Lil' Cheddar Meat loaves

We finally got some snow today.  It is freezing outside.  I'm going caroling tonight with Kyla and a group from church in this freezing cold weather.  Oh, and it's my Anniversary!

14 years...holy cow how time has flown!  Can't believe Tony has put up with me for this long, he is the most patient man on the planet!  And just in case you don't believe me, this fact will make you a believer...he's a teacher!  2nd grade for the last 10 years and 3rd grade this year.  Just think about trying to teach 25 7, 8, and 9 year olds for 7 hours a day.......my point exactly!

Anyway, since we have other obligations tonight, we can't go out to eat to celebrate like we usually do.  So, I'm making one of my husbands favorite meals.  He may be eating it alone with the boys cause Kyla and I will be caroling...what a romantic evening!:)  Don't worry we'll make up for it sometime.

Lil' Cheddar Meat Loaves

PRINT RECIPE

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound lean ground beef
2/3 cups ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion and salt. Add beef and mix well. Shape into eight loaves; place in a greased 9X13 baking dish. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard; spoon over loaves. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. (45 minutes has always been plenty for me!)

Tony loves this with mashed potatoes, white gravy, and corn.  The perfect "guy" dinner!

Cranberry Eggnog Braid

Who loves eggnog?  I do!!  But I can only drink it during Thanksgiving/Christmas time (good thing that's the only time they sell it!:)) & I can only have 1 glass.  Too much of it makes me dizzy!:)  Sugar rush or something.  Although I can't drink it straight.  I dilute it about 50/50 with skim milk.  It's just too thick otherwise & kind of activates my gag reflex.  My husband likes to add Sprite to his eggnog.  I don't personally like it, but to each their own!  

What's your method of drinking eggnog?  Love it?  Hate it?  What do you like to add to yours, if anything?  I'm really curious about everyone elses eggnog drinking habits.:)

If you love (or even just like) eggnog, I think you'll really enjoy this treat!  I love doing fun things with my bread...like braiding it!  Looks so pretty & yummy!  

Make this sweet treat for your eggnog lovin' friends!

Cranberry Eggnog Briad

PRINT RECIPE

1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups eggnog, scalded
1/4 cup oil
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup craisins
Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons eggnog
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash of nutmeg

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in your mixer.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.  While the yeast is sitting, place eggnog in microwave for about 2-3 minutes.  You just want to scald it...heat it to just before boiling point.  Let eggnog cool until 10 minutes is up.  Add the sugar, salt, nutmeg, eggnog, oil and 1 1/2 cups of the flour to your yeast mixture.  Beat together until smooth.  Add craisins and enough flour to make a soft dough.  Let knead in your mixer for about 5-8 minutes.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in bowl.  Cover and let sit in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 equal parts.  Place one half on surface that has been sprayed with cooking spray (lot less messy than a floured surface & works great!)  Divide that half into 3 equal parts.  It doesn't have to be exact, just eyeball it.

Using your hand, roll each ball into a 16" or so long "rope".

Press the top of the tree "ropes" together to start.

Then just start braiding your 3 ropes together.

When you get to the end of your ropes (funny!:)), just tuck the bottom ends underneath a little and pinch dough together.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover and let raise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until they are lightly browned.  Let cool.

For the glaze, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk with a fork until smooth.

Place cooled braids on wax paper.  Using your fork, drizzle glaze over braids.

Wah-lah!!  Isn't it beautiful?  

You could wrap them up nice and give them as Christmas treats to neighbors & friends!  They will love you!

Christmas Goodies! (and my favorite Christmas show)

I love Christmas time & if you follow us on facebook or twitter you know that we "decked our halls" this last weekend!  The hubby thinks I over do it...but I really enjoy it! 

There's just something so wonderful about sitting in front of the Christmas tree at night snuggled in a warm, soft blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and Christmas music playing in the background.  It's my favorite thing to do...even if there's a million things that I should be doing instead...the tree just beckons to me!

Last night we watched one of my favorite Christmas movies (actually just a short film I guess) with the kids.  It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.  Reminds me  what Christmas is all about, and was a great way to start the Christmas season!  Mr. Kreuger's Christmas.
(The link will take you to watch it on youtube...it's 25 minutes long and so worth the time!  I'm also including the video at the end of this post.)

So with all this wonderful Holiday spirit in the air I decided I needed to create a Christmas category here with all my favorite foods that remind me of Christmas!  So that's what I've spent the last hour doing.

Christmas Goodies!

(and no they're not all desserts...just the majority!:))

And here are a few of my favorites:

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

(anything minty makes my Christmas goodies list!)

Orange Zest Cupcakes
(and anything orange!)

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn
(as well as any kind of caramel corn...this is my favorite though)

Mom's Potato Rolls
(homemade rolls are a must have at Christmas time!)

Peanut Butter Balls

(and these are a must have for the love of my life!)

And last but not least...

Deviled Ham Cheese Ball

(my #1 favorite Christmas food that we had every Christmas growing up.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without it!)

And here's Mr. Kreuger's Christmas:

(not the best quality, but it's the only one I could find of the show in it's entirety.)

