Crab Dip

Girls night -- woot woot!!  I almost didn't have any room for the pizza cause I filled up on this bad boy!  Serve with Ritz crackers - so good!

 Ingredients:1 package of cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

8oz (1 package) of imitation crab

3 green onions

Ritz Crackers

Chop up green onions and crab, then mix all ingredients together. Chill for about an hour. Serve with crackers.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

3rd floor bitties NIGHT IN tonight, and we made (aka Linda made) some yummy flatbreads!  This was so good!!!  To cut down on some time - you could use cooked chicken, OR you can use leftover chicken for another meal later!!!

Ingredients:

1 pizza crust
2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
Olive Oil, For Drizzling
Salt For Sprinkling
16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
1/2 whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.  Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion.

Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately. Repeat with other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time.

Prosciutto, Arugula, and Mozzarella Flatbread

This was uber fast to make - and so yummy!!  We put more than 1 cup of arugula, but that's only because it was so yummy and it wilted a little when we put it in the oven for a bit longer!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 flatbread pita rounds, whole wheat or regular
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup arugula
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh juice from 1 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/8 pound prosciutto
Shaved Parmesan, to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the flatbread and cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and then immediately top with the cheese, tomatoes, 2 or 3 pieces of prosciutto and cover and cook until the cheese melts, less than a minute.

In a small mixing bowl, dress the arugula with the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and set aside.

Slide the pita out, place on a serving plate and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining batches. Top pizzas with the dressed arugula, parmesan, and a hit of pepper.

Sticky Chicken

This is the week of crock pot meals.  I got motivated to make up some meals, but I didn't want to spend too much time cooking....SO here you are!  This would have been really good - BUT the chicken got overcooked.  I changed the times below to reflect how long to put it in for....I want to make this again though, cause it was yummy even overcooked so I can't imagine if it was cooked to perfection :)  It was uber yummy with snow peas and rice!

Serves 4-5: 6 sisters blog

Ingredients:
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup apricot jam/preserves
1 oz packet dry onion soup mix
2 tablespoons water

Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.  Place chicken breasts inside and pour BBQ sauce and preserves on top.  Sprinkle with dry soup mix over the top, add the water, and cover the lid.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours (if chicken is thaw) or 6-8 hours (if chicken is frozen).

Newspaper Themed 1st Birthday Party!

It's Brody's 1st Birthday - so had to go BIG!  I had a lot of ideas for the theme, but wanted to wait until he was big enough to appreciate them...and then I reflected on his first year and came up with the "newsie" theme!  Since my "picture of the day blog" came to be all about Brody, I figured why not have a theme that captures "our main story"  :)  The best part about this party theme ... it's FREE!!!  My dad was nice enough to save all his newspaper for the past 6 months!  Check out the party action: Broden Times Celebration & Sodahl Times Celebration!!

**It all started with the invites!!  So happy with how cutie they turned out!**

**It wouldn't be a NEWSPAPER party without some "stories"  :) **

I made little "newspaper boards" and hung them around the house!

**Onto the NEWSIE Decorations!**

1. Paper Pom Poms: http://yumyum-inmytum.blogspot.com/2013/12/tissue-pom-pom.html

2. Mod Podge Newspaper Letters

3. Party Hats: http://yumyum-inmytum.blogspot.com/2014/01/party-hats.html

4. Photo Backdrop

5. Table Centerpieces

Yes, that is a Newspaper Table Runner...I got that on Etsy!

6. Picture Banners!

**Party Favor Bags!**

Brody helped fill them with all the "newsie essentials": Army Parachute Men, Game of Jacks, Birthday pen/pencils, Cracker Jacks, Crossword Puzzles!

**Random other party decorations**

**Game - Broden Chronicles**

This was uber tough, but I needed some sort of "newsie" game to go with the theme!  People (aka NRon) was trying to cheat by looking at my blog!

**Guest Book**

I made up a "newspaper" for Brody's scrapbook, so to team with that - each party guest took a picture with him by the Photo Backdrop and wrote him a special message.  Then I put the messages with their cutie pics, and that's a part of his 1st EDITION NEWSPAPER!  How cutie :)

**It wouldn't be a party without some yummy FOOD and DRINK!**

The menu was simple - all the Birthday Boy's favorites :)

Caprese Kabobs

Cheeseburger Macaroni

The spread!

"Wet Your Whistle" Station!

The kids appreciated a kid friendly feast :)

**AND the best part about a Birthday Party - THE CAKE!!!!**

Didn't my mom do an AMAZING job!!  The teddy bear was holding a newspaper and the cupcakes said "Extra! Extra! Brody is 1" -- so cute!!  Brody even got his own teddy bear to eat!!

Brody was REALLY excited to try his 1st bite of sugar!  We had to have a family pic in front of the monthly cupcake banners :)

Caprese Kabobs

Brody's 1 year Birthday party was this weekend, and we were serving his FAVORITES - so we made up these cutie caprese kabobs!  So easy and so good :)

 

Ingredients:
Grape tomatoes
Mozzarella balls (or string cheese cut up)
Basil
Toothpicks

DONE!  For adults - it was really good to sprinkle some balsamic on top!

Cheeseburger Macaroni

Brody's 1 year Birthday party was this weekend, and we were serving his FAVORITES - so we made up some mac n cheese but more adult style.  This was awesome, but spicy!  Brody still loved it, but some of the other niece/nephs weren't fans of the spice!  Super good and easy to make!

Serves 4

 

Ingredients:
1lb lean hamburger meat
1 package taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)
1 cup elbow macaroni

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 mins until macaroni is tender.
Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce….

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.