Saturday, March 24, 2012

Pretty Tasty Chicken Parmesan

I saw this post pinned on Pinterest and went to the Food Wishes blog to read the recipe. Seeing that it was more of a casserole-type dish than a traditional Chicken Parmesan dish, I chose not to repin it. Then, I kept seeing the pin pop up over and over again on other's boards. So, I played follow the leader and pinned it.

I was looking for something to make with chicken and came across this pin and so I decided to try it. I used only three large breasts so my baking dish wasn't as full as his, but I still used lots of sauce and cheese (of course!). The kicker is the garlic croutons placed between two layers of cheeses. I found some croutons made from the Texas Toast garlic bread that are delicious!!

It was so easy to put everything together. I ended up having to bake it for about 45 minutes to ensure that the chicken was fully cooked. I decided not to serve the chicken over pasta and actually cut each breast in half before serving.

The verdict: It was yummy!! The hubby even opted for a second serving. I will definitely be making this again.


Friday, March 16, 2012

Finally! Gallery Shelves have Photos

Late last year, I came across this post from my former student Fawn at Always Chasing Life. I loved them! She got the idea from Ana White.

So, Greg and I bought the lumber, glued them together and painted them. Then, we hung them. That seems so long ago. (Well, it was early December for goodness sake!)

Here are the pictures I took after we hung them:


So, I started collecting frames. I decided to use black frames because we have black as an accent color throughout the main area of the house. I painted some frames that I already had and also bought some new ones. The frames sat empty for the past few weeks on these shelves. I also found a big letter G that my sister Sandie gave us a long time ago.

Today, I FINALLY printed pictures for the frames. I still have some empty spaces left because I need to add some pictures of a few family members and our godsons, but you can at least see how they look right now.


Because they are in a hallway, it is virtually impossible to get a straight-on shot, but this gives you an idea of what they look like.

I am so glad that Fawn made these and gave me the idea to do the same!!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

As Addictive as Crack?? Maybe...

Tonight, I tried a recipe I found on Pinterest at a blog called Plain Chicken called "Crack Potatoes." They are SO easy to make that I was really curious how they would taste.

Basically, they have 5 ingredients. I have to admit that I made only half the recipe and I tried to lighten it up a bit. I used:

16 oz. light sour cream
1 to 1.5 c. light (2%) cheddar cheese (shredded) - I didn't measure but used a little over half the bag
1 packet powdered ranch dip
1 3-oz. package of real bacon bits
1/2 package of Ore Ida frozen shredded hash browns

Basically, you mix up the ingredients and put it in the oven. The recipe calls for 400 degrees, but I baked mine at 350 degrees because I also had a meatloaf in the oven. I covered the potatoes with foil while baking (but took off the foil for the last 10 minutes or so).

Here is how they turned out:

They were pretty good. My husband did really like them. I thought they were a bit salty, so I would recommend trying to find a low-sodium version of the ranch dip or using less bacon. I know!! Who would have thought that "less bacon" might be a good thing?  :-)

I will definitely make these again, but I am not sure they are all that they were "cracked" up to be!


Thursday, March 8, 2012

My First Wreath! Ready for Spring Now!

I have seen so many beautiful wreaths on Pinterest, and I have been wanting to make one for myself for awhile now. But, I do not like wreaths with large flowers on them, so I wanted to be choosy about what to put on mine.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister and I were shopping at Hobby Lobby and it had 50% off of silk flowers. So, I knew this was my time to plan my wreath!! I chose three different flowers. One is sort of a very light green, one is yellow, and the last is a very small flower that is pink. I bought a grapevine wreath to use as the base. I also ended up buying two different ribbons for a bow (because I could not make up my mind!).

Last Sunday night, I cut down the flowers to the sizes I wanted for the wreath. Basically that meant (at least in the case of the yellow flowers) trimming the flowers off the stems and getting rid of the leaves. Then I began planning and gluing. (Once again, I had a little ouchie from the glue gun...this time my left index finger!)

Once the wreath was done, I pulled out the two ribbons I bought to try to choose one to use for the bow. Wouldn't you know that NEITHER looked right? They had designs on off-white background and they just faded in to the wreath. So, I made a trip to Wal-Mart and found a great pink ribbon that worked well for making the bow.

Here's the final product. What do you think?



Note to self: Try taking a picture of it on your door during the daytime!!! LOL.

Okay, here is the daylight photo: