White Chicken Lasagna

Mmmmm! Mmmm! I went over to a very good friend's house for Christmas and there was a wonderful White Chicken Lasagna that I knew I had to make at home. 

Here we are a few days later and I have been searching the Internet looking for the recipe. 
I found something close but I added and omitted some ingredients. 

Here is my version: 

I quickly found out that lasagna doesn't photograph well...but you get the idea.

Recipe:

White Chicken Lasagna

2 cups boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped

1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, chopped

1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

1 box frozen chopped spinach (thawed)

1 (8 oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons basil

Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

1 (16 oz) cottage cheese (optional)

12 lasagna noodles, cooked

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine chicken, artichokes, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and spinach.  Mix well. 
3. Beat cream cheese, soup, milk and spices with mixer until well blended. 
4. Spread 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture onto the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish; cover with noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture cream cheese sauce, cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layer of noodles, chicken mixture, and cheeses twice.  Top with remaining cheese sauce and mozzarella.  Cover with foil. 
5. Bake 35 minutes or until heated through.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve.

Serves 12

* A little note:  I tried some Barrilla lasagna noodles that didn't need cooking before assembly of the lasagna.  They tasted good!!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!! I hope you and your family have a wonderful season of caring and sharing!

It has been a while since I have posted and updated my latest crafts!  I have plans hopes of getting back to it!!

Be back soon!!

Terry Shorts Romper

Well, this is the follow up to my super cute fabric find!!

This ohhh-sooo-cute terry fabric...

Was made into this shorts romper.... 

My initial thought when I found it was to make a wrap that you'd wear while getting all dolled up for the day.  Then, once I got it home my thoughts quickly changed to a shorts romper to wear around the house or as a cover-up.

I didn't follow a pattern.  Just kinda made it up as I went along. 

It is so comfortable.

Knit Navy Skirt

I know my posts have been few and far between.  With summer activities I have had trouble finding time to sit still long enough to craft and post.  The beginning of school is right around the corner for us so we'll settle in to a routine and I'll have a chance to get back to crafting/sewing!! Yipeee!!

Well, with that being said on to my latest sewing adventure!...

I found this super cute blog Elle Apparel with a tutorial here  that I liked and thought I'd give it a go!!

This is what mine turned out looking like...

 The skirt is really comfortable.  I wore my shirt un-tucked but I tucked it in for this picture (to let you see the waist line better).  The boxed pleats are different for me but I think I like them!

New Fabric!!

Got some new fabric! I have ideas whirling around in my little head! It's pink and blue terry cloth fabric. Sooo soft!  Whatever it turns out to be it will be super comfy!!!

 Check back to see what this turns into!


 
 

I'm Back!!

Aloha!! I know it seems as though I have dropped off the face of the planet but I have been here...

And it was wonderful!!! I'll be back to crafting and posting very soon!

Aloha!!

Hawaiian Swimsuit Cover-Up

This is a cute little Hawaiian pattern swimsuit cover up that I made for myself (in one afternoon with interruptions from the kiddos!!). 

It is really comfy!

Braided Bracelets

Braided/Weaved Bracelets have been in magazines and in stores! I love the look of them so colorful and summery! 

I have been wanting one so I gave them a try!  Now, I am addicted to making them!  With the suede and other string they are soooo easy and fast! 

The pink bracelet on the top was made by tying square knots. The nave blue and pink multi-color were braided with multi strands.  And the green was sewn/weaved! 

  My Walmart has a variety of suede/leather strands for a $1.00!!! So fun and inexpensive!  Give one a try!

Gift Bouquet

Who doesn't love getting a bouquet?  I know I always welcome a bouquet of any kind (flowers, gifts, cookies, gift cards...I could go on...!). 
This little bouquet was made for my daughter's friend.  My Mom gave my daughter a similar one which was a cute little "gift card bouquet".  I just loved the idea...soooo...of course I HAD to whip one up! 

The envelopes, that my daughter decorated, have jewelry in them.  The zebra print flowers were made from streamers and the center of the flowers (yellow and white) are bath soaps.  There are little rosette clips at the top.  We also purchased wood decorations as filler too!

Please excuse the blurry picture...

Patriotic Wreath Tutorial

I am starting to get that patriotic decorating feeling! And I'm loving pinwheels!  Saw this wreath idea over here at Tales of a Trophy Wife.  Once I saw it I knew I had to make one for my front door!!

Here is a close-up look at the pinwheels which I made from fabric.  They are soooo easy to make! 

Here's how to make it:

You will need:  

Wreath form of your choice

Coordinating Fabric of your choice 

Glue (I used glue gun)

"Stiffy" Fabric Stiffener

To cover the wreath - cut the fabric in 2" width and wrap it around your wreath form, gluing as you go. 

To make the pinwheels - cut your fabric into squares (I made mine 4X4 and 3X3).  Once you have these cut out, apply Stiffy Fabric Stiffener as directed.  Let the fabric dry, then use an iron to press flat.    Then put the squares back to back and stitched around the edges and an "X" in the middle.  If your fabric is the same color on both sides (like the red) you can skip placing them back to back. Then cut in about 2" from each corner.  Next, fold in to the center the tip of every other cut corner of the pinwheel.  (Do you know what I mean?) Stitch or glue in place. You can then add additional decorations if desired! 

I added the little pennant banner.  Just biased folded the fabric, cut triangles and stitched them.

You are going to see more pinwheels around here...like I said "I'm loving them!!!" (sing-song voice)

What do you think?

Party Girl PJ's

Since we had a slumber party a Party Girl needs some cute pj's to wear!  You already saw the t-shirts that were made during the party.  If not, click here.  Well, I also made the Party Girl some sleep shorts. 

