Saturday Stirrings

Growing up, this was my absolute favorite thing my mom made. We don't cook it often, since it's not exactly the healthiest dish, but we all love it!

She usually served it with cottage cheese, rolls, and salad.

Spam and Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes
½ lb bacon
½ onion, chopped
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
½ - 1 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1 container of Spam, cubed
salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, paprika
accent and onion powder (optional)
1 can tomato soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
Boil potatoes. When done, cover w/ cold water. Peel and cut into large chunks.

Cook bacon in a large pan or skillet. Remove from grease, cool, crumble. Cook onion and green pepper in some of the bacon grease until onion is clear.

Add following to onion mixture:
Dash of all seasonings and lots of pepper, soups, and about ½ pound of the grated cheese (reserve some for top).

Heat over med-high and stir until cheese melts. Stir in 1/3 can water to thin.

Stir in Spam and potatoes. Transfer mixture to a large, square casserole dish, sprinkle w/ remaining grated cheese, some parsley and paprika. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cheese melts and casserole is bubbling.

DeeDee has more delicious recipes at her site on Saturdays!

A Momentous Occasion

History has been made! Yesterday, I was tagged for the first time in my long two months of blogging by Pam! And really, what could be more worthy of my first game than a display of my fridge for all to see? I can think of nothing better! Take a close look, because I change what's on there every six weeks when I change the color sceme in my living room.

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS:

Isn't that something? Seasonal postcards, children's art. . . Let's zoom in on a few items of interest.

This is a sweet homeschooling missionary family we have supported in Mexico:

Here is a close-up of a brand of magnets I love:

This is a brochure to remind me that I would really like to sign up for a clay sculpting class soon:

As if that wasn't cool enough, here is the side of the fridge not facing a wall:

It is adorned with a paper towel roll and pictures of the two children we sponsor through Compassion. I would show you the side facing the wall if I could get the camera in there. LOL! I know, I'm really funny. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that, learned something about us, and are inspired to wow others with YOUR fridge. I am now supposed to tag five others. Hmmm. . .

I pick Karla for pretty much everything, but she just moved. Her fridge is probably the cleanest it's ever been or at least since the last time she moved.

How about:

Rachel, whose fridge probably looks like something straight out of an interior decorator's house.
Kelli, who probably has amazing crafts by her children on the front.
Staci, whose fridge probably resembles the title bar on her blog (Vader pics?).
Lynn, whose fridge probably has a US flag, a map of the states complete with Hawaii and Alaska, a chart of other flags, and a little message about doing work . . .
Emily, whose fridge I am ecstatic to know more about!

That was some real fridge fun!

Another Nice, Relaxing Day!

Our Easter was very nice. We decorated eggs using a sports kit picked out by Kylen, read about Jesus' death and resurrection, and had dinner at Greg's parents' house. The meal included some items that would be typical of a traditional Easter meal in Romania, as that is where Greg's family is from.

First we had green onions, bell peppers, cheese (feta and cashcaval, similar to Swiss) and bread. This was followed by Ukrainian sweet bread and eggs. Two people pick an egg. The first person says, "Christ has risen." The second person replies, "Indeed He has," while knocking the tip of his egg on the first person's egg tip. They turn the eggs over and do it again on the other end. If one of the eggs is uncracked, his egg is now called a "champion." He proceeds to knock eggs with the next person, continuing until his egg is cracked. This Romanian custom is one of Kylen's favorite Easter traditions!

The main course was leg of lamb with garlic cloves, spinach salad, and baked potatoes. It was delish! For dessert we enjoyed fresh strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream, and pound cake.

Greg's parents gave Kylen a chocolate bunny and eggs. The chocolate, hollow eggs are unusual as each one has a plastic container inside with a small toy or puzzle. They can be found at Russian grocery stores.

There is a slideshow in the upper right corner of my blog with pictures from both Saturday and Sunday. I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Happy Easter!

A Nice, Relaxing Saturday

Yesterday we had our annual plastic egg hunt for Kylen. It was a nice, relaxing day. I hid the eggs, while the boys stopped by the library and did some grocery shopping.

After they got back, we began the hunt!

Most of them were easy to find!

Others were trickier, like this one. . .

Can you spot the egg?

At the end we played "Hot and Cold" to help him find the harder ones.

Eggs were filled with money, small novelty coins, his favorite -- an erasor in the shape of a Bible, and puzzle pieces.

LOTS of puzzle pieces!

He had to put it together before he could find his basket.

Three pieces were missing! We ALL searched for the lost egg!

Kylen found it by reaching into the cushion corners. This one had been pushed back too far and couldn't be seen.

Starving after the hard work, we took a break for some chicken soup and buttered rolls.
He finally got his basket!

His favorite gift was the new Smash Bro. game for the Wii. Typical boy!

Saturday Stirrings

You can tell from my previous post I have fruit on the brain. Maybe it has something to do with spring and Easter!

At a time of year when fresh fruit at the grocery store isn't all that appetizing (or affordable), this recipe might be just the thing! Or perhaps you are in much too much of a hurry to peel and chop apples? This will be perfect! Or maybe you'd just like to make one of the best tasting fruit salads I've ever had? You would? Well, here ya go! Just take it and make it! Comes from Grandma who got it from her daughter-in-law who got it from someone else in her family. And that's as far back as I know!

Creamy Fruit Salad
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
1 can (8 1/4 oz) sliced peaches, drained
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup mini marshmallows
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
Walnuts, chopped (optional)
Maraschino cherries, sliced in half (optional)

Combine fruit, nuts and marshmallows. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, yogurt, and sugar until smooth. Pour over fruit, toss, and chill 15 minutes.

FiddleDeeDee has a really neat recipe for teaching the Easter story to kids. Check it out along with other wonderful recipes here.

My Fruit Painting

Kelli usually hosts the "Show and Tell" meme on Fridays, but today she is taking a little break for the Easter holiday. Sooooooo, I decided to show a little something anyway! This is one of my recent watercolor paintings. My teacher set up fruit arrangements around the room. We drew the pictures and did most of the painting right there. It was fun!

After we get copies made (which I will use to create cards), I plan to frame it and give it to my parents for their anniversary. I'm excited, as this will be my first painting to be framed and/or given. It almost makes me feel like a real artist, which is one of my dreams!