English Muffin Bread

Usually I post recipes that we've made in our family quite a few times. Family favorites. This one is brand new. I made 2 loaves of this bread recently and it was SO good! The original recipe makes 4 loaves so I made a half batch....and wished I made the whole recipe!

It is extremely easy to make too, NO KNEADING. I didn't have the rapid rise yeast so I let it rise once on the bowl, and then again in the pans. This will be a staple in our home from now on as it makes the PERFECT breakfast toast. You can eat it straight from the loaf, but it really is so much better toasted!

English Muffin Bread. Recipe can be found by clicking the link below.

One Good Thing by Jillee: English Muffin Bread

 

Beanitos Mini Enchilada Cups

 

I absolutely love Mexican food and one of my favorite Mexican dishes is enchiladas. I've shared my recipe for chicken and black bean enchiladas on here in the past and decided to add a couple of twists to the dish. If you click to the past post, don't judge my on my lack of photo taking skills when my blog was brand new! I've learned a thing or two about lighting since then :) But trust me, the enchiladas are wonderful!

Here is what I decided to do to change it up...

#1: to use Beanitos instead of tortillas. Beanitos are bean chips. Corn free, gluten free, and high in fiber.

 

And  #2: to make individual cups instead of a casserole type dish.

 

What I got was a high fiber, filling, and flavorful meal.

 

BEANITOS MINI ENCHILADA CUPS

Serves 6*

 

2 (9 oz) bags of Beanitos (I used pinto and black bean variety)

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/2 packet taco seasoning

1 (15 oz. ) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can green enchilada sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup (not pictured....please excuse my amateur recipe skills!)

1/2 c. diced onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2-2 cups shredded cheese, Mexican variety

fresh pico de gallo or salsa

1 T. olive oil

non-stick cooking spray

6 oven-proof ramekins
(I found mine at Target for $1.99 each and holds about 1 1/4 c. of food)

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly spray dishes with cooking spray.

 

In a skillet, heat oil and cook onions and garlic on medium heat for a few minutes (until onions are clear). Add enchilada sauce, soup, taco seasoning, and chicken. Stir and heat until mixture starts to simmer. Remove from heat.

 

Break chips into small pieces. You can do this by just squishing the opened bag. I had chips leftover from the second bag, so if you want to save some and not crush them all from the 2nd bag, just take some out in advance. It just makes them easier to eat in the casserole. Start layering your ingredients with your chicken/sauce mixture (about 1/3 c.)  then a light layer of crushed chips. Repeat. Cover the top with 1/4 c. shredded cheese. Repeat for remaining 5 ramekins.

 

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Top with your favorite fixings. I like pico de gallo. The cilantro has such a wonderful fresh flavor.

 

*You could make this in a casserole dish the same way. Just divide the ingredients to layer it evenly and bake until cheese is bubbly.

 

Animal Emotions Game

This is a fun rainy day activity, and it just so happens that the day we played this....it was POURING outside. So it was perfect! But with the weather that we have had the past couple of weeks (105+ degrees) it is also a great "beat the heat" kind of game!!

I saw a photo of some wooden dice {on Pinterest}, but the photo didn't link back to the website. It was one of those spam pins. I hate when it does that. So I came up with my own using my cricut.

I used the "Bags and Tags" cartridge to cut out my box templates and the "Everyday Paper Doll" cartridge for all of the animals.

One dice was for animals, the other was for the animal emotions. We came up with 5 emotions, and as a bonus we added "dancing" for the 6th side. Just for entertainment value.

I covered the set of dice with clear packing tape to make them a bit sturdier and we were set!

They LOVED this game, and I LOVED watching them! My favorites were the "Dancing Snake" and the "Scared Bunny". The scared bunny screamed and bounced across the room. I think I may need to make another animal dice with farm animals on it for variety!

Partnering to bring us High Value!

This post brought to you by Kraft Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

Kraft Foods and Walmart are teaming up to bring us, the consumers, even more savings to our wallets. I recently learned that you can clip coupons directly from Walmart.com. And it's not just coupons, there is even a sampling section where you can sign up to try out products.

 I'm sure there are many sites that allow this, but I've never been big on couponing. It's something that I'd like to take up to save more money, but geez! It seems like A TON of work! Thankfully stores are making it easier and easier to get some bonus savings. And I like how you can print coupons out on their websites and redeem them in the store even if you don't get the Sunday paper. Now if only I could remember to use the coupons that I clip! Yep, I'm the one who has my coupons in my hand, all ready to hand to the cashier, then gets distracted by the baby, pays the bill and then walks out of the store still holding the coupons, not realizing this until I've reached the car. Doh! Working on that...I've actually started wrapping the coupon around my debit card. That way, I have to take them off before I pay with my card. It has helped...a little ;)

While supplies last, you can get Up to $10 in coupons from Kraft Foods from Walmart on your favorite Kraft products. How does $1 off the following products sound? Not too shabby to me, it's worth the extra bit of effort to print the coupon!

