Broccoli Cornbread Muffins

My mother in law makes these delicious muffins that I thought I would share. 

I stick marg,[ melted]     
3 eggs [slighty beaten]        
3/4 cup chopped onions 
6 oz small curd cottage cheese  
2 cups shredded sharp cheese 
1 box 10 oz thawed chopped broccoli 
1 box jiffy corn bread or muffin mix 
salt and pepper as desired  

Mix all together with spoon. Bake in muffin pan for 35 minutes at 350 degrees

Hope you enjoy:)

Pineapple Casserole

If your looking for something different to take to this years Family Easter dinner here is a easy recipe for you.  Guaranteed to be a hit!


Pineapple Casserole

1 (20 oz can) Pineapple chunks drained
1 cup sugar
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 stack of Ritz crackers
3 T. plain flour
3/4 stick margarine

Put your pineapple mixed with 1/2 cheese in the bottom of a 9 inch casserole dish.  Mix flour, sugar, and remainder of cheese and pour over the pineapple.  melt margarine.  Crush crackkers and stir into margarine with a fork.  Sprikle Cracker mixture over your pineapple and cheese.  Bake on 350 for 25 minutes.

*I usually double this recipe for large crowds and put in larger casserole dish.

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

Heres a great recipe that a friend asked me to post.  Its a wonderful delicious dessert that almost everyone loves.


Chocolate Eclair Dessert

Mix:
1 lrg. Cool Whip
1 c. sour cream
1 lrg box French Vanilla Pudding(I have heard of others using Banana Cream pudding flavor which sounds yummy as well)
1 box Graham Crackers
Milk


Mix together milk & pudding as directed on box then place in the refrigerator until thick.  Stir in cool whip & sour cream into pudding mixture.  Place a layer of graham crackers in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Spread a layer of pudding mixture on graham crackers, continue layering (I usually get 3 layers from a box of crackers).  Top last layer of grahams with chocolater frosting(you can use store bought icing or you can use the following recipe)  I generally use the homemade icing but you have to really watch your powdered sugar for desired consistency.

Icing:
6 T. milk
6 T. cocoa
6 T. margarine
3 cups powdered Sugar

Melt butter, milk, and cocoa on medium heat.  Add powdered sugar until spreading consistency.  Spread over dessert.

***Keep in mind most of these recipes you can make fairly lowfat.  I always use fat free sour cream & fat free cool whip****

C if for Cross

Since Easter is just 3 days away I decided to incorporate a little bible lesson in with our letter C today.  We made a cross.  I cut a cross out of construction paper then let Zane paint all on his own.  I decided to place the  painted cross on a piece of paper and I always like to label what we made just to reinerate the letter we are working on currently.  Dont be scared to allow your kids to play with paint or playdough. I know you may be nervous about giving your child a paint brush and paint so here is a tip for you....I keep a small kids table and cover it with old newspaper.  I put the paint on a paper plate and instead of brushes I give Zane q-tips.  He seems to be able to manage these a little better.  The table is also very handy for playdough fun or anything that is gonna get messy.  Now keep in mind you want to keep this on a surface such as hardwood or tile.  You dont want to take a chance of a spill on carpet.  Simple easy fun for you and your child to play together creatively.

Sausage Stars

So this morning I was asked to take a few things to the construction workers at church so I decided to make these yummy Sausage Stars that I tried a few years ago from a friend.  I thought I would share since we are always looking for something we can take to Breakfast functions but I also serve these as appetizers at parties as well and they are always a big hit!!  Both  of my boys really love them as well. They are definitely NOT lowfat but super yummy and easy:)


1 roll Mild Sausage
1 bottle Ranch dressing
1 pack of shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
1 pack of Wonton wraps (these are found in the tofu section of your local grocery)

Brown Sausage and drain.  Mix with bottle of Ranch and entire pack of Cheese.  Stir together until well blended.  Spray mini muffin pan with pam and insert a wonton in each whole.  Fan out excess to make a star.  Bake on 375 for like 4 minutes.  Remove from oven then stuff with sausage mixture.  Return to oven for an additional 5 minutes or until the wontons began to brown.  Remove and serve.

Easter Cupcake fun

Looking for a fun creative and super easy cupcake for your child's class at school?  Let's all face it as messy as cupcakes are children absolutely LOVE them right?  My son is in 5th grade and I have made these the past several years for his Easter snack and as always he asked this week "mom you are going to make the bunny cupcakes are you?"  So I thought I would share.

Any cake mix ( I always you the spring funfetti mix)
White or yellow icing (once cooled I spread on icing with my Pampered Chef Icing decorator)
Green Sugar Sprinkles (immediately sprinkle lots on cupcake when finished icing )
Insert 1/2 of a toothpick in the end of an Easter Bunny Peep or a Chick Peep then insert the remainder into the top of cupcake and there you have a cute bunny or chick on the grass:)

