Homemade Puppy Treats for the Fur Cousins

My eight year old wanted to bake something with the cookie cutters, I didn't want to be tempted by anymore cookies in the house so we found a perfect compromise...puppy treats for all the fur cousins! I googled a recipe that seemed do-able and we got to work...it was SUPER easy (always a plus!) and the dogs loved them!!











You wouldn't know from this photo, but Rosie loved the treat too!









Here is the link to the recipe... I highly recommend it for the dogs in your life!


http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/07/homemade_dog_treats.php

GREEN BEANS

Imagine my disappointment when I picked up those delicious crunchy onion pieces at Trader Joe's to read the recipe in preparation for the big turkey day and the recipe had CHANGED!! Let me tell you the back story here...For years, green bean casserole has been a staple at most family holidays. I was usually "in charge" of opening the cans and mix up this creamy masterpiece.  There is a family story about how I was shocked to discover that this "family" recipe was on a can. Yes, it is true, I thought it was an heirloom. Anyway, fast forward to a few years ago...I'm still making green bean casserole but now Shawn's family is added into the mix  
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<a href="" name="5539448294268315865"></a>  <h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<a href="http://jahjong.blogspot.com/2009/01/trader-joes-green-bean-casserole.html">Trader Joe's Green Bean Casserole</a> </h3>
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<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KVO3qWlWBMXc87XBXEFTXqT1OFNrlJtox94fmwSun2U?feat=embedwebsite"><img height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaohOPlfdm_B38dv4XttZkgVEi-c_bnNR4WHcYpwKSu2ZVoAScrEFMtKji37WcowvgQ61XzhCI_gKcxit1qE3QzPKWe0weXnTtLWbM4egyo8rQXaUbZqfYJTpnLM1YLbPxU8M9210BlAX4/s800/green%20bean%20cass.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
<span style="font-style: italic;">I have made this a few years now and everyone comments on it. It is not too far off from the original, but with a better taste as you use mostly fresh ingredients instead of the canned soup. I double the recipe on the back of the can of onions - you need leftovers for Thanksgiving for sure!</span>    12 T (¾ c) butter  2 medium onions  2 lbs mushrooms, quartered  4 t coarse salt  1 t pepper  2 24 oz bag TJ’s frozen French green beans   ¾ c flour  4 c milk  2 cans 8 oz TJ’s Gourmet Fried Onion pieces    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your largest skillet over medium heat, melt 4 T butter. Add onion and sauté until begins to soften, about four minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened. Season with 2 t salt and ½ t pepper and set aside to cool.    Cook green beans according to directions on bag. <i>If you buy Trader Joe's green beans there are no directions. Just boil water and cook beans until cooked through. Pour beans into strainer and set aside.</i>     Melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add ½ c of flour, whisking constantly until mixture begins to turn golden, about two minutes. Pour in milk and continue whisking until mixture has thickened, about three minutes. Stir in remaining salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Pour over beans and toss to combine with onion/mushroom mixture.    Butter a 9x13 pan and add spread out casserole mixture.    Bake casserole, covered, until mixture is bubbly and heated through – about ten minutes. Uncover and cook until top is golden brown about 30 seconds. Sprinkle Trader Joe’s onion pieces over top and serve. 
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just a spoonful of sugar

Logan performed in Mary Poppins this week. This was his second performance and we just LOVE the director/teacher. In appreciation for all her hard work, I wanted to make an extra special thank you for her. Here is what i did...






I started with these simple ingredients...vanilla favored Almond Bark (white chocolate chips would work too), chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and some disposable spoons.
I melted the chocolates in the microwave, 15 seconds at a time, stirring frequently.

Then I dipped the spoons and decorated. Then I let it cool on some parchment paper. I eventually plopped it into the fridge to get nice and firm so I could wrap them up.

I used some bags that I had for Chocolate covered pretzel rods. It was the perfect size!

The end result!

I'm very HaPpY with the way they came out!

I think this would make a great teacher gift too, maybe with a mug and some fancy cocoa mix...mmmmmm

New Baby♥ = Baby Gift♥

Dad-to-be is in a band, Mom-to-be is in the movie biz...

No fancy Silhouette Machine here, just your basic ink jet iron-on. I grabbed the album art from the band's facebook page, which by the way...I totally recommend that you check out Traildriver, great indie rock/country sound!!! And added the text using Photoshop. Poof!

Like I said, Mom-to-be is in the movie biz, so I found a "clapper" clipart image and added the text.

I think they turned out adorable! and Mom & Dad-to-be were pretty thrilled too!

Don't be surprised if you see something like this in May

Amy Atlas is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! And I LOVE her Dr. Seuss Party Ideas...

Monkey Dip

Dip makes everything taste better, right? Look at these ADORABLE dip containers perfect for a lunchbox.





