Sunday Suppers: Edition Nine-Poppyseed!

Happy Spring to the beautiful blogging world! Things have been very busy in the Putter household. School is of course keeping me busy as usual, and Mr. P is tied up with several projects at work too. But we have had a little bit of time to play this spring.

Before I get into my usual ramblings on life, I want to send well wishes to all the people affected by recent tornadoes. We were spared here in Kentucky, but many other southern states were hit hard, especially North Carolina. I hope that all my friends in the blog world are okay.

The week before last was Spring Break for me and I enjoyed every minute of it! The first weekend of spring break, I went to Nashville and spent some time with my family. My sister in law and I had a great time together. We went out to lunch with my mom here, and then did some serious shopping. First we stopped here and browsed a little. I still hadn’t gotten my dress for the wedding, and she hadn’t gotten hers either, so that was our main focus. I finally found my dress...and I found it at Stein-Mart for a great price. I’m so excited about this dress-it’s different from my usual style, but I loved it from the minute I tried it on. Now I’m trying to work out shoes, accessories, etc. to go with it, along with the rest of my outfits for the weekend. I love out of town weddings, especially with my family, but the packing and outfit planning is a big job! I'll post about the dress and some other shopping finds later on this week.

The second weekend of spring break, we took our travel trailer out for the first time and camped with two other families. We were right outside of Mammoth Cave National Park, so it was a beautiful area. The weather was also beautiful and we had a great weekend.

Back in March, I had the opportunity to attend the Women of Joy conference with some other women from our small group. What an awesome experience it was! It was an absolutely uplifting weekend that I desperately needed. In addition to the great speakers, we also heard some wonderful and uplifting music by Charles Billingsley and we got to see Casting Crowns in concert too! If this conference comes to your area, I highly recommend attending-preferably with some good friends!

It's Sunday, so let's get on with the Sunday Supper recipes! It’s not what we are having for dinner tonight (tonight is steak, baked potatoes, and squash casserole) but here is a yummy chicken poppy seed casserole recipe that I got from my cousin’s wife, along with a poppy seed bread recipe.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

2 Herb Roasted Chickens (already cooked) from your local grocery/deli

1 16 ounce container of sour cream (can use low-fat if you want)

2 cans of cream of chicken soup (can also use low-fat)

1 box of Ritz Crackers

12 tbsp. butter (1 ½ sticks), melted

2-3 tbsp. Poppy Seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the meat from the chickens, tearing into 1-2 inch pieces. Add sour cream, soup, and 2 tbsp of poppy seed to the chicken and stir well. In a separate bowl, crush up one tube of Ritz crackers. Add crushed crackers to the chicken mixture and stir in well.

Crush up the remaining three tubes of crackers. Take 1-2 cups of crackers and add 2-3 tbsp of the melted butter and stir until well moistened. Pour the buttered cracker crumbs into an 8 x 13 casserole dish and spread out well in the bottom of the dish. Take the chicken mixture and pour half of it into the casserole dish over the layer of crackers. Take another 1-2 cups of crackers with 2-3 tbsp. of butter, mix well, and spread out over the chicken mixture. Pour the rest of the chicken mixture over the over the crackers and top with one more layer of buttered cracker crumbs. Sprinkle poppy seeds across the top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until casserole begins to bubble. Serves 8-10

Poppy Seed Bread

3 cups flour

2 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 ½ cups milk

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

1 ½ tbsp. poppy seeds

1 ½ tsp. vanilla flavoring

1 ½ tsp. almond flavoring

1 ½ tsp. butter flavoring

Glaze:

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup orange juice

½ tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. almond flavoring

½ tsp. butter flavoring

Combine all of the main ingredients and beat for 2 minutes with a medium speed mixer. Bake in two large, greased loaf pans for 1 hour.

Glaze: Combine all of the glaze ingredients and mix well with a wire whisk. Pour over hot, just-out-of-the-oven bread.

Enjoy! Just don’t eat too much of either if you have an upcoming drug test-hee hee! Does anyone else remember that episode of Seinfeld?

Hope that everyone has a great week!

Hello!

Once again, excuse the different fonts and stuff. I don't know why it won't save the fonts that I set. Any suggestions???

Well, hello! I’ll bet you thought I had forgotten about my little blog! Never fear, I haven’t forgotten the wonderful world of blogging, I have just been very, very busy!

