tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57390453483922972522024-03-09T20:46:16.336-06:00Bacon In My PocketBringing home the bacon is hard work. Keeping it is even harder!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-80867772778862468172013-05-22T12:33:00.001-05:002013-05-22T12:35:37.141-05:00A tweaked cookie<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GVr5CKNnRq8YIunOgPS8KI3ukdn5KGSmo66H-lKAybFWTjJuGSR8Dvybu6O6ZuEyI8PMOelBxDaLY-BjlYyAGoey99RkqcOsX0L-ypeCWlmrtt8gfNx1FsCLXjzur-1gfEYvIpOlKrt9/s1600/DSC00427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GVr5CKNnRq8YIunOgPS8KI3ukdn5KGSmo66H-lKAybFWTjJuGSR8Dvybu6O6ZuEyI8PMOelBxDaLY-BjlYyAGoey99RkqcOsX0L-ypeCWlmrtt8gfNx1FsCLXjzur-1gfEYvIpOlKrt9/s200/DSC00427.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TTr1l6witbvl8029EsvWI_aM0dAQJkDIV65LLB1gpD-YlY8gyYZK9C3TRzbrndhAfCxCTdV5pv8WwgoxP6xBUyBKNJIu2dXJr3a5GOjE0EoPHqlTKYcdJqXrp7udlG_vv8TAEBCEF85j/s1600/DSC00416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TTr1l6witbvl8029EsvWI_aM0dAQJkDIV65LLB1gpD-YlY8gyYZK9C3TRzbrndhAfCxCTdV5pv8WwgoxP6xBUyBKNJIu2dXJr3a5GOjE0EoPHqlTKYcdJqXrp7udlG_vv8TAEBCEF85j/s200/DSC00416.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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I'll tell you making healthier food choices in the Bacon house is easier than finding time to blog about them. But I haven't left you all out. I have hundreds of pictures on my camera just waiting to post on here! In our quest to better food, I'm happy to have tweaked the good ol' chocolate chip cookie! I've searched and tried several recipes in the past few months and this one the judges, aka Mr. Bacon and the kids have approved of. FINALLY! This eating better and healthier stuff isn't that hard to do. Honestly! For those who are starting out on this journey to, what have you though? I'm finding it easier to just substitute healthier ingredients in many of our favorite dishes. Baked goods is one of those areas this works pretty well with. So here is my "bacon approved" whole wheat chocolate chip cookies for everyone to try!<br />
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"Bacon Approved" whole wheat chocolate chip cookies:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpRa-0ytrjVCZDjcCgT4lNdeTUCx13J7_Dw5ZpnbHLy68HSXSnBISuAlOpHJpoKpXhQDASS40zMarq-x0-qshts6knjz2i05wdC3_ApBpdRelou6o06G1uklEhPLogWSXB1W4Tin0t3HX/s1600/DSC00397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpRa-0ytrjVCZDjcCgT4lNdeTUCx13J7_Dw5ZpnbHLy68HSXSnBISuAlOpHJpoKpXhQDASS40zMarq-x0-qshts6knjz2i05wdC3_ApBpdRelou6o06G1uklEhPLogWSXB1W4Tin0t3HX/s320/DSC00397.JPG" width="320" /></a> 1 cup white whole wheat flour<br />
1/3 cup oat flour<br />
1/2 tsp baking soda<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
1 stick cold butter (yes we only use real stuff!)<br />
1/4 c up white sugar<br />
1/4 cup brown sugar<br />
1 egg<br />
1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk)<br />
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract. (we prefer almond)<br />
1 cup chocolate chips (not one bag) <br />
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What I think makes this cookie so great is the white whole wheat flour I found . And guess where I picked it up- Walmart. Are you surprised? Sure it's not organic, but we buy what we can afford and it's better than white flour! And for $3.50 for a 5 pound bag it's not bad. Also if you are curious about oat flour it's nothing fancy. I took my box of oatmeal and tossed it in my Ninja blender and gave it a whirl. Once you have something that resembles flour (I blended mine for about a minute) I poured it back in the container to use for baking. Super easy! <br />
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Preheat your oven to 350*. Now it's time to mix everything up. In my kitchenaid mixer I placed my cold butter and my sugars. Beat until well combined. This is important because if you don't mix all the cold butter you'll have chunks that melt in the cookies when they bake. Next add in the egg, milk, extract of your choice and mix well. Then add in your dry ingredients- flours, soda and salt. Combine it well and mix in chocolate chips.<br />
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Now some of you might be second guessing only 1 cup of chocolate chips. Again this is a compromise, Mostly good ingredients and a few not so good. These would be great with dark chocolate chips too! Really the kids and Hubby didn't miss the extra chocolate chips in the cookies, and one bag can now make 2 batches unlike my old recipe. <br />
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Place your cookies by teaspoon full on the baking tray. I get about 2 dozen cookies out of this recipe. And they're not super small cookies, but not huge either. Bake them in the oven for 9-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack and enjoy your healthy cookies!<br />
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While I was baking those I made up something else for dessert that night. I had a container of heavy whipping cream in my fridge that needed to be used up (from my homemade healthier coffee creamer- more to come on that in another post!) I already had my mixer out so I cleaned up the bowl and tossed in 1 cup heavy cream. With the whisk attachment I started mixing. Making homemade cool whip is super easy. I beat the creamer for about 5 minutes our until firm peaks formed. Be careful not to mix too long or you get butter! <br />
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Once it's forming peaks add in 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and mix just to incorporate it. There you have it, super easy homemade cool whip! <br />
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Next I tossed about a cup of frozen strawberries in my ninja blender. Have I told you how much I LOVE my ninja blender? Mr. Bacon and the kids got it for me for Christmas and it' was my favorite gift! I use it almost every day. I blended up the frozen berries (which came from my garden last year. I froze them to enjoy later on!) and it resembled crumbles. <br />
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Then I mixed the two together. This is heavenly! Strawberry fluff. Try not to eat the whole bowl at once! It's a much lighter texture than ice cream and only 4 ingredients! Not too bad for a healthy dessert. <br />
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I did take a little of the extra and stick it in these cute ice Popsicle molds I bought. They'll make a great after school treat for the kids! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIIjak-pwAKdoVZ7ua88Kfiif7NbF12hwYLQ2yWEE86vQmpmugmGhQ4pOqF4k1IwUFvghsn9kvYjzReEydnmNxkRFfUQOuWS5g_-nh4iE5La7HVioQ5h2Tng5rhYYVCc4dFwMgFwIq4kt/s1600/DSC00413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIIjak-pwAKdoVZ7ua88Kfiif7NbF12hwYLQ2yWEE86vQmpmugmGhQ4pOqF4k1IwUFvghsn9kvYjzReEydnmNxkRFfUQOuWS5g_-nh4iE5La7HVioQ5h2Tng5rhYYVCc4dFwMgFwIq4kt/s320/DSC00413.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So tell me what you think when you try these healthier treats for your family! I love to hear back from my blog followers! <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-30336152787398313302013-04-28T16:10:00.001-05:002013-04-28T16:11:06.430-05:00Ever heard of a healthy cookie? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBW4VnKP09kU4A_GmkhmOZz-fdYforLsXVjQa3mMo-5IGb2ll9wlixx4kSfYjrlDagdIw9-jG-RRO4Juap_hh41CbNK6PXjoZpJyuuyEAUDcoMpimH0orWm8C1kIWzAKTllZUSO52lMnK/s1600/DSC00208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBW4VnKP09kU4A_GmkhmOZz-fdYforLsXVjQa3mMo-5IGb2ll9wlixx4kSfYjrlDagdIw9-jG-RRO4Juap_hh41CbNK6PXjoZpJyuuyEAUDcoMpimH0orWm8C1kIWzAKTllZUSO52lMnK/s400/DSC00208.JPG" width="300" /></a>I can't say I've been ignoring my blog, but I had taken a break for a bit. Mr. Bacon and I have had some serious discussions lately about food. Good, bad and nasty discussions actually. We've also been doing some reading, video watching and blog reading about how unhealthy some of the foods we had been putting into our family really are. No we're not super health nuts now, but lets say we think a bit more before dumping a lot of chemical rich or refined that into our belly and the bellies of our Bacon kids. Because lets face it, there are LOTS of 'healthy' recipes out there, but some do take just like cardboard! I'm happy to say I'm ready to share some of our tried and true recipes with you. And no, we're still not using a lot of 'weird' ingredients because well, I have kids and a budget!<br />
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One that we have found to love is the healthy cookie. There I said it, there is a healthy cookie out there, several in fact. I knew if I was to clean up our eating I needed to still have treats be a part of it, and this is one that even Little Miss Bacon approves of. And to say that is a lot because well, there isn't much she does like these days. Show of hands who else has a picky eater? Ugh, good I'm not the only one!<br />
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These cookies were not entirely thought up by myself, however the original recipe did taste like cardboard, ok that was a stretch, but it did taste like beans. Perhaps because that's one of the main ingredients, but if you're a going to make a cookie, it should taste like a cookie! These little cookies remind me of a cross between a cookie and a brownie after I fancied up the original recipe. <br />
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Now I'll say, I couldn't seem to find my camera while I was making these, but I promise next time I make them, I'll get more pictures. None the less, these are super easy to make. Here is what you need.<br />
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Ma Bacon's Healthy Cookies:<br />
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1 cup Pecan halves<br />
1 can rinsed and drained Garbanzo beans<br />
3 TBSP ground flax seeds<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1/4 tsp sea salt<br />
1/3 cup cocoa<br />
1 tsp vanilla<br />
1/3 cup honey<br />
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use smucker's natural but any will do)<br />
1/4 cup milk<br />
1 cup chocolate chips (mini are the best!)<br />
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. <br />
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Place beans and pecans in blender or food processor and mix until fine and crumbly. I mixed mine about 2-3 minutes. Add in flax, cocoa, sea salt and baking powder and blend some more until all is mixed in. Dump in a bowl. Add in vanilla, honey, peanut butter and milk and mix well. I actually use my hands for this job.<br />
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You could just dump the wet ingredients into your blender or food processor too if it's got enough power to mix it all in. For some reason my ninja doesn't mix it all that together well so I just use my hands. When everything is mixed, add in the chocolate chips. <br />
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Now you could just eat this dough this way. it's actually really good. Or roll them into small balls and dip in chocolate like a truffle! Humm.. I'm going to have to try that next time. But this time I took out a teaspoon full at a time and rolled it in a ball, then flattened it with my hand when I placed it on the baking sheet. You can also place the dough on some wax paper and roll it into a log. Place the log in the fridge for an hour or so and slice the log into cookies. Either works great. See how easy this eating healthier thing is!<br />
Once they are on the cookie sheet you can toss them in the oven. Oh and you can load up your cookie sheet if you'd like, these cookies don't rise or expand so you don't have to leave a lot of room for them to grow. Bake them in the oven for 10 min and cool on a wire rack. That's it.<br />
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Now they do taste great just this way. Or you can make them fancy by drizzling them with a little melted chocolate (dark is my favorite!) or lightly dust them with some powdered sugar like Mr. Bacon likes them. Any way you eat them, you can feel a little less guilty about having that second cookie!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-74461438965606524072013-02-02T08:10:00.000-06:002013-02-02T08:11:32.243-06:00The Bacon's Breakfast BattleSo how does Mr. Bacon and I spend a day off together with only one kid at home? Baking in the kitchen of course! Well not every day but we do enjoy cooking with each other. Lately we've been discussing breakfast ideas for our busy mornings. We do stock our freezer with plenty of homemade pancakes and waffles made from my<span style="color: #f1c232;"> <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/07/make-your-own-mixes-and-save.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">home made mix</span></a></span>. But we were wanting something with more protein in it and eggs always make a good breakfast. We were looking to put egg bake into a easy, single serve breakfast. So we started brainstorming some ideas and we came up with egg bake muffins.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXXEwQuJbEmqpqbUEAUaq3-2oliGQiWOxoiuy96r1HaH-tzyZVqXlXC3DSy3G5648TYKC4ucZtc-5mBwgj_RiFPv1q-sNDBr82mLyFUYh-HzgbcbRje_nzghrd8zfroQPKm_5a6C5e0Kz/s1600/DSCN9613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXXEwQuJbEmqpqbUEAUaq3-2oliGQiWOxoiuy96r1HaH-tzyZVqXlXC3DSy3G5648TYKC4ucZtc-5mBwgj_RiFPv1q-sNDBr82mLyFUYh-HzgbcbRje_nzghrd8zfroQPKm_5a6C5e0Kz/s320/DSCN9613.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
Out came the ingredients!<br />
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Egg Bake muffins:<br />
Eggs<br />
bacon<br />
breakfast sausage<br />
sauteed mushrooms<br />
cheese <br />
hash browns<br />
bread<br />
salt & pepper<br />
milk<br />
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Lots of great fillings for our egg bake. That was the easy part! How to assemble them was where Mr. Bacon and I had differences. His idea was to layer the ingredients in the muffin pan and then add the scrambled egg over the top. Not bad but I thought it might be better mixing all ingredients in a bowl and pouring them in the pan. Who's idea was better? We'll find out. We figured we'd try out different types of egg bake in each muffin cup. So we got busy mixing.<br />
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I mixed up all my ingredients in my bowl, and Mr. Bacon got busy layering. Each has one egg mixed with milk and seasonings, hash browns, mushrooms, bacon, sausage, and cheese. Make sure before you put anything into your muffin pan, you grease it well first. <br />
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Here they are side by side. They don't look much different right now.</div>
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After seeing them side by side, Mr. Bacon did admit he thought mine might turn out better. So we decided to mix up a few more of the mixed one's since Bacon Bit could eat three all by himself! During my mixing, I was a bit distracted and I noticed I didn't add in the hash browns. No problem, we decided it would still make a good experiment for us. We filled the two middle cups full and decided to only fill the other one 2/3's full to see if that made any difference. <br />
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Then there was one lonely cup left. I decided it might be good to try one like the<span style="color: yellow;"> </span><a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/10/everything-is-better-with-bacon.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">egg bake recipe</span></a> I have. I mixed up one egg, a splash of milk, seasonings, bacon, sausage, and about 1./3 of a slice of bread diced up. Mixed it all together and dumped it in. Now they are all ready for the oven. <br />
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Since we were only trialing out our egg bake muffins we only made up a small 6 cup muffin pan. And to help save on electricity we popped them in our toaster oven to bake them up. <br />
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Bacon Bit thought it was just as fun to watch them get big as Mr. Bacon! It took them about 25 minutes at 350* to turn golden brown and get fluffy. Your oven may be a bit different, especially since these were cooked in a toaster oven, so watch them starting around 20 minutes. <br />
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They look pretty good! I found the one's with the hash browns and the bread in them got fluffier than the one's without.<br />
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I have to say we were surprised they all popped out of the pan just fine with no sticking. Mr. Bacon was a bit worried that when he layered the hash browns on the bottom of his muffin pan they might stick.<br />
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Here is the 2/3's full muffin with no hash browns in it. This one we decided to put in the freezer to see how it would taste re-heated. I'll let you know how that turned out in a a bit.<br />
Wonder how do they look from the inside? Delicious!<br />
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Like any good food critiques, we sat down with half a muffin of each to taste test them. Yes we have quite hot dates huh?! The verdict is in and the mixed egg muffin tasted the best. The layered one was good, but you could taste each layer and the hash browns at the bottom seemed too mushy without being mixed together with all the other ingredients. The muffin with no hash browns wasn't bad, it tasted more like an omelet. But we both preferred the hash browns added in. As for the one with the bread, it was just too much bread in it for our taste.<br />
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The best thing with these, is you can specialize them to everyone's liking. All the kids except Bacon Bit think we are poising them when we add mushrooms to anything. So we can leave them out when we make their muffins. I can't wait to remake these this weekend and let the kids design their own eggs. <br />
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As for that frozen egg muffin, it re-heated perfect! About a minute in the microwave and you have egg bake for a busy morning. We waited to try it until Bacon Jr. was home and let him have a say in how it tasted too and he can't wait to have them on busy school mornings. And he's excited to help make them next time too! And what did Bacon Bit think of them?<br />
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Well he ended up eating almost three of them, just like predicted! I'd say they were successful!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-67910222967174736772013-01-14T09:15:00.004-06:002013-01-14T09:15:50.017-06:00Thanksgiving leftovers in JanuaryI love making extra food to save. It's one mess and several meals. This past Thanksgiving I made a turkey with all the fixings. We had several leftover days and a few turkey sandwiches from it but there was still turkey leftover so I tossed it in my foodsaver and froze it for another day. Yesterday I rummaged though the freezer and the pack of turkey crossed my path and it was my inspiration for dinner. What to do with turkey? Make thanksgiving dinner again right. However I hate making a lot of dishes, especially in this house. We don't have a dishwasher so I try to limit how many dishes I use. So how do you make Thanksgiving dinner in one pan, read on!<br />
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What you need for thanksgiving dinner in a pan:<br />
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Turkey- I used about 5 cups or 1.5lbs worth I'd guess. It's what I froze.<br />
Potatoes- for making mashed potatoes<br />
Green Beans- one frozen bag or 2 cups worth<br />
Stuffing- use your own homemade or pre-made box<br />
Gravy<br />
Shredded cheese<br />
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First peel and dice your potatoes, I used 5 medium/large potatoes. Put them in a pot of water on the stove to boil. Many of you have made mashed potatoes for years, but there are a few cooks out there learning, I'll walk you though how I make mine. <br />
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Cover them and place them on med heat. Let them boil for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. While those are boiling it's a great time to make up the gravy.<br />
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Take about 1.5 cups of chicken broth and place them in a skillet. Turn it on and let it come to a boil. <br />
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In a 2 cup measuring cup place 3/4 cups of water and 1/4 cup flour and mix well. Pour that into your boiling broth very carefully. <br />
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Stir constantly with a whisk until thickened. If it's too thick, don't worry just add a bit more water until you get gravy consistency. Oh and don't forget to add some salt & pepper to it too! About 1/4 tsp of each is what I add. </div>
