Already Middle Of September..??

Hello Blog Readers! I'm sorry...for such another long time with no posting. Thing is, I honestly haven't baked anything for months. Why, I don't know. But I have something up my sleeve for tomorrow. A Neopalitian Banana Cake....we will see how it turns out.

Right now I am currently taking this semester off school and working. And in-between doing photo sessions, frisbee games, hitting the mall, trips to the theater w/family or friends, multiple trips to get ice cream with friends, church activities, and then of course the usual...spending time with family and friends.

Annnd, last Friday was a whole new experience for me. I'm currently the 2nd baseman on our softball team and well. Last Friday, which was our last game for the season....I ended up spending most of the evening in the ER. During the game I went to catch a fly ball and the ball ended up landing on my face instead of the mit.
I fractured my nose and received 2 black eyes. It was also my first time ever in the ER....a tough night.
Buuut, God has healed me amazingly. My black eyes are almost completely gone and I got my stitches out yesterday. My family took amazing care of me and I found out during my week of recovery that God has truly given me the "best" family and friends in this world.

I also think I had enough injuries for the year. Lets see...a fat bruised lip from snowboarding, breaking my middle finger when the wind shut the door on my hand, and a fractured nose....hmmm. Yup. Hopefully that is all.

And Lord willing. Next softball season. I will be back out on that field.

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My latest photo session was of my softball coach's family.

Ohhhh Adalyn. She is my very favorite 1 year little girl. Her pigtails are melting. Her little smile with 2 bottom teeth and 2 top teeth are equally melting. I think we have a future Miss America on our hands.

Have a wonderful Friday! We have had 20 days of sunshine and beautiful weather....I couldn't ask for anything better. See you with a recipe very soon!!

Summer, Summer, Summer.

I'm still here. I've come to the conclusion that summer is going by way "too" fast. Way too fast. But I'm soaking it all up. We have been busy with softball practices, softball games, Ultimate Frisbee, swimming, being with friends, and now this whole week VBS. We were able to go to our county fair last week....it was pretty hard to get one of everyone smiling. Thus resulting in the above picture.


Softball and more softball. Teaches you a lot.

My sisters and I with a friend....yeah I'm a total goof.

Have a great rest of a week and I will see you with another update in not too long!

Summer Days....Summer Fun.

Whew, good Friday everyone! Hope your summer has been going well. Mine has been very busy but beyond fun. We are heading into another packed 4th of July weekend....which will include lots of food. I will be back with some food posts next week and lots more pictures. Thank you again guys for hanging in here with me!

Ultimate Frisbee is amazing.

We had spent the day at a friends graduation party and then playing ultimate frisbee afterwards. Here we are just goofin off....a must for our famalies.

L to R: Steven, Me, Lisa, & Joe. Personally...I think we look nothing alike.

Happy 4th of July!

We Jump.

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Congrats to the Winner of the Hello, Cupcake book picked by random.org:

Laura who said: for me it's food! Love the food.

Congrats Laura! Please email me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net so I can get your book out to you!

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(I am getting a 10x13 of this one for our wall...)

Good Sunday afternoon! Goodness, what a busy weekend. House work, workout, softball practice, taking our Mom out to dinner, shopping, more shopping for graduation party clothes, church....whew! And this week isn't going to be any less busy. I know I will survive.

I am so glad to know you all (most of you...can't please everyone) enjoy my blog just the way it is! Getting comments like that are encouraging....so thank you! I am going to see what I can come up with for some more breakfast, appetizer, and side dish recipes.

So, I thought a jumping shot would be pretty amazing of all 6 of us....little brother in brown polo shirt thought otherwise. See how in the 3rd picture from the top, he is about 4 inches off the ground but completely upright? Not to mention a interesting look. Don't worry, we still love you Joe.

This isn't even close to all the pictures we took, the rest will be popping around here and there in the upcoming months. I am trying to decide which ones to hang up on the walls, choices choices!

See you guys with that cookie post next that will have you scurring to make them yourselves! Happy Mothers Day to all you Mom's and especially to mine!

Buttered Egg Noodles W/Parmesan Chicken.

Good Wednesday everyone!

My family and I love love eating at Noodles & Company. If you guys haven't ever tried their food you are seriously missing out. My sister and I love to order "Buttered Noodles". They are noodles fried in butter, mixed with seasonings, and topped with Parmesan Chicken and Mozzarella Cheese. That and a Coke for dinner....that is real living.

I wanted to try to see if I could come up with something similar to Noodles' version. Let me say I got pretty close! For the breading I mixed up different seasonings, Parmesan Cheese, and salt and pepper. Dipped it then in egg and fried until done. The breaded chicken alone was very good. The family loved this, it was great to see my brother and sister saying..."mmm this is pretty good".

Buttered Noodles: My Version

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, thawed

3 cups egg noodles, cooked

2 sticks of butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

3/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Beat eggs in a bowl and set aside. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Place 3 tbsp. of butter in pan over stove on low-medium heat. Melt all over pan. Dip chicken in eggs (let excess egg mixture drip off) and then roll in bread crumb mixture. Place in pan and cook for 2 minutes or until done, turning as needed. In another pan, melt 5tbsp. of butter on medium-high heat. Pour the egg noodles into the pan and cook until crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with Italian Seasoning and salt and pepper. Mix. Put noodles in bowl and top with chicken and Mozzarella Cheese. Yield: 2 servings.

