Creamy Garlic Chicken, Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomatoe Lasagna

See picture on Pinterest.
It looks much prettier.

 

Inspired by Tasty Tidbits blogpost, I had to pin this on my Casserole Board on Pinterest with a little modification to suit my families taste.  What did I do different? I added GARLIC of course.

Ingredients
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 small jar  drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup milk
6 cloves of garlic ( I use the frozen cubes from Trader Joe's)
12 lasagna noodles, cooked or use the no BAKE. For a Gluten Free recipe, use GF Lasagna Noodles

1/4 cup of Freshly Chopped Basil (leave some for garnish)

Directions
HEAT oven to 350°F.
COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, garlic, parmesan and tomatoes in one bowl. In another bowl, mix cream cheese and milk with mixer until well blended; stir in 1/2 of the basil.
Mix half of the cream cheese mixture with the chicken bowl and leave the remaining to coat layers.

Layer 1 - SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish;
cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice.  

Layer 4 - Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.
BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

Garnish with fresh basil after removing from the oven.

Get in the habit of making a casserole every Monday Night for your family.  Need some inspiration and a great recipe....Check out this list - 30daysof...casseroles.

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CONTEST inspired by A Christmas Card Tradition

My holiday season begins when the first Christmas cards arrive in the mail.  I place them in the center of our dinner table and we enjoy opening them together and seeing how our family and friends have grown in the past year. Some friends get creative with photoshop tricks while others still send the "annual" letter sharing ALL the highlights of their year.  Overall we receive the traditional photo cards from Snapfish.com, Kodak Gallery and Costco.com (the most popular this year).  The highest quality cards always come from Tiny Prints which is where I bought custom made embossers for a few new homeowners.

When the season ends, I can't bear to throw the cards away so I file them in a Flip-its© Photo Frame (pictured above). After 10 years of filing, you can pull out a sleeve and see how the family has grown and the lives have changed.  It is a great way to reflect upon the people who mean the most to you in your life.  

As I was inserting 2011 pictures above the past years, I was inspired to have a photo contest. UPLOAD your Christmas Card to the 30daysof...fanpage and the card with the most votes will win a DIGITAL PICTURE FRAME. 

CONTEST DATES
Begins: January 1st, 2012
Last day to enter: January 15th, 2012 at midnight
First Day to vote: January 16th - (like only count on 30daysof...fanpage)
Ends: January 31st at midnight




Be sure to follow my Captured Moments Board on Pinterest.
There is some amazing inspiration for your cards for 2012!

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Pear, Brie and Pecan Bites

See the love shaped like a pear...see all the other ways I found love.

This recipe was begging me to make it.  First I purchased a box of pilsbury crescent rolls from Costco thinking I would be using them to bake over the holidays.  Instead I made Bacon Wrapped Dates - delish. Then I purchased a block of the Rondele double créme Baby Brie but I ate that as my snack for the entire week with some crackers and raspberries. So I had to get another one.  I am always trying to do something with pecans, so when I found this recipe on the back of the Pilsbury Crescent Roll box, it was an absolute necessity that I bake them. All I needed were the pears.  Luckily we received a box of Harry and David Pears on Christmas Day. 

*If you are trying to save calories and don't want to use the crescent rolls, place the pear filling in a bowl and serve with Karr's Crackers.

INGREDIENTS
1 can of crescent dinner rolls rolled out then cut into squares
1 pear peeled or 1 1/2 cups diced small (Harry and David preferably)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
8 oz of Brie Cheese (Rondele is a great brand to try)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/3 cup chopped pecans

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray. Separate the dough into two long rows and cut into squares. Gently press i square into a muffin cup (it will not completely cover the inside of cup)
Cube the cheese and Place one cube of the brie cheese on the bottom of each cup
Mix the pear, brown sugar, honey, and cayenne pepper and spoon 1 teaspoon on top of the brie cube.
Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the pear mixture.


Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and serve warm.

Looking for other BITE SIZE GOODIES?
Follow the 30days of Blog on Facebook for free printables, inspiration and contest news.

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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This year my favorite expression is, "that is BANANAS." So why not make the moistest banana bread for my neighbors and friends?  The recipe I used is on the back of the Chiquita Banana Box. 

