Beef & Mozzarella Bake

This recipe is another one I found on the Campbell's Soup website. It was a huge hit at our house. Grace even enjoyed it! Kevin and I both thought it tasted similar to the lasagna flavored Hamburger Helper, just better. It was really easy to make too!

Beef & Mozzarella Bake

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 Cups spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 1/4 Cups water
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3 Cups medium shell-shaped pasta, cooked and drained (you can substitute other types of pasta, like rotini or penne).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook beef, basil, black pepper and garlic powder over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring frequently to break up meat. Pour off any fat.

Stir the sauce, soup, water and 1 cup of cheese into skillet. Stir in the pasta and coat with the sauce mixture. Spoon into 2 quart shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Serves 6.

Next time we try this, we're going to add some fresh chopped onion to the meat mixture...just for a little more flavor.

Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole

We tried this recipe last night that I got off the Campbell's Soup website. Everyone really liked it. The Parmesan cheese makes it taste a little like Alfredo sauce. Anyway, good stuff!

Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Stir soup, milk, veggies, chicken, noodles, Parmesan cheese and pepper (we added a little bit of Cheddar cheese to this mix) in a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture. Top with the Cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

More Hair Bow Pics

Here are some pictures of the various things we've done with the 4th of July hair bow. They are so easy and so fun to make!

Korker Hair Bows

When I saw the instructions for these korker hair bows on The Ribbon Retreat, I couldn't wait to make them. My oldest daughter, Grace, had more fun than I did! She thought the idea of baking ribbon was just so silly. When she saw the end result, she was so excited she couldn't wait to do more! Here's a picture of the ones we made. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did:)

Ribbon flower hair clips

These bows are soooo adorable! My girls love them. They're great because they are solid colors and go with practically anything. They're easy to make too! I found the directions for these little clips at Hip Girl Boutique.

Here's what you'll need:
Needle & thread
Cardboard for pattern (I used part of a cereal box)
Ribbon (about 5 inches of 7/8 inch ribbon)
Rhinestone for center
Alligator clip
Lighter (for heat sealing ribbon)
Glue gun

Happy bow making!

My New Hobby

So, my sister-in-law and best friend Krista got me interested in hair bows and learning how to make them for my daughters. I'm obsessed now! There are so many different kinds and styles you can make.....and if you make them yourself, it is very inexpensive:) Here's a couple I made for my girls for them to wear on the 4th of July. That's Grace's favorite holiday, so she couldn't wait to wear hers. They wore their bows this past weekend and we received so many compliments on them.

I made two: one regular-sized for Grace, and one a little smaller for Maryann. I got these directions from The Ribbon Retreat. I changed it up a bit because I don't really like big crazy hair bows, just something simple.

Here's what you need:
Needle & thread
Scissors
Lighter (to heat seal ribbon)
Barrett or alligator clip
Button or other embellishment to match ribbon
Ribbon
Glue gun

You can make whatever size bow you wish. I made 2 hair bows, each with only two layers. I used the same amount of ribbon you would to make 1 3-inch, 4-layer bow. (Basically, I made all 4 layers for the 3-inch bow and saw how huge it would be on her head, so I just used the larger two layers for one bow and the smaller two layers for another bow.) Happy bow-making!

3 months....really???

Has it really been 3 months since my last post? Wow! How time flies! We have been sooooo very busy this summer. We took a trip to Georgia at the end of May to visit my brother Jason and his wonderful wife Krista (and their two foster children, whom we all fell in love with!). Here is a picture of Grace at the ocean. We had a blast that day collecting sea shells and watching the kids experience this for the first time. I started back to school right after we got back and that's why I haven't had time for typing posts.....too much homework!

I will say that this journey through grad school is more difficult than I imagined. I didn't expect it to be easy. The work itself is not hard. I got my undergrad degree with a lot of hard work too (but that was before I had two kids running around the house while trying to write a 10-page paper!). It's just getting hard for me to manage my time. I'm just thankful I have a husband who understands and offers a hand whenever he can. A couple of weeks ago he came home early from work and surprised me with an afternoon of study time (about 4 1/2 hours!). He did this after playing "Mr. Mom" for two nights that same week while I was in class. I think that's what made it so great in my eyes.