Darling Tissue Paper Wreath or table centerpiece for Thanksgiving

I think this would be a great hostess gift for the Thanksgiving table.Here's what you'll need to make this tissue paper wreath:

Styrofoam Wreath Form
Tissue Paper Flowers (You can make them easily!)
Wire
Hot Glue
Ribbon
Go to Sweet charli for all the details. I recommend hanging it indoors or on a covered porch door.I was thinking how this can also be inexpensive to make for the loved ones in your life. You could make it for a baby shower, the hard to buy for mother-in-law, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, a new baby being brought home, some one who is sick in bed so they can look at it! Oh the possibilities....watch clearance racks for tissue paper. I always get tissue paper on Christmas clearance at Target for 75% off.

Staci's breakfast casserole

Staci's breakfast casserole

Ingredients:

1 pkg frozen shredded hashbrowns (Ore-ida brand has no additives)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I just eye-ball this amount)

1 16 oz pkg turkey bacon (cooked ahead of time) or 1 pound of fully cooked lean ham

7 large eggs, 1 cup of skim milk, ½ teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon ground mustard

1. Grease 9 x 13 glass baking dish & a preheated 350 degree oven

2. Place frozen hashbrowns in a single layer in on the bottom of the baking dish

3. Bake hashbrowns in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes then remove from the oven

4. Sprinkle with cheese and fully cooked meat (turkey bacon or ham)

5. In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper, onion, and ground mustard then pour over the meat

6. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (check after 45 minutes), uncover and bake another 15 minutes longer until edges are golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

I serve this dish warm on Easter weekend or Mother's day with fresh fruit, waffles/pancakes, or spinach fruit smoothies.

Easter Clearance= Baby shower stuff

My good friend is throwing me a baby shower for my first baby boy! So, when I saw these baby blue M & M's and baby blue Reeses's I thought how PERFECT for the baby boy shower candy dish. I will save a couple bags for the hospital visitors (instead of cigars). They had pink and yellow colors too. I bet you could use these for b-day parties too.I got them at Walmart today and paid $1.75 a pack (only 50% off-wish it was 75%). A bit pricey if you consider you can get a whole bag for that but I wanted ALL blue! I might try to hit the store when they are 75% off and see if I can get them cheaper. It's a novelty item too.

Don't forget to think outside the "Easter box" when clearance shopping.

Using up the Easter Ham in new dinner recipes

I never glaze my Easter ham because I like to use the leftovers in various dishes the next week. Here are three ways I plan on using up my ham this week.

1. Homemade Pizza dough with Easter unglazed ham, canned pinneapple, cheese, and green peppers. I think a salad sounds good with it.

2. Omelets with Easter unglazed ham, bell peppers, cheese, and canned mushrooms. I'll add some fruit and cinnamon toast.

3. The Best bean and ham soup found HERE This way I can use the ham bone and get more beans into our diet. I might whip up some warm corn bread to go with it.

Please leave me a comment on your recipes. I always need and want more!

He has RISEN! Happy Easter!

Blessed Easter everyone.

I love this day....no Easter Bunny today just rejoicing in the resurrection promise of our Savior.

Easter Story Cookies-Make the night before Easter

A couple years ago, I found this special recipe for The Easter Story Cookies. I was intrigued with the Biblical verses and the Easter visual for my kids. We made these as a family last year on the night before Easter. I replaced the anticipation of the Easter Bunny with this tradition. The girls and I kindly asked the Easter Bunny at the mall to come to our house on Saturday morning instead of the day of Jesus' Resurrection. My six year old daughter "lovingly and matter of factly" states to everyone that, “Jesus gets his own day and doesn't have to share with the Easter Bunny.” I agree! Easter Blessings to you and your family.

Easter Story Cookies
by Rachel Keller

Begin this recipe on Saturday, the day before Easter.
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon or a wooden meat hammer
duct tape or packing tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300*F.

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon or hammer to break them into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon of vinegar into the mixing bowl.

Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life.

Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste. Then put your pinch of salt in the bowl.

Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus's followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing! Add 1 cup sugar to the bowl.

Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know and belong to him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 10 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheets.

Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus's body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape to seal the oven door.

Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

Leave the kitchen. If you've been making these cookies just before bedtime, GO TO BED!

Acknowledge that the kids are probably sad that they've worked hard to make these cookies, and now have to leave them in the oven overnight. Explain that Jesus' followers were in sad when Jesus died and the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Ask the kids to notice the cracked surface. Have them bite into the cookies. The cookies are hollow!

Explain that on the first Easter morning, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

HE HAS RISEN!

4 tips when hard-boiling Easter eggs!

I am off with the kids so this is a pre-posted information.
Happy Easter Egg dying this weekend. More fun egg dying tips are found HERE

1. Problem: When you carry your pot of eggs to the sink to fill with water, the eggs usually bump into each other as they roll around. This can cause cracking. Solution: Place the eggs in the pot on the stove and use a pitcher to fill the pot with water.
2. Problem: If you wait for the water to boil first, and then drop in your eggs, most often, the eggs will crack when they forcefully hit the bottom of the pot.
   Solution: Use kitchen tongs to gently place the eggs into the boiling water.
3. Problem: The large end of eggs contains air bubbles. This can cause the shell to crack during cooking.
   Solution: Use a tiny pin to poke a hole in the large end of each egg. The hole allows air to escape while it cooks.
4. Problem: A drastic change in temperature can cause eggshells to crack.
   Solution: Allow eggs to come up to room temperature before boiling them. This keeps cracking to a minimum.

Easter Resurrection Eggs

Easter Resurrection Eggs

Activity copied directly from www.mops.org

NOTE: This activity is intended for older preschoolers due to choking hazard of some items

Gather six plastic Easter eggs and number them 1-6 with a permanent marker. Fill each one with the appropriate item(s) needed to tell the story:

1. a piece of bread
2. three silver coins (dimes)
3. thorns
4. cross (cut from cardboard)
5. rock
6. leave this one empty

Play Time: Hide the eggs in a designated area. (Hint: Use extra empty eggs labeled with #6, so that each child participating can find the same number of eggs.)

Story Time: Once the Resurrection Eggs have all been found, gather the children together so they can help you tell the story of Easter to the family.

Use the following simple wording as a guide while children open eggs one at a time. First ask the child who has the egg marked number one to open it and tell what’s inside. Then move on to the next number until all the eggs have been opened and the whole story has been told.

Jesus was eating dinner with his special friends one night. He loved them all, but he knew that one of them was going to do something bad that night.

Some bad men gave money to one of Jesus’ helpers to help them find Jesus so they could hurt him.

The bad men made fun of Jesus. They made a crown out of thorns that scratched his head. It hurt him; and they laughed at him.

Then they put Jesus on a cross where he died. His friends were very sad.

They put Jesus’ body in a cave called a tomb. Some soldiers put a huge rock in front of the cave.

The last egg is the most special. It’s empty because three days after Jesus died and his body was put in the tomb, the tomb was empty! Jesus came back to life because of God’s power.

An angel moved the rock and Jesus came out of the tomb. He saw his friends again before he went back to heaven to be with God.

Bible Time: Some older preschoolers might be interested in hearing the words from the Bible about each of the items in the eggs. These verses will help you share the scripture references:

• Bread — Matthew 26:26a: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples ….”
• Coins — Matthew 26: 14-15: “Then one of the Twelve – the one called Judas Iscariot – went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.”
• Thorns — Matthew 27:28-29: “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said.”
• Cross — John 19: 17-18a: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him ….”
• Rock — Matthew 27:59-60: “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”
• Empty — Matthew 28:6: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

Here's a good explanation of what Easter is and why we celebrate it.

Easter Crafts

The Jelly Bean Prayer

Author: Unknown

Red is for the blood he gave,

Green is for the grass he made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright,

Orange is for the edge of the night.

