how much left over?

leftovers....it's the good and the bad of having a little get together.
we just had a softball get together and there were 2 large packages of hamburger buns left over.

i got creative...and surfed the web for new ideas.
{i always make bread pudding with leftover bread, so i thought i'd try a few more things this time}

first up...apple raison french toast casserole from HERE
it's beautiful and delicious...and makes up the night before so it was perfect for a saturday morning breakfast before soccer games and a softball tournament! and i didn't feel too bad because it has apples and raisons in it and i served yogurt with fresh strawberries as a side. yummy to my tummy!

next...blue cheese and onions creations from HEREliterally some blue cheese and diced onions on top of a bun and toasted until the cheese melts a bit in a toaster oven or broiler. delish!!!

next...mini mexican pizzas!!!
super fun, easy and the kids love it!!! i altered a recipe i found HERE.
taco seasoned cooked meat {leftover is great}
shredded cheese
green peppers, onion olive for toppings
1 can tomato sauce or taco sauce
...and the famous leftover bunsplace the buns on the baking sheet open. spoon about a tablespoon of sauce on each bun. place meat and toppings on next. top with cheese. broil {or toast in toaster oven} until the cheese is melted.

well...enjoy some good old fashioned leftovers with hot dog and hamburger buns. we did!!!

danyele @ a thorn among roses

garbage disposal blues

a smelly sink is more than gross, it's unsanitary...so here's a few tips on making that garbage disposal a little cleaner and fresher.

start by doing the dirty, gross work.
clean the entry flaps. some rubber pieces are removable, others are not. if you can remove the rubber piece, soak in warm soapy water and scrub clean. if not, grab your elbow length gloves, warm and soapy water and a rag and start wiping. when you can't get into those tight spots, an old toothbrush will do the trick.

an earth friendly and quick way to clean up that disposal...
put three cups of baking soda down in the disposal.
add a bottle of lemon juice or one gallon of distilled white vinegar.
stand back and watch the show, because a flurry of bubble joy takes place as the acid mixes with the soda. this will also clear out the drain of all sorts of icky things and kill bacteria, which is always a good thing.

then keep that sink smelling fresh...
citrus....lemons, limes and oranges are great options for refreshing your sink every few days. place the peels in the disposal and run with warm water for a nice fresh smell and refresher.

clean up those blades and clear out the ick with basic ice cubes in the disposal. put a handful of ice cubes in the disposal and chop up.

as always, make sure you follow the recommendations on your own disposals manual to ensure there will be no damage...and never mix chemicals together.

danyele @ a thorn among roses

fool's foods

april fool's day is just around the corner...

how about haivng a little fun with your fam in the kitchen?

sushi??? or rice crispies wrapped in fruit leather! family fun has the recipe and details on pulling this one off.

how about some mashed potatoes and gravy for dessert??? (ewww)
{ice cream and butterscotch/caramel topping}

and a delicious after school snack of peas and fish sticks?
{recipe here}

1. For the fish sticks, place a couple of handfuls of cornflakes in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Cover 2 sugar wafer cookies with peanut butter, then toss them in the cornflake crumbs to coat.
2. For the peas, tear off and roll small pieces of the taffy candy into balls. If the taffy is too stiff to work with, microwave it for about 6 seconds.
3. For the ketchup, use a fork to stir a few teaspoons of the jam until it's smooth.

go have some fun with the kids...why not? don' thave kids? take the snacks to work and freak out the co workers!!!

happy spring!
danyele @ a thorn among roses

crock pot rotisserie chicken

got a little bit of time and a lot of mouths to feed?

whole chicken and a crock pot are the right combo!

1 whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry {giblets removed}
2 cups chicken broth {or 2 bouillon cubes and 2 cups hot water}
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

roll 3 balls of aluminum foil about 3 inches in diameter each.
stuff the chicken {for flavoring only...do not eat} with quartered onion and garlic.
add chicken broth to the crock pot.
sprinkle with poultry seasoning and salt and pepper.
place the chicken on top of the balls of foil.

bake on high for 1 hour, low for 6-7 hours {leaving the lid on for steaming}

save the broth and extra chicken for chicken noodle soup!

danyele @ a thorn among roses

The Coffee Filter

Coffee filters ..who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave.
Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.


3. Protect China. Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

5. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

6. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

7. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

8. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

9. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent
the soil from going through the drainage holes.

10. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

11. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.

12. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.
Soaks out all the grease.

13. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

Oh and they are great as Coffee Filters Too!

Think smarter! Cathleen @ designbycathleen

slow cooker to the rescue {2 meals in one}

roast, potatoes and carrots means uber delicious and nutritious!! done in the slow cooker, it also means easy peasy.

pot roast and vegetables
1 roast (pork or beef)
bag of mini carrots
3 potatoes
1 envelope of onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 teaspoon of crushed pepper and garlic seasoning
water

add carrots and diced potatoes to the crock pot.
add 3 cups of water and envelope of onion soup mix and stir well until dissolved.
rub roast with pepper and garlic seasoning on both sides. place roast in crock pot. place roast on top of the veggies and ensure there is sufficient water to almost cover the roast.
cover and set to low for 8-10 hours.

your only job now is to smell the goodness all day long...and serve it up all pretty on a platter at dinner time. {i suggest putting some flour on your forehead and add sprinkles of water to add effect to your 'hard work' while serving}.

the fab thing about this meal is you have great stock from the roast...left over veggies and meat and you have instant soup for the next meal to serve.

leftover roast soup...beef vegetable soup

diced left over roast and remaining stock, carrots and potatoes
1 can of green beans and 1 can corn
2 whole tomatoes, diced and smashed {or 1 can of crushed tomatoes}
1 bay leaf

place all ingredients in large stock put and simmer on low for 2 hours. serve with fresh cheese biscuits {recipe here} and you have a fabulous homemade soup that will soothe what ails you! and it's another delicious and almost free dinner for your family!!

wanna see more of me and my clan?? head on over to a thorn among roses.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos

Good Monday morning everyone! I don't know about you but I LOVE jalapenos. Especially with Mexican food. These stuffed jalapenos are one of my favorite appetizers ever. They are amazingly good and the sausage in them adds such a good flavor. We make these every year for New Years Eve, can't imagine New Year's Eve without these. A huge hit around here. For more recipes visit: Priscilla's Baking Adventures.

