Super Supper-Sausage and Cream Cheese Bake

Today was one of those crazy busy days, you know the ones when you get so much done you finally just crash and think “what was I thinking?!”. There’s no need to be jealous. I don’t have many of these days, it’s just that I’ve been sick for so long (battling the flu) that I felt like there were a million things I needed to catch up on; the main one being spending fun time with my girls!

After I got the laundry going we did a little painting. After painting we played “school” with two new preschooler learning games I whipped up: the alphabet wheel, to help solidify letter recognition and counting cards, to start working on number recognition and counting objects.

When those things got old we baked cookies, went to buy a birthday gift, and finally to family’s house to visit.

Whew! Can you say B.U.S.Y.?

Anyway, I was pooped and more than pleased when DH said he kind of felt like breakfast for supper because that means one thing in my mind-EASY!

I threw together one of our favorite things and I hope it becomes one of your favorite things too :o)

Ingredients:

*1 can refrigerated croissants

*1 stick sausage (I use mild, but you use whatever you like)

*1 package cream cheese or Neaufchatel cheese; softened (I like the latter because it’s slightly lower in calories)

Directions:

*Brown the sausage and drain.

*Blend the softened cheese of your choice in well with the browned and drained sausage.

*Spread this mixture over the *unrolled croissants* and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.

***I starred “unrolled croissants” because there are several ways you can do this part. The original recipe I got this idea from called them “spirals” because they suggested that you roll the entire can of croissants out and spread the sausage mixture over it, roll it up (length wise), put it in the freezer for several minutes, slice into circular pieces, lay on a baking sheet, and bake. However, I found this to be a pain in the you-know-what so I cheat and simple lay out half of the can of croissants and press the seams together. I spread the mixture on top and then lay the other half on top and bake. However you decide to do it is totally up to you, and heck, you may come up with your own way. But no matter what, the recipe doesn’t change and it’s crazy good to be so simple!

I served this with basic scrambled eggs :o)

Enjoy!

Super Supper-Chicken Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Tonight is the first of what I hope to continue in a “Super Supper” series. See, here’s the thing. I’m no great chef and I’m not all that great at following recipes. What I AM good at is taking what I have and creating something my family enjoys. Tonight, I did just that and thought I would share. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :o)

Okay, so the ingredients:

*skinless boneless chicken breasts (I used 2)

*1/2 can of evaporated milk (I use this instead of heavy whipping cream, much less fattening)

*jarred pesto

*garlic powder, black pepper, chicken Worcestershire sauce

*butter

*noodles of your choice (I used Farfalle *aka* “butterfly” or “bow tie” whole wheat pasta)

Now, in one pot I got my noodles boiling. In another I mixed the evaporated milk, slab of butter, a couple of tablespoons of pesto, and a healthy sprinkling of black pepper, and let that simmer together while I cooked the chicken.

In a skillet I melted a small pat of butter and placed the chicken breasts on top. I sprinkled them with a good dose of garlic powder, black pepper, and chicken Worcestershire. To make it cook faster and so I wouldn’t have to do it later I cut the chicken into bite size pieces. (If I had had some red and/or yellow peppers I would have sliced them long ways and added them!)

When the chicken was done I poured the sauce mixture over the top, drained the noodles and also added them to the skillet. I mixed it all well and sprinkled the top with a little more black pepper and an Italian blend of shredded cheeses.

Super supper, super simple!

Because DH has to have all soft stuff right now after having all four of his wisdom teeth removed yesterday I did croissant rolls as the side instead of a veggie. Bad me, I know. But, DH needed it and we’re all bread feigns so *shrugs* sue me. Steamed broccoli, green beans, or asparagus would have set this off perfectly!

To spice up regular refrigerated croissants I added a small dollop of pesto to the inside of the rolls and sprinkled them with garlic. YUMMO!!!! I will DEFINITELY be doing this again! I’m a bit ashamed to say that every single one of us ate two………even the 3 year olds, OOPS! LOL

Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

With so much going on here lately I’ve not had a chance to post about the girls’ 3^rd birthday party!

You’ll be happy to know that it went without a hitch and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the final results. Everything was adorable, the sleepover went amazingly well, and most importantly my identical twin girls were as pleased as punch :o)

Since I posted in detail on my WTE blog I’ll save my fingers the workout and post links here instead of rehashing the whole thing-check ‘em out! You’ll be glad you did………….

·         The adorable personalized invitations

·         Decorations and the cake

·         The menu with pics

I can't believe my baby girls are three AND I can't wait to find out what they'll be into next year :o)

The Twincesses Turn 3

I am still in shock, so bear with me as I process the news that my baby girls are actually 3 years old now! I don’t know what happened. Where did the time go? It really seems like just a few months ago that we were bringing their tiny selves home from the hospital and here they are, looking at me with very grown up 3 year old big brown eyes.

We celebrated the day of their birthday by taking them to Memphis to see their Nana and Granddaddy at the hospital and then to Incredible Pizza.

When we got to the hospital they got presents and cupcakes. They were over the moon with the new princess costumes and night gowns they got and licked the cupcakes completely clean of their icing.

When we got to Incredible Pizza they were too excited to do much eating, they just wanted to hit the games and slide. We played for hours and had a great time!

When we were almost back to town my aunt called so we stopped there so they could wish the girls a happy birthday. There were more cupcakes and presents and then we finally made it home.

For supper we were all pleasantly surprised by 3 cousins coming to visit for their special day!

Between the calls, visits, and well wishes on Facebook, we were just overwhelmed with love! The girls’ third birthday was a truly wonderful day <3

Tonight is their birthday party/dinner so we’re really looking forward to that and I can’t wait to post pictures of all the adorable Wizard of Oz themed decorations!

Just to give you a good picture of what it’s like having 3 year olds-some of the things that they’re doing are:

*recognizing the letters of the alphabet

*recognizing their name and spelling it aloud

*dressing themselves, including choosing their own clothes

*putting their dirty clothes in the hamper

*putting their dirty dishes in the sink

*putting their toys away, though I have to firmly direct when they’ve created a complete disaster

*pottying all alone

This list could go on and on! I just can’t believe how grown up 3 years old can be!

They are all into dress up, role play, make believe, and playing “school”. They’re almost always someone else, this morning they were actually both boys that we saw last night at a friend’s twins’ birthday party ;) They have switched from wanting to sleep in pants/shirts pajamas to all gowns, and they are often adorned on top with a princess dress. They have to do EVERYTHING for themselves, right down to wanting to spread the butter and jelly on their toast. Their favorite movies are The Wizard of Oz, Annie, and any of the Disney princess movies. They sing along with most any music we hear and pick up lyrics really quickly. Overall, they’re just a joy to be around and I’m amazed daily at how fast they are turning into little ladies <3