Super cute!! Yes?

Party - Candy Bouquet

 This was an idea I had at the last minute before the party.  A Candy Bouquet!!!  The kiddos were able to eat the candy as the evening went on. 

This picture is just a smidgen closer.  

All I did was use wooden skewer sticks and adhered the candy to them.  Mike and Ike's and tissue paper were used as filler.  Then all the candy flowers/skewers were added!  Took no time at all, and Party Girl even helped with it!

See the zebra plate peeking out from behind the bouquet...made that too!  More pictures to come...

Party ~ Crafts

Well, well, well, what a busy week we have had around here!  I have exciting things to share!

My daughter had her party and we did a couple of crafts...girls like crafts, RIGHT...?  Well, these lil' ladies did!  The first craft we did was t-shirt drawing.  We got craft markers (not paint so we didn't have to wait for them to dry) and everyone got a shirt.  I made some changes to the shirts...see...

Just cut off the sleeves and ties some ribbon at the shoulders.  They turned out really cute!  

On my daughter's shirt I sewed on a "10" since she's turning 10.  I think it turned out cute!  She likes it too!

Another little thing we usually do during birthday parties is have all the people attending sign a picture frame (or matting for a picture).  This is just a $1.00 wooden picture frame from Michael's.  I spray painted it pink and added the ribbon.

We take a picture of the group and it's a cute memento of the party. (I haven't had the pictures developed yet.)

Enjoy!

I was featured!

I am so super excited!  I was featured today here  Pop on over and take a look!  Thank you bunches Danielle!!  

Swimsuit Cover-Up

Summer is right around the corner here in Arizona. 
Which means swimming daily!
Which mean Swimsuits! Yes, I said it! SWIMSUITS!!
But I am also going to say Swimsuit COVER-UP!!!

I decided to use this fun colored lightweight gauze fabric and try my hand at shirring.  I followed the tutorial here.    

Sorry the dress is crooked in this first picture...opps!

The back!

Just sewed the edges of the fabric together, shirred at the top, hemmed and done! 

What do you think?

Denim Library Bag

Around here school is OUT!! We are on our first week of Summer Vacation! Yipeee!!  We have not settled into a routine yet. For now we are just enjoying sleeping in and relaxing!  Ahhh so nice!

A little side note~ my kids have it down in the morning!  They creep out of bed and sit on the loft and watch tv.  The quieter they are, the longer I sleep.  As a result, the longer they get to watch tv... Hehehe if they only knew I was just enjoying the peace!

Well, anyway, summer around here means weekly trips to the library (along with all the other activities).  And boy do we want need a new library bag!  I swear my children alone check out 1/4 of the library with books, videos, books on cd and oh then there's my stuff too! Our bag has been bulging at the seams.  The seams, by the way, have been re-sewn a few times. So it's time for a new 2011 Library Bag! 

So in my stash I found some old denimy typy fabric and whipped up a new bag!

Fabric flowers!  Just can't get enough of them!  This bag is big! 

We can fit lots of "educational" I mean "fun" material in there! 

Super easy to make. Two rectangles sewn together on 3 sides.  Hem at the top and attach straps.  Decorate as desired!

 

Chevron Design Dress

There have been lots of chevron inspired items shown around in crafty blog-land.  I am hooked!  I love it!  Which leads me to this dress!  Well, actually, this fabric!  I was in my local fabric store with my girlfriend and we stumbled upon this fabric! LOVE! LOVE!  It's lycra/streatchy/cool = COMFORTABLE .  We need cool here in this Arizona heat during the summer! It's also a great fabric to travel with because it doesn't need to be ironed and it hangs nicely!

So on to the dress!  Once I purchased the fabric I had this McCall's pattern M5893 just sitting in my craft room waiting to be used!  I think it's a good match!

This is a picture of the neckline.  The neckline was supposed to be a plain hem.  I decided to add some extra fabric and put a little loop to hold it in place.   

 
Easy, breezy, and comfortable!  What do you think? 

Big Step!

I am very excited I have officially participated in my first Linky Party! Yay! Swing by and check it out!



   

Book Page Wreath

Well, I did it!  I finally did it!  I created a book wreath!  These book pages have been cut up and in an envelope for at least 2 months.  I kept thinking, "I'll get to it!"  I finally did!  And it didn't take as long as I thought!  I love the way it turned out!

There's that one circle that is sticking out kinda funny on the lower left.  I'm trying to get over it!  You know when you make something yourself you notice all the little imperfections.  Hmmm!

Want to know how I did it? 

Well, all the circles were cut from book pages.  The circles are 4" in diameter. 

Then I grabbed my hot glue gun and made little cones with the circles. 

I glued them onto a wooden embroidery loom and just kept glueing until I felt like it looked done. 

I made three rows. 

Enjoy!

Sleepover Party ~ Invitations

My daughter is turning 10!  Yes the double digets!  She has decided to have a sleepover party.  We decided on the theme and worked on the invitation together!  Here they are...!

And a closer look!

Can you tell she is in a zebra/pink stage? 
We are so excited to have the party!  We have started planning all the activities! Can't wait to share it!

Lemon Fruit Salad

Lemon Fruit Salad is creamy and fresh!  Very easy to make with only a few ingredients! 

Here's the recipe:

                           1-15oz. can fruit cocktail (do NOT drain)
                           1-15oz. can crushed pineapple (do NOT drain)
                           1 box  instant Lemon pudding
                           2 c.  mini marshmallows
                           2 c.  Cool Whip

1. Mix the cans of fruit and Lemon pudding together in a bowl.
2. Add marshmallows and Cool Whip.  Stir until well blended.
3. Place in serving bowl and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled!

Enjoy!

Give it a try!