What's Cooking? Poppyseed Chicken

I stole this recipe from my friend, Carolina, but it's so yummy, I wanted to share!!!

Poppyseed Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stick of butter
1 tube Ritz crackers
1 1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds

Cook chicken breast, then break into small pieces. Put into casserole dish. Mix sour cream and soup and pour over chicken. Melt butter. Mix Ritz cracker crumbs and poppy seeds into butter. Pour on top of casserole. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Instead of chicken breast I use these pre-grilled diced chicken breast!  They are heavenly, and my new "gotta have it," when you don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal and don't want to eat out!

 Ready for the oven

and just enough leftovers for lunch the next day!!!

What's for lunch?!

I never realized what a pain being allergic to peanut butter could be.  I LIVED on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when I was a kid.  But, when you can't send peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school for lunch with your kids everyday, packing a lunch is a little difficult! 2-3 days a week the boys take their lunches to school and after 2 years of Sterling eating Lunchables I decide to try branch out this year.  I was tired of packing them, so I'm sure he was tired of eating them!

Now, don't get me wrong, they'll still get thrown into the lunch box (this morning, for example), but I have tried some new things and Sterling has really loved it!  My other problem has been what can be in his lunch box all morning, with an ice pack and still be good to eat....see my dilemma? 

BAGEL BITES - who doesn't love cold pizza?  My kids and I do!  I heat these guys up in the morning while we're getting ready and then throw them in a baggie before we leave.  It's probably been one of his favorites!

CHICKEN FRIES - cold chicken anyone?  I actually heated them up a bit and then put them in the lunchbox so they weren't freezing cold at lunch time.  But, I must admit, I like cold chicken too!  You can also get popcorn chicken with the Rotissere chickens as Walmart!

RAVIOLI - Sterling doesn't eat his with sauce, so when I made Almost Lasagna last week I saved some extra raviolis and had lunch ready for him the next day. 

Then, I have to come up with "sides" to go along with the great lunches.  I can't get Hudson to eat a fruit or vegetable, but he will eat these!

I'm still on the lookout for more great lunch ideas that are easy to pack and able to stay chilled!

What's Cooking? Almost Lasagna

By no means am I a great cook...or even a good cook, but I can follow a recipe!  The other night I made this, Almost Lasagna!  I found the recipe at www.funnyspoon.com and it did not disappoint.  I love lasagna, but even if you buy the pre-made, frozen kind it still takes at least an hour to heat up.   Here's the recipe

Almost Lasagna
1lb ground beef
1 bag frozen cheese ravioli
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup of Italian shredded cheese

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, brown ground beef. Add pasta sauce and simmer until heated through.
3. Pour some sauce mixture in the bottom of a microwave-safe dish. Top with pasta, then add remaining sauce on top of that. Sprinkle cheese on top.
4. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately. (I actually baked mine to melt the cheese since the oven was already hot heating up the bread)

I would also recommend the Funny Spoon website for other meals.  It gives pictures of 4 or 5 ingredients they recommend and then you can also search by just ingredients you have!  So great!

What's Cooking? Spinach Pasta Toss Recipe

I've had some request to actually post the recipe for The Yummy Dinner (Spinach Pasta Toss) recipe from Wearing Gackey's Apron.

Spinach Pasta Toss
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 cup water
1 pkg. (9 oz.) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)
1 cup Shredded Three Cheese Blend
4 strips of bacon

Bring tomatoes, pasta and water to boil in large saucepan; stir. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or just until pasta is tender. Add 1/2 of spinach; simmer, covered, 2 min. or until wilted. Stir. Add 4 stripped of cooked, crumbled bacon. Repeat with remaining spinach. Serve topped with cheese.

Rainbow Fun

This morning was Sterling's Easter Party and Egg Hunt at school.  He had a BLAST, as usual.  I absolutely LOVE his school and so does he!  We made rainbow cupcakes for his party which was a lot of fun and A LOT of work.  I don't know why I don't just sign up for plates and napkins and take the easy way out!  LOL

He told me this is their new rocking chair

"I found another one!"

Sterling's class with their teacher, Mrs. Lisa - cuties patooties!

Enjoying his rainbow cupcakes

If you have some extra time on your hands and want to make these yummy cupcakes, here's how....I actually saw this recipe in a magazine and then found about 50 other blogs/websites about how to make them.  

Make any white cupcake mix you want and separate into 5 different bowls (or more or less depending on how many colors you want in your rainbow)

Add food coloring until your batter is the color you want

Layer batter into cupcake tins to form rainbows.  Don't spread it out, just pile on.  I would probably only use 4 colors to make more cupcakes because these turned into monster cupcakes!

The finished cupcakes with sprinkles on top.  We added the bunny toothpicks when we got to school!

I told you it was messy!

The inside of the cupcake!  Soooooooooooo pretty!