Pizza Dip

Today I am sharing our favorite football party appetizer.  We love this pizza dip! It is so good and really simple to make.  Make this dip for your next football party, it is sure to be a winner!



Start by combining an 8 oz block of cream cheese (regular or low fat) with some oregano, parsley, and basil.  Spread into a greased 8 or 9 inch baking dish. I like to use my deep pie pan for this dip. 

 Next, sprinkle 1/2 cup each of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top of the cream cheese.

Spread 1 cup of pizza sauce evenly over the cheese.

Top with another 1/2 cup each of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and then the pepperoni and other toppings. We usually just use pepperoni, but other pizza toppings are fun to try.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Yum!

Serve with toasted baguette slices.



















Enjoy!

Pizza Dip
Recipe by : Prescriptions for a Happy Home

Ingredients:
1 8oz. block of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. basil
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1 c. pizza sauce
1/2 c. pepperoni (we like to use the mini pepperoni, but regular pepperoni works great, too)
2 T. each additional pizza topping, optional

1 loaf baguette or other crusty bread, toasted


Directions: In a small bowl combine the cream cheese with the oregano, parsley, and basil.  Spread evenly into a greased 8 or 9 in square or round baking pan. (I sometimes use a pie pan) Sprinkle 1/2 cup of each cheese on top.  Spread the pizza sauce on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of pizza sauce, followed by the pepperoni and other pizza toppings if you are adding additional toppings.  Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.  Serve with toasted bread.  

Noah's Ark Quiet Book Page

Awhile back, I posted a link on how to make animal puppets.  Today I am sharing a pattern for making a Noah's Ark Page for a quiet book. My book is 8" by 8".

Cut out the pieces for Noah. I had "dress" piece in orange and red. A belt in yellow. Two pieces of red for the vest - which matched the other red dress piece so it would look like a robe. Use whatever colors you would like. I waited until I had all of the pieces sew together before I did his hair. Sew his face on, and then do the hair so that the hair on the back of his head will cover the stitches.

Noah Pattern.



For the ark, cut out the boat pieces (there are 3) and then 3 windows (I chose to do grey).

Ark Pattern

BYU Football Party Ideas with Free Printables!

Football season is here! Our BYU Cougars won their first game and we are excited to cheer them on again this week.  Print out these free games to use at your next BYU Football Party!   


Cougar Fight Song Fill in the Blank

Cougar Fight Song Printable (PDF)


BYU Word Search

BYU Word Search Printable (PDF)

No football party is complete without yummy food! Add some of these easy blue and white treats to your next football food spread.

Chocolate covered pretzels.  Melt some white baking chocolates and dip half of the pretzels in the white.  When you have about half of the chocolate left add a couple drops of blue food coloring to make your blue pretzels.  Add some blue white sprinkles if desired.

Use a bag of blue tortilla chips and regular white tortilla chips and mix them together.  Serve with hummus/guacamole/salsa.















Get a bag of Almond Joy Pieces and just put out the blue and white ones.  Use blue Gatorade or Kool-Aid for drinks.





 
 
















Happy Football Season!

Go Cougars!!

30th Birthday

30th birthdays can be hard for some people; I made this fun little birthday kit for one of my friends 30th birthdays.

"Now that you're 30 (and a mom), you may find yourself wondering where the years went.
In case of emergenc, the items in this kit can make you feel young again."

There are so many options of things you can include in this kit and even specialize it to the friend you are giving it to. I thought Target was helpful in coming up with items, but really you can shop anywhere or use several different stores. 

I had one item for every category.

Slumber Party Ideas:

• Sleeping face mask
• Fleece blanket
• chick flick and popcorn
• new pjs

Give yourself a makeover:

• favorite makeup products (mascara, eye shadow, etc).
• Nail polish with nail files
• body spray
• Hair accessories

Play dress up:

• Fun socks
• jewelry
• hair accessories
• gift card to a clothing or jewelry store

Have girl time (this category may have overlap with the other categories so either don't include it or use an item you haven't used yet).

• magazine
• book
• chick flick
• nail polish
• hot chocolate and mug
• brownie mix

When all else fails eat chocolate:

• include favorite candy bar
• bow of chocolates

Printables:

 Jpg version
Pdf Version

Hair Bow Organizer

Little E has a lot of hair bows and headbands, and with another little girl on the way I really wanted to find a good way to store everything.

I was able to make this cute but practical hair bow organizer for less than $5!

I bought this frame at Goodwill for $2.99.

I removed the glass and mats and painted it white. I used the same paint used to paint the walls in our house. It was thick enough paint that it covered up the dark wood, although I still needed to apply a couple of layers.

My husband screwed in these Cup Hooks for me. I bought a pack for $1.99 at Meijer. Don't buy them at Michaels or Joanns I feel like they overcharge you. You can buy a pack at Target, Walmart, Meijer, Fred Meyer or any store that sells hooks.

I hot glued some ribbon to the back of the frame. I found that the thin ribbon didn't hold the ribbons, but I didn't want a ribbon that was so thick the ribbon would fold when the clips were attached. Min ribbon was about 2.5" long but chose one that works well for your hair bows.

Attach the bows in any order you want!

 

Hang up with all the bows!

Add headbands to the Cup Hooks.

Pizza Pasta Bake

This dish is delicious.  My family loves it! This is one of my go-to meals for when I need to take a meal to someone.  Especially if they have kids!  What kid doesn't love pizza or pasta?

I love that this meal works as a freezer meal, too.
One recipe is enough to feed my family of 4 for a night (with leftovers for Jeff for lunch) and enough to freeze a second pan.  It's easy to double if you have more mouths to feed and still want to get a freezer meal out if it.

With school starting again, make this easy dish to have on hand. It's always nice to have a freezer meal ready to go when your week gets busy!





To make this dish you will need; sausage, pepperoni, olives, spiral pasta, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.  If you like it spicy, you can add some crushed red pepper flakes.  Adding fresh basil on top after it bakes is also really good. You can add more or less "pizza toppings" if you'd like. Sausage, pepperoni and olive is my family's favorite combination in this dish, but it's fun to change it up every now and then.  Ham, green peppers, mushrooms, bacon, etc.  Have fun coming up with your family's favorite version!

While the pasta is cooking, add the cooked sausage, pepperoni, olives, pasta, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and pepper flakes, if desired, to a large mixing bowl.  Mix well.

Add the cooked pasta and stir gently.

You can bake this in a 9x13 baking dish or 2 8x8 baking dishes.  If I'm making this for my family I like to use 2 8x8 baking dishes so I can bake one right away and then freeze one for later.  If you just want to do a freezer meal in a 9x13 you can do that, too. Divide it up however works best for you! 

Spray a 9x13 baking dish or 2 8x8 baking dishes with cooking spray. If using the 9x13 baking dish, spread half the pasta mixture into the pan and top with 1 cup of cheese.  If using 8x8 baking dishes, spread a fourth of the mixture into each pan and top with 1/2 cup of cheese on top of each. 

Spread the other half of pasta over the cheese.  (if using the 8x8 pans, divide the remaining pasta between the two pans)

Top with remaining one cup of cheese.

If you are making a freezer meal, cover the pan with heavy duty foil (I generally double wrap freezer meals) and keep in your freezer for up to 3 months.  If you making this to eat now, bake it uncovered at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted.  

Serve with fresh basil and enjoy!

Pizza Pasta Bake
Recipe by: Prescriptions for a Happy Home 

Ingredients: 

1 pkg. (16-20oz) Sausage, cooked and crumbled*
1 pkg.(8oz) Pepperoni*, cut in quarters
1/2 can olives, sliced
1pkg. (16 oz) spiral pasta, cooked and drained*
1 (28oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 jar (14-15oz.) pizza sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese 
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, optional
fresh basil for garnishing, optional (but I highly recommend it!)

*Turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, and whole wheat pasta work great in this, too! 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the sausage. While the pasta is cooking add the sausage, pepperoni, olives, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and pepper flakes, if desired, to a large mixing bowl.  Stir well.  Add the cooked pasta and mix gently. Spray a 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans with cooking spray. 
If using the 9x13 pan: put half of the pasta mixture in the pan and sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and cover with remaining pasta and then top with remaining cheese. 
If using the 8x8 pans: put 1/4 of the pasta mixture to each pan and top with 1/2 cup cheese each, and then add another 1/4 of pasta on top of cheese.  Top each dish with another 1/2 cup of cheese.  
Bake at 350, uncovered, for 25-35 minutes or until heated through. Remove from the oven and serve with fresh basil, if desired. 

Freezer instructions:  Prepare the dish the same as you would if you were baking.  Instead of baking it, cover the pizza pasta with foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, remove from the freezer 24 hours before using so it has time to thaw.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until heated through.  Cook time will vary depending on how well thawed it is.


Enjoy!

Family Picture Outfits

The outfits you choose for family pictures can set the mood for your pictures.  Even though it can be stressful, expensive and overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be! I am definitely not an expert on this, but today I am sharing a couple of tips that have helped me as I plan what my family wears for our pictures.   

Picking a color scheme
There are so many wonderful sites that can help you find what colors work together.  A couple of great sites are: 

• *http://www.kristendukephotography.com/inspirational-artist/ I love this one! This site gives you ideas of color schemes that go well together.   
• *http://www.kristendukephotography.com/category/what-to-wear/
• She also has some great posts that are organized by color so you can get ideas of what items to piece together.  
• *https://color.adobe.com/  Janey introduced me to this site! You can choose a color and it will show what colors compliment the color you chose. 
• *Pinterest is a great site to use! Pins like this one https://www.pinterest.com/pin/423690277422279448/ are great for giving you ideas of cute ways to wear the colors you choose.

Choosing Outfits 
Don't be afraid of using colors, layers and patterns.  They can all add great depth and fun to your family pictures!

I always look through our closets and pick at least one outfit that someone already has and then plan around that.  This helps you find a color scheme and also helps you save money. The first time Janey did our family pictures I already had a dress I really liked for little C so we used that and planned the rest of the outfits around it.  The colors were bright and fun! This was especially nice, since that particular fall the colors weren't super bright so we stood out with all of the brown. If the fall, had been luscious with color these bright colors may not have worked. 

For our most recent family pictures in May I was really liking the coral and navy theme.  I already had a fun coral necklace and I had a cute coral dress for little C. We had decided last fall that we wanted to do pictures in the spring, so I had a long time to look for color schemes and outfits.  I love to find good deals anyway, but for family pictures I always try to get good deals shopping clearance and sales.  It’s takes a little time, but in the end I always end up saving enough that it’s worth it!  It helps too if you pick your color scheme ahead of time. Plan a budget for your outfits and stick to it! With all the green at the park we went to, the colors we picked worked great and stood out. We love how they turned out!

Once you get your outfits all together, send a picture to your photographer so they can see what you’ve planned.  It can help as you plan where to take your pictures.  You want to stand out so location can be such a big part, since you don't want your outfits to clash or blend in with the background. The photographer can help a lot with this, but as you pick a location you will need to keep this in mind so there are a lot of places within the location to pose.

       

As Janey said in her post earlier this week, family pictures can be hectic, but they don't have to be.  Hopefully some of these tips we’ve shared will help you plan for your family pictures and make it an enjoyable experience!