Leftover Ham Recipe - Layered Ham and Cheese Bake

Happy New Year!

I was looking for a recipe to use leftover ham (we had a good bit....) and I found this in my stack of recipes to try.  It's originally from a Southern Living Casseroles mini-booklet.  The only things I changed when I made it today was that I didn't have Italian bread slices to layer in the pan, so I cubed sandwich bread and sprinkled it in the pan....and I used a little more ham because I wanted to use up what we had leftover! I probably used 1 1/2 cups instead of 1 cup.  If you try it with Italian Bread slices, let me know how it is!

Layered Ham and Cheese Bake

12 (3/4-inch-thick) Italian bread slices (I used 8 slices of cubed sandwich bread)

1 cup chopped cooked ham

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

3 large eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Place 6 bread slices in a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with ham and 1 cup cheese. Top with remaining bread slices.
• Stir together eggs and next 4 ingredients; pour over bread.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350* for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese; bake 5 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 6 servings.

Life Update

So it's been a while since I've posted on here....
figure it's time for an update, because quite a bit has changed!! :)

Source: redefiningc.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

My last post was July 22. Since then, we have...

...moved back to our hometown...

Source: love-the-day.com via Brittney on Pinterest

...started teaching a fitness class at our new church (which we love)...

Source: reasonstobefit.tumblr.com via Wendy on Pinterest

...both started new jobs that we love (against our cat's better wishes)...

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Arlene on Pinterest

...and found out that our family is growing!...

The little guy or girl is due May 9, and we'll find out what it is in December!

Ice-cream craving fix :)

Are you like me, and you're craving something cold and sweet (aka ice cream) this summer? But.....you want to eat healthy? (and maybe you've had too much Ben&Jerry's lately because it was on sale at Publix recently....)

Well...throw this in the blender...

*Handful of frozen fruit (I had a mix of strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, and peaches from Wal-Mart plus some frozen raspberries from Publix on hand).
*1 teaspoon of flax seed (to help fill you up with just a little extra protein and fiber in the mix)
*Milk (a little at a time) ((or yogurt))

Blend, and gradually add milk so that the consistency is just like a frosty....so you can eat it with a spoon! If you make extra, you can put some in a freezer-safe container for next time you're craving a healthy ice cream alternative! :)

Protein-Packed Banana Cookies

I found the inspiration for this recipe on Pinterest (of course!) and made a few changes based on what we have in our cabinets. ((Since we're moving next week, we're trying not to buy lots of new food...so we don't have to pack it haha!)) Also, I decided to give my new toaster oven a shot at cooking a batch of these.

The original recipe was posted at... watching-what-I-eat.blogspot.com/2012/06/peanut-butter-banana-oat-breakfast.html. Her recipe included butter extract, vanilla extract, and applesauce. I omitted those three ingredients, and the cookies still came out great! My oven cooks pretty quickly so the cookies had crispy edges right at 23 minutes....but 25 minutes in the toaster oven made them perfect!

Here's my revised recipe (simply called Protein-Packed Banana Cookies since that's pretty much all that's in these...protein and bananas and oatmeal!)

PROTEIN-PACKED BANANA COOKIES

3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbs vanilla protein powder
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/4 c chopped walnuts
1/4 c dark chocolate chips (mini)

Mash bananas in a bowl. Add peanut butter and vanilla protein powder. Mix well. Crush walnuts in a ziplock bag if not pre-chopped. Add walnuts and mini dark chocolate chips. Mix and let set while oven preheats to 350*. Drop batter by the spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake (20-30 min in oven depend ding on your ovens normal cook time, or 25 minutes in a toaster oven). Let cool 5 minutes and enjoy!

Country Cabbage Soup

We got a basket of veggies from a garden shop near us that operates a program similar to a CSA. There was a LOT of cabbage in there (among other veggies)...so we had to find a recipe to use it in! Adam came across this recipe for Country Cabbage Soup, which was DELICIOUS (and a lot meatier than we expected...but that could be due to the fact that we think we inadvertently doubled the amount of meat in the recipe)! We used some of the ground venison we have...and we're pretty sure it's packaged in two-pound packs instead of one-pound packs.  We agree with several of the reviews that it is a good base soup that needed some seasoning to liven it up.  Adam added just a little onion powder, peppercorn garlic seasoning, sage, and cumin (just to give you an idea).

If you give it a try, let me know what seasoning you use, so we can change it up from time to time!

Seasoned Snack Crackers

These are good. So good! I got the recipe from my great aunt several years ago after I tried some she made for a tailgate. They're also QUITE inexpensive! I like to buy the ranch seasoning in the big jar at Sam's (we sprinkle it over chicken before baking....so having it packets isn't always convenient) anywho, that cuts the price down some too because it's cheaper in bulk!

Here's the recipe!! Thanks Blanche!!!

1 cup Canola Oil
1 package dry Ranch Dressing (3Tbsp)
2-3 Tablespoons Red Pepper Flakes

Mix ingredients together. Place 3 Sleeves of Saltine Crackers in a Ziploc bag and pour mixture over the crackers. Zip lock the bag and rotate several times over a ten minute time period. I usually place in a clean bag or two or three smaller bags. Enjoy!!!

