cookbook recipe share!

I made my dad's cream of broccoli soup (pg 15) for lunch today and that reminded me that i've been wanting to post about all of the WONDERFUL recipes that i've tried from the cookbook that I put together a while back, with help from a lot of you!

Here are some of our new favorite recipes!!!

(in no particular order)

tomato basil squares (pg 5) DELICIOUS!! ive made it at least 3 times :)

savory crescent chicken squares (pg 7) mmmmm... though i think i should have put that in the main dish category! oops!

fruit dip (pg 8) i can eat this stuff without fruit!

texas salsa (pg 10) so good with tomatoes from the backyard...

dry jello salad (pg 21) this one actually got me to eat cottage cheese!!

Snickers burritos (pg 56) we made these with Twix bars. different, but yummy.

apple salad (pg 23) so fun, and tasty!! we've made this several times already.

strawberry bread (pg 27) YUM! how fun is bread with berries and cool whip mixed in?!?

PB&J swirls (pg 27) another fun one!!

rice pilaf (pg 42) this is one of my all time favorite dishes. my grandma made it, my parents made it, and now i make it for my kids (and for me too!!)

easy chicken enchilada's (pg 35) we love easy things that turn out fancy!

favorite choclate chip cookies (pg 49) ok, so this a recipe i shared, so obviously i love it. i just wanted to add another pic :)

meatloaf muffins (pg 36) Yay!! We LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!! even the kids!!

swiss chicken (pg 36) delicious!! how would we survive without boxed stuffing??

biscuits & gravy (pg 37) Oh my. That's all I can say.

chicken tetrazini (pg 39) LOVE it!! even more so since i don't have to make a roux for it!

fruit cobbler (pg 57) if you've been reading my blog for a while, you already know my obsession with this recipe. i think i may head to the apple tree right after i post this!!

beef and noodles (pg 32) ive made this once, but cant wait to make it again!! SO good.

quick and easy cassoulet (pg 29) another great one!!

ham and broccoli bake ( pg 31) YUM!! a great way to sneak in the veggies.

chili dip (pg 9) do not make this unless you have other people there to share it with. otherwise you could very well eat it all on your own.

cream cheese squares (pg 6) see above statement. these things are incredibly easy and incredibly delicious!!!

chicken roll ups (pg 35) how did we survive without refrigerated crescent rolls and canned cream soups? this one is yummy.

sweet chili (pg 18) YUM!! i think i need to make this right now. cohen LOVES this stuff.

pizza soup (pg 17) this makes a TON and its great! we froze some for later.

Though all these recipes taste good... the BEST part is having a story with them. When I get to say... this is Ali's recipe, we love that recipe Lisa sent, that recipe came from someone mommy went to high school with, or that recipe is from your teacher! That's what it's all about :)

Which ones have you tried out and loved?!?!?

Please share... I need a little advice ;)

I still have a lot to test out :)

Have a great weekend!

what are YOU doing tonight?

my favorite part about this year's election?

(besides that fact that it's almost over...)

i get to SEW tonight!!

what better background noise over my sewing machine than the presidential election coverage? (for real though, i hope you voted. we did.)

i will be starting the finishing touches to a bday gift that's been a slllooooowww going process. then i have another one to start on for the end of december!!

i have a few other things i may sew in between. another bday gift. finish up a baby shower gift. and maybe ill sew up that hole in my shirt that's been laying around here for a week.

i'm not sure if any of you follow the Little Bean Embroidery Blog (without me directing you there first...) but there are a few new things going on over there!

I've added a few new things... and I've also started a mailing list. All the info is on the LBE Blog, but here is the link to the mailing list for anyone interested. I'm woking on even MORE fun things to add to the store, so sign up for the mailing list if you want to be one of the first to know what is going on. (spread the word........)

And one last thing before my machine finishes a monogram, and I trudge all my stuff upstairs for my evening of sewing...

another HUGE thank you for all the continued thoughts, prayers, well wishes, and support. It is amazing what you people in my life are doing for us. I can hardly believe it. Thank you.

