Thanksgiving Tradition

This is my first time to participate in Kelly's - Show us your life. Since this weeks topic is about Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for, I figured I would give it a shot! Enjoy!

I am Thankful for:

God

My wonderful Hubby

Grace and Jacob ;)

Family and Friends

Sweet Tea

Target Clearance Racks

My Home

Garage Sales

Starbuck's Coffee

Laughter

Naptime

Pedicures

Chocolate

Having more than enough

Blogworld

You

Our Tradition:

We are usually home for Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving Eve we have game night playing cards, and this year, WII!

Thanksgiving Morning we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (this is my favorite parade and it is a huge family tradition to watch it every year) and I usually make Orange Cinnamon Rolls.

Our Turkey Day table consists of:

Turkey - of course

Granny's Dressing and Gravy

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Deviled Eggs

Sweet Potato Bake

Cranberry Sauce

Homemade Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Chocolate Cake

College Football is always enjoyed and after dinner we watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

The day after Thanksgiving is when we head out to cut down our Christmas tree. This year we are going to try Dewberry Farm's. We usually spend the rest of the day putting out decorations in the yard.

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays : Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This week on TMTT is:

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

3/4 - cup butter

2 - teaspoons minced garlic

1 - cup bread crumbs

1/2 - cup parmesan cheese

1 - teaspoon thyme

1 - teaspoon basil

1 - teaspoon oregano

1/4 - teaspoon black pepper

1/2 - teaspoon salt

6 - boneless chicken breasts

Directions:

1. melt butter and stir in garlic. in a seperate bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and spices.

2. dip chicken in butter, and then into the bread crumb mixture. place in a baking dish greased with olive oil.

3. drizzle leftover butter over chicken in dish, and then press on leftover bread crumb mixture.

4. bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

5. if desired, sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over chicken breasts during last 10 minutes of baking.

ENJOY!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

In honor of Halloween this weekend, I am sharing with you a 'Halloween Trail Mix'

Goblin Good Gorp

2 - cups salted peanuts

1 - cup mini oreos

1 - cup candy corn

1/2 - cup goldfish crackers

1/2 - cup raisins

Mix all ingredients in a 1 1/2 - to 2-quart covered container; cover tightly.

Store at room temperature! ENJOY!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday Series

It's that time again! This week I am going to share with ya'll Chicken Taco Soup. It is in my crockpot right now, and it smells divine! Enjoy!

Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 can Chili Beans (15 oz)
1 can Black Beans (15 oz)
1 can whole kernel corn (15 oz)
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
1 can/bottle (or you can use chicken stock) beer
2 cans Rotel
1 package Taco Seasoning (1.25 oz)
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions:

Place onion, Chili Beans, Black Beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer (or chicken stock), and Rotel in your crockpot. Add the taco seasoning and stir together.

Add chicken breasts to mix, making sure that they are covered by other ingredients. Set the cooker to low and cook for 5 hours.

Remove the chicken breasts to another plate or cutting board and shred. Stir the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and continue cooking on low for another 2 hours.

Serve with all or any combination of: shredded cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, or corn bread (my FAV).

Let me know if you try it out!!!!

XOXOXOXOXO Loves.

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

I decided to share a dessert with ya'll this week. This is one of my favorite Fall desserts.

ENJOY! Let me know if you try it out!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin

4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 pinch nutmeg

2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice. and nutmeg; stir into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfools onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Makes about 7 dozen cookies.

**Note: These cookies will bake pretty much exactly how you drop them on the cookie sheet. They don't really expand or rise too much, so if there are peaks in your cookie batter when they're on the sheet, you'll have crunchy little peaks baked in your cookies. I get a teaspoon full and roll them in a ball in my hand before I put them on the cookie sheet.

XOXO

New Series! Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

I am SO excited to start this new series on The Kucera Family Blog.

I just love to cook (Justin loves that I like to cook too). So I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes weekly with you, from Meals to Desserts and everything in between. So enjoy!
This week on TMTT I am featuring DE-LISH Beef Dish.

Dream Spaghetti

Ingredients:

8 oz of spaghetti
3 cup of spaghetti sauce (I prefer Prego)
1 lb. of ground beef
8 oz of small curd cottage cheese
4 oz of sour cream
1-2 cups of shredded mozzerella cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook spaghetti noodles. Brown meat and drain. Combine the sauce and cooked meat. Mix the cottage cheese and sour cream in a small bowl. Layer the bottom of a 9x13 pan with the noodles. Spread the cottage cheese/sour cream over the noodles. Top with the meat mixture. Sprinkle (a considerable amount I always use more than what the recipe calls for) of mozzerella cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Enjoy!

It is so good and freezes so easily. Since spagetti usually come in 16 oz packages, it is convenient to make one pan to eat for dinner and one to freeze for the nights you don't feel like cooking!

catch up...

It has been a busy few days for The Kucera Fam!

On Friday night, we met up with some sweet friends for dinner. Celeste is due 3 weeks before we are! They have a darling little girl Cielo and are expecting..... ANOTHER GIRL! It was nice to have family time shared with dear friends.

{Celeste and I - can you believe this is my first preggo picture?}

Grace just thinks the world of Celeste and Alex's little girl, Cielo. She is 4, full of sass and ALL girl! Her and Grace get a long so well. They are like 2 peas in a pod and when together absolutely inseperable!

{Grace and Cielo}

On Saturday, Grace and I spent the day shopping with MiMi and GiGi and then finishing off the day with some much needed R&R. One of Grace's favorite things to do at MiMi and PawPaw's is to help water the flowers around their fish pond. She is such an outdoors girl, I love it! She is a 'girly-girl' but is definitely not afraid to get her hands in some dirt. This is God's way of preparing her for her little brother! I just know it!

{Grace showing off her watering skills - she is so presh - I can't believe she is almost 2!}


Sunday, as always, was a very special day. But, more special than usual because Justin and I were able to share a precious moment with some very close friends. Our friends Whitney and Ryan were baptized together. What an amazing and sweet moment. I am so happy for them!

{Sweet Whitney and Ryan preparing for baptism - "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."}






After the baptism service we had a delicious meal at Gringo's with the entire family! It was so much fun to see/meet everyone. What a fun and blessed day!





{Daddy and Grace}


Today, I spent most of the day cleaning (of course with ALL of the help in the world). I cleaned out closets and did all of the usual house cleaning chores. And to top it all off I cooked an AMAZING meal (if I do say so myself). I just couldn't help but share the delicious recipe with ya'll. So here it is......... Enjoy!

Cheesy Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 pound ground hamburger meat

3 cups of ziti (cooked and drained)

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I prefer Prego Traditional)

8 ounces of shredded mozzerella cheese (I actually use more than this)

3/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat. Drain. Stir in (cooked and drained) ziti, spaghetti sauce, and mozzerrella cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Spoon into a 9 x 13 (glass) baking dish and cover with the remainder of parmesan cheese (I also add more mozzarrella here - we love cheese!). Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. DELISH!

{The aftermath of dinner tonight!}

Hope everyone had a FABULOUS weekend and a wonderful Monday!

XOXO