Overwhelming dreaded housework

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with house work, cooking, and running errands.  Well here are a few tips when trying to get it all done.  I used to never keep a clean house unless I knew someone was coming for a visit then I would kill myself cleaning and it was ridiculous.  I decided several years ago that instead of spending 5 hours cleaning at once every week I would break it down so that my house stayed pretty clean all the time.  I always make my bed every morning when I am getting dressed.  It takes 2 minutes and so much nicer getting into a nice made bed at night:)  I also try to do at least one thing everyday when it comes to household chores.  For instance, today I am going to clean my bathrooms, then tomorrow I will dust.  I do try to sweep my kitchen and living room almost everyday because my hard wood really shows.  When  we have kids toys are thrown everywhere and for me thats fine.  I decided to quit battling the toys throughout the day and I leave them for night time to pick up.  So while there may be toys scattered around I know that underneath those toys its clean:)  Another tip, never go to bed with your kitchen a mess its so discouraging to wake up and have to clean your kitchen 1st thing.  Now for me the biggest thing I feel that is always over my head is laundry.  I used to spend one day a week doing laundry and it was insanely crazy to say the least.  Now I try to wash at least 1 load sometimes 2 every other day.  I have found that its so much easier for me to wash, fold, and PUT UP(LOL) smaller stackes of clothes than a laundry room full.  Now it may look  like all I do is clean everyday but truthfully when you break it down like this I literally spend about an hour daily with chores and my house stays pretty clean.  Give your little ones chores to help out.  Zane usually dusts the baseboards with the swiffer(or acts like he is but he feels like he is helping) or he will taking the little dust broom around the house and act like he is sweeping or you can do all your chores while they are napping either way just try to make yourself do something daily and your housework will not back up on you and you will not feel so overwhelmed:)  Just a few hints on housework that I hope you fine helpful!!

Italian Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken

So this week I let my my guys all plan the menu and tonight is Cody's night.  His choice was this super easy recipe that a friend of mine Melanie shared with me out of her church cookbook.  This is his favorite and to be honest ots one of mine because I love easy crock pot recipes that make dinner time easy especially on busy ball practice nights:)  Enjoy


4 Boneless Chicken Breast
1/2 stick of butter
1 pkg. dry Italian Dressing mix
1 large can cream of Chicken soup
1 8 oz cream cheese(room temperature)

Melt butter and pour over chicken in crock pot.  Spriknle dry dressing mix over chicken.  Cook on high for 3-4  hours(no need to add water or anything).  Mix Cream of Chicken soup and cream cheese and stir inton Chicken.  Cook an additional 1/2 hour. 

I serve this over cooked rice and add a vegetable on the side and dinner is ready:)

Tuesday fun

So today we got an early start to our day because we have trip to the mall planned.  I have found that even when we plan other activities it is still good to do our daily routine of learning as well.  So you might have to start a little earlier than normal.  Today we did 2 activities with our letter C.  We made a book of C's our of construction paper and printed off coloring pages of items that start with the letter C such as a cow, cat, chicken, caterpillar, car, and circles.  On each page I glued an item on there and wrote "C is for C.......(whatever the items is pictured).  I let Zane color the pages anyway he wished.  Now keep in mind at this early age his attention span is not the greatest so his coloring on some page may look like a line drawn through:)  Next we made an egg carton caterpillar.  We just cut a single strip of carton awat and added eyes and pipe cleaners for its antlers.  I drew C's on every holder just for reinforcment.

You might not have all the craft items needed but here is what I suggest when wanting to do activities with your little ones.  Start a craft box.  In my box I keep the following items.....glue sticks, craft glue, pipe cleaners, stick on eyes, popcicle sticks, construction paper, staple, scissors, tape, yarn, paper plates, and play dough. Now you can add things gradually to your box.  That is what I do so it doesnt get too expensive.  Keep in mind you dont have to do "letters of the alphabet"  you can just let them do differents activities.  The main thing is to get your child doing something besides being entertained by the television.  It can be so much fun:) 

The letter C

So today we have started on the letter C.  We have reviewed lots of thing that start with the letter C but today we have decided to make a caterpillar and a cat.  We had cheese & crackers for our snack and are going to make c-shaped sugar cookies after lunch.  Here is a picture of the Caterpillar we made today.

Preschool at home

2 weeks ago I decided to begin working on the letters of the alphabet with my 2 year old.  He loves doing what he calls "homework" every day.  We spend 1 week at a time on each letter doing at least 2 actvities a day with the letter and he has easily picked up A & B.  He can show you those 2 letters anywhere(in upper case he still struggles in lower case) and can tell you several things those letters start with.  I was amazed at how quickly he picked these up so on we go to letter C.  Just a few activities we have done with our letters to date.

Letter A~ We made a apple mobile out of a paper towel holder. Tying a string to individual apples hanging down all with the letter A displayed.  We also made an Ant hill with his finger prints.  We made a Apple tree using his thumb prints dipped in paint to make the apples.  And for the week we ate apples and enjoyed the song "the Ants Go Marching One By One".  A was a very easy letter for him to learn.

Letter B~ We started with bumble Bees.  We made a Bumble Bee craft by tracing his footprint with yellow construction paper, we then added black stripes and beaded eyes then yellow pipe cleaners for the wings.  Next we made a box which we decorated and put the letter B on the the lid.  Inside we placed items that startewd with the letter B. We had a banana, ball, bumble bee, butterfly, bear, balloon, and big bird craft we made.  There are so many ideas online to help you along the way with your planning.

These are just a few ideas we have done and I will try to post some pics of a few of these things as well.

Brand New

I have decided to start blogging.  This is very new to me so I will probably stay very confused at first:)  I hope many will read and enjoy what I have to share here daily.  Being a stay at home mom, it is so easy to turn the TV on for your kids so you can enjoy your time, and while TV is fun and something we do together daily it is not what our entire day revolves around.  I have a 10 year old, Cody,  in 5th grade right now and a 2 year old, Zane, here at home.  Because of the age difference in my boys I realized how quickly they grow and I really want to cherish every minute we have together.  My husband suggested I start a blog to show other stay at home moms that being a mom can be fun & rewarding(which most of us know this).  I wanted to be able to share time management when it comes to cooking, cleaning, taking care of my home, and extra curricular activities at home, church, school, & sports.  I know as a younger mother the 1st time around life was a little confusing so through my blog I hope to help mothers.  I will be sharing easy recipes, fun crafts & activities for you to do with your children at home, pictures, & tidbits of "steam blowing" as most of us moms have.  I am not a gifted writer so you will have to overlook any grammer errors you see but I hope you will enjoy this blog and find something useful in it:)