Stacey's Veggy and Chicken Casserole

Stacey's Veggy and Chicken Casserole

20 oz. bag of mixed frozen vegetables
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 stick butter
1 roll of Ritz crackers
4 chicken breasts

Cook chicken in the crock pot all day or boil for 30 min in water on the stove. Cut chicken into bite size chunks or shred. Cook frozen vegetables until tender. Drain vegetables. Mix vegetables, mayo, cheese and chicken. Put into a greased casserole dish. Mix melted butter and crushed Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top. Bake at 375 for 15 min.

I'm back

I had a wonderful time in New York. I'll write more about it in the next few days. But I must say that I have the cutest nephew in the world. He is so sweet and a great baby.

It was wonderful to come home to Brett. This was the longest we had been apart and I missed him like crazy. He worked on some great projects while I was gone. I can't wait to show them to you.

It was really, really nice to come back to work and not have a huge pile on my desk. I have almost finished everything from when I was gone in one day!

One Sentence Prayers

Lord, baptize me with your love.

One Sentence Prayers

I praise you, my Lord Jesus. I love you.

The City that Never Sleeps

New York here I come!!! I am heading off to see my cute little nephew. I can't wait!!!

It so hard to say good bye . . .

We have said bye bye to some debt!!! It feels so good. Brett and I are both savers and don't like to take on debt. It was a wonderful feeling to pay this item off early. By doing so we are saving almost $1,000 in interest payments.

A Public Service Announcement

A Public Service Announcement:

Have your furnace and fireplace checked out before you start using them.


Two weeks ago when we had trouble with our AC unit, we learned that insulation had become packed in around the burner on the furnace. If we had turn the heater on we would have had a fire! So please hire someone to inspect your furnace and your fireplace.

It is also a good idea to clean out your dryer once a year. Lint collects everywhere inside a dryer and can start a fire.

One Sentence Prayers

Make me pure in heart that I might see You.

Murphy's Law Part 3

So it ended up being an ok evening. We were warm, but it did start to cool down once the sun set. The food was good. The tarantula went away and we haven't seen any more in the back yard. Just for fun here is a video.

Murphy's Law Part 2

So it was 80 degrees in our house, my Dad and his wife were going to be here in 20 min. I had already messed up the lasagna and Cheese Biscuits. Murphy's Law was in full effect.

Brett went outside to check the breaker. It was not tripped. He turned the AC breaker off and back on. He came back inside and nothing happened. He said he would go to the other side of the house and check the AC unit.

Here is a pic of me putting the lasagna together . . .



Brett walked back into the yard and starting yelling, "Come here, you have to see this!" So I go out side and this is what I find.

I freaked out!!!

Murphy's Law

Last Thursday we had my Dad and his wife over for dinner. I really wanted to make a good impression. I only had 1 hour to put dinner together and clean up the house. I started to put the lasagna together. Brett got home and I asked him to make the Cheese Biscuits. Well I was trying to tell Brett and story and I got the lasagna layers all out of order. I got mad at myself! I have made lasagna a million times . . . I told Brett that I couldn't talk I had to concentrate. As I am focused on the lasagna Brett asks where the baking soda is. The thing is Cheese Biscuits don't need baking soda. Brett realized that he was making the recipe at the top of the page - not the Cheese biscuits at the bottom of the page. He had put in a Tablespoon and a half of salt in the mix. He just doubled the recipe and it end up being fine.

Needless to say I was flustered!!! I was sweating bullets - literally. I was sweating. I went over to the thermostat and it was 80 degrees in our house!!! I turned it down to 60 degrees. Nothing happened. I turned it off and back on. Nothing happened. I turned to fan only. Nothing happened. I started to panic! My Dad would be here in 20 min and it was 80 degrees. I ran around and turned off all the lights and turned the fans on high. Brett ran outside to check the breaker.

But the trouble didn't end there. . . .To find out what happened you will have to check back tomorrow . . .

Polk-A-Dot-Pumpkins

The ladies at my office made polk-a-dot pumpkins this week. You need an orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin, an apple corer, and some ribbon. First you “punch” a hole in the orange pumpkin with the apple corer. Twist the apple corer as you pull the circle back out. Push the circle out of the apple corer. Then do the same for the white pumpkin. The put the white dot in the orange pumpkin and the orange dot in the white pumpkin. Repeat in any pattern that you like. Tie a ribbon on the top or around the middle. The pumpkin will last around a week or so. You could just punch holes in the pumpkin for a neat looking jack-o-lantern.

One Sentence Prayers

My soul is hungry, O God. Feed me, I pray.

Blog Feature

I have been wanting to do this for awhile . . . So here I go.

http://grammyababychangeseverything.blogspot.com/

This is a way cute blog. At first I thought it was going to be about baby stuff and the Wait family is no where near that subject! But it is a blog about Christmas and the real reason for the Season. She is doing a give away on her blog so stop over before time runs out.

What's Cooking Good Lookin!

My friend Devin asked what I was cooking, so I thought that I would share. Here is what is being served in the Wait kitchen. At some point I would love to share recipes with you!

Saturday - Creamy Tacos (basically cheese dip with meat)
Sunday - leftovers or pizza
Monday - Chicken and Rice
Tuesday - Eat Out (we have a thing to go to)
Wednesday - Souper Burgers (similar to sloppy joes)
Thursday - Chicken popovers
Friday - Aunt Cathy's Chili
Saturday - Hamburgers
Sunday - leftovers or pizza

Show Us Your Life - Your Favorite Team

This is my first time to participate in Kelly's Korner's "Show Us Your Life" series. I am so excited to be joining in (even though it is late in the game).