Mio, Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip, Velveeta, Oscar Mayer bacon and hot dogs, Kraft American Singles, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Single Cups (Aaron loves these as a special lunch treat), Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese, ...and the list goes on.

Happy Couponing!

I Pinned It & Made It! {Home Edition}

Rolled Paper Flowers: Jones Design Company

This wreath was the inspiration {and tutorial for the flowers} for my Frame Accented Music Wreath.

Just beautiful and a great, easy to follow, tutorial.

A Turtle's Life for Me: Individual Cupcake Stands

Kaylee and I made a tiny table for her teddy bears after seeing these. So fun!

A Pair of Pears: Printable To-Do List

Oh yes! I printed off several of these. I am a big list maker and now I had a cute one to work off of instead of a piece of scrap paper!.

That's My Letter: S is for Sister Wreath

Use a wreath form to create two! Works great!

Click here to follow me on Pinterest!

Extra Savings on Everyday Products

This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have your children started school? Are you finished with your school shopping? Are you broke? Well here is a coupon lead that I thought I would pass along...

When we lived in Ohio there was a Dollar General store around the corner. It was nice to have a neighborhood corner store to make quick trips to. And it was especially nice to have one with affordable prices. I usually had to drive a ways to do my major shopping, but I could count on finding my favorite P&G brands at Dollar General and expecting their prices to be about the same as they would have been at a larger grocery store.

 Kaylee enjoyed riding in the stroller and cutting through the pathways in our subdivision on a nice day, with Aaron walking with me along side. We did this often and would sometimes find ourselves stopping at Dollar General for things like after holiday clearance items, a cold beverage, or items that I ran out of that morning ...(ie realizing that I was out of laundry soap as I was loading the washing machine. Oops!)

You can use brandSAVER coupons at Dollar General to get great savings on some of the most popular P&G brand products. Some of my favorite P&G brand products include Covergirl, Bounty, Charmin, Gillette, Dawn and  Febreeze.  P&G brandSAVER coupons offer great savings on P&G products each month, and can be found in Sunday's newspaper on 8/26/2012 (offers valid through 9/30/2012).

Capturing Summer!

This post brought to you by MiO Energy. All opinions are 100% mine.

We had an awesome summer this year and it has been fun to look through the photos that we took to document it! I made a MiO cover photo to highlight some of the best places we visited on our trip! It is super easy to do.

Simply visit the above link on the Sams Club website and you will be guided step by step to creating your own to share as your Facebook Timeline cover photo!

It's so hard to see the summer go, but as far as summer fun goes, ours was out of this world! Here's a brief summary of our break:

 

Ohio to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and then to California. Seeing the following on our way: Cousins!!, Indianapolis Speedway, LDS church history sites (Nauvoo, Carthage, Independence, Far West, Adam-ondi-ahman), Carlsbad Caverns, Gila Cliff Dwellings, White Sands National Monument, Grand Canyon, Zoo, Kayaking, playing with more cousins, afternoons at the park, swim lessons, Jelly Belly Factory, fish hatchery, Funderland, Six Flags, San Francisco.....whew!

 

And drum roll please.....our new house will be done in 28 days!!!! It is looking amazing inside and out, and I can't wait to finally feel settled.

This summer will go down as one of the best for us! That is, until next summer comes!

MiO cover photo

Our cover photo shares our trip to White Sands National Monument, The Grand Canyon, Kayaking in Sacramento, and a quick stop we made in Ohio the night we left. We had some Groupons to use up and had a blast with the bumper boats!

And if you are always on the go (like us!) and constantly refilling your water bottle be sure to check out Mio, a fun way to enhance your water (caffeine free!) this summer.

Fruit Dip

With this gorgeous warm weather comes the craving for fresh salads, dips, and product platters. Here is my favorite fruit dip recipe. It is so easy and the perfect addition to any spring or summer get together.

3 Ingredient Fruit Dip

1 part strawberry yogurt

1 part marshmallow creme

1 part whipped topping

Combine and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Back to School Fun!

New Clothes and School Supplies: √ New Shoes: √ Father's Blessings: √ Coordinating Phineas and Ferb Backpack and Lunch box with Perry the Platypus T-shirt and bright orange sneakers for Aaron: √
I think the boys are ready for an awesome first day of school. And Aaron will most definitely not get lost in the crowd :)

It's so hard to see the summer go, but as far as summer fun goes, ours was out of this world!

