Chicken/Turkey Divan

Chicken Divan

What's divan? That is what my husband asked when I told him I was making chicken  turkey divan.  Well it is yummy and easy to make and has broccoli in it....so yeah...chicken turkey divan.

http://www.lowcarbdiet.mobi/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Chicken_Divan_4b16925502912.jpg

1 package of frozen broccoli defrosted and drained

1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken or turkey

1 can of cream of something soup (mushroom, chicken, celery)

1/3 cup mayo

1 tsp lemon juice

pepper to taste

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Defrost broccoli and put it in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Cut up cubed chicken or turkey and layer over broccoli. In a separate bowl combine the soup, mayo and lemon.  Pour over chicken and broccoli. Season with pepper. Top with cheese. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Now you have chicken/turkey divan!!

Oh yeah...serve over rice!



Zucchini Pie (Quiche)

Zucchini Pie

Do you remember Granny from the stuffed shells recipe? Well she strikes again!  While I did not get to see Granny this Thanksgiving I brought her to TX...well I brought her recipe to TX and I made it and it was good.

http://reneeheiss.com/Images/italian-zucchini-crescent-pie.jpg

4 cups sliced zucchini or squash

1 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup margarine

2 T parsley flakes (this may be too much for some)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1 pkg crescent rolls

2 beaten eggs

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

mustard

Cook zucchini and onion in margarine in a skillet for ten minutes. Let mixture cool for five minutes. Add spices to the mixture and stir. Combine beaten egg with the mixture. Stir in cheese.  Separate and spread rolls in a ten inch pie or round pan to create a crust. Pour zucchini mixture into the crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until set in the center.

Spaghetti Squash With Pine Nuts, Sage and Romano

Spaghetti Squash

I am going to cheat for one recipe here on Sweet Successes as I did not cook this recipe; however I feel the need to post it because I went to a recipe exchange and one of the wives made this and it was amazing....sooooo I though I'd share!

This would be a spaghetti squash.  I have never seen one, except for this picture!

And here is the recipe:

1 spaghetti squash halved length wise and seeded

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup Romano cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

2 teaspoons butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash cut side down in a baking dish. Bake for 50 minutes.  When cooked, scrape the flesh of the squash from the rind into a bowl using a fork .  Add the pine nuts, cheese, sage, butter, salt and pepper. TOSSSSSSS.  SERVE!! DONE!

Chicken Pot Pie Betty Style

Easy Chicken Pot Pie
http://www.bettycrocker.com/

When you're out of food ...and haven't been to the store....who ya gonna call???? BETTY CROCKER!!!

Stolen from http://www.bettycrocker.com/

1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed


1 cup cut-up cooked chicken

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup Original Bisquick® mix

1/2 cup milk

1 egg



1.Heat oven to 400ºF. Mix vegetables, chicken and soup in ungreased 2-quart casserole.

2.Stir remaining ingredients in small bowl with fork until blended. Pour into casserole.

3.Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Dijon Salmon

Dijon Salmon

Ok I am not trying to toot my own horn here but this dinner came out AmAzIng!!!! It is too cold to grill and let's face it, my husband is not home yet from work so I looked up salmon recipes online. I had salmon with Dijon at a place here in O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A and it was yummy so I thought I'd try my own....and here it is!!!

And here is the recipe (from http://www.allrecipes.com/)


1/4 cup butter, melted


3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs

4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or dry

4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon

salt and pepper to taste

1 lemon, for garnish




1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2.In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs and parsley.

3.Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.

4.Bake salmon 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

Math Websites!

What happens when you put a language arts teacher into a math teaching position?  A lot of googling for math "intervention" ideas and games occurs!

I found two really good websites with math activities beyond the textbook.

http://www.dr-mikes-math-games-for-kids.com/

This site has some great game ideas to use in the math classroom. The pages are organized by grade level and links are provided for online games too.

http://www.mathwire.com/

This site is amazing.  It provides worksheets, games, directions, literature links, websites etc for almost any math topic taught in elementary school. I found a few excellent money activities to use with 3rd grade.

What websites have you found for math and even reading?

Rag Quilt- The Start!

Ok so like two months ago Emily and I traveled to Hennessey to Prairie Quilt and got some fabric. I bought blue, red and tan flannel plaid to make a rag quilt for Nate.  Well here we are two months later and ladies and gentlemen, I have completed the FIRST ROW!!!!!

