High School Graduation

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile! We have been really busy! I will try to catch up on a few blog posts!

High School Graduation was on Friday night May 20. This was Barrett's 3rd and last graduation at the High School. We are going to be relocating to the Memphis area at the beginning of July! I will save all the details about that for another post, but now you can imagine why we are so busy! :)

Here's a picture of the graduates on the field!

After graduation everyone goes down on the field and takes pictures. I didn't take any pictures but these are two students we love! They won't be graduating until next year and the year after, but I saved this picture they took!

After the ceremony we went to a combined graduation party for a few of the graduates.

Congrats Class of 2011!

Nacho Bake

Tonight I tried a new recipe for supper and I know I will definitely be making it again!

B LOVED it!

Here is what you will need:

1 12 oz package of velveeta shells and cheese

1 lb of ground beef (we used ground turkey)

1 package of taco seasoning

3/4 cup of water

3/4 cup of sour cream (we used low fat)

3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (we used 1 cup)

3/4 cup of salsa

1/2 cup of tortilla chips

Here's what you will do:

Make the shells and cheese

Brown ground beef, drain, add taco seasoning and water.

Let simmer for 5 minutes.


Stir sour cream into the shells and cheese

The recipe called for an 8" square dish, but I used our normal casserole dish

Put half of the shells and cheese mixture as the first layer. Place taco meat on top. Place half of the shredded cheddar as the next layer, then place the rest of the shells and cheese mixture on top.

Cover and bake on 400 for 15 minutes.

Finally, top with salsa, the rest of the cheddar cheese and crushed chips.

Bake uncovered for 5 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

(I realize this is not the most attractive picture, but the finished product is delicious!!!)

Happy 3rd Birthday

Our niece, Aubrey Grace turned 3 on May 5.

She had her birthday party at the park on Friday, May 6!

Here she is opening all her presents...

Our "traditional picture"!

I have a picture from all three of her birthday parties just like this!


I even snuck a picture with my honey!

Happy 3rd Birthday Aubrey! You bring so much joy to our lives!

Uncle B & Aunt Katie love you so much!

High School Prom

Friday, April 29, was the High School Prom. Since my hubby is a Junior class sponsor, he had to attend. I was so lucky to be able to attend as his date! The picture above is of the cafeteria transformed for prom. I really didn't do a good job taking pictures, but I did get a picture of my handsome date....

Isn't he handsome?!?

Chocolate Pie

I LOVE chocolate pie and it is so easy to make!

Here are the things you will need:

- 1 cup of sugar

- 5 tablespoons of flour

- 3 tablespoons of cocoa

- 3 eggs yolks

- 1 stick of margarine

- 1.5 cups of milk

- 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla

Here is what you will do:

Put stick of margarine in a medium saucepan to melt. Mix sugar, flour, and cocoa together. Next you will beat the egg yolks, milk and vanilla together. Pour all ingredients into the saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture in the saucepan becomes thick, you can pour the mixture into a pie shell!

We usually top our chocolate pie with cool whip, but you will want to make sure the pie has chilled for a little while before topping!

Enjoy!

Pressure Cooking

You may remember me talking about my mother-in-law (MIL) giving me a pressure cooker for my birthday! My MIL can cook! She makes such great dishes and always uses a pressure cooker. I was a little nervous about using one, but decided I would love to have one for my birthday! I wanted to document and blog my first experience of cooking with it!

Here she is!



I wanted to start with making chicken...a whole one!!! I started by gutting and trimming some of the fat off the chicken. I made sure to cut off the tail, because it was just gross! Then I washed the chicken really well!

After trimming and rinsing I placed the whole chicken in the pressure cooker and filled it with water about half way.

I locked the lid in place and put the cooker on the stove on high heat.

Once it started to jiggle I cut the heat down to where it only jiggled every now and then. Once I cut the heat down I set the timer for 15 minutes.

Since it was the first time I used the pressure cooker with my stove, I started a timer from the beginning. I found that it took about 20 minutes for the cooker to get "pressurized" and 15 minutes to cook the chicken....not bad!!!


After cooking the chicken I placed the pressure cooker under small stream of running water to help cool it faster. My pressure cooker has a lock, so you cannot open it until the pressure has released.

Here is the cooked chicken and broth!

I poured the chicken juice (broth) into jars.

And then had to work on de-boning/shredding the chicken.

Ta da!!! Altogether I was able to get 6 cups of good chicken meat from the chicken!

I will be making chicken and dumplins tomorrow from the broth and cooked chicken!

Easter 2011

We spent Easter weekend with Barrett's family! It was pretty low key and very nice to relax!

Rylie came in town from college at Alabama! I love this picture of the brothers!

And our Easter family picture! I had to get Bindi in the picture! :)

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter with family and friends!


He is Risen!