New Years Resolutions: Send a Card Because Sometimes Texts or Social Media Is Not Enough #newyearsresolution

~Post by Patricia~

One of my favorite things to do is to send and receive cards from family and friends.

I love looking back through old cards that I have received and reading sweet birthday messages, or loving words from my kids on Mother's Day cards.

Do people still send cards like they did back before Texting, Instagram or Facebook let you wish someone a happy birthday? I really think that a happy birthday wish on Social Media lets people think they have met their obligation, and they needn't do anything else, not even a phone call, and especially not bothering to sending a card.

But sending or receiving a card lets you hold physical evidence of those loving thoughts or words that can become even more precious as time goes by.

By the time I was born, my parents had been married a long time, had a lot of struggles, three other kids, and not a whole lot of love existed between them, or so I thought.

But when I was about ten, I discovered a scrap book they had kept of cards they had sent each other during the first years of their marriage. There were birthday cards, anniversary cards, and just cards that expressed how much they loved each other.

The declarations of love, the sweet words written, especially by my father, helped me to change my view of their marriage. Their marriage was far from perfect, but now I saw there was a real love that still existed between them, and it would last for many decades, and until my father died.

So I will continue to send cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, and more. I encourage my adult children to give cards, and they are pretty good about it.

How about you?
Do you send cards, do you love receiving them?

I would love to know!!

#Repost #ThrowbackThursday Holiday Cornish Game Hens and Cranberry Apple Stuffing #Ad

**This is a #Repost of a recipe from 2015** #ThrowbackThursday

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CornishHenHolidays #CollectiveBias





The holidays really are my favorite time of the year to be in the kitchen, and I love cooking for family and friends. It makes me so happy to bring everyone around the table for a delicious meal, and I like trying new recipes.

This year I bought Tyson® Cornish Hens to make, and they are honestly so simple to cook. And it's nice to change up the holiday menu, and serve the hens instead of the usual ham or turkey.

Not only are these hens fabulously simple to make, they are 100% All Natural with no added hormones or steroids. They are also yummy, comfort food, just like Mom used to make.

I paired them with simple roasted sweet potatoes and a great Cranberry and Apple Stuffing, made with an easy boxed stuffing mix. It might all look like a fancy dinner, but it was super simple!

I'm a big stuffing fan, I could eat any kind and love it, but this stuffing is one of my favorites. It's perfect for the holidays and makes your kitchen smell so, so good.

It goes great with any meat or poultry, and it went particularly well with the hens. I think the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the apples are a great combination.

I bought a few of the the Tyson® All Natural Premium Cornish Hen twin packs. I put some in the freezer so that I can have them on hand for more holiday meals or birthday dinners that are coming up. I know some people are a little intimidated when it comes to cooking these hens, but when you do serve them, you can make even a normal weeknight meal feel special.

Look for Tyson® All Natural Premium Cornish Hens in the meat and poultry department at your local Walmart.

And you can take advantage of a great money saving offer from Ibotta. Ibotta is a mobile rebate app that you can download on your phone or mobile device.

Install the Ibotta app today and get $1.50 cash back when you purchase your Tyson Cornish Hens.

I'd love to share my easy recipe for Holiday Cornish Game Hens and Cranberry Apple Stuffing. Each hen provides a generous helping of meat for each person. Since the hens come frozen, be sure to put them in the refrigerator overnight so that they can defrost. Simply rinse them off and pat them dry with paper towels. I set them in a 9x11 inch baking pan with the sweet potatoes, and they were ready to be brushed with olive oil and seasoning.

I sliced up two medium sweet potatoes and put them around the hens to bake. We've always had sweet potatoes for our holiday meals and it just wouldn't be Christmas without them.

For the Cranberry Apple Stuffing, I sautéed 2 peeled and diced apples, along with 1 cup of fresh cranberries. I added this to a boxed stuffing recipe mix and popped it in the oven for 30 minutes. It's super festive without a lot of work.

Recipe for Holiday Cornish Game Hens and Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 Tyson® All Natural Premium Cornish Hens twin pack
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

For Stuffing:

2 tablespoons butter (for sautéing cranberries and apples)
2 apples, peeled, and chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 box prepared stuffing mix
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add yams to 9x11-inch baking pan. Remove thawed hens from wrappers, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Place hens in baking dish.
In a small bowl, mix together dried onion flakes, seasoning salt, and black pepper. Thoroughly brush hens with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes.