All the things you think are little things, well... they are huge right now. Thank you thank you thank you.

First of all... thank you all so very very much for the kind comments, emails and phone calls during this rough time!! I have cried, laughed and smiled a lot this past week knowing that so many people are here for us, and genuinely care about us. Each one of you is amazing and without all of your support this whole situation would be a lot more difficult. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And now to the good stuff.... what makes our world go round.

(Special thanks to Dave's buddy Roland, for bringing over this great 'prop'!)

Our little bikers.

(let's see how many pictures blogger will hold...)

Happy Halloween!
Have a wonderful weekend :)

why i blog.

Why I blog...

It’s my happy place.

The place where I can share the fun parts of life.
The place where I can share the things that make me smile.
My husband. My kids. Crafty things. Food. Good deals.
I get to share pictures like these…

And I smile. Because I have so much to be happy about.
I am so lucky.
I am so gratefull for all I have.
My family. My friends. My health. My home. Love.

All that being said….
Every now and then, there is a bump.
A Kink. A Hurdle. A Lemon.

And you need a big hug.
And a box of tissue.
And a few bags of chocolate.
And you can't hide that you are sad, and mad, and scared, and worried.

I don’t like to ask for much... but we could use your thoughts and prayers right now.

Everything will be ok.
Things happen for a reason.
Even knowing that and believing that... it's still hard.
Things will be ok.

hugs to you all.

a poll!!

my FIRST ever poll is over there to the right --------------------->
(ok, so now its up and to the right... since i added more posts above this one)

i'm curious as to how my 'readers' are reading my blog!
please take a quick second to let me know!!
(if more than 1 answer works for you... just choose the one that you use most often!)

thanks everyone :)

and just a quick pic.
i like to call it...
'the day we all wore stripes'

happy weekend to you all!

the best kind of weekends.

this weekend was the best kind of weekend :)

we had wanted to go camping. but 38 degree nights with 2 wee ones didn't sound fair to anyone.

so.... here are some pictures of what we did do!!

fall is here :)
have a great week!

true or false.

There is nothing else I should be doing besides blogging right now.

False.

I'm so bored I embroider all day long.

False.

Here are some things I've made in the little snipets of time I have laying around, in which I am able to stay awake.

True.

The BIG totes have been added to the store (as have blankets...)

Details and more pics are up on the LBE blog....

Happy Day to everyone!!

yes, michigan!

we went to the state up north yesterday to visit friends :)

dan and kelli.

got to see kelli's baby belly :) which is adorable.
we got to see dan's hair (that's how lilly said we would know it was dan... "the one with a lot of hair")

it was fun to get away for the day.


we make a QUICK stop to IKEA :)
litterally ran through the store.

cohen jumped.
lilly slid.

even watched a little football. (dan's team played a school who was having some VERY social homecoming festivities going on... all the jumpies, pumpkin decoration, food, face painting... )

a few videos :) (not from this weekend, but recent enough!!)

introducing...
the red squirrel, and the harmonica man.

Have a happy week everyone :)

13 years

dave always laughs at me for remembering days like this... but today is our 13 year dating anniversary.

13 years ago today, he 'asked me out'... over the phone.

im having trouble finding the exact picture that i wanted to share... the 1st picture we ever had taken, but there is a snip of it in this post from a while back... the 1st picture in the set. if you click the picture once you get there, it'll get larger for you to see a close up :)

little did we know that 13 years later... our 4 year old would be taking a picture of us before heading out to her pre-school curriculum night :) (with the little man in the corner)


happy 'anniversay' sweetie boy ;)

the news!

One happy excited Jen.
Click this image to see why :)

You can check this one out too...

:)

The hard work and waiting is always worth it.
Thanks to all of you who have already made this possible!!

Happy weekend :)

waiting....

im waiting for...

something new.
something BIG.
something happy.
something that ive been 'working my keester off' on.

im trying to be patient, but i use all the patience i have during the day :) ill share the excitement soon... hopefully in the next day or two!

in the meantime, enjoy some self portaits...


o happy day :)