Thankful beyond words...

Today I am thankful for this little girl. She is the light of my life and is helping me to walk through a very difficult dark period in my life. Without her I am nothing and I will cherish her for the rest of my life. I am enjoying all of her milestones and can't wait for the rest. This week we finally have a tooth coming in (seriously thought dentures might be in her future) and she is starting to walk. Yay for my little big girl.


Not to forget my other little miracle...Cadence, Mommy can't wait until this time next year when I have two little turkey's to love and adore. My heart is going to end up exploding from my chest because of the love I will have for the both of you little girls.

Thank you to my husband for giving me these two little miracles but we will be waiting for the third one right sweetie?

Happy turkey day everybody. May your day be filled with good food, wonderful family and friends, and a few memories to last you a lifetime.

Breakfast Braid

Here is another recipe I tried out this week and I am happy to share it with everyone because it was yummy. The original recipe calls for ham as you will see below but I substituted the ham for a half pound of bacon. Daniel isn't a big ham fan...go figure, and we both adore bacon so I thought why not. This dish would be great for a nicer breakfast or brunch where you are trying to impress someone.

Ham Breakfast Braid~
Source: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 8 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 4 ounces cooked ham, thinly sliced*
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Beat milk and cream cheese together until smooth. Mix in eggs, and season with salt and pepper. Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium high heat and cook egg mixture until eggs are almost set.
3. Arrange the crescent rolls from one package into a rectangle shape on top of a lightly greased cookie sheet. Place rolls from remaining package along the edges of the two long sides of the rectangle, with the broad half of the rolls on top of the first layer of rolls, and the pointed ends extending over the sides of the pan.
4. Arrange the ham in a layer down the center of the dough*. Spoon the cooked egg mixture on top of the ham and then sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the eggs. Bring the corners of the rolls together over the cheese to form a 'braid' shape.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown.

*Instead of using the ham in this dish I fried up a half pound of bacon diced up. I then added the cooked bacon to the egg mixture and then proceeded to cook the eggs.


This made enough to serve four people and for us we had enough for breakfast tomorrow.

Now...can you believe this is my second post in a week?? Neither can I and guess what I have a fantastic recipe to share with you in the coming days so stick around. It's a really good recipe and another one that is going to go into my recipe box for future use.

Baked Pork Chops

I'm trying really hard to get out of my cooking rut so I am hoping (praying more like it) that this week will be different. I have gathered a few new recipes that I hope to try out so we'll see how I do.

Tonight I made these baked pork chops even though I was very cautious since I cannot stand cream of mushroom soup. I took the advice of a fellow recipe reviewer who suggested the golden mushroom soup and I am glad I listened. These babies were awesome and I think my hatred of cream of mushroom soup may have lessened a little bit. This recipe is definitely a keeper for us. I served ours with mashed potatoes, corn, and chicken stuffing since my husband doesn't like mashed potatoes. If you want to have enough of the gravy to go over your taters I would suggest doubling the cream of mushroom soup and the milk.


Baked Pork Chops~
Source: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 6 pork chops
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 2 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used golden mushroom soup for a heartier flavor)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup white wine (I used additional milk instead)

* I also used a bit of salt and pepper in my bread crumbs and skipped using the flour all together.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Rinse pork chops, pat dry, and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste. Place the beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the pork chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg, and coat liberally with bread crumbs.
3. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork chops 5 minutes per side, or until the breading appears well browned. Transfer the chops to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and cover with foil.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. While baking, combine the cream of mushroom soup, milk and white wine in a medium bowl. After the pork chops have baked for an hour, cover them with the soup mixture. Replace foil, and bake for another 30 minutes.

Here piggy, piggy...

A little late but too cute not to share with everyone! Addison went as a little piggy this year for Halloween. We felt she was still to young to actually go from door to door but she did enjoy helping her Daddy pass out candy at Grandma's house and she loved hanging out in her walker and watching everyone as they strolled by on the sidewalk. I can't wait for next year when she will actually be able to go trick or treating.

Addison with Daddy the big scary monster. Halloween is his favorite holiday.

Hanging out in her walker.

Mommy's Little Helper

Eight months old is just right to start your very first chores!

I like to help Mommy unload groceries...

I like to help her fold laundry...

I like to help load the dishwasher...

I also like to help her fix dinner every now and then...

I'm such a good little helper and Mommy appreciates a hand around here every once in awhile!