.

Be the reason someone smiles today.

Friday, July 31, 2015

DIY - PAPER LEAF WALL ART


I love this paper wall art..
I think of my niece when I see something like this because
I know that she loves leaves...
so...Laurie...this one is for you...enjoy!


...instructions here...

Thursday, July 30, 2015

50's & 60's - T-BAR SHOES


Oh how I loved these shoes as a child....my mom bought this style for me
many times....I think I had them in red, brown and black...the red being
my very favorite! I think she called them barefoot sandals...some had one
strap with the buckles and I also had some that had two straps...
when I look at pictures of myself from my childhood I am wearing this kind of
shoes on most of them....
(I was also told growing up that my mom bought me a new pair of them one day
and the first thing I did was go outside and walk through a mud puddle with
them on....of course I have no memory of doing that since I was such a well-behaved child!)
haha!


...this picture and history of this style shoes can be found at this link:


...and a little more information about them here...


Monday, July 27, 2015

CHICKEN & BISCUITS ALFREDO BUBBLE-UP


This looks too delicious to be real...
I can't wait to try it...just simple ingredients to make it
that we all probably have on hand most of the time...
as she says it may not be the healthiest but...


..recipe here...


Saturday, July 25, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE # 13 - MACARONI and CHEESE PIZZA


Well, this one will wrap up my 
Pizza Recipe Week
at least for now...I have many more that I could fill
up another week or more with and maybe I will do a
second week of pizza recipes sometime down the road....

...you may have been surprised at some of the versions
that I included this week but I bet you had fun seeing them right ? 
I had fun posting them...I set out to do 'unique' pizza recipes and
that's what I did...

I hope you found some here that your family will enjoy
making for dinner soon...

...again I send out a big thank you to all the bloggers out there
that shared these recipes...that's what it's all about in my
opinion...
if you post any of these please respect the rules
of each blog owner they come from...and be sure to link your
post back to them...

now...here we go...the grand finale of this Pizza Recipe Week...
da daaaaa!!!!
Macaroni and Cheese Pizza!!!
love it...!


...get this fun recipe here...




PIZZA RECIPE #12 - WAFFLE PIZZA


I guess if you think of all the different kinds of foods
that would work as a pizza base, or crust...most likely one of
the first that would come to your mind would be a waffle...
after all it's round like pizza...you can make it crispy...and it's solid
enough to hold in you hand and bite from it...right ?
well...here is a  nice little waffle pizza recipe for you...
I'm picturing a different version of it that would be made with
fruit and maybe some yogurt on top for the sauce...
that would be good too right ?


...recipe for this one here...it's easy...




Friday, July 24, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #11 - SPAGHETTI & MEATBALL PIZZA


This is another one that make me blink a few times and re-read...
I thought spaghetti on pizza...??
but....then I said...why not?
I mean, how many times have we eaten spaghetti and garlic toast together?
pretty much every time I have ordered it in a restaurant that's what they serve
along with it...
well here you get it all together in one slice...
when I look at this picture now I find myself wishing I had one of 
these pizza right here in front of me...I think I would say this is so good!
I would put a nice layer of melted mozzarella slices on top of it all.....


...recipe here...





PIZZA RECIPE #10 - WATERMELON PIZZA


This is a cute pizza idea for kids...
you could top these with just about any kind of food your kids like...
and just think...an easy pizza that you don't even have to turn the
hot oven on for...can't beat that...and you can serve it outside
and let them make a mess out there with no worries...
on top of all that they are cute and very colorful too!


...find this fun idea here...





Thursday, July 23, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #9 - FISH STICK PIZZAS


This one may look a bit unusual at first but I could
actually eat it...and I know many young children who would
love it and probably ask for it again the next day...
it looks good and it only takes 4 ingredients...
I bet the little ones would have fun helping out by putting
the fish sticks onto their pizza...


...recipe here...



