Where have I been? In FLORIDA baby!

Hi Everyone. I have been missing lately and I was busy in Florida on Spring Break. It was lots of fun. Chad and I rented a Solstice convertible and enjoyed our fun in the sun. We go every year and stay with my in-laws. We stayed in a beautiful condo with views of a marina and Charlotte Harbor by Fort Myers in Southwest Florida. It was really fun and relaxing! I was glad to come home and get back to my normal routine but I would go back in a heartbeat!
On another note, I am SO happy about how nice the weather is outside. How wonderful to have the windows down, sunglasses on, and music blaring! I LOVE it!

I freaking LOVE Little House on the Prairie

Seriously, I really like having digital cable. We get a million channels that no one would ever want to watch but every once in a while one of those channels will have a show I haven't seen in forever that I absolutely adore. Well, today we went on a field trip to the hands on museum and I was exhausted after work so I left right after the kids did. I was home early enough to catch one of the best episodes of Little House. Its called "The Richest Man in Walnut Grove" because the Ingalls fell on some tough times but Pa still thought he was the richest man in the town because his family was so great. Mary went to work sewing and Ma plowed the crops so Pa could do more work to earn more money. Poor Laura got made fun of by that mean ole' Nellie Olsen and Pa made her feel all better. Then later she punched her, it was GREAT. In fact she said, "My pa said that people that say that workin' folks smell bad have nothing better to do than stick their noses up in the air. Well Nellie, if you stick your nose up in the air, I'm gonna punch it!" YEAH! I love it!

Plus, Pa is such a sap but in a great way. Ma was plowing the field and was dirty and tired looking. She said, "I must look a fright" and Pa said, "your face is dirty, your hair is all askew and you are still the prettiest sight a man ever set his eyes on." Then to top off that hum-dinger he said, "the only thing I regret about marrying you is that I won't have the pleasure of asking you to be my wife again." I know stuff like that is crazy, utterly absurd, but on TV its kinda neat!

I think the best thing though is when they get all the money and go pay their bill at Olsen's mercantile. I love watching the look on that bitch Harriet's face when they have all the money they owe and buy more stuff with cash. Ahh man, that lady is one that you just LOVE to hate. I also love that even though Nells has lots of money and a big store he is blatantly jealous of Charles! In fact, HE himself calls Charles the richest man in Walnut Grove. I LOVE this show!

Random Chicken Casserole

So, lately I haven't been taking out anything to make for dinner and we end up buying more snacks than actual dinner components at the store. My friend Kacey had her baby so my other friend Casey and I made her dinner so she didn't have to cook. So, I was going through a bunch of casserole recipes and I found a few that looked pretty good. Then I saw Paula Deen on TV today with an episode entitled "Fridge Finds." Then it occured to me that AGAIN I didn't take anything out to make for dinner. So, I got out a can of chicken (yuck! We bought a bunch at sam's and we are trying to use it up) and I made a casserole that was a mix between my sister's Broccoli Chicken Divan and Paula Deen's Chicken Bodine.

Amy's Random Chicken Casserole
1 (12 oz) package egg noodles (cooked and drained)
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1/2 cup milk
1 large can cooked cubed chicken (about a cup and a half)
1 1/2 cups broccoli cooked
1 cup (or a bit more) shredded cheese
2 tbsp. butter melted
1 cup bread crumbs

Mix milk, soup, chicken, noodles, broccoli and cheese. Place in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix melted butter and bread crumbs, sprinkle over the top. Bake for 25 minutes at 375*. Then I put it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the top. I don't think this was our favorite dinner ever but it was a good way to use that gross canned chicken. If I were to make this again I would just use leftover baked or grilled chicken.

Ducky cookie favors and cake - Kacey's Shower

I think one of my favorite parts of the shower was the duck cookies I made for favors. It was my first attempt at royal icing and while it was messy and I don't think it tasted that great it looked beautiful.

I made sugar cookies from the Better Homes and Garden's cook book. I made the cookies on a snow day in February and then froze them until the shower. I made royal icing based on the Martha Stewart recipe. I made the royal icing with meringue powder because Kacey shouldn't have raw egg whites which are usually in the icing.

I decorated each duck cookie with yellow and then put a squirt of orange and spread it with a skewer for the beak. I also gave each duck a brown eye and a pretty pink bow. I was really proud of my work!

The best part was putting the ducks into individual cellophane bags. I tied each bag with a pink ribbon with while polka dots. I placed them on a big lazy susan that my mom made me and placed another sign in front of the platter so everyone knew to take one when they left.


I got a cake from Sam's club with a ducky on it as well. The chocolate cake was DELICIOUS! I will continue to get cakes from them because of the good taste, ease of ordering, and great price! It was much easier than making a cake, which was kinda out of the question since I thew the shower by myself!

Baby Pink Punch - Kacey's Shower

So, I looked all over for the perfect recipe for Kacey's shower but I didn't feel like making that sherbert punch and I didn't want to put Jell-O in it so I made up my own punch.

Amy's Baby Pink Punch
1 can pink lemonade concentrate - thawed
2 liters of sprite
1 bag frozed strawberries
ice cubes (I made little star-shaped ice cubes)

Mix well in a punch bowl - enjoy!

Everyone loved this punch and it was INCREDIBLY easy to make. It was a bit tart but that's what made it fun. The strawberries were mostly for decoration and keeping it cold but it was quite pretty for a little girl baby shower.

Cheese Dip - Kacey's Shower

For Kacey's shower I also wanted to have some munchies for people while they were waiting for everyone to arrive. I made my mother in law's tried and true cheese spread. I am tempted to make you try it before you read the ingredients. Everyone LOVES the cheese spread when they eat it but the ingredients are weird. They all work together very well but its hard to believe that it would work!

Cindy's Famous Cheese Dip:
Melt cheese (velvetta 1 large box) in a double Boiler

In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup of Catalina Dressing
1 cup of French Onion Dip
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

After the cheese is melted pour the cheese into the dressing, dip, butter mixture and mix with mixer. Pour into smaller containers.

Ooookay, I know what you are thinking, I warned you. Honestly, though, its SO yummy! You should really give it a try at your next get together.

Strawberry Walnut Spinach Salad - Kacey's Shower

For Kacey's shower I also made a green salad, like I said I wanted to serve something spring-like so I decided to make this salad which has been a favorite of mine in the past and is WONDERFUL for entertaining. I got this recipe from Kraft Food and Family magazine.

Layered Strawberry Salad
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
3 cups torn Boston lettuce (I used romaine)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, separated into rings (I put this on the side because I HATE onions, in fact it made me ill just to cut them!)
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup PLANTERS Walnut Halves, toasted
1/2 cup KRAFT Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

I also offered Raspberry and Ranch dressings, most people chose raspberry. I also included the recipe card in front of this dish so that everyone knew what it was. This salad was a big hit again and it did make everyone long for spring again! I served the salad with croissants from Sam's club, they were SO flaky and tender, yum!