Jodi's Shower

We had Jodi's shower brunch Saturday morning. Everything turned out well. I'm hoping to post some pictures later of her super cute nursery! (I hope it doesn't take me another two months!) :)

Chicken Pecan Quiche

FYI....I just found this in my draft, don't know why I never posted it!

I had a fun little girl's lunch the other day with Jodi and Brooke. Jodi made the yummiest quiche ever, so I had to post the recipe. Lynne, if you read the blog, this is the quiche you made at my first Kindergarten luncheon at your house. I have saved the recipe ever since because I remembered how yummy it was even then!

Chicken-Pecan Quiche.

Yield
one 9" quiche

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh onion
1/4 teaspoon dried dillweed
3 drops of hot sauce
1/4 cup pecan halves
Preparation
Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Add oil; stir well. Firmly press mixture on bottom and up sides of a 9" deep-dish pieplate. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine sour cream, broth, mayonnaise, and eggs; stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Stir in chicken and next 4 ingredients. Pour chicken mixture over prepared crust. Arrange pecan halves over chicken mixture. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The Key to a Happy Classroom

.....is a rockin' treasure chest! My students will literally do ANYTHING to get a chance at getting something out of mine! I spend all year scouring clearance, yard sales, anywhere to get good stuff without taking too much out of my pocket. My general rule of thumb is I usually don't pay more than a dime per prize. That sounds like I have a bunch of junk in my treasure chest, but when stores want to get rid of seasonal stuff, they mark it waaaaaay down. In past experiences I've lucked up at after holiday sales, where they have little toys and candy for stocking, Easter baskets, that kind of thing. I went to a yard sale a couple of weeks ago that had Happy Meal toys still in the packages for a nickel! I bought everyone they had of course! I have a cousin that gives me her happy meal toys to go in the chest, she's older than me and doesn't usually want to play with them! :) Well, today I broke my rule and paid a quarter for my new treasure chest jewels. It was such cute stuff. So, my secret is out, my students love me because I keep a well stocked treasure chest. Check out my other 25 cent finds!

In true teacher form, I have no idea how I will use these in my classroom- writing, Math, the possibilities are endless, but for a quarter, I will find a use!

Look at these babies, my open house gift for my kiddies! I'm doing a movie star theme and these July 4th bubbles will work perfectly! I will give out the red stars and one of teammates is doing a baseball stars theme, she'll give out the blue ones. How's that for a 12.5 cent gift!

Aren't these cuuuuuute! Handmade, glittery cards, you guessed it- 25 cents! These will be perfect for our grade level. When you work at a school someone is always getting married or having a baby- which means lots of showers! These cards are blank on the inside which gives all 7 teachers on the grade level room to write in it!
If you can't already tell, I'm so excited about all my "finds!"

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

For some odd reason, my dogs love to wear clothes! Whenever I get any of their clothes out, the start dancing around and trying to put their heads in! I got Molly a new little dress this week. Now you know being the deal finding kind of girl I am, I don't pay much! It was $3 at WalMart! Since Molly had clothes on, Sam was not to be outdone, I pulled out his polo that he and his daddy wear to match.

Our little girly girl!

Sam, not to be outdone by his sister, doesn't really care for the flash!


The best I could get with the two of them together!

Lovin' my Mama

I took this picture on Mother's Day intending to blog about my wonderful mother....a month later's not tooooo bad, right? :)
My mama is a wonderful person. She's also the hardest working woman I know. Kindergarten teacher, tax preparer, cook, gardener, pool boy, lawn service, caretaker, dog sitter, I haven't even scratched the surface. She's also the strongest person I know. She handles EVERYTHING and does it with a smile. She doesn't accept thanks or compliments well, she just does what needs doing. And the neatest thing of all? She's my mama. I love you mom!