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Now that the gravy is ready to go, it's time to mash the potatoes. Drain the potatoes and place them back in the kettle. </div>
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I add in about 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream depending on what I have on hand, 2-3 tbsp butter and 1/4 tsp salt. Mash them up with a potato masher or mixer. It's that easy!<br />
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Now it time to assemble our dinner. In a 9x13 greased pan, place your stuffing. I used a box mix I had on hand. I also added the 2 cups of water the box called for.<br />
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Now take your turkey and lay it on top of the stuffing. I cut mine into smaller pieces before laying it on top. If you don't have leftover turkey, no problem. Cooked chicken works for this as well, use about 1-1.5lbs of chicken for the recipe.<br />
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Next layer is green beans. I tossed mine on frozen. Then pour your gravy over the beans.<br />
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Last step is take the mashed potatoes and spread them over the top of it all. I tossed a handful of shredded cheese on top too because everything is better with a little cheese right?! </div>
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Now its time for the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour. It's that easy. This would also be a great way to use up those thanksgiving leftover when you have them too. You could even prepare this ahead of time in a freezer safe pan and place heavy duty tin foil over it and toss it into the freezer for another day. That's great for when you are just sick of eating leftovers from turkey day but don't want to waste them! </div>
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After it's hour in the oven it's ready for the table! Only thing missing from this Thanksgiving in January is the biscuits, cranberry sauce and extended family members!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-57164845566553900282013-01-10T14:23:00.007-06:002013-01-12T22:05:36.008-06:00Lots of new challenges, let chat over a drinkIt's been a whirlwind with moving a family of 6 to a new town, new schools and starting new jobs, but we are finally settling in! Temporary anyway. We have stumbled upon many challenges in our new town that has strained our budget a bit, but thankfully we are figuring it out and I figured it was time to start to share my challenges with my readers. Thank you to all my loyal readers who keep messaging me saying they can't wait for me to come back and welcome to all my new readers! <br />
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Where to start off a new post? How about with a drink? <br />
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Ahhh, nothing like a rich chocolate hot drink on a cold day. And even better with frosty the snowman melting in it! A few weeks ago I stopped at one of my favorite coffee shops because they had a great deal going on. Ok a confession, I love Caribou Coffee's turtle mocha's. I rarely get them because well at almost $5 a drink, I have better places to go with that money. But they were offering a buy one drink, get a second for $.20! It was too good of a deal to pass up. And I was even feeling in the giving mood so I got 2 sets of their special and decided to surprise Mr. Bacon and Brother Bacon with a morning break at their work. With 4 turtle mocha's I set off. Sometimes there are other's helping at the work site and I'd figure I'd come prepared with an extra drink to hand out, however that day it was just the 2 of them. I dropped off their coffee and had a dilemma on my hands, there was no way I could handle the caffeine in 2 big cups of coffee like that. I hate the though of dumping a treat like that so I did what any budget saving person would do, freeze it!<br />
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It was a great time to try out the cool ice cube tray Sister Bacon bought me for Christmas too. Coffee bean ice cubes! Perfect for freezing my coffee for my iced drinks. <br />
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In went the turtle mocha and out came cute coffee bean shaped cubes!<br />
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I tossed a few in a mug, and then added some hot water and a packet of hot cocoa mix I got in a gift basket for Christmas also. <br />
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Mixed it all up but it was still missing something. Melting frosty the snowman! Nothing better than a scoop of whipped cream in your hot chocolate. A few days before I had some left over whipped cream from a recipe. No wasting it here, (and good thing I got to it before the kids because they'd eat it by out of the bowl!) so I took out a mini cupcake pan and added a few spoonfuls to each spot.<br />
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And had some fun decorating them, a few with sprinkles, others with some mini chocolate chip eyes and orange sprinkle nose. Then they went into the freeze. I popped one out and tossed it in my drink to melt away. Delicious! The Bacon kids love these in their hot chocolate too along with a few marshmallows!</div>
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So now that I have my warm drink, on to those challenges. A few things we are figuring out is managing in a house half the size we used to have along with a much smaller kitchen and fridge. This has put a challenge on how much we can keep on stock in our pantry and fridge. We are finding that we are shopping for 1 week only at a time now because there just isn't much room to fill up the fridge.<br />
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Where to shop is another challenge, Walmart here is not so great. I have to say there are good Walmart stores out there, we were spoiled where we used to shop. This one has many empty shelves and the produce is less than desirable. So we are exploring other stores. Thankfully I have found a great bread store! I can get healthy whole wheat bread for $1-$1.25 a loaf. So I stock up the freezer with it. We'll keep exploring around town and working on our budget now that we shop weekly. <br />
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We're also working on adjusting to a 2 parent full time job family and we have also added to our family! A month before we moved we had a kitty adopt our house, she was a stray and we decided to give her a home and welcomed Meow Bacon to our family. And Brother Bacon's dog had a litter of puppies who needed a new home so we welcomed Woof Bacon to our family just last week. It's a crazy new life and so many things have changed and challenged us the past 3 months but we continue on our path to save money! I hope you all stick around, I will be having more recipes to come and I'm hoping to update the very popular and over a year old post on how we budget our grocery money soon too.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-90016708854083011902012-10-28T11:14:00.001-05:002012-10-28T11:14:57.214-05:00Did the bacon just move?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What? Bacon move? No I'm sure I cooked it all the way.<br />
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No not my breakfast, the Bacon family?<br />
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Yes it's true we are moving! Three hours north! It's been a busy long process and we can't wait to be all settled in. It will be a new adventure with new stores to shop at with all new prices to fit into our budget. Also Ma Bacon got a job. I know many who visit here say I can make all the homemade goodies because I don't work much. Well We'll see how that works with Ma Bacon taking on a new roll of full time worker and mama! Please stick around. I promise more posts to come when we are all settled in and have internet again! Thanks again to all they readers- old and new who keep visiting my blog! I love hearing though comments and emails how helpful it's been. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-45742559009489092982012-09-21T08:17:00.002-05:002012-09-26T13:09:05.596-05:00I will never buy ice cream again!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQ5jDuOlEpp7eRGRoT71BbwoCaDNWjq3LnxxVB07YJ0a1f8-5wrs31cpvv4M4udpqlA8o3GuAQydw-5A2VIK5tmBDUJ1R65e2am1xP4fGoQcJLfdxCQgXwX7H6ODOPoFxF_ru838IJbLW/s1600/DSC02867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQ5jDuOlEpp7eRGRoT71BbwoCaDNWjq3LnxxVB07YJ0a1f8-5wrs31cpvv4M4udpqlA8o3GuAQydw-5A2VIK5tmBDUJ1R65e2am1xP4fGoQcJLfdxCQgXwX7H6ODOPoFxF_ru838IJbLW/s320/DSC02867.JPG" width="240" /></a>Guess what's been sitting in my Amazon shopping cart for MONTHS? Nope it's not my sanity! HA, give up? I've been drooling over an ice cream maker. In fact a Cuisinart ice cream maker. I try to rationalize how it would make sense to actually buy it. I'm not one for machines that only do one thing. Also we have an electric ice cream maker sitting in a box in our garage. But it's kind of a pain to use. I also debated about the kitchenAid ice cream maker since I already have the mixer and Sister Bacon raves about hers. Oh the decisions. One thing I knew for sure is that I would love to make more homemade ice cream. If you've never had it you are missing out. There is nothing better than that first dip of silky soft ice cream. I also like I can control what goes in it.<br />
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So the ice cream maker debate continued on, should I get it? Should I wait for Christmas or a birthday present? Should I just dig out the one from the garage and struggle to make it more often with the machine we have? Oh the decisions! Many days I just ignore it sitting in my amazon cart. That was until the one day I stopped by a garage sale this summer. And guess what was staring at me, yes my ice cream machine. And it was BRAND NEW in the box for $8! Shocked to say the least I snatched that box and wouldn't let go. I'm pretty sure there would have been a fight if anyone even came near me to ask what was in the box! For $8 this thing was coming home with me and I have to say I love it. I'm glad I waited to get a good deal on it but if I knew how easy it would be to make homemade ice cream I would have splurged sooner and bought one!<br />
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So if you are like me and have been wondering if you should get one or not, don't hold back! You won't be disappointed at all. <br />
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Since it was new it still have all the paper work with it and the kids and I thumbed though all the recipes too. We decided our first try at it was going to be just basic vanilla with some extras to add in. <br />
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Here is the basic Vanilla recipe my machine calls for. This recipe will work with any ice cream maker that has a 1.5 qt bowl capacity.<br />
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Vanilla ice cream<br />
1 cup cold whole milk <br />
3/4 cup sugar<br />
2 cups heavy cream<br />
1-2 teaspoons vanilla to taste<br />
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that's it! How awesome is 4 ingredient ice cream? You can substitute lower fat's in this recipe. This first time we made it we used half and half instead of heavy cream and skim milk instead of whole. I also have decreased my sugar to 1/2 cup instead and the kids (or Mr. Bacon for that matter) have noticed a difference. <br />
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Mix the milk and sugar in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved, then add in the cream and vanilla. Stir until everything is mixed well. Pour the liquid into your ice cream bowl, add what every parts your machine says and turn the thing on! Can you see the kids had a blast watching it go around!<br />
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Even Bacon Bit needed to take a look!</div>
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Around and around it goes! It can be a bit noisy but no more so than the kids! The process takes about 25- 30 minutes to get ice cream. While it was mixing we decided to crush up a pack of m&m's to mix into the ice cream. We added about 3/4 cup of them during the last 5 minutes of making ice cream. <br />
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Let me tell you it was AMAZING! So much the kids and I ate it all for dessert that night! Yes we did save a small bowl for Mr. Bacon too. But the next day we decided we should make a second batch just to make sure it still tasted good. Right? Ok so use what ever excuse you want, once you have homemade ice cream you'll want it every day!<br />
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This time while it was mixing up we decided to chop up some Reese's peanut butter cups. </div>
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Again about 3/4 of a cup full. And add them during the last 5 minutes of mixing the ice cream. </div>
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Mixing, mixing, mixing... done!</div>
Delicious homemade ice cream. Yes this tasted just like a DQ blizzard only better! We really do enjoy our ice cream maker, my only regret was not getting it sooner!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-85855582967718925162012-09-18T11:32:00.001-05:002012-09-18T11:32:36.969-05:00Woof Woof! Bacon Bit's BirthdaySomeone told Bacon Bit he could grow up. I'm not sure who but didn't he read the book on being the youngest baby? He can't grow up so fast! This past weekend Bacon Bit turned 2. Hard to believe my baby is a toddler and running all over. Thankfully the terrible two's haven't set in yet. Although I think I remember the three's being worse than two with the other kids. Regardless if he followed my directions or not on growing up, we had yet another birthday to plan and that includes another cake! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xALbqMGDdVpHFGB71AabvIGJ_uPTOl0cQLVDLvNWHwmZ7vLSqoCbXvujhJQPUNQCWYLuNmMHIxuAx8oqhSitREmFLCO29SG2aEbfK99sTNXs_8SVhJRQ-SiDXr868VuKJNixAWqywpST/s1600/DSC03252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xALbqMGDdVpHFGB71AabvIGJ_uPTOl0cQLVDLvNWHwmZ7vLSqoCbXvujhJQPUNQCWYLuNmMHIxuAx8oqhSitREmFLCO29SG2aEbfK99sTNXs_8SVhJRQ-SiDXr868VuKJNixAWqywpST/s320/DSC03252.JPG" width="320" /></a>Lately Bacon Bit's interests have changes like our weather here, one day it's Bob the Builder, the next it's Diego. Thankfully one thing has stayed the same, his love for his puppy! This is Puppy, a well loved blankie I made him before he was born. So well loved I need to repair it again. But puppy goes everywhere with him. So I thought that would be my inspiration for his birthday cake. After all this is probably the last one I get to pick out, next year he'll be telling me what cake he would like to make. I love making the kids birthday cakes. Not only is it cheaper, it's fun to watch how their interests change over the year with what they want. So off I went to find ideas on puppy cakes.<br />
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I found some inspiration on the Internet for some puppy cupcakes. A quick trip though the pantry and then off to the store to find some supplies that would work and we were all set to go! Here is what you need to make these cute puppies yourself:<br />
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Cupcakes- homemade recipe or from a box, just bake them up! </div>
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Then I took some of these vanilla and chocolate cookies for the face. Twist them apart and use a knife to scrap off the cream filling. Yes the kids loved that I was doing this. They happily volunteered to eat the cookie insides! <br />
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Next you need to dig out some of these candy pieces for the eyes and nose. I used yellow for eyes and brown noses. These are Reses' pieces because I had them laying around. M&M or any other candies would work too. If you don't have candies just frosting works too. <br />
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Then I mixed up a very small batch of black frosting and put in in a baggie with a piping tip. <br />
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Now it's time to assemble the cookies. First take your cream-less cookies and break about a third of the black cookies off to make the ears. Keep the vanilla one's whole as this will be for puppy's face. <br />
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Next is all about placement. Frost your cupcake. I tinted my frosting brown for this, but pink puppies would be cute too! Then place the vanilla cookie on the bottom of the frosted cupcake. Add the eyes and use frosting to secure on the nose. then I added the ears to the top. Finally I took my black frosting to make eyes and a mouth. There you have it! Aren't they just cute!<br />
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WOOF WOOF WOOF! A whole bunch of puppies! </div>
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Add a few candles for the birthday boy and we are set!</div>
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BACON BIT!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-3449610032283403262012-09-13T16:06:00.002-05:002012-09-18T11:33:07.386-05:00It's like eating chocolate clouds!<br />
The other day Sister Bacon was up for a visit! I love it when I get to see my siblings because it's not all that often it happens. And the kids loved seeing Auntie Bacon as well. While she was here I decided to try out a new 'fluff' recipe I found to see if it was good. You know when it's best time to try experimental recipes on your guests right?<br />
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"Here try some of this. If you're still doing good in 5 minutes I'll try some too!"<br />
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Normally I try things out first but this one turned out good anyway. And it's super easy. The next night I was looking for a quick dessert for the kids and thought I'd whip up some of these pudding fluff cups for them! <br />
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I love this recipe because it's super easy and fast. The kids love it because they can help make it and it tastes awesome! Even Little Boy Bacon said "Mom this tastes just like eating chocolate clouds!" Man I love that kid!<br />
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Here's what you need:<br />
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Pudding fluff:<br />
1 box instant pudding- any flavor and any size<br />
1/2 the milk required on box to mix up the pudding<br />
same amount of whip cream as milk. (you can use store bought or mix your own from heavy cream)<br />
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Take the pudding and milk and mix together. If you are using a small box of pudding and it calls for 2 cups of milk, you want to use half the amount or one cup. If you are using a big box of pudding and it calls for 3 cups milk, you want to use 1.5 cups ect. Mix those up good. The kids can help with this part. <br />
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Once it's mixed together, you want to take your whipped cream and fold it in. Use the same amount of whipped cream as you did milk. Gently fold, do not mix this or you'll lose the fluffiness. I usually do this part because none of the kids have figured out what I mean by folding yet. When I said I had to fold the whipped cream in Little boy Bacon asked if it was like folding the towels he as to do for chores! Someday they'll be expert cooks, until then I'll do the food folding. <br />
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There you have the pudding fluff! You can do lots of things with this now. Sister Bacon and I just ate it by the spoon full! YUM! You can add in things like crushed up cookies, mini chocolate chips, M&M's, or other candies. You can use it as a dip. Some vanilla pudding would make a great fruit dip! You can even use it to frost a cake with. Just make sure to store the cake in the fridge once it's frosted.<br />
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I decided to crush up some graham crackers I had laying around. </div>
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I put a few scoops into the bottom of a cute dessert cup. Added a big scoop of the pudding fluff on top and added a dollop of whipped cream I had leftover from the mix. This was such a huge hit with the kids they even asked for seconds! <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-86480458107743005052012-09-05T11:01:00.002-05:002012-09-18T11:33:36.762-05:00It's a good thing this isn't a health food blog!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTbELfRag1Qyqc8_B5OH2_PBOTgoV_5YFOa3zyvbEJPBVanX1WMxcb9Vc2GJBWh07uf_U3MQCnPUKGcRiMGIWbozECoSLus8Y8qw7BJQwb-e_Prp0j-rCGwE3hVe3sjhVMlgn0_HvpiTt/s1600/DSCN9028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTbELfRag1Qyqc8_B5OH2_PBOTgoV_5YFOa3zyvbEJPBVanX1WMxcb9Vc2GJBWh07uf_U3MQCnPUKGcRiMGIWbozECoSLus8Y8qw7BJQwb-e_Prp0j-rCGwE3hVe3sjhVMlgn0_HvpiTt/s320/DSCN9028.JPG" width="320" /></a> Because I wouldn't have been able to post these AMAZING brownies. We
