A Handmade Christmas

This year for Christmas, I wanted to make as many of the gifts as I could. I had special ideas for all the girls on Jesse's side of the family and I love how each one turned out! I just wish I would have remembered to take photos of the recipients with their gifts! But luckily I did remember to take pictures before I gave them :)

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Jesse's mom recently purchased a home! She had the fun idea to name her new place "The Hen House"...I love it! So I made her a sign that is perfect for her new home :)

I cut it out of wood with my laser and made the wing a separate piece. I painted the wing orange (to match her kitchen!) and engraved the words on the wing. I then glued it together and added a hanger on the back. She loved it!

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For Jesse's sister-in-law, I made a large 8x10 picture frame with all their names on it. I put their last name on the top and all of their first names along the bottom. This frame matches their other home decor perfectly, so she loved it :)

For Jesse's other sister-in-law I made a super cute Double Name Album! Of course I had a lot of fun making this one since it's in my favorite colors :)

I did a mix of fun/summer/party pages as well as couple/love pages. It turned out great and of course, she loved it :)

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Did you make any handmade gifts this year? Tell me all about them!

What's For Dinner?

Most of you know, I'm not usually one to share recipes. I'm no gourmet chef by any means! But when I run across a great, easy recipe that we love, I like to share it :)

I found this recipe in a magazine and had to dash to the grocery store to find this Philly Savory Garlic Cooking Creme! I love that there are very few ingredients and it all cooks right on the stove! (Great for summer when you don't want to start the oven!)

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Here are the ingredients:

*1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces *1/2 cup halved red pepper strips *1 pkg. (6 oz.)baby spinach leaves *1 tub (10 oz.)PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme *2 cups hot cooked penne pasta *2 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts

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And you can find the entire recipe HERE.

I had no idea that I liked spinach! In fact I would have turned my nose up at it had I not used it in this recipe! I actually quite like it :) And I've used yellow peppers in place of the red ones as well. I don't usually bother with the pine nuts. That's what's great about this recipe...change it up/use what's on hand/add a few extras!

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PS...Do you say Supper or Dinner?

I usually say supper, but the title sounded better with dinner...LOL :)

What's for Dinner

I don't usually share recipes on my blog mainly because I'm not a very good cook...LOL :) We eat lots of casseroles so we have leftovers and I don't have to cook everyday! But the other day I found a new recipe that I just had to try :) I love chicken and am always looking for new ways to use it.

Applesauce Barbecue Chicken

The recipe says to brown the chicken in a skillet, but I prefer to use my oven when I can. So I put the chicken in a glass baking dish and baked it for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. I then mixed together all of the other ingredients, spread it on the chicken and baked for another 8 minutes. It was so tender and juicy!!! Not dry at all!!! And the best part...Jesse liked it too :)

So if you're looking for a quick, easy and tasty recipe...check this one out :)