Something different - Holiday Cards

As Christmas nears I have a check list I’m working on to make sure that Lucas’ First Christmas is the best and least stressful for me possible. One of the first things I have to complete are my Christmas cards and I decided to first start with a little research. I have ordered things from Shutterfly online before and once I started looking at their Christmas card options I was very impressed. They have a wide selection of cards and formats – making my decision both easy and hard. I knew I would find something in the wide selection but then I started looking through I found that I liked a lot of different ones. Check out all the different options at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards. If you want something alittle different or not specifically Christmas check out the other options at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery. . Head on over to Sutterfly and you can get their current promotion: “Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards” http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery. Enjoy your holiday cards! I can’t wait to get mine in the mail and out to family!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 2 cups onions chopped
• 1 cup carrots diced
• 2 cup mushrooms
• 2 tablespoon garlic minced
• 4 cup chicken broth
• 1 Can Italian style stewed tomatoeschopped
• 1 Can tomato sauce 10 3/4 oz.
• 1 cup mafalda pasta
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1 cup provolone cheese diced
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese diced
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 4 teaspoon fresh basil thinly sliced

Directions | Numbered...

Brown sausage in a large saucepan. Add onions and carrots; saute 3 min. Stir in mushrooms and garlic and saute another 3 min.

Add broth, stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Drop in pasta and simmer until cooked about 10 min. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted.

Place 1/4 cheese into each serving bowl and pour soup on top. Garnish with parmesan and basil.

Apple Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 bananas, mashed
1 small apple, grated
1 pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
***Topping:***
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven 350 degree. Grease and flour loaf pan.

2. Blend shortening, eggs, sugars and fruit together. Mix salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour together; add to fruit mixture.

3. For Topping: Combine brown sugar, nuts, butter and cinnamon together in saucepan. Cook until sugar dissolves.

4. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and spread on top of bread and return to oven for 10-15 minutes longer.

5. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Fresh Green Beans

Fresh green beans are a wonderful addition to a meal. They are much crisper than canned green beans and you can add a variety of flavors. The following recipe is the way I typically make my green beans.

1lb fresh green beans

3 slices bacon - diced

1 small onion - diced

salt

pepper

1. Snap ends off of green beans and discard. Snap into smaller bites it you would like. Rinse green beans.

2. In a medium size sauce pan brown bacon and onions over medium heat.

3. Add green beans and toss to coat all green beans with bacon, onions and bacon grease.

4. Add enough water to cover green beans, reduce heat to low-medium and cover.

5. Cook until desired texture is achieved. We like ours fairly crispy and usually cook for about 15 minutes.

6. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!!

Cinnamon Apple Muffins with Crumble Topping

We went and picked apples last weekend. Now we have what seems like a million apples in the house (not that it's a bad thing) and we have had to think of new things to try with apples. Jason decided he would like some muffins, so here is the recipe that we made today and they are yummy,

Muffin Mix

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmag

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 apple - peeled, cored and diced

Filling

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cubbed butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line 12 muffin cups with muffin cup paper or grease.

2. Mix together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmag. Mix in egg, milk, applesauce, and vegetable oil. Fold in apples.

3. Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 3/4 full of mixture.

4. Mix together all ingredients for the filling. Should be similar to a brown sugar butter consistency. Drop 1/2 tablespoon of filling onto the muffins.

5. Prepare the topping - mix together flour, white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add in cubed butter, mix until you have a crumble texture that can be sprinkled onto the muffins.

6. Sprinkle topping onto muffins.

7. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Cool on a cooling rack or serve warm.

Sweet Potato Fries

A sweet alternative to regular fries.

2 sweet potatoes

oil

salt or sugar

1. Cut sweet potatoes into desired shape and size of fries - remember to keep them a similar size so they cut in the same amount of time.

2. Place sweet potatoes in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender.

3. Drain completely.

4. Heat oil in sauce pan or fryer to 375 degrees. Add sweet potatoes and fry for about 4 minutes or until desired crispiness is achieved.

5. Sprinkle with salt or sugar. Enjoy!

Deviled Eggs

Eggs

1 tablespoon Miracle Whip

1 tablespoon Mustard

1/2 tablespoon Butter

2 Sweet Pickles - Diced

Salt

Pepper

1. Boil eggs covered in water for 1o minutes.

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Run cold water over the eggs to cool enough to remove the shells.

4. Carefully remove the shells from the eggs. Cut eggs in half and remove yolk - place in separate mixing bowl.

5. Add Miracle Whip, Mustard, Butter, Pickles, salt and pepper to the egg yolks and mix until completely combines.

6. Using a piping bag, ziplock bag or spoons fill the empty egg yolks with the mixture.

7. Sprinkle with Paprika if desired.