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It’s been quite a while since I’ve shared a recipe on this here blog. That’s not to say I haven’t been cooking or baking, just not sharing recipes with photos. Lately, I’ve even been on a bit of a cooking creationist mode. I thought this creation turned out quite tasty, but unfortunately I was the only one in my household who liked it. I gave most of the leftovers to my sister since she doesn’t have the picky eaters like I do and I still ate it myself for lunch twice. Sarah said they all enjoyed it, so I am posting the recipe here for her and anyone else who wants to give it a try. If you make it, let me know what you think.
Cheesy Beef & Zucchini Bake
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 13×9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile in skillet over medium-high heat, brown beef, stirring to separate meat. Add garlic and zucchini and cook until crisp tender, remove from heat. Add seasoning, spaghetti sauce, and soup. Stir in pasta and 1 cup of cheese. (At this point, I think I added 1/2 cup of milk, but it’s not in my notes. Keep this in mind if the sauce seems too thick.) Spread evenly in prepared pan, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Have a springy day!
Today is release day for a new scrapping digi-kit by Amy’s Designs. It is called Amy’s Kitchen. Doesn’t it look fun?
Preview of Amy's Kitchen
First up, I made a layout of a recent baking session with Jessica. It uses the Scrapbookbytes.com October Sketch 1. Journaling reads: “August 11, 2011 Jessica enjoyed helping bake cookies, Mint Chocolate Delights, a recipe on the bag of dark chocolate and mint baking morsels. It is definitely messier baking with a toddler, but the experience is so worth it.”
Cookie Baking Layout
Digikit: Amy’s Designs – Amy’s Kitchen
Fonts Used: Milk & Cereal
This next project is a 4×6 recipe card. It is a recipe from my Nanny’s recipe box and a great way to use up leftover egg yolks.
Golden Sugar Cookies Recipe Card
Digikit: Amy’s Designs – Amy’s Kitchen
Fonts Used: Annie BTN
Check out what the rest of the creative team came up with here.
Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day.
Normally, I don’t like to do more than one blog post in a day, but I had planned to get this posted yesterday, but didn’t have time and today’s the deadline for the challenge.
Today’s tag was made for my niece, Aspen. I had a lot of fun with this tag, even if I did have to stamp it three times and I still had a tad too much pressure in some spots. Oh well. I followed my friend Lori’s suggestion and waited a day before heating up the liquid applique and it did allow for a more uniform raised look. I also added some glossy accents to the ornaments for dimension. Today’s tag meets the requirements for the All That Scraps Weekly Wednesday Challenge #56 to use snowflakes.
Aspen's Gift Tag
Stamps: C.C. Designs Christmas Around the World
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Dell printer
Embellishments: Stampin’ Up 5/8″ striped grosgrain ribbon Baja Breeze; Robin’s Nest early dawn dew drop; eyelet
Tools: Stampin’ Up markers; white gel pen; Inkssentials Glossy Accents; liquid applique
Thanks for stopping by.
My first thoughts of circus food are popcorn, pretzels and hot dogs. However, I didn’t want to deal with manning a grill for Jessica’s birthday party, so we ordered pizza from Cici’s instead. Along with the pizza, I had fresh popcorn popped in my new popcorn machine (bought partly for the party and partly for the popcorn fiend inside me), pretzels, peanut-butter filled pretzel nuggets, peanuts in the shell (that may not have even been touched), fruit salad, cherry punch, iced tea and cupcakes. I also had ice cream, but I forgot to get it out of the freezer.
Food Table Midway Through Party
This punch was super delicious and I intend to make it again sometime. I doubled the recipe for the party and served it in beverage dispenser. I would not serve this punch again in this kind of serving ware as the pineapple clogged the spigot and unclogging it made for a mess.
Source: Reiman publication insert
Ingredients:
Directions:
In a blender, combine the lemonade and limeade concentrates and pineapple; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into a gallon-size container; stir in water. Store in the refrigerator.
To serve, pour the mixture into a punch bowl; add cherry soda and ginger ale. Garnish with lemon and lime slices if desired.
Yield: about 6 quarts
Cupcakes
I made 3 batches of cupcakes: 1 double of the moist chocolate, 1 of the orange applesauce made using a vegan butter substitute and the frosting tinted blue, and 1 double of the orange applesauce omitting the pecans. I made these all the day/evening before the party. Our nephew Dawson helped add the sprinkles on the applesauce cupcakes. I liked both recipes. I preferred the taste of the non-lactose-free version of orange applesauce cupcakes and am extremely thankful I’m not lactose intolerant. I also think the orange applesauce tasted better the day of the party than they did a few days later.
Jessica’s cake was a 4-in. diameter two-layer affair. The bottom layer was the moist chocolate and the top layer was the orange applesauce and it was all frosted with the orange applesauce frosting and covered with colored sprinkles.
Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book
Ingredients:
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Using a spoon, make three wells in the dry ingredients. Pour oil into one, vinegar into another and vanilla into the third. Slowly pour water over all. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined (batter will be thin).
Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioner’s sugar. I did dust with confectioner’s sugar, but the next day for the party, the confectioner’s sugar had been absorbed by the cupcakes.
Yield: 9 servings
Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book
Ingredients:
Frosting Ingredients:
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Beat in the applesauce, vanilla and orange peel. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; add to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans.
Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, beat butter and confectioner’s sugar. Add orange peel and enough orange juice to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes.
Yield: 1 dozen
Thanks for checking out all the details of Jessica’s Circus 1st Birthday. I hope you may find some of these details useful or inspiring for your next party. Previous posts: Part 1: Decorations, Part 2: The Party and Part 3: Favors and Thank Yous.