christmas break in ardmore

Since OU and the girls' school was closed some for the Christmas holiday, I loaded them up and we headed to Ardmore a few days early.

LuLu and Poppy did lots of spoiling!  Check out Addi's royal breakfast!

That would be a crown pancake with pink and purple icing covered in pink sprinkles.  And don't forget the syrup, right? 

LuLu's Pizzaria was open for lunch! 

After nap we made THESE cupcakes that my mom found on pinterest. We learned the hard way to pipe the filling between layers instead of spread it...just trust me.  They turned out adorable and the marshmallow cream icing is divine!! 

Just hanin' out in her pink and black zebra costume.  

On Christmas Eve morning, Geoffrey left 2 packages on the fireplace with a note!

 

It was a copy of the Elf on the Shelf DVD and an Elf Kit.  Geoffrey went all out on the elf kit for Christmas morning...it contains:

scissors

trash bags

wire cutters

box knife

batteries

baggies for extra parts of gifts 

screwdriver set

sharpie

It was awesome and came in SO handy...thanks Geoffrey!!

For breakfast, LuLu and Addi made reindeer pancakes...another great pinterest find! 

Christmas is almost here...

waffles or biscuits?

So if you take canned biscuits

and cook them in the waffle iron,  

are they waffles or biscuits?

It doesn't really matter, because they were mighty tasty!  I saw this on Pinterest and just had to try for myself. 

Yep.  

It works.

pins & ziti

Saw this one on pinterest and had to share...how genious!?!?

 

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 jar (28 oz) pasta sauce

1 ½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Ricotta cheese

5 c. cooked ziti

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Brown meat and drain.  Add pasta sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese.  Combine with pasta and spoon into 1-quart shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot.

This is really yummy and easy!  I also use my Chef Paul's Pizza & Pasta Magic seasoning!

lulu's acorns

My mom (aka LuLu) had a few fun activities for Addi to help her with to prepare for Thanksgiving.  

Addi loved helping her make acorns out of nutella, donut holes, chocolate sprinkles and pretzel sticks. 

peanut butter chocolate bars

Ingredients:

1 (18.25) package plain yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup coconut (optional...my sister did not like the texture of it in there)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs in a large bowl using a mixer or spoon. Press this into a 9X13 pan reserving 1 1/2 cup of the mixture to crumble on top.  In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and coconut.  Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cake mixture on top evenly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

crockpot honey sauced chicken

Ingredients:

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

I found this on Pinterest and I've made it a few times now.  Addi loves the Honey Seared Chicken from Pei Wei and this is similar...not the same, but pretty close.  I haven't made mine in the crockpot yet but it's good baked in the oven.

honey sauced chicken

Ingredients:

3/4 lbs. chicken (of your choice)

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/8 c. chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 c. ketchup

1 T. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

This meal was a hit at our house!  Addi LOVES Honey Seared Chicken from Pei Wei and this was very similar.  I made mine in the oven but I'm sure the crock pot is just as good!

sour cream chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs. chicken breasts or tenders

1 1/2 c. seasoned breadcrumbs

1 c. sour cream

Salt & pepper to taste

Garlic powder

1/2 c. unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lay the chicken close together on a foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Coat with a thick layer of sour cream.  Top that with the seasoned breadcrumbs and then dot with the butter.  Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 35 minutes for chicken tenders or up to an hour for chicken breasts.  Its ready when the chicken is cooked through and the breadcrumbs are nicely browned.