You will need 2 super ripe bananas, 1 egg, water, and small tins to bake them in.  One box will fill three of the small tins. Cook for 30 minutes and let cool before wrapping.  Tie this FREE PRINTABLE (below) to each package and have fun sharing this delicious treat.  

Totally bananas, right? 

The image below was inspired by this istockphoto image  

For more great last minute and creative gift giving ideas, follow my board on pinterest.

Banana Bread Labels

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramal SeaSalt Buttercream Frosting

Thanksgiving Bunko is an annual tradition of ours.  Instead of playing Bunko, we give the winnings to a longtime friend to help her with her kids disease. The hostess places numbered index cards with questions under each plate as we eat the following dinner.  This year the hostess sent us home with homemade table runners.  (A true blessing since mine was ruined last year from a gravy boat spill.) Each lady prepares her recipe from the list below. The hostess makes the turkey and gravy as well as providing the drinks for the evening.

1. Casserole Green (Bean Casserole or Macaroni and Cheese)

2. Summit House Cream Corn

3. Salad (Mozzarella, tomato and basil salad or a cranberry spinach salad)

4. Cranberry Sauce

5. Rolls

6. Creamed Spinach

7. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

8. Sweet Potatoes

9. 2 appetizers (Pumkin dip, Bacon wrapped Stuffed Dates, Stuffed Mushrooms)

10. Turkey

11. Fruit Dessert (Ambrosia Salad or Fresh Fruit)

12. A Pumpkin Dessert

This year I brought the pumpkin dessert in the form of Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramal SeaSalt Buttercream Frosting and toasted pecans.  They were delicious.  Here is how I made them.

Pumpkin Cupcakes 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (costplus world market)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, set aside.
 

Combine the  brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well combined.  Add dry ingredients, and mix on low until smooth. Fold in pumpkin puree.

Fill cupcake liners. Bake until the center comes out clean - 20 to 25 minutes.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup of your favorite Caramel Sauce
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups powdered sugar

Warm the caramel sauce to loosen but let cool before adding to the following mixture. 

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  

Candied Pecans

1 egg white
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups pecans

1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon mixture
 

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with cooking spray.
Beat egg white until stiff. Add brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Mix in pecans and stir until coated. Pour the nuts onto the prepared cookie sheet.
 

Bake until browned, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.  Toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Dice into small pieces and let cool before sprinkling over the frosting.

         

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Duct Tape Zebra Party Theme

Last month we redecorated a room from toddler to tween. The look was inspired by a zebra blanket. So when the birthday party approached the decor was easy: turquoise and zebra and a little Duct Tape.

Next we had to find a place for over 60 people to be entertained (translation - not get bored if the party didn't go as planned.) The answer - A roller skate rink (THE RINKS) would be the perfect place.

FOOD 

(must be easy, black, white, blue, or silver)

-Pizza

-Oreos

-Birthday girls favorite candy to match color scheme - Hershey kisses, cookies and cream kisses, almond joys and York peppermint patties

-Zebra cupcakes (very time consuming but well worth the end result - See tutorial below)

DECOR

Since my 12 year old is into making everything with duct tape these days, why not decorate a birthday party with duct tape? We made the words on the banner with duct tape, the flowers on the manzanita branch out of duct tape and even gave rolls of duct tape to the winners of the games. The duct tape came in most handy when the birthdays girls grandpa broke his ankle from skating. Of course only the pink polka dot pattern was left. 

The birthday girl donated a portion of her gifts to a charity of her choice - Christian Arts Theatre.

All in all it was a fun party she will remember forever. 

Want to host a turquoise zebra duct tape party theme of your own? Download these free printables to get started. (coming soon)

1. To make zebra cupcakes it is best to have a helping hand.  Otherwise give yourself alot of time and stock up on extra patience. 

2. Prepare white cake mix according to box

3. Split batter in half - add black Wilton Food Coloring to half the batter.

4. Dollop one white spoonful of batter in bottom

5. Dollop one black spoonful of batter directly on top of white dollop

6. Repeat the dolloping until the cupcake tin in half-way full.

7. Do NOT spread the batter out. When you continue to dollop the batter in the top circle the batter will continue to spread.  

8. Bake according to box directions and serve.

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Fitness - Just Own It

My computer broke so I had no other choice than to create a new habit.  I started cleaning out areas of my home and office that I haven't dealt with in over five years (cupboards, filing cabinets, storage baskets.) I was shocked to see all the fitness items I have purchased and NEVER used.

This provided me the inspiration for September....to get fit using all the stuff I've ever been sold.  The challenge, use one thing everyday for 30days straight. 

My diet will remain the same, which is eat anything - but just control portions (serving size) and stay around 1300 calories/day. So this means NO SECONDS, NO GRAZING, and NO LATE NIGHT SNACKS.

On the first day headed to my Boogie Box Class I started to dread this challenge.  (Notice it is only day 1)  I thought of Nike's slogan JUST DO IT...so I did.  I felt great when I was done.  Then I got home and found some peanut MnM's in our candy dish. I thought of Nike's slogan again and realized if I would JUST DO IT then at least two handfuls of MnM's would have been in my belly.  

Hence this proposition: Nike changes their famous slogan to JUST OWN IT. 

Just think about how powerful JUST OWN IT is.  You are accepting responsibility for all your choices in YOUR life - Fitness, finances, food, family relationships, friendships, and failures.  (Funny those words all start with F's.)

Here's how I see it:

Fitness - Every fit person I know works for it...they follow a routine and stick to it.  They OWN their body and how it will look.

Finances - This is big one for every individual...don't spend more than you bring in or OWN - don't borrow.  The JUST OWN IT mentality would improve our accountability issues in government and the mismanagement of corporations.  

Food - You are what you eat and if you eat it, then JUST OWN IT. Do a work out or watch your next meal.  

Family Relationships - We can't choose our family but we can control how we interact with them.  If you have upset a family member than JUST OWN IT and move on.  Don't do the same thing again.

Friendships - It takes two to make a thing go right  - so when you have hurt a friend, spouse, lover, then JUST OWN IT and say sorry.  Instead of wondering what they have done for you lately...do something for them instead.

Failures - Yeah, so you messed up, you didn't finish, you hurt someone, you FAILED.  You are not dead though.  So use your time and JUST OWN IT learning from your mistakes and helping others learn too.

The only time you should NOT JUST OWN IT is when you are using other people's hard work as your own.  That means any pictures, recipes, ideas, etc. that you take off the internet or from anyone's site is illegal.  This is called copyright infringement and is punishable by law and or lawsuit. At least link to them and give them the credit they OWN.

I will be tweeting my routine and progress everyday on twitter.  Become a Fan which inspires me to keep it up. 

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Spinach - Egg Noodle Casserole (inspired by Rachel Ray)

 

This dish was inspired by Rachel Ray's Spinach and Egg Casserole. What's the difference?  I just used nonfat milk instead of whole milk, Jack Cheese instead of Gruyere, and Japanese Panko instead of whole wheat.  Oh yeah,  and 5 cloves of garlic! I'm not sure what Rachel Ray's dish tastes like but this imitation is fabulous.  Add diced chicken to it or serve it as a side dish to any meal. The best part is -  if you get in the habit of making a casserole every Monday night, you won't have to cook the next day.

Here are 30 casseroles to make for dinner, dessert, or simply as side dishes. 

What's your favorite casserole to make for dinner?

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Redecorating Inspiration from Toddler to Tween

No more little girl mural. 
See the LOVE?

Everyone said it would happen.  I just didn't think it would happen to MY little girl.  But she is growing up and I don't know how to control (er I mean stop) it.  The first part of this transition came when we went clothes shopping.  Her eyes would roll every time I showed her the matchy-match outfits off the racks. 

But then she wanted me to redo her room.  The room I did when she was 4 1/2 years old with the painted horse and rainbow mural she loved,  along with the poorly painted ceramic class projects, stuffed animals and pictures of her in cute costumes hanging on all her walls.  "Mom, these are so babyish.  I don't want them in my room anymore!"  (A tear just dropped as I typed that comment.) 

Hesitantly I agreed to change her room.  When I asked her what she wanted she exclaimed, "ZEBRA and turquoise!" ...then my eyes rolled to the back of my head.    The inspiration came from the zebra sheet set in the Pottery Barn Teen Catalog. However, I ended getting the bedding at HomeGoods for a third of the cost.  Here is the new bedding. 

We did over thirty things to upgrade her room from a toddler to a tween's room.  You can view the transformation and some ideas in the 30daysof facebook fan page album.  

