Taste of Home Tuesday: Mini Pear Crisps

Ingredients
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
8 medium pears, peeled and sliced
Vanilla ice cream, optional

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans and raisins.
Divide the pears among eight greased 4-1/2-in. disposable foil tart pans. Sprinkle with oat mixture.

Prepare grill for indirect heat. Grill crisps, covered, over indirect medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until pears are tender. Serve warm with ice cream if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Yum!!!  This was a great recipe!  I left out the pecans and raisins, and instead of making several individual pans, I just used an 8x8 pan. 

Taste of Home Tuesday: (On Wednesday) Burrito Lasagna

I apologize for this being a day late.  Things have been rather busy around here with things going on almost every night of the week and every weekend.  I'm still trying to figure out how in the world we became so busy!

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 cans (10 ounces each) enchilada sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 package (8.8 ounces) ready-to-serve Spanish rice
12 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed
1 can (15 ounces) refried beans
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
Optional toppings: salsa, sliced avocado, shredded lettuce, taco sauce and/or sour cream

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in enchilada sauce, taco seasoning and cumin; heat through.

Heat rice according to package directions. Spread each tortilla with about 2 tablespoonfuls beans. Spread 1 cup meat mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Layer with 4 tortillas and a third of the rice, a third of the remaining meat mixture and a third of the cheese. Repeat layers. Top with the remaining tortillas, rice and meat mixture (dish will be full).

Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with toppings of your choice. Yield: 12 servings.

This lasagna is delicious!  I halved the recipe for just the two of us.  Tortilla chips would be a good addition.     

First Day!

Today is the first day of school with all of the children there! Thankfully it's just a half day to give us teachers a little time to adjust.:) (They are even nicer to the kindergarten teachers, we just have a short orientation. Tomorrow the kindergartners will come for the full day.) I thought I would post some more pictures of my room now that it's unpacked. This is from behind my desk looking across the room.

From the bathroom looking out across the room.

From the back of the room looking forward. We were not allowed to hang anything on the cinder block or sheet rock walls so I had to get creative with the alphabet strip if it was going to hang in the front of my room. I hot glued it to a piece of string and tied it to my ceiling. (I know it's not centered, but there was no way I was taking it down once I got it up there!)

Looking straight to the back of my room.  The right corner is where we will do calendar each day. Do you see the tree?  That is my favorite part!! I have always made a tree outside of my classroom and then we decorate it as the trees outside change and put our artwork around it.  I am so excited to have a tree inside my room this year!

 

 I met a few of my kids last night at the open house. 
I am so excited to start another year!!

Taste of Home Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and walnuts. Spread into a greased 8-in. square microwave-safe dish. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 3-1/2 minutes or until bars test done, rotating a quarter turn every minute. Cool before cutting. Yield: about 1-1/2 dozen.

Editor's Note: This recipe was tested in a 1,100-watt microwave.

I have never "baked" anything in the microwave before.  These bars looked pretty easy so I thought I'd give it a try.  They were VERY quick and tasted OK, one definitely needs a glass of milk with them.  I think I will save the recipe for those times I'm needing something quick, like when Husband remembers late in the evening that he needs a snack for work the next day.:)

Taste of Home Tuesday: Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches

Ingredients
1 pkg. (12 count) Hawaiian bread rolls
1 lb. shaved Black Forest ham
12 slices Gruyere cheese
1 tub (8 oz.) Philadelphia® Chive & Onion Cheese Spread
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Cut all rolls in half. Place roll bottoms in 9x13-inch pan.
Place equal amounts of ham on each roll bottom. Top with Gruyere.
On each of the roll tops, spread a generous amount of the cream cheese spread. Return the tops to the bottoms making sandwiches.
In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, onion and Parmesan cheese. Pour over your sandwiches and let sit for at least 20 minutes. (You can make these ahead of time and allow to sit in fridge overnight.)
Place sandwiches, covered in foil, in a preheated 350°F oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through. Enjoy! Yield: 12 servings.

These sandwiches are great!  We did not purchase the Gruyere cheese instead we substituted Swiss.  The chive and onion cheese spread was a nice addition to these sandwiches. 

Lightning!!

A couple of weeks ago now we had an amazing lightning storm without any rain.  Justin drove me up to a nearby hill so I could try to capture some of the lightning.  After way to many pictures I actually captured some!!

The lightning is hitting the ground behind the tree, not the actual tree.

Taste of Home Tuesday: Sweet and Tangy Pulled Pork Recipe

Ingredients
1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3 to 4 pounds)
1 jar (18 ounces) apricot preserves
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Hamburger buns, split, optional

Directions
Cut pork roast in half; place in a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the preserves, onion, soy sauce and mustard; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove meat; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices. Shred pork with two forks and return to slow cooker; heat through. Serve on buns, if desired. Yield: 12 servings.

I apologize that there is no picture.  I forgot to take one and evidently the ladies at Taste of Home did as well.  These sandwiches are very good.  Whenever a meat recipe calls for preserves it makes me nervous.  Meat just isn't supposed to taste like jelly, but I have to say there was nothing that tasted like jelly when this was all finished.  We will be making these sandwiches again, only next time it will be when there is company coming over so we don't have to eat it all ourselves.:)   

My New Classroom

Our school district built a new elementary school and it is beautiful!!  Today was the first day that we were able to start unpacking in our rooms.  The district moved all of our boxes from the old school over and just made a pile in the middle of each classroom.  

This first picture is taken from the doorway of the bathroom looking out into my room. 

This is from the doorway to the classroom.  Straight across from the door is my desk.  There is a door leading out to the playground caddy corner from the doorway to the hallway.  The green wall is an entire tack wall where I can hang things. 

This is from the corner where my desk is.  You can see door to the hallway on the right.  The whole wall is built in cabinets and a sink. (The kindergarten and preschool rooms are the only rooms with these cabinets and sink) If you look closely you can see the multicolored tile in the bathroom on the left.

This is from the playground door looking to the front of the room. 

And the bathroom!  Check out those tiles! 

I am excited to tell you that all of those boxes in the middle of the room are almost gone!  I got a bunch of unpacking done today!!  I had been dreading school, and am still not ready to finish up my summer, but I am VERY excited to start the year in my new classroom!