I got a job!!

9 months into the school year and I finally got a real teaching job.
The good news is- there is only 5 weeks left of school. And I am teaching Foods and Fashion!
The bad news is- I have to teach drama as well.

My interview- if you can call it that- consisted of 2 questions.
1- Do you have any Home Ec. experience?
2- Do you have any Drama experience?

oh and I guess a 3rd- Do you want the job?

If only they could all be like that. I am not too sure what happened to the lady I am replacing??

When I said no to the drama experience, the Principal said that I could just do film studies with my 2 classes since there are only a few weeks left.

So that is where you come in. I need some help. And great ideas.
I think it might be fun to pick an emotion or issue and show a bunch of clips that show it- and then have the students rate each one as to how it came across, if it was real, convincing, etc.
Is that a good or horrible idea?

And then I thought it might be fun to show either a movie or clips from each genre of movie. And then we could discuss each one, etc.
Is that a good or horrible idea?

Please help. I need suggestions of movies, emotions, good genre examples, better ideas, etc!!

What would YOU like to do if you were in a junior high drama class for the last 5 weeks of school?

I am in love...

with a cookie.

We had an opportunity to fall in love years ago. But I couldn't see past it's cakey texture and not so delicious taste (made from a different recipe).

But then yesterday, we had a couple very ripe bananas that were screaming to be baked into something delicious. So I went to my favorite website and typed in Bananas.

Amongst a ton of recipes was Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies. With 7 practically perfect ratings, I thought I would give our relationship one more shot. (fyi- it is only available on the Kraft Canada site. Hmmmmm... interesting).

It was love at first bite. And when it says crunchy peanut butter- it means crunchy peanut butter. The little chunks of peanut add a delightful contrast to the moist texture.


So next time you buy bananas grab an extra big bunch. Then you will just HAVE to bake some Peanut Butter Banana cookies with the ones you just couldn't eat before they got too ripe.

Peanut Butter & Banana Cookies
(Kraft)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar-firmly packed
3/4 cup each: KRAFT Crunchy Peanut Butter
3/4 cup mashed bananas
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in bananas
Combine flours and baking powder. Add to banana mixture, mixing well. Drop by tablespoon onto lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake at 35o◦ 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack


**Don't have too high expectations though. Just like going to a movie... (hopefully I am not the only one this happens to) when you expect something truly amazing you are prone to disapointment. So just expect something mildly tasty and you may end up being pleasantly surprised!!

Spaghetti Pie

It is so easy. And I love it.

Spaghetti.

There is just something about it.

When I was younger I would request it for my birthday meal. And still enjoy it today!

Fast. Cheap. And easy. What's not to love?

The other day when I got a hankering for spaghetti, I decided to do some investigating to find a recipe* for spaghetti with a twist. And this is what I found.

Spaghetti Pie
(Kraft)

1/2 pound lean ground beef-cooked & drained
1 cup pasta sauce
3 eggs
1 cup parmesan cheese
3 cups cooked spaghetti
1 cup mozzarella cheese- shredded


Mix meat and pasta sauce; set aside. Beat eggs and Parmesan cheese in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Add pasta; toss to coat.

Spread pasta mixture onto bottom and up side of lightly greased 9-inch deep-dish pie plate; top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350◦ for 20 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is melted.
Let stand 5 min. Cut into six wedges to serve.

I thought 3 eggs sounded a little much. So I only put in 2. It worked fine. But probably would have resulted in a more clean-cut-pie-slice-look if I had added the 3rd.



Still delicious. And fun.

*The Kraft website is a WONDERFUL resource for recipes. You can type in a couple ingredients and it will bring up lots of recipes for you to choose from. Check it out: Canada USA (be careful when you click on the US site. I had my volume up and it almost scared me right out of my pajama pants!)

For my favorite Mom.

FYI: This may look like the real deal, but it isn't. I made it. So please don't judge them by my lack of abilities. The real bouquets are fabulous and delicious. And much more professional looking.

Vacay #3: Idaho

Yep. I went on 3 vacations in the month of April. The 3rd one happened quickly- the planning and happening. I heard about a "summit" that was happening at my Alma Mater.
I really wanted to go for various reasons.
My parents got a little jealous of my vacationing lifestyle and wanted to join me. And my sister decided to tag along too.
Their coming meant the gas money wasn't just coming out of my wallet (which means more money for shopping at Target). But unfortunately also meant less (no) time for visiting my friends in that neck of the woods.

