On Tonight’s Plate…

19 Tuesday Aug 2014

The Kid is a big fan of casseroles…my mom makes his favorite one and I plan to get that recipe while we’re there this weekend. I’ll share it next week!

After perusing Pinterest for easy casserole ideas, I came across this one…

Looks simple and delicious! Click HERE for the original recipe… I made it a little differently.

Here’s my version…

Ingredients:
Kraft Southwest Three Cheese Fresh Take breadcrumb mix
2 cups instant brown rice
2 large cans chicken chunks, drained well
1/2 can whole kernel sweet corn
1 1/2 cups shredded Triple Cheddar
Tortilla strips salad toppers
Ranch Dressing
9×9 casserole dish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook instant brown rice according to package directions and set aside.
Use breadcrumb mix according to package directions to coat drained chicken chunks.
Place chicken on a greased baking pan and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

While chicken is baking, spread the cooked brown rice on a greased 9×9 inch baking dish.
Layer the 1/2 can whole kernel sweet corn over the rice.

Top casserole with the baked coated chicken chunks.
Sprinkle shredded cheddar over the top.

Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for 25 more minutes.

Drizzle with ranch dressing and tortilla strips.

Serve and enjoy!

I really liked this dish. It was easy to make and the ingredients were pretty inexpensive. Try it and let me know if your family enjoyed it!

Until next time…
Happy Blogging!

Our Life in Pictures…

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Susan in My Life, POTD

≈ Comments Off on Our Life in Pictures…

Instead of a “Picture of the Day…” I’m going to make this one “Our Life in Pictures…”. I have several to share. As usual, you can see these in real time on my Instagram feed by clicking HERE.

The Kid started his freshman year of high school last Thursday. He feels he’s getting too old for the “First Day of School” picture, but I got one nonetheless!

I took him to the bus stop and waited…and waited…and waited for a bus that never came. So, at 8:30 (class starts at 8:35), we high-tailed it the nearly 10 miles to the high school. It was a little nerve racking, especially since he had these with him…

…the result of his Pre-AP Biology Summer Assignment. Fortunately, I had taken the day off! I can’t believe The Kid is in high school!! Seems like I just graduated myself!

After dropping him off and running to the office (nearly 20 miles in the other direction) to take care of a Notary obligation, I picked up J (best friend/neighbor) for a morning of shopping at the local outlet mall and lunch! I absolutely loathe choosing where to eat, so J picked BJ’s Brewhouse and I had this…

It was so good! This was my first visit to this restaurant, but we’ll definitely be back!

We didn’t do much on Friday (that I can remember).
Saturday was busy and concluded with cheering on the OKC Energy…

It looked like it might rain, but sadly, it didn’t. These are pictures from The Hubs’s phone…I somehow left my phone on the charger. I never do that! The Energy lost to the LA Galaxy 1-0. We had a lot of fun!

Yesterday, I sang on the worship team at church and came home to this…

The Hubs finished our latest project! It’s a little bigger than I had anticipated… I can’t wait to style it! I’m thinking some baskets to go on one of the shelves and maybe some more pictures? What do you think?

Here’s a picture I took this morning of our sweet bull terrier Rossi…

He looked so funny piled up on top of the pillows! He is so weird, but we love him!

And, finally… this is how hot our thermometer said it was on our back patio this afternoon…

Surely it was incorrect!

Until next time…
Happy Blogging!

On Tonight’s Plate…

11 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Susan in Plate

≈ 3 Comments

Now that The Kid is back home, I’ve returned to making recipes that I think he’ll like. Tonight’s is one I pinned on Pinterest called Crumb-Topped, Supreme Chicken Casserole from Pint Sized Treasures.

Here is my version:

Ingredients:
2 large cans cooked, chunk chicken breast
8 oz. Simply Kraft Sour Cream, or which ever brand you prefer. I like Simply Kraft because it tastes good and is only 97 cents.
8 slices Sargento Swiss cheese
3/4 sleeve Ritz crackers
1/2 cup lower sodium chicken broth
1 stick (1/2 cup) Land O’Lakes salted butter, or which ever brand you prefer.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain cans of chicken and then spread evenly in a 9×13 un-greased baking dish. Break up any large chunks with a fork.
Using a spatula, layer sour cream over chicken.
Next, place Swiss cheese slices to cover entire dish.

