Recipe of the Week ~ Cornflake Hash brown Potatoes

I have made hash brown potatoes for years.  My recipe was fabulous, I thought, until Easter!  I misplaced my recipe so I went to Allrecipes and tried this one.  We loved it!  Middle Sis made these for Easter and they were super yummy and more cheesy than my old recipe.  This is worth a try! I know this will be my new favorite!

Hash Brown Casserole II

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour Servings: 12

"Cheesy and delicious, this hash brown casserole has a crunchy topping."

INGREDIENTS:

1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed 1/2 cup melted butter 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1/2 cup chopped onions 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 cups crushed cornflakes cereal 1/4 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a large bowl, combine hash browns, 1/2 cup melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chopped onion, Cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Place mixture in a 3 quart casserole dish.
3.	In a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute cornflakes in 1/4 cup melted butter, and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the casserole.
4.	Bake covered in preheated oven for 40 minutes. You can find the original recipe HERE!

Project of the Week ~ Lunch Bag Art

Lunch Bag Art

Here are a few cute lunch bags that the girls got to enjoy last week!

I was working on bags before the kids got up and when they saw what 

I was doing they grabbed their crayons and joined in!

 My niece made some bags too!

 Lil Bro colored and then cut up his bag!

 Middle Sis had a super great time!  

We know it was good since she used her phrase, 

"It's the BEST DAY EVER"!!!

 This was Big Sis's favorite bag!

 Middle sis requested a pink pony lunch bag!

 Angry Birds is a family fun game so why not make them into a lunch bag, too!

Middle Sis finished her bag!

 My niece has 3 lunch bags to take home for school next week!

 Big Sis has her lunch packed and she is off for a fun day in 2nd grade!

Check out the blog that inspired it all! Click HERE!

Recipe of the Week ~ Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn

 I made the following recipe as a special treat for a "WooHoo, Daddy is going to be home for Family Night" night!  I made the popcorn in the microwave with the recipe found here.  

We ate it that night but I found that it was much better the next day.  

You can only eat a little because it is so rich so leftovers will be no problem!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn

Yield: About 8 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Peanut butter popcorn with a drizzle of chocolate and Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

This sweet popcorn snack is perfect for movie night or game day.

ingredients:

8 cups plain popcorn (we use air-popped popcorn)
Fine salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 cups Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

directions:

1. Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl and salt to taste. Set aside.

2. Mix the honey and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the peanut butter. Stir vigorously until all the peanut butter is melted, then mix in the vanilla extract.

3. Immediately pour the peanut butter caramel over the popcorn and gently stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until it's all coated. Spread popcorn on a large baking sheet. Drizzle popcorn with melted chocolate and let sit until chocolate hardens. Stir in the Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Notes:
We used air-popped popcorn, but you can use microwave popcorn or stove top popcorn. If you can't find Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you can chop up regular Peanut Butter Cups.

I found this recipe at Twopeasandtheirpod and you can see this recipe HERE!

Flashback Friday ~ Messy Room

Here is a flashback to fourth grade when I had to memorize a poem.  I made it all the way to Columbus and came home with a blue ribbon!  My family went with me and I even got a cute new blue dress!  Enjoy!

Messy Room

Author: Poetry of Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

Family Night ~ Coloring Eggs

Easter is here and we focus most of our time doing devotions, crafts and other projects based on the resurrection of Jesus leading up to Easter Sunday.  There are a few other fun things that we do as well and one of them is to color eggs.  It is fun to watch the kids as they are completely enveloped in changing eggs different colors!  This year we skipped buying the kit and decided to try to dye eggs with food coloring.  It was so successful that we will never buy a kit again!  

You can find the recipe below.  Enjoy the pictures!

 Daddy packed up the Colored Eggs and we turned around and 

there was Lil Bro back on top of the table re-coloring the eggs as fast as he could!

 Big Sis is pretending she is Ramona as she shows us the proper way to crack an egg!

You can find the following recipe HERE!

How to Dye Easter Eggs

Five simple steps for adding a coat of color to those hard-boiled eggs.

Photo: Nicole Hill Gerulat. Styling: One Charming Party

What You Need

• Hard-boiled eggs
• Paper towel or newspaper
• Bowl or cup deep enough to completely submerge an egg
• Tongs, egg dipper, or slotted spoon
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• Liquid food coloring (about 20 drops per color)

1. Start with cool hard-boiled eggs.

2. Protect your surface by covering with a sheet of newspaper or paper towel.

3. Fill container with the mixture of water, vinegar, and food coloring.

4. Place egg on spoon and dunk, turning occasionally so both sides get color. Keep in liquid for up to 5 minutes, leave in longer for a darker hue.

5. Carefully remove the egg and set aside to dry.