golden baked carnival dog

These were really quite easy and really yummy. A fun way to serve hot dogs.

1 can (311 g) refrigerated soft breadsticks
8 Hot dogs
1/4 cup Parmesan Grated Cheese


PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Separate dough into eight sticks; pinch short ends of sticks together to seal. Roll or press each piece into 14-inch rope.

INSERT wooden pop stick into one end of each hot dog, leaving 2 inches of each stick exposed. Wrap each dough rope in spiral fashion around one of the hot dogs, pressing ends of dough together to seal. Place in single layer in shallow baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cheese.

BAKE 20 min. or until hot dog is heated through and dough is golden brown.
You can dip these in BarBQ Sauce, ketchup or Cheez Whiz.

nutritional information serving size = 1 hot dog (77 g)per serving

Calories 230 Total fat 12 g Saturated fat 4 g Cholesterol 20 mg Sodium 720 mg Carbohydrate 21 g Dietary fibre 1 g Sugars 3 g Protein 9 g Vitamin A 0 %DV Vitamin C 0 %DV Calcium 4 %DV Iron

School has been going really well for Tanner. He is really liking it so far. I use to be the Mom that said "I'll never drive my kids to school" because my Mom never drove us unless it was -35 or colder out. When I was in High School, I was bused and I remember her driving me to the bus stop maybe 2x because it was far too cold to stand and wait for the bus, let alone walk to the bus stop. Tanner has been fortunate enough to be bussed the last 3 years and this year, because he isn't in the PUF program, he doesn't get to take the bus. He has rode his bike once in the last 8 days of school and been driven to and from all the rest. I really need to get some control of this. He is perfectly capable of walking. It's the perfect opportunity to get some exercise for both of us. We don't live that far from the school so really there's no reason he can't walk.

It's really different for me to not have anyone here in the afternoon. I am finding all sorts of projects that I wanted to do in the summer but never had the time to do them...like sorting through Tanner's clothes and putting them in "age" appropriate boxes. I had about 2 weeks of laundry to catch up on as well. The summer went by so fast and I looking back, I hated that I didn't make the time to be more productive. In the eternal perspective, I got to spend a ton of amazing time with Matt and Tanner and make awesome memories and that's what matters the most.

I love the routine of the school year. I strongly dislike that lunch is only 45 minutes long. It's too rushed. I guess that's what happens when the school decides on only doing half days on Fridays. You have to take the hours from somewhere else.

I got a new calling 2 weeks ago. I am the Personal Progress Specialist. I'm excited for the new calling and the new things it will teach me. If any of you have any ideas please let me know. I'm not even sure where to begin.

Well, that's all for today. Have a great day.

perfect zesty chicken Tortilla bake

1/2 cup Miracle Whip Dressing
1/2 cup Flour
3 cups Milk
2 cups Kraft Tex Mex Shredded Cheese, divided
1-1/2 lb. (675 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup Salsa
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (I also added cilantro...which I love)
16 small flour tortillas

Make It

HEAT oven to 375°F.

MIX dressing and flour in medium saucepan with whisk until well blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened. Add 1 cup cheese; cook until melted, stirring constantly. Reserve 1 cup sauce.

STIR chicken, salsa and parsley into remaining sauce; spoon 1/3 cup down centre of each tortilla. Roll up. Place 8 roll-ups, seam-sides down, in each of 2 (13x9-inch) baking dishes sprayed with cooking spray; top with reserved sauce and remaining cheese.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through.

Bake both casseroles as directed. Enjoy one and let the other one cool. Wrap cooled casserole tightly; freeze up to 2 months. When ready to serve, thaw frozen casserole overnight in refrigerator. Then bake, uncovered, 45 min. or until heated through.Serve with a crisp mixed green salad.

Healthy Living: Save 70 calories and 7 grams of total fat per serving by preparing with Miracle Whip Calorie-Wise Dressing, skim milk, Kraft Tex-Mex Light Shredded Cheese and whole wheat flour tortillas.

I made this for a work lunch and saved the second casserole for dinner that night with Matt and Tanner.

Happy Baking.

bruschetta 'n cheese stuffed-chicken breasts recipe at kraftcanada.com

This was a really yummy dinner we just had last week. It made enough for 1 dinner and leftover for lunch the next day. I used Italian dressing instead of the recommended dressing and it was really good.


bruschetta 'n cheese stuffed-chicken breasts recipe at kraftcanada.com





Where Matt and I were married:

In the Cardston, Alberta Temple. I don't have pictures on my computer of our wedding, otherwise I'd put one up. We were married January 28, 2000. It was a clear, bright day but cold. My Mom told us when we were growing up that winter weddings were a no no but both Megan and I were married in winter months.