had some company coming over Labor day so I asked the kids what treats
we should make. They all said we should try something new. I have a list of new recipes I'd like to try and the kids picked these brownies out. I have to say it was a winner! Good enough that I had to share with all of you. These would be the perfect snack for the kids as they get off the bus. Oh how I'm ready for back to school. I know many of my readers have sent their kids off to school already but here in Minnesota we always start after Labor day. And this year it's not until Thursday! Lucky for me I have enough time to whip up another batch of these bars before then!<br />
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Peanut butter layer brownies<br />
1- 9x13 pan brownies baked- go ahead use your own mix or a box!<br />
1/4 cup butter<br />
1/2 cup peanut butter<br />
1/2 cup sugar<br />
1 cup brown sugar<br />
1/2 cup milk<br />
1 Tbsp vanilla extract<br />
2 cups flour<br />
1.5 cups of your favorite add in (mini Reese's pieces, M&M's, mini chocolate chips, crushed cookies ect)<br />
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First bake up your pan of brownies and let them completely cool. That seems pretty easy right?!<br />
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Next place your softened butter and peanut butter in a bowl and mix. You can do this by hand too, I just toss it in my handy mixer. <br />
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Toss in your sugars and mix for a minute or two until it's fluffy. </div>
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Then it's time to add the milk and vanilla. </div>
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Once those are creamed together, it's time to add in your flour and mix. It should be nice and thick now like cookie dough. Go ahead and give it a try! YUM right?! Oh and this is safe to eat just like this since there is no raw eggs. Yes I'm thinking of making this as a mommy treat too when the kids go to school sans brownies! Perhaps even freeze them in little balls and leave in the freezer for when I need something sweet.<br />
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Once all of that is mixed up it's time to add in the goodies, about a cup to cup and a half of them! I choose these fun mini Reese's pieces in cute fall colors. I love fall and I'm ready for it to be here! Mix what ever add in you choose with the rest of the peanut butter dough. <br />
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Then take the dough and press it on top of the brownies. Give it a good pat down to make sure the 2 layers will stick together. No need to bake, just slice them up. Don't they look good? They will amaze you. Oh and yes they are quite rich. I cut a few bars this size below and I had to go back and make them smaller yet. Even Little Miss Bacon who is all sweet tooth said they were too big and sweet for her at first! Enjoy your bars, let me know if you made them for after school snack and how it went!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-2095640435056754152012-08-28T21:23:00.001-05:002012-09-18T11:34:29.669-05:00It's a fun word to say and keeps the kids busy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eJbhDH_csi5GxP3pv97v3rRNhU6jmgDvULW-Nb7BJ94xz52BN5HggzA_J1hqeWkQ08zejetniMRtsTs4ltwyHjGUTVK4KhxsbTrk9oVsjuR9B1M9k76JZNamDGx3pGxpyUU0-pGdNwOr/s1600/DSC02929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eJbhDH_csi5GxP3pv97v3rRNhU6jmgDvULW-Nb7BJ94xz52BN5HggzA_J1hqeWkQ08zejetniMRtsTs4ltwyHjGUTVK4KhxsbTrk9oVsjuR9B1M9k76JZNamDGx3pGxpyUU0-pGdNwOr/s320/DSC02929.JPG" width="320" /></a>We are in our final days of summer for the Bacon kids. School starts back up next week. I'm not sure what Bacon Bit will think of the empty and quiet house. I'm pretty sure he'll miss his playmates. But since this is the last week before school starts, I think the kids have kicked up the 'I'm bored' a lot more. It was time for a fun science experiment. Thankfully it requires very little to wow the kids and it kept them busy for quite a while! Digging though the pantry I found a box of cornstarch. I never really used this stuff in baking but for some reason there sat a box in my pantry. Having remembered a recipe from when the kids were in ECFE I decided to show them the fun of Ooblek. What you say? Surly you've heard of ooblek? No. Well learn along with us. The kids were just fascinated by the name of this stuff, but I told the to wait until they saw what it does!<br />
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First you need to start off with equal cornstarch and water. And a big bowl to mix it up in. Now if you want to make fun colors I suggest putting a drop of two of food coloring into the water before mixing. Pour both water and cornstarch in the bowl and start mixing. The goal is to mix it until it runs off the spoon easy. Clumpy like the green stuff here needs a little more water. Add small amounts until you get a runny consistency like the pink stuff below. <br />
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Now the fun part, go ahead, knock on it. Cool hun? It's hard. </div>
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Now rest your fingers just on the top of it and watch them magically sink in.</div>
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The kids were in awe! They had a lot of fun. Bacon Jr. had fun getting it to stick to his hand and picking up the bowl.</div>
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Little Miss Bacon had fun watching it drip off her fingers.</div>
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Even Bacon bit had a bowl to play in. It was a great activity to do on one of those 'I'm bored' days. Or rainy days or days you just want to be the cool mom! </div>
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And you can add a lid and save it for fun the next day too! I did find that it only lasts a few days though before it starts to smell and go bad but the kids can have fun while it lasts!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-81302147464112579092012-08-13T15:25:00.000-05:002012-09-18T11:34:47.367-05:00Birthday Busy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was that time of the year again, both Bacon Jr. and Little Boy Bacon's birthdays come 4 days apart from each other in July. That means a lot of cake at the Bacon house! This year since we've been so busy I actually thought about buying their cake from the store bakery. That was until I glanced at the prices, $19.99!! I about fell over right there. I promptly headed for the baking aisle instead. Bacon Jr wanted a Lego star wars cake this year. Gosh these kids keep me on my toes with ways to wow them with my very armature cake decorating skills! But I try to not disappoint them. I found an idea a while back how to copy characters right from a coloring book page with frosting onto cakes that I thought I'd give it a try for this challenge. First find our character, Bacon Jr. wanted Jedi Luke for his cake. I quickly scanned a copy with my computer scanner and got started. If it was just from a coloring book I wouldn't have scanned it, I would have just used the page but we couldn't even find a free online color picture he liked so we choose one from his book.<br />
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Next I whipped up some<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/10/whats-cupcake-with-out-some-frosting.html"> homemade frosting</a>. Then I grabbed a Ziploc type baggie and inserted my cake tip to the inside, snipped the bag and added the other tip pieces and viola! instant disposable cake decorating baggie. These work great for small amounts of frosting. Trust me I've tried it to decorate sugar cookies with lots of frosting and all I got was busted bag seems! Ahh... it's the little tips that save others headache!<br />
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Then take some wax paper and place it over your color sheet. I taped mine to the sheet to make sure it wouldn't move as I frosted it.<br />
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Then I took one color and outlined the picture. It's a good tip to remember when you are doing this that the frosting you put on first will be the top layer of the design when you lay it on the cake. Also this will be a mirror image when it's on the cake if you're ok with that! <br />
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Then take a new color and add that to the picture. I filled in the body with black, mixed up some peach for the face and hand, yellow for the hair and a nice green light saber. Normally after I outline I would have made sure to put the face on before filling in over the top, however I was working with a picture that was only 3.5 inches in size. I do not recommend this! It was very hard to do, but that was the size I needed for the cake. The bigger the picture, the easier it is to make the fine details on it. <br />
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Now that my Luke was complete it was time for him to 'chill out' in the freezer for a while. I left it in there for about an hour just because I was busy decoration the house. I'm sure 15 minutes would have been enough. <br />
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While it's in the freezer it's a great time to frost the cake too!<br />
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Now it's time to take out your frozen character. You can lift off the wax paper and tada! Magic right?<br />
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Gently flip your frosting image over and place it on your cake where you'd like it. Then gently peel the wax paper away. <br />
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There you have it! A very happy birthday boy! I finished making the face by using edible pens. Ok so the pen isn't edible but the 'ink' is. YUMMY and FUN!<br />
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And no I didn't forget about Little Boy Jr.'s birthday cake either, his was a bit less complicated. All he wanted was a bobber cake! He loves fish and fishing even more. I took two 1 quart bowls and baked my cake in there, bake a small ramekin too and assemble and frost! He loved his special cake too!<br />
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Now what is the best way to end the perfect birthday when your a kid? With a campfire you got to help build of course! Complete with blue and green flames thanks to Grandma Bacon! Whew, it's over and I was an exhausted mama, but I had two very happy boys and two awesome birthday cakes for very little money!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-10573547407354966512012-07-17T21:49:00.001-05:002012-09-18T11:34:58.408-05:00I'm Shining!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yes I'm just beaming! For a few reasons. First off I found these pictures that were lost in camera space. What is camera space you ask? That's when you download your pictures to your computer and shove them all in a folder because you are in a hurry and forget about them for months until you randomly open it! Surprise, pictures you forgot about. I was so happy to find these I headed right over here to post them.<br />
But the other reason I'm beaming tonight is from all the love I found from my fans at Pinterest! Over 3000 views in the past two days! WOW! Thanks everyone for checking out my little blog. I hope you all stick around and find helpful stuff. And as always 'pin' away as long as you give credit back to Ma Bacon and the blog! One other reason to beam, I had such a nice email left for me when I woke up this morning from a blog reader. It was so nice to be told how much someone else appreciates my blog. Really you guys just amazed me with all the love you sent! Thank you!!<br />
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So now back on to these pictures. Do you have stainless steel appliances? I will say I told Mr. Bacon many times in the three and a half years we've had these appliances that I would NEVER buy another stainless steel appliance again! Especially a fridge with a water/ice maker. They leave horrible water spots (it could be from the 4 bacon kids trying to help themselves too!)<br />
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And it seems like they are always covered with finger prints, those tiny little joys I'm sure I'll miss when they move out, but they seem to love to touch the fridge after I polish it. I had tried everything to get those water stains out, heck even the finger prints were getting tough to get off with the polish I was using. Oh and it wasn't just the fridge, nope the dishwasher and stove were covered in them too! So it was off to do some research again. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvWzRtYygSQyRYdeQbEQZoNE9-wpZE6ytzJ4FH31p7gg7o1EOoJOKB2vLnp4z3ILdnWkWFASa3RYcfs2j0ibi6SGSkMnRcbgMNp6pzIfIbqsfFwxTdS3bthBWQcPRlF8-z9OS_Iai8dw/s1600/DSCN7050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvWzRtYygSQyRYdeQbEQZoNE9-wpZE6ytzJ4FH31p7gg7o1EOoJOKB2vLnp4z3ILdnWkWFASa3RYcfs2j0ibi6SGSkMnRcbgMNp6pzIfIbqsfFwxTdS3bthBWQcPRlF8-z9OS_Iai8dw/s200/DSCN7050.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
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I'm happy to say I found something and fell in love instantly thanks to a tip from another mama I know! She recommended Bar Keepers Friend and I haven't picked up any other polish in over 6 months since. This comes in a can and it's in a powder form. And a bonus, it's cheap! Under $1.50 for this bad boy! So once you get this stuff, what do you do with it? <br />
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First you will need a small container. I used an old baby food cup, but anything will do. Pour some bar keepers friend in it. Honestly I guessed, maybe a 1/4 cup at first. Then add water 1 tsp at a time to the powder and mix until you get a paste. Then dig out three towels. I used one rag to put the paste on, one to wash it off and then a microfiber towel to buff afterwards. <br />
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Work in small sections as you do this. I would do a 8"x8" or so square and then wash it off. Now there is a trick to putting this on. First you want to be GENTLE when you put it on or you'll scratch the stainless steel (take it from me first hand!) Also work in the same direction as the 'grain' of the steel. This will help minimize any scratches too. Once you get it on, wipe it off with a rinse rag. I kept an ice cream pail of water to help rinse too. Then buff it dry. It's that simple! And check out how great it works! The left half of the fridge has been cleaned, and no more water stains! <br />
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It was amazing. I don't think I've ever been so happy to clean before! Yes I'm sure Mr. Bacon thought I was a bit odd when he heard the squeals of delight as I washed the fridge, but he was happy to not see the ugly water stains too. Check out how the fridge and dishwasher turned out, pretty amazing I think!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-51238024406865402592012-07-03T15:23:00.003-05:002012-07-17T21:50:22.629-05:00Sure was a beautiful sunset!There have been way too many hot days for this mama! The 90's can go away any day now. I know that's a cool down where some of you live, but just remember in January when it's 30 out we still wear shorts and only once it gets below 0 do many of us wear winter coats in MN! With all the hot days that leaves little clouds in the skies, and leaves for quite nice sunsets. Mr. Bacon and I have been enjoying quite a few of them outside around the campfire with the kids running around. But I also found an new sunset to enjoy, the adult kind! And I wanted to share it with all of you. It might just be the perfect sunset to enjoy while watching fireworks tomorrow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Md0vYNidZp4WWKbztS8T-73C7Sa2rHxIYEsbKhMUupQOYXj20tREJgoLm0Xz3prewFP2tzQbPDvBAKYy_9cqRgnfgV2WTMkLgGxL19NiOI2hcKFzJpHGknffnEllMTI2npMx9bta3a8/s1600/IMG_2367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Md0vYNidZp4WWKbztS8T-73C7Sa2rHxIYEsbKhMUupQOYXj20tREJgoLm0Xz3prewFP2tzQbPDvBAKYy_9cqRgnfgV2WTMkLgGxL19NiOI2hcKFzJpHGknffnEllMTI2npMx9bta3a8/s320/IMG_2367.JPG" width="240" /></a>Here is what you need:<br />
1.5 oz UV Whipped vodka<br />
3 oz sours mix<br />
2 oz Orange juice<br />
1/2 oz grenadine<br />
cool whip (optional)<br />
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First if you don't have sours mix, don't worry you can make it easy enough I found out. It's all equal parts which makes it even Mr. Bacon poof at goofing up! <br />
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First take 1 cup water and mix it with 1 cup sugar. Now the fun part and the part I let the kids help with, squeezing the lemons and limes. Little Boy Bacon actually likes to eat lemons so he always sneaks in a few bites! You want fresh lemon and lime juice for the best tasting sour mix. I have been buying lots of them this summer to slice and enjoy in my water too so I did have these on hand. You will need 1 cup of lemon and one cup of lime juice. I have to say this can take a lot of lemons and limes! I actually cut this recipe in 1/2 when I made it so I didn't have to use quite so many. And It was just Mr. Bacon and myself drinking it so we didn't need a ton. I found even for 1/2 cup each took about 2 lemons and 3 limes to get. <br />
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Once you get your cup of each, mix them all together and put them in a fridge safe container. Next grab your shot glass and a larger cup to mix the drink in. You can also use a drink shaker and shake this up. Mix in your cup orange juice, sours and vodka. Mix or shake well. Next pour it into your fancy glass (optional but doesn't it look so nice!) Once that is in the glass, you can add your 1/2 oz of grenadine. Because it's heavier than the other mix it will sink to the bottom. (yes the Bacon kids got a science lesson after they squeezed the lemon and limes!) Add a dollop of cool whip to the top of the drink and a few cherries on a toothpick (optional also!) and ENJOY! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZ_BHxzFjNUaGck_9jiVB4PBcZb-PHTuXB8lfEXyIunn5jcjCsquW7KM-gplqbRYLagleT2jVe2VqLeZLxkytLw9CeNSvuMFItDbeySl131rR1vrrNVDciabPhb-2e83_tW2gtem0BF8/s1600/DSC02918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZ_BHxzFjNUaGck_9jiVB4PBcZb-PHTuXB8lfEXyIunn5jcjCsquW7KM-gplqbRYLagleT2jVe2VqLeZLxkytLw9CeNSvuMFItDbeySl131rR1vrrNVDciabPhb-2e83_tW2gtem0BF8/s200/DSC02918.JPG" width="150" /></a>Now you didn't think I'd leave out the kids did you? After all this is a family blog! Here's a fun drink you can mix up for the kids to enjoy for our Independence day too. And bonus, they get the same science experiment out of it. <br />
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Red, White and Blue:<br />
4oz blue kool aid or Gatorade<br />
4oz lemon lime soda<br />
1 oz grenadine<br />
Ice<br />
Glass or clear plastic cup<br />
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Fill cup with ice. Pour in the grenadine. Next very carefully pour the soda over the ice and then the blue kool aid. The grenadine will stay at the bottom until it's mixed in. Red, white and blue!! Once you mix them together you get a purple drink. Great for the kiddos!<br />
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Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July to all my American friends!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-66970377580053198092012-06-04T19:47:00.000-05:002012-07-17T21:51:20.078-05:00Well that's the pits!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You know what's the pits? Having been gone for so long! Thankfully I had a loyal reader email me asking to come back and with school out I'm able to find a little more free time. You know when things get busy, a Mama has to take care of her family first. But I will try to find a few minutes for all of my fans too! You know what else is the pits? Having a big ol' bag of fresh cherries and no cherry pitter! <br />
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Not a problem for Ma Bacon. I found out that Bacon Jr. and Bacon bit share my love of cherries. So I found a good sale and decided to treat us to a yummy and healthy snack. I was able to describe to Bacon Jr. how to not eat the pit inside, but there is just no way to give a toddler a cherry and have him not eat the pit! But my dilemma was that I didn't have a cherry pitter. And honestly I didn't want a tool I'll only use a few times. I knew there had to be a way to pit all the cherries without one and you know I found it! I searched online and found some people using paper clips. When I tried that I just couldn't get the pit out right and it took FOREVER. When you have a toddler who thinks he's starving waiting on a bowl of cherries even a minute is forever! So to make the process go faster- I found a trick using a pastry tip, which thankfully I happen to have lots of.<br />
