Funeral Potatoes...yum.

Not just for funerals! These are so good, I'm thinking of making them for my Nephew Kyle's party this weekend...he is leaving for his Mission next week.


1 Large bag of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (not already browned, raw)

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 pint of sour cream

1 small bunch of green onions (just the green part cut really fine, I just use scissors!)

GOBS of grated cheese, I use cheddar/jack combination but any is fine. (what is a GOB? Oh about 2 large handfuls, but more is good too.)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, plop in a 9x13 pan and cook at 350 degrees for about ½ hour.

Optional: Crushed Corn Flakes on top, or Crushed Potato Chips, or Bread Crumbs W/melted butter etc, be creative.

Recipe stolen from HERE

Harmony

My second great niece decided to make an attempt at arriving at 34 weeks this morning, thankfully she did not! I thought since I was in a crafting mood, I should make a crib card for her like the one I made for Noah. Only problem....I have no PINK paper! I was able to find a tiny bit in my scraps and make it work.

I left room at the bottom right for her picture once she arrives:



This one looks very plain, it is just for her footprints to go on and hang outside of her Mommy's hospital room door:

Crib Card

Since I can't be there to with my family as they are dealing with baby Noah, I decided to get crafty and make a crib card and pound signs for his isolette like we do for our babies room's at my NICU:







My Cricut cutter had steam coming from it's ears by the time I was done....

Knitting a pattern??!!

Jessica inspired me to attempt to knit a pattern, so I found a basketweave on youtube. It was very easy! It is a simple pattern of knit 5, purl 5.




I might have to get some pretty and soft yarn and get creative. That is, of course only when I've finished the quilt I've made the top for and the cross stitch project that is halfway finished.

Spring goals

I have 2 goals for this Spring:

1. Make a raised garden bed. I've wanted to do this for a few years in a particular spot in the back yard. Right now, the only place I have to grow in the ground is the rose bed in the front yard. I'd like to keep that for flowers only this year. I've had vegetables mixed in with them and in planters, but that looks too cluttered to me. This way, James (who is very good with yard and flower maintenance) only has to keep track of the flowers. I have a hard time killing those, but I am excellent at killing vegetables.
Something like this, I love the use of finials to make it like a "bed":



I think this one is neat, but I doubt I could make one this fancy:



Martha has a great article about making them: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/building-raised-beds

I also want to have hanging flower baskets in the front, preferably Fuchsias. Those are what we had at our house in Anchorage and in my mind, that's what you should have hanging out in front. (Hint hint for Mother's Day, James??)



2. Create 2 week meal plans and stay 2 weeks ahead. Last night I watched "The Food Nanny" on BYU-TV. I'm going to try her 2 week plan and see how it works. The episode last night was a crack up, with the lady she was helping in tears of laughter over cleaning and preparing a chicken to roast. With my work schedule, I may need to make it a 3 or 4 week schedule. I'm going to start this in March....I'll post an update when I know what my menu will be. I'm hoping this will cut down on the "what to make for dinner" stress, especially on nights where James and I only see each other to pass off the children.

Click on the image for a link to her cookbook:


Here is a link to her sample menu plan: sample menu
Here is a link to her blank menu: blank menu
Here is a link to her grocery list (I'm not a fan of this grocery list, I prefer the one in my iPod, of course): grocery list

I hope that I can accomplish these with the 3 boys, school and work!