If You Can't Shrink 'Em, Change 'Em

Notice anything different? I tried to follow BJ's advice and shrink my flower, I really did. My computer seems to be a little tempermental when it comes to new programs. So, I decided to scrap it (that's what I get for trying it at night) and going with a different picture. Different picture needed different background and so on and so forth, until we get to a blog with more of a rustic and kind of fall (I thought, minus leaves or pumpkins) blog. How do y'all like it.

Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday. I was knee deep in the pile that is my middle school son's room. When we started looking for something he needed for archery on Tuesday night, it became evident quickly that an intervention was needed. My plan was to blog after I got done in there. You see when I got done. It does, however, look very nice now, even under the bed and in the closets (places few feared tread). The rule at my house is, mommy will step in and clean your room if it gets to the disasterous stage but beware, she has free reign to get rid of whatever she chooses.

I did want to share a couple of recipes with you. The Chicken Divan we had for supper. It's the easy version, not the authentic french version. We're keeping things simple, remember? The first time I ever made this dish (the frenchier one)was in high school French class. We borrowed the home ec room and started cooking. After that, I was hooked. The other recipe is a new one I tried this week for taking to a PTO meeting and for afternoon snacks. It was a yummy keeper that came from a Taste of Home magazine. You know it must be good when I don't feel the need to fidgit with the recipe.

Chicken Divan

4 chicken breasts
1 pkg broccoli
1/2 tsp. curry
1/4 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
salt to taste
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 c. cheddar cheese, divided
Bread crumbs

Boil chicken breasts with onion and celery until cooked through; drain. Cook broccoli and season to taste; drain. Layer broccoli in the bottom of a buttered casserole dish. Layer chicken over broccoli. Combine lemon juice, curry, soup, mayonnaise, and 1/2 c. of cheese. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.


Oatmeal S'more Cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. old-fashioned oats
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. mini marhsmallows

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the oats, chips, and marshmallows. Drop onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let set for two minutes then cool completely on a wire rack.


Don't forget, it's Thursday again (already), so what do you have to be thankful for? For me it's the leaves beginning to fall, the wind beginning to blow, a small (we're talking miniscule since it's still above 90) drop in temperate, cookies right out of the oven, and seeing the floor in my son's closet.

Laboring through the Day

Hope you're having a good Labor Day. I'm going to be laboring through some projects that I never seem to have time for. I'm tired of piles of things staring at me. But before I get busy with that, I did want to let you know of a few things.

**First, our friend Jennifer has started a blog. It's the jennalane blog that I've added to my favorites. Be sure to click on it and visit, she is a wonderful photographer and I know you'll enjoy seeing the pictures she's taken.

**I've made a little change to my site too. I've deleted the recipes that were listed on the right. The list kept stretching out to take too much space no matter what I did. Never fear, I've added a search box down at the bottom of the page. Now you can find any recipe, or any topic, that you want. It's a vast improvement on the old way. I'm learning this stuff, slowly but surely.

**Finally, I thought I'd share the good news--we are skink free. Riley can add skink wrestler to his repetoire. He caught it with his bare hands. Yuck. But thank you, thank you, thank you.

We're grilling burgers later today and doing the usual holiday picnic festivities. I'll be back tomorrow with the menus for the rest of the week. Have a great day!