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First start off with washing your cherries. I think you can figure out how to do this right?! Next I had to find my pastry tip. I had a lot of these cheap plastic ones. It seemed to be the right size and it had the little 'teeth' on it so I used that. I think a metal one would hold up better, but I made due with what I had.<br />
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Once I got the pastry tip, I took a cherry and picked off the stems. This is an excellent job for all those little helpers around my house! All the stems off? Can you tie them in a knot with your tongue? Not many people have this talent that Sis Bacon and I have! It's not easy. And not necessary to pit your cherries either! Take a cherry with the side you removed the stem down and place it on the top of the pastry tip. Then gently, that is a key word because if you push too hard you will get cherry juice everywhere, down on the cherry. The pit will jump right out. No not all of them come out as nice as this one. It all depends on how ripe your cherry is. Some split apart, and some jump out from the side. It makes it all the more exciting! <br />
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Take the pit and toss it on your pit pile and start again. This actually goes really fast. I was able to pit my whole bag of cherries in under 10 minutes. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pESAANxjTXix6Ass80CwecNSnjReFFnJ4RBw8KvcjzkeHkTzVPH7fjsaNvSs_P4sJrV-ZbLYuq2ZXn-QihdRf9sleoyhYlwHniz-_3z29A1azuPhYryMAwPueOXmdmMXzYg9LauWBig/s1600/DSCN8482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pESAANxjTXix6Ass80CwecNSnjReFFnJ4RBw8KvcjzkeHkTzVPH7fjsaNvSs_P4sJrV-ZbLYuq2ZXn-QihdRf9sleoyhYlwHniz-_3z29A1azuPhYryMAwPueOXmdmMXzYg9LauWBig/s200/DSCN8482.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Now since I used a plastic pastry tip it did bend a little. That's ok, I just bent the prongs back and kept going. This is where a metal tip might work a little better. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XIib4yv5vSnCJdTLXbUumcvME6hJwyhhw4pWSfsVbAXe5n-RI-TcUPaYHEEkvn-04Q34BQA73YkIEwnFbpq5Iv1LTM8rDjtHAawYv9h85uRXWDy_MfD5LGjyWq86vKb8eMrBj9WxoJE/s1600/DSCN8493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XIib4yv5vSnCJdTLXbUumcvME6hJwyhhw4pWSfsVbAXe5n-RI-TcUPaYHEEkvn-04Q34BQA73YkIEwnFbpq5Iv1LTM8rDjtHAawYv9h85uRXWDy_MfD5LGjyWq86vKb8eMrBj9WxoJE/s200/DSCN8493.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUHTiII0MUn4gvSTzQuJQl4WHKokEXw320I0ap7pVgVDNunyCiJtLygU9fnrSIcrT7BnQixflQ7PAaNZubNBQZTLQBGFLEALV57vXnzQr3lhz3MSljZY1RZC8RjbPL6OSbiBUGj2UBLM/s1600/DSCN8496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUHTiII0MUn4gvSTzQuJQl4WHKokEXw320I0ap7pVgVDNunyCiJtLygU9fnrSIcrT7BnQixflQ7PAaNZubNBQZTLQBGFLEALV57vXnzQr3lhz3MSljZY1RZC8RjbPL6OSbiBUGj2UBLM/s200/DSCN8496.JPG" width="200" /> </a></div>
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See all better again! A few other tips, Once if you don't like cherry
stains on your counter, make sure you wipe up the cherry juice right
away. Also if you don't want to explain where your red fingers came
from, gloves are a good suggestion too! There you go. Now you can enjoy
your bowl of pitted cherries. These didn't last long, Bacon bit was
all too eager for me to be done! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy31OxNQdcufL4WjR5iVdt0H0ZGdS0dcx626DZYf7rKSV64Il43Nvqg5xaKToH1lD-l2vKopwTxTkwpu2vcMixRP_dJ64FXtVTcZK677kgu7m87hScgcvp4d6EMr-tRuuviYTL-z8z3s/s1600/DSCN8492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy31OxNQdcufL4WjR5iVdt0H0ZGdS0dcx626DZYf7rKSV64Il43Nvqg5xaKToH1lD-l2vKopwTxTkwpu2vcMixRP_dJ64FXtVTcZK677kgu7m87hScgcvp4d6EMr-tRuuviYTL-z8z3s/s320/DSCN8492.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-52187807158119173282012-01-18T14:29:00.000-06:002012-01-18T14:29:54.418-06:00Well it works!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehC_hHpF7WVxyM_fjVP4knosRqmde1NVl5rpBn7m93mJclI5Lz6_0Kuf5JiJqgGTklWMrFjDwTTzurTnm6I1X-wRJ5jWrXzwLFBvbetT-Y6wH8KYo2tCNlosB-t7XI_OQQ5WhR08gVoE/s1600/DSCN7772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehC_hHpF7WVxyM_fjVP4knosRqmde1NVl5rpBn7m93mJclI5Lz6_0Kuf5JiJqgGTklWMrFjDwTTzurTnm6I1X-wRJ5jWrXzwLFBvbetT-Y6wH8KYo2tCNlosB-t7XI_OQQ5WhR08gVoE/s200/DSCN7772.JPG" width="200" /></a>If you have a baby or toddler I'm sure you've seen those cute little food pouches they sell. Bacon Bit loves them! And so do I. They are quite handy when we are in the van traveling or out and about. Just twist off the top and hand it over. Bacon Bit can drain one in under a minute I believe, I'm not complaining since he gets a dose of fruit in his diet. He still prefers mostly veggies and that's ok too!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> There happen to be a few problems with those cute pouches that I'm not overjoyed with however. The biggest is the cost, for a 3-4 ounce pouch of baby pureed food costs between $1.35-$3! Not quite budget friendly. But I have to admit even convenience of them has over ruled our budget a few times. I was talking to another mom with a toddler the same age as Bacon Bit saying how I wish they made something re-usable like the pouches. Especially since I have a whole tote full of baby food that was given to us that needs to be used up and Bacon Bit makes a HUGE mess with a spoon and bowl of sauce. She told me that she simply refills them. I have to admit I had my doubts of messes trying to refill the darn pouch, but she told me to just try it. So I did and I was happily surprised! Want to refill your own pouches? Here's how!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VQ4qcTxFML6zff-sPcsBP8NAc7zZfhJ-dSfRKC7-znu5_lcEcdijnge2oJ1sKtbLZXn5FiPZhIWh1jYeMIc70ESEsYIgsAApCId5Ku4-8SHWolD3_QUN5WblMgDWFzWGiFB62uiNDds/s1600/DSCN7768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VQ4qcTxFML6zff-sPcsBP8NAc7zZfhJ-dSfRKC7-znu5_lcEcdijnge2oJ1sKtbLZXn5FiPZhIWh1jYeMIc70ESEsYIgsAApCId5Ku4-8SHWolD3_QUN5WblMgDWFzWGiFB62uiNDds/s200/DSCN7768.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>What you need:<br />
empty baby food pouch with cap<br />
medicine syringe (bigger the better!)<br />
baby food sauce or any kind of pureed sauce<br />
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First take your pouch and rinse it out. I held mine under the water and let it fill up a few times. You can even add a small drop of dish soap to it. Once it's filled I hold my finger over the opening and give the pouch a few shakes really good. Repeat this a few times until the water runs clear. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCmQqbQUBoN3_SnDe-wJdERb1GG60z_MiWQG18Zuy8JXr0_lbBlO_YZPs3lUgdouHBtL2HNfp8icHQKVEFiDUOYG5vsCFOzO1d4GE4xlhxp2-43rwNpYUxwJ6ujsC8JMOfbS-Oyp8pBM/s1600/DSCN7766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCmQqbQUBoN3_SnDe-wJdERb1GG60z_MiWQG18Zuy8JXr0_lbBlO_YZPs3lUgdouHBtL2HNfp8icHQKVEFiDUOYG5vsCFOzO1d4GE4xlhxp2-43rwNpYUxwJ6ujsC8JMOfbS-Oyp8pBM/s200/DSCN7766.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15OWzL_pn7MJQMzfahKyVNk0-fiTh1ffyQGEOmHmrGQdbF9IWy2GkuyEbQUlE9xS9QBRVRoeeIgTeU6GL02P2q90XKr0J3FZCoAQWe77-HBY9z4JfLZZjyJ_q6l8qL_Vftt97h5S4EjA/s1600/DSCN7767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15OWzL_pn7MJQMzfahKyVNk0-fiTh1ffyQGEOmHmrGQdbF9IWy2GkuyEbQUlE9xS9QBRVRoeeIgTeU6GL02P2q90XKr0J3FZCoAQWe77-HBY9z4JfLZZjyJ_q6l8qL_Vftt97h5S4EjA/s200/DSCN7767.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Next flatten out your pouch. Make sure there is no air in it. If there is, I was told when you go to fill it, the puree will spray out of the pouch making a bigger mess!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmblu_IoRVLJwZzSax2-B6Vel-vzNhOnUj6p1vcN6FJUl5RObMWZx59oUyHcowANXMUXEN3SKXS8SFLZXid4LMcM0ZqC43n6_8TZP9EWQNFEDatl9V_0ohyphenhyphenDGnl3j3R09llqFqT1fBIv8/s1600/DSCN7765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmblu_IoRVLJwZzSax2-B6Vel-vzNhOnUj6p1vcN6FJUl5RObMWZx59oUyHcowANXMUXEN3SKXS8SFLZXid4LMcM0ZqC43n6_8TZP9EWQNFEDatl9V_0ohyphenhyphenDGnl3j3R09llqFqT1fBIv8/s320/DSCN7765.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Now take your syringe and fill it full of your puree. Hold it over the opening and squeeze the sauce inside. Repeat until you filled up the pouch. It's just that simple!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpvgd-l1AtYpACxDt_DoXr0YPxQzMDy7QojL1cMW0TJ_KV8cgI3xXngVflWFVLszp5MwBVRtmyNTkswyxgIMj1VFeAKjFlGMwevV00UYACobvTOr8h8_-gLTeUaKN4znzUHQ0ovYxg1I/s1600/DSCN7769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpvgd-l1AtYpACxDt_DoXr0YPxQzMDy7QojL1cMW0TJ_KV8cgI3xXngVflWFVLszp5MwBVRtmyNTkswyxgIMj1VFeAKjFlGMwevV00UYACobvTOr8h8_-gLTeUaKN4znzUHQ0ovYxg1I/s200/DSCN7769.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTNOpQlH6B0kxAxEJB48eMDCjKfEVmzA7ho01dpaM0kveCSbzQzNodwu1eqxX5x33zD47SLTZfBWWT3I0wNlcnLOhXBa6wvq7lNdJNH-Mb2_6vY-hHvVA8iyweI153-DTpWGQCoMgZCg/s1600/DSCN7770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTNOpQlH6B0kxAxEJB48eMDCjKfEVmzA7ho01dpaM0kveCSbzQzNodwu1eqxX5x33zD47SLTZfBWWT3I0wNlcnLOhXBa6wvq7lNdJNH-Mb2_6vY-hHvVA8iyweI153-DTpWGQCoMgZCg/s200/DSCN7770.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Once it's full, twist the cap back on and either hand it to baby or place it back in the fridge. I just saved myself a whole lot o' bacon for my pocket!! And Bacon Bit is very happy to get his favorite pouch sauce more often. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cJ3URkgfNC-gpfzOuQvIYvWeWoR8WTrTfOY1d9qkRPAWBrPkCSRwBmruAhuEG-5zdyuIEfjbezkz24TgCnyX7KnZGnQEwxJaqlucRV55lOmd_3y2KTYBY4BVGLyP6rRu8mm-UAXhUP0/s1600/DSCN7771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cJ3URkgfNC-gpfzOuQvIYvWeWoR8WTrTfOY1d9qkRPAWBrPkCSRwBmruAhuEG-5zdyuIEfjbezkz24TgCnyX7KnZGnQEwxJaqlucRV55lOmd_3y2KTYBY4BVGLyP6rRu8mm-UAXhUP0/s320/DSCN7771.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Now I'm not sure how many times you can refill the pouch, but even if you refill it a few times before tossing it will save you money. And time wise I am able to refill a pouch in less than 2 minutes. So not bad at all. I'm so happy my friend shared this tip with me! I hope it helps some of you too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-72979474311375316902012-01-15T21:30:00.000-06:002012-01-15T21:30:55.616-06:00Never be afraid to fail!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqmA3961GGurTZBr5gkmUvEfYtafGfpojj0pW_V8IjAtf8ZDrmYaJAwosIqIwh3h1fpt-X7zIIdwWa9ew7NJzcvaO7u3yLe9mLhfofxJQkIVlwit3bVCl5DbDoWjk94vGe58g88DSySs/s1600/DSCN7746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqmA3961GGurTZBr5gkmUvEfYtafGfpojj0pW_V8IjAtf8ZDrmYaJAwosIqIwh3h1fpt-X7zIIdwWa9ew7NJzcvaO7u3yLe9mLhfofxJQkIVlwit3bVCl5DbDoWjk94vGe58g88DSySs/s320/DSCN7746.JPG" width="320" /></a>Yesterday I decided to not leave the kitchen. Ok that's not entirely true, I did get out side and shovel the snow that fell but otherwise I dedicated yesterday to a baking day. I was tired of the kids complaining about having to have cereal 'AGAIN'?! (insert whiny kid sounds here). I knew I wanted to make some danish puff since I happened to have 4 dozen eggs in the fridge, but I wanted to stock the freezer too and decided to make muffins. Lots of muffins! <br />
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Mr. Bacon always loves the <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/07/portion-size-and-fillers.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">apple pie</span></a> muffins so those went on the list. I even added some walnuts to them! I was craving the yummy 2 ingredient<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-cant-be-that-simple-can-it.html"> <span style="color: #f1c232;">pumpkin</span></a> muffins. But I have some extra time still and decided to make one more kind. Digging though my recipes didn't spark any thing I just had to have, however digging though the pantry sparked my creative side! I thought of how easy those pumpkin muffins were to make, just cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Then I wondered if it was that easy with other mixes. I happened to have a carrot cake mix on the shelf. And a bazillion containers of applesauce baby food left over from Bacon Bit that needed to get used up. No I had no clue going into this if it would work. But hey that's how great cooks are made. There is a deal of science when it comes to making food, however there is always a space to be creative too. Some of our favorite meals were one's we put together on our own like our <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-feel-like-chicken-tonight.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">curly chicken</span></a> and peas and our <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-feel-like-chicken-tonight.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">lemon garlic chicken</span></a>! They are family favorites. If we never experimented around, we would never have found them. So with my cake mix and applesauce in hand I headed to the kitchen. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLpa8rS2sgFDl18YFFfqhndjbgePuXVsTDSNkghn8W1Wd7Y23G2CgY5ipum75eVtM6BcQyptasdseFBg3cs-UEdGfYY0Qx71az5I1m2XkR24TtQaCiaVSJLLXvmOe8fE7FHosZ7RZLcc/s1600/DSCN7743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLpa8rS2sgFDl18YFFfqhndjbgePuXVsTDSNkghn8W1Wd7Y23G2CgY5ipum75eVtM6BcQyptasdseFBg3cs-UEdGfYY0Qx71az5I1m2XkR24TtQaCiaVSJLLXvmOe8fE7FHosZ7RZLcc/s320/DSCN7743.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I dumped the cake mix and 2 cups applesauce in my mixer and away it went. I was surprised how it turned out. In the bowl it wasn't thicker and dense like the pumpkin muffins mix. It was light and airy. I honestly was a bit worried about how they 'd turn out. I scooped them into mini muffin pans and baked them in a pre-heated 350* oven for about 16 minutes. Took them out of the pan and let them cool on a rack, all but one. Nope I couldn't even wait for them to cool down to try them. I popped one in and they were amazing! No heavy dense taste like the pumpkin muffin, just light delicious. Success! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZakQwXjlwtdFxmSLiQDM3hmG73Xqizrl5ZxNJnXLib8KErzX4XlCVY9fDWgAnwbQDTkKcZ3fsAfU8OVb_pPHmRh94OpKTCR5PIqZghPIDksEzuamwZlEp69AgsnVLR0OOwfWwClGsu0/s1600/DSCN7745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZakQwXjlwtdFxmSLiQDM3hmG73Xqizrl5ZxNJnXLib8KErzX4XlCVY9fDWgAnwbQDTkKcZ3fsAfU8OVb_pPHmRh94OpKTCR5PIqZghPIDksEzuamwZlEp69AgsnVLR0OOwfWwClGsu0/s320/DSCN7745.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I happened to find a container of cream cheese frosting in the pantry as well when I was digging in there and though it would make the perfect topping to these muffins. Yes it defeats the purpose of making 'healthier' muffins with just applesauce, but it's better than having made the cake according to the box and then putting the frosting on right? They were a huge hit with all of us here and with Mr. Bacon's co-workers how happily sample my kitchen creations. Ok the good one's anyway! <br />
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And to show not all my ideas turn out well, here was a flop! I made a gallon of <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/03/lessons-learned-but-it-tastes-good.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">yogurt</span> </a>yesterday as well. I pulled out one of the gallons of milk I froze in the freezer back in August. I had no idea if frozen milk would work for yogurt since I hadn't tried it yet. It seemed like a good day to try. And Little Miss Bacon has been asking for some 'mommy yogurt' too. I followed my recipe and filled three quart jars with vanilla yogurt. Earlier in the day I took out a bag of frozen <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-been-berry-sweet-year.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">strawberries</span></a>, yup the ones from the garden I packaged earlier, they've been wonderful to have all winter long. I drained the strawberries saving the juice in a separate bowl (the berries went into a banana strawberry smoothie Bacon Bit and I shared). With the yogurt left after filling the other jars, I added the strawberry juice. I had thought it would make wonderful strawberry yogurt that Little Boy Bacon would like, he's not entirely hooked on just vanilla regardless of what I add in it. Well I could tell from the moment I filled the last jar it would be a flop. Straining the yogurt left a lot of chunky parts. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZBrFZUezsDu7py1xVn0OkZmYLnQ17MMCX_PML-qX_6aXjV6gU7vV3gbzA9qlKIwHR-IIRceDpL8qt8fIWqL44lBE_oykqtJPwM7mj4ND9qxgr9EnpowTm8Se8AeShcYSQYRjXqaom1s/s1600/DSCN7741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZBrFZUezsDu7py1xVn0OkZmYLnQ17MMCX_PML-qX_6aXjV6gU7vV3gbzA9qlKIwHR-IIRceDpL8qt8fIWqL44lBE_oykqtJPwM7mj4ND9qxgr9EnpowTm8Se8AeShcYSQYRjXqaom1s/s200/DSCN7741.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQ3SQWTYwIIc9cJf6QnOqy5pm5HGqZ5t_00oNGgrAMp5jFD-LzzDPcWVLkIchErmeEO7_TWhvIVkSUDL0nSmlVY3AtaKZg4KqY8F7Ja0SEvyqggVw8usMcnRQZLn2rNI4lKwLNC66Llk/s1600/DSCN7742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQ3SQWTYwIIc9cJf6QnOqy5pm5HGqZ5t_00oNGgrAMp5jFD-LzzDPcWVLkIchErmeEO7_TWhvIVkSUDL0nSmlVY3AtaKZg4KqY8F7Ja0SEvyqggVw8usMcnRQZLn2rNI4lKwLNC66Llk/s200/DSCN7742.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />
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I decided to give it a go anyway, at least it looked pretty!<span id="goog_20833650"></span><span id="goog_20833651"></span> I incubated the yogurt for 8.5hrs. and as soon as it came out of the water I knew it was a disaster! The strawberry yogurt separated out completely.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgW7J0iAzzsqYVy19gT3u8TGeIB8E1-ODJ4s89DOrsf84VZ9RLscE11PfPO_IOp2vcVsjUaXlXGUgXCwykLMSzu-GyLUHz7VDXqQmRC3RxpT2u7O6mGNvgGtU9Kx4yV8L3zii7qjnfOI/s1600/DSCN7747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgW7J0iAzzsqYVy19gT3u8TGeIB8E1-ODJ4s89DOrsf84VZ9RLscE11PfPO_IOp2vcVsjUaXlXGUgXCwykLMSzu-GyLUHz7VDXqQmRC3RxpT2u7O6mGNvgGtU9Kx4yV8L3zii7qjnfOI/s200/DSCN7747.JPG" width="150" /></a></div> And I had no idea if it was good or not so my monster who lives in my garbage disposal ate it! (yes the kids think there is a monster that lives inside our garbage disposal who eats all our scraps). So that experiment didn't work, you can't win them all. However I did learn that using milk that was frozen for months in the freezer works great to make yogurt. The other three quarts turned out just fine. You win some, you lose some, but never give up trying!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-6429556220845820582012-01-12T13:16:00.002-06:002012-01-12T13:19:19.896-06:00And I'm back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZxoxI6LEemOhPeLwcJyws8zmlB8_LmG7wc8AG5WXaJN4iKCDbIFgZ8y_rvPKm_J_rrteroQEqqMrKCbSzNmY7LmjHDr4XC_ZS-xlbOUwHJAgWmdeP8si5iXmL0xalyk3urQLRs9wB6Y/s1600/DSCN7595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aX-zvcgYeUq-9o8J5oF94NwPk1nHU7AyHiHJqNQixVtC42XkUx5dnzodeOAQJl3ZBwCXBxb7AUxCvvlpNMtnu5JUOokkbtFZljiZjc4WC9LHedXQNwrUKJYhXypRjE7h3dzbbqGwckM/s1600/DSCN7600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bxeXLEA8uy-JwITX-LrlCFfBt_LFy0M8Nx4mJengvTCpcmRLWVrWC7bX_SGz4QsY5qqxwFT7A9rzNziZx1QaajcpakfFRvSwhSUTtB7nBvRJbykW3WbfpztigyRRVm0eVRzawRSbXJQ/s1600/DSCN7617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bxeXLEA8uy-JwITX-LrlCFfBt_LFy0M8Nx4mJengvTCpcmRLWVrWC7bX_SGz4QsY5qqxwFT7A9rzNziZx1QaajcpakfFRvSwhSUTtB7nBvRJbykW3WbfpztigyRRVm0eVRzawRSbXJQ/s320/DSCN7617.JPG" width="240" /></a>Thank you all so much for putting up with my absence! Ma Bacon took a much needed break during this busy time of year. With the holidays, kids schedules, Mr. Bacon's work and much more I had to put the blog on the back burner for a bit. Also during this time I decided to finally do something for myself! Why do we mom's put 'us' on the back burner all the time? I have decided to make make myself healthier for the new year and I have started exercising. While there was not a ton to lose, the spare tire had to find a new home! I'm happy to say in my time off I'm already lost a lot of inches and pounds. I'm quite happy with the progress in such a short time. If you haven't done something for yourself in a while, do it! It's an amazing feeling.<br />
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But I'm back to all my wonderful fans here. Thank you for sticking around while I was away. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New year too! Sheesh I did miss a lot huh?! I have to say I was shocked on all the new readers I've seen this over the past few weeks. Thanks for visiting. I have found that a lot of you came view how we budget our groceries. I love when my blog is shared. Hopefully soon I can post another shopping adventure and meal plan with everyone. I'm also going to try to clear up some of the questions I found were asked about how it all works, I seem to find lots of questions about just what we eat! If you have a question you'd like answered feel free to email me! (please no spam or junk mail!)<br />