And drum roll please.....our new house will be done in 28 days!!!! It is looking amazing inside and out, and I can't wait to finally feel settled.

Now it's time for the boys to make new friends and begin our new lives here in California! I really admire them. I didn't have to pick up and move when I was young. Traveling for us was going more than an hour away and never out of state for the most part. Our kids have traveled cross country several times and left all of their friends behind. So when we arrive at our new place I am always anxious for them to meet new friends. We've had a great time getting to know my cousins' kids and that has really helped the boys have something to look forward to and friends to play with.

For all of the youngsters starting school this week or soon, have a great year!

Here are some fun ideas to kick off the new school year!

Baked Apple Chips

These are so good and addicting. You don't need a dehydrator to make them. Just an oven. And they go FAST! My kids would pull them off the pan when they were still warm.

I like Apples: Preschool Craft

Kaylee and I had fun with this little apple and worm. It's nice to have my girls with me at home while the boys are at school. I'd be lost without them!

What's for Lunch? Fun Lunch Ideas

I'm on a mission to diversify my boys' lunches this year. I bought some new things to organize and store their food in and hopefully open up the options. I'll have to share what works for us in the next couple of months. Here are some ideas I put together last year and found on the web.

Angry Bird Sandwiches

Some fun sandwiches that I made for a play date. They were a huge hit!

Hello Kitty Sandwiches

Another play date lunch idea!

One Smart Cookie: Back to School Teacher's Gift

With living in a Residence Inn and with family while our new home is being built, I didn't have much opportunity to be creative this year, but here is what we made last year! I may still do these for back to school night in a couple of weeks.

Brown Bag Apple Gift Sacks

These are so quick to whip up and the teachers loved them!

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

Have you ever had a layered eclair dessert? If not, you have truly missed out! This is one of my favorite desserts and it is so simple to make...and it's no bake! I make mine slightly different than some that I have had in the past. I use 2 types of pudding instead of 1, but you certainly don't have to do that. Layers of pudding and Cool Whip, graham crackers and a chocolate sauce make up this perfect summertime treat.

This is one of those desserts that looks like it took awhile to make, but it doesn't. Curious? Read on...

Chocolate Eclair Dessert {No Bake!}

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

adapted

Filling:

1 (3.5 oz.) box vanilla instant pudding

1 (3.5 oz.) box chocolate instand pudding

3 c. milk, divided

1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip, divided

Graham crackers

Topping:

1/3 c. cocoa

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. milk

1 stick butter (or margarine)

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix 1 1/2 c. milk with chocolate pudding; beat. Stir in 1/2 of the Cool Whip. Place a layer of graham crackers in the bottom of a 9x13" dish. Spread pudding mixture over graham crackers. Add another layer of crackers. Repeat with the vanilla pudding (mixing with 1 1/2 c. milk and the rest of the Cool Whip) and add pudding mixture over the graham crackers. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

For the topping: Bring cocoa, milk, and sugar to a boil; boil about 1 minute, stirring very frequently. Remove from heat and cool one minute. Add butter and vanilla; stir until butter is melted. Pour over the top layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate over night.

belVita Breakfast Biscuits: Nutrition on the Go!

This post brought to you by Kraft Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

With morning always being busy, it is nice to have quick go-to options that are healthy and sustainable. Especially since I am at the stage of trying to lose a few extra baby weight pounds. It seems as though when I try to skip breakfast, I end up snacking more before lunch. And if we are out shopping or at a doctor's appointment, I'll raid my purse which usually has fruit snacks or crackers. Not the best choice for a high fiber, sustainable snack. I was curious to learn about these new belVita Breakfast Biscuits. Even though they are biscuits, they can be found in the cookie aisle at the grocery store.

belVita Breakfast Biscuits come in two new flavors: Cinnamon brown sugar, and chocolate! Yum. They are a great choice for Nutritious Sustained Energy for the Whole Morning! Each serving contains 18-20g of whole grains and is a great source of fiber and vitamin b-vitamins....and they don't contain high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors or sweeteners, or partially hydrogenated oils. Bonus. I love that more and more companies are coming out with nutritious options like this that skip the filler ingredients and choose to keep things natural.

Each serving is conveniently portioned into individual packs, making them great to keep in your bag for a mid-morning snack.

And for a limited time you can enter to win a $500 Walmart give card by going to www.walmart.com/belVita. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C., 18 years and older. Ends 9/15/12.

Good luck!

Back to School Savings At Dollar General

This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having a  Dollar General discount store just around the corner has been very convenient for our family and is  a great place to go for basic items without driving to the grocery store further down the road. And when it comes to school shopping it is a great place to pick up some great deals!

