Archive for January, 2012
Baked Sloppy Joe–For those needing a fast easy meal
Hi, Shanna here to share your family meal for tonight. I have had a hard time coming up with good meal ideas lately so something I’ve tried is mixing up the old favorites and putting a new spin on them. A few months ago I found a recipe for Baked Sloppy Joe and tried it and like it much better than the original hamburger bun and Manwich. Here is the recipe hope you enjoy!
Baked Sloppy Joe
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups canned sloppy joe sauce
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated reduced-fat crescent rolls
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Cook and stir the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain off any excess fat, and mix the sloppy joe sauce into the cooked meat.
- Unroll a can of crescent rolls, and pinch the triangles together to form a single sheet of dough. Lay the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the meat and sauce mixture in an even layer over the dough, and sprinkle the Cheddar cheese over the meat mixture. Unroll the second can of rolls, pinch the triangles together to make a single sheet of dough as before, and place the dough over the cheese.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated oven until the top sheet of dough is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
The importance of backing up your drives!
Hey guys, Cammi here! A couple of years ago, I learned the hard way why it’s important to back your files up in places other than your hard drive. My computer crashed, and I lost all my photos from 6 months time. Most of them I had printed already, so I was able to have them that way at least. After that I began copying them to CD. Only a couple of years after that I realized my CD’s were beginning to get scratched up, and I could no longer open the files. So maybe that wasn’t the best option either. Last year I bought an external hard drive to back up all my photos. I had portrait sessions from my business, pictures of my kids, and all my scrapbooking kits and pages. SCORE! (I thought.) I found out a few months into having an external drive that they indeed crash as well. Fortunately I didnt learn it the hard way. People on my message board strongly suggested an online backup company. I researched a few to see what would back up an external drive, and finally found Backblaze . Backblaze was the #1 online backup company that would back up external drive. And it’s so cheap! Only $5/month. So I paid for it, and started the process. BOY was it slow. But I had over 100G to back up!
Last week my external drive crashed. Literally. My toddler pulled it off the desk and it shattered to pieces. My husband has not been able to get it to work. It gives and error code that online techies say means it’s broke and can’t be fixed. The last three years of our lives were on that drive! the births of two babies, thousands of dollars in scrapbooking kits. Home videos. EVERYTHING. I am sweating bullets as I sign into Backblaze. Fortunately, it had uploaded ALL my photos. That was the part I was most worried about, as I am a slacker and haven’t printed anything out from 2010-current. However, it hadn’t gotten around to backing up my scrapbooking kits. (my fault cause I had disconnected the drive and had it on another computer). So yeah, I’m out a thousand bucks or so, but I still have my pictures!
So my advice to you all is do not wait to back up your stuff. Don’t learn the hard way. Whether you back up on CD, DVD, online, USB etc save your photos/important documents in more than one place. You’ll be so thankful you did!
Speed Scrap LO’s HERE!
Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the speed scrap. Here is where I would like you to post your completed LO’s. I am also posting all the instructions here for those who were unable to make it. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you had fun.
Xoxo,
Kara
Here is my completed layout.
Tuesday Randomness-Speed Scrap..
Happy Tuesday bloggers Kara here, I hope Monday treated you well. Did you get the chance to read our blog yesterday, and see the yummy Monday meal that was posted? Another recipe I must try, I must say I am becoming quite the cook with all these delicious meals! So I have been thinking what can I do as a CT manager for Scrapping Artistry to get more action on our blog? The light bulb lit up and I have decided to have a Speed Scrap on Missy’s facebook fan page. When is it do you ask? Well, Wednesday January 25th @ 12:00pm EST. Now don’t worry, if you will be at work at this time, you can do it when you get home, get the kids fed, homework done, and all that stuff. You have until 12:00pm EST Thursday to post your completed LO’s HERE on the blog. All the steps for the speed scrap will be posted here, and on Missy’s facebook fan page. See, now worries, I know you will be able to get it done. If you are not a fan of Missy’s Bits I have to ask WHY??? LOL, just kidding, but be sure to like her page, and please sign up for our newsletter too! Okay, I have rambled enough, now mark your Calendars and don’t forget Wednesday January 25,2012 @ 12:00pm EST. I can’t wait, hope to see you there! have a great day!
Mmmmm, Mmmmm Good Monday
Hi Shanna here with your Monday meal. I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. I know we did. My husband and I went out to dinner, just the 2 of us, Friday night and his parents kept our kids over night. It was so nice just having a quiet dinner alone. Then Saturday he cooked a brisket on the pit and we invited his family over for the evening. Sunday we just hung out at home my oldest daughter had her cousin spend the night with us so they played most of the day. It was just a nice weekend.