What's your favorite Christmas show that you have to watch year after year after year?

Lasagna Soup

My family loves all things Italian.  Two of our favorites are lasagna and ravioli's.  They are requested often!  I was a little hesitant in trying this recipe because I was afraid it would fall flat compared to traditional lasagna.

I. WAS. TOTALLY. WRONG!!

This soup is every bit as good and hearty as your traditional baked lasagna.  We loved it and ate every last bite.  It will certainly be a regular on our dinner menu!

Lasagna Soup

PRINT RECIPE

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) Italian stewed tomatoes
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth
7 lasagna noodles, broken up
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

In a large sauce pan cook beef, onion, pepper and garlic until meat is browned.

Add the thyme, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and then turn to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Break the 7 lasagna noodles into chunks and add them to the soup.  Let simmer until noodles are tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the grated Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Ladle into bowls and top with grated mozzarella cheese.

GIVEAWAY!

UPDATE:
Thank you for entering for this giveaway.  We honestly really love ours and we know you will love yours too!!!
Our 3 winners chosen by random.org are:
#2 comment by Jolyn
#4 comment by Laura
and 
#5 comment by Jill

Congrats...Adrian from ADBug Design will contact you through e-mail in the next couple of days to see what design you want!  Thanks again everyone!


I am so excited to be having this giveaway here today!

I actually won this awesome calendar myself a few months ago, and I was so excited about it that I contacted Adrian at ADBug Design to see if she would be willing to have a giveaway here with us!  

She graciously agreed to give away 3 (THREE!) calendar designs!!

I chose the Paige 20x30 calendar and I love it!  She has so many different styles and different designs I know you will LOVE so many of them like I do!

Here's ours:

I love that it's HUGE, has a calendar, menu (YA-HOO!), to do list, to buy list, and notes.  Everything you need in one place!

I had a hard time finding a place to hang it so that it would be visible and accessible so it sat on my counter for about a week.  During this week, my 5 year old Rhett had the greatest time with it!  He would count days to pie night, days to when we would leave to Grandpa and Grandma's, and Thanksgiving.  I found him countless times staring at it & counting!  So, with that I knew I wanted it somewhere he would be able to see and reach it.  And I think I found the perfect spot!

The door to the garage...that way I see it every time I leave the house!

I hung it just above the door knob so Rhett will still be able to see it!:)

We framed it in a 20 x 30 poster frame, and we use wet erase markers.  That way all my stuff won't accidentally get erased while Rhett (or anyone else for that matter) is checking it out.

This would be a perfect gift for yourself :) or anyone else for Christmas or the new year!  It will help all those wanna-be organized people out there!  (That's totally me...emphasis on the wanna-be!)

Here's another great design for those who just need a menu planner!

I also love this one!

And how about this one?  So pretty right?!!

So...who wants one?

Here's what you do to enter:

 1. Go visit ADBug Design's Etsy shop and leave a comment telling us what your favorite design is.  

~Don't forget to leave your e-mail address with your comment so we can contact you if you win!~

It's that easy!

Also, if you want to just head straight to ADBug Design & purchase your own calendar you can save 20% by using the promo code "delicious"!

READY....SET....GO!!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Who's still thinking about Thanksgiving and wondering what to make?  Who needs a killer turkey recipe?  Or pie recipe?

Well, here are some...just for you!

Herb Brined Turkey

(really easy & the results are amazing!!)

Creamed Corn

Pomegranate Salad

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

(My favorite MUST HAVE at Thanksgiving!)

Not Your Mama's Green Bean Casserole

And who can forget about PIE?  We have so many awesome pie recipes I can't pick just one!  So go and check out our PIE SECTION and make one that speaks to you!:)

(Here's a picture of one of my favorites...)

Lemon Strata

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

What a great week!  It's been so much fun sharing these pie recipes with you...and so much fun tasting all of them as well!

I knew I needed to have a pumpkin pie on here this week.  What's Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie?  But I wanted something a little different than your traditional pumpkin pie.  So, of course I immediately thought of cream cheese...I swear it's my biggest weakness.  Most of my favorite recipes have cream cheese in them!

This is the easiest pumpkin pie you'll ever make & probably one of the best.  There is no cooking involved!  Not only is there a wonderful cream cheese layer, but the pumpkin layer is also amazing.  It is so light and fluffy.  

Thank you so much everyone for being a part of our pie week!  Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week next week & that you enjoy LOTS of pie!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

PRINT RECIPE

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups whipped topping
1 cup cold milk
2 packages (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 graham cracker crust (9 oz. size)

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add the whipped topping and mix until combined.  Spread into graham cracker crust.  Set aside.

Beat milk and pudding mixes together for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.  Let sit for 3 minutes.  Stir in pumpkin and spices.  Mix well.  Spread over cream cheese layer.  Chill in the fridge.  Serve with whipped topping and walnuts or pecans (optional).

Our friend and neighbor "We're Thankful for Pie Night" is Monday before we take off to be with family for the Holiday.  And then we're having another one Wednesday evening with our family.  I think we're going to be sick of pie!  I didn't used to think that was possible, but now.....:)

Thank you again for spending this week of pies with us.  We are Thankful for YOU!!!