Then, sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers on top.

Now, carefully pour 1/2 cup chicken broth all over, being careful not to rinse off the crackers.
Finally, cut butter into thin slices and randomly place them on top.

Bake for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly.

Serve with your favorite vegetables and enjoy! It is a little on the runny side. Next time I will use less butter…maybe just 1/4 cup.
This makes 8 ample servings and should reheat deliciously for left-overs. The Kids opinion: “It’s good…can I have some more?” I’ll be making this one again!

Click HERE for the original recipe.

Until next time…
Happy Blogging!

Road Tripping (part 3)…

08 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Susan in Chicago, Road Trip

≈ Comments Off on Road Tripping (part 3)…

Chicago… Day 3 (Part 1, Part 2)

Monday morning started off with breakfast around the corner from our hotel at a restaurant called “Wildberry Pancakes”. Don’t be jealous…but, I had these…

After feasting on those amazing chocolate chip pancakes and indulging in a Turtle Cappuccino, we braved the 60 degree temperature (it’s JULY for goodness sakes! Why is it 60 degrees??) and walked to The Adler Planetarium. Along the way, we enjoyed Lake Michigan…

Lake Michigan
I failed to take pictures at the Planetarium… sorry. We used our City Passes to bypass the line and got VIP treatment with two free IMAX presentations!

Next, we walked to The Field Museum. Also using our City Passes, we missed the crowds and enjoyed a free 3D movie.
That’s Sue. She’s the largest, best preserved, most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found! She was HUGE!

We skipped lunch and walked back by Millennium Park and Crown Fountain…

Crown Fountain

Crown Fountain
Oh, to be a kid again!

For dinner, we crossed off something on MY bucket list… eating here…
RPM Italian
I talked about this restaurant in THIS previous blog post.

This eating establishment would typically be WAY out of our price range, but… we’re on vacation! I ordered this… RPM Italian
…with a side of mashed potatoes, which were $8 in addition to the $34 for the steak! No free side dishes here. It was delicious, but no Rancic sightings… boo!!

After dinner, we decided to venture out along the Magnificent Mile. While on our journey, we happened upon a movie in the park. They were having a free film festival showing movies that were made in Chicago. This night’s presentation: “The Blues Brothers”!
It was a very popular event. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was slated for Tuesday night. So fun!

We headed back to our hotel after the walk (we ended up walking over 10 miles on Monday). We needed to get some rest. We had to leave for the airport before 5am! Here was the nighttime view from our hotel room… Chicago

This trip was so wonderful! I hope to go back some time and take The Kid… he would have a blast! Now, over a week later, I think I have finally recovered! Up next for us… my 20 year high school reunion! (WHAT?!?!?)

Until next time…
Happy Blogging!
Signature_transparent

Road Tripping (part 2)…

07 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by Susan in Chicago, Road Trip

≈ Comments Off on Road Tripping (part 2)…

Now for Day 2 of our Chicago trip… (Part 1)

On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast in the lobby of our hotel. Then, we visited our wonderful concierge to find out the best way to get to Wrigley Field. Remember yesterday when I advised that you take advantage of your hotel’s concierge… here’s why. The wonderful, helpful lady at the podium pulled out a piece of paper with typed up step-by-step directions on how to get from the hotel to the ballpark! I think she had written instructions on how to get to every Chicago tourist attraction from the front door of the hotel! It even had directions on how to get back to the hotel! We made it to the park without any problems or confusion…it makes for happy tourists, that’s for sure!

One of the items on The Hubs’s bucket list is to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. We crossed that off his list on this day!

The park was incredible! The game was great and the Cardinals won 1 – 0. We even got these awesome certificates to commemorate our visit to the historic 100 year old ballpark…

After the game, we headed out to Lou Malnati’s to try Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza! We weren’t disappointed…
I’m drooling just looking at this picture. It was probably the best pizza I have ever had! The Hubs and I both wish there was a Lou Malnati’s here in OKC! We’d eat there at least once a week….