When Pigs Fly: Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

When Pigs Fly: Loaded Baked Potato Casserole: Oh. My. Goodness. 1-1/2 lbs. (about 6-7 medium) red or russet potatoes, unpeeled, divided 1/4 tsp. sea salt, divided 1/4 tsp. ground blac...

this is whats what we are having with our dinner tonight. looks so yummy.

My Family came to visit

Over Presidents Day weekend my Sister Larissa her husband Colton daughter Mylee, my brother Gabe and my Mom came to visit. They got here late Thursday night and I am so glad they came.

We went to the lake on Friday and walked around and played at the park. It was so cold but it was fun at the same time.

I love this wall. I want to have it on my wall. i got the idea on this blog:

http://lilluna.com/quote-gallery-wall/

How fun is that? Now I just need to get me a vinyl cutter so i can make my own.

Brad Paisley

I got to go see Brad Paisley this last week. A friend on Facebook posted that her parents were sick and wouldnt be able to use the tickets they had and I was the first one to respond to wanting them. I was scheduled to work that night so I had to call in sick for the first time in 2.5 years. I felt so guilty the whole time I was there. Anyway, when i got the tickets I was really hoping that Danny would have gone with me but he didn't want to go and I didn't really have anyone to ask. Then Danny said I should just ask our Friend Faith so I did and she could go. We went to Applebees for dinner and then we headed to the Spokane Arena.
I have not been to a concert in years. Like 14 years. First Scotty McCreery sang, then The Band Perry and then Brad Paisley. He put on a great show and I am glad that I went. I would love to go to another concert again sometime. And this time I will bring my camera and get some pictures. I only got a few from my phone and they didn't turn out all that great.

Ham and Cheese Sliders | The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ham and Cheese Sliders | The Girl Who Ate Everything

these are so yummy. we are making them again for Haileys Family Birthday dinner tomorrow. Super Easy and super yummy. give them a try. you won't be disappointed.

Bountiful Baskets

So we really have been liking BountifulBaskets.org
We have tried many different veggies that I would never have bought before like brussel sprouts, asparagus, and cauliflower. or even cabbage. The girls love going to get the basket. they will be sad we are not going this weekend. We just have so much veggies I think we need to take a break and eat what we have.
This past weekend we got, 2 pineapples, asparagus, strawberries, onions, tomatoes, red bell peppers, broccoli, red lettuce, coconut, kiwi, mint, plantains, vanilla bean, a bag of potatoes, celery and more I can't remember. Turns out I like asparagus how we cooked it last night, and even the cabbage I cooked on Friday for dinner was good.
Bountiful Baskets is a co-op so no one gets paid and its all volunteers who put it together. I checked at the store and I saved over 20.00 just in one week. I love that the kids are trying new things too. Go to the website and see if there is a Bountiful Basket near you.

Dinner Feb. 10- Feb 29th

Yippie, I got a head start on my meals for the month. And I made the shopping list for the month too so now I know how many pounds of hamburger or boxes of pasta I will need and I can stock up when I see it on sale. So here we go:
Feb. 10
Danny and I are going to an adults party , Kid will eat at Nanas and Poppys
Feb. 11
Slow Cooker Sour Cream Chicken. (looks so yummy)
Feb. 12
Bacon Pineapple wrapped hamburgers
Feb 13
chicken bake
Feb 14
homemade egg rolls and fried rice
Feb 15
Sloppyy Joes
Feb 16
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Feb 17
homemade pizza
Feb 18 and Feb 19
Not sure. I will have Family here for Haileys birthday and who knows what we will do.
Feb 20
crockpot Lasagna
Feb 21
meatloaf
Feb 22
bacon chicken slow cooker meal
Feb 23
breakfast
Feb 24
hanburger helper
Feb 25
potato soup. Probably homemade in the crockpot
Feb 26
Chicken Alfredo
Feb 27
tacos
Feb 28
Pork chops
Feb 29
bbq steak and chicken.

For the month of January it really helped to have the menu. we only ate out 2 times. one time was when we got a HUGE snow storm and I didn't go out in the snow to go grocery shopping and nothing we had in the house sounded good. By Friday night the roads were cleaned up and Danny is not afraid to drive in the snow and get stuck and so we used the girls coupons and got them each a free pizza hut pizza and danny and i went to our favorite mexican shop. then the next friday danny and I just had a night out and we went to Chilis.

yogurt made in the crockpot

Did you know that you can make plain yogurt in the crockpot? I didn't know that you could until I came across this on Pinterest. I love Pinterest. Anyway, we made yogurt today. it was easy.

--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. (Debbie recommends starting with whole milk until you get the hang of yogurt-making)

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)

--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring

--thick bath towel

--slow cooker

The Directions.

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.


Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. I did mango, strawberry, and blueberry. When you blend in the fruit, bubbles will form and might bother you. They aren't a big deal, and will settle eventually.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.


See, it takes alot of time but its not terrible since most of its just sitting time. and it saves a lot of money. i bought my gallon of milk for 2.29 and I was able to make 8 cups. much cheaper then spending 50-65 cents for just one yogurt at the store.
Thanks to http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html for this idea. my kids loved it.

New Van

We got a new van this week. Traded in the ol Mazda MPV van and got a much newer 2005 Ford Freestar.
Pros about the van:
* its newer
* had awesome miles on it.
* gets fantastic gas milage
* its in a lot better condition then the mazda, no check engine light, the key actually comes out of the ignation.
* it has a roof rack and more storage so when we go on vacation the kids are not crammed in it
* it has dual heaters. that means i won't freeze when we are on long drives since i like it hot in the car and danny likes it cold
* there is more leg room in the back for the girls to grow
* Payments are less each month
* the rear heat and air work
* it was a fantastic price.
* the dealer we bought the ford from simply paid off the mazda. all 3500 of it. didn't even add it to the price of the van.
Cons:
* I don't like to color to much. its a gold color. its not terrible just not what i would have picked had i had a choice
* we were almost paid off on the mazda and now we have 3 years of payments.
* the cd player doesn't play my burnt cds. so we are going to have to buy a new stereo. I will also get one that can play my ipod.
* this doesnt have an entertainment system for the kids. so we bought portable dvd players
* the seats are dirty. they just need a good cleaning and it will be better.
Ok, so i think that is all i can think of for now. I will get used to the color for sure. we drove a purple van for a year and a super super gold car before too. at least this is better then those 2 colors.