Now this has been a learning process. Let me remind you that I have never used a sewing machine before IN MY LIFE.  Also, I have never even really cut material or done anything related to sewing.  With that being said, there are a lot of mistakes...

During this process I learned how to/that:
- NOT get the thread tangled under the material.
- Load my bobbin.
- Thread my machine.
- Cutting straight straight, even squares are important.
- A good rotary cutter and a LARGE cutting mat are necessary!!
- It takes a long time to sew squares!

With that being said, my squares are not perfect and my lines are not straight but by golly I am getting the hang of it.  I have 70 some more red squares I need to sew together and then another 110 "quilted" squares to sew together to create the quilt but I will get there one of these days.

Once I have finished the quilt I will post how I did it!

The is the "rag" side that will be snipped into a fringe looking border. The other side is smooth!

Cake Balls/Pops

Cake Balls/Pops

Photo stolen from thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com

What happens when you keep breaking the cakes you are attempting to make?  You turn them in to cake pops/balls!!!

The process is pretty easy....

You will need:

1 cake mix prepared as directed on the box

1 jar of icing of your liking

2 bags of chocolate chips or white chocolate chips

Colored icing for drizzling OR candies for decorating

Crisco

Bake the cake as directed on the box and let it cool.  Crumble the cake into tiny pieces with your hands in a large bowl. With your hands, mix in an entire jar of icing into the crumbs to form a gooey mess.  Cover two cookie sheets with wax paper. Roll the cake/icing mixture into 1 inch balls with your hands and then place on the cookie sheet.  Cool the balls in the fridge for an hour or over night.

For the coating:

Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and two teaspoons of Crisco together in the microwave. Drop one chilled cake ball at a time in the chocolate and coat evenly. Spoon it out and place on the wax paper. Add candies right away OR chill and again then add colored icing.

To create "Pops":

BEFORE you coat the cake balls with chocolate, take a lollipop stick and stick it one inch into the melted icing then stick the lollipop stick half way into the cake ball.  Now dip the ball on the stick into the icing and stick the lollipop stick into a Styrofoam base to cool.  Decorate with candy immediately or let the chocolate dry then add the colored icing.



Portola Valley Chicken

Portola Valley Chicken

If you have every had chicken divan this is very similar...and YUMMY!

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken
1 package of frozen chopped spinach thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup water
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tsp curry
rice
Parm cheese

Combine soup, water, mayo and curry. Spread a little in the bottom of a pan.  Place spinach in a layer on the bottom of the pan. Pour more soup over it.  Place chicken next. Pour rest of soup over.  Sprinkle parm cheese over top. Bake at 350 for one hour.  Serve with rice!

Potato Soup

Potato Soup

Picture from http://baletajuk.blogspot.com

2 ribs of chopped celery
1 clove chopped garlic
1 med onion chopped
2 T butter
6 med potatoes cubed
2 carrots chopped
2 (140z) cans chicken broth
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
dash ground pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Saute garlic, celery, onion and butter in a pot until tender. Add next six ingredients, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and mash veggies. Add milk and cheese and stir until cheese is melted.

This makes A LOT.  You might want to cut this in half!

Pumpkin Dip

Pumpkin Dip
from allrecipes.com

Picture from allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate


In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.

Chocolate Caramel Apples

Chocolate Caramel Apples

Notice how the chocolate and caramel slid off of the apples!!!

Ok so I got a full time job and pretty much all blogging stopped...honestly a lot of cooking stopped as well because I have been so busy...and tired.  I am trying to get back on the blogging band wagon with some recipes I have made in the last few weeks.  I am going to have to steal online pictures as well because I have been slacking at that too. So much for taking it easy while in Enid!

I made these apples for Nate's flight and I had some issues but they loved them anyway...

For every six apples you need:

14 caramel candies
2 tablespoons of water
Popsicle sticks
1 cup of milk chocolate chips
2 teaspoons of Crisco
Candy chopped up to cover the apples

In a microwaveable bowl heat the caramels and water for 30 seconds at a time on high until blended smooth.  Stick the Popsicle stick in the top of the apple and dip and swirl in the caramel. Let the excess drip off. Place on a plate greased with Crisco or wax paper with Crisco.  IMPORTANT: Place apples in fridge for 10 minutes to let caramel set.

For the chocolate: Mix 1 cup of chocolate chips and two teaspoons of Crisco together in a microwaveable bowl. Melt chocolate on high until smooth.  Roll caramel covered apples in the chocolate and cover with candies right away. Place back in fridge to let it set.