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So what else have we been up to? Well the in December my siblings and I decided to surprise our parents for a family Christmas. It was a fun, busy weekend and one of the best presents our parents got. One thing we decided to do was a white elephant (or dirty Santa if you call it that) present exchange. Our limit was one $10 gift per adult to play. That got my creative side thinking. I decided to do up some candy bouquets to pass on. I think they turned out great! This is easy to make in a short time and a huge hit! Now I know what you're thinking, Ma Bacon, I don't want to worry about Christmas for 11 more months. I know me either! But hey Valentines day is coming and these would be a great gift for your sweetie. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Here is what you need:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Container- I found these cute metal buckets in the Target dollar spot!</div><div style="text-align: center;">bamboo skewers</div><div style="text-align: center;">assorted candy of your choosing</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tape</div><div style="text-align: center;">Green floral foam- I used 3x3 squares for this found at walmart</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tissue paper </div><div style="text-align: center;">Candy cane, red pompom & brown pipe cleaner </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Start by taking your container and pushing the foam square into the bottom. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kJ8Wc0qM8HzyNjslhglc-Z5wGmnL83n-K17UvoLj6ObL6iBmA4dlVhPt4UoYVSTLOpTY1cvpMJk7E-eHfht2cOeHFke73tdi_RxxuLjRpPJYnOL_8_R4JDkNnjynTmvrODBZXP_E8N98/s1600/DSCN7612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafn-sx1fC2XTZy7aC10SWPicBid9L3dLLxyT0I7CK4NlXjvmWYsZKV0dfiYSjZMx3ApkFHrRbUsr9yVpkEBmc3E3gPu5VwMZpmKYVMj72Mx-VANWJa_3MVbVfvK5WCPSPytjClEPceb8/s1600/DSCN7596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafn-sx1fC2XTZy7aC10SWPicBid9L3dLLxyT0I7CK4NlXjvmWYsZKV0dfiYSjZMx3ApkFHrRbUsr9yVpkEBmc3E3gPu5VwMZpmKYVMj72Mx-VANWJa_3MVbVfvK5WCPSPytjClEPceb8/s200/DSCN7596.JPG" width="200" /> </a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Next take a skewer and some candy and start taping candy to them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyVgXhAuFvLlu2MBexS6coJzqWnyjvtizX3pSkKF0VBYP8VjurEQJuZSQtvaoyV6cs-KnR4dbBXUOkGAXUNCteDpuGSWutHejEW7YmV-dylCqEpdaZg6PsaGcAzfOQ8DZ46LOFDaqsCk/s1600/DSCN7601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyVgXhAuFvLlu2MBexS6coJzqWnyjvtizX3pSkKF0VBYP8VjurEQJuZSQtvaoyV6cs-KnR4dbBXUOkGAXUNCteDpuGSWutHejEW7YmV-dylCqEpdaZg6PsaGcAzfOQ8DZ46LOFDaqsCk/s200/DSCN7601.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Next fold up a piece of tissue paper, be creative as you want. Take your skewer and poke a hole though the bottom of the tissue paper. Then insert it into the foam block in your container. I did this for 3 pieces of tissue paper. Securing them down with a skewer to help prevent them from falling out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5pNUNESIFNHc12AkPZV4MzsHoIQNBgasc1VBieELePRIiYDHRnhu2p6vyl4Bw7PhggMXBynnEXgAH9d7D_HuSNA-MSdqUa_eMDV7zgyQ3CqVqgXyO0H0yVgNukJbWwneFlcBhCd0UV0/s1600/DSCN7597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5pNUNESIFNHc12AkPZV4MzsHoIQNBgasc1VBieELePRIiYDHRnhu2p6vyl4Bw7PhggMXBynnEXgAH9d7D_HuSNA-MSdqUa_eMDV7zgyQ3CqVqgXyO0H0yVgNukJbWwneFlcBhCd0UV0/s200/DSCN7597.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ318v3TBFl_40W9HwYI3RNoD4K2hotLRWo-XM4iTu7nrhTRiOPzrKz7YbgP7EvfWLRkIwrIaXS53R1th1XJ7a6jrjXfHLev9dU_pNxoQq5fGP3SxRNgIRpcOY_0Ux_7waePcOECNIB1o/s1600/DSCN7599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ318v3TBFl_40W9HwYI3RNoD4K2hotLRWo-XM4iTu7nrhTRiOPzrKz7YbgP7EvfWLRkIwrIaXS53R1th1XJ7a6jrjXfHLev9dU_pNxoQq5fGP3SxRNgIRpcOY_0Ux_7waePcOECNIB1o/s200/DSCN7599.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I even placed a piece of tissue paper in the front as well as the back of the bouquet. Once you have a few sheets of tissue paper in there, continue to tape candy to skewers and place them in the foam. I used scissors to cut the skewers down to different lengths to create a full bouquet appearance. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlGGy9P7z-FNfcM2d7T-PcLvNLZP8vv2EVQqBaaozSFQdFNWj6DIeKtmNP5S8ZEQiNAGMUu3P051OzvWoGGdy3Xa9IBpG6Q7QUiB5prS94R3Nu7w5lguJ9baVHA34K_M8IHILpQkP0sw/s1600/DSCN7598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlGGy9P7z-FNfcM2d7T-PcLvNLZP8vv2EVQqBaaozSFQdFNWj6DIeKtmNP5S8ZEQiNAGMUu3P051OzvWoGGdy3Xa9IBpG6Q7QUiB5prS94R3Nu7w5lguJ9baVHA34K_M8IHILpQkP0sw/s200/DSCN7598.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBnQ1qfKa471ZE-AXVDQeDnuE6uX7VNlmjbZjuG42djJyy_vpSP5qChF8dohKXeUb99qqceEDiqU3zlqZJXjsVzb7xKvwTgqC7d8u8r4RwFKzhGbfaiUVhLlxYvHerxhonERiC41Kr3I/s1600/DSCN7603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBnQ1qfKa471ZE-AXVDQeDnuE6uX7VNlmjbZjuG42djJyy_vpSP5qChF8dohKXeUb99qqceEDiqU3zlqZJXjsVzb7xKvwTgqC7d8u8r4RwFKzhGbfaiUVhLlxYvHerxhonERiC41Kr3I/s200/DSCN7603.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I taped a few small (mini) pieces of candy together too and then placed on a skewer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeASIf40bWzQ9Bc3MrGZ_wzArxODN4QHxy1plt7mPtQ_6faBbFwctPTNwzsOIxYvvFjL8ctchFU9ODPTEKX4DVmGmUhAGKgZJD1woF56M68CqUjzUDpOUQDjeFX5GjgJY-Zkk3mnjMzSg/s1600/DSCN7606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeASIf40bWzQ9Bc3MrGZ_wzArxODN4QHxy1plt7mPtQ_6faBbFwctPTNwzsOIxYvvFjL8ctchFU9ODPTEKX4DVmGmUhAGKgZJD1woF56M68CqUjzUDpOUQDjeFX5GjgJY-Zkk3mnjMzSg/s200/DSCN7606.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And to add something else I added a few kiss rosebuds. To make the rosebuds, first cut a piece of clear plastic wrap about 4 x 4 inches. I rough guess when I cut them, remember Ma Bacon rarely measures! Then place 2 kisses bottoms together in the middle of the plastic wrap and fold the wrap around them. Secure the 'tail' of the rosebud to the secure with tape. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUS1Aswl1XrkDQtYuqKAxtdanlOjnaVjfElYTpmW2aA2h4CgYwevxfFDtUtixU3fQg0yRcxu4N5TJv2QFuyxdifuWte1nsfw5Qm7D3xtMwQlsM8R_asCzP285wQTtmAgM1Xt9IsFCzP4/s1600/DSCN7608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUS1Aswl1XrkDQtYuqKAxtdanlOjnaVjfElYTpmW2aA2h4CgYwevxfFDtUtixU3fQg0yRcxu4N5TJv2QFuyxdifuWte1nsfw5Qm7D3xtMwQlsM8R_asCzP285wQTtmAgM1Xt9IsFCzP4/s200/DSCN7608.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvQR5r3CLLldLnPpjdREML4q6bMtQ7xUY0TJg8bfAJzXTj7nOxnTbkIlJYPkfPRrnOGYwCCJ8LGwQQRsBx6tPJ9DgOoexrOyUc9nWLr8XAWCJ4GErfxv8PTw92NsIWa0Qu4lP9APoFqw/s1600/DSCN7609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvQR5r3CLLldLnPpjdREML4q6bMtQ7xUY0TJg8bfAJzXTj7nOxnTbkIlJYPkfPRrnOGYwCCJ8LGwQQRsBx6tPJ9DgOoexrOyUc9nWLr8XAWCJ4GErfxv8PTw92NsIWa0Qu4lP9APoFqw/s200/DSCN7609.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Add on more than one bud by following the same steps. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBFjl_-vTVh7MWiO2nKNHjGau8n2ts4odk1RLPJ5VwWaBkW2rz3x-LzDg6CFudCBYHkH_dIFGJFepVPhm3BUpPTGjxAxGtLTwn3MOmL6YHLodvowHEs85KppCH-GF8vCRrzgmnK9OG3Q/s1600/DSCN7611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBFjl_-vTVh7MWiO2nKNHjGau8n2ts4odk1RLPJ5VwWaBkW2rz3x-LzDg6CFudCBYHkH_dIFGJFepVPhm3BUpPTGjxAxGtLTwn3MOmL6YHLodvowHEs85KppCH-GF8vCRrzgmnK9OG3Q/s200/DSCN7611.JPG" width="200" /> </a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Keep placing candy in where you think there's a bare spot until the candy bouquet looks nice and full. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCqoctpv6NNZotSC7dcuRvF0r50VWL1zxlgVG-86nWyRqgYVgKFkdYWb7gjN5JuVlcMDBApHmvgNBEAU1gRswmwj3aHow5y0wfUzzSijJA2jTzwOzdeP8tqsK1eDGH3sdaucCHY5MZ60/s1600/DSCN7616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCqoctpv6NNZotSC7dcuRvF0r50VWL1zxlgVG-86nWyRqgYVgKFkdYWb7gjN5JuVlcMDBApHmvgNBEAU1gRswmwj3aHow5y0wfUzzSijJA2jTzwOzdeP8tqsK1eDGH3sdaucCHY5MZ60/s200/DSCN7616.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oo9EmxhVQL8_1VmnoJy2rLF6vfsFxr48onUmCi4u0Adm-c1hDXthAd2zJNB7LAKeH6MQNCZcxVT9mqo7XFemlEFc8pCC-gLKcMTS-PxdE1utt2Z-bS5HLwx8zkvPkWtFkWSxIthqQnM/s1600/DSCN7615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oo9EmxhVQL8_1VmnoJy2rLF6vfsFxr48onUmCi4u0Adm-c1hDXthAd2zJNB7LAKeH6MQNCZcxVT9mqo7XFemlEFc8pCC-gLKcMTS-PxdE1utt2Z-bS5HLwx8zkvPkWtFkWSxIthqQnM/s200/DSCN7615.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Somehow my camera ate my reindeer pictures! No worries you can follow how to make them<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/12/classroom-gifts-on-budget.html"> <span style="color: #f1c232;">HERE</span></a>. I made them for the kids to hand out to their class room friends last Christmas time. Everyone loved the few I stuck in the bouquet! That's it! You have fun easy and cheap gift. If you are having a hard time finding a container for valentines day (or Easter, get well, birthday present...) I made these out of those popular reusable straw cups you can find everywhere too. These ended up being teacher gifts for the kids to give this past Christmas as well. They were easy to make as well and I got a good deal on the cups.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcty_1p3unOVBCufnrrl2l_OIDPP5rR65iQBq_6M9e60Ip1AjMofNL6GKSnIMcKtqjjbG_vLVcglypGqMKmPsB1XLr7UdF6gAsyM8OYptozkErYXRZzMRTBx93lwFgZx3F4aT4w6WPUzQ/s1600/DSCN7635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcty_1p3unOVBCufnrrl2l_OIDPP5rR65iQBq_6M9e60Ip1AjMofNL6GKSnIMcKtqjjbG_vLVcglypGqMKmPsB1XLr7UdF6gAsyM8OYptozkErYXRZzMRTBx93lwFgZx3F4aT4w6WPUzQ/s320/DSCN7635.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I took my foam block and cut it in fourths. Take one pieces and place it in the middle of a few pieces of tissue paper. Then push it down into the cup.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnBVn4VjelroZ9ik-Lj6ACqTD1YwMn5zu8tXYt58vg3RtaMZs88ucRpSD5_9ZIh0bxYhDQ_TCGpQrQEDHNjBUpyh2dwFDd21FOw1yT1U1VS3Y-FzZCW4DPFTHOkiWaQLjEP1wQgrgYr0/s1600/DSCN7627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryMavG8ObiMBzZHu1M2DxSfbp6_Tmtw0h2ibvGbMpJ0mwS5BPiB2PZ0aeHQfrUHIwS-MawagQMNsT-YeFmdDFT_2Uz_K91Bu57FnAa-IawvlG_CcUcqbyv5KbIJBF9ixBPYNWrnPh5I/s1600/DSCN7628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryMavG8ObiMBzZHu1M2DxSfbp6_Tmtw0h2ibvGbMpJ0mwS5BPiB2PZ0aeHQfrUHIwS-MawagQMNsT-YeFmdDFT_2Uz_K91Bu57FnAa-IawvlG_CcUcqbyv5KbIJBF9ixBPYNWrnPh5I/s200/DSCN7628.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZ33GVGFC-TX5AEo4p1SZSEJwR8K5dcxo2y1zzycZ-zP3O54dfJFt29NzuSx6mBkdI16q4D-4o4CCn4QOo7voYIuP_i-0rJJGwb-nwfX8_y0yrnmgArkhBNboB7tb9IzV03NO4SuLU4k/s1600/DSCN7631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZ33GVGFC-TX5AEo4p1SZSEJwR8K5dcxo2y1zzycZ-zP3O54dfJFt29NzuSx6mBkdI16q4D-4o4CCn4QOo7voYIuP_i-0rJJGwb-nwfX8_y0yrnmgArkhBNboB7tb9IzV03NO4SuLU4k/s200/DSCN7631.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I tucked the straw and lid on the back side of the cup. Then I followed the same steps as above with the candy and skewers. They were a big hit!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOs3fgzSdbKUEUFo-Tjise_PXWJzonHOZZL63kLBOOJULQ2fdI19D1eQ_MVJghJSz3_YwKMG2DN1vgp4Id2v0Xxx8I1JdR79Z6qOcj4epCm8R8X4jhgU5Gnew_5Q_e-UJUCMAfRWUWD4/s1600/DSCN7632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOs3fgzSdbKUEUFo-Tjise_PXWJzonHOZZL63kLBOOJULQ2fdI19D1eQ_MVJghJSz3_YwKMG2DN1vgp4Id2v0Xxx8I1JdR79Z6qOcj4epCm8R8X4jhgU5Gnew_5Q_e-UJUCMAfRWUWD4/s200/DSCN7632.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So that was my creative Christmas presents! Oh besides this last guy. Mr. Bacon needed a gift for his white elephant. So we made up some Beer Deer. They are so cute! And a big hit too. Perfect for that hard to buy for person on your list! Save the idea for next year!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3fn2RZm2aUxv_1IzDawsPVVfCAc2FYpJZI-IyqoGLnsQXtFCcHm0zn0dClQvXpRAxt4Y51-BZMAX-Cgg4AwaNwur_cJSohkCNBVtBW5mwjVXZjp_6QRxPUUj91kUHikIQFIEcYb9qQE/s1600/DSCN7622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3fn2RZm2aUxv_1IzDawsPVVfCAc2FYpJZI-IyqoGLnsQXtFCcHm0zn0dClQvXpRAxt4Y51-BZMAX-Cgg4AwaNwur_cJSohkCNBVtBW5mwjVXZjp_6QRxPUUj91kUHikIQFIEcYb9qQE/s320/DSCN7622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-27755380263873119022011-11-23T23:46:00.000-06:002011-11-23T23:46:32.272-06:00Princess party!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6yZynB8lBRYeburi0d0JNFOSJCFq-hwFJyXLomQvPj_LytFNlRPd8D5aLOldeGonzkPnprXlsgHDIO0pyZaddJxLSLkHHOwuvUuv22MBQrB5DazoWzmr2QM9P5xQDbrzxJuKwtGVp8g/s1600/DSCN7341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6yZynB8lBRYeburi0d0JNFOSJCFq-hwFJyXLomQvPj_LytFNlRPd8D5aLOldeGonzkPnprXlsgHDIO0pyZaddJxLSLkHHOwuvUuv22MBQrB5DazoWzmr2QM9P5xQDbrzxJuKwtGVp8g/s320/DSCN7341.JPG" width="240" /></a>Wow, so much has gone on this month that I can see the dust collecting around here. With the holidays approaching I have to say that family duties have come first. But I have not forgotten my loyal and new fans! So as promised I am posting about our Princess birthday party. It wasn't easy when Little Miss Bacon said she wanted a princess party but not Disney princess party. How was I going to pull this off without breaking the bank? Thankfully my craft skills came into play here and another thankful thing, I had most supplies already around the house. But even if I didn't, I wouldn't have to invest much into it all. So the planning started, and out came the pen and paper to plan a party for six little princesses! <br />
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First the invites had to go out. I didn't want to spent a lot of money on them, or an extra trip to town. Thankfully an Internet search solved my problem. I was able to find<a href="http://printablepartykits.com/princess-birthday-invites/"> <span style="color: #f1c232;">these</span></a> super cute invites to print out. I downloaded them to my computer, opened them in the paint program and typed in the party info. I rolled them up scroll style, secured with ribbon. I cut out these<span style="color: #f1c232;"> </span><a href="http://printablepartykits.com/princess-cupcake-toppers/"><span style="color: #f1c232;">circles</span></a> and wrote each girls name on the back. Invites ready to go!<br />
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Now to decide on cake. Little Miss Bacon wanted a cake with a crown, humm not to hard there. I dug though the dress up tub and found a sparkling crown. Perfect for her cake. I also remembered some cupcake wrapper kit I won this past spring that had princess crowns in it for cupcakes. Cake done!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1o_0z6OLbTi272mBEu1KGv-ElXRnsnYD3SgQsYxjM0bA9dFD3Y6CVJRQu3kIg3VzYGBCtUYl8-A4Zu45ioUpFhIaJoGKGgMzSFI6F8f1g527mRJbt2wvz-DwcP2wD-mDA_0OrXcQNfA/s1600/DSCN7331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1o_0z6OLbTi272mBEu1KGv-ElXRnsnYD3SgQsYxjM0bA9dFD3Y6CVJRQu3kIg3VzYGBCtUYl8-A4Zu45ioUpFhIaJoGKGgMzSFI6F8f1g527mRJbt2wvz-DwcP2wD-mDA_0OrXcQNfA/s200/DSCN7331.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fJHDCRmnYxwkL_H9_8nJ2khR3URjZuuE6HvoJsjAahlWvpczu483DhST7xD_yt0k5eFl16nrq0joCWziCZYSHPqP5DV5FSkmgLGx8jdbsgH88AN_vI-n9kLpyk4CmDucMYwKF60XrYY/s1600/DSCN7327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fJHDCRmnYxwkL_H9_8nJ2khR3URjZuuE6HvoJsjAahlWvpczu483DhST7xD_yt0k5eFl16nrq0joCWziCZYSHPqP5DV5FSkmgLGx8jdbsgH88AN_vI-n9kLpyk4CmDucMYwKF60XrYY/s200/DSCN7327.JPG" width="200" /></a></div> Then we planned a few basic games, you know the good old fashioned birthday kind. Anyone amazed by some birthday parties out there? I've heard of bouncy houses, live animals, and much more. We just went classic here and it paid off both in my pocket book and the kids attention! Wonder what we all played? Musical chairs, freeze dance, Princess says (instead of Simon), and pin the crown on the princess. Yes I hand drew a princess on a large pieces of paper and made a felt crown for them to pin on, total cost = free! Ok so she may not be the prettiest princess out there, but Little Miss Bacon had fun coloring her in!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOqlMmeEIXySRMEZa4UC_L9Ba18vBg2VrxkmQnD5R0E7r540_-2IKR8OFDwmjxogvg-eh8n_i2-F1r9QC1iXhcGSJEQ6OICaEHT6-lusmdaOxyW-U_COi54h8SPRCY0ZgTVQMTx8K-X0/s1600/DSCN7334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOqlMmeEIXySRMEZa4UC_L9Ba18vBg2VrxkmQnD5R0E7r540_-2IKR8OFDwmjxogvg-eh8n_i2-F1r9QC1iXhcGSJEQ6OICaEHT6-lusmdaOxyW-U_COi54h8SPRCY0ZgTVQMTx8K-X0/s200/DSCN7334.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The final planning was the take home goodies. I was told you can't have a princess party with out crowns. I wanted something that wouldn't break easy, and that every girl could wear. I opted for felt crown headbands. These were super easy to make too, and they can slide off the headband for the girls to wear after the party as well. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnShQ7tczJkGxt3DbSfG2TrWb6Q9e_fs8WEsmlApvEJGwuTY77g1Do8oObJi5fqgTZQoYkR-w8icntBYCVH963ajHqpVr0TKQ81LZlq4MCG_66CKBj8vSS-DSvV1yfapZMzFOdD3p0rlc/s1600/DSCN7308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnShQ7tczJkGxt3DbSfG2TrWb6Q9e_fs8WEsmlApvEJGwuTY77g1Do8oObJi5fqgTZQoYkR-w8icntBYCVH963ajHqpVr0TKQ81LZlq4MCG_66CKBj8vSS-DSvV1yfapZMzFOdD3p0rlc/s200/DSCN7308.JPG" width="200" /></a>Here is what you need:<br />
Headband<br />
2 pieces felt (coordinating colors) <br />
glue gun<br />
jewels optional<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> First take one pieces of felt and cut the top part of your crown out of it. Make sure not to cut the whole crown out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsu948bpwzjPqsBdiBFtxtkCJiV0yB76EeHOZSbPkuV1jDVGTWRkKQ62FBAAF7NidAAcWzX1i9sFonbjXdrLK-uAbkPD_zcYzn3fJ7MlwoOpiApw6qCjoGQmL5Cnju07YAllVQlY13OQ/s1600/DSCN7253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsu948bpwzjPqsBdiBFtxtkCJiV0yB76EeHOZSbPkuV1jDVGTWRkKQ62FBAAF7NidAAcWzX1i9sFonbjXdrLK-uAbkPD_zcYzn3fJ7MlwoOpiApw6qCjoGQmL5Cnju07YAllVQlY13OQ/s200/DSCN7253.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
From your other pieces of felt cut out the small crown. I free hand drew all of these. And I have no idea how to link to a pdf to attach my patterns to it. It's ok to wing things, It adds to the character of it! This smaller crown you can cut out all the way. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlbKA_7jK0iyKpf5ooLVg9c6haFRr4GOMgeXWJdBwstAVr1uGvf8kILEMcmrPx8Xm4HI6LGOakXjBMbnFPF2ZF_cKykKS9rgC3XhIQadq96Ggs7lNnA4KQ9UEm5NOgryhuy-lICzPhrw/s1600/DSCN7254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlbKA_7jK0iyKpf5ooLVg9c6haFRr4GOMgeXWJdBwstAVr1uGvf8kILEMcmrPx8Xm4HI6LGOakXjBMbnFPF2ZF_cKykKS9rgC3XhIQadq96Ggs7lNnA4KQ9UEm5NOgryhuy-lICzPhrw/s200/DSCN7254.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-MVsU5tlrjq8ZZ7UmVRsnGPlu3YPhYl8wR6ND_gwUCDybSE6t3EpJIJ6YLhrcU8qtWYIdWKGGGtP1lU4fYgyNRYc9fr6ynVUL0NXqVEgoTUYRiC9iZLwNRQkpTJxjq5SFV8MPb7dlYY/s1600/DSCN7275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-MVsU5tlrjq8ZZ7UmVRsnGPlu3YPhYl8wR6ND_gwUCDybSE6t3EpJIJ6YLhrcU8qtWYIdWKGGGtP1lU4fYgyNRYc9fr6ynVUL0NXqVEgoTUYRiC9iZLwNRQkpTJxjq5SFV8MPb7dlYY/s200/DSCN7275.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Next take the first crown (this is the bigger one that is not all the way cut out. And place it around your headband. I cut two little slits in the fabric to help make it fit better. Make sure it is angled outward or in the same direction the crown shape is. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1Q8ukOxfUPxYqNUhcuu5m3Bf_t4lBKaUF-alkphkk3D-ijUdGF1G_LRIUDOJqVG3ycsZsSdyRcOBXtwB_XFFeZ1JPdBhtLf_ErPBSIWbUwQJvXgH5P_9lmZ79tRUkYcaqbI6R2_ctWM/s1600/DSCN7276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1Q8ukOxfUPxYqNUhcuu5m3Bf_t4lBKaUF-alkphkk3D-ijUdGF1G_LRIUDOJqVG3ycsZsSdyRcOBXtwB_XFFeZ1JPdBhtLf_ErPBSIWbUwQJvXgH5P_9lmZ79tRUkYcaqbI6R2_ctWM/s200/DSCN7276.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGpcO60DEH9KMH_IcaehLYla0Ad4oyVO9JB9Xnt8YlQ_KvOzPtSwo3Iqv8E8GIjGeYvZsE1a3Te_S_wMN3RR_dTM9q9Sh8N1Mgu2pze97nx45cuQKpk5u0uCxSfTT1YPAC-3ODBCRvXg/s1600/DSCN7277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGpcO60DEH9KMH_IcaehLYla0Ad4oyVO9JB9Xnt8YlQ_KvOzPtSwo3Iqv8E8GIjGeYvZsE1a3Te_S_wMN3RR_dTM9q9Sh8N1Mgu2pze97nx45cuQKpk5u0uCxSfTT1YPAC-3ODBCRvXg/s200/DSCN7277.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Now is the part to work carefully with. Take your hot glue gun and glue the cut out crown to the felt. Once it's glued down you can cut out the rest of the crown from the felt. This makes it easy for them to be the same size once you glue them together. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAXUaxtmJacfaFcdMt6W4RwdXQV9Sb_O_He-klTeUvAfuM9EFoij_rD9dg8MmxxILVKNM0U_CCmdSjGxv7fmnJRYWDCGswQy4WSKZFxQ8-36lOUCOG-E3f1mN0o3ESmOwuYto_UTWJN4/s1600/DSCN7280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAXUaxtmJacfaFcdMt6W4RwdXQV9Sb_O_He-klTeUvAfuM9EFoij_rD9dg8MmxxILVKNM0U_CCmdSjGxv7fmnJRYWDCGswQy4WSKZFxQ8-36lOUCOG-E3f1mN0o3ESmOwuYto_UTWJN4/s320/DSCN7280.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Tada! A princess crown. You can re-glue any parts that seem like they are too lose once you get it cut out. I also glue near the opening for the headband to slide though so it will stand up more on the girls head. I didn't glue the headband to the crown though, I wanted it to be able to slip off so in the future the girls could remove it and just wear the headband. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0qVuRhoaM48Y334Qf62qC9fCH_rgrAvXsWqd1rXf4qXvQzrXF_rDOtOsXPzr3W4_ZllQGZr9dgRId5zRBElcTgfW0hJNNm6QcS29YpeKQlSaYLLklC3Vo6hJjHfqyX_2D9CioEPf4lk/s1600/DSCN7281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0qVuRhoaM48Y334Qf62qC9fCH_rgrAvXsWqd1rXf4qXvQzrXF_rDOtOsXPzr3W4_ZllQGZr9dgRId5zRBElcTgfW0hJNNm6QcS29YpeKQlSaYLLklC3Vo6hJjHfqyX_2D9CioEPf4lk/s320/DSCN7281.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Now glue on your small crown to the big one.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE358wvgAeFkOUOeCzb4_-et-l2AW3CzyJ5QFofhOXSNocOKnPuk7IfRSTY7fbaQpCr6FC8gnWMxFrIV_fLTfnB5YJ81sgA4sJXFI6Tq2PcwmKwgnQfonPdzhBFpSrVJyZSwJHx8Ltqw/s1600/DSCN7282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE358wvgAeFkOUOeCzb4_-et-l2AW3CzyJ5QFofhOXSNocOKnPuk7IfRSTY7fbaQpCr6FC8gnWMxFrIV_fLTfnB5YJ81sgA4sJXFI6Tq2PcwmKwgnQfonPdzhBFpSrVJyZSwJHx8Ltqw/s200/DSCN7282.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzBZpzZhR7ML0RaWFz6ZU5dIqoIfYq79et_FbfFeRa98slX4haYFLkR3dUjq3uJvuVZ8QMtGyx16Wvwj3xQq-EcUbT9uqvhyM4Jxm7OUBsNG7IRQScHKF7ClzEaIu7k561M6Ox5QlGTE/s1600/DSCN7283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzBZpzZhR7ML0RaWFz6ZU5dIqoIfYq79et_FbfFeRa98slX4haYFLkR3dUjq3uJvuVZ8QMtGyx16Wvwj3xQq-EcUbT9uqvhyM4Jxm7OUBsNG7IRQScHKF7ClzEaIu7k561M6Ox5QlGTE/s200/DSCN7283.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