I did manage to paint over the horse mural above.  It was the last thing I did and I cried like a baby.  Luckily I remembered to take a picture and incorporated it into the new room as a screen saver on her computer. 

Here's how you can get started with your room transformation

1. Find the inspiration from a magazine
2. Pack up all baby things in boxes 

3. Choose your bedding (this will set the tone for the room) Be prepared to be BOLD and stick with the color.
4. Choose paint swatches and samples.  Test out on walls to make sure it looks good in light.

5. Prepare the room for painting.  Use Blue Tape for the edges and ceilings and plastic for floors.

6. Paint walls with the first coat.
7. Build new furniture.  We added a board in the nook of her corner for a desk.  ($60 vs. $300 for something we didn't really like)
8. Add painting textures - We painted a chalkboard tree and zebra stripes using different sheens of paint. She can write whatever she wants on the branches as she grows. (see album with ideas)

9. Add decals - we used Owl Mirrored Decals from Target
10. Find new furniture - Be patient with this one and use the Craigs List app for great deals. We found an armoire, side table and giant mirror for under $200.

11. Find Posters of their favorite celebrities, shows, causes, bands, etc.

12. Get Pillows, Blankets, Rugs
13. Make custom artwork - Blow up big pics, make collages, or jewel some wooden letters to spell out their name.

14, 15, 16  Reorganize Collections - Repainted the keychain holder and displayed the trophies above on a shelf in a graphic design shape. Also redid the shadow box of all her baby stuff and replaced it with her favorite shells instead. (cried)

17. Organize the desk area - get bookshelves, storage containers, filing cabinets

18. Lighting - choose a desk lamp and or ceiling lamp.  I say keep these neutral at the base to go with any decor.

19. Electronics - alarm clocks, computer, keyboard, stereo (NO TV though)

20. Paint Old Furniture or replace hardware to make more modern

21. Organize a Clothing System 

22. Mirror - Every girl needs a full length mirror.  

23. Retreat Area - Find a corner of the room to place a chair so she can read and relax.

24. Jewelry Station - I used a bulletin board to hang her necklaces and found a cute jewelry box for everything else.

25. Calendars - have some kind of calendar scheduler in the room.  These MTWTHF dots are adorable.

26. Drapery - Hang blinds, drapes, or beads to accentuate the windows

27. Ceilings - Don't forget to look up.  Write messages in invisible glow in the dark ink for when she goes to sleep at night. 

28. Add a Pet - Birds, Lizards, Hamsters, Snakes are a way to add life to any bedroom.  

30. Floral Arrangements - plants, trees and flowers look great in any room.  Real is always best but you can also get creative with artificial manazanita branches and eliminate #24 - jewelry station.

This will be a room she will be in until she graduates from school.  I believe every child deserves his/her own space and it should be a reflection as to who they are and inspire them to dream about who they want to become.   

Did this inspire you?  How many times do you redo your kids rooms.  Don't forget to check out the album for the details and inspiration.

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Puzzled in America - A CONTEST!

This photo was created with my new favorite app Wordfoto.

CONTEST (ends July 31st)
Upload a picture of what 4th of July means to you to the 30daysof fanpage. All ages can enter and any medium can be used. The picture with the MOST LIKES (not comments) WINS.   The winning picture will be made into a puzzle. 

The "what the 4th of July contest means to me" drawing contest is a tradition we have done for over 40 years.  Every 4th of July we lay a big role of Butcher paper on the ground for the kids to color.  The adults choose the winner and the winning picture is turned into a puzzle (see below) to be put together at a family get together and or the following Fourth of July.  
 

POST FROM LAST 1/4/2010
Italians aren't the only ones to have passion for their country.  We Americans celebrate our country on the 4th of July with classic American food and festivities.  (see our traditional 4th of July Party Details)

This year, a new tradition will occur.  The winning picture of the drawing contest, "what 4th of July means to me" was transformed into a puzzle.  On New Years Day, the first piece of the puzzle is put together by the family and transported from gathering to gathering until complete.  (hopefully by the 4th of July)

DIY:

I scanned the drawing into my computer and saved it as a .jpeg.  Then I uploaded it to KodakGallery and transformed it into a puzzle.  It came shipped in this adorable tin with the pieces broken inside.

Start a new tradition with your family by making your own puzzle and bringing it to a cabin for you all to complete.  

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