There are a couple of ways to make sure you get the best deals for Back to School Saving from Dollar General. You can get the changing Back to School mobile coupon available for mobile phones by scanning the embedded QR code below:

Or you can text "bts" to 34898 from your mobile phone! Our local store offers coupons on your receipt. Most were good for a flat discounted price off your total purchase if you used it the following weekend. It was something that most stores in our area didn't do.

This year our school is doing something a bit different. Instead of having the "Back to School Supply List" before school starts, the boys are going to get it the first week of school. Most things will be supplied by the school, there may be a few additional items that they will be asked to pick up. NICE! But we still need the basics: new lunch totes, a new back pack for Aaron who is starting the 1st grade, and clothes.

And even if we don't end up needing to buy a bunch of school supplies, I will still be stocking up on the great deals this time of year on art supplies! You can't beat it! With the girls at home and Kaylee, who is super creative and could color all day, now is the time to get a stock pile of new crayons ;)

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

It is 102 degrees here today. 102 yesterday, and will be 104 tomorrow. The last thing I feel like doing is baking. Especially any time after 3pm when the temperature hits it's peak! So I thought I'd share some "cool" desserts this week. Easy to prepare, most are no-bake, and all are absolutely delicious!

First up: Chocolate Brownie Trifle (bake the brownies in the morning! ;)

This is heaven in a dish right here and is SO simple to make. You can eat it right after making it, but it really is so much better after letting it sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours or so. The layers meld together and soften the brownie layers even more. It is just perfect. Serve it to your friends or just grab a spoon and dig right in. I've been making this for a few years now (after receiving the recipe from a friend) and it is always a hit. 

 

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

adapted

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup water

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I use Fat-Free)

16 oz. whipped topping (I use Light or Fat Free)

1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy

Make the brownie mix according to directions. Cool and cut into 1" squares.

	In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.
	In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

One Smart Cookie

Here is a fun treat that we made for the boys' teachers the first day of school last year! It's so fun to spoil my kid's teachers for all of the random holidays throughout the year. And each year  I just hope we love the new teachers as much as the ones in the previous years, but with such a cute little gift from a cute little boy, how can the year go wrong? At least we start out on a good note!

"With You As My Teacher...I'll Be One Smart Cookie"

You can find the tag printable here. The ladies from Eighteen25 posted the printable and their cute idea for a back to school gift, and I immediately went and printed it out...like an hour after they posted it:) It was just perfect!

I printed out two copies on some fun card stock and then used my "Bags & Tags" cricut cartridge to cut out the little popcorn boxes. I used the "fit to page" feature to make them as big as possible on a 12x12 piece of cardstock. They are about 6" tall and were perfect for holding 8 small chocolate chip cookies. They looked darling uncovered, but I decided to wrap the cookies to keep the safe and clean!

Monster Cookies

We tried a new recipe this week, as requested by my uncle....MONSTER cookies! I hadn't ever heard of them before, but they were such a hit that we will be making these regularly. And they don't have any flour in them, just oats. Simple.

I made them with an ice cream scoop, but you don't have to make them that big. The recipe below will make 2 dozen ice cream scoop cookies.

Monster Cookies

allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 eggs 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon corn syrup 2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup butter 1 1/2 cups peanut butter 4 1/2 cups rolled oats 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup candy-coated milk chocolate pieces

Directions:

	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
	In a very large bowl, beat the eggs.
	Add the remaining ingredients in order, mixing well.
	Use an ice cream scoop to put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. I always let the cookies rest on the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Otherwise they may fall apart while hot.

Chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside. Peanut butter, m&ms, oats, chocolate chips...perfect.

BOGO for Back to School

This post brought to you by Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't have to tell you that school is starting just around the corner! And some schools are already in session! Tomorrow, I am heading over to register the boys at their new school...and pick up their school supply list. Let the school shopping begin! But that only covers what the school requires. I also have another list. The clothing side of things...and shoes are on the list. Probably the most expensive thing on the list. Especially when I have to buy for 2.

So I thought I'd pass along a deal to my readers to make this time of year a bit easier! Famous Footwear makes back to school shopping a breeze. Their stores aren't overwhelming and their associates understand that shoes are just one item on the long list, so they help get you in and out of their store quickly and efficiently! And if they don't have the shoe that you are looking for, they will get it to you through home delivery or on www.famous.com and have it shipped to your favorite store at no charge.

Right now if you buy a pair, you can get the 2nd pair half off.....AND take an extra 15% off of the total! Awesome.

For even more savings, join their rewards program and earn 1 point for every $1 you spend to use on certificates up to $100 throughout the year! You can also earn additional discounts and perks by being a reward member.

So before you head to the mall this weekend, print out the BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon to use between 8/2 & 8/18!

Here's to an awesome school year in some cool new kicks ;)