And what is a princess without some gems right! I had a packet of these stick on scrapbook gems left over from another project I made a long time ago. I used the glue gun to put a few on each crown. Don't have gems? No problem. Use some of the remaining felt scraps to cut out flowers or hearts to glue on instead. You know me better than to buy extra things right! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDxP6Mnu_ASuc9r8BZgyZ3TE-sb_HXmGMrrfdoirAEelemVtxz4DubA-6h8NNxiKPsVKbKb_ZpR01cB-_E39uUamlJk4jIlZovL9uE4vmbTmx6P0aHdBIClsw_NWZIiJwYmfYxdN22H0/s1600/DSCN7285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDxP6Mnu_ASuc9r8BZgyZ3TE-sb_HXmGMrrfdoirAEelemVtxz4DubA-6h8NNxiKPsVKbKb_ZpR01cB-_E39uUamlJk4jIlZovL9uE4vmbTmx6P0aHdBIClsw_NWZIiJwYmfYxdN22H0/s200/DSCN7285.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHMn-IpxMppE6UFAXfx3dk2YrlUL7b1Szfs2DF8AagwAhW42WhARrnsUt4z6a1b4bRX8z9qia7GxRt5MrKSxlwE068D83CksjPtA4KPzLe0JWGQ96Y4FinXQbLRWeIGILRkqjyJ5cxvQ/s1600/DSCN7284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHMn-IpxMppE6UFAXfx3dk2YrlUL7b1Szfs2DF8AagwAhW42WhARrnsUt4z6a1b4bRX8z9qia7GxRt5MrKSxlwE068D83CksjPtA4KPzLe0JWGQ96Y4FinXQbLRWeIGILRkqjyJ5cxvQ/s200/DSCN7284.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I think they turned out awesome! The 'princesses' liked them as well, and that really</div><div style="text-align: center;">is all that counts right?!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWC0U7RVqfIODMJ7tstjlQz0SESyMsHGE1b9rY8rY6Kp8wHK_FGK4PCCY-piwCU24ZicolUxLOMuvRzV9huXh_Fmv9GZ-eWVouqpH55Zstl9BxPWij9lDMgbzMbux9yNWCVeuUroKHpI4/s1600/DSCN7288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWC0U7RVqfIODMJ7tstjlQz0SESyMsHGE1b9rY8rY6Kp8wHK_FGK4PCCY-piwCU24ZicolUxLOMuvRzV9huXh_Fmv9GZ-eWVouqpH55Zstl9BxPWij9lDMgbzMbux9yNWCVeuUroKHpI4/s320/DSCN7288.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB9IsXmtyhFZkPt8rpIO8fDSDqWr8q27i3piMEhaq4T8MNKttMqRayxQVHyCPLSq-wufvfkJJ2MWVkXLcKLkPhff_YO2LaysAhyphenhyphen-XGo9TxDUrLBC95dPMrE585Z-jeLHxmO7mFQrAlSQ/s1600/DSCN7292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB9IsXmtyhFZkPt8rpIO8fDSDqWr8q27i3piMEhaq4T8MNKttMqRayxQVHyCPLSq-wufvfkJJ2MWVkXLcKLkPhff_YO2LaysAhyphenhyphen-XGo9TxDUrLBC95dPMrE585Z-jeLHxmO7mFQrAlSQ/s200/DSCN7292.JPG" width="200" /></a>So crowns are finished, what else does a princess need? How about a magic wand! I saw this idea on pinterest when I was searching ideas for the princess party. OH how I love that website. If you are looking for anything you can find it there! I just happened to have a large bag of korked ribbon in my craft box from when I used to make Little Miss Bacon's hair bows. I knew I was saving it for something. If you don't already have korked ribbon (you know that cute spiral stuff) no worries. It's super easy to make! And it will save you a ton of money on hair bows to make it yourself too. First you need some dowels. Any size you want your curls to be. I bought a bunch at our local hardware store and used one of Mr. Bacon's saws to cut each in half. <br />
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Then take a ribbon, any kind of ribbon I found will curl, grosgrain ribbon tends to keep it's hold a little better but if you find something else cute in the craft department, give it a try! Start your ribbon at about a 45* angle on your dowel. Secure it to the dowel with a WOODEN clothes pin. This is important that it's wooden because plastic will melt in the oven. Continue to wrap the ribbon until you get your desired lenght or the end of the dowel and secure it with another clothespin. Keep going until all your dowels are wrapped or you have enough ribbon for your project. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjRYVhMXkka3FloC8S18VU1Tuel1hw6RwnNIUuJkNq4-8P9QpPsG47KESrtxHBDQKjRYPVm6BefYXhmYu2_Qe6SLE0j9Lxyc6EW4Sv4iXtTvhDKDXXK0-juiNt5rxADUUWBybGS8_tFQ/s1600/DSCN7314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjRYVhMXkka3FloC8S18VU1Tuel1hw6RwnNIUuJkNq4-8P9QpPsG47KESrtxHBDQKjRYPVm6BefYXhmYu2_Qe6SLE0j9Lxyc6EW4Sv4iXtTvhDKDXXK0-juiNt5rxADUUWBybGS8_tFQ/s200/DSCN7314.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoIfIT9-OJR9pvRMPTmCNa0E3LvMbBS42j2IXKIAYPoqTeRze8FDKEK9-gZb-VSMFdWavjU4cRIuPif6PjvOMkqSjXJs1DBn3rYyMDQu6ZYP2OiVWNLkvdKPYALywDwHHyYMw8ny8t04/s1600/DSCN7315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoIfIT9-OJR9pvRMPTmCNa0E3LvMbBS42j2IXKIAYPoqTeRze8FDKEK9-gZb-VSMFdWavjU4cRIuPif6PjvOMkqSjXJs1DBn3rYyMDQu6ZYP2OiVWNLkvdKPYALywDwHHyYMw8ny8t04/s200/DSCN7315.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Now that you have them all secure to the dowel, preheat your oven to 225*. Yes you read that right, you need to bake your ribbon! Pile all the ribbon wrapped dowels on a baking sheet adn pop them in the oven for 25 minutes. Not hard to remember right, 225* for 25 min. Easy! When they are done, let them cool and unwrap them. You'll have curly ribbon! So now that I have my ribbon all curled it's time to work on those wands.<br />
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Take some ribbon and cut it to your desired lenght. I think I cut these between 3.5-4 inches. Really I just guessed at lenghts and didn't measure. Mr. Bacon would say that it is quite normal for me to not measure much! He hates watching me bake becuase I rarely use measure spoons! Not only did I cut curly ribbon, I also cut straight ribbon for these wands too. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidaJFUtJGIER05pdkIXpgkfalyStdY3GaCbDOqQvaEmBvJ_QhJuzFayZvadSV6jld6DRQrMfAU93NEfWspldHSUKstovgEGnhpNohLfUoNKuC0tOy3kL7WCshvuoJtVEnUlP-5QIJGBE/s1600/DSCN7294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidaJFUtJGIER05pdkIXpgkfalyStdY3GaCbDOqQvaEmBvJ_QhJuzFayZvadSV6jld6DRQrMfAU93NEfWspldHSUKstovgEGnhpNohLfUoNKuC0tOy3kL7WCshvuoJtVEnUlP-5QIJGBE/s320/DSCN7294.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Once you haev all your ribbon lenghts cut, it's time to assemble them. I took a thin ribbon and cut it about 6 inches. (yes it's a lot, but it makes tying much easier) Lay your thin ribbon vertically on your work surface. Start to lay your cut ribbon horizontally on the ribbon. How many you lay on there is your preference, the more you lay the fluffier the wand. I'd say I places between 15-20 ribbons per wand. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEVP2stCShDBPOyzZWquNOvp9rtjCB7HVNCVOrJmLsuA2t3V2a6jLJ2haJ-EzQ8hJ_8GkwdAu4mQUTgxqWvnVzWGy5TndPRbJKva5Ng_xneOtyCMdgOOHdfeiWFx87NrMrjDIVTZx6jo/s1600/DSCN7295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEVP2stCShDBPOyzZWquNOvp9rtjCB7HVNCVOrJmLsuA2t3V2a6jLJ2haJ-EzQ8hJ_8GkwdAu4mQUTgxqWvnVzWGy5TndPRbJKva5Ng_xneOtyCMdgOOHdfeiWFx87NrMrjDIVTZx6jo/s200/DSCN7295.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbW3PdelptdRw5gQ_gfApmxQfAO7ZuF9ZNLP10bRj0zqsujpXXSi4TYXreJX5-wS-VErjI3SBy9M1_CYDe59Gbx4arNyDKxqEtlHDu0OiyDvdoM99vmtPds4nnB2aYl6384Amx6nNMzw/s1600/DSCN7296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbW3PdelptdRw5gQ_gfApmxQfAO7ZuF9ZNLP10bRj0zqsujpXXSi4TYXreJX5-wS-VErjI3SBy9M1_CYDe59Gbx4arNyDKxqEtlHDu0OiyDvdoM99vmtPds4nnB2aYl6384Amx6nNMzw/s200/DSCN7296.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Once you have your nice little pile, you have to do the tricky part. Pinch all the ribbons together. With your other hand take the thin ribbon and tie a knot around the others. If you happen to have a second set of hands, this will go a lot smoother! Once you have a good tight knot you can take a look at your work. If some of the ribbons are not even just give them a gentle pull to straighen them out. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorg3bgvK0ruTtQ3ETRW5FJeKdOWN64BiZGeQyvopE1Bamcwhf6eAmO3IQwP-7xdeMfBselG44Fd0mmdhQ_ZxHRmhtvynP1_u6y9G4ne8QFx1BYbDrtxngNK4UlBS3uthwcazbRGDeaWs/s1600/DSCN7302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo74zK3N9rovbqkuR_3AFW4LKJplywwK4lc1QDPIRk30b1Q8WKmUmsxQLzbXNl0EPLgyDA_RPtN3Vm70rgIvv1HEnQ5iZYhp9I-YioYliq-riCXPdbRyZfRgJYrbctB6eMDma7NelAyjI/s1600/DSCN7297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo74zK3N9rovbqkuR_3AFW4LKJplywwK4lc1QDPIRk30b1Q8WKmUmsxQLzbXNl0EPLgyDA_RPtN3Vm70rgIvv1HEnQ5iZYhp9I-YioYliq-riCXPdbRyZfRgJYrbctB6eMDma7NelAyjI/s200/DSCN7297.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGFmnGz9yCrVdJiXtr_x0EK6xkUHVIABYMHn90ZihXm8DpD6LFcwqY4S7IuDUEtDpA4hlvFYrssk68hJFQM0oD0SUkXriZD04fiT4VLUpIO-fijD3ZAcnsInm-ndmJ_ihw67Ywr8Fp1c/s1600/DSCN7299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGFmnGz9yCrVdJiXtr_x0EK6xkUHVIABYMHn90ZihXm8DpD6LFcwqY4S7IuDUEtDpA4hlvFYrssk68hJFQM0oD0SUkXriZD04fiT4VLUpIO-fijD3ZAcnsInm-ndmJ_ihw67Ywr8Fp1c/s200/DSCN7299.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Next its time to attach it to your dowel. For this project I did have it invest in a package of dowels for the wands. I paid a whole .96 for a pack of 16 of them from walmart. Not too bad for the budget!<br />
Take out one dowel and tie the thin ribbon around the end of it. Secure it as tight as you can with a knot. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVrJt2hc_YHfGFw-gBH0_u27J5p61qCGFO9FhbxfSSytvj9gdh0sxP8l384aFDVhohgvXPzv4RqzpKSm3or7il7S7PftAiZ8W8kvBJVAb8CGT9DPCWHAu1QX5f5UNXy85lAFWwY6XSOU/s1600/DSCN7300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVrJt2hc_YHfGFw-gBH0_u27J5p61qCGFO9FhbxfSSytvj9gdh0sxP8l384aFDVhohgvXPzv4RqzpKSm3or7il7S7PftAiZ8W8kvBJVAb8CGT9DPCWHAu1QX5f5UNXy85lAFWwY6XSOU/s200/DSCN7300.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Yi11FbxDNtDfFi3jL3w42QJB7UKULCWv2omDLhsOUrnV-ckOtqYMuhbQb16Zy39MgKCycKtTIYwX-cDWcJulHwX7iYFaTvwgRN6JA2tUjXZ3i6fQpoOrqbkEikyg3gcO5CqyVYnv8c4/s1600/DSCN7301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Yi11FbxDNtDfFi3jL3w42QJB7UKULCWv2omDLhsOUrnV-ckOtqYMuhbQb16Zy39MgKCycKtTIYwX-cDWcJulHwX7iYFaTvwgRN6JA2tUjXZ3i6fQpoOrqbkEikyg3gcO5CqyVYnv8c4/s200/DSCN7301.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next take the thin ribbon and twist it down the dowel and secure with a dab of hot glue. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorg3bgvK0ruTtQ3ETRW5FJeKdOWN64BiZGeQyvopE1Bamcwhf6eAmO3IQwP-7xdeMfBselG44Fd0mmdhQ_ZxHRmhtvynP1_u6y9G4ne8QFx1BYbDrtxngNK4UlBS3uthwcazbRGDeaWs/s1600/DSCN7302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorg3bgvK0ruTtQ3ETRW5FJeKdOWN64BiZGeQyvopE1Bamcwhf6eAmO3IQwP-7xdeMfBselG44Fd0mmdhQ_ZxHRmhtvynP1_u6y9G4ne8QFx1BYbDrtxngNK4UlBS3uthwcazbRGDeaWs/s320/DSCN7302.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Now that the ribbon is secre it's time to wrap the dowel. Take a long length of ribbon and secure it to the top of the dowel with a dab of hot glue. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WGd13yHk3PSQ4NEOcRRiIvGR_rVfyF3aCKSD2okFe4gHdgJHy3DfWL1-9L4ZViVqAM_09dCRNvLVWYRDwROoXvX_W-j_zQrq9EFszOorpB5trvUfGEnWpL54TduLoqwC6-J6V7O7syM/s1600/DSCN7303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WGd13yHk3PSQ4NEOcRRiIvGR_rVfyF3aCKSD2okFe4gHdgJHy3DfWL1-9L4ZViVqAM_09dCRNvLVWYRDwROoXvX_W-j_zQrq9EFszOorpB5trvUfGEnWpL54TduLoqwC6-J6V7O7syM/s200/DSCN7303.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUA8H6xYxAM3CXBVL0H4zgap2HOcRfrA5sVjb_v2CDmqcru6E8qKAA36ctJDuPgT0v1hKWpUWeYkdMN7wTzHM7Dj0_11kz-Xbn5oN98y-jmRXc2cXDti3Q-KtS9eIK-BLJYCkMKRnJy2Y/s1600/DSCN7304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUA8H6xYxAM3CXBVL0H4zgap2HOcRfrA5sVjb_v2CDmqcru6E8qKAA36ctJDuPgT0v1hKWpUWeYkdMN7wTzHM7Dj0_11kz-Xbn5oN98y-jmRXc2cXDti3Q-KtS9eIK-BLJYCkMKRnJy2Y/s200/DSCN7304.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Continue to wrap the whole dowel with the ribbon, wrapping it at a 45* angle to avoid overlapping too much. Then secure the bottom with another dab of glue. It can be a bit tricky to wrap over the thin ribbon that is glued to the dowel, just do your best. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnAg-pRcbV8L_8-HmOjHuVqhSqbpLX4YAs5kBu634QOPBN7isiXA5wjQDCVyZay6XXhXM4xhnRYGAGcSO_shKOVffwU7c2AJYunxtLqn85cQUq6pU0IzVbIERAFJvTxSFJN8tpQ-bas8/s1600/DSCN7305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnAg-pRcbV8L_8-HmOjHuVqhSqbpLX4YAs5kBu634QOPBN7isiXA5wjQDCVyZay6XXhXM4xhnRYGAGcSO_shKOVffwU7c2AJYunxtLqn85cQUq6pU0IzVbIERAFJvTxSFJN8tpQ-bas8/s200/DSCN7305.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsrW4DUgW22Bu2pHOrYeKEZOCsU9epzu0k9lhYmOot_mEi8mp-r1I16RLo3nZSFGYILqhLbMaslhdpLudAaPMWMocVR_iqPeV2n4bvWMOhj_UBCbAM3bCOdR1TOFVT_mcf3LaRfYTJIqk/s1600/DSCN7306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsrW4DUgW22Bu2pHOrYeKEZOCsU9epzu0k9lhYmOot_mEi8mp-r1I16RLo3nZSFGYILqhLbMaslhdpLudAaPMWMocVR_iqPeV2n4bvWMOhj_UBCbAM3bCOdR1TOFVT_mcf3LaRfYTJIqk/s200/DSCN7306.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Stand back and admire your princess wand! Beautiful right! The girls loved these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaj3tOcAlSa1eQffNXBUNjWm1jlaiTfJa3rynOJkpkL5i8R3S0SkPhmXW6zUQwwfzeD86V2awcYbWmFtRBYb11IOuL8LmEqswgVfS2J2V_QetHz-7PBds6cFy4fNv76htbUCpsDje_hjw/s1600/DSCN7307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaj3tOcAlSa1eQffNXBUNjWm1jlaiTfJa3rynOJkpkL5i8R3S0SkPhmXW6zUQwwfzeD86V2awcYbWmFtRBYb11IOuL8LmEqswgVfS2J2V_QetHz-7PBds6cFy4fNv76htbUCpsDje_hjw/s320/DSCN7307.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
But if you're like me it's not over until you have a jewel. I had a few of the stick on gems leftover from the crowns so I added one to the middle of each ribbon bouquet on the wand. Nothing says princess better than some bling right!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAQ1vXWQokUT1fLXaGUf-6qGTdqtxi97FVA2rZbbMeIEdRsSBGyQ4jBqMt_qlNETf7HmHbBVHTAqi-kXSnVfinXO4WGmVmAqEmwF5UWUON-icAfVohGvgrpasgMlUb-oughNQzIsCBWE/s1600/DSCN7319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAQ1vXWQokUT1fLXaGUf-6qGTdqtxi97FVA2rZbbMeIEdRsSBGyQ4jBqMt_qlNETf7HmHbBVHTAqi-kXSnVfinXO4WGmVmAqEmwF5UWUON-icAfVohGvgrpasgMlUb-oughNQzIsCBWE/s320/DSCN7319.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dlPqLoc634c1XwY9KXo5JHdUfUvCI_PGRC9cjC4PXZej6d7ykNQGr8pV9T9ExhFA1GOYK9-e0hx3B-CpZ56N7x26L1W2vFGps6XMIXU4pdyYM9H7sWXjueQ8NWpfb-0utZOv5rRjKNA/s1600/DSCN7318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dlPqLoc634c1XwY9KXo5JHdUfUvCI_PGRC9cjC4PXZej6d7ykNQGr8pV9T9ExhFA1GOYK9-e0hx3B-CpZ56N7x26L1W2vFGps6XMIXU4pdyYM9H7sWXjueQ8NWpfb-0utZOv5rRjKNA/s320/DSCN7318.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Each girl picked out a wand and crown as they arrived to the party. It was a blast. Lots of giggles and smiles, games, cake and presents. Mr. Bacon and I were exhaused by the time it was over. We also sent the girls home with a thank you baggie of goodies. I wasn't going to at first, I thought the wands and crowns were enough, but I happened to hit target's dollar spot on the right day. They marked all their princess stuff down 75% off! I picked up princess note pads, purses, bracelets and added a chapstick to each baggie. Total cost was under $2 each. I placed them in brown paper lunch bags I had in the pantry, punched holes in it and secured it with a ribbon and another princess circle from the above website. They were a hit as well! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcYA_T-l6Xj-RQQG5reh2SA5Q7BMX9635Ks0nhG40zcokwnA0MMtq0iEHGKl3_57pdG_TJcTIFJip8LErgTw-jsGjAoVQoXag_OKjESKMs8cH_d_D2DP4VhSkHcdpHVKY9cjDOjBFTm4/s1600/DSCN7338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcYA_T-l6Xj-RQQG5reh2SA5Q7BMX9635Ks0nhG40zcokwnA0MMtq0iEHGKl3_57pdG_TJcTIFJip8LErgTw-jsGjAoVQoXag_OKjESKMs8cH_d_D2DP4VhSkHcdpHVKY9cjDOjBFTm4/s320/DSCN7338.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Whew! Tired and exhaused. Sorry for all the pictures but I hope you enjoyed Little Miss's Princess party as much as we did. So what little princess are you going to spoil! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflIJmkxK0UM6mnkuVuDsY6GXrGVQgcSCqa-M0FVz3p-n1_GQm-07ZRtr7XTU66LgMMm4L8wMDd3-ud2CScKMXsJd3o38jM76Wkrbw-UbvsOE0rj0ZpAr4h3_f-DZ05bK0i45JHiyoYkc/s1600/DSCN7336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflIJmkxK0UM6mnkuVuDsY6GXrGVQgcSCqa-M0FVz3p-n1_GQm-07ZRtr7XTU66LgMMm4L8wMDd3-ud2CScKMXsJd3o38jM76Wkrbw-UbvsOE0rj0ZpAr4h3_f-DZ05bK0i45JHiyoYkc/s320/DSCN7336.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-67524993154054794312011-11-10T21:13:00.000-06:002011-11-10T21:13:59.976-06:00Feels like Fall outsideDo you ever notice how your meals change with the season? At least they do for us. Perhaps that's because we have four seasons in Minnesota. In the summer we stick to more light meals, grilling, and salads. But in winter its the food that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside. This meal is defiantly one of those! I've been asked by a few readers for this recipe since it was on our last meal plan. It's super easy to make and reminds me of thanksgiving. You have to try it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVNY-mHH2ZpLaW2_Z9o2zv_MBV2TZYj8-paNJTYN8d9D4cwxs78QZL67TMQ2RliHB9s5feSP9whrMuROS4Ft8CQZKqreErxEMD7dfJgyunMxtw4l_G8B0g6Xd-vzyR_sb8GT3Lo_g6P0/s1600/DSCN7239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVNY-mHH2ZpLaW2_Z9o2zv_MBV2TZYj8-paNJTYN8d9D4cwxs78QZL67TMQ2RliHB9s5feSP9whrMuROS4Ft8CQZKqreErxEMD7dfJgyunMxtw4l_G8B0g6Xd-vzyR_sb8GT3Lo_g6P0/s200/DSCN7239.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
Chicken Supreme:<br />
1lb chicken breast cut up<br />
2- small packages roast beef sandwich meat (like buddig or store brand)<br />
1 can cream of chicken soup<br />
1 cup water<br />
2 cups shredded cheese (your choice, I use co-jack, swiss, provolone, I like to mix it up sometimes!)<br />
1 box stove top stuffing<br />
