Only Tuesday & Two Recipes

This week has already been extremely long and it's only Tuesday. (Thankfully it is now Tuesday night). The good news is that I only have 2 more days of work this week and then Bailey and I will take a small weekend trip. Friday we're leaving to go to Auburn for the Auburn/Ole Miss game on Saturday.

Last week and the first two days of this week have been pretty draining. (I feel fine but pray I'm not coming down with anything.) I work primarily at the middle school--that's where my office is and where I see most of my students. However, I also serve some students at the Junior & Senior high schools. Last week I felt like I was continuously running back and forth between all the schools for meetings, therapy, and hearing screenings. Yesterday and today have been similar, but not quite as busy. But tomorrow's not here yet. It's not always this crazy, it just seems to come in waves, and right now I'm stuck in the middle of one. I must say though, that I absolutely love my job. And God was so gracious to allow me to have it.

Now to a few recipes.

The first one I found here.

Chicken Rolls

2-3 Chicken Breasts

1 can Crescent Rolls

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

2/3 cup milk

About 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chop chicken into cubes and cook in skillet over medium heat until done. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. While chicken is cooking, heat soup and milk in saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Unroll crescent roll triangles. Place a few pieces of chicken and a handful of cheese in the center of each dough triangle and roll up.

Place in a greased square baking dish. Place any remaining chicken and cheese in soup mixture. Pour soup mixture over rolls.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Note: Next time I make this I will let the rolls cook for a few minutes before pouring chicken and soup mixture over. That way the rolls can brown a bit more.

I found the next recipe here.

The picture doesn't exactly do them justice.

Green Bean Bundles

 2 or 3 cans whole green beans

bacon slices

1 stick of butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp garlic salt

Wrap handful of green beans in 1/2 slice of bacon. (That's one bundle--make as many as you'd like).

Melt stick of butter and stir in 1 cup of brown sugar (more or less depending on your taste). Add teaspoon of garlic salt. Pour over bundles.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Then put under broiler for 4-5 minutes at the end.

**Note: The few times I've made them, I used cut green beans because that's all I had. Bailey likes them that way because they're bite-size (for him, anyways).

Also, another option is that you use 1 cup Italian dressing in place of butter and sugar.

And just for fun, here's a picture of our whole meal.

And yes, that is on a salad plate. We typically use them for two reasons: First, my dinner plates don't fit in this particular dishwasher; second, when using a smaller plate, your portions are usually smaller, as long as you don't go back for seconds.

Dreaming of Christmas

Christmas is quickly approaching and I couldn't be more excited.  It is absolutely my most favorite time of the year. Here's why:
 1. The reason we celebrate--God gave us his precious baby Jesus.
 2. My favorite color is red and it's pretty much anywhere and everywhere during the Christmas season. (Green runs a close second!)
 3. You get to spend time with family and friends you don't often see throughout the year. (Or you at least get to spend more time with them.)
 4. Food, get-togethers, homemade candy/cookies, parties--what's not to love?
 5. I suppose I should mention that I will now get to celebrate my anniversary at this time of the year. I always dreamed of a Christmas wedding and my dream came true last December!
 6. Giving gifts, and, yes, receiving them too--both are lots of fun.
 7. A break from school/work--who doesn't love a little extra time off?
 8. I once again mention the reason we celebrate, Jesus. He came to give His life so that we may have life.
    I could go on and on with more reasons, but I guess I'll stop.

Hobby Lobby, of course, had their Christmas stuff out in the middle of the summer. I've already been a few times to look at all the wonderful things they have. Over this last week, Wal-Mart has begun to put their Christmas stuff out. I went this afternoon just to look. I've been refraining from any impulses to buy anything. The only Christmas decor I've bought this year was some net/ribbon stuff at Mistletoe Madness a few weeks ago. I can hardly wait to get all the Christmas stuff unpacked. I can't really remember what I have--between leftover wedding decor, wedding gifts, and the things I have acquired from after-Christmas sales.

I have a question for the few of you that may read this thing. I don't have a tree topper for our new (big) tree. I had a star for the smaller tree I had in my apartment. When I asked Bailey if he wanted a star or an angel, his preference was an angel, but I haven't been able to find one I'm crazy about. The tree has white lights and all of the ornaments are predominantly red, green, and silver, and most of them have glitter. So, to my question--what do you have on top of your Christmas tree: angel, star, something else??

Ranch Crispy Chicken and Potato Casserole

Last night I made Ranch Crispy Chicken and Potato Casserole. Both were very good and pretty simple. I found them both here.