Well today I have for you first and appetizer recipe for Skinny Taco Dip that I made a couple weeks ago for a MOPS group I attend. It was the first time I’ve ever made this dip and wow it was really tasty.
Skinny Taco Dip (re-posted from Skinny Taste)
- 8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese
- 8 oz reduced fat sour cream
- 16 oz jar mild salsa
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
- 2.25 oz black olives
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning and mix well with an electric mixer. Spread on the bottom of a large shallow glass dish. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and black olives. Serve with baked tortilla chips.
Ok so onto the meal. Last week I tried another new Pinterest Recipe I found, Oven Baked Frito Pie. I will admit I’m not a fan of Frito Pie, but it’s an easy meal that my husband and kids love so I thought I’d give it a go. It was still not my favorite, but my husband and daughter loved it so if you’re a Frito Pie lover like them you’ll like it.
Oven Baked Frito Pie (re-posted from Sweet Treats & More)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (16 oz) chili beans
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2% fat kind)
3 1/2 cups corn chips (Frito’s)
1 1/4 cup fat free sour cream
Directions: Cook ground beef until meat is browned; drain. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning mix and 1/4 c. of cheese. Sprinkle 1 cup corn chips in bottom of 8×8 baking dish or 9×13 dish. Cover with chili. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Spread sour cream over chili. Top with remaining corn chips and cheese. Bake 4-5 minutes longer.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
***Note- I omitted the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and ground beef and instead used a 2 cans of Chili with beans already made***
Ok lastly today I have for you one of my favorite cakes ever. I’ve made Coca-Cola Cakes since I was probably 14 or 15 years old and they are still my cake of choice if I’m ever asked to make a cake homeade and not from a box. I haven’t made one of these in years, but I keep seeing it pinned on Pinterest so I thought I’d share the recipe and let you know it really is a great cake. I don’t even like most chocolate cakes, but this one I love!!
Coca-Cola Cake (re-posted from May Flaum’s Blog)
preheat oven to 350, and grease up (I like Crisco) a 9×13 (or so) pan.
mix:
2cups flour
2cups sugar
1/2tsp salt 1tsp baking powder**
1/2tsp cinnamon
** note: I have made this with baking powder or soda – mostly because I always mix the two up in my mind and guess what? Either way works.
in a saucepan over medium high heat stir this up good until it boils: 1 cup butter 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 cup coca-cola (from bottle is my preference!) 1/2 cup buttermilk
now take off heat and add that to the flour mix & whisk until combined.
Then add:
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
mix, put in pan, bake it for about 30minutes. Yes, it’s a quick bake. Don’t over-bake it!
when cake is nearly done make the glaze by mixing in saucepan:
1/2cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coca cola
once that boils, remove and slowly stir in
4cups of confectioners’ sugar until nice and smooth. Then add in about a cup of chopped pecans, and give it a stir.
once cake is done and out of oven (toothpick should come out clean), pour this warm glaze right over the top of the hot cake!
Merry After Christmas Freebie
Hi, Shanna here with your Saturday Freebie. If you are anything like me you still have pictures to scrap from Christmas. Well to help you out a little so you can get these layouts done I’ve created a cute cluster frame using SugarMoon’s Christmas Pageant Kit exclusive at With Love Studio.
Here is your freebie (image is linked for download)
Random Tuesday: Photo book deal!
Hey guys! Cammi here. So, for the past several years I’ve been using AdoramaPix to print my photos, and I always encourage my friends and family to do the same. They have amazing quality, super fast processing, they are inexpensive and have the best customer service. However, I had always printed my photo books elsewhere. I felt that they were too expensive. (They’re books were more expensive than competitors, even though print purchases weren’t). But in the early part of 2010 they ran a special and I decided to make a book to see how it was. WOW. I swore then I would NEVER get another book from anyone else! The quality was AMAZING. Their pages were made of board, almost like a kids’ board book. There were no paper pages that would fade, like the books I used to buy. I can’t even try to express my love of that book!
Here are a few pictures of my book.
And here’s the best part! For the next two weeks, Adoramapix is selling their 14 page 8×8 book for $11.95! For a while, they were also giving a $10 photo credit to all new customers. I’m not sure if they are still doing that, but if they are you can get a high quality photo book for just 1.95! It’s perfect for your scrapbook pages. I’ve ordered several that way for my scrapbook pages instead of printing them on individual pages. I encourage you all to give them a shot and comment back with your review!
Meal Planning and Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Hi there, Shanna here with your Monday meal blog. Before I share the most yummiest chicken recipe ever I thought I’d share this neat organizational meal planning board I found that you can make for your home. If you are like me you are probably not the most organized person in the world. Maybe you take spells of getting organized for a few weeks or months, then you just get lazy again. This is how I am. Sometimes I’m really great about planning meals and then for some reason I just stop. My goal for the month of February coming up is to start planning out my meals and shopping only for the things I need for those meals. It saves me time and a lot of money when I stick to a plan like this. So anyway here is this neat idea of a board you can make to keep organized with your meal planning. I think I may need to make one of these myself soon.