PIZZA RECIPE #8 - LOADED TATER TOT PIZZA


Whoa! Did someone say
Tater Tot Pizza?
yes they did...didn't I say these recipes were going to be
quite unique? ...and this one sure fits into that....
I was kind of fascinated with the variety of ingredients
on this pizza...a combination of 
mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing and nacho cheese sauce...
plus other things...
I might have to try it just to see what it tastes like...
if you try this one let us know!


...check this one out here...




Wednesday, July 22, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #7 - CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE PIZZA


Yum yum! 
look how beautiful these are on a plate...
I would serve them to company anytime for holidays or otherwise...
this one should get the 'prettiest pizza' award...


...recipe here and the comments on these say they are very easy to make...



PIZZA RECIPE #6 - CORN DOG PIZZA


Of all the pizza recipes I chose to share this
week this one would be the most 'unusual' of all...
I can see where kids would love it though...so I wanted to include it...
I thought the idea of using mustard for the pizza sauce was kind
of fun...



oof-da! it actually does look very tempting in this photo doesn't it?!
look at all that melted cheese...
recipe here....



Tuesday, July 21, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #5 - GERMAN CHOCOLATE PIZZA


What can I say about this one...
German Chocolate anything is exquisite to me...
I have seen it in cake, cupcake, fudge and numerous other ways...
but here it is...
German Chocolate Pizza!
food doesn't get any more tempting than this...


...recipe here...


PIZZA RECIPE #4 - WHOLE GRAIN MINI PIZZAS


When I started watching the carbohydrates I eat each day
to control my glucose I was looking around hoping to find
something that wasn't as high in them as a slice of bread...
that's when I discovered Brownberry Sandwich Thins...
and they have been a favorite lunch item for me since that...
you can make delicious sandwiches with any kind of filling
and they are really good...I like to make open-faced tuna or
egg salad ones because it makes you feel like you are eating a
bigger lunch that way! ...kind of silly I know..it's like when I was
a kid and found that ice cream tastes even better if you eat it with
a fork instead of a spoon...ha ha!

anyway...here is a pizza idea using Sandwich Thins for
the crust...quick to make...delicious and so pretty too...
I will be adding this to my low carbohydrate lunch choices...


...recipe here...





Monday, July 20, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #3 - MY FAVORITE FRUIT PIZZA


What a delicious and pretty treat this one would be
to serve to guests, or surprise your family with it.....
I love the looks of it...
and everything is so good with a graham cracker crust...
there's just something about that combination of the cracker
crumbs and the butter you mix it with...love it!


...you can choose any combination of fruits that you like
for this recipe...I think what she shows here would be great though...
Shelby has a beautiful blog and so many tempting recipes along
with great photos of them...take a look around while you are there...
you will be impressed!



PIZZA RECIPE #2 - PIZZA TOAST


I guess I have never thought about making pizza out
of toast, but why not huh?  If we can make it out of things
like bagels and English muffins I guess toast pizza is a pretty cool idea too...
I like the suggestion of cutting it into strips to make it
easy for little kids to eat it...


...recipe here...



Sunday, July 19, 2015

PIZZA RECIPE #1 - PEPPERONI PIZZA MADE WITH A HASH BROWN CRUST



Here we go...
I thought I would start out with this one because even though
it's a little different I think it would be delicious....I will try this
sometime very soon...


This recipe takes just 5 ingredients...you can find it here:





PIZZA INFO


Full Definition of PIZZA

:  a dish made typically of flattened bread dough spread with a savory mixture usually including tomatoes and cheese and often other toppings and baked —called also pizza pie
_________________________________________________________________________________

The term was first recorded in the 10th century, in a Latin manuscript from Gaeta in Central Italy.[1] The modern pizza was invented in Naples, Italy, and the dish and its variants have since become popular in many areas of the world.[2]
_________________________________________________________________________________
Nutrition Facts

  1. Amount Per 
    Calories 285

  2. % Daily Value*
    Total Fat 10 g 15%
    Saturated fat 4.8 g 24%
    Polyunsaturated fat 1.8 g
    Monounsaturated fat 2.8 g
    Trans fat 0.3 g
    Cholesterol 18 mg 6%
    Sodium 640 mg 26%
    Potassium 184 mg 5%
    Total Carbohydrate 36 g 12%
    Dietary fiber 2.5 g 10%
    Sugar 3.8 g
    Protein 12 g 24%
    Vitamin A 7% Vitamin C 2%
    Calcium 20% Iron 14%
    Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 5%
    Vitamin B-12 6% Magnesium 6%
    *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

INTERESTING PIZZA FACTS

These interesting facts about pizza came from 



PIZZA RECIPE WEEK


Boy do I have some pizza recipes for you...I mean as in 'unique' pizza recipes...!
I was amazed when I started collecting them at how many unusual things people
actually make into pizza....
Some are sweet and gooey and some are delicious and pretty healthy looking ...
My first experience with pizza was a very simple but delicious homemade recipe...
 and then came Pizza Hut.....I complained that
I didn't like the crust on those because it was too much like soda crackers...
yes, they have changed how they make their crust over the years,
and now I love it...
My daughter's method of eating pizza was to eat all of the toppings first and then the
left-over crust....one of my daycare kids used to bite the crust off the bottom and then leave
the toppings...myself I like to just gobble it all up together...what's your favorite way of
eating pizza ?
Again, if you like my 'weekly theme' posts please let me know, I received emails requesting
that I do more so here I am honoring those requests...I hope you all enjoy my

Pizza Recipe Week! !



Wednesday, July 15, 2015

50's & 60's TOYS


I just happened to land on this website a couple nights ago while
looking for something else...and I love it...it brought back so many memories
of my childhood...if you grew up in the 50's and 60's you will definitely remember
many of these fantastic toys that we had....
I remember playing with:

Hula Hoop (I remember the day my Mom brought Hula Hoops home for us. Boy were we excited! Even        better, ours were much heavier and thicker than the ones the other kids in the
neighborhood had so we thought we were really cool! I can still picture the exact shade
of blue they were.)
Slinky (My brother could make the Slinky walk down a whole stairway! I thought that made him really                                                                                  special!)
Jacks & Ball (This was a precious toy to me because when I would sit on the kitchen floor playing with them my Mom would tell me about  playing with them when she was young. Somehow the fact that we both liked to play Jacks made them even more special.)
Lincoln Logs (My brothers had Lincoln Logs. They were one of my favorite toys because I loved to build                                      log cabins out of them. They were easy to build with and so fun.)
Mr. Potato Head (The one of these that we had was different than the one we bought for my daughter years later. Hers was plastic but what we had was made out of something like styrofoam. After pushing the eyes and ears and all into them they would get pretty full of holes. But we loved it anyway.)
Pick-Up Sticks (For me the best part of playing Pick-Up Sticks was when it was my turn to toss them onto the floor to begin the game. It wasn't one of my favorite toys because I would get so frustrated when                                          I couldn't pick up a stick without moving the ones alongside of it!)
Paddle Ball (This one was fun when it was new but it seemed like it didn't last long before the string came off of either the paddle or the ball.)
Tinker Toys (This was another one that belonged to one of my brothers and I had to be nice to him so he              would let me play with them. They were fun but I still liked the Lincoln Logs best for building.)
Marbles (Oh how I love the thought of marbles. We had so much fun with them. We would sit on the gravel driveway in front of our home playing with them all day in the hot summer sun. One of my  precious memories as a child is one day when my dad called us into another room one by one and handed us a new bag of beautiful, shiny marbles. What a day that was for us!)
Erector Set (Another one that belonged to my brother. I guess he really liked toys that you could build with. This one was fun but sometimes I would have trouble getting what I had made apart so I could build something new!)
Magic Slate (This one was always fun but I think we had only one in the house so we had to wait a long time before we could play with it.)
Krazy Ikes (I liked these because you could build people out of them. Funny looking people but that was                                                           part of the fun of playing with them.)
Cracker Jack surprises (No kid from the 50's and 60's wouldn't remember these. Loved them!)
Hopscotch (Fun, fun!)
Jump Rope (I would jump rope for hours. We had cute little jingles that we would say when jumping rope.)
Old Maid Card Game (We had lots of laughs playing this one.)
Paperdolls (Next to my love of coloring books I have to say that paperdolls were my very favorite thing to              do as a kid. but  I cried more than once when I accidentally cut off that little tab on the clothes!)
Tiddlywinks (Another game that belonged to my brother. It was great for us on rainy days when we had to                                       stay inside the house. I like it because it was simple but challenging.)
Roller Skates & key (I remember these being in our house. I think they belonged to my sister. I remember                                                                      trying them just once.)
...and of course I remember playing with a red wagon and a Jack-In-The-Box, and we all had Yo-Yos to play with. I was never very good at those because I never really got the hang of how to make the string roll back up again like it was supposed to....
now you know what kind of toys myself and my siblings grew up playing with...
which ones do you remember having? ...have fond memories of? ...wish they still made them so you could buy them and share the fun with your kids or grandchildren...
I really wish I still had these toys...little did we know as a child how much the memories of them would mean to us as an adult...
I know you can still buy some of them like the Pick-Up Sticks and Slinky now but they are made different than the ones we had back then...
I hope you enjoy looking at this link that not only lists the toys but also shows pictures of them to help you remember...

