Archives for December 2017

Make Ahead Classic Green Bean Casserole

Classic green bean casserole is part of my family’s holiday tradition. How about yours? Yes, I thought so! For some people, it is the dish they look forward to the most. When making a big family dinner with only one oven, though, timing is everything! It is super-hard to roast a turkey all day long while cooking this casserole and other sides. Something has to give. I was so grateful to discover a way to make the green bean casserole in advance and still have it taste as if it all happened at the same time the rest of the dinner was cooking. This method works well.

Make your green bean casserole hours in advance. Allow 45 minutes before serving to return it to the oven with the remaining onions on top. You will be amazed at how perfect it turns out.

Tip: feel free to make more than you expect your guests to eat the first night. Green bean casserole rewarms beautifully and you can enjoy it the next evening as well!

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ❤️

Make Ahead Classic Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients

2 16 oz. pkgs frozen cut green beans

2 cans Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 6 oz. can French’s crispy onions

Directions

Take packages of green beans out of the freezer and allow them sit, unopened, on the counter for an hour or two.

Tip: if you have never used your casserole dish for this recipe before, size it up. Just open the packages and put the green beans into it to assure that the dish is big enough. Now you are ready to go.

Using a large mixing bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup, milk and black pepper.

Blend well, using a large spoon.

Add the green beans and mix again.

Add ½ cup of crispy French’s fried onions and gently mix them in.

Pour the mixture into your casserole dish.

Bake on 350° for 1 hour.

Remove from oven.

Cool for 30 minutes then cover with foil and refrigerate. 45 minutes before dinner is ready to serve, add the rest of the fried onions to the top of the casserole and heat in the oven at 300°. Serves 8-10

Tip: if you must use the oven at a higher heat for making something last-minute, such as dinner rolls, just remove it till the oven is heated to that higher temperature. Return the casserole to the oven and leave it in until the rolls are ready.

Serving suggestion: tastes excellent with turkey, ham or prime rib. Twice-baked potatoes are a great complimentary side dish when serving green bean casserole!

Make-ahead classic green bean casserole - delicious! #recipes #foodie Share on X

Prime rib roast with twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole and yams!

Enjoy!

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Twice Baked Potatoes With Bacon Sour Cream and Cheddar Cheese

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Twice baked potatoes are a yummy variation of traditional baked potatoes. This easy recipe has pieces of real bacon, sour cream and butter in it with a thick topping of melted cheddar cheese. We served twice baked potatoes for a prime rib dinner along with classic green bean casserole, yams and warm baked dinner rolls. It was perfect!

If you don’t want cheddar cheese on top of your potato, crown it with a big dollop of sour cream instead. Another tasty variation, top it with both cheddar cheese and sour cream, too! It is all up to you.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links.❤️

My favorite twice baked potato recipe is the one with bacon in it.

Here is how you make it:

Twice Baked Potato Recipe With Bacon

Ingredients

10 baking potatoes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup Milk

2 T Butter

8-10 strips bacon, cooked

4 – 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Pre-cook the bacon and cool it.*

Tip: preparing the bacon in advance in the oven makes it so easy. I oven fried my bacon several days in prior to our big meal and froze it. When it was time to cook, I just counted out 10 strips and broke them by hand into pieces and put them in the saucepan.

Bake the potatoes on a baking sheet until they are done. [They will feel soft when you gently squeeze them.]

Using a knife, carve the top off of each potato.

Gently scrape out all of the insides and off of the top you carved off and put it it all into the saucepan.

The shell of the potato should be placed on the baking sheet and the top “lid” you took off gets thrown away.

Mash the potatoes and bacon pieces together a little with a fork to break up the big chunks.

Turn the burner on medium heat.

Add milk, sour cream and butter.

Mix with a spoon till butter is melted.

Whip the potato using an electric hand mixer on slow-medium speed.

Spoon the mixture into the shells.

Refrigerate them until 1 hour before serving.

One hour before dinner, put the baking sheet of filled potato shells in the oven on 300-375°*

Tip: you have flexibility with the heat here. You will notice that I had the dinner rolls in the oven at the same time. They were to be cooked for 15 minutes on 375° so, thought the potatoes started on lower heat, they were at the higher heat while the dinner rolls were baking.

Top them with cheddar cheese and return them to the oven right before your meal. Soon as the cheese is melted, remove them and serve.

