then everyone else complains that is HOT.  Then the teacher sometimes cracks the window open.   NOOO.  It was actually nice in here.  So, I have learned to just wear lots of layers.  I got another UnderArmour mock turtle neck.  I love it!  It really helps keep me warm.  Also, I have been wearing down vests a lot.  They are a really easy way to add an extra layer of warmth.

 I got this sweater and vest for Christmas.  They are from Old Navy.

 I have always wanted an UnderArmour sweatshirt.  For some reason every time I try one on it just isn't very flattering.  Finally I found one that looks good.  I think it may be the new style.  It is super warm!

 This is the skirt I made.  I LOVE IT!  I really want to make more just like it (I think I'll need my Grandma's help again).  My Mom and I found some fleece-lined tights at TJ Maxx for only $5.99!

Hopefully February brings some warmer weather.  I am definitely ready for spring.

Shirley Nygren's Valentine Roll-Out Cookies

I have kind of been in the valentine's mood lately.  Well, I guess Valentine's Day is coming soon.  I have made some valentines.  I have also made a bunch of cookies.

When my Mom was growing up her neighbor would make my Mom and her sister (my aunt) these cookies each year for Valentine's Day.  They would each get one BIG cookie with their name frosted on it.  My Mom says that it was so wonderful.  They couldn't wait till Valentine's Day, just because they would be getting one of these cookies.

These cookies have been the sugar cookies that I have grown up having.  They are very delicious.  They are soft, moist, and flavorful.  These sugar cookies are a bit more brown because they have brown sugar instead of white sugar in them.

A lot of the time we will make the cookies one day, put them in the freezer, and then frost them another day.  That way it isn't too much to do in one day.

The frosting recipe is delicious too.  My Mom has changed it up a little from Shirley Nigren's original frosting recipe.  Her frosting had a lot more butter in it.  The frosting will be kind of crumbly before you had the milk.

Shirley Nygren's Valentine Roll-Out Cookies

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sweet or sour cream
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix.  Chill dough.  Roll out and use cookie cutter.  Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes.
Let cool and then decorate.

Frosting:

2 eggs whites - use pasteurized eggs
1/2 cup butter
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1 t. almond extract
a few tablespoons milk

Beat a long time.
You can cover the bowl the frosting is in with a wet rag to keep it from drying out. 

 Enjoy!