Dixie Highway Yard Sale June 5-7, 2009!
Shop the Nostalgic Dixie Highway Yard Sale!
90 MILES FROM RINGGOLD TO MARIETTA
FOR INFORMATION:
Call 800-733-2280
OR Metro Atlanta 770-387-1357


Anyone ever been to this? My best friend and I are going Friday! We always try to do something for our birthday instead of buying each other something. What could be better than celebrating our birthday by going to a 90 mile yard sale? :) We're thinking about going early Friday, maybe spending the night and more yard sales before heading home Saturday. If you've been before, I'd love to hear about it!

Basil Pesto

My basil plants have really taken off and wanted to pick the leaves so they would keep on producin'! Next, what do I do with basil??? I use it now and again when I'm cooking, I may throw it in a tossed salad, I've even frozen the leaves before. So, I went to my trusty friend Google to see what else I could do and alas, BASIL PESTO! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups fresh packed basil leaves (packed means, stuff them into a measure cup and press them down with your hand; it's not a precise measurement)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (if you don't have pine nuts, you can use walnuts or hazelnuts)
3 garlic cloves, finely minced (or 1 tablespoon of prepared minced garlic)
1 tablespoon "fruit fresh" or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Fruit fresh is available at most grocery stores where canning supplied like pectin and pickling salt are sold. It is basically a form of citric acid / vitamin C, that helps prevent the pesto from turning brown upon exposure to the air.
1/4 cup Olive oil. It should be the "extra virgin" variety, not the ordinary cooking olive oil. If it is extra virgin, it will say that on the label: see the photo for an example of extra virgin (at left) next to cooking olive oil (at right).
Makes about 1 cup or prepared basil Pesto!


Directions
Step 1 - Pick the leaves off of the stems.
Discard any flower buds, stems or leaves that aren't in good shape. All we want are leaves; small, medium or large; as long as they are a healthy green, not brown or molding!


Step 2 - Wash the basil.
Just wash them in a large bowl under cold water, no soap!


Step 3 - Chop the pine nuts, olive oil and garlic in the food processor
If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender, and possibly a chopper. It would be fairly tedious to do this by hand, but I'm sure it can be done that way, too.


Step 4 - Add the basil leaves and olive oil and chop
Now start stuffing basil leaves (in small batches) into the food processor and chop them into the garlic, olive oil and pine nuts.
Chop the mix until it forms a thick, smooth paste.


Step 5 - Blend in the grated Parmesan cheese
Did I mention you need to grate the Parmesan cheese first? Then just add it to the food processor and blend! NOTE: if you intend to freeze the pesto, leave the cheese OUT and add it when you thaw and use the pesto. Cheese doesn't freeze well.

And that is it! You're done!

Secret Tip:
Adding 1 teaspoon of sugar or Splenda to the batch really seems to bring the flavor alive. Try it and see!

The pesto will keep in refrigerator for about a week, or you can freeze it and it will last for 3 to 6 months.

Serving?
Most people serve it over pasta or use it to season fish and chicken dishes.

Not really a pesto connoissuer. Do you have any suggestions of what to do with my pesto????

Restaurant coupons in today's paper

Don't miss out on all the coupons in Sunday's AJC. Besides having a ton of grocery coupons, there are restaurant coupons- Logan's, O'Charley's, Ruby Tuesday, Steak N' Shake, and Ted's Montana Grill.

I will blog again!

....Now that I have a brand new laptop! My wonderful husband and parents surprised me with it tonight for my birthday. My desktop is so incredibly slow, it was more trouble than it was worth to upload a picture to my blog, but now I'm back in business! I have lots of events to cover- Sam's obsession, Groovin' in the Grove, Mother's Day, and all the birthday festivities....yes, that's plural. If you don't know me you'd think I was 12 or under(btw I turned 32 today) with the hoopla surrounding my birthday. It's been known to be a month long celebration! And, if you know me- to be up at 9:30 on a SCHOOL NIGHT this laptop must have been a pretty special gift!

My Herb Garden

Ta-da! I now have fresh herbs right outside my kitchen door! I planted cilantro, mint, basil, parsley, and something else that I'm not sure of. I love my washtub that's the base- a $4.50 flea market find! I wasn't sure about mixing terra cotta pots with the washtub and watering can, but I think it looks right cute! What 'cha think?