Serves up to 10 people.

Tip: twice baked potatoes reheat very well. If you have leftovers, just refrigerate them in aluminum foil and have them for another meal.

Delicious and easy recipe for twice baked potatoes with bacon, sour cream, butter and cheddar - #yummy! #recipes #foodie Share on X

Do you make twice baked potatoes? What ingredients do you put in them?

Make-ahead green bean casserole is a perfect partner side-dish with twice baked potatoes!

Enjoy!

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Make it at home!

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop #257

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Merry Christmas! One final party for 2017 and then we start an exciting New Year! For this special year-end party, take a little extra time and visit some posts and comment on them! Receiving recognition for a job well-done is uplifting. Let’s give everyone a big boost as we show lots of luv to our friends!

And, before we start a new party, let’s take a look at our features…

Most Viewed

DIY Christmas Ornaments from Canning Lids and Rings – The [mis] Adventures of a Homesteadin’ Mama

Very Popular

Winter Hand Salve Recipe – Grandma’s House DIY

Running List For Christmas – Christmas Music To Run To – Moms Home Run

Love To Learn – We Made All Those Yummy Treats – Our Unschooling Journey

Editor’s Pick

6 Ways I’m Wrapping My Holiday Gifts This Year – Whitehouse Crafts

Let’s give our party hosts a great BIG gift this final week of 2017. If you are not already, follow them by email! Please go on over to their blogs and subscribe!

Email lists are dear to bloggers and it is very special when someone subscribes. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness! ♥

Simple Steps For Living Life

Hey #momblogger ... it's a party! Wonderful Wednesday has started! #WWBlogHop #BloggingGals Share on X

So let’s get this party started!

Please TWEET our party ♥ Use the hashtag #WWBlogHop
Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please.
Visit others. Let them know you’ve been there!
If you are NEW, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us what number they are?
NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a chance to be seen no matter when they arrive.
Thanks! ♥

Why Saying “Merry Christmas” Is So Special To Me

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“Merry Christmas!” I am so thrilled that it is OK to say “Merry Christmas” again. Wherever I go – the bank, the grocery store, the gas station – everybody is saying it! It is like they are trying out a new toy. Smiles are big. Joy is in the air. This is what Christmas should be like.

After all, we are celebrating the beginning of the best thing God ever did. He sent His Son to rescue us and bring us into a relationship with Him. And, to add to the good news, He has prepared a “forever-home” for us in heaven. I love that! Celebrating Jesus’ birth is bigger than a big deal and I am going to say “Merry Christmas” more than ever in celebration.

Of all the things that Jesus came to do for us, I value the unexplainable peace He gives. His peace can be in our hearts all of the time, no matter what is going on around us.

Why saying Merry Christmas means so much! #Christmas #faith #peace Share on X

Do you know that it is possible to be saved and still not feel peace in our hearts? That is because of fear. Fear is a thief who steals our peace. People are aggravated, agitated and mouths are going a mile-a-minute with complaints, accusations and more complaints on top of that. I believe that most of that is rooted in fear. But Jesus came with an answer:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. ” Jesus said “Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 See? God’s peace is the remedy for fear.

At Christmas, we celebrate the very first day that Jesus came to live here. He was born as a baby in Bethlehem. That baby was sent with a mission to “seek and save that which was lost.” Like little lambs that went astray, He came to gather us up in His arms and bring us safely home. No strings attached, it is a free gift from God. We accept Him as our savior and receive His forgiveness for all of our sins – past, present and future – and then we get loads of fringe benefits from being in His family, too – one of which is peace.

Peace feels really good but how do we get it? We start by thinking about Him – all of the time – and agree with what He says. We must get our eyes off the circumstances and onto the Word of God. As we do, fear leaves and peace floods in. It works for me every time.

All of this has been on my mind because I was feeling anything but peaceful, lately. News junkie that I am, I have discovered that too much “news” is bad news! It had been robbing me of the peace that Jesus came to give. So, I turned off the radio and TV news – for the most-part – and now I think about things that are “good, true, pure, lovely and of a good report.” I am done with listening to the clamor and I have told the newsy scuttlebutt that it has to go. I am tuning in to God’s Word which lifts me up. Try it. It will lift you up, too!

