Guest Recipe from Angie!

My 100th blog post giveaway winner, Angie, has a wonderful recipe to share with you! We are pleased to gain a new recipe. Here is what Angie had to say.....

My favorite recipe is Manicotti. It is my "staple" for company. It was also my mom's staple for company. There was a recipe along with it for the sauce---but we all like it best with Ragu or Prago!!! And it is much much easier!!!

MANICOTTI
Meat Filling:
1 ½ lbs. Cooked ground beef
1 egg
½ lb Mozzarella cheese, grated
3 slices bread into crumbs
½ c milk
Season with salt, pepper and parsley

MIX THOROUGHLY
Cook Manicotti shells according to the directions on the pkg. Stuff with meat filling mixture. Place in baking dish. Pour sauce (Ragu or Prego 1jar) over top. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Cover and bake 25-30 minutes in 350 ° oven.

ENJOY!!!



Thank you so much, Angie! I look forward to adding this to my repertoire of meals!

Tip Junkie 1 Year Old GIVEAWAY!!

Laurie at Tip Junkie will be celebrating her one year anniversary of fabulous blogging by holding a 20 day giveaway!! Beginning June 30th through July 28th, be sure to check out Tip Junkie DAILY for your chance to enter the big giveaway!
Please check out http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/ for contest rules and more information!
Be sure to enter for your chance to win a Blessings and Bows clipboard during the 20 day giveaway!! Blessings and Bows will be featured on Friday, July 18th!!

100th Post and GIVEAWAY!!

A winner has been chosen!!! Comment #10 was chosen by Random.Org. Congratulations to Angie for winning a custom frame! Angie, please claim your prize by sending me an email at aubrey@blessingsandbows.com
I will post your recipe today! Thank you for sharing it with us!


Thank you for everyone who entered the giveaway! I hope to have another one in the near future! So, keep reading!

I am excited to say that this is my 100th post!!! I had several ideas floating around my head about what to blog about to celebrate. The list included things like:

-100 things about me (part 2)

-100 favorite people

-100 favorite recipes (that would take forever!!!)

-etc......

But, I decided to do 100 of my favorite things. Some may be repeats of things you've seen in previous posts, but there are definitely new ones, too! BUT, what better way to celebrate, than with a GIVEAWAY!!! I am giving away a custom picture frame just for fun! Choose any design, colors, name, etc. to match YOUR style! All you have to do is:

**Leave a comment telling me what your favorite recipe is (that you have made). The winner will get the frame and will get to "guest blog" and share their recipe with us! Sound okay? I will choose the winner on Monday, June 23rd and post after 9am CST. (Examples of frames are pictured). ANYONE can enter! You don't have to have commented before, I don't have to know you, etc.....:)

100 Favorite Things (in no particular order)

• 1. giveaways
• 2. sunny days
• 3. coke
• 4. clean house
• 5. back rubs
• 6. fresh haircuts
• 7. babies
• 8. swimming
• 9. shopping
• 10. baking
• 11. blogging
• 12. Method products
• 13. coffee
• 14. Starbucks
• 15. Coffee Mate Coconut Creme Creamer
• 16. chocolate
• 17. Twix
• 18. Mexican food
• 19. chips
• 20. cheese dip
• 21. onion dip
• 22. having people over
• 23. candles
• 24. magazines
• 25. hanging out with hubby
• 26. hanging out with family
• 27. hanging out with friends
• 28. cookouts
• 29. homegrown tomatoes with salt
• 30. ripe and juicy peaches
• 31. chocolate maltballs
• 32. clean sheets
• 33. church
• 34. teaching
• 35. kids
• 36. black
• 37. red
• 38. damask
• 39. garage sales
• 40. outdoor summer events
• 41. 4th of July
• 42. new clothes
• 43. matinees
• 44. renting movies
• 45. bargain shopping
• 46. Target
• 47. clearance racks
• 48. chips and salsa
• 49. fresh laundry
• 50. staying in my pjs all day
• 51. Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets and fries
• 52. Sonic drinks
• 53. blog stalking
• 54. painting
• 55. projects
• 56. reorganizing
• 57. dishes
• 58. antique dishes
• 59. aprons
• 60. pillows
• 61. decorating
• 62. cherry pie
• 63. chocolate chip cookies
• 64. pizza
• 65. weekend getaways to Dallas
• 66. traveling
• 67. polkadots
• 68. silver
• 69. makeup
• 70. jeans
• 71. ballet flats
• 72. flip flops
• 73. sheet spray
• 74. concealer
• 75. hair spray
• 76. girls night out
• 77. book club
• 78. music
• 79. gift giving
• 80. red flowers
• 81. bubble baths
• 82. coconut
• 83. strawberries
• 84. chocolate milk
• 85. orange juice-pulp free
• 86. Daylight Donuts
• 87. bacon
• 88. Christmas stockings
• 89. glass jars
• 90. crafts
• 91. bug spray
• 92. comfy furniture
• 93. birthdays
• 94. celebrations of all types
• 95. candy
• 96. comfort food
• 97. days off
• 98. big Saturday breakfasts
• 99. walking around the lake
• 100. being so blessed that I actually have 100 things to call my favorites!

Fruit Infused Water

In an effort to clear out some old magazines, get some new ones, and hang out with the girls, I hosted a Magazine Swap last night. It was a great time of food, chatter, and more! I served one of my favorite summer beverages (stolen from Cafe Nova in OKC). It's light, crisp, simple, pretty and calorie-free! It actually makes you want to drink water! Can't beat that!

Fruit Infused Water
1 cucumber, cut into spears
1 large lemon, cut into slices and seeded
Strawberries (a handful or two), hulled and sliced

Fill a pretty pitcher with 2 spears of cucumber, half of the lemon slices and half of the strawberries. Add filtered water. Chill for two hours and serve.

(There is enough fruit for two pitchers. You can "reuse" the fruit on the same day...just refill the pitcher with water to re-infuse.)

Weekend Fun

Me and Josh at the Blues and BBQ Festival in Bricktown....mullets anyone??? We went with some friends to this interesting little festival. Although the actual blues and BBQ left much to be desired, the people-watching was excellent! After that, we headed back to our house for the first swim of the season in a very cold and dark pool (it was about 9:30 or 10:00)

The random table decor for Father's Day, which consisted of Josh's old ties. Yes, I know the tablecloth is wrinkled!
The Father's Day menu included Sour Cream Chicken Crock Pot Enchiladas, Taco Salad, Chips and Cheese Dip and this GREAT Chocolate Chip Pound Cake (thanks, Shanna, for the recipe!), Iced Tea and Lemonade

Dad, Brother Matt (Dad to Viv) and Me

Me and Dad

Josh and Viv

Look who's crawling!

Mom and Viv by the pool (Viv wasn't impressed with how cold the water was)

Cute little swimsuit girl

Random Saturday Project: I had an old IKEA mouse pad that had a coffee stain on it. So, I took some pretty scrapbook paper and stitched it on. Simply cut to fit, spray on spray adhesive and stitch around the edge and finish it off with a good spraying of clear sealant. But, the truth is, I only stitched it on....I didn't use spray adhesive or sealant, but it needs it. I was just trying to get it done as quickly as possible. I'm sure I'll be redoing it in a few days:)

Friday was Josh's day off, so we had a date day in the afternoon (matinee, early dinner at PF Chang's, shopping, etc.) and did yard work for the remainder of the evening. We had a great time!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!! You are an amazing father!!! I feel so blessed to have you in my life! You have always been a wonderful, supportive, and encouraging father! I hope you had a special day!!

The Results

The cookies (see previous post) came out well! They obviously have a little bit of a different texture than typical peanut butter cookies. But, they are easy, good and got hubby's approval! His only suggestion was a glass of milk to go with them!


Easy Peanut Butter Cookies (from The Busy Woman's Cookbook)

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Stir together peanut butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and lightly flatten with fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yes, it's that easy!!!


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Experimental Cooking

The ingredients: 1 c. peanut butter, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp. vanilla Before baking:

I am needing to make several dozen cookies tonight. Only problem: I'm too tired/lazy/cheap to use the full-out ingredients (butter, chocolate chips, etc.) that I would use in my typical recipes. So, I pulled out my Busy Woman's Cookbook that I purchased when I was teaching full time. I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies. They are currently baking, but I'm a little scared to see how they turned out, especially since they are flourless...hmmmm. I'll have to let you know how they turn out....I'm VERY curious!!

3 posts today...WOW!!!

Five Favorites for Friday

1. Lubriderm SPF15 daily moisturizing lotion (the Walmart brand is great, too!)
2. Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Dipps-chocolate peanut butter and the regular peanut butter chocolate chunk)
3. My water bottle from Target....the VERY best water bottle out there! It doesn't leak or break (yes, I've dropped it numerous times on tile and concrete)
4. NYC lipsticks: they're so cheap that you can switch out colors and buy several of them without making a dent in your budget.
5. Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer-SPF 15

Update on Dry Cleaner Post....

So I took Josh's shirts to an unnamed cleaner last week. The verdict: MUCH worse than our old place! How could you possibly put MORE wrinkles AND A GREASE STAIN on a (brand new) shirt?!?! I am picking that shirt up today, that I took back to them to have redone/stain removed. I took the rest of our dry cleaning to our old place.

Thanks for the suggestions! Unfortunately I'm too cheap to use Nichols Hills or Parkway Cleaners. But, I'm sure they do a fantastic job!

In a moment of weakness, I stopped by Braum's on my way home from school today to pick up some ice cream. I couldn't figure out what I wanted and nothing sounded that fantastic. But, when I started rummaging through the light ice cream, I found my all time favorite---CHOCOLATE MOJITO!!! I used to go fairly often to see if they were selling it by the 1/2 gallon. For a long time you could only buy it by the scoop. Needless to say, this totally made my day!! It is a wonderful combination of dark chocolate ice cream, pieces of chocolate mints, and a chocolate swirl. If you like chocolate mint, you absolutely have to try it!!! You'll love it! If not, I will gladly stop by and eat the rest of the carton for you!

Graduation

Me and Ali Me and Mom

Me and Victoria

Victoria opening presents

Aunt Laura--the hostess

Victoria's graduation

Mother and daughters

Me and Josh

Well, my baby cousin, Victoria, graduated from high school on Friday night. Can't believe she's really at that stage of her life already! Maybe it's time that I stop calling her "baby cousin". Josh and I rode down to TX with my parents on Friday to see her graduate and spend time with the fam. We stayed at my Aunt Laura's and enjoyed great food, good conversation and goofy family time!

All Better Now!

I've had my chocolate fix, and I am now ready to conquer the day!

Starting Early.....

No, not on Christmas shopping or anything else productive. Would be nice, though! I'm actually starting early on my chocolate fix for today! Yes, I do have to have one at some point every day!

Today's chocolate of choice, Triple Chocolate Cookies! They are baking in the oven as I type!

The cookie dough----yum! But, wait! It gets better.........

Add some milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips OR

some red M&Ms that you picked out of your stash of Christmas M&Ms that are still in the pantry (don't worry, these aren't going to a dinner party or anything!).

I'll show you what they look like after they bake! I'm excited to dive in!

In case you're wondering, the recipe is here. I used a devil's food cake mix this time with semi-sweet chocolate chips, before adding the extra fun stuff. These baked for 8 minutes.

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Dry Cleaning Help!!

I have been very disappointed in the dry cleaners we use, there are always random creases, etc. Anyone know of a good one in the Quail Creek/Quail Springs Mall area or even up in Edmond??? I'm taking Josh's dress shirts today. I'd do it myself, but that's one of the things I'm horrible at doing! Any suggestions (before noon....sorry for the deadline) would be appreciated:)

Not Quite Gourmet

Yesterday was a huge catch-up day for me, which included a trip to the gym, painting orders, doing laundry, cleaning house (it was FILTHY!!!), doing dishes, going to the grocery store, etc. So, it didn't leave a whole lot of time for dinner prep. Luckily, I had everything to make Chicken and Rice. This is a good, quick, non-gourmet meal, so don't expect anything more! It's good comfort food and a quick standby, though.

Crockpot Chicken and Rice for Two

-2 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(I suppose it doesn't have to be frozen-that's just what I have on hand)
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
(substitute reduced fat for healthier version)
-1/4 can of water
-1/2 c. instant rice (white or brown)
-garlic powder or minced garlic
-salt
-pepper

Use a handy-dandy crockpot liner or spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Mix the rice and soup together and spread at the bottom of the crockpot. Add the water over the top of the rice. Season the top with a little garlic, salt, and pepper, if desired. Put the 2 chicken breasts on top of the rice mixture. Season once again with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on low for about 3 to 4 hours.

Variations: Add frozen peas or celery to the rice for a different flavor combo.

Serve with veggies, salad and fruit.

Like I said, it isn't gourmet!

GREAT blog makeover!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Shauna of See My Designs for the fabulous makeover! It is totally me! I highly recommend her work! She is easy to work with and a great designer! Isn't it great!!! I've needed a change for a while now! This is just perfect! Thanks, Shauna!!!

On an unrelated note, I have to pat myself on the back for going to the gym for the first time since January and I got up at 6:15am to do it! Yay! My goal is to go at 6:30am at least 4 days a week. Wish me luck!! For those of you who know me, I am totally not a morning person! So this is big!

Now I'm off to painting, cleaning house and running errands! I'm actually excited to have a clean house again!