Let’s see…on my last post I promised some shopping finds from my shopping day with my SIL. So here we go with that…

Met my SIL in Bowling Green for lunch and shopping a couple of weeks ago. We have a family wedding in May, and Easter will be here before we know it so we were mainly looking at dresses for those occasions. Macy's had a huge selection of dresses, as always. I didn’t purchase anything, but I found several possibilities.

I found this dress in a lovely shade of light green:

London Times Rosette Cocktail Dress $109

I also like this dress. For some reason, I am drawn to the green dresses right now!

London Times Sleeveless Cocktail Dress $89.00

I also found this gray dress. The wedding is in Denver, so I would probably wear a cardigan or shrug over it since it is sleeveless. I love the dress, but since it will be spring I think I would rather have a dress in a spring color. Then again, this gray dress is so versatile and can be worn almost all year. Decisions, decisions….

Calvin Klein Sleeveless Vertical Pleats Dress with Belt $99

Right now, I'm leaning towards purchasing the gray dress for Easter and giving it some color with accessories and purchasing the green dress with the bow for the wedding. What are your thoughts?

While we were shopping, we popped into Old Navy. Basically we were looking for workout/weekend comfy clothes but we discovered their huge selection of spring scarves. So many colors and patterns! I could have bought at least 7 or 8 of them, but I restrained myself and only bought 2. Choosing two of them was so hard, but this is what I settled on:

It's hard to see in the picture, but the top scarf is a really cute floral print and the green scarf has white polka dots. I wore the floral scarf one day with a white long sleeve tee and dark denim trousers. I wore the green one with a black cardigan and black pants one day. It was the perfect accessory for Green Eggs and Ham Day at school! Of course, I'm also planning on pairing the green scarf with a pink sweater-maybe for St. Patrick's Day. At only $12, I can afford to go back and buy some more!

It's a rainy weekend here. We enjoyed a quiet dinner out last night, which was very nice. Mr. P had a training out of town this week, and he had been driving about 4 hours a day going back and forth from it. The drive, coupled with him studying at night had caused us to not see much of each other this week. We had been invited out with friends, but we turned them down (which we rarely do!) so that we could spend some time together. Today, we are just doing things around the house and catching up on work things. Tomorrow is the Kentucky-Tennessee game, so we will be a divided household! Go Vols!

Sunday Suppers Edition Eight

(Image courtesy of buttercreambarbie.com)

Well this weekend has just flown by! I can't believe that it is already Sunday evening. Friday night, we met some friends for dinner at a local restaurant. The restaurant has just recently opened, and it is already a favorite of ours. Just your basic southern/country cooking, but it is so good! They serve some of the best biscuits I have ever had, and each table gets a basket of them as soon as they are seated. After a long day at school, it was wonderful to sit down to a glass of tea and those yummy biscuits!

On Saturday, I straightened the house, caught up on laundry, and made a big pot of taco soup. We had our annual soup and chili supper at church, and the taco soup was our contribution to the supper. Today, I went to Bowling Green to meet my sister in law and niece for brunch and shopping. We had brunch here, and then shopped for a few hours before heading home. Stay tuned later this week to hear more about the shopping. Now Mr. P and I are eating soup for dinner and watching the season premier of one of our favorite shows, The Amazing Race.

I found a great slow cooker recipe for Santa Fe Chicken on Preppy Sue's blog this weekend, so I will be making that one day this week. She also featured a recipe for pretzel M & M cookies that sounds really yummy!

My featured recipe this week is Cheese Pennies, which are great with soup, and many other things. They are very similar to a cheese straw, but are more like a cracker. I received this recipe from my aunt many years ago, and I absolutely love them. You can also make the dough and freeze it for future use.

Cheese Pennies

1 lb. sharp grated cheddar cheese
1 cup butter
3 cups plain flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper (cayenne)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Leave cheese and butter out for several hours or overnight to soften. Mix all ingredients (works best if you mix it with your hands). Dough should be like play dough. Roll into long rolls that are the diameter of a quarter. Wrap in foil and chill for several hours or overnight. Slice and bake at 325 for around 17 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Be careful-they will burn easily! Sprinkle with salt right out of the oven.

I discovered some great food blogs this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some new recipes to post about soon! I think I may add foodie blogroll on the side.

Here's a little preview of my shopping finds today:

Have a great week!

Sunday Suppers Edition Seven: Sweet Treats Edition

(Please excuse the different fonts in this post. I've tried about 5 or 6 times to fix it and it just stays the same.)