So, “Merry Christmas my friends.” I will be taking a couple of days off to just relax and enjoy. Right now, as I write this, I am looking out the window at the beautiful fluffy white snow coming down. So pretty. Now that is peaceful! I will see you back here in just a few days, Tuesday night to be exact, for our weekly blog hop.

In the meantime, may…

“The Lord bless you and keep you.

May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace!” Numbers 6:24-26

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Enjoy!

….

Merry Christmas!

How to Control Clutter And Hoard No More!

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I am embarrassed to admit that candy was overtaking my house. I had some candy stashed in the kitchen. Some had overflowed into my office. A lot of candy bars were upstairs where I shoot the photos. It really was kind of frightening – candy was spreading everywhere!

Do you have something overtaking your house? Maybe books, kid’s toys, CDs, shoes, candles, beauty products, tools … name your clutter. These steps to clearing clutter work. They even work with electronic clutter – documents or e-mail messages. So let’s get started!

1.) Get it all in one place. Gather all your related clutter in one area.

2.) Trash the expired and the duplicates. Do you have magazines that are more than a year old? They are obsolete. Those jackets with giant shoulder pads from the 80s? Please. And do you need 10 yellow highlighters or 45 versions of a contract?

3.) Organize it. I grouped all the peanut butter candy, the coconut candy, and on and on. You can group all your e-mail about a project or all your anti-wrinkle creams. Group those dang financial papers. Group things so it makes sense to you and you can find items if you need them.

4.) Contain it. I am not a fan of buying fancy baskets to put stuff in. I’d rather just throw it away. But if you are going to keep things until you can go through them or for any length of time, they deserve a decent container. I bought a some cheap plastic see-through drawers to put the candy in. Do this with shoes that are out of season or papers that you want to keep. At least you will be able to see what is inside!

5.) Set limits on the inflow. My new rule is no more candy until there is space in the containers. I will get this clutter under control! I also do this with books. No more bookshelves! If I buy books, I have to get rid of books. This is also known as the “one in, one out” rule.

6.) Go through something every day. If you clear out the clutter a little bit every day, you will start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Your reward for all this? Stop can by my house and get some candy – please!

How to control clutter and hoard no more! #organizing #tips Share on X

Denise Ryan, MBA, CSP, is a motivational speaker who gives presentations filled with great real world tips and a strong dose of humor. Her website is http://www.firestarspeaking.com where you can see more articles and sign up for a free newsletter.

This blog contains affiliate links.♥

Enjoy!

5-Ingredient 15 Minute Steak With Mushroom Wine Sauce

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If you are looking for quick ‘n delicious dinner recipes, this 15 minute steak with mushroom wine sauce is the one!

This meal can be made in a jiffy. Now that our family has returned to a school schedule, I am so excited to have a great tasting steak recipe that doesn’t require a grill! Every moment saved is a blessing ♥ We love it and I think you will, too.

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥

5-Ingredient 15 Minute Steak with Mushroom Wine Sauce

Ingredients

4 rib eye steaks cut thin (1/2 inch)

3/4 cup cooking sherry

3 T salted butter

2-3 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray.

Heat on medium.

Add steaks, turning occasionally.

Remove to a plate.

Melt butter in skillet.

Add sherry, garlic powder and mushrooms.

Stir for about 3 minutes.

Plate the steaks.

Scoop mushrooms on top of each.

Ladle on some sauce.

5 Ingredient 15 minute steak recipe with mushrooms! #recipes #easydinners Share on X

As you can see, I served ours with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes. Those who follow a low carb diet will want to adjust the sides but this dish, itself, is very compatible with a low carbohydrate diet regimen.

5 ingredient recipes, 15 minute dinner recipes, steak recipes, low carb recipes

Do you have any quick and easy dinner recipes you can share with us?

Enjoy!

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop #256

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Welcome to our party!

With December 25th soon approaching, we at Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! We invite you to come back again next week for our New Year edition of our party. We will be partying straight through the holiday season and well on into 2018!

Here are the featured posts from last week’s party…

Most Viewed

Chicken Stuffed Garlic Bread – Lou Lou Girls

Very Popular

West Haven Chocolate Date Cake – Your Yum Recipes

6 Tips That Will Change The Way You Lose Weight – Life In Spandex

Best Christmas Squares Recipes – April J. Harris

Editor’s Pick

Holly Jolly Christmas Cake Pops – Every Little Thing

Let’s give our party hosts a great big gift for the holidays these two final weeks of 2017. If you are not already, follow them by email! Just go on over to their blogs and subscribe!

