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We're moving the blog...for many reasons that you probably don't really care about. :0)  You can find all the new posts at:

2Teachers2Dogs.wordpress.com

Can't wait to see you there tomorrow for the start of the Home Made Holiday Series!!

A Short Sabbatical

Thank you to everyone who checks my blog frequently.  I know I have worked so hard to post something everyday!  That was my goal….everyday for a year.  I have only missed a couple of days until recently.  I have just been so busy enjoying family and friends during this Holiday season, and working on all my “Homemade Holidays” crafts that I just haven’t had the time to post.

I promise that I will be back starting December 1st to share with you all the amazing homemade holiday decorations and recipes that we have been working on.  Until then, enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday with your family and friends and make sure to let them know how thankful you are for them.

Holiday Shopping

After work today I did a little shopping….I came back with three big bags from the following places:

 

I wonder what amazing Christmas decorations will be created out of the items in these bags…?? :0)  Wait and see….

A Bohemian Breakfast

Hubs and I spent our honeymoon (and the next 4 summers) on Grand Bahama Island.  I loved (most) of the island food, but there is one taste, one flavor, that has never ever left my mouth….Banana Pancakes.  I am telling you, the resort we stayed at every year made the most amazing banana pancakes you could ever put in your mouth.  I have been trying to recreate that flavor for years, and I finally was successful last weekend!!

I have tried slicing the banana and putting it in the pancake batter, and I have tried mashing the banana and putting it in the batter, but who knew that the secret was not in the pancake batter at all?!  It’s in the topping!  The best part about my little discovery is that it was SOOOO easy and fast!

Caramelized Bananas with Simple Buttermilk Pancakes

Banana Ingredients:

• 2 bananas (sliced)
• 2 T dark brown sugar (light brown sugar will work too – just not be as “rich” a flavor)
• 2 T butter (real butter please people)
• 1/8 t cinnamon

Melt the butter in a skillet.  Add brown sugar and cinnamon and stir.  Add banana slice and sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the bananas don’t burn.

Pancake Ingredients: (* you can use any pancake recipe that you have on hand)

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• a pinch of baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 t vegetable oil
• 1 egg

In a large bowl, combine first 4 dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk other three wet ingredients.  Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until smooth.  Cook about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake on a hot griddle.  Top pancakes with the caramelized bananas and prepare to taste a little bit of the Bahamas.

Easy Baked Spaghetti

All you have to do is look at the picture below and you will see that this is the perfect meal for my hubs….meat, cheese, and pasta!

Ingredients

• 1 box spaghetti noodles
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 T Italian seasoning
• 1 egg
• 2 T butter
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• cooping spray

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Cook pasta according to package, then drain and put aside.  Brown beef until cooked and crumbly.  Make sure you drain your meat.  Add the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian seasoning.  Stir and let simmer for 10 minutes until flavors mix.  Mix melted butter and egg with the cooked pasta (make sure pasta is cool, or egg will cook immediately and leave chunks – yuck).  Coat a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.  Add the pasta, layer it with sour cream, then beef mixture, then cover with the cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350⁰ for 20 – 30 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.  Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

This one calls for an….O.M.G.!!

One of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat is Cracker Barrel.  YUMM!  I always order the same thing….vegetable plate with Chicken and Dumplings!  I haven’t ever tried to make chicken and dumplings at home because I just knew that they would never stack up…well guess what!?  Not only did this recipe stand up to the Chicken’n’Dumpling lover’s tastes, but also to the Hubs pickiness, AND it was so EASY!!

 

Fast, Homemade, Chicken’n’Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-cooked rotisserie chicken
• 2 cans of chicken broth
• 1 can of cream of celery soup
• 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
• 1/2 can of refrigerated biscuits

Tear off bite-sized chunks of the rotisserie chicken and set aside.

In a large pot, combine chicken, broth, soup, and seasoning.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. 

 

On a lightly floured surface, flatten your biscuits to 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch thickness.  Cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide strips and then cut in to make smaller bite sized pieces.  Reduce your pot to a low boil and drop your biscuits into the broth 1 at a time.  Simmer for ten more minutes and stir to prevent the biscuits from sticking.

Crockpot – Cranberry Onion Roast

The mix of ingredients in this recipe almost made me skip right past it, but I decided to go out on a limb and give it a try.  I am so glad I did.  I t was so easy and so full of flavor!

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Boston Butt Roast
• 1 can jellied cranberry sauce
• 1 envelop dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper

Season you roast with salt and pepper, cook on low in a crock pot for 6 – 8 hours.  In a saucepan, combine cranberry sauce, soup mix, orange juice, salt, and pepper.  Heat this mixture thoroughly.  Serve the sauce over sliced pork,  Enjoy!