To make the stuffing, heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, sauté apples until softened. Add cranberries and cook 5 minutes longer. In a medium bowl, add stuffing mix, water, melted butter, apples and cranberries. Lightly mix together. Place mixture in a medium baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

Be sure to check out more great recipes from Tyson. Do you have a special holiday recipe that you love making? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is!

Holiday Favorite Recipes: M&M's® Hot Chocolate Christmas Cake Recipe #repost #throwback #recipe

***This is a REPOST from November 2015 #throwback 
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeInTheFun #CollectiveBias

The holiday season is here and I'm very excited that I've already started my holiday baking. It's my favorite time of the year to share desserts and treats with family and friends. I have the most wonderful memories of my mother being busy in the kitchen, baking delicious pies, cakes, and cookies.

My mom would save her change in a jar all year round so that she would be sure to have enough money when Christmas came so that she could buy the ingredients she needed for her baking and candy making.

I like to think about her when I'm baking for my children and grandchildren, and they seem to love my baking, just like I loved hers.

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy the seasonal M&M's® I always find at Walmart, and sure enough, the other day I found M&M's® Hot Chocolate flavor. So, so good!! And I also bought the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Cake Mix and Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Vanilla Flavored Frosting to make a yummy cake for my family.

It's so easy to whip up a cake with this cake mix and frosting, and I simply added hot chocolate mix and chopped M&M's® Hot Chocolate candies to the cake batter for a great hot chocolate flavor.

I also bought some M&M's® Holiday Peanut because peanut is my absolute favorite kind of M&M's®, though I have to say that all the other flavors are a close second.

When my four year old granddaughter saw this cake she said it was beautiful, and that is one of the reasons I bake, for love, for family.

I want her to remember her and I baking together, which we frequently do, and remember how much fun we had in the kitchen.

Simply add chopped candies and hot chocolate mix to the batter to give it that great hot chocolate flavor. I always make sure to use parchment paper and vegetable oil so that my cake doesn't stick to the pan, it works every time.

Put together and frost both layers of the cake, then the real fun begins! Decorate your cake with the sprinkles that come with the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Vanilla Flavored Frosting, and the M&M's® Hot Chocolate flavored candies.

This is really such an easy way to make a fun and festive cake that you can enjoy at home, or bring to a holiday gathering.

Recipe For M&M's® Hot Chocolate Christmas Cake

Ingredients:

1 box of Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Cake Mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 cup hot chocolate powder
3/4 cup M&M's® Hot Chocolate flavored candies, roughly chopped

For frosting cake:

1 container Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Vanilla Flavored Frosting
additional M&M's®

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and place parchment papers (if using) into 2 8-inch round cake pans.
Combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add in chopped candies and hot chocolate mix, stirring well.
Divide evenly into the prepared pans. Bake 20-24 minutes until done, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans, put on a wire rack and let cool completely before assembling and frosting.
Decorate with sprinkles and candies.

My family and I drink a lot of milk, we can go through quite a few gallons in a week. I always appreciate the low prices on Great Value Milk at Walmart.

Having a glass of milk with dinner and dessert is something that many people take for granted. But many families with children aren't that lucky, and go without milk and it's essential nutrients because it's not typically donated to food banks, even though it is in high demand.

More than 46.5 million Americans – including one in every six children – rely on Feeding America food banks each year. And one of the most requested food items is milk. But sadly, food banks are only able to provide the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person per year.

But we can help out by making a small donation at pourmilklove.com. The Great American Milk Drive will deliver a gallon of milk – and all of the essential nutrients, including protein, that it provides – to a family in need in YOUR local community.

When you purchase two bags of M&M's® at Walmart ( 9.4 oz. bags or larger) up to a gallon of milk will be donated to the drive. What a great way to help get milk to children who need it. And you can also make a donation to the Great American Milk Drive here.

You can find all these products, and additional flavors of M&M's®, at your local Walmart. Check out the baking aisle for all kinds of great dessert and baking ideas.

Use this coupon to save $1.00 on any two (2) bags of M&M's® Chocolate Candies 8 oz. or larger.

Be sure to check out more delicious holiday baking recipes here. And tell me what your favorite holiday recipe, I'd really love to know.

Valentine's Day Sprinkled Sugar Cookies

 

I know Valentine's Day is still a few weeks away, but time just seems to speed by these days. I love making treats for my family and friends for this holiday, and I believe it's a day to celebrate all kinds of love, not just the romantic kind.

 I have made a lot of sugar cookies that weren't all I'd hoped they would be, but this is the best recipe I've ever used. The cookies are moist and delicious, and very easy to make.