Black is for the sins we made,

White is for the grace he gave.

Purple is for his hour of sorrow,

Pink is for our new tomorrow.

An egg full of jelly beans, colorful and sweet, is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.

May the joy of Christ's Resurrection fill your heart and bless your life.

(Note: On the card the words red, blue, green, etc. were printed in appropriate ink color.)

Materials needed: A sheet of white painting paper, a piece of construction paper with a thick cross cut out, finger paints, and little fingers. First, finger paint the white piece of paper and let dry. Tape the finger painted paper to the underside of the cut out cross construction paper.

Happy Easter everyone.

Easter dinner menu

My Easter meal 2009

Don't forget my profile says I am an intermediate cook. ;0)

I made:

Utah funeral potatoes

Hormel ham (1/2 glazed and 1/2 unglazed)

Steamed asparagus with a Western family brand hollandaise sauce mix

Rhodes brand white dinner rolls

Homemade Huckleberry jam

Garden fresh corn from our last summer crop (frozen)

Jellybean cupcakes

If you aren't from Utah you maybe asking yummy "funeral potatoes"?! Let me explain. Often after funeral the bereaving share in a meal after visiting the grave. There can be a lot of people and this dish can feed quite a few people. It can be very high in fat and calories. I make it with significantly less! Check it out. I got the recipes from Taste of Home's Light & Tasty Magazine October/November 2003 issue

Makeover Au Gratin Hash browns
1 pkg (30 oz) frozen shredded has browns potatoes, thawed
2 cups (8 oz) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ cups reduced-fat sour cream
1 can (10 ¾ oz) reduced fat reduced sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 ½ cups cornflakes, lightly crushed (I used whole grain Total flakes)
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted (I only used spray “butter”)
1 Tbl minced fresh parsley (I used dried)

In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, cheese, onions, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, soup, and soup. Pour over the potato mixture and mix gently to combine. Transfer to a greased 3 qt. baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Toss cornflakes and butter (or just spray “spray butter” on them); sprinkle around the perimeter. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle the middle with parsley Yield 12 servings

Nutritional analysis- one serving (3/4) cup equals 190 calories, 8 grams of fat, (5 saturated fat), 28 mg cholesterol, 492 mg sodium, 23 grams carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 9 g protein Diabetic exchange: 1-1/2 starch, 1 lean meat, 1 fat

Regular Au Gratin Hash browns
1 pkg (30 oz) frozen shredded has browns potatoes, thawed
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
½ cup butter or margarine, melted, divided
2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed

In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, cheese, onions, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, soup, and ¼ cup butter. Pour over the potato mixture and mix gently to combine. Transfer to a greased 3 qt. baking dish. Toss cornflakes and add remaining butter; sprinkle over the top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until heated through. Yield 12 servings

Nutritional analysis- one serving (3/4) cup equals 324 calories, 23 grams of fat, (14 saturated fat), 59 mg cholesterol, 681 mg sodium, 22 grams carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 9 g protein

Simple and Smart- I am on a mission to use up what I have in my pantry. I made these simple jelly bean cupcakes with a white cake mix that I got at the after Christmas (December 26th) 50% sale at Target. I think I paid .39 for the box. I didn't use the Christmas sprinkles in the cake mix so you couldn't even tell it was from another holiday. The cake mix expiration dates are pretty long. My kids are easy to please and loved these treats.

After the Easter egg hunts--TOO much candy!

Are you like me and the kids got WAY TOO MUCH CANDY at Easter? I put the Easter baskets, goodie bags, and junk on top of the fridge. Today I am going to rummage through it all. I will trash the Made in China candy. I will gather and donate the hard suckers, tootsie rolls, and the now and later candies to a local Dr. on my street. He gives them away at his clinic. Don't worry I'll keep the chocolate. It was fun to hunt for the candy but now we don't want cavities or a big bum!