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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Pink Christmas for the Homemaking Party

Welcome to the Homemaking Party! This weekend we're celebrating miss Brenna Evangeline who will be 1 on Saturday! Can you believe it's been a year already?
Wow! I can't believe how fast this month has gone. Here we are a week before Christmas and I've still got quite a bit to do! Trying hard to remember the true meaning of the season: Jesus! God in the flesh, come to live among us!

 I snapped a few pictures of our favorite decorations and thought I'd share them with you all for this week's party. One thing I'm excited about is my first little PINK putz house (see above)! I ordered it from Etsy last week. Isn't it cute? I've got a little obsession with them. Remember my banner from last year?
The same Etsy seller had another putz house up---a burlap one. Very awesome. In all my thrifting, I've never found a vintage putz house anywhere. That's my goal for this year---to come across one by serendipity alone!
 This little elf became part of my collection last year. He reminds me of my grandma Betty as she had these hanging on her flower pots and gave me one before she passed away. I'll have to dig it out and add it to my collection!
 Every year, my husband buys me a poinsettia. Every year, I kill it by Valentine's Day. Still, he's very thoughtful to remember this sweet tradition!
 We had mistletoe our first year married and I reused it several times before it finally started falling apart. I saved it in one of the Christmas boxes for a keepsake, but hadn't been able to find any to replace it. Now, 15 years later, I've found some! Yay!
The kids are very excited to have a fireplace this year to hang the stockings over! I've made each of these stockings as we've had a new baby. I didn't get to make one this year, though. Maybe next year! Lynzie's nutcracker collection is displayed above them. She gets a new one every year. I'm going to have to start collecting my own---when she grows up and takes them all to her new home, my mantel will be bare!

Cainan (9) dressed up his bear, Carmel, in a festive outfit and did a photo shoot with him around the house. He wanted to contribute a picture to the Homemaking Party too! Here Carmel is sitting in front of the Christmas lapbook that Cainan is working on. He's holding a present Cainan made for baby Brenna.

 I'm excited to see what you've got to share! Have a wonderful Christmas week!


Linking with:
Beverly's Pink Saturday
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#ad Farmer Smurf's Battered Chicken Roll #TastyTenders #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client. All opinions are honest and are my own.

If there's one thing we eat a lot of around our house, it's chicken. We love it in all forms and my kids, especially, love battered chicken tenders, nuggets, and strips. Tyson always has lots of options to help me make an easy dinner for kids that my husband and I enjoy too!
Last week, I found these battered tenders at Walmart in two varieties: Honey and Original. Our Walmart always puts the Tyson bagged chicken in the deep freezers between the meat wall and the aisles. It's fun to stop and see what new things they've got to offer---it seems like there's always something creative to try out.
While I was at Walmart, I noticed the new Smurfs2 movie on DVD. It's a real treat when my kids get to watch a movie while they're eating dinner---an event that is usually reserved for when I'm gone doing errands and Daddy's handling the evening routine. Now and then, though, I like to make them a themed meal or snack and let them veg out with a movie. 

 When I fix them these chicken tenders, I'm going to serve them in a sandwich stuffed with fresh veggies and pesto and call them, Farmer Smurf's Battered Chicken Rolls. Farmer Smurf knows kids love bright and healthy snacks when they're presented in a fun way! 
I bought the original tenders and, I'll admit, I've already gotten into them without the kids. Twice. Yesterday I cooked up some to see how they were with some dipping sauce I had left over from my favorite restaurant. Absolutely wonderful! I love that they're made with white meat and no weird fillers. That really made for an authentic taste that didn't have that fast-food, mushy meat texture. 
I also liked that there wasn't a bunch of overdone seasonings and that the batter was light and crispy. There was definitely more chicken than batter. In my opinion, this is just how battered chicken should taste. Delish!
Today I put together a yummy sandwich roll for my lunch. I combined some of my favorite, flavorful ingredients to make this Batter Dipped Chicken Roll. I love pesto on just about anything and, combined with fresh veggies and some provolone cheese, it was the perfect compliment to my warmed chicken tenders.
It took just 12 minutes to cook the tenders in the oven. While they cooled a bit, I prepared the other ingredients: pesto, tomatoes, spinach, provolone cheese, bakery roll. I decided to slice the tenders in half so they'd lay nicely on the sandwich. It all went together in seconds and, paired with a handful of kettle chips, it was a satisfying and very tasty lunch!
Even though I thought I was being sneaky about digging into this bag of chicken before sharing it with my kids, my oldest son had his eye on me. As I was putting it back in the freezer, he asked me about it and said they looked awesome! Ok, fine, I'll share.
Make sure to check out the Smurfs2 at Walmart. It's just been released on DVD and Blu Ray and would make a great gift for Christmas or your family's next birthday.

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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Chocolate Cornflake No Bake Cookies: Make Bake Create #38


Welcome to the Make Bake Create Party! 5 Blogs-1 party-lots of fun and creative ideas for you!

Please follow your hosts:
*****There will be no MBC party on Christmas or New Year's. See you next year!*****
I've been sharing some favorite cookie recipes the last couple weeks. Here's another one that all our family loves!

 Chocolate Cornflake No Bakes

1 c. sugar
1 c. corn syrup
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter
5 c. cornflakes

 Bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil and boil for one minute. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Mix in cornflakes and drop onto wax paper to cool.
Follow the MBC Pinboard!


Here are some of my favorites from last week!

Stacy Makes Cents shared this super easy and delicious recipe for Crockpot Pepperjack Chicken. This is one of those recipes that you know you want to make before you even check the ingredient list---her photo says it all!
When I saw this Little House on the Prairie-inspired Button String Christmas Tree. I couldn't keep from getting a little choked up! Becky at Read My Chicken Scratch found a great way to capture a special moment in one of my favorite classic stories!
I also loved the way Shopgirl decorated this gingerbread house. I love the piled snow on the windows. Very cute!
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