Elementary school:

Pineridge Elementary...I have very fond memories of this school and my years there. Even when my Dad died when I was in grade six, I look back and see how particular incidences have shaped my life and helped me become who I am now.



My favorite dessert:

molten lava cake from Chili's. It is so yummy and delectable and delicious...it's that yummy



Favorite Restaurant:

East Side Marios is a favorite right now. I am a pasta fan. It's a comfort food...thank goodness my comfort food isn't a fattening food like candy or chips.

Parmesan-Baked Salmon

I like meals that taste like you spent a lot of time on them, but you didn't. Also meals that are easy. I have more important things to do in my life than spend all evening/day cooking. This was a huge hit at my house! Matt really doesn't like fish hardly at all and Tanner is kind of impartial to it but they both really loved this.




Parmesan-Baked Salmon








1/4 cup miracle whip (I don't really prefer mayo over miracle whip and vise versa so I just use whatever I have in my fridge at the time, so if you don't have miracle whip, you CAN use mayo)
2 TBS Parmesan cheese (I just shook a bunch in to taste)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
4 salmon fillets, skin removed
2 tsp lemon juice
10 Ritz crackers, crushed (I didn't have Ritz so I used sociables. It tasted fine)

Preheat oven to 400

Mix dressing, cheese and pepper until well blended; set aside

Place salmon on foil lined shallow baking pan. Drizzle evenly with lemon juice (I like more on mine so I used more). Top with cheese mixture; spread to evenly cover salmon. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs (again, you can use more if you want)

Bake 10-12 min. or until salmon flakes easily with fork.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

This is a really quick, easy meal. We made it for dinner but it would make a good lunch too.


8 frozen breaded chicken strips
1/4 c mayo
1 TBS hot pepper sauce (I used 1/2 TBS)
Lettuce
4 large spinach tortillas
chopped tomato
tex mex cheese (or regular cheddar is good too)



Bake chicken as directed on package. Meanwhile, mix dressing and hot pepper sauce until well blended.

Place lettuce down center of tortillas; top with chicken, tomato's and cheese.

Drizzle with dressing mixture; roll up and enjoy!

Brownies

Most of my recipes that I use come from 1 of 4 books. Mainly the KRAFT Canada magazine and then a low fat/diet cookbook ( I don't use the half calorie/salt stuff) and 2 Church cookbooks that are amazing!

The first recipe is from Kraft.





One bowl Brownies








Microwave 4 squares baker's unsweetened Chocolate and 3/4 cup butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Stir in 2 cups of sugar until well blended.

Add 3 eggs and 1 tsp Vanilla and mix well.

Stir in 1 cup flour.

1 cup chopped pecans (optional. I can't use nuts because of allergies)

Spread into greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 min.

During last 5 minutes of baking top with a handful of unwrapped Kraft Caramels.

These are super yummy and soft and really quite easy.

Cool Drink

So I just found this card with 3 drinks on it...totally virgin drinks...YEAH! Seeing as we have to boil our water I figured, let's live it up and drink fancy drinks this week. So I bought juice for my disgusting tasting boiled water and then I bought stuff to make this VERY tasty, yummy, summery drink.

Colada Creamsicle:

2oz orange juice

3oz Mr & Mrs T Pina Colada mix

1/2oz Rose's* Grenadine

Blend the o.j and pina colada mix with 1/2 cup crushed ice. Pour into class and float grenadine (I'm not sure what "float" means in this particular recipe but that's what it says)

Garnish with strawberries.

WARNING: Very addictive!

The secret...

...to great Gingerbread cookies that do not crack is to use parchment-lined cookie sheets. Last night Tanner and I made gingerbread family cookies and even on my Pampered Chef cookie sheets, they cracked but on my regular cheap aluminum cookie sheets that were lined with parchment paper, they were smooth. Tonight we will decorate them and then possibly give some away...lol. We will give some away. We don't need 5 dozen cookies. The following is the recipe for the cookies. It is from the cookbook "The Essential Mormon Cookbook" by Julie Badger Jensen. I LOVE this cookbook and use it A LOT. I used it when I was asked to make funeral potatoes and I had no clue how to make them. Anyways, here's the cookie recipe:

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 egg
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 1/2- 5 cups flour

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar; set aside. In a small saucepan heat molasses to boiling. Pour molasses over butter and sugar and add the vinegar. Let cool. Add egg. Mix in sifted dry ingredients. Chill for at least 1 hour. Roll on lightly floured board or surface and cut as desired. Bake on well-greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes and 350 F. (I baked for 8 minutes only and they turned out great)

So try and enjoy!

Also, I found these useful tips in time for Christmas:

Soften butter in a hurry...just grate the amount you need or invert a small heated pan over the butter dish

To prevent cheese from sticking to your grater, chill the grater first by placing it in the freezer for a few minutes.

