*Angie Land*

October was a pretty busy month around here! Matthew & I went to Cherry Park to collect some leaves (for our project) from the many varities of trees there. They have a beautiful nature trail, especially this time of year!

Here is a pic of Matthew in a tree lol!

Later after we got home, we worked on our project. I have been wanting to make this for a couple years and finally got around to it this year! We got a posterboard and drew a tree on it and Tommy painted it brown.

We arranged & glued the leaves we collected to make a autumn tree. I think it’s cute how it turned out!

I also made a couple new recipes this month too! This one is called Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up. I liked it but my son & hubby didn’t care for it too much. I AM a burger gal tho lol! I used shredded sharp cheddar cheese instead of Veleveeta.

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up
Yield: 6 servings

1 lb. lean ground beef
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 lb. (8oz) Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
1 pkg. (13.8oz) refrigerated pizza crust

Heat oven to 400°F. Brown ground beef with bacon and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Add cheese; cook until melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 minutes.

Unroll pizza dough onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Press into 15×8-inch rectangle; top with meat mixture. Roll up, starting at one of the long sides. Rearrange if necessary so roll is seam-side down.

Back 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Kraft Foods

I made some AWESOME chocolate-pumpkin cupcakes. They are my first home-made cake (no box mix!) and they were SO much better! So moist and just delicious! FYI: The recipe below is a little edited from the source recipe.

Delicious Chocolate-Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 cup (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 container (16 oz.) prepared white frosting

PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Paper-line 20 muffin cups. (I actually got 30!)

MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels in small, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar, pumpkin, oil, milk and eggs in large mixer bowl until smooth. Beat in melted chocolate. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.

BAKE for 22 to 27 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to racks to cool completely. Frost cupcakes.

Source: Very Best Baking

Our jack-o-lantern was simple this year. Matthew & his cousin, Johnathan, cleaned out the pumpkin inside while Tommy was carving.

I was SO looking forward to Halloween since it’s my FAVORITE holiday but my son & I ended up getting SICK the day before and it sucked! Matthew told me he was too sick to play earlier in the day but he did manage to go do a little trick-or-treating. He feels better now but my throat is still hurting tho! I JUST got over bronchitis (for 2 WEEKS!) recently now I’m freakin’ sick again…UGH!!! Well…here are some Halloween pics of the family!

Matthew Stormtrooper

Tommy’s the man of many faces lol

My baby brother, Christian.

Princess Boxy

Count El Tigre

Well, that’s about it for this year! Now I have to wait another whole year for Halloween again! Good thing Thanksgiving & Christmas are coming up…at least I get some good FOOD!! LOL!

xo

Check out the fantastic week of giveways over @ An Apron A Day! Make sure to check out her aprons in her store…they are absolutely gorgeous! My favorite is the Retro Cherries Ava Bib Apron

What are you waiting for…go enter now!! Good luck!

You have GOT to try this! It’s sooooooooooo good!! I used a larger dish with 3 eggs. I used regular whipping cream, mild cheddar, red onion & made some garlic bread (but I plan to try the sourdough next time!) I also cooked it a little longer so the eggs were done & not runny. Definately a new favorite!

Here’s mine!

Baked Eggs with Canadian Bacon, Spinach, and Aged Cheddar Recipe
courtesy Aida Mollenkamp @ Ask Aida

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more to butter ramekins
2 tablespoons minced yellow onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces baby spinach
4 slices Canadian bacon
4 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce grated aged Cheddar, plus extra for serving
Sourdough bread

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and arrange rack in middle. Butter 4 (6-ounce) ramekins and set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it foams, add onion, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add spinach and cook until spinach is well wilted, about 2 minutes.

Place ham on bottom of ramekins and top with spinach. Crack eggs into ramekins, place 1 tablespoon cream over each egg, and divide half of cheese evenly among ramekins.

Put ramekins on a baking sheet and bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread remaining 2 tablespoons butter on 4 slices sourdough bread. Top with grated cheese and toast until golden brown. Serve eggs with toast.

Can’t wait till this album comes out!

Yep, it’s been forever since I posted! I really wish I would post more often!

For Easter, we did cupcakes and Chocolate Nests (found it in an old Spring issue of WD. I also made a few goodie bags for family/friends with candy, etc.

For St. Patrick’s Day, I made some Irish Teacake & a Chocolate Pudding Pie.

Also, I seen this cool idea for Cupcake Pops over at Bakerella’s blog and I HAD to try them! They are very easy to make but a little time consuming. The first ones I made was red velvet cake with buttercream frosting. I just made some more last night using carrot cake & cream cheese icing. They are AWESOME! I love making them and giving them as gifts to family/friends!

In other news: we adopted a new pet, an African Dwarf frog, named Charlie!