The best part of our 64 hour vacation was when I opened my fortune cookie after enjoying a delightful meal of sweet & sour chicken and fried rice from Fong's and saw this:


Nice. Looks like Vacay #4 is just around the corner!

So delicious.

Do you love these cookies as much as I do?

They are so soft and delicious.

If so- wipe the drool off your keyboard and

join the Lofthouse Cookie Club HERE.

I joined 2 months ago. And since then I have received 2 coupons each for a $1 off AND a complimentary tote bag!!

And for my birthday I received a coupon for a free package of cookies. Growing old has never tasted so good.

Join today and enjoy a package of my favorites: Sugar Cookies.

Or these: Soft and Chewy White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies. I had no idea they made these. But, oh my, they are tasty.



And I just found out they have an outlet in Ogden, Utah. ummm.... pretty sure I will be making a stop there on my next journey south on I-15. Anyone want to meet me there?

Have you ever...

Had Cheetos the size of a marshmallow?

I have. And they are fun. And big.

My one complaint-They need to put a little cheesyness in the middle, as it is a lot of "fluff" with just a little cheesyness.

But I love it that you don't have orange fingers after eating them!!

Most Talked About Recipe

A long time ago (12 years ago maybe), my sister Kristi introduced me to a recipe for Chicken Roll Ups. They were delightful. I would forget about them. But when I remembered them, I would eat them. And love them.

In college, my roommate Amanda made them. I don't remember what she called them but I do remember one thing she did differently.

Then I moved to Virginia. And my friend made them. But she called them Chicken Pillows. And made them a little differently.

When my sister Kim came to visit me in Virginia 1 1/2 years ago, I made them for her and her family. Apparently this was her first time partaking of them. And she ,too, loved them.

About a month ago, my sister Andrea was telling me about this recipe she was going to try, called Chicken Pillows. She told me about the recipe and they were very similar but had a few differences from my Chicken Roll Ups. I laughed as I thought everyone in my family had now been introduced to this recipe.

2 weeks ago I was visiting my friend Anitra in Virginia and she told me about a recipe for Chicken Pillows. Once again, the idea was the same, but had small differences.

Now I truly believe that the whole world has made/tried these. But apparently there are several variations out there. So I will share it for those few people who haven't yet experienced them, or want to try a different variation.

Chicken Roll Ups


2 cups cut up chicken
8 ounces cream cheese
2 sticks celery- chopped
1/2 cup onion- minced
1/4 cup silvered almonds
1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cans crescent rolls or biscuits
4 Tablespoons melted margarine
2/3 cup Stovetop stuffing


Roll out rolls.
Put 1/2 cup of mixture on each roll.

Roll up, dip in margarine and roll in crumbs.
Place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Top with gravy- can of cream of chicken soup diluted with no more than 1/2 can of milk.

So delicious. And I think they make great leftovers. We found out that they even freeze well.

Here are the different versions I have heard of:


Amanda's- used bread crumbs instead of stuffing to roll them in. I usually don't have stove top or am too lazy (or hungry) to take the time to coat them so I just eat them plain. This time I made them, I used bread crumbs. There was a little too much coating for me. I preferred the plain.

I ran out of margarine and bread crumbs so 2 stayed plain. The plain ones cooked a little faster!

Martha's- put mushrooms rather than almonds and celery. I'm not a fan of mushrooms.


Andrea's- didn't call for almonds, celery or onions. And says to use cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken. Don't really understand that one...


Anitra's- says to put in parmesan cheese and green onions with the chicken and cream cheese. Interesting.
I had never even thought of adding cheese to the mixture. So I gave it a try. Can't say I noticed a huge difference. But "cheese makes everything better..."



I prefer using the biscuits rather than the crescent rolls. They are easier to stuff as with the crescent rolls you have to somehow wrap the small amount/oddly shaped dough around the filling. With biscuits you just fold in half and pinch the dough edges together.

Crescent rolls were much cheaper than the biscuits so we went with those this time.

Have you had/made this recipe before? How is yours different? The same?