Gravy too salty? Ada a few pinches of brown sugar. It will mellow the saltiness without sweetening. Throw in a chunk of raw potato and the same thing will happen.

To get rid of strong smell on your cutting board, cut a lime or lemon and rub the cut side over the board. Or make a paste of baking soda and water and apply generously.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C butter, softened
3/4 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 C all purpose flour
1 C quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (I use more like 1 1/2...we love cinnamon)
1 C cooked or canned pumpkin

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars

beat egg and vanilla into butter/sugar mixture

in a seperate bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon

stir into creamed mixture, alternately with pumpkin

fold in chocolate chips

drop by the Tablespoon fulls onto greased sheets (or if you're using the pampered chef cookie sheets, you don't have to grease them)

Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes

A little bit of randomness

I have to laugh sometimes at some of the things I read in the paper. Today I read about a girl whose hand was grabbed by a seal and took her for a swim. She was 5 years old and the article said the girl was upset "...that the seal didn't ask her if she wanted to go for a swim." Potentially this could have ended in tragedy but it didn't. Oh, the silliness of people...

I found a nut free trail mix a month ago that Tanner loves and since the school is suppose to be nut free, it is a perfect snack for him to take. This is HIGHLY addictive (well, at least for me) but very enjoyable.

2 parts granola
2 parts sunflower or pumpkin seeds (I like to use raw pumpkin seeds)
2 parts raisins
2 parts dried fruit (we like a mixture of any of the following: banana chips, mangoes, craisins, dried blueberries or yogurt covered blueberries, apple slices, coconut, dried strawberries)
1 part chocolate chips or chocolate covered candy (like smarties or m&m's)

If you use dried blueberries, they are a bit pricey but they are really good. My Mother in law told me you can get the yogurt covered blueberries at Safeway. I only add about a handful of the m&m's because that is what Tanner would pick out so I only put a little bit in. You can buy all this stuff in bulk at Superstore (except the apple slices. I used my food storage apple slices. And I'm not sure where to get dried strawberries) for about $10-15. Since it's just the 3 of us, I don't need that much but if you wanted it just for snacks for your kids to take, it would be cheap.

Tanner is really enjoying kindergarten so far. They went on a hunt for Chester the raccoon. If you haven't read any of the books in this 3 book series, I strongly recommend you do. They are such cute books and have a great message. The first book is called "The Kissing Hand". The name of the other 2 have escaped me but I got them from my Relief Society Presidency as a gift when we first moved into the ward when I was pregnant with Tanner. Tanner loves treasure hunts and they're fun to do.

What else is new???? We went to Calgary this past weekend for a little vacation. Matt and I didn't really get to go anywhere and Megan and Dean are starting up a little business of photography so we were some of their first subjects.

Normally at this time of year, I already have Tanner's Halloween outfit thought about and his birthday cake in mind. I'm sad to say that I haven't even thought about any of that. I guess I'll be looking for ideas soon enough.

Tanner had tubes put in his ears on Monday. He's such a trooper. He took his baby (his monkey) and said that baby would protect him. When they brought Tanner back up to the room, the nurse said that Tanner told her that he had the most fun ever! I had to laugh a bit at that. After all that he has been through, for him to say that surgery was fun is kind of funny to me. It is the easiest and quickest of all the surgeries he's had so it doesn't really surprise me too much. Anyway, he's fine and happy and I can tell he hears better. He's not always asking us to repeat ourselves. And the T.V. isn't blaring when he's watching a movie.

Well, I think that's about all for now.

Here's a thought for today, When life gets tough to stand, KNEEL

Another day, another recipe???

Today I am going to share a very coveted recipe with you. It's a favorite of ours and we make them A LOT! Matt's sister gave us the recipe and now I'm passing it on. Tanner loves to help make cookies and he is very good at it.

~CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES~

1 cup Margarine (apparently this is the secret to having secret cookies...not so. I only use butter in my house and the cookies turn out fine) OH!!! Make sure it's soft, not hard. Don't melt the margarine or butter...the cookies will NOT turn out very soft.

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

2 cups Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I NEVER use salt in ANY of my baking. I can ALWAYS taste it and it makes me not enjoy the cookies as much)

1 cup chocolate chip (I usually only use 2/3 cup. I find 1 cup too much but if you like lots of chocolate chips, do the 1 cup)

Mix wet ingredients. Then mix dry ingredients. Mix wet into the dry . Bake at 375 Degrees for 8-10 minutes.

We are making some later today so I'll post pictures of them. We are using the mini M&M baking chips as a treat.




Cooking is a great and fun way to teach kids early math skills. I usually get out all the measuring cups and spoons and tell him I need a measuring cup that has a 3 and a 4 on it (3/4 cup brown sugar). He finds it, I put the ingredient in the cup and then he dumps it into the bowl.

Have fun and enjoy!