My Grandma’s Door Egg

I have said many many times that I am extremely blessed to be in my 30’s and still have almost all of my grandparents with me.  I have so many amazing memories of time with them when I was little, and one of my favorites is when my Grandma would make us “door eggs”.  I was always amazed by them when I was little, and would scarf down a couple for breakfast any time I could convince her to make them for us.

Grandma’s Door Egg

Ingredients:

• white bread
• eggs
• butter

1.  Take a piece of white bread and cut a “door”out of the center.

2.  Toast the “door” (with butter) in a small saucepan.

3.  Now toast the “house” piece of the bread on one side.

4.  Crack an egg into the hole in the center of the bread and fry it for about 3 minutes over medium heat.

5.  Flip the whole bread/egg combo and fry for another couple of minutes (until it looks like the white of the egg is fully cooked).

6.  Place the “door” over the egg and enjoy!  The best part is when the yolk cracks open and there is already toast right there to sop it up!

 

Thanks Grandma for such wonderful memories!

Creamy Pasta Salad

Do ever just have a craving for something light and refreshing?  I especially like to have something light on hand for weekend lunches when we are running around and trying to get a millions things accomplished.

We tried this recipe from www.SimplyRealMoms.com and really loved it!  It packed up really nice for lunches too!

Creamy Pasta Salad

Adapted from SimplyRealMoms

Ingredients

• ½ box shaped pasta
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped
• 
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• ½ pkg mini pepperonis (regular size is ok, too)
• 
8 Monterey Jack cheese sticks (snack sticks) cut into chunks (you can use any kind of cheese that you like) 
• 

Ranch dressing

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Drain it.
2. Place colander with drained pasta into a bowl with ice and water in it to cool it off.
3. Put all the rest of the ingredients, except the ranch dressing into a bowl.
 Pour the cooled pasta onto a clean towel and really dry it off.
4. Pour pasta into the bowl
. Stir in the ranch as you like it. A little, a lot—there’s no exact science to it.

Footboard Blanket Chest ~ lots of pictures!

A few weeks ago we bought our first table saw, and since then Hubs has really been putting it to work.  I was in desperate need of somewhere to put all my blankets and pillows, so Hubs drew up some plans for a footboard chest for me.

I am always impressed with how he just comes up with this stuff off the top of his head.  We took our weekly trip to our favorite home improvement store and gathered all of our supplies.  We used every saw we owned during this project!

We started by cutting the sides, top, and bottom out of the 4 x 8 sheets of plywood.

Then we added the legs to sturdy things up a little.  I love using the air nail gun!

Next, Hubs worked on cutting the trim/molding pieces for the look he wanted.

It is starting to come together now….although I thought it looked more like a coffin than a chest.

Of course Miss Brown Dog had to help carry the wood pieces to the scrap pile for us.  She loves to carry anything!!

Willow was so funny about the nail gun.  She would put her nose right up to it to see what was going on.  She has no fear!  (Harley was hiding on the whole other side of the back yard!)

While Hubs was putting the finishing touches on the design of the chest, I headed inside to cover the seat cushions….of course I couldn’t do it without a little help from The Boss Man.

Really!?  I need you to get off the batting so I can measure and cut it!!

Well, moving to the side is better than nothing.   I used the boards Hubs had cut for me to trace out the amount of foam batting needed for each cushion.

It was a booger to cut because It was 2 inches thick, but well worth it when I was done!

Once my two pieces were cut, I took a little break to play with The Boss Man.  I just love that he is 8 years old and still loves to play and has such a sweet little kitten face!  I play with him any chance I can get.

Now that he is tuckered out, I can finish what I was doing.  I cut my fabric to be 2 inches longer than the foam on each side.

Finally, with Hubs Help, we stretched and pulled the fabric around the edges and stapled it to the plywood piece that Hubs had pre-cut.

All that’s left is the finishing touches!  We used a piano hinge across the back length of the chest.

I tested my cushions to make sure they fit….perfect!

Hubs added some little details to the front legs.

It works!!

Hubs added some extra support hinges to the insides to help hold the (very heavy) top up when you are trying to put things in the chest.

We started by trying to stain the inside blocks of the chest, but ended up not liking the look and just painted the entire thing black (which matches our master bedroom furniture).  I am so glad we did because I love the final look!

Hubs found these beautiful pieces of hardware at the local antique fair to add an extra special touch to the finished piece.

I am in love with this piece, and even more impressed with my Hubs’ skills.  He completed this project in a weekend!