Email lists are near and dear to bloggers and it is very special when someone subscribes. Since it isn’t quite as simple as just following on social media, let’s do it for 2 weeks so that you have time to follow everybody’s blog. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness! ♥

Simple Steps For Living Life

Come to a party! Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop has started! #momblogger #WWBlogHop Share on X

So let’s get this party started!

Please TWEET our party ♥ Use the hashtag #WWBlogHop
Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please.
Visit others. Let them know you’ve been there!
If you are NEW, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us what number they are?
NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a chance to be seen no matter when they arrive.
Thanks! ♥

Best Puzzles Preschoolers Love To Do With No Frustration

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Preschoolers love doing puzzles but some puzzles don’t love them back. I have watched dozens of 3 and 4 year olds eagerly tackle puzzles in my classroom and I can say without exception that some puzzles are better than others. A few just need to be thrown away! Here are some puzzles for preschoolers that they will love and play with over and over again.

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥

There is one puzzle that, if it were not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles puzzle, I would have thrown away a long time ago. My kids love TMNT so I don’t have the heart to part with it – yet.

I bought the puzzle from a discount store for one dollar. Typically the puzzles at that store are great but this one is impossible. It is one of those flat puzzles that you make on its own board, which is a style that is very good for young children.

This particular puzzle’s design, though, was very poorly done. The edges of the puzzle do not match the body of the puzzle at all. There is no way to find clues to which piece goes where. It does have the shapes etched out on the cardboard but it is so frustrating that few of my children stick with it to the end.

A similar puzzle in my collection did hit the “circular file” I gladly pitched it right into garbage can! The puzzle had the design lightly printed on the cardboard base, which is perfect for preschoolers, except they printed the WRONG PICTURE on it! My kids are smart. Whenever one of them would grab this puzzle from the cupboard and recognized that it was the one with the misprint, it was pushed aside for another selection. I don’t like throwing anything away but this one was just taking up precious storage space. It was time for it to go.

24 Piece Puzzles Are Great For Preschoolers

My preschoolers love the 24 piece puzzles that you just pour out onto the table and look at the picture on the box. I have at least a dozen of them featuring all sorts of popular characters like Princess Sophia, Winnie the Pooh and Toy Story. By the end of the school year, nearly everybody can make them without help. The beginning of the school year is a different story. My class includes 3 and 4 year olds. Three year olds are at various levels of development. Some are just not ready for a 24 piece challenge.

Colorful Jigsaw Puzzles With 2-8 Pieces Are Great For Little Puzzle Playing Beginners

Wanting everyone to have frustration-free fun making puzzles, I ordered some new simpler ones that I love …. and so do they! Some were from The Learning Journey and some were made by Galt.

Both brands of puzzles have large pieces, which are easy for little hands to work with. I love the adorable cartoony pictures! The colors are vibrant and the pieces are very durable.

Find the perfect jigsaw puzzles that your #preschoolers will love! #kids #ece Share on X

In each case, all four puzzles come mixed together in the same box. There are puzzles of very few pieces – 2 or 4 pieces – on up to 8 piece puzzles. Perfect! What I love about The Learning Journey’s puzzles is that there are numbers on the back of the puzzle pieces that correspond to the number of pieces in the puzzle.

So, if you are making the 2-piece Ocean theme puzzle (which is this adorable sea turtle) you just look on the backs and find the two pieces with the number “2” on them. It helps my little kiddos learn to identify numbers, too. I bought the Ocean set and the four Dinosaurs puzzles, too.

The Galt brand puzzles do not have that, which is really too bad, however the pictures on the puzzles are so distinctive that it is simple to sort through to find which ones go together. [For instance, in the Farm set you just look for cows or pigs or lambs or chickens on the pieces. It is quick.] I bought both the Farm set which includes puzzles with 4, 6, 8 and 12 pieces and so does their 4 in a box Vehicles puzzles.

