cold summer treat

potatoes and beans

This is one of my favorite dishes when I want to eat something heavenly. 

It is a favorite of mine to take to family gatherings where there are many people. 

That way I just get a spoonful or two.  Otherwise I could eat the whole pan.

 It goes really well with ribs or grilled chicken. Or with anything or all by itself.

I call it Potato Casserole...I know...such a snazzy name.

I got this recipe from my Aunt. Thank you Auntie :)

32 oz package of frozen hash brown potatoes

1 medium onion chopped

2 cups of sour cream

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 stick of butter melted

2 cups of cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Thaw hash browns by leaving on counter top for a couple of hours. 

 Mix sour cream, soup, butter, salt/pepper and half of the cheese in a large bowl. 

 Add thawed hash browns mix well. 

Place in a pre heated 400 degree oven.

Bake for about 45 minutes and then add remainder of cheese. 

Continue baking for another 15 minutes. 

Caution...it is very yummy and even better the next day with eggs for breakfast!

I also made this baked bean recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman's website.

I love her.

I hope it doesn't sound weird for a 34 year old woman to say that about another woman, but I do love her.

Anyway, back to the beans...they are called Quick Southern Style Baked Beans.

They are so good, and really are the best baked beans ever.

I usually make my own baked beans in the slow cooker with dried pinto beans, so this recipe was a great change for me. To get the recipe just click on the link above. There was a ton of bacon covering them....oh yum!

So there you go...have fun with those lovely side dishes :) 

I hope you have a great Tuesday!

Annual July 4th Block Party

Every year since we moved to our neighborhood {4years} we get together with our neighbors on the Fourth.

Our neighbors go all out and get a water slide for the kids.  We get a permit from the city to block off our street.  No thru traffic makes for a super fun time playing in the street!  All the kids on our block bring their bikes, wagons, scooters, and ride on toys for the evening.  It is a blast!

The water slide was placed smack dab in between our houses this year.

This is Layla blazing down the slide, squealing like crazy!

All the kids on the street had a ball.

Hayden wasn't into the water slide, but he chased bubbles and balls. 

And he thought he was BIG stuff getting to play in the street. 

 It is a bit hard to explain to him today though.  He wanted to walk in the street this morning. 

Layla loved sharing her snap pops with all her friends.

She is my little firecracker for sure 

Amber and Justin's yard was covered with friends and family. 

Everyone was sitting down to eat burgers and hot dogs. 

 I saw several tweets today in regards to food and eating too much...I agree!

  I feel like all I have done this weekend is eat!

It is fun to cook and eat and cook and eat.

Today I have a food hangover. 

 I am so full and ready to get back on my normal eating schedule. 

I believe in eating and having a ball...in moderation.  I really did over do it this holiday!

 

This kids did too. 

This is what we did pretty much all day today. 

We kept the kids up three nights in a row WAY past their bedtimes.  They were so worn out today. 

We laid around and played Wii and board games...mostly indoor stuff.

This picture cracks me up...we have almost the same look on our faces. 

I am constantly wrinkling my eyebrows and Hayden does the same thing.

I hope you are all recovering from your fun weekends.

I will post some of the recipes I cooked. 

I'm very excited to share the yummyness with you.

God Bless the USA

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you are all having a great day. 

We are enjoying family, friends, the sun and lots of fabulous food!

sweet & delicious edible flag

Red + White + Blue  =

Yummyness

Layla and I had so much fun making these cupcakes,

but even more fun eating them!

rainy day summer fun

It has been cloudy here pretty much all week. 

You just never know when the bottom is gonna fall out and we get a horrible rain storm. 

We have been vegging out here at home almost all week. 

In our pj's!  So nice and relaxing :) 

I gave the kids a piece of 12x12 card stock and let them go to town with foam stickers.

I bought a ton of foam stickers last year for birthday party favor gifts.  

I bought foam visors and let the kids that attended the party take the stickers and visors home to create their own visor. 

It worked out great because all kids need visor in the summertime!

The leftover stickers have just been sitting in the craft closet for a year.

Layla and Hayden had a ball ripping the backs off the stickers and creating their own pictures.

 Layla's final product.

Compared to Hayden's {on the right}  Looks like there was a shortage of stickers, but there wasn't. 

He had them stuck to everything else besides the paper. 

BUT it was fun and it kept them busy for longer than an hour.  WooHooee!!