Ok, I need to get going…lots to do today!

Until next time, xo!

I hope you had a great New Year celebration! I can’t believe it’s already 2008! 2007 zipped on by didn’t it?! I tried some new recipes over the holidays and wanted to share some recipes with you!

I loved these cookies but my hub & son didn’t care for them much! I have seen some recipes that add vanilla…I will try that next time! These are SO easy to make.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar. Gradually stir in the flour. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Pat into a 1/3-in. thick rectangle measuring 11-in. x 8-in. Cut into 2-in. x 1-in. strips. Place 1-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. Bake at 300°F for 25 minutes or until bottom begins to brown. Cool for 5 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 3 1/2 dozen.

I didn’t care for these much but my son LOVED them (his were without nuts, of course).

Orange Balls

12 ounces vanilla wafer cookies, crushed
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
additional confectioners sugar and/or coconut

Combine crumbs and sugar; blend in butter. Stir in orange juice concentrate; add vanilla and nuts. Shape mixture into bite-sized balls; shake in plastic bag with additional confectioners’ sugar or coconut. Arrange orange balls in single layer on tray; store uncovered overnight in refrigerator for best flavor. Makes 36-40 balls.

This was the first time we made homemade Gingerbread Men! Santa loved them too!

Gingerbread Men

8 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

Stir above mixture & set aside.

2 1/4 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup light molasses
2/3 cup light corn syrup

Mix butter & sugar together then add eggs, molasses and corn syrup.
Slowly add the flour mixture.
Refrigerate for 3 hours. Roll dough & cut. Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes.

These were SO good..I made them 3 times! I couldn’t find green cherries in my stores tho.

No-Bake Fruit Balls

Combine 2 cups miniature marshmallows, 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup each chopped red & green maraschino cherries, 1 can (14-oz. sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. Mix well.

Roll into small balls and then roll in flaked coconut. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Source: Kraft Recipes

These were okay but I couldn’t cut a pretty snowflake…waaaah! lol
Recipe: Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes

And…I have made this a couple times for dinner. It was much better than I’d thought it would be! Probably could use some sausage instead of regular ground pork to make some dirty rice (which I plan to try next time!) I didn’t use celery and I added red bell peppers! YUM! Recipe: Ground Pork Casserole

And…lastly here are a few 2007 in Review links!

Refdesk.com: 2007 Year in Review
Infoplease Year in Review 2007
TIME 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007
Top Ten News Photo Galleries of 2007
AOL 2007 Hot Searches
MSNBC’s Top Stories of 2007
MSNBC Year in Pictures: 2007
CNN Year in Review 2007
NASA Year in Review 2007
Washington Post: Best of the Post 2007
SFGate: 2007 Year in Pictures
Year in Review 2007 - Reuters
Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007
Fimoculous.com 2007 Lists

Happy New Year!!

Hey everyone! Guess what?? ….

I have a new baby brother! His name is Christian Anthony Sims. He was born on December 1st & weighed 8lbs. 6oz. He is PRECIOUS!!

Here is a pic of my Dad & his girlfriend, Monica w/Christian:

He is a little doll!!!

Soooo, did you have a nice Thanksgiving? We had a great one!

I made the Classic Baked Corn Pudding (I used Italian breadcrumbs) and the Apple-Raisin Cobbler Pie (I added cinnamon) and they were both SOOO good!

I forgot to take a pic of the Corn Pudding but here is one of the pie:

I came across this recipe for Sweet Potato Fluff in my Shopper’s Hotline newsletter so I decided to try it. I rarely eat sweet potatoes but this recipe was AWESOME! Even my neighbor got the recipe & made some too lol!

SWEET POTATO FLUFF

3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Mix the mashed sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, 1/2 cup of the butter or margarine, vanilla and flaked coconut. Place in heat proof 2 quart sized casserole dish.

With a fork mix the brown sugar, flour, pecans and the remaining 1/3 cup of butter or margarine.

Sprinkle over the top of the potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Source: Shopper’s Hotline/AllRecipes

And…here’s some fun links for you to enjoy!

For every snowglobe created, Pepsi will donate (up to $50,000) to America’s Second Harvest…so get to creating!! Link: Pepsi Snowglobe

Here’s mine:

And don’t forget to go Scrooge Yourself! Here’s mine!

Ok…I have tons today so until next time…xo!

Hi guys! I made the Apple Bread this past weekend and it was SO good! The recipe makes 2 loaves so I did one with nuts and one without (my son has peanut allergy). Both were VERY yummy!!

Here is the recipe:

Apple Bread

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 to 4 apples, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until well mixed. Combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into egg mixture. Fold in apples and pecans. Divide equally between 2 greased and floured 9″x5″ loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and 10 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Source: DailyRecipe (my recipe group)

You gotta try it! Would be nice to Thanksgiving or Christmas…gifts even!