So the idea of cooking a special Valentine’s dinner tonight has been totally scrapped due to the fact that I am making treats for my staff for tomorrow. It’s that time of year when school staff get a little stressed, so I thought I would make some sweet treats to give out for Valentine’s Day to let them know how much I appreciate them. I saw an idea for a candy mix over at Mrs. Preppy’s blog. She made it for Halloween with black and orange M & Ms, so I thought I would try it with red and pink ones. They turned out great, but let me give you a warning that this candy mix so addictive! Click on here to see Mrs. Preppy’s directions for making it. Here are the pictures from my process:

I also thought I would make some M and M cookies to go in the bags too.

I basically used my Tollhouse cookie recipe and substituted M & M's for the chocolate chips. Here is the recipe:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups plain M & M's (1 bag)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in M & M's. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

And here are my cute bags all loaded up in my market tote. Can’t wait to pass them out tomorrow!

(That's actually the back of my market tote-the front has my last name embroidered on it so I didn't want to show it.)

As for Mr. P and me, we are going to meet for dinner tomorrow night after work. Usually we don’t go out, but we’re going to try to meet early since the restaurants get so crowded around here. We had such a busy weekend; I’m looking forward to having a quiet dinner with him.

I've posted more sweet recipes than supper recipes lately. I'll try to get back on track next week!

Wishing all my bloggy friends a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Paint the Town Red

Been at a basketball tournament all day, but I wanted to get my red collection posted. If you are celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend, have a good time! Hope the weather is as beautiful where you as it is in my area!

Comme des Garcons Play/Red Emblem Oxford-$235 lagarconne.com

Red Swavorski Crystal Heart Earrings-$24 1928.com

Tea and Cakes Suede Bow Shoes-$135 irregularchoice.com

Red Bow Waist Mini Skirt-$65 topshop.com

Chanel Vintage Bag-$2320 farfetch.com (Fitting website since it's a little far-fetched for my bank account!)

Red Belted Pleat Top- awear.com

Heart Red Pillow-$49 roomandboard.com

In Perfect Accordian Coat $120 modcloth.com

5 Things I'm Into Right Now

Snow, snow, and more snow around here. We have not had a full day of school this week-early release on Monday, out on Tuesday, early release on Wednesday, out Thursday and Friday. One good thing about this never-ending winter is that I have been forced to drive on the roads and I'm getting more comfortable driving in snow. It helps that I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 4WD, so I'm pretty comfortable about trying to pull a hill but I am terrified that I am going to slide off the road or into something. I even voluntarily ventured out early today while our road was still snowy. Yay me!

I've seen this posted on several blogs, and it has been a while since I've done this so here are 5 things I'm into right now:

My Nook



I love this little thing. I always read 2-3 books at a time and I love having them all in one little toy that I can carry everywhere.


Burt's Bees with Pomegranate Oil



My lips are so chapped and this little beauty really helps them out. I keep these stashed everywhere-home makeup drawer, purse, desk, Jeep so I can grab one at anytime.


Ipod

I literally do not leave home with out this because I use it everywhere. I play it while driving, I have some instrumental playlists for the office, I have other playlists to use during assemblies and pep rallies at school, and I cannot get on the treadmill without it.


Casting Crowns


I first heard this awesome group when I downloaded the soundtrack to the movie Fireproof (if you are married and you have not seen this movie, buy or rent the DVD now-it's a fantastic movie!) I have CC's new CD and I am listening to it all the time. I'm attending the Women of Joy conference in March and Casting Crowns will be in concert at the conference. I am so excited! Two of my favorite songs on the CD are Glorious Day and Always Enough.


A sample of the lyrics of Glorious Day


Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day


And Always Enough

You hold the world within Your hands
And see each tear that falls
Through every fire and every storm
You're always enough, always enough

Your love is peace to the broken
Faith for the widow, hope for the orphan, strength for the weak
Your love is the anthem of nations, rings out through the ages
And You're always enough for me


Monogrammed Lunch Bag


I received this as a Christmas gift and I love it. I've been trying to eat healthier and that means being prepared. This cute bag holds all my snacks and meals for the day.



Hope everyone's week is going well-it's almost Friday!