Sausage-Stuffed Jalapenos
Ingredients:

1 pound bulk pork sausage

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese

22 large jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise and seeded

Ranch salad dressing, optional
DIRECTIONS:

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese; fold in sausage. Spoon about 1 tablespoonful into each jalapeno half. Place in two ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes. Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until filling is lightly browned and bubbly. Serve with ranch dressing if desired. Yield: 44 appetizers.

family time and food

one of the super fun things i remember growing up was having pizza and a pop on friday night with the family and watching the dukes of hazzard {sad, i know...but you that john schneider back in the day...} or a movie.

well, in that spirit, my fam now has pizza making night...and it's, of course, the easy peasy way.

what you need:

refrigerator pizza dough and/or refrigerator biscuits

pizza sauce {can or bottle}

toppings of your choice {onion, green pepper, sausage, pepperoni, etc}

one large bag of shredded italian or pizza cheese

we make a big pizza and each of the kiddos get to make their own too. the refrig biscuits are for the personal pizzas. take two biscuits and smash them together...and you have personal pan dough. add toppings and bake per the instructions on the bisuits (425 for like 12 minutes)

for the big fam pizza, roll our the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza stone. add toppings and bake per dough instructions.

in the end, we add a salad and some pop and we have a little feast...all done together. it takes super yummy, the kids are helping and it's all for under $5.

happy pizza friday!

easy peasy style ham and beans

my fam loves to eat a good, fresh bowl of soup in the winter...
so i'm always looking for fast and healthy soups that are time and budget friendly.

so, here's a very quick old standby that my clan loves...

ham and beans, easy peasy style

1 pound of ham, diced

1/2 large onion diced

1 jar kendall great northern beans, 40 oz

40 oz water

simmer the ham and onions in a few tbs of oil...that makes everyone feel like you spent hours cooking because the smell is so good!

after the onions are looking a clear, add the jar of beans. then, take the empty jar, fill with water and add to the soup.

{i realize i'm pathetic that i use pre-soaked beans, but this is the easy peasy version. if you have the time, soak your own bagged beans over night. honestly, i have used these kendall beans {from wal-mart, like $3} for years...and it's my kids fav.}

let it all simmer on low for about 1 hour...and viola! bean soup!

add some corn bread and a salad, you have yourself a little winter comfy food for the fam!!!

come on by and see me and my fam any time...i'm at a thorn among roses

fun kids lunch

so my girlie pies love to have a jazzed up version of lunch...because they love being all fancy and stuff.
so, i make the old, look new again...and amazingly, it tastes better and there's smiles instead of complaining.

i'm a toss and run lunch mom...but i want my girls to get good food too. you should know all my girlies are on high protein, high calorie diets, so don't freak too much about the meats and cheeses. my girlie pies are skinny minnies...ahhhh.

current lunch fav:
salomi or pepperoni

enter pampered chef cutout shaper-thingy's.
{ok, i have no idea what they are really called, but they are super fun to use}
my set is in a tin and has like 10 shapes...these are the girlies 3 fav's

the hardest part about lunch...deciding which shape to cut!

ohhhhh, look at that salomi now!!

then i plate it up for round one of eating...add applesauce and salad.
fun meal for the girlie pies!

don't forget to look around for more fab stuff for your home...
and if you wanna see more of me and my girlie pies (hubs too), come visit any time at a thorn among roses.

warm, comfort food

it's cold and snowy in the midwest...

and honestly, i need some old fashioned, warm this body up, comfort food. ok, dessert!

so i made bread pudding...this recipe...
and, i have to say, i think it soothed my ills.


i doubled the recipe..honestly, we'll eat a 9x13 at dessert! this is hubs fav!
i modified a few things to make it ours...and i just don't like following the rules too strictly!

first...we don't like so much of a cinnamon taste, so i cut sprinkled the top with cinnamon and used about 1/2 of what the recipe called for.
second...i used more vanilla than what the recipe called for...about half again...since we love that vanilla flavor.
third...we love raisons, so piled them in. that way can go with "there's fruit in it" when i want seconds!


...and it was delish!!! and the house...boy does it smell yummy!!

hot spinach artichoke dip

the super bowl is this weekend...and everyone needs some good snacks for watching the game.
even if you're not the game watching type, you'll be loving this spinach artichoke dip anyway.

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (we like it cheesy)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained completely
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream (can substitute mayo or miracle whip)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

preheat the oven to 350 and get your 9x13 or 8x8 pan ready.

In your food processor (or blender), place artichoke hearts, Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese and garlic . Chop it, but don't grind it. Set aside. {my family loves it extra cheesy, so this recipe is for us. you can use as little as 1/4 cup of paremesan.}

In a medium bowl, mix together spinach, heavy cream, sour cream and mozzarella cheese.
Stir in artichoke mixture. Spoon into prepared baking dish.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. you'll smell it. it's yummy!!

serve warm with tortilla chips or on triscuits or crackers. a great appetizer option, serve on crusty italian bread slices...and it looks fab too!!!

my kids love it...and it's got some veggies in it!

scroll on down to see more fab ideas from the gals here at project{create a home}. wanna see more of my fam, come on by any time at a thorn among roses.