The Ultimate Menu Board by Claires Fairy Tail Blog
If you would like to build one of these great boards yourself there are some great directions on the blog here.
Now onto the recipe for the yummiest chicken I’ve ever eaten *warning this is not a low fat recipe for all you still sticking to your New Years resolutions for losing weight*. I made this recipe last week after finding it on Pinterest and everyone in the family loved it including my 7 year old who is really picky and my 21 month old who tries to be picky.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken by Artsy-Fartsy Mama
Ingredients:
4 Boneless/skinless chicken breasts (pounded flat using your meat tenderizer hammer)
4 oz of softened cream cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
20 pieces of bacon
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions: (To see step by step directions click here)
Place chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap (or I used a ziploc baggie) and pound it flat with your meat tenderizer hammer. I seasoned my chicken breasted with McCormick’s grill mates Montreal Chicken, but you can use anything you’d like the orginal recipe from the blog says she seasoned with just salt. Mix in a bowl the cream cheese and garlic salt (you could add more seasonings if you’d like to experiment). Then place 3 pieces of bacon verically on a plate and 2 pieces horizontally on the plate ( I only used 2 pieces both verically and horizontally). Place chicken breast on top of the bacon. Then spread about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture on top of the chicken and then a handful of cheese on top of that. Wrap the bacon around the chicken and place it seam side down in your baking pan. Cook uncovered on 400 for 45 minutes turning the chicken over about half way through. Then turn the oven up to 500 and cook a few more minutes until the bacon is cooked through.
Next time I make this I am planning to add some jalepenos to my cream cheese mixture to add a little more flavor. Also I’d like to try this with boneless pork chops and make it a lot like my stuffed pork loin recipe I posted here a few weeks ago.
I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine did. Be sure to comment here if you make it and let us know how it turned out. And a big thanks to Artsy-Fartsy Mama for sharing this recipe online on her blog.
Monday Meal
Hi, Shanna here with your Monday Meal. I tried this recipe I found off Pinterest a few weeks ago and it was pretty good and really easy. So if you want a quick easy meal that kids will like here you go.
Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole
adapted from Recipezaar.com
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or swiss cheese (or any cheese of choice)
1/2 cup milk
Filling
4 ounces cream cheese (very soft) * I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese*
2 tablespoons butter (very soft but not melted)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp minced onion flakes
2 large cooked chicken breasts, finely chopped (or use about 2 cups, can use cooked turkey)
1/2-3/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. milk
1-2 cup grated cheddar cheese (for topping)
Set oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Mix together milk, 3/4 cup cheese and undiluted chicken soup (can season with black pepper if desired).
For the filling — (make certain that the cream cheese and butter are very soft) in a bowl, mix the soft cream cheese with butter until very smooth, then add in garlic powder. Add in the chopped chicken, onion and cheddar cheese; mix well until combined. Add in 2 tablespoons milk; mix to combine (add in a little more if the mixture seems too dry). Season with seasoned salt or white and black pepper to taste. Unroll the crescent rolls. Place 1 heaping tablespoon chicken mixture (or a little more) on top of each crescent triangle, then roll up starting at the thicker end. Drizzle a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom of the dish. Then place the crescent rolls seam-side down on top of the creamed mixture in the casserole.
Drizzle the remaining sauce on top (you don’t have to use the full amount of cream sauce, just use as much as desired) and sprinkle with 1 cup (or more) grated cheese, or amount desired. Bake for about 30 minutes.
New Freebie, Facebook Friendly
Hi, Shanna here for you Saturday Freebie. Can you believe it’s already the first Saturday of the new year? Today I’m here to wish you all a happy new year and offer you this great new freebie from the Scrapping Artistry team. I’m sure many of you have Facebook accounts and are aware of the newest craze on Facebook which is the new Timeline format. I finally got mine switched over this week and found you can really customize your Banner Cover on there. So of course I had to make something scrappy for it so after Googling and finding the size for the banner I went crazy making banners to share with all of you.
Today’s freebie Facebook Timeline Banners are made using the following kits from your Scrapping Artistry designer’s Missy’s Bits and Sugarmoon Designs.
The first Timeline Banner I used Garden Whimsy by Missy’s Bits and available at MyMemories. I love this banner so much and used it for my own personal Facebook profile.
The second Timeline Banner I used For the Boys from Missy’s Bits and available at MyMemories.
And lastly I made a Timeline Banner from Sugarmoon’s LillyPads and Lightening Bugs kit
And here finally is your freebie for the week (image is linked for download):
ENJOY!!!