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First preheat the oven to 350*. Grease a 9x13 pan generously and set aside. Open up the two packages of roast beef meat and cut into small squares. Sprinkles these all over the bottom of the pan you just greased. Next layer on the cut up chicken. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaHanTFlhz5ZLk4AMiprl8xwlkdeCEDkEmf7Jp9ULwpguyQsbjtl95J6jTtqdbz96mMK82I76z6BXnED96aUKrCQjhXEpsOnCz0TT7RitBqsUy5vIKo5zao0kaFNEjORnkoubJAMx3kM/s1600/DSCN7241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaHanTFlhz5ZLk4AMiprl8xwlkdeCEDkEmf7Jp9ULwpguyQsbjtl95J6jTtqdbz96mMK82I76z6BXnED96aUKrCQjhXEpsOnCz0TT7RitBqsUy5vIKo5zao0kaFNEjORnkoubJAMx3kM/s320/DSCN7241.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Now for the next layer (aren't layers fun?! Ok so Ma Bacon may be a little over tired here. We've had a busy start to November with Mr. Bacon's birthday and Little Miss Bacon's birthday back to back. Oh and keep watching, I will be posting our fun frugal birthday party we had for Little Miss Bacon too!). Take your shredded cheese and sprinkle it over the chicken. I used co-jack for this dinner. I also happened to have a few slices of swiss cheese left over in the fridge that needed to be used up. So I broke them up and placed them on top. You don't need to add more cheese unless you are like me and was born in the great cheese state of Wisconsin! (GO PACKERS!) Yes we eat a lot of cheese at our house. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh755dzQje-dkxdF5W5gVIf49hqjdKvClkjFurqiTWz6ZDRJNMuhICl0ay__aoVafXvcOGHiRzPNrPUoNF9Ak_eIY76CLoSXB9qkPN7R_QyP_ZGmG3SIu0fC7h0y6huEhUt7i3R7MA7hGk/s1600/DSCN7242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh755dzQje-dkxdF5W5gVIf49hqjdKvClkjFurqiTWz6ZDRJNMuhICl0ay__aoVafXvcOGHiRzPNrPUoNF9Ak_eIY76CLoSXB9qkPN7R_QyP_ZGmG3SIu0fC7h0y6huEhUt7i3R7MA7hGk/s200/DSCN7242.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbncjM8_Gm2Arz7zT2vS7jDfeXOKw_D8zvM4lxS0DX5t7HZRyM0Tfqu8fwEJP3GF5AOPq2Rg4NFtPBPZ2hWn-IdJQuTWKIzDUpMhNCYV7iwyNGPz1PnN2JKLQyCPGlrsR51xo0HC0Yfmg/s1600/DSCN7243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbncjM8_Gm2Arz7zT2vS7jDfeXOKw_D8zvM4lxS0DX5t7HZRyM0Tfqu8fwEJP3GF5AOPq2Rg4NFtPBPZ2hWn-IdJQuTWKIzDUpMhNCYV7iwyNGPz1PnN2JKLQyCPGlrsR51xo0HC0Yfmg/s200/DSCN7243.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Now in a small bowl add your soup and water. Mix it well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwtIWijaNuR0CZkItm3NjYg6PadLIdJ_cimNqfi_RlgyBhIGplJeB2k0gJXJ_lYIawX9uZSoeLQcq3MlX8FgRWTSQnTrQ9q1Bpvmd1RaOREIvASiZuQZNn5YKyN2MJjbAJ9L34MQu_Vg/s1600/DSCN7244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwtIWijaNuR0CZkItm3NjYg6PadLIdJ_cimNqfi_RlgyBhIGplJeB2k0gJXJ_lYIawX9uZSoeLQcq3MlX8FgRWTSQnTrQ9q1Bpvmd1RaOREIvASiZuQZNn5YKyN2MJjbAJ9L34MQu_Vg/s200/DSCN7244.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DOX6JFPTBmy_tNk8FQMbxNzFHwDvY7dPhl4q8yaGRnaSYRaDC7NBy5fPrD9xcWS8r6dvneZ2bSXJIDtO0bel6EAdTDIxnhPUgf5GyANWbh5wIGHtLeF7nieJvCwuw4dZoQ3ajquzufI/s1600/DSCN7245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DOX6JFPTBmy_tNk8FQMbxNzFHwDvY7dPhl4q8yaGRnaSYRaDC7NBy5fPrD9xcWS8r6dvneZ2bSXJIDtO0bel6EAdTDIxnhPUgf5GyANWbh5wIGHtLeF7nieJvCwuw4dZoQ3ajquzufI/s200/DSCN7245.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Take the soup mix and pour it over the cheese. See I told you this would be easy to make!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0VluKEbSvgxaBr0oNvKrl5FwlGvO4KdgzyS56_Q03GOUYSFqQGJ8h3GlmlYDI0LQkuQJoofdjeLzanBM7WfeYnOdcsxQqf7wkztIMmTnvSXya33lU2lamWVXJqaRzqiIr0wfZ2WJUfw/s1600/DSCN7246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0VluKEbSvgxaBr0oNvKrl5FwlGvO4KdgzyS56_Q03GOUYSFqQGJ8h3GlmlYDI0LQkuQJoofdjeLzanBM7WfeYnOdcsxQqf7wkztIMmTnvSXya33lU2lamWVXJqaRzqiIr0wfZ2WJUfw/s320/DSCN7246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Next take your box of stuffing (no need for it to be name brand, it was just what I had in the pantry) and dump it in the bowl you used for the soup mix. If you'd like you can rinse the bowl first, I don't mind getting messy though. Add in the recommended amount of HOT water but no butter according to the box. I just use hot water from the tap since ours comes out so hot. You don't need to boil the water first at all. Just mix the stuffing with warm water in the bowl. Sometimes I even use my hands for this step. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNC_Xxnx9v1RbbVwF52_B5hCXTJCv1xxkbHJTY2HzmZkyUU8y6_92hiKYEwEecIcwzKA1iWrxh8b6HIxj9ST4hFL0yNpqtoFX5FzO8r54lCdkYJTAN5M52VSkeI5AiQYahTyB4huuKRGY/s1600/DSCN7248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNC_Xxnx9v1RbbVwF52_B5hCXTJCv1xxkbHJTY2HzmZkyUU8y6_92hiKYEwEecIcwzKA1iWrxh8b6HIxj9ST4hFL0yNpqtoFX5FzO8r54lCdkYJTAN5M52VSkeI5AiQYahTyB4huuKRGY/s200/DSCN7248.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyiUnbzVVOA5Qj9PaN_pSds5pkUCVUx9JJ3SwOYCRW5MzYHUiHJC8YYj9WaoB6dEZJ2RNWtbp8phwhozi0dxTb-bCP0nYnCzTVRFLIX8YjwztWfZ8R8Yzmio-GsGVstFhJhbzz9Pyi1U/s1600/DSCN7247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyiUnbzVVOA5Qj9PaN_pSds5pkUCVUx9JJ3SwOYCRW5MzYHUiHJC8YYj9WaoB6dEZJ2RNWtbp8phwhozi0dxTb-bCP0nYnCzTVRFLIX8YjwztWfZ8R8Yzmio-GsGVstFhJhbzz9Pyi1U/s200/DSCN7247.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sprinkle the stuffing over the top. Now it's all ready for the oven. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gmdYgtk6I_G0KUwG_pPHGfBZ4jw_mRadnDBSbtOqOo4z875r4iSUPTZXTAhSVVkdiLcpk3KNf3bAABDGOwipG-DJKmCxx53HlY5s_aRI0PZB_spEcC9A2aVFZbGgoMf6Z8QgjZiHud0/s1600/DSCN7252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gmdYgtk6I_G0KUwG_pPHGfBZ4jw_mRadnDBSbtOqOo4z875r4iSUPTZXTAhSVVkdiLcpk3KNf3bAABDGOwipG-DJKmCxx53HlY5s_aRI0PZB_spEcC9A2aVFZbGgoMf6Z8QgjZiHud0/s320/DSCN7252.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
That's it, when it's done let it cool a few minutes before serving. I make some of the<span style="color: #f1c232;"> </span><a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-harvest-time.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">corn</span></a> we froze and homemade<span style="color: #f1c232;"> </span><a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-harvest-time.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">buns </span></a>to go with this. Amazing diner without the thanksgiving work! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-16727853669134479022011-11-02T21:33:00.001-05:002011-11-02T21:35:40.438-05:00Who needs Olive Garden?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jSeKshn-5KljasHEwhqNUs7lgMoxesrjzqc9eS5AE0pG3UBTrHWwaUrMpe6jzIDEXYpih7wknF26a4Pm_uT3X1QVCRm_eIpUV-D13vVotCgFcOwjWoxtE8S9faV4YRYNfUZytDkae0E/s1600/DSCN7234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jSeKshn-5KljasHEwhqNUs7lgMoxesrjzqc9eS5AE0pG3UBTrHWwaUrMpe6jzIDEXYpih7wknF26a4Pm_uT3X1QVCRm_eIpUV-D13vVotCgFcOwjWoxtE8S9faV4YRYNfUZytDkae0E/s320/DSCN7234.JPG" width="320" /></a>Mr. Bacon and I love Italian food. One of our favorite places to go is Olive Garden. We use to go there a lot in our pre-kid days. When Bacon Jr was little it was one of his favorite places to go, we even had a full cupboard of Olive Garden kids cups! But there is no way I want to attempt to take 4 kids out there now, and I couldn't imagine the cost of that bill! Those were also the days before we learned how much we wasted money on things we 'though' we needed. I'm happy to have those days behind us! I love Chicken Alfredo. It's one of my favorite things to eat. So I was very happy when I found this recipe! Want some amazing Italian food without the restaurant price and hassle? I thought so! <br />
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Chicken Alfredo:<br />
1 lb chicken breast- cut up<br />
2 cups broccoli - thawed or raw cut into small pieces<br />
3/4 box fettuchini noodles<br />
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Sauce:<br />
1 stick butter<br />
1-8oz cream cheese (low fat is ok!)<br />
2 tsp chopped garlic (I use heaping tsp but we like garlic)<br />
2 cups milk<br />
6oz grated Parmesan cheese<br />
1/8 tsp pepper<br />
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First get your water boiling for your noodles, cook them according to the package. Now you want to get the sauce going. I use a small pot for this. Add the butter, cream cheese and garlic to the pot. Set on the stove on low heat and allow it to melt. You don't want this to be cooked on high heat or it will burn. Once that is melted it will look quite lumpy, don't panic it's suppose to be like that. I use a whisk to mix it good. Then slowly add in the milk while mixing. This will smooth out the lumps into a creamy sauce! Add in the pepper and cheese and allow it to cook on low or med low heat. The Parmesan cheese takes some time to melt down so I like to start this right away and let it warm on low heat while I cook everything else. <br />
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Next take your cut chicken and saute it in 1-2 TBSP oil and your favorite seasoning. I use Mrs. Dash garlic and herb for this recipe. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5cFSoNtLj30ZqGblTsOur-aLq9o1q3Mv2KSdI4VLQUuhr8chwc9gMRizfmpG2ETiVPHHQ2Q3gpUAVUJeVEo4KmDZDuzN7ifYSaauOEpiArGkcmifIEVzQFuTYb8BeiACNKin4P81wQU/s1600/IMG_9921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5cFSoNtLj30ZqGblTsOur-aLq9o1q3Mv2KSdI4VLQUuhr8chwc9gMRizfmpG2ETiVPHHQ2Q3gpUAVUJeVEo4KmDZDuzN7ifYSaauOEpiArGkcmifIEVzQFuTYb8BeiACNKin4P81wQU/s320/IMG_9921.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>When the chicken has been cooking for about 5 min on med heat, add the broccoli to it. This will cook it but hopefully not make it too mushy. Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. I was going to take a picture of this. But as you can see we were a little busy. Sister in law Bacon was here to play with the kids and we decided to make some fun <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-up-to-valentines-day.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">cookies</span></a>!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hG-sDrn8J7NGtbrYueDFqVO4BFWKpvjXU2tcCjD8lhow2RYkoL4mDU1k5MUneGHEkjGw4D6P2Rh4WcvfDOo1asmEJ0L9yf_7nNNTyB-34HIl6XtZPRc49w3m3hD3AC4dvtVw5v554NI/s1600/DSCN7237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hG-sDrn8J7NGtbrYueDFqVO4BFWKpvjXU2tcCjD8lhow2RYkoL4mDU1k5MUneGHEkjGw4D6P2Rh4WcvfDOo1asmEJ0L9yf_7nNNTyB-34HIl6XtZPRc49w3m3hD3AC4dvtVw5v554NI/s320/DSCN7237.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">When the noodles are tender, drain them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqNclD4dIkevD-lgAIM1nq1Wg9a3_MrZRAiEAU3V3JyBwXO-RYNwKwamFrLmKswd6zQc1rxPd9S9yFpDD4Rh_s_ysL4KdcoHVvPzMOmitVjpSmv6V-P95av2U82-lr_5ZKq4dn2OQuCY/s1600/DSCN7229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqNclD4dIkevD-lgAIM1nq1Wg9a3_MrZRAiEAU3V3JyBwXO-RYNwKwamFrLmKswd6zQc1rxPd9S9yFpDD4Rh_s_ysL4KdcoHVvPzMOmitVjpSmv6V-P95av2U82-lr_5ZKq4dn2OQuCY/s320/DSCN7229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">When the chicken is cooked, add the Alfredo sauce to the chicken. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuytdLcxy61cr9S_8UERVMOk0YmPXRz3tv05I3whVT92oLsXn6kA5kCd5BwJ5fzS05FEKY18I96AEB99lfYPDm7TrRDe9QhVQFmV4lGR6xK8wYiVYYpFo1ubz8ypjlahmt0WGWj9xlK8/s1600/DSCN7230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuytdLcxy61cr9S_8UERVMOk0YmPXRz3tv05I3whVT92oLsXn6kA5kCd5BwJ5fzS05FEKY18I96AEB99lfYPDm7TrRDe9QhVQFmV4lGR6xK8wYiVYYpFo1ubz8ypjlahmt0WGWj9xlK8/s320/DSCN7230.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Next take the biscuits out of the oven. Yes you can't have chicken Alfredo without some biscuits or bread sticks! Remember this <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-up-to-valentines-day.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">recipe</span></a>?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkOU0MWdebKigHXnZS35y4MgA-C6VANMDkX8zxu5FgJ_PeaHRY8bVEhFcrxKF-uHkyHgtB23s6vZZ-Lw8zdIQYyNOJkgZiSIby26QGyss4XzgzzOW9ZzKxls0xc5hgAXMnRaQn4HrCAA/s1600/DSCN7228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkOU0MWdebKigHXnZS35y4MgA-C6VANMDkX8zxu5FgJ_PeaHRY8bVEhFcrxKF-uHkyHgtB23s6vZZ-Lw8zdIQYyNOJkgZiSIby26QGyss4XzgzzOW9ZzKxls0xc5hgAXMnRaQn4HrCAA/s320/DSCN7228.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Now find a big dish. I used a 9x13 pan. This pictures looks like it's going to over flow, but don;'t worry, I made a batch and a half when I cooked this time. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZU4UsLMdRY-uoxUB9ZQXsYa58mHOLr23SbqY3f6pWZe93k7w72SaJISd604cOyXYJk0LAXY91XXMjy-jYh84NTqpUFnNAW3q2pcqyPmPucjKxh06dJc4hkvb9fNaVe3culNFG9Q-15kc/s1600/DSCN7233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZU4UsLMdRY-uoxUB9ZQXsYa58mHOLr23SbqY3f6pWZe93k7w72SaJISd604cOyXYJk0LAXY91XXMjy-jYh84NTqpUFnNAW3q2pcqyPmPucjKxh06dJc4hkvb9fNaVe3culNFG9Q-15kc/s320/DSCN7233.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Ahhh... savor the aroma. I love this stuff so much it's making my mouth water for some. Too bad we dont' have any leftovers anymore. You have successfully made an amazing Italian meal at home for a fraction of the cost of going out to eat. And you don't have to be embarrassed about how you kids act while you eat it! Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-23263568316674778642011-10-28T13:14:00.000-05:002011-10-28T13:14:31.015-05:00"Yesterday's Meatloaf is today's Sloppy Joes"Anyone remember those lyrics? If not that's probably a good thing! Mr. Bacon and I were taking a walk down memory lane listening to old songs we remembered on YouTube the other day. Some he was even letting the kids listen to. I found out that they actually do appreciate some big hair bands as well as a little Lunch Lady Land! Mostly they just laughed at the video. Anyway, I'm thankful to say this meatloaf will not become tomorrow's sloppy joes! It's way too good (even as leftovers) to eat it any other way.<br />
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Last year I was looking for a good meatloaf recipe. Meatloaf is a comfort food and is there anything better than comfort food? It warms you up and makes you feel all cozy inside. My friend Nancy was happy to share hers. She said her boys would eat a whole pan at a time it was that good. So I thought if her kids at it, surely mine would too right? Yes indeed I was right. Want to try it out too? Read on!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXihwu5ZcE5ZrV62OaRjkbbJ3heAWC2z79ZNON3YSAspmoeSUrEzxkdvgVXdtbiEaXIe_WWyoMUlKks1f75MiuqnoWUu7OED3D7C6mgwrkSmZw-vVotvAj7CzlaQ5OCmn1NkjpWEbe0U/s1600/DSCN7185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXihwu5ZcE5ZrV62OaRjkbbJ3heAWC2z79ZNON3YSAspmoeSUrEzxkdvgVXdtbiEaXIe_WWyoMUlKks1f75MiuqnoWUu7OED3D7C6mgwrkSmZw-vVotvAj7CzlaQ5OCmn1NkjpWEbe0U/s320/DSCN7185.JPG" width="320" /></a>Nancy's Meatloaf:<br />
1.5 lbs burger (beef or turkey or a mix works fine I've found)<br />
12 saltine crackers- crushed<br />
3/4 cup milk<br />
1 egg beaten<br />
1 tsp onion powder<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp garlic powder<br />
1 TBSP Worcester sauce<br />
1/4 tsp each- pepper, dry mustard, sage, celery salt, garlic salt<br />
Ketchup to top<br />
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In a bowl or 1 cup measure cup, place milk, Worcester sauce and egg. Mix well. In a large bowl place the burger, crackers, and seasonings. Now if you don't have all the seasoning on hand, it's ok. I for some reason didn't have everything either. I did have pepper and sage. I added 1/4 tsp more garlic powder instead of garlic salt, and I added roughly 1 tsp yellow mustard from the fridge since I couldn't find my dry mustard. And don't ask me where the celery salt went either? Seems like the pantry monster has been hungry around here lately, or maybe playing tricks on my by hiding my spices?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGDDQAmoUgHeXNmpjHzejqjxfpgVCuborsDFOw4jNz1itM72HYsaoe50Di5a1XGK5mH5Jel3DUyqbMVeXW75oDTzrXNrRL-PY_ouQ4_hptPCZkOLom0lNxfwBLYcZoDXqHCcqCZiUgFo/s1600/DSCN7190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGDDQAmoUgHeXNmpjHzejqjxfpgVCuborsDFOw4jNz1itM72HYsaoe50Di5a1XGK5mH5Jel3DUyqbMVeXW75oDTzrXNrRL-PY_ouQ4_hptPCZkOLom0lNxfwBLYcZoDXqHCcqCZiUgFo/s200/DSCN7190.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsiCY1i4XY08BNhhpVqPk3zeoyTKlhMP8YjvkXPLPq7HRE2CQNWgsp2EqJMgoSue0KsqtfCPqnl6g14NYAS0kRiOokW1yEknBwqwJqjyYXrAKrgrCaHldFNBI4u-cEEvoURA0onbCwJo/s1600/DSCN7189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsiCY1i4XY08BNhhpVqPk3zeoyTKlhMP8YjvkXPLPq7HRE2CQNWgsp2EqJMgoSue0KsqtfCPqnl6g14NYAS0kRiOokW1yEknBwqwJqjyYXrAKrgrCaHldFNBI4u-cEEvoURA0onbCwJo/s200/DSCN7189.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Next comes the messy part, Mixing. Dump the milk mix into the meat and spices and mix away. I do this with my hands, it's the best way I've found to make sure everything gets mixed well. If you choose to use a spoon that's fine too. Just make sure it's mixed up really well. Next take out a 9x13 pan and grease it well. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJGA8BTwAluxeQGuae-GjThfsnc57IFT9HLDXTp9SkV3G1hEapJuXqmTMmDpprvCbQkolKboGkRnhvT57NMELuKpYHECfPTNWuE69T8wTu8YykwklDB-w3d-cxTinmMsn-eC2aNDDO6E/s1600/DSCN7192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJGA8BTwAluxeQGuae-GjThfsnc57IFT9HLDXTp9SkV3G1hEapJuXqmTMmDpprvCbQkolKboGkRnhvT57NMELuKpYHECfPTNWuE69T8wTu8YykwklDB-w3d-cxTinmMsn-eC2aNDDO6E/s320/DSCN7192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Spread your meat mixture in the pan and shape it into a loaf. You can also grease muffin tins and fill them with the meat mix and have mini meat loafs too. The kids love that. My friend Nancy uses a special silicone heart pan she bought for a special, always requested valentines meatloaf dinner. Hey have fun with it, the more creative, the more kids like it right?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4srwvq1ijAS4SwwM6BmIi3hkiClJVocL8cX1SnSl-sZlnA6jqNaFou4yx1vEdTAPgi0z-RDODKO-w5XVagd690-HeG1pmsBb3rUxAi4K7SADO0B9mLhbBt_zauHVQLkSLQ_yldZ56sOg/s1600/DSCN7193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4srwvq1ijAS4SwwM6BmIi3hkiClJVocL8cX1SnSl-sZlnA6jqNaFou4yx1vEdTAPgi0z-RDODKO-w5XVagd690-HeG1pmsBb3rUxAi4K7SADO0B9mLhbBt_zauHVQLkSLQ_yldZ56sOg/s320/DSCN7193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Once you have your loaf, squirt ketchup over the top of it. Place it in a preheated 350* </div><div style="text-align: center;">oven and let it bake for 1.5 hours. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTKqznaFTkZB5l1RWGGHgaXnJlOd9I8FEuG1_IoC5X_OFdbzh8-PO9h916jDuJaQDdx1XoMV94OEXFU5BSrEFR43XzJdUiv6NjLMbIXgIVczeCOLqOuHaf0A53W-VszHO8g5Txce6tBM/s1600/DSCN7194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTKqznaFTkZB5l1RWGGHgaXnJlOd9I8FEuG1_IoC5X_OFdbzh8-PO9h916jDuJaQDdx1XoMV94OEXFU5BSrEFR43XzJdUiv6NjLMbIXgIVczeCOLqOuHaf0A53W-VszHO8g5Txce6tBM/s320/DSCN7194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here is mine all snug in the oven! We had baked potatoes and squash with it as you can see. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> Nothing like all the mess in the oven baking while I play with the kids! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuCXAhHsXBUlUgcMGfHNu3KPxktT7ZalsT-Uw84aaBTeGock4pl8jZU90KZkT2Gho1ZwT4qow_OjIpAuoDj7CRHMNwhmDMWpgMtfaWV-RstXy9vgyJSJnTLCae3YQKNdTEk4-LR73U0Q/s1600/DSCN7195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuCXAhHsXBUlUgcMGfHNu3KPxktT7ZalsT-Uw84aaBTeGock4pl8jZU90KZkT2Gho1ZwT4qow_OjIpAuoDj7CRHMNwhmDMWpgMtfaWV-RstXy9vgyJSJnTLCae3YQKNdTEk4-LR73U0Q/s320/DSCN7195.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">How can you say no to a slice of meatloaf? This recipe is amazing and always comes out moist. Thank you Nancy for sharing your recipe with me! It's a family favorite here.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-9760997042140659372011-10-23T14:46:00.001-05:002011-10-23T14:47:02.214-05:00Mystery Meat Meal?I've told you about our <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/09/busy-busy-busy.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">mystery noodles</span> </a>before, well this is all about the meat! Now when I say mystery meat, I don't mean the package of stuff you pulled out of the freezer but have no clue what it is because you forgot to mark it or it's so freezer burnt it's not recognizable. I've found stuff like that before, trust me it's just best to toss that stuff! But have you every had a package of meat in the fridge or freezer and you're wondering what should I make out of this? Any time I have that, I use this recipe. Oh and the other thing I love about this recipe, it's a crock pot meal! I love my crock pot. I dump all the stuff in it in the morning, and by dinner I have a cooked meal with very little work. This is perfect for a busy day or one that you don't feel like cooking. It saves us from heading out for pizza or fast food too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3I5foqy3195tsQZr2NCtOGXiqg7pyj-Cs3olASXdsr0S-KqqFd3TmDlSUqU7vidXrCFt6R2aLjn-F1V8DG5rOsxJO6cLbrlFZM_BA7VmYhrAPhSE2JU2igQOkGQb8rCNBfAjsEznrw4w/s1600/DSCN7215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3I5foqy3195tsQZr2NCtOGXiqg7pyj-Cs3olASXdsr0S-KqqFd3TmDlSUqU7vidXrCFt6R2aLjn-F1V8DG5rOsxJO6cLbrlFZM_BA7VmYhrAPhSE2JU2igQOkGQb8rCNBfAjsEznrw4w/s320/DSCN7215.JPG" width="320" /></a><b>Country (mystery meat) crock pot dinner</b>:<br />
1 package of meat- this time I used pork chops<br />
1 can cream of something soup- I used mushroom<br />
1 soup can of water <br />
1/4 cup chopped onion<br />
4-5 med peeled, cut carrots<br />
3-4 med cut up potatoes<br />
1 tsp season salt<br />
1/4 tsp pepper<br />