 My grandchildren loved them and I had such a good time making them. And of course, you can use different kinds of sprinkles for different holidays, they will all look great on this cookie.

 

Recipe for Sprinkled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large or extra-large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, and using an electric hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar, and mix until it forms a dough.
Reserve 3 tablespoons of sprinkles, and fold the rest into the dough. On a cookie sheet lined with foil, place heaping teaspoons of dough, spacing evenly.
Press down on dough just enough to get a flat surface. Sprinkle with reserved sprinkles.
Bake in preheated oven 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet before removing.

Makes 18 cookies.

Enjoy!!

 

I originally published this last year, but since it's such a great recipe, I wanted to share it again. 

Cooking One Of My Favorite Holiday Party Recipes, Mexican Meatball Soup

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SeasonedGreetings #CollectiveBias

I don't know about you, but I feel like this fall season is going by so quickly. I'm already pulling out some of my favorite holiday party recipes and getting ready to make lots of delicious party food for my friends and family.

One of my all-time favorite recipes is this Mexican Meatball Soup. This soup, along with cheese enchiladas, has become the traditional menu that we make every year for my son-in-law's birthday, which is on Christmas Eve.

My son-in-law, Jacob, has two brothers with birthdays also near Christmas, and so as a child, he never had a birthday party. In our family, my own children always had parties, so when he married my daughter, we started having a birthday party for him every year.

This weekend I decided to make some Mexican Meatball Soup for dinner. It's been so cold, and the thought of this yummy soup simmering on the stove sounded good.

One of the key ingredients to making the soup, especially the meatballs, is Tabasco. It enhances the flavor of all the ingredients, and gives it the perfect kick of spice that makes this soup tastes so delicious.

While I was shopping at Safeway, I picked up three kinds of our favorite Tabasco flavors, Original Red, Chipotle, and Jalapeño. It isn't just a condiment, but adds great flavor to stews, burgers, chili, meatloaf, and more.

The first step in making this soup, is to make the meatballs. I used to fry them, but now I just pop them in the oven for about 12 minutes, and it's so much easier.

To a pound of lean ground beef, add an egg, breadcrumbs, chopped onion, catsup, oregano, and salt and pepper. And for that extra special flavor, add Tabasco. I usually add 3 tablespoons and it's just the right amount. But you can add more or less, to suit your taste buds.

Mix up the meat into 1-inch round balls and pop in the oven. I have a hard time resisting eating a few when they are done, and have to remind myself they are for the soup. They are good!

Chop zucchini, carrots, and onions and put into a Dutch oven or large soup pot. Add garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes , then add salt, pepper and taco seasoning.

The Tabasco and taco seasoning add great flavor to this soup, without making it too spicy. I always use the Original Red flavor when I make this recipe, but I think the Chipotle or Jalapeño flavor would work well, too. I'm a big fan of all the flavors, and so is my family.

After the vegetables have cooked and slightly softened, add the beef broth, a can of corn, a can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of cooked rice, and the meatballs. Then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons Tabasco, and then let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.

I have made this soup with and without the rice, and it's great either way. But the rice does make the soup stretch even further, something I learned one year when we had more birthday party guests than we expected.

And I always have the Tabasco on hand when serving the soup, for those who might want to add more.

I found Tabasco in the condiments and sauces aisle at my local Safeway. They were even on sale, which made me pretty happy because I love saving money when I can.

I really love cooking, especially during the holidays. And I'm always looking for ways to make my recipes taste extra special, and using Tabasco does that.

I'm looking forward to making my Mexican Meatball Soup and enchiladas again this year for my son-in-law's birthday, and having the whole family gathered to celebrate.

What dishes do you serve every year during the holidays and have become a tradition in your house?
Leave me a comment, I would love to know!

Recipe for Mexican Meatball Soup

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup onions, chopped small
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup catsup
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons Tabasco Original Red flavor


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small zucchini, peeled and chopped into small cubes
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 cups beef broth
1 15-ounce can tomatoes
1 15-ounce can corn
1 cup cooked rice
2 tablespoons Tabasco
shredded cheddar cheese for top if desired

Directions:

Mix together meatball ingredients in a bowl. Shape meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, turning them once after 6 minutes. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or large soup pot, heat oil. Add the onion, zucchini, carrots, and garlic. Stir and cook for about 8 minutes, or until vegetables have slightly softened. Add taco seasoning and salt and pepper, stir.
Add beef broth, meatballs, tomatoes, corn, rice, and Tabasco. Stir together, let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
Taste, and add more salt, pepper, or Tabasco if desired.

Top with cheese, if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings.