Nana's Little Helper

Bree just loves to help her Nana anytime I'm cooking!  Whether we're rolling meatballs, making a dessert, or whatever the case might be. 

One of her favorite things to do is to batter the chicken when we make her Mommy's favorite new dish, Crusted Parmesan Chicken.  (Oh!  And it's Aunt Jessie's, too!)

We dip us some chicken, have a little chit-chat, and  make a bit of a mess, but we have a good time doing it!  *smile*  She's a good little helper!  I love my time with her!

Nana's Strawberry Pie

This is one of my Janna's fave desserts!  I would go to the bakery to buy her one cuz, to be honest, I don't have lots of confidence in my own cooking.  But I finally got tired of spending $15. just to get this pie that, personally, I didn't think was that great. 

So I started searching for recipes, but most were more complicated than I wanted to deal with.  If it gets too complicated or has to many ingredients, lots of times, I won't even try it.  I like things simple and easy so I don't over-work my itsy bitsy brain. 

So I finally came up with my own little version of a strawberry pie.  And guess what?  It's super simple and so easy to make!

Last Christmas, I found, to my delight, that my niece, Haley loved it, too! 

So...here ya' go! 

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries

Strawberry Gelatin (Premade in the produce section)

1/4 cup Sugar (Optional)

Fat-Free Cool Whip

Pet Ritz Pie Shell (For less fat, try the Keebler Reduced-Fat Graham Cracker Crust)


Directions:

Combine sliced strawberries with gel and sugar.  (Save some of the strawberries if you'd like to garnish your pie with them.);

If using a frozen pie crust, bake per directions on package.

 Spread strawberry mixture evenly in crust;

Cover top of pie with cool whip, and garnish with strawberries;

Refrigerate.

Oh yeah!  Eat up!

Crusted Parmesan Chicken

I originally found this recipe on All Recipes.com, and I tried it out on my family this past week. 

Oh!  It was so moist and yummy!  Of course, I put my own little spin on it and changed it up just a bit.  I try to always make things a little healthier if I can.

I served it with my oven roasted potatoes and a dinner salad! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I did!

Ingredients:

3-4 Chicken Breasts (Cut into cutlets or filets)
(This feeds my family of four)

2-4 T. Olive Oil

2 T. Minced Garlic

1 cup of Bread Crumbs

Grated Parmesan Cheese (I use the kind in the canister)

Mrs. Dash Original Blend

Season Salt (Optional)

Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees;

Cut chicken into cutlets or filets;

In a medium size bowl, mix your oil and garlic together;

In another bowl, mix your bread crumbs, cheese, and seasonings together;

Dip your chicken into the oil mixture, and allow any excess to drip into bowl;

Now dip the chicken into the bread crumb mixture and coat well;

Place chicken onto a sprayed, foil-covered cookie sheet;

Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.

Enjoy!

New Year's Eve Blast

Yep!  That's what we had - a New Year's Eve blast with our grand-daughters - Bree and Carlie! 

We just hung out at Nana's house, had a pj party, watched some cartoons, and ate some take-out. 

The grand-girls laughed, danced, played, and they just had a good old time. 

When midnight came, they put on their sparkly red hats, grabbed their horns, and headed outside to announce to the world that it was the New Year! 

We sprayed 'em with silly string, tooted horns with 'em, and hooped and hollered with 'em, as well. 

They loved the fireworks that everyone was doing, and they must've yelled "Happy New Year" about a thousand times to the neighbors and anyone else who could hear them! 

I'd say they had a pretty grand time!  I loved bringing in the New Year with my grandbabies!  They are wonderful!  Just wish my little grandson, Brayden, had been here, too! 

Who needs alcohol to celebrate the New Year when you've got grandkids!

Hope you all had as much of a blast as we did!

~Nana~

Happy New Year 2012!!!

Well folks, it's now 2012!  As I look back at 2011, of course, there were some good times and some bad times! 

I think the Lord gives us the bad times sometimes so that we'll appreciate the good ones just a little bit more! 

I don't know that I'm actually going to make any New Year's resolutions this year, cuz I'm not usually very good about keeping them.  But...I would like to be a better person, friend, daughter, sister, wife, mother, Nana, etc...  Especially I'd like to be a better servant to the Lord! 

I pray that each and every one of my family and friends has a wonderful New Year in 2012 filled with health, happiness, peace, and love - and most importantly GOD! 

Let's hope 2012 brings us all lots of good times and great memories! 

Happy New Year!

Only the Green Stuff

My little five-year old grand-daughter lost her first two teeth today, and she's so proud of it! 

She's smiled big at everyone she sees today, and she had to call several family members to let them know. 

When her mother and I were sitting with her tonight, I asked her if she thought the tooth fairy would bring her a penny for each tooth. 

She replied very nonchalantly, "No, she's bringing only the green stuff". 

My daughter and I burst out laughing.  "Out of the mouth of babes..." 

These grandbabies of mine are just so funny; they just brighten every day of my life!  And boy do they learn young!  *smile*

A Smile On My Face

At the end of our Thanksgiving evening, I was washing up the last of the dishes. 

My little family was sitting in the livingroom watching Home Alone, an old family favorite for the holidays. 

Listening to the movie and listening to them laugh just put a big old smile on my face.  That movie brings back many memories of times shared with just my hubby and our two daughters. 

Now my little grand-daughters are watching it, too. 

There's nothing like tradition; especially around the holidays.  Isn't it funny how the small things in life can make you smile! 

Hope you and your family enjoyed Thanksgiving like we did!

Happy Halloween!

A little something I put together for my kitchen table.  Cute, huh?

Happy Halloween!

Nana's Oven-Roasted Potatoes

Here's a healthy side dish for you, and boy is it delicious!  My family loves my Roasted Potatoes! 

I've run across numerous potato dishes like this, but I decided to make mine a little "healthier".  So here goes my version...







Ingredients:

Small Red Potatoes (I use a small bag normally for my family of four)
Fat-Free Cooking Spray
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Mrs. Dash Original
Black Pepper
Sea Salt or Seasoned Salt (Optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350;

Cut potatoes into quarters;

Spray small roasting or cake pan with cooking spray;

Place potatoes in pan and spray them well with cooking spray;

Sprinkle with seasonings - Parmesan, Mrs. Dash, and Black Pepper (Sorry, I don't really measure these, I just season to my liking.);

Mix well with hands (Or if you'd like it less messy, you can always throw all of the above into a baggy and toss - I don't mind getting my hands dirty *smile*);

Cover with foil, and bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours.  (I like them really tender!)

Enjoy!


(www.nanas-cottage.com)

Splendor of God

What beautiful scenery!  Oh Lord, you are so magnificent, and your greatness shows all around us! 

 

Thank you for all that you have given us!