How ya likin' that winter weather? I, for one, LOVE IT. I get to stay home with the kiddos, sleep in a bit, and I get to bake (you know, because it warms the upstairs and makes food too). This year I decided to finally play with snow recipes. 

Oh, come on, you know you used to eat snow. It was fun as long as you didn't get the yellow snow. The snowcones I've always wanted to do because I LOVE shaved ice, aka Raspas in Texas. They're my absolute favorite dessert- even over chocolate! Anyway, the snowcones I pulled out of my brain earlier today and just made it with what I had around (and we love it), and the snow cream I had to look up but reduced the sugar because the recipe I tried first was too sweet. So the snowcream recipe below worked much better. Have fun!

Snowcones:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 packet unsweetened soft drink mix (Kool-aid)

Snow

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, let boil for approx 2 minutes- not a hard/ball stage or anything, we're just getting it nice and sticky. 

Remove from heat, add drink mix and stir well. 

Allow to cool to at least room temp (hint: stick the pot in a pile of snow and stir for a couple of minutes to cool it quickly)

Pack cup(s) full of fresh, clean snow- really pack it down like you're trying to build a snow fort and then pack on a mound on top.

Carefully drizzle syrup from the top down the sides until the top is completely colored- then give it a pinch more. 

Enjoy! :D

SNOW CREAM:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Snow

Mix milk, vanilla, and sugar.

Add snow, a cup or two at a time, until you get something a bit wetter than what you'd use to build a fort with. It will be a bit crumbly, but it can kind of hold together. 

Serve immediately- top with fudge or sprinkles, etc. as desired.

Yum.

The above was waiting for me at the post office today. YAY!!!

This is my Pantene Pro-V Influenster Vox Box and I'm super excited to tell you all about it. 

I got the Smooth and Sleek set, which is sooo what I need right now- my hair gets all kinds of dry and frizzy in the winter and it's super hard to deal with my curls. 

See what I'm working with here???

Actually, it's about 6 inches longer now and I, as my predecessors before me, am going gray. Suuuucks. But, I digress. So, this Smooth and Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner from Pantene, I can't wait to use it because:

It tames frizz and controls flyaways (which of course I deal with daily being a curly-headed person!) 

It helps protect against humidity (uh, I work in an industrial kitchen, so...yeah.)

It leaves your hair all smooth and shiny and healthy! (Who couldn't use some more of that???

Oh, and did I mention- I got it for free! Oh, but you can totally join Influenster, too, just click the nifty button thingy on my sidebar or the one below. It's super fun and I get to try all kinds of awesome products that I might not have ever known about before!

Anyway, I've been using cleansing conditioners and Wen, but I can take a break for a bit to try out this new Pantene- I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it goes!

Cheesy Chicken Ole!

Great for a weeknight, done in about 30 minutes, and very versatile.

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 lb chicken (precooked is best)

1 lb Bowtie pasta 

1 can corn (black beans work well too)

1 pkg Taco Seasoning

1/2 c cheese sauce (Velveeta, Tostito's Cheese Dip- whatever you prefer)

Salt to taste.

Start by mixing pasta, chicken, seasoning, and 3 c water. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Remove from heat, add corn and cheese, stirring well to heat thoroughly.

Serve with salsa and chips if desired. 

Poof! An easy weeknight meal that's MUCH healthier than those "Helper" boxes, and took no more time. It's cheaper, too, if you use what you have on hand. Basically, any meat + pasta + seasoning can be made into a version of this. It's super easy to play with and you can even prep everything and put it together in the pantry for 'emergencies' with canned meat.

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So, this is one of those times when I have an extra day off of work (MLK day), and since S and I just got new phones, I thought I'd hunt around the kitchen to find this week's edibles instead of going out and buying all that convenience crapola we usually eat. Keeping in mind that there are five of us, but four of us eat breakfast and lunch at school, DH has the same thing every day for breakfast (eggs and turkey bacon), and, at least, one day each week we have "Fend" (fend for yourself) for dinner. DH, however, needs quick lunches and snacks like sliders and such every day in addition to dinners. He doesn't have time to make anything too complicated, so think TV dinner type stuff for him.

This is what I've got, meat-wise:

Split Chicken Breasts

Turkey Bratwurst

Mild Italian Sausage Links

Vegetarian "Beef" Crumbles

Ground Deer Meat

Meatballs

I've also got some different types of pasta, potatoes, sauces, soups, etc. in the pantry, so here's what we'll do:

Meatball Sliders

Chicken Taco Pasta

Stroganoff Rice

Ghoulash

Cheesy Brat Bowties

This takes care of four nights, plus one leftover "fridge cleanout" night, one Fend night, and one night I'll just pick up a $5 pizza or two. Simple, fast, and almost completely out of my pantry/freezer. Now for the recipes:

Meatball Sliders:

Spaghetti Sauce

Meatballs

Small Rolls

Mozzarella/Provolone Cheese

Super easy- mix the sauce with the meatballs, throw it on a roll and top with cheese. You can even tuck them under the broiler for a minute or so to melt the cheese. I like to put these together then freeze, take them out and wrap individually and stick them back in the freezer for an easy snack/lunch for DH.

Chicken Taco Pasta:

Chicken! 

Some kind of pasta.

Taco seasoning. 

Shredded cheese as desired.

This one is taking a bit longer for me this week as I'm starting with split chicken breasts, so I'll have to bake and debone them first. Mix cooked chicken with pasta, taco seasoning, and water (like those pasta 'helper' meals. Around 2 cups of liquid per lb of meat and 6 oz of pasta should work.) cook till done and top with cheese if you'd like.

Stroganoff Rice:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2-4 cups of rice (cooked)

1 lb ground beef.

Mix together and heat thoroughly. Add a bit of milk if it's too dry/thick for your taste. This one's probably my favorite because it's so deceptively easy and you can throw some green beans on the side and a slice of bread and the whole family thinks you've slaved all day. I've even been known to cook big batches of rice and then freeze it to use later. Sure, it only saves me 20 minutes or so, but sometimes I need that 20 minutes! 

Cheesy Brat Bowties:

1 lb bowtie pasta

1 lb bratwurst

1 can condensed cheese soup.

Cook pasta and bratwurst, slice brats. (I prefer turkey brats btw, though you could use smoked sausage as well). Mix all with 1/4 cup of milk and heat thoroughly. Great with garlic bread!

Ghoulash- everyone's is a little different, but mine is basically ground meat, canned tomatoes, elbow macaroni, and sometimes kidney beans. Simple and delicious! 

Ok, guys- what's your plan for the week?

My hubby loves quiche- and I do too! The kids are hit-or-miss for the most part, but I love the stuff. It's super easy to make and you can either bake and serve it or bake and freeze for later. Sometimes I'll bake and slice it, wrap each slice and put those in the freezer. It makes a lightning-fast breakfast for hubby (or me) on weekdays. The following recipe gives you the basic idea, but you can play with it and find just the right combination of veggies/meat/cheeses that you like the best. (Oh, and don't be afraid to put ketchup on it when you eat it if you like it on your scrambled eggs like me!)

Basic Sausage Quiche

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk pork sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shells
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/3 cup chopped green pepper


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cooked crumbled sausage in a large mixing bowl. Fold in both cheeses.  Place one pie shell in a pie plate.  Place half the sausage mixture in the pie shell. Place the other pie shell in a pie plate.  Pour rest of the sausage mixture in the shell.   Whisk eggs, milk, onion and both peppers in a separate bowl, making sure eggs are blended in well.  Pour half the egg mixture over the first pie shell and mixture.  Pour the rest of the egg mixture over the other pie shell.  Bake one hour or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.