Chicken Alfredo Pizza-Freezer cooking recipe

1-2 chicken breasts
1-8 oz. cube cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat kind, it makes me feel better, he he)
1 stick butter
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook chicken breast and cut in cubes. Melt butter, cream cheese and milk together on the stove top. Add parmesan cheese, chicken and garlic. If you will be eating right away: spread sauce over pizza crust, top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

If you will be using my freezer cooking method take this recipe and multiply it depending on how much food you want. I multiply it by 5 and it usually feeds my family of 3 about 12 times.

Freezing: I like to freeze the alfredo sauce in freezer baggies. I buy panini crusts from Walmart's bakery and freeze a bunch in a freezer baggie (separated by wax paper so they don't stick together). Jiffy pizza crusts are convenient and cheep too.

Cooking: you can thaw the sauce at room temperature for 2 hours or in warm water for 30 minutes. Then heat it up on the stove top. Place sauce on top of frozen pizza crust (no need to thaw crust first if it is thin). Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

*Note: I don't freeze the mozzarella cheese, but I almost always have string cheese on hand which I grate up and use. I am sure you could freeze mozzarella cheese in it's own bag if you wanted.

Photo from: http://foodislovee.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/chicken-alfredo-pizza/

Sweet and Sour Meatballs-Freezer cooking recipe

Sweet and Sour Meatballs




Meatballs:
1 ½ lb. ground beef
2/3 c. cracker crumbs
1/3 c. minced onion
½ tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk
1 egg

Sauce:
2 TBS cornstarch
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. vinegar
1 TBS soy sauce
Juice from one can of pineapple
1 c. sliced green bell peppers
pineapple from can

Combine together first 7 ingredients. Form into balls. Brown in olive oil. (Also works to drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven). Remove meatballs from pan but keep warm. Stir fry green peppers in oil and set aside. Meanwhile, for sauce, mix together dry ingredients. Next, combine the wet and dry before it gets hot or it will clump. Cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Add pineapple chunks and bell peppers. Serve meatballs and sauce over rice. *Note, sauce can be extended by adding 3 cups water and 3 beef bullion cubes.

****If you are going to use my freezer cooking method take this recipe and multiply it depending on how much food you want. I usually multiply by 5 and it feeds my family of 3 about 12 times.*****

Freezing: I like to freeze this recipe in an aluminum container that I can put straight in the oven.

Cooking: If you froze it in an aluminum container you can put it straight from the freezer to the oven and cook at 275 degrees for 2 1/2 hours (or thaw at room temperature for 4 hours and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour).

Easy side dish: I like to make instant rice (2 cups rice, 2 cups water) and add a Sun Bird Fried Rice seasoning packet, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, a fried egg and frozen peas.

Image from: http://quick-dish.tablespoon.com/

Poppy seed chicken-freezer cooking recipe

1 c. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 TB poppy seeds
4 cooked and diced chicken breasts
1 package Ritz crackers (crushed)
1 cube butter (melted)

If you will be using my freezer cooking method multiply this recipe according to the size of your family and the amount of times you want to eat it. I multiply it by 6 and it makes 8 meals for my family of 3.

Directions:
Combine first 3 ingredients. Add chicken. Put in baking dish.

If you will be eating right away: mix butter and Ritz cracker crumbs and spread on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Freezer instructions: I suggest freezing in an aluminum container that you can stick right in the oven. Do not add butter and Ritz cracker crumb mixture until you will be baking it. On serving day you can re-heat in one of two ways. 1) Thaw completely and then bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or 2) Without thawing bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours.

Tank to toddler dress-part 2

I found these bright and bold tank tops on clearance at The Children's Place and just had to get them.

Since Brenna will not wear anything but "princess skirts" I turned them into fun summer dresses.


All in all this dress only cost about $5.50!

Tank to toddler dress-part 1

I found these bright and bold tank tops on clearance at The Children's Place and just had to get them.



Since Brenna will not wear anything but "princess skirts" I turned them into fun summer dresses. (Pictures of the pink one still to come!).



All in all this dress only cost about $5.50!

A shirt dress

I have had this adorable shirt dress tutorial from MADE bookmarked in my "projects to try" folder for almost a year now and I finally got around to making one. I think it turned out pretty cute.



I made it from this thrift store shirt that only cost me $2!

(Grand)Mother's Day gifts

I think Mother's Day is one of the most difficult holidays to come up with gifts for. I don't know about you, but it seems like my mom already has everything she needs (that fits in my price range anyways). I think I've given pictures for the last bajillion Mother's days and was in the mood for something a little more fun. This is what I came up with for this year.



I used this awesome tutorial from YouTube for the gift boxes. I used 12 x 12 paper for the pink box, 10 x 10 paper for the green box, 8 x 8 paper for the purple box, and 6 x 6 paper for the blue box. The boxes ended up with the following measurements. Pink-5 inches square, green-4 inches square, purple-3 inches square, and blue-2 inches square.

I thought Brenna's artwork would add the perfect personalized touch. I had her color these cute pictures with coordinating colors and then attached them to the bottom of the inside of the boxes.



I had a bunch of ideas about what to put inside the boxes. Here are the 4 I narrowed it down to.

In the biggest box: pictures...I know, I know, I do that every year.



Next, homemade caramels. My gift is going to take a little trip through the postal system before my mom gets it...so I thought caramels would make the trip much better than most sweets.



Then, white chocolate covered pretzels. Can you really celebrate mothers and womanhood without chocolate...I don't think so.



And last, everyones favorite...cold hard cash. Folded into a heart for a feminine twist of course. I used this great tutorial on YouTube to fold the money.



This was a very fun and affordable project. I just had to make an extra set for my mother in law.



And if I know these women, I think they will be as excited about the re-usable gift boxes as anything.



Happy Mother's Day!

Linking up to these fun parties:

http://paisleypassions.blogspot.com/2011/05/thrilling-thursday-linky-party.html
http://www.thrifty101.blogspot.com/
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/
http://sweetpeasandbb.blogspot.com/
http://rhinestonebeagle.blogspot.com/

Easy Cheesy Lasagna (freezer cooking recipe)

1 lb. ground beef, browned

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 lb. cottage cheese

8 oz. sour cream

10 uncooked lasagna noodles (oven ready type)

mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

If you will be using my freezer cooking method multiply this recipe according to the size of your family and the amount of times you want to eat it. I multiply it by 5 and it makes 10 meals for my family of 3.

Combine beef and spaghetti sauce. Combine sour cream and cottage cheese in a separate bowl and blend well. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Place half the noodles over sauce. Layer half the cottage cheese mixture over noodles. Layer half the mozzarella cheese. layer hal the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle 1/4 c. parmesan cheese over meat. Reapeat layers starting with the noodles. End with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil.

If you will be eating right away bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Freezer instructions: I suggest freezing in an aluminum container that you can put right in the oven. Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours. No need to thaw first.

Recipe from: The Recipe Thief, by Kay Webster.

A DVD tower to a headboard

We had this old DVD tower we were about to get rid of. But being the DIY-er that I am I couldn't bear to throw away so much good wood. So I got creative and turned it into a headboard.

What do you think? I think it's better than a bare wall at least. :)

I guess my next project should be finding something better than a bar stool for a nightstand. :)

$3 Rockin' Horse

Look at this homely balding little rocking horse I found at the thrift store for $3.00. It's amazing what a fresh hairdo and a new set of eyes can do. :)

This was Brenna's favorite Christmas present this year, which is funny since it was probably the cheapest. :)

Christmas Turkey

Ok, so this past Thanksgiving I made the BEST turkey ever!!!!! If you are looking for a recipe for the perfect meal for your Christmas Dinner... Look no further! My husband and I had been at a friends for a Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner and the turkey was to die for... so I asked our friend what he did and he told us that he had simply Brined it...

Now, with all the experience that I had in my short culinary program experience (didn't get to finish :( but plan to!) and my LOVE for cooking, I had heard of it, but never tried it. I don't know why I hadn't cause it's the best thing ever!

Anyway, the recipe that I found was similar to the one our friend made for us. I found it on The Food Network website. It's from "Good Eats" Alton Brown. The reviews for this recipe had me begging to try it! Perfect 5 stars! (And might I add I don't think I have ever made anything of Alton Brown's that wasn't fabulous! And let me tell you... He knows his stuff)

So, here it is... (you can also find the link here) Hope you try this! It is DEFINITELY WORTH the extra effort! And yes, my turkey looked just as beautiful as the Food Network picture (below) when it came out of the oven!

(FYI Allspice Berries are just whole allspice!)

Good Eats Roast Turkey

• Cook Time:

  2 hr 30 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  10 to 12 servings

Recipe Tools:

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Ingredients

• 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• Canola oil

Directions

Click here to see how it's done.

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skinliberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Upcycled shirt to a sweater dress

This old shirt was just taking up space in my closet and not getting worn. So I decided to turn it into a cute little dress for Brenna.

Since I already had the shirt to use for fabric this project only cost me 92 cents!

I think she likes it because she keeps saying "I pretty mommy" and twirling around.

So here's how you make one:

Step 1: Cut off the sleeves and bottom along the seams.

Step 2: I used one of Brenna's dresses that fits her just right as a pattern. I turned the shirt inside out. Then I lined up the neck of the pattern dress with the neck of the shirt and traced the bodice with a marker. I did this for the front of the dress on the front of the shirt and for the back of the dress on the back of the shirt. If you are new to making your own pattern there is a wonderful tutorial here.

Step 3: Cut along the marker lines. (This is a picture of the back piece).

Step 4: Next, cut the sleeves down to kid size and sew them closed. (I did this by holding the original sleeve over Brenna's shoulder to mark it before cutting). Also sew the sides of the dress together.

Step 5: Sew along the top of only 1 side. (I added snaps later so Brenna can actually get her head through this dress, I have made that mistake a few too many times).

Step 6: Pin the un-sewn shoulder together and flip the dress inside out.

Step 7: Pin the sleeve in place to sew on. I do this by turning the dress inside out and leaving the sleeve right side out. Then I line up the seam of the sleeve with the seam where the armpit goes of the dress and pin them together. Then I slide the sleeve inside the dress and pin all the way around. If you are new to sewing sleeves on there is a helpful tutorial here.

Step 8: Once everything is pinned pull the sleeve back out of the dress. It will now be inside out as well. (I always turn the dress right side out to check it before sewing the sleeve on. There is nothing worse than having an inside out sleeve sewn on).

Step 9: Sew the sleeves on and turn the dress right side out.

#10: Take the material that was at the bottom of the shirt originally and sew it into a tube the same size as the bottom of the dress.

#11: Pin the tube and the dress together for sewing. I do this by turning the dress inside out and leaving the tube right side out. Then I line the seams up and slide the tube inside the dress and pin the edges together. Then flip the tube out and it will be inside out as well.

#12: Sew the tube and the dress together.

#13: Sew snaps into the open shoulder.

Embellishing (optional)

Rosettes:

Step 1: Using the extra material make tattered rosettes. I used this tutorial.

Step 2: Next, hot glue tule to the back of the rosettes.

Step 3: Hot glue all 3 rosettes with tool backing onto some felt to keep in place.

Step 4: Hand sew snaps onto the felt and also onto the dress. (This way you can remove the flowers when washing the dress. I don't know how well hot glue washes, but I don't really want to try :)

Buttons:

Step 1: Using a scrap of fabric sew a tube.

Step 2: Then sew a button onto each end of the tube.

Step 3: Using a seam ripper open a small hole on each side of the dress.

Step 4: Cut the tube in half. Trim each side to the desired length.

Step 5: Slide the end of the tube into the open hole.

Step 6: Sew the tube into place while sewing the hole closed.

Step 7: Sew the buttons into place on the dress.

If this is confusing at all please leave me a comment of send me an e-mail and I will clarify. Thanks!

Linking up to:

http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/
http://frugalfabulousdesign.com/
http://funtocraft.blogspot.com/
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://iamalongfortheride.blogspot.com/
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/