pizza casserole

i've gotten into another cooking funk this summer.  after grocery shopping with johnathan the other night, i got in the mood to try out another new recipe over the weekend.

pizza casserole

basically, it's pasta w/ tomato sauce, hamburger, cheese, and pepperonis put together and baked to make a casserole.  there are several changes you can do to the recipe to switch it up a bit.  anyway, it made a lot and was very good!  next time, i will make a smaller one!



end of summer vacay :(

summer vacation for my teacher friends and i is quickly coming to an end on friday!  i'm sure many people are having the same feelings that i am....sad, nervous, and excited.  this has been a really fun summer full of new adventures.  let's recap a few of the best...

girls beach trip to wrightsville beach

5th of july party

summer concerts 2012

beach weekend with johnathan

moving into my new classroom

wine and pizza party

new york trip

it's been a great summer!!

a pinterest classroom

 this summer, i've been pinning a lot of things on pinterest for classrooms.  i usually just pin stuff and never really go back to look at it.  last year a few days before school started, i decided to change my theme from stars to polka dots!  it was a much more difficult switch than i imagined but i really enjoyed the new theme!  with my new school adventure this year...and new HUGE classroom to decorate....i decided to up my game and really go all out with the polka dots.  this has kept me really busy this summer!  i feel like all i do is craft!  i've even gotten my friend jenn into crafting!  here are some of my pinterest projects.

POLKA DOT BOXES

i've always kept my monthly classroom stuff in computer paper boxes.  they weren't pretty but they were high on a shelf and i kind of forgot about them.  in my move, i reorganized them and was able to condense them into 4 boxes....but they were still ugly!

i saw on pinterest where a lady had covered some diaper boxes in fabric to make cute decorative boxes.  i figured my boxes were about the same size so i could do it too!  i chose wrapping paper instead of fabric cause it's so expensive!  it took longer than i expected but here's what they looked like in the end.

then i made some lables and attached them with ribbon.

my trusty assistant helped by laying on paper and eating ribbon.

TRANSPORTATION TAGS

i've always used posters with our buses and kid's names for transportation.  i left them behind because i'm pretty sure there won't be any blue whales or silver sharks busses at penny road.  i found this idea on pinterest as well.  i'm going to put each student's name and bus #/carpool #/bus color (whatever we use) on a clothespin and hook it on!  my friend jenn made her own version of these and they're super cute too!

DOOR WREATH

after i saw my room, i found out my door already has a hook in it.  what's perfect for a hook?  a wreath of course!  i looked for school wreaths and everything was either crayons or school themed.  it took me awhile to get a vision for this wreath but i finally ended up with cupcake holders and letters for my name.  my plan is to have all the kid's names on polka dots with the wreath in the middle and my title being "the polka dot patch". 

there are a few more projects to do at school but i think these will be all my crafts for right now!

catching up

i haven't blogged in awhile!  i thought with not having a job this summer, i'd be bored but i've ended up being really busy!  between crafts for others, crafts for myself, and hanging out with friends, i've got a lot to do!

there haven't been many house updates recently.  i moved my school stuff home...then moved it out to my new classroom again.  i dug up all the rocks from the stupid rock circle in the backyard.  i've also realized we live in natureland because i've seen 2 foxes, a turtle, and a hawk recently!  oh and a huge troop of ants that decided to make their new home on our kitchen counter!

i guess my only mini project has been our computer room.  i bought bookcases for my picture albums and johnathan's mustang magazines.  after everything got organized, i realized i couldn't stand to see all the colorful stuff everytime you walked in the room.  so, i ordered some curtains to match the other room decor, hemmed them, and it turned out like this!

someone else enjoyed the curtains before they were put up...

i also got a filing cabinet for all our stuff and put it beside the desk.  my assistant enjoyed helping to assemble it!



drink umbrella wreath

i have been wanting to make this wreath for awhile!  i finally got around to it!  i had to search for the drink umbrellas which i really thought would be easy to find!  i finally found them at party city.  for this one, i used a foam wreath.  i usually use straw ones.  i wrapped it in yellow ribbon then started sticking the umbrellas in.  the most tricky part was not breaking the toothpicks.  the most annoying part was having to remove 2 tiny little rubber band from each umbrella before i could open it to use!  it took a lot less time than the ribbon umbrellas and i'm really pleased with how cute it is!!

happy summer!

goulash

my bff came over for dinner tonight and i cooked (wow!)  i'd been saving a recipe from my friend, jess, called goulash.  basically a chili mac.  there were lots of ingredients but they were simple to find.  it did take a little time to cook the hamburger and onion, cook the chili concoction for an hour, and cook the noodles but in the end it was WELL worth it!  it made a TON so we have leftovers and everyone seemed to enjoy it!  as usual, i ate more than johnathan did.  i guess i'm just going to have to get used to that!

my assistant helped me read the recipe!

he was rewarded with green beans.  :)

final thoughts:  it was the most delicious thing i've eaten in awhile and once we're out i will be making it again!!

taco cornbread casserole

 things have been crazy busy lately and i've been exhausted.  i haven't felt like cooking much and honestly, we've been living off a lot of mac n cheese and lean cuisines.  i felt like i was slacking on my wifely duties (eventhough johnathan will eat whatever i make.) so i decided to try a recipe i had saved on my computer for awhile...taco cornbread casserole.  some taco meat, cornbread, black beans, sour cream, cheese, and onions.  voila!

now, we ate it for 2 nights but it really wasn't my favorite.  there wasn't anything wrong with it except that the onions were a little much.  i think my problem is that i'm very spoiled when it comes to mexican food.  between chico's in greeville and los tres here at home, it's hard to cook at home and be pleased with it!

final thoughts:  leave the mexican food to the pros and take a trip 1 mile down the road to los tres!