Baked Spaghetti Recipe

Do you need a tried and true recipe to take to someone in need? I have one for you.  It's easy and delicious.  

Shannon had a very stressful day last week.  I wanted to help her by taking care of dinner. Hopefully, not worrying about dinner helped ease the stresses of the day.  

I made Baked Spaghetti, Caesar salad, French bread and Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies (see Cookie Swap for recipe).

Baked Spaghetti is my stand-by, along with a few other recipes.  Don't worry, I will share more of them.   Here's a picture.  My sauce bubbled up a bit and the heart shape was completely unintentional, but made me happy nonetheless.

Baked Spaghetti Recipe

1         package (8 oz.) spaghetti, cooked and drained

2         tablespoons butter

1         cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1         container (24 oz.) cottage cheese

1         pound ground beef

1         jar or can (about 20 oz.) pasta sauce 

          (for my cincy friends, please use LaRosas, it is the best!)

1         package (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Spray a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with  with Pam cooking spray.

COMBINE hot cooked spaghetti with butter; stir until butter melts and coats spaghetti. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; stir to coat. Arrange spaghetti in an even layer in pan. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Brown ground beef, drain; add pasta sauce and heat until bubbly. Spoon over cheeses. Top with Mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese.

COVER with non-stick foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil cover and continue baking 15 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

My Many Christmas Trees

Shannon has a beautiful story of going to the tree farm and picking out their tree as a family.  I, on the other hand, lug mine up from the basement.  I've never had a real tree and have only heard the horrors of dealing with the cleaning and keeping a tree thriving.  Maybe one day I will have the nice story to tell like Shannon does!

I will stick to my fake pre-lit tree.  Oh, wait make that trees.  Three to be exact.  I am sure once Anna gets older it will be at least four.  I love Christmas and I love decorating for Christmas.  I have 12 huge bins of Christmas decorations in my basement.  I've begged people to stop giving me decorations as I have no where to put it or store it!

I recently heard a commercial on HGTV mentioning that if Santa would like living at your house, you might be overdoing it.  Oh well, come on home Santa!

My main Christmas tree is in our living room.  It has red and silver ribbon wrapped around it, red ornaments of different shapes and silver picture frames of my little ones. (I plan to add more picture frames when I make it to the store to print pictures). I am also particular and try to match my wrapping paper to the tree, thus only red wrapped presents underneath.  I have more presents for the tree, but one child is earning his back as he was put on the "naughty" list.

This year we added a train for the kids to play with.  I thought it would be a wonderful addition and something that would give the kids fond memories.  So far it is a headache for my husband and  I, as it derails frequently and the track is larger than the tree area.  Oh, well the boys love it. That is what matters.  Here is a picture of that tree, with a closeup of the train area.

My second tree is in my dining room.  I collect cobalt glass and I am a huge UK fan (luckily it is the same color).  Therefore, my tree has cobalt blue ornaments.  It is also my snowman tree.  I have accumulated quite a collection of snowmen over the years.  Here is that tree:

Our third tree is in the boys' bedroom.  They love anything sports related.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on sports ornaments, so I got creative last year.  I went to Party City and got small basketballs, footballs and baseballs from their favor section.  Unfortunately, they were out of soccer balls.  I will have to add those next year.  I took yarn and a needle and made a loop for each one.  The boys decorated the tree themselves this year and I don't have to worry about any loose hooks.  I am still working on a tree topper for this tree and some added decorations. (Share your ideas if you have any!) For now, they love the simplicity of it and that they have a tree in their room.

I would love to hear about your Christmas tree or trees.  Do you prefer real or fake?  Are you a one tree family or do you have multiples?

No matter how you decorate, remember to enjoy this time with your family, slow down and snuggle in front of the tree!

Merry Christmas!

Caramel Popcorn Recipe

I have fond memories as a child of going to the KarmelKorn store and getting Caramel Popcorn.  I still get it every time I go to Gatlinburg. 

Recently, my mom shared a recipe with me for Microwave Caramel Popcorn.  Oh, it is to die for!  Who knew that you could make yummy, delicious Caramel Popcorn at home and even better, in your microwave! 

I recently gave a tub of this to our Pediatrician.  She told me that someone brought them in a tin (store-bought) of popcorn and that she would be throwing it out as this Caramel Popcorn was so much better!  I loved that praise! I also love giving gifts that people truly love!

I make this throughout the year.  It is a nice treat to take to someone's home.  It can be a munchie and isn't stuck just as dessert.  Plus, it is guaranteed to be gobbled up.

WARNING:  This is highly addictive.  Don't just make one batch, you'll need two!

Caramel Popcorn Recipe

2 bags microwaved popcorn (any brand any kind)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter (I used margarine once and didn’t like it as much)

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Paper grocery bag for each batch you make

Get out all necessary supplies before cooking as the process goes very quickly. Have oven mitts on hand to shake the bag as well.

Place popped popcorn into a paper grocery bag that has been sprayed with cooking spray. 

