Ugh!

I pride myself on being a pretty good cook, as well as baker. I've made Christmas candies and cookies for years. I usually make the old standards that my mom and I used to make...buckeyes, hazelnut balls, etc. I've mixed a few new things over the years, but some of them take a lot of time. For some reason, aka Sutton, I don't have as much time to make some of these old standbys. So, this year, I thought I would try some things I've had before, but never made. I was going to make this ridiculously good white fudge my mother in law used to make. All I had to do was melt some white chocolate chips and butter. The butter melted just fine, but the chips just melted enough to turn into a big ball of goo. I then tried to melt some of them further in the microwave. They just got scorched! Ugh...I hate failing! :(

I had already beaten up my cream cheese for the fudge, so what to do with that. Why not try making cookies with the Pampered Chef cookie press I've had for 8 or so years and never used! Brilliant! The first little batch of trees came out okay. I was confident enough that I dyed some more of the dough green to make wreaths. I went to press them out and of course it didn't work. I just decided to put the dough in the fridge tonight and try again tomorrow.

The other recipe I was going to make is easy. All I needed was brown sugar. I went to the cabinet and my brown sugar was hard as a rock! So, strike 3!

I half cleaned up the kitchen and now I'm heading to bed. The moral of this story is...One with "mommy brain" should only attempt the things she knows. Maybe this is God's way of telling me to stay away from the sweets! :)

Sappy Mommy

I have always been a little bit of a "sap".  Today I am a bit overtired from a long day yesterday of the KU basketball game and then Sean's company Christmas party last night. We were out until the break of 11:30 and were exhausted today! Anyway, Sutton has been fighting a cold, so we opted to watch our church service online today instead of taking her to the nursery. At the end, they were singing all of the Christmas songs of JOY. Sutton was done eating but sitting in her highchair watching the service online along with us. We were singing the songs to her and she was loving it. Something about watching the joy in her coupled with singing "Away in a Manger" brought me to tears. Happy tears of joy over how blessed we are! Every time I look at my child, I am reminded of the true miracle she is. Thank you, Lord!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

These were so good! I served them with a nice tossed salad and some homemade oven fries. It is definitely a keeper. 

Ingredients

4 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (17.5 fluid ounce) bottle hot sauce sauce, divided (such as Frank's)

1/2 (1 ounce) package dry ranch salad dressing mix ( I used a packet of dip mix and it was .56 ounces)

2 tablespoons butter (omit or use light if you like. it did help tone down the spice a bit)

6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions

1. Place the frozen chicken breasts into a slow cooker, and pour in 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover, and cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours.

2. Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter, and shred the meat finely with two forks. Pile the meat onto the hoagie rolls, and splash with the remaining buffalo wing sauce to serve.

Ham & Cheese Hashbrown Casserole

1 28-32 oz. bag frozen shredded hashbrowns

1 can cream of potato soup

1 lb. chopped ham

3 tbls. milk

1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I have found that swiss is very tasty!)

Paprika

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

3. Combine potatoes, soup, ham and milk and put in pan.

4. Bake for 25 minutes.

5. Top with cheese and paprika to taste.

6. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!