Cameryn chose to take cookies for her St. Patrick's Day party at school today.  I thought about just buying some pre-made cookies but what fun is that?  I scoured the cooking sites and found a recipe for Rainbow cookies!  Fun! 

I made the dough on Tuesday night and baked them last night.  I'm not going to lie, they were time consuming, my rainbows weren't perfect, and my hands look like I've been playing in tie dye thanks to all of the food coloring!  Nonetheless, the end result is a plate of the happiest cookies that I've ever seen and a two year old who is very excited to share them with her friends!  Definitely worth it!


(Sorry, once again, I forgot that my camera battery died over the weekend, so these are pics from my phone.)



Ready to bake!




Happy cookies!




I rolled the leftover dough into balls and made these colorful little cookie bites!

Cute, huh?  Another thing about this recipe - The cookies aren't very sweet!  I didn't know that before baking them but I don't mind since my child will come home with a sugar high from all of the junk food today!



Here's the recipe:

Play Dough Cookies (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• assorted colors of paste food coloring (I used Wilton gel icing colors)



I like to eat. 
Chris likes to eat. 
Cameryn likes to eat as long as its junk food.  Or mandarin oranges.

I love trying new recipes but I struggle to find: 
1) a recipe that doesn't take an hour to prepare on a weeknight 
2) a recipe that we can all eat {and like} together!

 I made this recipe last night.  It was okay, a little too heavy for my personal taste.  I added some fresh basil which I enjoyed but Chris said was too strong.  Chris didn't run from the table so he didn't hate it, but since he's from PA, he's craving "real" pizza pie and not the "crappy stuff down south"... therefore this recipe didn't tickle his tastebuds.  I made a small section of just cheese pizza for Cam (with red sauce and mozarella) and she was satisfied.  Try it.  Let me know what you think!


Ranch Chicken Pizza

 serves 8

total time:  about 45 minutes

1/3 pound bacon, chopped
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (1 lb.) store-bought or homemade pizza dough
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Preheat pizza stone, if using.  If not, grease a pizza pan or medium baking sheet.

Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook until crispy.  Remove with a slotted spoon.  Add the chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink in the center.

Roll out the dough to a circle.  Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it just begins to turn golden brown.  Remove from oven.

Spread the ranch dressing over the partially baked crust.  Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese.  Add the chicken, bacon, tomatoes and onions, then top with the cheddar cheese.  Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 10-15 minutes.

Sunday would have been my grandfather's 100th Birthday!  My mom sang a solo at church in his honor and Chris, Cameryn and I were there to support her.  She did a fantastic job!

Cameryn was very excited about going to "Gramma's church" (the church that I grew up in) and was repeating "Baby Jesus is coming!  Big Jesus is coming" over and over throughout the service.  We always sit in the very back pew in front of the choir (so Cameryn can see my mom) and the choir members got a big kick out of her enthusiasm for Jesus.

I took Cameryn up for the children's service.  She was a little shy and didn't want to sit with the rest of the children (who were all several years older than her) so we just sat on the very front pew instead of on the floor.  She did participate in counting to forty when talking about how many days there were in Lent.  Pastor had a special "gift" for them - a coin with a Lenten prayer on it.  I told Cameryn that she would need to go get her coin by herself, so she jumps off my lap to get her coin and grabbed the coin right out of Pastor's hands while he was reading the prayer!  He laughed and kept talking and he told the kids that they could keep the coin with them at all times, that Jesus was with them at all times, that they could keep keep the coin with them in their pocket or their purse.  So, what does my child do?  She stands at the front of the church, lifts up her dress, and puts the coin in her diaper.   Because that was the only pocket she had.  

God bless her!

Friday morning I was going to post about what a challenging night that I had, as a parent, on Thursday night However, my personal challenge seemed so small and irrelevant in comparison to what people in Japan were experiencing at the same moment. 
The news seems to be more and more grim every day - it just breaks my heart.  What a terrifying event to experience.  I saw a video of the water coming through a village and I just sat there with my hand over my mouth and tears in my eyes.  Can you imagine?  I can't.  I don't want too.  Thousands of people have been displaced, entire families are missing.  Let this disaster serve as a reminder of how small we really are and how powerful the world is around us... such a tragic and humbling event.
Each day truly is a gift!

One year ago today, our family was blessed with the gift of another sweet girl to love! 
Happy FIRST Birthday to my niece, Quinn Marie Rebel!  (Yes, her middle name is Marie Rebel!)  We love you so much and had so much fun at your birthday party this weekend!

What about you?  What are you loving today?

Occasionally, I come across a recipe that Chris and I both really enjoy.  He added some Sriracha hot sauce to his plate though!  I made this on Sunday when it was rainy and I was still feeling under the weather.  I don't use our crock pot that often because I feel like a lot of the dishes come out tasting exactly the same.  This one, however, was fantastic!  Even the leftovers were yummy (but Chris said that he was glad that they were gone last night- HA!)

 I did alter the recipe slighty since I was using more veggies and chicken than the recipe called for.
 Let me know if you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

Creamy Chicken with Biscuits

Ingredients