Here is the site for these cute containers

more spooky food...that I haven't made yet

My kids LOVE to turn food into something else...roasted broccoli are always little trees, spaghetti noodles are worms, so they LOVE this fun food. I'm adding these to my "to-do" list (page 527, I think)

Octo-Pot-Pie

Jello EyeBalls

Sweet and Sour Eyeballs

Spider Bite Pretzels
I think I'd use shredded coconut for the body..mmmmm

Sand-Witch
The possibilities on this one is endless...pumpkin shapes, ghosts out of mozzarella...

This last site has a bunch of spooky food...some of it too gross for me! Logan and Shawn would probably LOVE it!

http://superpunch.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-fun-food-ideas.html

Our Spooktacular Dinner

Mummy Dogs and Spider Web Soup with Ghost Pops for dessert
To kick off Halloween weekend, tonight for dinner we had some spooky foods.

First the Mummy Dogs...SUPER EASY!

Roll out the biscuit...I used a little over one biscuit to cover each dog, which works out since there were 8 dogs and 10 biscuits.
Start the wrapping, first secure it around the top, where the mummy's head would be. Then keep wrapping it around. Be sure to leave a space for the eyes! I then gave them a quick egg wash to get that golden brown gloss.
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes...wah-lah!
A couple dots of mustart to make those glowing eyes and you are done.
Spiderweb soup started off as Creamy Tomato, added some thinned sour cream from a squirt bottle.
And then did a little trick I first saw done by Martha. Drag a toothpick from the center to get that "web" look.
Add a spider raft garnish (one olive, cut in half and then cut again to make 8 legs each on a piece of toast).
And dessert...frozen bananas covered in White Chocolate. These turned out great and were super tasty! Here is a tutorial for the ghost pops.

BOO!

More Spooky Food

more soon!

Spooky Food part 1

Nutter Butter Ghosts

These are super easy! All you need is a bag of white chocolate bark, chocolate chips and a nutter butters. Melt the bark according to directions, dip the cookies, let them cool, melt the chocolate chips and with a toothpick, draw on some faces. My 7 year old and I did most of them, you can spot the few done by my hubby, the artist.

Halloweenie Spaghetti Spiders

Again, these are super easy. Cut up a hot dog into about inch thick pieces, shove UNCOOKED spaghetti noodles through the hot dog piece to make the legs, plop into boiling water and cook according to noodle directions. I made a web on the plate using ketchup, the condiment of choice for the boys.

Check back, there will be more...we love Halloween and we love to make fun food!

Train Party **re-visit**

This is a re-blog (is that even a word?) from my family blog...thought I'd share my two year olds party from May since we're on a birthday theme.


So Caden's new obsession is TRAINS. Once that seed was planted, I started the search for ideas...Look what I found here and here...and then there was this! and THEN, my sister-in-law, Chelsea (who is one of my three regular reader "HI CHELS!") sent me this link, which uncovered my NEW Favorite Blog.

So, with all this wonderful inspiration, I put together Caden's bday party. The invites obviously came first, I simply searched google images for a free train silhouette and colored it in photoshop. The other labor intensive part were the favors. I decided to make Kool-aid scented playdough and included a train shaped cookie cutter in the bag. I think it came out super cute! The bag was simply a sandwich zip-lock and printed label double sticked on top. I also loved the train shaped PB&Js. My mom and I put those together in no time, assembly line style. And possibly my favorite was the train cake. I used a cake pan from William Sonoma. (coincidentally, a gift from Chelsea...THANKS again, Chels!) And with Trader Joes Vanilla Cake Mix, it was super easy and DELISH! Did you notice the ADORABLE handmade train pinata in the lower left corner? That will be in his bedroom for years to come. As for games and activites, since our guests ranged from 4 weeks to 7 years old, I needed to be creative and I'm not a big fan of competitive games at a bday party (Why should only one person win at a party?). We had the train table, which I found on Craigslist for $10 (I repainted the sides glossy cherry red and the top with Chalkboard paint). I also had Play-dough Station, Bubble Junction, Ball-pit Express, and Bookmark Stop. For games, I found "Pin the Smoke-Stack on the Engine" and we also played "Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo" a version of duck duck goose, which was fun for adults and kids both.

Of course, I had one additional obstacle...all this stuff had to be carted to the park...but that's where the train is, so off I went on Saturday morning at 7 am to ensure we'd have a prime park spot. Shawn and the boys showed up a little later to help finish setting up. Shawn went right to work blowing up a purple balloon...WHAT?!? He will probably tease me forever over my reaction when I saw that balloon :) OK,OK,OK...I was a bit stressed to finish up before the guests arrived, but come on....RED AND BLUE EVERYTHING! But I'm happy to say, one purple balloon really was the only hitch in our wonderful birthday celebration for our little man.

Now a few months off til September, our Birthday marathon month.