Ranch Crispy Chicken
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup corn flake crumbs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 package dry Ranch dressing mix
chicken breasts/tenders (I used 3 large chicken breasts cut into smaller pieces)

--Combine corn flake crumbs, parmesan cheese, and dressing mix.
--Melt butter. Dip chicken in melted butter and then coat in crumb mix.
--Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

Potato Casserole
20 oz. hashbrowns, thawed
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon salt & 1 teaspoon pepper
8 oz sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups crushed cornflakes

--Combine all but cornflakes in bowl and mix well.
--Pour into greased 9x13 inch dish and top with crushed cornflakes.
--Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I took a few other pictures but they didn't turn out (could be in part to my ancient dinosaur camera.)

More Fall Decor

Here are a few more things I've got around the house....

This wreath is on the front door. Found the plain wreath somewhere. Bought some picks and ribbon from HL, all 1/2 off.

Here's a close-up.

This is on the side door (the one we use). I found it at Marshall's for a few dollars.

This tray sits on the coffee table. The tray, frame, and candle were all gifts. I have a set of these pumpkins I picked up at Target last year after Thanksgiving. Then I put out some potpourri I've had.

This is on the right side of the mantle. The hurricane glasses were a wedding gift. I bought some brown candles at Target and then stuffed in some of the leaves I purchased at Dollar Tree. The leaf placemat underneath is from Wal-Mart.

And the left side of the mantle. The vase is from a mission trip to Mexico years ago. The arrangement is about that old. I just added a pumpkin and a placemat.

I bought a few of these last year after Halloween for $.25 each at Old Time Pottery (I think).

I'm linking to

Fall Decor

As a newlywed, I don't have alot of decor for the different seaons (excluding Christmas--I have a little bit since I was married during that time of the year). In the last few weeks I've been looking for fall decor ideas/inspiration. Over the weekend I put a few things together to decorate our table.

The photo on the left is my placemat and napkin. I received the placemats and napkins as wedding gifts last year. I bought the leaves at Dollar Tree. I folded the napkin like you would a paper fan, took a couple leaves and then tied it with a piece of hemp (I had some hemp remaining in my craft stuff from years ago when I made the bracelets, anklets, etc.) Then i took a few pine needles and stuffed them under the leaves.

The picture in the middle and the one on the left is of the centerpiece I put together. I took a vase someone had given me and put in some colored styrofoam beads (from Hobby Lobby--purchased awhile back at 1/2 off.) I stuffed some leaves down the sides and then put in a few floral pieces I'd purchased a couple months ago (again from HL at 1/2 off). The base is made from a plain gold frame (can't remember where I found it). I tacked on a piece of cardboard to serve as the backing and then layered some of the leaves in. I am rather happy with the way everything turned out. I have a few other fall decor pieces around the house that I'll show later.

Bachelorette Weekend

I had planned to post a recipe for Chicken Taco Soup but I'm having issues with my camera/software so I'm going to wait and post the recipe once the issues are resolved so I can include the few pictures I took.

My weekend hasn't been too eventful. As I said in the previous post, Bailey has been gone so I've been home with Lula. Friday night I went to dinner with mom and dad at Windy City. After that I came home and spent a good bit of time on the computer, mostly trying to set this blog up. Yesterday I got up early (kind of) and went to Southaven. I hit up Target, Kohl's, JC Penney and then had lunch at McAlister's with mom, dad, and brother. When I got home I went to watch the Ole Miss-Bama game with my in-laws. It wasn't too pretty but I will say I'm proud of the Rebel defense for holding them to only one touchdown and several field goals.

Today was Sunday School and church. In Sunday School we had breakfast and showered the Hopper's with gifts for their baby girl. This afternoon I made soup, cleaned up around the house, and most importantly, napped. This evening I went back to my in-laws to play some games. The only reason I'm currently up is because Bailey is on his way home and should be here shortly.

In the morning mom and I are headed to Hobby Lobby to look around and hopefully not spend too much money. This time last year Hobby Lobby trips were very regular as we were preparing for the wedding and looking for all sorts of Christmas goodies to use. I'm also hoping to hit a few Goodwill stores to see what can be found.

Well, before I go, I'll leave you with a picture of something I made recently. I started with some plain wooden letters, paint and ribbon.

And the finished productI will post the recipe as soon as I get the camera thing worked out.

I Did It.

Yes, I did it. I gave in and made a blog. I've been reading/unofficially following several people's blogs for sometime now so I figured I'd go ahead and join the blogging world. Not too sure what I'll blog about because our life isn't all that eventful, but I guess we'll see...

I've pretty much been a bachelorette this month. Bailey spent nearly two weeks in Jackson for a real estate class. And currently he's gone to Texas for one of his friend's bachelor parties.

Fall Break started this afternoon at 3:10. I don't have any big plans--just to clean house and hopefully get to Target and Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, we will not be at the Ole Miss-Alabama game on Saturday. I decided not to go since Bailey wouldn't be able to. However, the next few weekends we will in Oxford to see the Rebels play and then on Halloween we'll be in Auburn to watch that game.

I suppose that's all for the first post. I guess we'll see how faithful I become to this thing.