Think Pink

Another snow day! I'm relaxing over coffee and waiting for the roads to clear up a little bit before I start my trek to school. Yesterday was an exciting day, thanks once again to the winter weather. I had a meeting about 1 1/2 hours from school. It was snowing a little when I left home, but the weatherman had said that it wouldn't get bad until the evening hours, so no worries, right? Wrong! Sitting in the meeting, I could see the snow falling out the window and the roads getting white so I started to worry. Then I get word that school is dismissing early. Great-it's always a madhouse with early dismissal and here I was far away from school. I was with several other administrators from the district, so we made the decision to leave the meeting and head back to our respective schools. Keep in mind that I am pretty far away from school and it was all country roads to get back. The roads weren't in the best conditions at that point either. We all followed each other back (which made me feel better) until we had to split up to get to our schools. Got back to school in time to load the buses and then waited until all students had been delivered safely home. Then I got to battle the roads once again to get home. Thankfully, I made it home safely, albeit a little tired from my adventurous day!

So we're in the month of all things pink and red, so I thought I'd do a pink post. Hopefully a red post will soon follow! We tend to keep Valentine's Day somewhat low-key-no big presents and I usually cook at home on Valentine's Day because the restaurants around here get so terribly crowded. I'm pretty content with a sweet card and some flowers. Mr. P was very generous on my birthday and at Christmas, so he'd better not go overboard on Valentine's Day. Sometimes he spoils me too much! I do usually plan a special dinner for Valentine's so I'm trying to think of something different. Any suggestions??

Played around on Polyvore (again!) this morning and came up with this little pink collection...




Jack Rogers Palm Beach Sandals-$82

Lilly Eryn Dress Stripe-$298

Philosophy Amazing Grace Hand Cream-$15

Pink Bow Front Top-$60-oasis-stores.com

Buffalo Check Folding Umbrella-$125-barneys.com

Fossil Riley Pink Silicone Multifunction Watch-$95 fossil.com

Love Replica in Pink-$65-abchome.com

MAC Pink Friday Lipstick

Ethos Giant Cup and Saucer Planter/Fruit Bowl

Pink and Silver Dove Milk Chocolate

JoJo Designs Pink and Brown French Toile Throw Pillow-$18 studentmarket.com

Sunday Suppers Edition Six: Superbowl Sunday

(Photo courtesy of blogs.orlandosentinel.com)

It was sunny and in the mid-40’s today-almost felt like spring! Of course, there’s more snow and cold in the forecast for tomorrow, but we certainly enjoyed today. It’s another Sunday Supper with no recipe because in honor of the favorable weather we had grilled steaks and baked potatoes. But it’s also Superbowl Sunday, so I’m going to post a few of my favorite appetizer recipes. We often host a Superbowl Party but this year we decided that we had too many other things going on to have a party. Maybe next year we’ll host one, but it’s kind of nice to relax on the couch and enjoy the game and the commercials this year.

First recipe is so simple, yet it is a favorite with all of our friends. It’s only two ingredients (three if you count the crackers) so it’s easy to always have the items on hand for a last-minute appetizer. I posted this recipe a couple of years ago so if you want a detailed recipe complete with pictures click here.

Italian Cream Cheese Bars

1 6-ounce package cream cheese

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
Crackers of your choice

Cut the block of cream cheese in half lengthwise (it will look like two sticks of butter). Sprinkle the dry dressing mix out on a paper plate, and spread it out. Roll the two sticks of cream cheese in the dry mixture, making sure that all sides are covered. Place the sticks on a platter and surround with your favorite crackers. (I had doubled the recipe in the picture above.)

Another favorite of mine is Tortilla Pinwheels. I've seen many variations of this recipe, but this one is my favorite.

Tortilla Pinwheels (Photo courtesy of kraft.com)

5-10” flour tortillas

8 ounces sour cream

1 6-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 4-ounce can green chiles, diced and drained

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup chopped cilantro

Garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste

Parsley

Salsa

Mix all ingredients except parsley and salsa together. Divide and spread evenly over tortillas. Roll up tortillas and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours. Slice into pinwheels, garnish with parsley, and serve with salsa.

And last is one of my favorite dip recipes. I know that there are several variations of this one out there, and I’ve enjoyed the different ones that I have tasted. My personal favorite is the one I found in one my Paula Deen cookbooks.

South Georgia “Caviar” (from Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons Too)

(Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

2-15 ounce cans black eyed peas, drained

1-15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

1-10 ounce can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles

2 cups chopped red bell pepper

½ cup chopped fresh jalapeño peppers

½ cup chopped onion

1-8 ounce bottle Italian salad dressing

1-4 ounce jar chopped pimentos, drained

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stir gently to combine, and refrigerate overnight. Serve with corn chips. This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Hope you enjoy your Superbowl Sunday!