This week we are showing off our Favorite Team. And I am sure that I am one of many who are choosing the Arkansas Razorbacks! I did not go to U of A, but my husband did. My love for the Razorback comes from living in Arkansas my whole life and having Grandparents that went to school there.

In fact, my Grandfather helped to create the Woo Pig Sooie cheer. I am telling the absolute true! Ed F. McDonald Sr. was co-captain of the “yell squad” at U of A in the early 1930’s. He and his co-captain wanted a cheer that the fans could join in and yell with them. Woo Pig Sooie is what they came up with. This story is documented in the U of A alumni magazine.

And I must do a fast shout out to my favorite high school team, The Tigers of Little Rock Central High. There was so much school spirit at my high school!

Dump Cake

We had our small group over to our house on Tuesday. It was a way to say thank you for their wonderful help in painting the house. I fixed two dump cakes, one apple Cinnamon and one cherry. What is a dump cake you ask?? Why it is the easiest dessert to make!

Ingredients
2 cans of pie filling
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 bottle of squeeze butter
Pam spray

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam. Open the cans of pie filling and dump into the pan. Spread evenly. Open a box of yellow cake mix and dump into the pan. Spread evenly. Take a bottle of squeeze butter and dump into the pan. Squirt evenly. Bake a 350 degrees for about 30 to 35 min.

It is great with a scoop of ice cream!

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART

Little Rock
Monday, November 9, 2009
6:00 PM
WAL-MART
(Location TBA)
Little Rock, AR

The words above made my little heart stop. SHE IS COMING!!!! I WILL GET TO SEE HER!!!! PIONEER WOMAN IS COMING TO LITTLE ROCK!!!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/the_pioneer_woman_cooks_book_trip/

Menu Planning

Last week I posted about how I have been in a groove. One of the big things that has really helped me out is menu planning. As a new wife meal planning has been a challenge to me. My mom always planed our week of meals, made a shopping list and went to the store on Saturday. She always seemed to have it together. (Thank you mom for being "Wonder Woman")

My first few months of menu planning were bumpy. I would plan a meal and something would come up and plans would have to change. Or I was always having to go to the store to pick up last minute items. But I seem to have found a system that works. Here is what I do.

1) I made a menu planning "worksheet". One side of the page has the days of the week and the food I will cook on that day. The other side of the page has lines to write out my shopping list.

2) I sit down with the menu planning worksheet and my calendar. I look to see if there are any special events (birthdays, potlucks, etc) or night I won't cook for the up coming week. I make note of these.

3) I start picking out meals. I try to alternate between chicken and beef. I'll throw in a fish or pork, but we mostly just eat chicken and beef.

4) As I pick out meals I will check the pantry to see what additional ingredients I will need and write those on the other side of the page.

5) If I get stuck and don't have any ideas of what to cook I go to my "cheat sheet". I have a single page with easy, favorite meals and I pick one.

6) I finish by checking the fridge, freezer, and pantry to see if there are any staples I need to restock and add those to my shopping list.

7) I tear the paper in half. The menu list goes on the fridge (Brett loves to see what is coming up for the week) and I take my list shopping.


More ideas and tips to come next week . . .

One Sentence Prayers

Drive away my fears and fill me with light.

Didn't have to use the back up plan

I am very happy to report that dinner with the in-laws went great and so did the BBQ on Saturday! The beef turned out great. I used some good advice from my co-worker Martha and also used the great advice of Pioneer Woman. You can check out her recipe here. The pork also turn out good after cooking for about 18 hours. I was supposed to buy a Boston butt cut of pork but they didn't have any so I just bought two pork roasts and cooked them till they fell apart. I just added some onion, garlic and liquid smoke.

Brett helped me out so much. I really do have the best team mate. We tell each other all the time that we are Team Wait (thus the name of this blog). We some times have to remind each other that we are on the same team and we are working towards the same goals. We often have different ideas of how to achieve the same goal, but we are always trying to work together. (Sorry for that little rabbit trail) Back to Brett, he really was a great help. I am so thankful that he is willing to jump in and do his part.

2nd Freezer

I would really like a 2nd freezer. There are so many times that I could make an extra portion of our meal and freeze or or I could buy meat on sale and freeze it. Brett and I have talked about this a few times and he is ok with getting one, but we want to save up the money for it.

Do you have a 2nd freezer?
Where do you have yours located?
Do you have an upright or a chest freezer?
Was it worth the money?

Thanks for the input!

Always have a back up plan

First - I found out yesterday that my mom really does read my blog. Hi Mom!!

Second - Mom taught me to have a back up plan. Thanks Mom.

Now that is out of the way - I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I will be cooking dinner for my in-laws on Friday night. Also all day Friday I will be cooking BBQ pork and BBQ beef to serve on Saturday for about 20 people. And on Tuesday we are having our small group over for dessert.

But never fear - I have a plan and a back up plan. I am very confident that I can pull off dinner for the in-laws. If it all goes up in smoke (ha ha ha, get it?) then we will just take them out to eat.

I am not so sure about the BBQ. I have never cooked my own BBQ before and I choose my first time to be when I have to serve 20 people!! (I never back down from a challenge!) But the back up plan is to go buy meat from a BBQ restaurant if it doesn't work out.

I was getting a little panicked about the small group coming over. My first plan was to make about three or four different batches of cookies. But that is very time consuming. So my back up plan for that is dump cake. What is dump cake you ask?? The easiest dessert I know how to make.

So in conclusion - I have bitten off more than I can chew, but I have a back up plan! I'll let you know how it all turns out.