Rylan’s 2nd Birthday and 4th of July Bash - Elmo Party

 

We had Rylan’s birthday party on the 4th of July. Party styling by ME!

The invite (without the real info for privacy):

The Decorations:

Elmo pinata and water bottles.

The cake no one ate – too many goodies!

Sesame Street coloring pages:

The cute birthday boy!

Recipes:
Mini cheesecake tarts – Devon made these. They were my fav.
Mini blueberry and cherry pies – Mady helped me make these!
Cake batter bark – This is what it’s supposed to look like. I used dark chocolate and white chocolate chips, maybe that was the problem?  I didn’t want to splurge on the expensive chocolate.  Or maybe it was the the freezing/cooling time, not sure. Mine tasted good, just wasn’t as pretty! 
BLT salad – Devon made this.  It was a hit!

Apple Snickers Salad

3 apples
3 snickers
8oz cool whip
1 large vanilla pudding
1 cup milk

Christmas Baking

So I can remember what I made this year:
Chocolate Saltine Toffee Candy
Oreo Truffles
Andes Mint Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fudge
Pretzel Hugs

Yum yum!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Here's the recipe we had for dinner tonight. It was really good!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, drained
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cut up and softened
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast (I used the kind that's already cooked at the store and oven roasted in the deli meat section. If you're ambitious, you could make your own. :) )
8 (8") flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used Chedder Jack)
1 cup enchilada sauce
1/2 pint whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9X13 baking dish with Pam. Melt butter in large skillet over medim heat. Add rotel and saute 1 minute. Sir in cream cheese and chicken and cook, stirring constantly until cream cheese melts. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of chicken mixture down center of each torilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9X13 baking dish.

Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese, and drizzle with whipping cream and enchilada sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Take off foil and cook for another 15 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Pineapple Cherry Dump Cake

Here is a dessert recipe that Mady mostly made tonight with a little of my assistance. It's really easy since you just dump in all the ingredients for the most part. I got it out of a Toddler Busy Book I have.

It comes out kinda like a cobbler. We haven't eaten a bite yet as it just came out of the oven but it smells lovely.

1 (20 ounces) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (21 ounces) can prepared more fruit cherry pie filling
1 (18.25 ounces) box yellow cake mix
1.5 sticks of butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - we didn't do this)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for glass baking dish). Have a 9 by 13-inch baking pan ready. Dump undrained pineapple into baking pan and spread it out evenly. Using a spoon, dump globs of cherry pie filling evenly on top of the pineapple. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the cherry and pineapple layers. Cut butter into slices with a butter knife and place slices evenly over cake mix. Sprinkle nuts on top if you're using them. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Off to bath time while we wait for the cake to cool!

What's for Dinner?

Devon made us this beautiful dish for dinner tonight: Pork Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Spinach and Oyster Mushrooms with a Mustard Cream Sauce. The side dishes were sauteed baby carrots and herb roasted fingerling potatoes. He made it up himself! Don't bother asking for the recipe, he doesn't have one! You'll just have to join us for dinner some night to try it.

Yum yum!

New Recipe

Tried a new recipe tonight that I found online on a bulletin board. It was very easy and Mady really liked it (that's always key).

Confetti Casserole
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can milk
1 pkg of cream cheese (I only used 6-7 oz.)
frozen corn (however much you like.
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni

Brown beef, onion and garlic; drain. Add soup, milk and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and smooth. Add corn. Heat through. Stir in cooked pasta.