My cousins, Boone, Eli, and Ryland, came to town last week! They are triplets about to turn 5! Elaine, Teresa, and I had such a fun time spending the evening with them. We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks and ate ice cream. They were on their best behavior and were rewarded with paratrooper toys that we played with until Angie and Doc came to get them. We don't get to see them very often so it was a real treat to spend some time with them. You can see from the picture that Sam was the most excited! :)

Spring Break

When my computer decides to act right, I will post pictures of some of the fun things I did this week. Stay tuned!

My go-to dish

I made my favorite appetizer for a school meeting on Wednesday. It's so good and always gets rave reviews. But the best part- it is so EASY! It is an unusual combination of flavors, but I think that's what makes it so good! My friend, Jan, made it for our tailgate one time. I use the recipe out of one of Paula Deen's cookbooks. It is said that Jimmy Carter brought this recipe to the White House- a southern favorite. Here goes!

Strawberry Cheese Ring

Ingredients
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
cayenne pepper
1 cup strawberry preserves

Directions
1Combine all the ingrdients except preserves in a food processor or electic mixer.
2Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
3Scoop mixture onto a platter.
4Use your hands to mold mixture into a ring formation.
5Spread strawberry preserves in the center of ring.
6Serve with buttery crackers

The Leprechaun visits!

The leprechaun came to see me this afternoon! Look at all the fun stuff he brought me! This has been a tradition since I was a little girl. I would wake up every St. Patrick's Day morning and find green stuff the leprechaun left for me. I can remember getting pickles, Sprite, green gum, and all kinds of fun green stuff. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Larry the Cable Guy

Sean and I, Brandon and Jodi, and Stuart and Joy went to see Larry the Cable Guy Saturday night at the Fox. He was hilarious! We went to Ted's Montana Grill for dinner. They are running a good special right now. For $15, you can get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The onion rings are OUT OF THIS WORLD! The cookie for dessert is great, too, it's still warm when they bring it to you!

She's got it going on!

Check out this blog! All the good deals on places around these parts!

http://www.savingyourcents.blogspot.com/

Great Shoe Sale TODAY!

Shoes.com Saturday Sale: Up to 75% off + extra 20% off, free shipping
Shop Now
Up to 75% off
This month's Shoes.com Saturday Sale takes up to 75% off select shoes. Plus, take an extra 20% off almost any order via coupon code "MSAVE". That's as much as 25% better than last month's Saturday Sale. Free shipping applies to all orders, as does free return shipping. The men's sale has over 6,000 pairs of shoes on sale; the women's sale has over 10,000 pairs. Kids' shoes are also on sale, as are handbags. Sale ends today.

I bought 5 pairs of shoes for $86.77! They have free shipping and free returns. I bought a pair of Asics for under $50 in January from them and they are THE BEST!

If you buy something, don't forget the extra 20% off code.

Awaiting Addie's Arrival

Today we had my good friend, Rolanda's, baby shower. We've taught together for 10 years and she's a very dear and sweet friend.

I made a diaper cake as part of her gift and Jodi had some bibs and burp cloths monogrammed. Aren't they precious?

I used a new recipe for the punch and it was delicious! I was looking for something to go with the pink theme.Here's the recipe:

1 gallon cranberry juice

1 can of frozen pink lemonade

1 can of pineapple juice

Put these ingredients in the punch bowl.

Just before the guests arrive add a 2 liter bottle of raspberry ginger ale and ice.

I also made Rolanda's favorite grape salad!

Another easy and yummy one!

I used red and green grapes.

The white stuff is:

3 blocks of cream cheese

24 oz. of sour cream

1 1/2 cups of sugar

You layer grapes, white stuff, brown sugar and pecans. Top with white stuff and sugar and pecan garnish. Always a crowd pleaser.

ABC News: Slow Cooker Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

ABC News: Slow Cooker Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Mom told me about this yummy recipe a couple of weeks ago. I never got around to getting it in the crock pot, so I made it this evening in the regular ol' oven. It was very good! Hubby's only complaint was the blue cheese on top, but I thought it gave it that perfect "tang!"