Sunday, July 12, 2015

SCALLOPED POTATOES with BACON


We ate scalloped potatoes when we were growing up...
they were pretty good as my mother made them...
now you see all kinds of variations with different things added ...
I thought this one looked pretty easy to make and really good
with the bacon...
I have made them numerous times with chopped ham...
but I will be making this one soon....


...recipe here...




Sunday, July 5, 2015

EASY AFTER-CHURCH FIVE-IN-ONE CASSEROLE


We grew up eating lots of macaroni and tomato casseroles...
we called it 'hot dish' back then 
and this one is very close to what we had except ours didn't have
the peas in it...I used to make 'cheese peas' as a side dish when I
made one like this but I kind of like the idea of mixing them right in...

...there is nothing I hate more than finding a recipe that looks great but
it calls for so many different ingredients that I have never had in my kitchen...
like spices that you would probably use once and throw the rest of the
jar away later because you don't use any more of it...

...this kind of recipe is wonderful with the easy ingredients that
people have used for years and years....I love an easy casserole (hot dish)!


...recipe here...enjoy!


Friday, July 3, 2015

ROADTRIP GAMES FOR TWEENS and TEENS


When we travel with our kids and grandchildren 
when they are little we always come up with things for them to do
to stay occupied and not get so bored...well I guess we don't
think too much about what our older kids will do..we assume they will
keep busy with the electronics etc....
this is a list of things they can also do when traveling...
some of them look really fun...




Wednesday, July 1, 2015

LOADED BAKED POTATO NACHOS


This one is for our oldest granddaughter...
who loves baked potatoes..
when I came across this it reminded me of taking
her to a restaurant where she ordered a huge taco baked potato
that covered the entire plate and she ate every bite of it!
Grandpa couldn't even finish the one he order but she
gobbled hers up and loved every bite of it...
needless to say he took some teasing on that...

I love the idea of using real potato slices in this one
instead of the salty nacho chips that usually go into them...
also her suggestion to grate your own cheese is a good one...
I have heard that the shredded cheeses you buy in the
bag are coated with wax and that's why it doesn't melt as it should...
I have had experiences where it turned almost plastic looking on top
of casseroles and it just was not very good....we still use the
bag kinds on salads etc. but I have learned a lesson when using
it for other things...

...look how tempting these nachos are!


...recipe here...this is a great website to look through!




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