I also came across this recipe for chicken nuggets…so I tried it this past week. I have never blended chicken to be pasty, so that was new to me, but overall they were pretty good. I probably won’t make it often tho.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets (mcdonald’s-style)

2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
1/4 teaspoon of Onion powder
1/4 teaspoon of Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
1 Cup of Flour
about 1.5 Cups of Oil for frying

Directions:
Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet (like a cast iron skillet) on medium-high
heat while preparing the chicken nuggets - it should be ready to work with
once half of your nuggets are ready to go in.

Cube chicken and place in a food processor. Blend chicken until it has all
been taken apart and is a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add salt,
parsley, oregano, onion powder, and pepper, and combine well.

Pour out flour on a plate and have your beaten eggs in a small bowl ready to
work with.

Roll the chicken paste mixture into 34 ping-pong ball-sized balls (smaller
than a golf ball).

Roll ball a “chicken ball” in flour, then in egg, and then in flour again.
Then, press the ball down to make a nugget. Watch this video to see how to
do it. Set nuggets aside.

Sprinkle the hot oil with some flour and if it bubbles really quickly right
away, your oil is ready for frying. Place as many nuggets as possible in the
oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side
is golden. Will take about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined
plate (to catch any excess oil).

Source: For the Love of Food

I’m making a couple new recipes for Thanksgiving…Classic Baked Corn Pudding & Apple-Raisin Cobbler Pie. I’ll try to post pics when I get them done.

Ok…well that’s all for now! If you try any of these recipes, I’d love to see/hear your outcome!

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!

Yoo hoo! Remember me? I decided to blog! I know, I know…it’s been MONTHS! Sorry! I hope to get back into posting regularly plus I want to redesign my site & blog by January…it’s been the same FOREVER lol!

Anyway….

So…did you have a nice Halloween? You KNOW it’s my favorite holiday and we had a great time! I made a variety of goodies this year, including the Candy Corn Popcorn Balls that I made last year. I tried a new cookie recipe with my son & it was great. You can find the recipe over at Nick Jr. - “Miss Spider’s Homespun Pumpkin Cookies“.

For the first time in a couple years, we all dressed up! Here are a couple of scraps that I did of our Halloween fun!

Top: Our neighbor, Toni, Me & Tommy behind us:
Bottom: Me, our son, Matthew & Tommy

Our jack-o-lantern:

Also, here is my current desktop wallpaper - it’s a layout of my little Matthew @ The Apple Harvest Festival:

I hit the Target after Halloween 90%-off sale and got some GREAT deals! I got $202 worth of goodies for $22! Here are a few things I picked up!

Gotta love those after-holiday clearance sales! Wooo!

In other news…I have been trying lots of new recipes lately and I will share some good ones with you from time to time. Here is one of my favorites I got from my Aunt Samantha. Try it and let me know how you like it! This recipe is great with shrimp too!!

Chicken Jambalaya

1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 tbsp. oil
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic (1/8 tsp x2)
1/2 cup rice
1/8 cayenne pepper (optional)
2 cups chicken broth
1 14-oz. can dice tomatoes
salt & pepper

-Season chicken with salt & pepper.
-Heat 1 tbsp. oil in pan to medium-high heat.
-Add chicken, scallions, bell pepper & garlic.
-Cook & stir often, until veggies are softened.
-Stir in rice & cayenne pepper.
-Add broth & tomatoes (with juice).
-Bring to boil.
-Reduce heat to medium low, cover & simmer.
-Stir occasionally, until most of liquid is absorbed (about 30 minutes).

I’m trying an Apple Bread recipe this weekend…will let you know how it goes! Will post more soon!!

Here is my layout for the last week of challenges at OScraps. It was fun to do!

I submitted my first photos to DeviantArt today. I took the photos with my cellphone back in November. They aren’t perfect but I really love how they turned out tho. Hope you like them too!

Here is a preview of one:

Days End by ~ASims on deviantART

I decided to participate in the OScraps challenges during February b/c I wanted the awesome pack of doodles they are giving away! Here are the challenge details…

So for week 1, the challenge was to do a layout using mostly red…here is my results.

There are a lot of cool places online to listen to music. I have used Yahoo Launchcast and Pandora, as well as a few others. I got referred to LastFM from a friend today and it’s pretty neat.

Here is my recent playlist:

You’ve probably heard about the fued between Rosie O’Donnell & Donald Trump in entertainment news. I don’t like either of them but I especially don’t like Rosie…never really have. She’s obnoxious & loud! And Donald Trump has all that money, why can’t he do something with his hair…ugh!

Anyway, I found this funny game lol…check it out!