Mix all but vanilla, baking soda and popcorn in pan.  Bring to boil and allow to boil for 2 1/2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda.  Stir and pour mixture over popcorn in bag.  Fold bag and shake for about 30 seconds.

 Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and then shake for another 30 seconds.  Microwave for another 1 1/2 minutes and then shake for 30 seconds.  Shake once more and then pour on waxed paper to cool.

Store in an airtight container.  If you make two batches, make each batch separately and using a different paper grocery bag.  

Enjoy!

Day 8 of our 12 days of Christmas Giveaways: "We Believe" Picture board CLOSED

Today is our 8th day of the 12 days of Christmas giveaway.

Did you or a friend have pictures made with Santa this year?  If so, we have a great way for you to display them.  It's a "We Believe" picture board display.

Yours will be similar to ours (background papers and ribbon will differ). Remember, leave a separate comment for each.  The more comments you leave, the greater chance of winning you have.  Giveaway will end on Thursday, December 16 at Noon EST.  We will choose a winner by 8PM EST the same day.

GIVEAWAY ENDED
How to enter:
Comment 1-Who would this board be for?
Comment 2-Are you an email or RSS subscriber?  Did you verify that you are a subscriber?  If you are not getting daily emails, you probably didn't verify.  Make sure you verify by clicking on the link of the email that is automatically generated to you, via Feed Burner. Comment that you subscribe.
Comment 3-Make this your Facebook status.  Comment that you did.
Comment 4-Do you like us on Facebook?  If you do, let us know!
Comment 5-Do you follow us on twitter?  Share this giveaway and let us know you did.
Comment 6-Email 2 friends and ask them to visit our site.
***Remember, even if you are a past winner, you can enter to win again!***

Chocolate Fudge Recipe

Some people spend days on end making cookies at Christmas.  I do one thing every year, make chocolate fudge.  I have people who expect and enjoy it.  Therefore, I will stick to what I can do well.  I would love to do tons of cookies, but I want to enjoy Christmas and not stress myself out.  If you want good cookie recipes, see all of Shannon's recipes from her Cookie Swap.

When I make chocolate fudge, I usually double the recipe.  Instead of just using 10 ounces of evaporated milk, I put in the whole 12 ounce can.  It makes it just a bit creamier.

Chocolate Fudge Recipe:

3 cups of sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 (5 oz) can of evaporated milk (use 12 ounces if you double recipe)

2 cups of chocolate chips

1 (13 oz) jar of marshmallow crème

1 tsp of vanilla

Heat sugar, butter, and evaporated milk to full rolling boil in 3-quart heavy saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil on medium heat until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Stir in chocolate and marshmallow crème until melted, stir in vanilla.

Place in two long rectangular glass dishes (pre-sprayed with Pam).  Place in refrigerator to set overnight.  I like to keep mine stored in the refrigerator.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for many years to come!

Giveaway #7 Winner: Family Subway Art

The winner of our #7 Giveaway is:

#48 wrote:

48. Jessica Crump said...

I am an email subscriber.

December 13, 2010 9:50 PM 

Congratulations Jessica!  Please email us at oursevendwarfs@gmail.com so that we can get your address and contact you about details of your personalized Family Subway Art.  Thank you to all who entered.  Don't forget to sign up as an email subscriber.  One of our giveaways will be for our email subscribers only!

Cheap Decorating Idea

Here's to low cost, kid friendly, holiday decorating....CHEERS!

I have a bowl that normally sits on my dining room table.  It came with 4 large matching balls.  It needed some oomph for the holidays.  Since I placed a large poinsettia arrangement on my dining room table, I decided I could use the bowl to make a decoration, my kids could play with, that wasn't messy or dangerous and could be easily "fixed" when they were finished.

I bought 3 tubes of ornaments from Walmart for $1.00 a tube.  I chose colors that were in the table cloth I was placing under the bowl: a bright green, red, and gold. I dumped them in the bowl and within a minute I had what I was looking for: neat, kid friendly, decor.

Day 7 of our 12 Christmas Giveaways: Family Subway Art

For Day 7 of the 12 days of Christmas giveaways, we are offering family subway art.   Here is an example:

You pick the background paper color and up to 6 names.  What a great personalized item to decorate with!

Since it's the seventh day, you have seven ways to win.  Remember, make a SEPARATE comment for each thing you qualify for.  You could have up to seven comments.  Each comment increases your chances of winning.  Comments for this contest can be made until Tuesday, December 14th, at noon, EST. The winner will be announced by 8pm EST on 12/14th.  Good Luck!

How to enter:
Comment 1-Where you would put this in your home?
Comment 2-What background color would you choose?
Comment 3-Do you subscribe by email or RSS?  If so, comment that you do.  If not, please do!
Comment 4-Do you follow us on twitter?  If so, tweet about us and leave a comment that you did!
Comment 5-Email 7 of your friends about our site and comment that you did.
Comment 6-Do you like us on FB?  If so, comment and tell us you do.  If not, please do!
Comment 7-Post our giveaway on your FB status.  Then comment and tell us you did.