Chicken Broccoli Bake

I found this recipe in this Gooseberry Patch recipe book, which Christine gave me for my birthday this year. There are some good recipes in that book! I should note that Taylor had TJ over for tv watching this week while I was at Back to School night, and they loved this as leftovers. (I also just think it's a funny scenario that they were in the kitchen cheffing this up while I was gone. :))
Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken (or a few cooked chicken breasts)
• 3 stalks of broccoli
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 box of Stove Top stuffing
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 1/2 cup mayonaisse

Steam the broccoli for a few minutes so it's bright green, and lay this on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Chop up the chicken and layer it next. Mix the soup and mayo together and pour them on top. Add the cheese next. Mix the butter and stuffing and sprinkle over the top. You may not need all of the box of stuffing, but I put it on anyway just to use it. Bake this at 350 for about 20 minutes. I served it with microwaved Bob Evans mashed potatoes. Very easy and very good! It was great on a cool fall night.

Penny

I tried to take an adorable picture of Penny with a pumpkin, but she just about had a heart attack when she saw this. :)

Psalm 19

We studied this Psalm at church today...

Psalm 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands.   
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
       night after night they display knowledge.
 ³ There is no speech or language
       where their voice is not heard. 
 ⁴ Their voice goes out into all the earth,
       their words to the ends of the world.
       In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
 ⁵ which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
       like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
 ⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
       and makes its circuit to the other;
       nothing is hidden from its heat.
 ⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,
       reviving the soul.
       The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
       making wise the simple.
 ⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,
       giving joy to the heart.
       The commands of the LORD are radiant,
       giving light to the eyes.
 ⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,
       enduring forever.
       The ordinances of the LORD are sure
       and altogether righteous.
 ¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
       than much pure gold;
       they are sweeter than honey,
       than honey from the comb.
 ¹¹ By them is your servant warned;
       in keeping them there is great reward.
 ¹² Who can discern his errors?
       Forgive my hidden faults.
 ¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
       may they not rule over me.
       Then will I be blameless,
       innocent of great transgression.
 ¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
       be pleasing in your sight,
       O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Mr. Sketch Smelly Markers

How much do you love these markers? I love them a lot. I use them for everything at school...making charts, grading, putting stars or smilies on little hands......I could really love these for any Christmas/birthday gift givings in the future. ;) They smell so good and are so fun for the kids. Just one of my favorite things that helps make the day more fun.

A Few of My Favorite Things on this Labor Day Weekend

Grandview Drive picnic and walk for dinner on Saturday...

Then we visited Bed Bath and Beyond to look at Keurig coffee makers. We decided on the Platinum QuietBrew. Yay! I think we'll get it this week.

Next, we went to find the Tricentennial Tree, a 300+ year old Bur Oak Tree. They think it was planted around 1499, but there are a few opinions. It is so huge! These pictures are from the Park District and Journal Star.

We also got Starbucks and went to the record store for Taylor. Then we went home and watched Amelie and played with our sweet puppy! Sunday, we went to church, ate at our favorite pizza restaurant, Firehouse Pizza, and then we were pretty lazy for the rest of the day.

Monday morning, we attempted to find a farmer's market, but everything was closed. We tried Apple Blossom Farm, but it was kind of disappointing as far as fresh produce. They didn't have any trees that we could pick from. We got a few apples and we shared an apple cider slush and an apple cider doughnut. The highlight of this trip was the bunnies......

Jail Bunny and Teacher Bunny.

Next, we had lunch and went to the Peoria Zoo. My favorite animal was the Red Hog in the Africa exhibit. Piglets had just been born and they were too cute.

Can you see the four little piggies? They were playful and snuggly.

We came home and Taylor watched a movie while I baked cookies, in preparation for Meet the Teacher Night coming up next week.

Last, we went to the Johnston's house for burgers and we played a fun game of Countdown. What a great weekend!

Some Baby Penny & Mama Pictures

She's looking so much older! I need to take some new pictures. Here are a few from a couple months ago.

She loves to cuddle.