Picking Out The Right Puzzles For Preschoolers

Types of puzzles that are best for young children vary. Here a some of the most popular styles:

24 cardboard pieces in a box
Cardboard jigsaw puzzles
Wooden jigsaw puzzles
Large piece 4 in a Box The Learning Journey puzzles
Large piece Galt Brand puzzles for preschoolers
Floor puzzles

Do your children like puzzles? What are their favorites?

This blog contains affiliate links. ♥

Enjoy!

…….

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party

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It’s time for Happiness Is Homemade Link Party!

This is the final Happiness is Homemade Link Party for 2017! It’s been a blast partying with you all and seeing everyone’s awesome posts.

As this is the last party of the year, here is a challenge for you! Let’s make this one be the best one yet – in addition to linking up your most fabulous posts, share our party on your social media to let everyone know you party with the best. Be sure to check out this week’s features below. Send some love their way, let them know you saw their post on Happiness is Homemade.

From all of the hostesses, we hope your holiday season is filled with love, memories, family, friends, and good food! Going into the New Year, we wish you health, happiness, and peace.

Happiness is Homemade Link Party will return in January 2018!!

Check out this week’s features

How cute is this Snowman Bath Bomb from Domestic Deadline? Great gift idea for sure but the best part, to me, is that this is a NO-SEW project! Besides the fact that I don’t sew, this project is perfect for kids to help make.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year to bake and I can’t wait to try Burlap and Blue’s recipe for The Best Gingerbread Cookies. I love how Linda cut the cookies out in snowflakes and added royal icing.

I don’t know about you, but during the holidays I need quick meals that are filling and don’t require much work. These Mini Meatball Parm Sliders from Living La Vida Holoka fit the bill perfectly. Easy to prep and cooks in less than 30 minutes.

If you’re an Eggnog lover, than this one is for you. Make your own Thick and Tasty Holiday Eggnog with Comfort Spring’s recipe. It looks so festive and yummy!

Finally, I have chosen a “two-fer”: Gifts that Keep Giving ideas from Rain on a Tin Roof make perfect holiday gifts plus some of them are monthly gifts (subscriptions) so going into the New Year, you can still be putting smiles on faces of those you love. If you’re like me and forget birthdays or other special occasions, this is perfect for setting up in advance of those dates. Get organized in 2018!

I hope you enjoy the features this week. Let us know in the comments which one is your favorite!

Happiness is Homemade Holiday Round Up from your Hostesses

In case you missed seeing the links from the Happiness is Homemade Hostesses, here they are again.

The hostesses of Happiness is Homemade are sharing a few of their favorite holiday posts. From recipes to crafts to decorating your home, there is something for all.

Happiness is Homemade Holiday Round Up from your Hostesses

Hershey Candy Cane Sugar Cups Gingerbread Biscotti Yummy Sweet Potato Casserole The Perfect Turkey Dinner Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies Gingerbread House Rudolph Noses Soft Gingerbread Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

DIY Holiday Scented Pine Cones Pasta Angel Ornament Pine Cone Wreath Grandinroad Hack Pallet Project TMNT Hand Print Ornament DIY Advent Calendar Tutorial for Making Christmas Lollipops All Natural Winter Dry Skin Lotion Recipe Three Christmas Napkin Folds Decorating the Mantle with Lights and Garland

10 Steps to Creating a Debt Free Holiday Spending Plan Party Planning How to Combat Holiday Stress Before it Starts 7 Reasons to Eat More Chocolate Chip Cookies

To check out any of the Happiness Is Homemade hostess’ blogs, simply click on our picture below to be taken directly to our personal blogs!

The Happiness Is Homemade Hostesses

Follow our Pinterest board! All of the features are pinned on the Happiness is Homemade Board!

The rules are really simple! Make sure you visit a few other blogs and make some new friends along the way. Feel free to link up your favorite recipes, crafts or your latest DIY project. We want you you share it all! As always, please make sure to follow your hosts and co-hosts!! Link up your posts, make some friends, and earn the chance to be featured at Happiness Is Homemade Link Party! We will feature the favorite posts each week!

Disclaimer: Adding your link to this link party gives permission to all 12 Hosts, along with any co-hosts, guest hosts, and participants of Happiness Is Homemade, to share your posts and pictures via social media and as features, roundups, etc. with an explicit link back to your original source. Therefore, linking up you agree to allow us to use your images on each of our blogs in features relating to Happiness is Homemade Link Party.

An InLinkz Link-up