SOUP-er cheap chicken dinner

Last night I made a very easy and CHEAP chicken dinner that turned out great!

1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 chicken breasts, cubed
1 package frozen broccoli
1-2 package ramen noodles (these have half the carbs of rice)
1 cup milk

Cook cubed chicken breasts and broccoli in a large skillet. While these are cooking, boil water for noodles. Add cream of mushroom and milk to chicken and broccoli. Cook the noodles for a couple of minutes; drain then add to chicken mixture. I let this simmer for 10 more minutes until it was thickened and the noodles were done. Add the ramen seasoning packet, stir and serve.

Zucchini pie

I wanted to take a picture of the finished product but James and Jacob dove into dinner to quickly....but it looks just like this!



This is one of my absolute FAVORITE recipes. I did not have sausage so I used hamburger and the can of crescent rolls expired December 29, 2008 (you can tell how often I clean out my fridge), so I just made a basic pie crust recipe. The best part, other than the finished product, was that I got to use my shiny food processor 3 times for this recipe. I detested making pie dough from scratch until I began using my food processor to do so, now it's a snap! For the seasonings, I just used garlic powder and Italian seasoning.



Note: This recipe freezes and doubles well. Freeze before baking.

Zucchini Pie

1 pound ground sausage (Johnsonville Bratwurst with the skin removed, or in a pinch you can use hamburger)
1/4 Cup butter
4 Cups thinly sliced zucchini
3 Cups chopped onion
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 Cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 (8-ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease an 11x7 baking dish.
In large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat until browned and crumbly. Drain and set aside.
In the same large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add zucchini and onion; cook over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
In large bowl, whisk together eggs, parsley, mustard, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir in sausage, zucchini mixture and cheese; set aside.
Unroll crescent roll dough and press into bottom and up sides of prepared baking dish, pressing edges together to seal. Pour zucchini mixture over rolls. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

Craft binder

I've been thinking of making a craft binder for a long time. Now that I have a month off from school, this is the perfect time to get organized. Plus, I happened to find this large empty 3-ring binder in a drawer and the page protectors and dividers were on sale for back to school.
I tore idea pages out of some of my favorite magazines, including Family Fun (one of the BEST magazines for people with kiddos!), Parents, Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Paper Crafts and Card Maker.
I labeled my tabs: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Cards, Scrapbooking, Birthdays, Kids (as in general kids crafts),Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Miscellaneous (for things such as home decor and outdoor spaces). I would have done more but I ran out of dividers.....

Jack insisted that I include the "hello" (cell phone) in the pic:

Banana cake

Yesterday was Jessica's birthday so I made her a cake. I was going to do the Mt. Dew cake again but decided this banana cake sounded more fun. It may seem strange that I have a picture of the unfrosted cake, but I have a good reason. I am a TERRIBLE cake froster. I can make beautiful cupcakes, but when I try to frost a whole cake, it is a disaster. They usually taste pretty good!

I frosted it with cream cheese frosting on the outside and chocolate frosting. Now that I think about it, I should have added sliced bananas on the inside. YUM!

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and whole eggs called for on cake mix box
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (4 medium)
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 2 9 inch round pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and mashed bananas on low speed 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pans.
2. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes.
3. Frost as desired.

Zucchini Bread

We got a giant zucchini from my parents so I used my Grandmother's recipe to make bread. I usually shred the zucchini but I chopped it in the food processor instead.
I doubled this recipe and it made 2 large loaves and 4 small.


1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp baking soda
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder
3 Tsp cinnamon
2 Tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix oil, eggs, sugar, salt, soda, powder, cinnamon, vanilla. If using self rising flour, omit soda and salt. Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in zucchini. Fold in nuts and chocolate. Grease and flour (or spray) pans. Bake at 325 45-60 minutes.

Place mats

My Mom made me these beautiful place mats:

Crock Pot Chops

I threw this together in just a few minutes and it turned out great! Very simple and the family loved it. Jacob does not eat mushrooms and he cleaned his plate!

6 boneless pork chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can button mushrooms, sliced
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
Water

Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Place chops in bottom of crock pot, pour on soup, soup mix and mushrooms. Fill the soup can with water, pour in over ingredients. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

I served this over wild rice and broccoli on the side.