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In medium or large crock pot place soup, water and seasoning. Mix well. Add in your meat. This can be anything. This time around I used pork. But I've made it with thin beef steaks, ground burger, chicken or even turkey. They all work. If I'm making chicken or turkey I use cream of chicken soup in stead of mushroom soup.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyCJiT2G94roXWSUO4pIFk8JK8scZJB_UnhRZFZWfN1PdhwR7sqaELHbVh-L6wks5ApPi8iXZir4lwzn_AYEgYn02IGn7seZ7cnOxaMhJjqGcZdxxMc1LcACCYBxe47APGRl8VI_5l4I/s1600/DSCN7216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyCJiT2G94roXWSUO4pIFk8JK8scZJB_UnhRZFZWfN1PdhwR7sqaELHbVh-L6wks5ApPi8iXZir4lwzn_AYEgYn02IGn7seZ7cnOxaMhJjqGcZdxxMc1LcACCYBxe47APGRl8VI_5l4I/s320/DSCN7216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next chop some onions and toss them into the soup and meat mix. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQqm-aAV16XOea-GljOT9pELJbU27xa_SOzN9Xp7bHCw6dvWGjZeGFFVcuF-9WdxRNWMTEh5uIcvdR87kiSOCXzkAZ106XgOlnnxXPHsPYKpw3ToaPCTEU0FZopS0DZbrEG_d5qThmo8/s1600/DSCN7218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQqm-aAV16XOea-GljOT9pELJbU27xa_SOzN9Xp7bHCw6dvWGjZeGFFVcuF-9WdxRNWMTEh5uIcvdR87kiSOCXzkAZ106XgOlnnxXPHsPYKpw3ToaPCTEU0FZopS0DZbrEG_d5qThmo8/s320/DSCN7218.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Do you hate chopping onions? This one was really bad and made even Bacon Jr cry while he was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework. But what I really hate is when my hands smell like onions for DAYS afterward. Want to know a trick to get rid of the smell? When you are done cutting, wash your hands with a spoon. I put some soap on my hands, grab a spoon and scrub away. Then rinse like normal. Takes the smell away every time. This works with a lot of things, I wash my hands like this after I use peppers or garlic too. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UOu9p49k8v73uphospAxtigJ8V1K6RjjDyfnhpnfH-OW9v-yt32MZ1pwIUmZDUr4D92Uq11THi7FiZvRzOSC_yywVwl6tYui-7CXxWMxXzoA4Ux5OIZxKsCRZJMo-jTei_yvo3XMMB0/s1600/DSCN7220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UOu9p49k8v73uphospAxtigJ8V1K6RjjDyfnhpnfH-OW9v-yt32MZ1pwIUmZDUr4D92Uq11THi7FiZvRzOSC_yywVwl6tYui-7CXxWMxXzoA4Ux5OIZxKsCRZJMo-jTei_yvo3XMMB0/s320/DSCN7220.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Cover and turn the crock pot on high. This recipe calls to cook this on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours. So adjust your time as needed. When I'm about 2-3 hours out from when I want to eat I add the veggies. You can add this right away if you are cooking it on low too. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUQ_JD5-1rt6xrIYh2nhpcIfHonf5V7ExhTvOUdonrBI1MmsAO_LJhXLmhLXb7MVDKm4F0-_3EUEY7T0FaFQ6ch6-CX3jYvWj2XB-qQ0WaMfC9LPCmvAHbrjLu9tFR0YpHD94T_0ayKw/s1600/DSCN7223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUQ_JD5-1rt6xrIYh2nhpcIfHonf5V7ExhTvOUdonrBI1MmsAO_LJhXLmhLXb7MVDKm4F0-_3EUEY7T0FaFQ6ch6-CX3jYvWj2XB-qQ0WaMfC9LPCmvAHbrjLu9tFR0YpHD94T_0ayKw/s320/DSCN7223.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I cut my peeled carrots into little carrot coins and toss them in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvbqkxgofwXDy90xsM572gJ0vQDQf3PYFdIJj4mIcBbQrETGE2KfF4rdVXM-lyC8K1nzPFwFJ3nrx01Pbxfngziy-OtCg-gogpj4Nmk_dk_2H-6t3oxpDvlQZpmAAxWMkMTeNSalXCI0/s1600/DSCN7224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvbqkxgofwXDy90xsM572gJ0vQDQf3PYFdIJj4mIcBbQrETGE2KfF4rdVXM-lyC8K1nzPFwFJ3nrx01Pbxfngziy-OtCg-gogpj4Nmk_dk_2H-6t3oxpDvlQZpmAAxWMkMTeNSalXCI0/s320/DSCN7224.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Potatoes get chopped as well. It's up to you if you'd like to peel them, I don't since that's where all the good stuff is and the kids eat the peels and don't even know it's good for them! You can add other veggies if you'd like, use up what ever you have so it doesn't go to waste. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY-M64ihdey2MKeMvN9uF0OhZQRiKRG5UmybFVy2FnZdHw778RC0A9ZicrX2YMr7rahMqJmnrzFJHnSHUDXmTiD3sRdsLDwfyYIfrXluYNY7mVaWcMD_nHOSHjD2tuZRz60YOtztct9s/s1600/DSCN7225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY-M64ihdey2MKeMvN9uF0OhZQRiKRG5UmybFVy2FnZdHw778RC0A9ZicrX2YMr7rahMqJmnrzFJHnSHUDXmTiD3sRdsLDwfyYIfrXluYNY7mVaWcMD_nHOSHjD2tuZRz60YOtztct9s/s320/DSCN7225.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Toss them all in and give it a good mix around. Then put the lid back on. Let it cook until the meat and veggies are both done. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_jQXJ8LvEWqzTqipY354Vg1aZmOEQOLXHxei6GUNBak3XZirwLuARboXkz1A3Rrfe9JpI12K84llORNaaFE_Z-MpFF1LFUPfM4jPp-8PxrE4pOwO_NdTz384GvFD72BQkMIWmNPln7c/s1600/DSCN7226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_jQXJ8LvEWqzTqipY354Vg1aZmOEQOLXHxei6GUNBak3XZirwLuARboXkz1A3Rrfe9JpI12K84llORNaaFE_Z-MpFF1LFUPfM4jPp-8PxrE4pOwO_NdTz384GvFD72BQkMIWmNPln7c/s320/DSCN7226.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Yes sometimes I let it go long enough and everything is falling apart! It turns it more into a stew that way. Serve it with some fresh baked biscuits, toast or just buttered bread. Dinner is ready!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpSs-3G5xElaY2G90XdYCgixhN3WVoHb1pHzcURWSLcewK3cNN1wM0Mq63cXIDm51-YChs7Y732p45BqjovZdVfuaeXm9fU8vV7JJF9s9BWCsra9KHhRqu6urScADC_Tn2sjZHAtzkKo/s1600/DSCN7227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpSs-3G5xElaY2G90XdYCgixhN3WVoHb1pHzcURWSLcewK3cNN1wM0Mq63cXIDm51-YChs7Y732p45BqjovZdVfuaeXm9fU8vV7JJF9s9BWCsra9KHhRqu6urScADC_Tn2sjZHAtzkKo/s320/DSCN7227.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-87368875009840126412011-10-19T22:06:00.003-05:002011-10-28T13:17:14.415-05:00Planning, planning, planning- success once again (and still no dog food!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAi22dycKNe5dQrkg6dSAEUcCXqHqIAVZwYaoSgiOlmA0LglkYy0oCrY1jOOMxZCMXuAF0LDDgKY0K2Vh50hyphenhyphenkh1hlt9J4seOWmpCKueHi7Vm10L6JXVMDc-xZK_Zmy5LHvo1apibCajI/s1600/DSCN7214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAi22dycKNe5dQrkg6dSAEUcCXqHqIAVZwYaoSgiOlmA0LglkYy0oCrY1jOOMxZCMXuAF0LDDgKY0K2Vh50hyphenhyphenkh1hlt9J4seOWmpCKueHi7Vm10L6JXVMDc-xZK_Zmy5LHvo1apibCajI/s320/DSCN7214.JPG" width="240" /></a>I am honestly in shock, jaw dropping shock at the amount of people who viewed and shared my <a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-we-dont-eat-dog-food-around-here.html" style="color: #f1c232;">dog food post </a>about how we meal plan and grocery shop. It has inspired me to post once again about our every other week shopping trip. Yesterday was shopping day. Honestly I'm impressed by how well we did since it has been 3 weeks since a big shopping trip. I did manage to sneak in a gallon of milk and some bananas while picking up cold medicine last week but that was it! Yes our house had been plagued with some virus that has overstayed it's unwelcomed visit. Of course it would happen to be me that it decided it like the best and has been with me for over a week. Thankfully it's leaving! And since I was feeling better this past weekend Mr. Bacon and I sat down with a cup of joe and discussed our meal plan.<br />
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This time the kids didn't want to stick around to discuss our upcoming meal plan, I guess there was some big construction of lego garages in process in the basement! But before they headed to put on hard hats, we asked what meals they would like in the next two weeks. What did our charming kids request? You might be surprised to see for once tacos didn't make our meal plan list! However the other usual requests that made their way were pizza, pancakes, and spaghetti. I'm ok with that!<br />
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So what is our meal plan for the next two weeks?<br />
Here is the dinner meal plan. This went from Sunday October 16th- October 29th (yes we didn't grocery shop until Tuesday!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQoz375lriBMZ8xWwWEijnfJZvLM2K0WVXGC0EyOxRRbdr4b_Iclf6yTb_JtvlEWAhJwN_fnwpfJ0ymtajj-RgA4uoPNSNvZonDQqA4h3cIdjoTZLYGrcxXwvk3h7-0sh4HEBkbSH6so/s1600/DSCN7183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQoz375lriBMZ8xWwWEijnfJZvLM2K0WVXGC0EyOxRRbdr4b_Iclf6yTb_JtvlEWAhJwN_fnwpfJ0ymtajj-RgA4uoPNSNvZonDQqA4h3cIdjoTZLYGrcxXwvk3h7-0sh4HEBkbSH6so/s200/DSCN7183.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0akLYiKmw0ecTlAVZ-PxrhJ0Ps0l-CwTeT1xeU8wUsM7sEIeZkTugmv2BpHjhgy6TX6CVnqiKP2iY1GarpWbpCGC_77gOusz6-V2zg-OyRFRMHxIbFt86hE2zy9D9jX18HyPhg09DqM/s1600/DSCN7184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0akLYiKmw0ecTlAVZ-PxrhJ0Ps0l-CwTeT1xeU8wUsM7sEIeZkTugmv2BpHjhgy6TX6CVnqiKP2iY1GarpWbpCGC_77gOusz6-V2zg-OyRFRMHxIbFt86hE2zy9D9jX18HyPhg09DqM/s200/DSCN7184.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Week 1:<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/07/homemade-frozen-pizza.html" style="color: #f1c232;">homemade pizza</a> & garlic bread<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/07/moms-busy-have-tv-dinner.html" style="color: #f1c232;">Muffin tin meals</a> (a kid favorite on busy nights! Mr. Bacon, Bacon Bit and I had left over Chicken cordon blue that Mr. Bacon made the other night while I worked)<br />
*Chicken and noodles, peas<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/10/yesterdays-meatloaf-is-todays-sloppy.html" style="color: #f1c232;">Nancy's Meatloaf</a>, Baked potatoes, squash and corn<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2011/10/mystery-meat-meal.html"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Slow cooker country pork chops</span></a> (pork, potatoes, and carrots)<br />
*Lasagna, Salad, biscuits<br />
*Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo, bread sticks<br />
<br />
Week 2:<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/10/soup-inproves-with-age.html" style="color: #f1c232;">Veggie beef soup</a> and sandwiches<br />
*Beef Stroganoff over Mashed potatoes, Mixed Veggies<br />
*Chicken supreme and Normandy blend veggies<br />
*Baked potato bar, Soup (leftover)<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/07/make-your-own-mixes-and-save.html" style="color: #f1c232;">Pancakes</a> & Fresh fruit<br />
*<a href="http://baconinmypocket.blogspot.com/2010/10/im-still-aliveand-i-love-my-crockpot.html" style="color: #f1c232;">Ham and Hash brown bake</a>, Green beans<br />
*Spaghetti, Salad, & Garlic bread<br />
<br />
Breakfasts standards:<br />
muffins, eggs, pancakes, waffles, cereal, breakfast breads, toast<br />
<br />
Lunches standards:<br />
Leftovers, sandwiches, tuna, soup, hot dogs, homemade pizza<br />
<br />
Snacks that I have planned:<br />
Muffins, animal crackers (still working on that big tub we bought from Sam's Club!), homemade cookies, homemade granola bars, pudding, homemade yogurt, yogurt or pudding pops, fruit,<br />
<br />
Sounds pretty good right? Not too hard at all. Like normal breakfast, lunch and snacks around here are pretty laid back. It's more the dinner meals that I need to actually plan out. So now that we have the food planned, it was time to make my handy list. I NEVER go shopping with out one! It would be way too dangerous if I did. Now since my last post Mr. Bacon and I have decided to increase our every two week grocery budget by $10. That means we can spend up to $90 every 2 weeks on our everyday grocery needs. Remember we set out $40 a month for food from Sam's Club (and shop there every 3 months, so we spend about $120). This pretty much buys our meat, pizza supplies, and frozen veggies. So our monthly total for groceries for the 6 of us is now $220. <br />
<br />
On to the shopping trip!<br />
<br />
Ma Bacon's Shopping list with prices included:<br />
Onion powder- $.50<br />
seasoning salt-$1.68<br />
egg noodles -$1.68<br />
cream of chicken soup x 5-$5<br />
cream of mushroom soup -$1<br />
bacon -$3.98<br />
sour cream-$1.50<br />
shredded hash browns-$1.97<br />
shredded cheese $4.64<br />
spaghetti sauce-$1.33<br />
hot dogs-$ .88<br />
chicken deli lunch meat about 1# $5.10<br />
1 dozen eggs-$1.68<br />
2 packs margarine-$1.84<br />
potatoes 10# $3.28<br />
2# carrots-$1.12<br />
onion x1-$.91<br />
celery $1.28<br />
apples- $3.68<br />
2# bananas $1 <br />
grapes 2.5#- $4.20<br />
lettuce-$1.38<br />
squash -$3.83<br />
milk x 2 gallons $5.34<br />
2 loafs bread $3<br />
1 box cereal- $2.32<br />
2 frozen apple juice-$1.84<br />
1 box pudding mix -$1.08 <br />
corned beef x2- $1.56<br />
provolone sliced cheese-$3.38<br />
almond milk $2.99<br />
Creamer $1.99<br />
total on list: $76.96!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
what we bought that was not on the list:<br />
Mandarin oranges $1.66<br />
Mini recess pieces (for granola bars) $1.88 <br />
pail of vanilla ice cream $5.98 (we are having a party for Little Miss Bacon's 6th birthday soon!)<br />
hot dog buns $1.25<br />
<br />
Grand Total for 2 weeks Groceries $87.73<br />
<br />
Everything else we had in the house already for making the rest of our meals. Remember we picked up Ground beef, chicken breasts, and pork chops from Sam's Club. And the ham for the hash brown bake I found left over from Easter yet! Thank goodness I used my food saver, it looks as good as the day I packaged it! I love shopping my pantry and freezer first! It saves us so much money and that food we bought actually gets used before it expires.<br />
<br />
That wasn't a bad shopping trip. Especially since we lasted three weeks since our last one. I think having everyone in the house sick for a week helped our budget. No one felt like eating much, but I'd rather buy groceries than have everyone sick! I'm actually having fun doing the grocery shopping/ meal planning posts. I have a feeling they will continue more often in my future! I will be posting some recipes from a few of the meals on the menu plan too so please check back for those!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5739045348392297252.post-54749134489595356772011-10-18T06:55:00.000-05:002011-10-18T06:55:46.067-05:00Everything is better with Bacon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QLpBILr62_up_VQRcMGGJAG_gPvvfnXHW8NQuHW9LXTHzdChVlptfgzWmje8isIEUDk2qHJ7ZjzvGxihNlvYQnyiW3rsk1kxsHi0Bn3vpX-N99yaqlRLDnOU_yEwICu363xCSdK6SWY/s1600/DSCN7111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QLpBILr62_up_VQRcMGGJAG_gPvvfnXHW8NQuHW9LXTHzdChVlptfgzWmje8isIEUDk2qHJ7ZjzvGxihNlvYQnyiW3rsk1kxsHi0Bn3vpX-N99yaqlRLDnOU_yEwICu363xCSdK6SWY/s320/DSCN7111.JPG" width="240" /></a>Isn't that true? When you know something has bacon in it you just have to try it right?! I like to think of bacon as the candy of the meat world. Looking over our meal plan last week I noticed I had breakfast on the list again. This is fairly standard at our house. But I wanted something different than our usual pancakes or scrambled eggs. So I opted for a brunch time favorite, the egg bake! I hadn't made one in a while because there is some planning involved and honestly it's probably not the cheapest meal on our list, but it's delicious! I did manage to convert out the price from when I shopped so you can see just how much this meal costs. So if you want something different for your breakfast night, or just a great start to the day on the weekend this is it. Oh and it makes for a great Christmas morning meal too. I love to make this around the holidays or when we're entertaining, not only because of how good it is, but because it makes a lot too.<br />
<br />
Ma Bacon's Egg Bake<br />
<br />
1 lb breakfast sausage links, cooked and chopped ($1.50 per package)<br />
9 eggs- beaten (at the time cost was $1.12 for 9 eggs)<br />
3 cups milk ( About a 1/3 of a gallon- $.97)<br />
9 slices bread (day old is perfect!) cut into cubes (about 1/2 loaf-$ .75)<br />
2 cups shredded cheese, I use co-jack by any cheddar type is fine (Lucky to find it on sale for $2)<br />
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled ($1.50)<br />
Dash of salt and pepper to taste<br />
<br />
Total cost for this meal: $7.84<br />
Of course this all varies depending on where you live and if you can find things on sale, but not too bad considering it makes a 9x13 pan (cut it into 15 pieces) and for the 6 of us we got both dinner and breakfast out of it. That was with Bacon Jr. eating 3 full pieces for dinner! Yes he's going though a growth spurt, I don't even what to know what it will be like to feed 3 teenage boys in a few years!<br />
<br />
Back to baking... First take a 9x13 pan and grease it generously. Next, it's time to get that bacon and sausage cooking!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1SIk2xaJ1VcETGXIm_Z44euRUiQ6fWRgxo74XgBsowE_MuNFq4JW8S47160Ux31gLx2SkX3IYcj7qX9Lsn4R6wROk6o_lfhky1BMZLiIWw_o0Sr9XKZRiCG7mhUyDHt0b4zz7ua5WCM/s1600/DSCN7115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1SIk2xaJ1VcETGXIm_Z44euRUiQ6fWRgxo74XgBsowE_MuNFq4JW8S47160Ux31gLx2SkX3IYcj7qX9Lsn4R6wROk6o_lfhky1BMZLiIWw_o0Sr9XKZRiCG7mhUyDHt0b4zz7ua5WCM/s200/DSCN7115.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ehdNKEbL4R3tPzjwI_N9ZqNb6cc1b3Gc2MVppow_9qRpgGw46HenGR7BAZSNt4b3VDdWQS4ZOc0_A-3JSyLO6jQ1Ta5CJgTkLRawjm6ejRehL4IgF8gz-RY_PZEHPCBbL870b9jgnD0/s1600/DSCN7113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ehdNKEbL4R3tPzjwI_N9ZqNb6cc1b3Gc2MVppow_9qRpgGw46HenGR7BAZSNt4b3VDdWQS4ZOc0_A-3JSyLO6jQ1Ta5CJgTkLRawjm6ejRehL4IgF8gz-RY_PZEHPCBbL870b9jgnD0/s200/DSCN7113.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
I love my handy microwave bacon cooker, it saves me so much time! Once they are cooled cut or crumble them into small pieces and set them aside. Dig out a large mixing bowl and add your eggs, milk, salt and pepper to it, and beat it until everything is mixed. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDSGAg27pSE4Rcvo6Dr2-n4aiWpWJcPMFNJ4_fK3pKi3NLZCkBOgVeiWz__zNAlepVJO0corprdqhuwoGDLFDxEqiv4tMVAsQnVgbXg-OCJpCgCTNqapg2Pr8xokzG9JR4LPm0pyEJK0/s1600/DSCN7109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDSGAg27pSE4Rcvo6Dr2-n4aiWpWJcPMFNJ4_fK3pKi3NLZCkBOgVeiWz__zNAlepVJO0corprdqhuwoGDLFDxEqiv4tMVAsQnVgbXg-OCJpCgCTNqapg2Pr8xokzG9JR4LPm0pyEJK0/s320/DSCN7109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Now it's time for the bread. I used cheap bread for this recipe. Any works well and its a great way to use up that bread that is getting stale or the butts that no one seems to want to eat in this house. Take the 9 slices and cut them into small cubes. Add them to the egg mixture. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TYEPS9QNxN_r3oadbNxYWU4Y6UxDl89OGi-43gIjDoinTcNRxuIlD532rWsjHHThCDUmqUK1xBmQnMubMGDBTqLAIs080-bAJjxi9aouFI5VyOJV4pR_jwi__jgSoaPPwkZ5ve3Kqgg/s1600/DSCN7114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TYEPS9QNxN_r3oadbNxYWU4Y6UxDl89OGi-43gIjDoinTcNRxuIlD532rWsjHHThCDUmqUK1xBmQnMubMGDBTqLAIs080-bAJjxi9aouFI5VyOJV4pR_jwi__jgSoaPPwkZ5ve3Kqgg/s200/DSCN7114.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAaJcwG2RoB24PdZJ0xmTTxRMLkz9T2nvoPzlIqJ2euhcjOUgmhrlhAKjF2vqjb3uSe7nxKNh1e5hyphenhyphenGu0bP7uk8WisKysTLdA_Q1PLcTLu_hAcI4SHsdndq933FrJ2srhgf4ujlc_eq0/s1600/DSCN7116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAaJcwG2RoB24PdZJ0xmTTxRMLkz9T2nvoPzlIqJ2euhcjOUgmhrlhAKjF2vqjb3uSe7nxKNh1e5hyphenhyphenGu0bP7uk8WisKysTLdA_Q1PLcTLu_hAcI4SHsdndq933FrJ2srhgf4ujlc_eq0/s320/DSCN7116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Next add in the sausage, bacon and 1.5 cups of the cheese. Mix this well in the bowl and then dump it into your greased 9x13 pan. Take the remaining cheese and sprinkle it over the top.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinY7pbzxpK8gWmCgyqBTyxjfN2scS91ZXaDjdIPNJqJdO1ytRkdjP7iTKr_ruIuHFlu9pTXxaMJJhUnvGbuR2Z91M249AKDS9u0qccZ-UHyJ08hx0wLT2L3PRuiDl-q3YFEc6ItU0nGsY/s1600/DSCN7117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinY7pbzxpK8gWmCgyqBTyxjfN2scS91ZXaDjdIPNJqJdO1ytRkdjP7iTKr_ruIuHFlu9pTXxaMJJhUnvGbuR2Z91M249AKDS9u0qccZ-UHyJ08hx0wLT2L3PRuiDl-q3YFEc6ItU0nGsY/s320/DSCN7117.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Now here is where your planning comes in. The recipe calls for the egg mixture to sit 8 hours to over night in the fridge. So you need to plan for this. Honestly, I have made this and tossed it in the fridge for 3-4 hours before baking and it turned out just fine. In fact that is what I did the day I made this. I'm not sure the whole point of leaving it in there that long, but if you have the time to make it up the night before go for it. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzKrhhP1RRoZr90dyZm939-mkuV6hLBo0bFPGWFlG-6f0Las_8mKJvKtt4XwbPzJNxX1WPMmIkuEVtyKH25H-MNIk8nJhXXU4_rjvu_rwbmQjHCjBJOEG57JxQNOuNF7UBhKGtkcUo70/s1600/DSCN7118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzKrhhP1RRoZr90dyZm939-mkuV6hLBo0bFPGWFlG-6f0Las_8mKJvKtt4XwbPzJNxX1WPMmIkuEVtyKH25H-MNIk8nJhXXU4_rjvu_rwbmQjHCjBJOEG57JxQNOuNF7UBhKGtkcUo70/s320/DSCN7118.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Take it out of the fridge and toss it into a cold oven. No preheating here or you might break your pan if it's glass. Turn the oven on to 350* and bake for 60 minutes. The egg bake should be fluffy and nice golden brown on top. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes on the counter before cutting and serving. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVf8bT2du0tf3br-5jMAs3gei92uI8ST7-hFE_GHBeYetdWm0EqSf_v2w81oYCY93yeSPtKFXfpStxdAI2p74y5_SWt-iWWehyphenhyphen5wVNv4WE7CgwrUxRHkH4a5WOjO7MVXXnHyuhbsxU5w/s1600/DSCN7142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVf8bT2du0tf3br-5jMAs3gei92uI8ST7-hFE_GHBeYetdWm0EqSf_v2w81oYCY93yeSPtKFXfpStxdAI2p74y5_SWt-iWWehyphenhyphen5wVNv4WE7CgwrUxRHkH4a5WOjO7MVXXnHyuhbsxU5w/s320/DSCN7142.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> The kids when crazy for this. At first Little boy Bacon wasn't so sure on it. It had been a while since I had made it last, but even he had a few pieces for dinner. We served it with some toast and fresh fruit. <br />
Made a great dinner meal, and wonderful leftovers the next morning for breakfast I love it when I can make 2 meals at once! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pOy-TgC9ELMjRFHwcRRURgHODVefl3HivxE-AH92wJWsXtAOHjJRN4d2a82rztvfrtDpBsPuG16-xvjqJOO02iefevYYB82kgrIeikGKA3p-VnxXkHTN5Co0WMm0UrHM5Dmfi-x-12w/s1600/DSCN7148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pOy-TgC9ELMjRFHwcRRURgHODVefl3HivxE-AH92wJWsXtAOHjJRN4d2a82rztvfrtDpBsPuG16-xvjqJOO02iefevYYB82kgrIeikGKA3p-VnxXkHTN5Co0WMm0UrHM5Dmfi-x-12w/s320/DSCN7148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0