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We did it. We took pictures. It is a big accomplishment because if we don't go get them done, you will never see a decent picture of us 6 together. There will be pictures of us 6. But they don't go past our family seeing them.

The weather was perfect, couldn't have asked for a better day...especially nice since it had been raining the previous days. All I could say was "thank you God....for no rain and a beautiful day to boot".

So, here we are. These 5 (not including our parents) are the ones that devour all of the food you see on my blog. Those 3 boys are the ones who I have to thank. The 2 girls are the ones I have to thank for keeping me somewhat girly. And my youngest brother. Joe. He is perfectly fine. He wasn't being tortured. He doesn't like to smile for the camera. Thus the uncovincing grins.

These are only some of the many pictures we took, would my readers like to see more? Hope you all are enjoying summer weather....looking forward to seeing Star Trek this Friday. Hopefully it will be a good one!

Wow, You Look Exactly Like Your Mom....No Like Your Dad!

People say all us kids look alike. They also will say so and so looks like your Dad or like your Mom! I nod and say oh really? Because I don't really see any of us looking alike. My oldest sister is always told she resembles our Mom. My little brother looks like my Dad did when my Dad was little. The other 4 of us are a mix between our Dad and Mom. One common feature is we all have the dark brown hair and dark eyes. But that is all I see. What do you guys think, who looks like our Dad or Mom? And, please excuse my freaky expression. I love to make faces.

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Here's to a great rest of your Monday and see you with a dessert soon!

Winners, An Award, & A Superbowl Recipe.

Good Saturday everyone! A big thanks to everyone who entered this POM contest! I had fun reading who you all root for, I even saw some fellow Trojan fans - yeah! I saw too many Notre Dame fans though, boo. See below how you guys root. Anyway, here are the 3 winners: (I was able to get some more coupons).

AND

AND

If you are any of the winners, please e-mail me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net. Didn't win? Stay tuned, because you can get another shot at this same contest in a couple weeks.

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Onto some food. These little appetizers are so delicious and they take very little time to prepare. Cooking takes the longest but these are worth it. The brown sugar mixed in with these adds a sweet flavor to it. My brothers were gobbling these right up, so I know these would be a hit at any Superbowl party.

Sausage Bacon Bites

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon
2 packages (8 ounces each) brown-and-serve sausage links
1 cup plus extra packed brown sugar, divided

DIRECTIONS:
Cut bacon strips widthwise in half; cut sausage links in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of sausage. Place 1 cup brown sugar in a shallow bowl; roll sausages in sugar. Secure each with a toothpick. Place in a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.---------------------------------------

Nicole over at Test Kitchen Recipes gave me the Lemonade Award for a refreshing blog. Thanks so much Nicole! Check out Nicole's blog for some great family food recipes. I am going to pass this onto:

Cristine at Cristine Cooks

Jessica at Turkey Cookies

Melissa at Schweet 'N Savory

Jenny at Picky Palate

Lisa at Jersey Girl Cooks

Meg at Megan's Munchies

Thanks ladies for such great blogs!

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When I was trying to decide which family pictures to post, I realized that you guys haven't seen a picture of my Mom yet. Not sure how that happened. So, here is my Mom with her sister, or my Aunt Kathy. I personally think my Mom and Aunt look very much alike. Out of us three girls, my older sister Lisa is always the one told she looks like our Mom. And, I agree. The 2nd picture is of Lisa and then me. No pictures of Anna because she politely asked me not to post any.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back with more Superbowl recipes!

Sassy Cinnamon Cookies

Good Monday morning everyone! Hope you had an enjoyable weekend. I am excited that I have no school today...I love 3 days off of school. Friday we went and saw Mall Cop, funny movie. I'd love to have a segway like Paul Blart does - that would be so fun. The best part of the movie was the last 45 minutes, won't say anything else so I don't spoil it for you guys.

I made these cookies over the weekend and mm, they are so good. Rolling the dough in cinnamon sugar makes these taste much better. I know some of you guys are having trouble finding cinnamon chips - I was able to find mine at HyVee. They harden quickly, so you'll want to keep them in an air-tight container or in foil.

Sassy Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cinnamon-flavored baking chips
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375°F (if using dark or nonstick pan, heat oven to 350°F). In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until creamy. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Stir in cinnamon chips and pecans. In small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Shape dough into balls. Roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place balls 3 inches apart on ungreased large cookie sheet (do not flatten). Bake 10 minutes or until set and light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. *To keep from hardening store in air-tight container*
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This picture was taken in 2003, my little brother and sister were only 6 and 8. Back then they were so photogenic, now it's "get that camera away from me"! I may be prejudice but they were awfully cute back then.
The last two pictures were when we used to raise animals. We used to have goats, goats kids, calves, and steer. We had tons of fun naming all the animals; we came up with intersting names.

Have a great week and I'll see you with a giveaway for my 100th post!