Organizing the Spare Room Progress! :)

Today I'm linking up to show my progress in the BedCraftOffice room! :)

Hopefully, you'll notice the improvement, and maybe get some organizing ideas in the process! :)

Go here to see my before pictures...

Spare Room Before

And here is how it's looking now! :)

This is a good ol' cell phone picture I sent a friend of mine to show progress while I was cleaning...so....take a look around...now check out the next picture!

Yay! You can sorta see my make-shift ribbon holder hanging from the curtain rod. Well, I sorta liked the idea, but def wanted something different, or a way to improve it (you can see it better in the picture of the other side of the room)...and I found the perfect thing a the thrift store...it'll be in my next update! (Unless it sneaks its way into a post before then!)

See the Yellow Boxes in the top left cubby of my desk? Nesquick containers! I spray painted the bottoms green (like the trays just above them) and kept the lids clear yellow so I can see in them.

Check out the cubby above the computer scorn on the right. All my basic office supplies are organized there, and I used a cream cheese tub (cleaned out and spray painted green) to hold rubber bands. :)

I moved my blue plastic drawers to the top of the bookshelf and put black paper in front of them to hide all my scrapbook paper and things from France to scrapbook. (Once this room is clean and organized, yes, I'll mess it back up by scrapbooking! :) )

I also hung up my Paris bulletin board that my friend Holli gave me Freshman year of College, and my new quilting square that I found at Wal-Mart for $3! It's two squares in one...pretty exciting right? :)

Oh, and those trays on the top...they were in the dollar section at Target (with the two magazine holders that are holding...coloring books... :) ) and I liked the print on them, but I didn't want a million different prints in here...mostly solids, so I lightly spray painted them with my green spray paint...then decided I needed a shelf.....

Thank you Amazon shipping box that I cut off the flaps and one side.

And black spray paint.

Once dry, that new shelf fit perfectly right between those trays to hold bills and receipts. :)

Now, this side of the room is more like the holding place while I sort through stuff...but it still looks better than the before! You can see the ribbon holder I made (but am going to rework). I used a wire clothes hanger and a paper towel tube...but I didn't' have a good place to hang it other than the curtain rod. You'll see how I change that up later.

Spare Room Before: 29 Day Organizational Challenge at Org Junkie

This month, I'm participating in the 29 Day Organizational Challenge over at I'm an Organizing Junkie! 

I started to brainstorm how to make this room a better place before I knew about this challenge...but luckily, I didn't do anything other than shred a few papers and hang up some earrings before the challenge started!!

This room is our spare room/office/sewing room.  There are who-knows-how-many books, half of my sewing supplies, all of my craft supplies, a TV, a bed, and some random boxes hiding behind the bed (and more books...).

So, I'm going to show you the before picture....don't judge me! The room is perfectly sized for a spare room OR and office OR a sewing room...so the before picture is quite cluttered. Hence, the plan to organize! :)

Let's see here...from left to right...a cat, an empty box, a box of random Christmas things to store, a notebook, some things I found at the Target dollar aisle to organize with, a chair with a mini ironing board sitting on it, my dad's old camera, a pile of fabric, and there's my new camera bag...sitting in my chair.

This is the scary part. You can sorta see the plastic drawers I put in here when we moved in for organizing craft supplies and things to be scrapbooked.  And yes, they're quite organized, but sometimes impossible to open because of the stuff sitting in front! All sorts of stuff is stuffed in the compartments of my desk...There's my sewing machine sitting on another bookshelf, and a filing box in front of the bookshelf.

I didn't take a picture of the other wall in this room, because it just has two bookshelves and a TV. Not much to do there unless I clean off some books or something! :)

Hopefully, by the end of this month, this will be a fully functional BedCraftOffice Room! :)

Baked Apples recipe from my Mom

Here is the baked apples recipe I cooked last night...the recipe my mom gave me over the phone one day! They're my favorite!! :)

Basically, slice some apples, cut up 1tsp of butter and place around the apples in a baking dish, sprinkle cinnamon on top, then spread about a 1/2c of brown sugar on top (more or less based on your sweet tooth). Bake at around 375* for about 15-20 min or until the apples are tender.

Cinnamon Chicken

My sister-in-law sent this recipe to me, then cooked it for Christmas...it is so good! The apple glaze makes it even better! :) we ate this tonight with steamed broccoli and baked apples (because you can't have too many apples in one meal?? I think I was craving apples when I put this on the menu haha!)

•Cinnamon Chicken• ((Thanks Julia!!))
1/3 C butter or margarine
1 C crushed vanilla wafers
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

•Apple Glaze•
1/4 C butter
2tsp corn starch
10oz jar apple jelly
1C unpeeled, cubed apple

•Directions•
Preheat oven to 350*. In an ungreased 9x13 baking dish, melt the 1/3 c butter in preheated oven (5-7min). In a square baking dish or a 9" pie pan, combine crushed vanilla wafers, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to blend. Dip chicken into melted butter, then roll into seasoned crumbs to coat. Place coated chicken in same 9x13 dish; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake near center of oven at 350* for 65-80 min. In 1qt saucepan, melt 1/4C butter; add cornstarch. Stir to blend. Add apple jelly and apples; stir to blend. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture comes to full boil and apple is tender (4-6 min). To serve, pour hot sauce over chicken.