More time for crafts

This week I handed in a paper that has been in the works for two years. What a relief! I am so excited to start quilting on the weekends! I love these prints.

Miss Honey

Today a parent told me her daughter (in my class and new to the school and area) said I reminded her of Miss Honey from Matilda. Best compliment ever. I always loved that teacher. I taught my best ever lesson today on general ways to act in our classroom I wore an apron and brought in my red smiley spoon and we mixed together a fruit salad. I added each fruit and talked about what each one represents (like good attitudes, nice words, helpfulness, etc.) and then I almost put in a rotten banana, but they all yelled "GROOOSSS!" just like I hoped they would and we talked about how one rotten banana will spoil the mix! It was amazing. They were so engaged and listened so well. They just loved it. It's going to be a great year!

Cuban Pork Sandwiches

Two meals in my first two days of school! And even with plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week. We went to One World last weekend and Taylor ordered and loved the Cuban Pork. After searching around for a little while, I came across an article about the One World Cuban Pork Sandwich and derived a recipe from the article. I found a pork roast from Kroger's on Manager's Special (meat that's about to expire, I think) that was only $3.75. It was small, about 1 3/4 lb., but it was great for us! This makes about 7 sandwiches, so again, this is a pretty cheap meal.

1. Put the pork roast in the crock pot with enough liquid to cover it. I used 1 qt of chicken stock and 1 qt of water. Season well with garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook all day, depending on your crock pot. I had it on low from 7am-5pm, and then I put it on warm until we came home at 7pm. Shred it with forks a little.
2. Use ciabatta rolls (I couldn't find them at the store I was, so I used sub bread.) and swiss cheese. I should have toasted them, but I didn't think of it.
3. Mix 2 parts mayo, 2 parts barbeque sauce, and 1 part something spicy. I used spicy mayo for my something spicy. Spread this on the bread. 

I haven't really had this meal at One World, so I don't actually know how close it was, but I'd make this again for sure. :)

Baked Penne Rigate

I usually call this Baked Ziti, but I've never actually used ziti. I like this kind of pasta better for this dish, plus I like to tell Penny that we're making her pasta and so and so. This is a very easy dish and very frugal. It costs about $6 for the three ingredients and serves about 6!

1. Boil 1 lb. of pasta. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour half of the pasta (with just a little bit of the water left in it) into a 9x13 baking dish. I usually use a ceramic dish.
3. Pour half of a big jar of pasta sauce over the pasta.
4. Pour half of a bag of mozzarella cheese (4 cup bag or 2 cup bag...the more cheese the better) over the sauce.
5. Repeat steps 2-4.
6. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or longer. The cheese will get melty and the pasta will absorb some of the sauce and water, making it pipping hot and delish.

My Favorite Meal: Snacks for Dinner!

Well, maybe it's not my favorite. But sometimes it is! Here are my favorite quick and cold finger food snacks.

• Smoked turkey, marbled cheddar, and apple on toothpicks. Toothpicks are so fun.
• Peanut butter on Pepperidge Farm sesame wheat crackers.
• Hummus with carrot sticks (real carrot sticks, not the nubs) and flat bread triangles seasoned with olive oil, salt, and Italian herbs. 
• Apple and marbled cheddar
• Crispy, crunchy grapes

This kind of food reminds me of spending the night at my good pal Jamie's house one night in high school? or college perhaps. We went to the kitchen late in the night for a snack. I think it all started with wondering what a certain kind of salad dressing tasted like. I hadn't ever had it and Jamie insisted that I should try it. Her parents were sleeping and we tried not to wake them up, but we were also dancing, running, fist pumping, and giving major thumbs up of approval while we ate delicious snack combos like this.  Things like Monical's French with carrots, peanut butter or honey on ev-er-y-thing, and chocolate and butterscotch chips. We were also hysterically silent laughing the whole time. So fun. (Smorgee's Team Cafe!)

Expect More Posts Like This...

Starting Monday!

This was from my first class (two years ago now!), from an absolutely adorable little girl who decided she loved tigers more than any other animal. She made this book about them. On the first page (this is the title page pictured), she drew the momma tiger with four little blue eggs about to hatch.

I can't believe I'm going into my third year of teaching on Monday morning with 21 new boys and girls. The time flies! I'm so thankful for this big job that God has given me. He is so good.

When in Rome...

Saturday we went to a Roman themed engagement party for Heather and Lance. They were engaged in Rome, so Lance's parents threw an awesome toga party while he was home from Afghanistan. It was so fun!

That's Katie and her fiance, Justin, and Elisha with her bf, Pat.

Us with the engaged couple!

More Classroom Pictures

http://s787.photobucket.com/albums/yy155/cupcakesandlove/Classroom%202010/

Classroom Tour

I really do have a big amount of work still to do on my classroom this year. A lot of things I have ready but I can't put up until they are done being laminated...which is not going to be for awhile. It's kind of frustrating that I can't just do that myself. But. Here are the areas that are done! I love it!

This is my new desk! I am so excited about it. I got a few lamps this year to make my room more homey like, and I'm incorporating black and white polka dots with my ocean theme. Much of the ocean theme isn't pictured in this post.

I got this board at Hobby Lobby and I painted the wooden letters, also found at Hobby Lobby.

This area will be jazzed up a bit.

Chicken Strips

These were pretty good. I used panko bread crumbs again and followed this recipe almost. I read the comments and changed the oil to butter, and added several seasonings: seasoned salt, garlic powder, and paprika. Mine really didn't look like the pictures, but they tasted good still!

Maple-Glazed Salmon

We like to pronounce the L in salmon. Try it!

This was so delicious. Here's where I found the recipe. This was super easy and only took a few minutes to cook on my George Foreman grill. Even better...while looking at this recipe, I solved the fish scale/skin problem! You take it off after the fish is cooked and it comes off soo easily. I don't know how I didn't think of that. Do you see those brown crunchy looking things on the salad? They are crispy onion things and they are really interesting in a good way. You can find them in the salad topping area of the grocery store.

Paninis--George Foreman Grill Alert!

I forgot that I had a little George Foreman Grill! My brother gave it to me for Christmas when I was in college and I just used it for the first time this week. This meal was Taylor's Ultimate Favorite Meal of All Time. Too bad I didn't take the best picture (actually Taylor took this with his fancy new iPhone)...you can't even see all the goodness in this grilled Panini. I used Panini bread (I don't know what it's really called, I guess it was Sourdough.) from Panera, bacon, turkey, salami, provolone, cheddar, spicy mayo, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Anyway...I realized how much fun a GF grill is. I used it for another dinner the next night. I love it!

Creamy Veggies and Chicken

This was a clean out the cupboards kind of meal. I started searching for something to cook. We had no raw meat, we had already eaten wraps for lunch, and I almost made pancakes. Then I saw a can of cream of celery soup and looked on the back to see if there was a recipe. There was! And it looked good! So I tried it...and it was good! The recipe was for "Creamy Stir-fry," but I didn't have any soy sauce on hand and really it didn't taste like stir fry at all, so I renamed it. Taylor didn't love this, but I thought it was warm and comforting and great for using up a lot of ingredients we actually had.

• Boil a half of a box of noodles. I had radiatore.You could also use rice, or none at all.
• Heat a little oil in a skillet over medium heat.
• Once the oil is hot, throw in cooked (because that's what I had, use raw though to make it better) chicken and cook.
• Chop up veggies and add. I had a bag of stir fry veggies (broccoli, carrots, and snow peas), but then I also added water chestnuts and celery. Add 1 tsp. minced garlic.
• Stir it around until the veggies are crisp and tender.
• Add a can of cream of celery soup and about 1/2 cup of milk. Reduce heat after the soup and milk have mixed together well.

Mahi Mahi

For dinner a couple of nights ago, I broiled Mahi Mahi after sprinkling on some seasoned salt. I followed the cooking directions on the back of the package...I think it took about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, I cooked couscous on the stove and made a little garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, glazed walnuts, and Parmesan cheese. Yum!