Valentine Heart Wreath

I love to eat the little conversation heart around this time a year, they are one of my favorites. I decided they were too cute not to make something out of.  so I wrapped a wooden wreath frame I got at Michael's with tissue streamer and started sticking the hearts on with hot glue.

I got most of the way around, then I stopped and attached a ribbon to hang it from.

Then I just glued hearts over the ribbon and added a couple of tissue roses and I was done!

Monster Cookies

I was really wanting to try out a new cookie recipe the other night after baby bed time and was reading though some of my cookbooks for inspiration.  I came across this recipe for Monster cookies in an old elementary school cookbook that I got at a thrift store. The fact that it looked like I had all the ingredients on hand made it look like the perfect candidate for that nights cookie!  The thing I failed to realize was the amount of ingredients and how big a batch this recipe makes until I had already put ingredients in the bowl.  Unless you need to make a lot of cookies, I recommend making a half batch of these. I really like these cookies, but with peanut butter, chocolate and oatmeal is it possible to go wrong?

Monster Cookies

6 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 tablespoons light karo syrup

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup margarine

3 1/2 cups peanut butter

9 cups oatmeal (I only had 8 so I added 1 cup flour)

1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate candies ( I did 1/2 cup each)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix ingredients in a big bowl in the order listed.
3. Spoon cookie dough on lightly grease cookie sheet by the rounded teaspoonful.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Let them cool.
6. enjoy!

Makes about 12 dozen! I had to refrigerate most of my dough and bake them the next day and they turned out fine.

Lazy Enchiladas

Being a full-time student, mother, and working can create a busy schedule.  Sometimes when I get home at night the last thing I want to do is create a huge meal, so one of my favorite easy meals to throw together is lazy enchiladas (the only thing that really makes me call them enchiladas is the sauce). They are a cheesy and gooey comfort food that tastes so good when you have had a rough day.
so here it goes...

first you put frozen burritos in a baking dish ( I use beef and bean chimichangas)
 Just put as many as you need, four usually works best for us

                                                Cover in enchilada sauce

Cover in cheese and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, make sure it is heated through.

top with sour cream and that is all there is to it! I usually serve with a salad for a complete meal.

Bread Machine Bread Sticks

I love to make my family homemade meals. It is so nice to prepare a meal and have made almost everything yourself. Being a huge bread fan, I wanted to be able to make my own for our meals.  I have really struggled when it came to making breads and rolls from scratch. For a long time I would be so excited to try a new roll recipe and they would come out like rocks. Since making rocks was not my goal I would get pretty discouraged, then this year I discovered an ally.  My bread machine.  I am still not an expert baker by any means but now I can at least make rolls and they turn out pretty good.  So today I decided to try and make bread sticks using my bread machine.

I got the recipe I used from

http://www.breadmachinediva.com/2010/05/bread-sticks-from-the-bread-machine/

I  put the ingredients in my bread machine in this order:


1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 Cup of water- I always use warm water (not too hot, not too cold)

1 Egg that is lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter- I did not have actual butter so I used country crock.  If you do use butter I would make sure it was soft.
4 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbs instant dry milk
3 1/4 cups flour

                                        
                                            ( I just put my ingredients in and didn't mix)


 Now you put your bread machine on the dough cycle and wait

                              (This is what mine looked like when it was finished)


Roll out your dough on a floured surface and I divided it into 16 pieces.  

(I divided my dough into 2 pieces and then divided those halves until I had 16 pieces, this is only half of them)






Shape the rolls into bread stick shapes and put them on greased pans, you will probably need two.

                               
                        Cover them and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes




I then put a little olive oil and garlic salt on their tops and put them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown on top

They were yummy! Put with a pasta dish and a salad and you have a complete meal!