PRINCESS ELMO BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEAS

Today my little one turned 1.  We had a party with ELMO food/cake and a purple princess tutu dress.  It was fun and very easy to do!  Here are the ideas:

Homemade No-Sew Tutu Dress and Homemade Tulle Wand

DIY Tutu Table Skirt~~~ Tutorial from sweetcraftcakes.com ~~~

ELMO 7 Layer Dip

~~~ classic 7 layer mexican dip recipe ~~~

~~~ tomatoes for face, black olives for mouth, carrots for nose ~~~

~~~ cream cheese or sour cream for white of eyes with black olives for pupils ~~~

ELMO Fruit Tray

~~~ strawberries for face, blackberries for mouth ~~~

~~~ clementine for nose, banana slices for eyes ~~~

M&M Jar with Number 1

~~~ peanut M&Ms with number 1 candle ~~~

~~~ just add a few M&Ms to a clean tomato sauce jar ~~~

~~~ then set number on side in middle and fill up the rest of the jar with M&Ms ~~~

Number 1 Brownies

~~~ Make brownies, cut them, and design a number 1 on some aluminum wrapped cardboard ~~~

I also made homemade sausage balls and a generic sandwich tray.

Hope some of these ideas help make a cool party for you too!

CHUNKY MILD TURKEY CHILI

My hubby likes to have bread-less suppers as much as possible.  

This is one of the things I like to make to satisfy his appetite without the need for bread.

I make it mild so that my 11-month-old can eat it too. ;)

CHUNKY MILD TURKEY CHILI

serves 2

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 strips bacon

2 turkey burger patties (1/2 pound ground turkey)

3/4 cup - 1 cup red wine (I used Chianti)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans

salt and pepper 

red pepper or chili powder (if desired)

tomato sauce (if desire thinner chili)

Over medium heat, cook he onion and bacon in the olive oil. 

When the onion starts to turn clear, add the turkey meat and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Add the red wine and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and pinto beans WITH the juices.

Add salt, pepper, and red pepper (if desired) or chili powder (if desired).

Add tomato sauce if desire thinner chili.

Simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

If you simmer it longer, the flavors will meld together even more.

Serve alone or with bread or crackers or tortilla chips and/or cheese on top.

DIG IN!

CHICKEN VEGGIE TORTILLA CHIP CASSEROLE

I made this recipe the other night adapted from the King Ranch Chicken recipe by plainchicken.com.  

Since we don't have cheddar cheese, cheese whiz, or condensed soups over here in Italy, I had to think of creative way to make it yummy.  I also decided to add more chicken and veggies.   My 11 month old loved it and I got 2 thumbs up from the hubs.

Chicken Veggie Tortilla Chip Casserole

5-6 large chicken breasts

2 packages cream of mushroom soup

2 cups warm chicken broth (reserved from boiling the chicken)

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium round tomatoes, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste1 cup grated parmesan cheese + more for the top

Preheat oven to 350F or 170C.

Boil and dice the chicken breasts, place into big mixing bowl.  

(I used scissors to cut mine up into bite size pieces.)

In the same big bowl, add the packages of soup with the warm chicken broth, mix well & set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the onion, tomatoes, and yellow pepper.

When the veggies start to turn translucent, add the white wine. 

Cook until almost all of the liquid is absorbed.

Dump the veggies in with the chicken and soup.

Add the parsley, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese, mix everything well.

Do a taste test to make sure your seasoning is the way you want it.

Grease a big casserole dish and line the bottom of it with crushed tortilla chips.

Add half of the chicken mixture and spread evenly.

Add another layer of crushed tortilla chips and dump/spread the rest of the chicken mixture.

Add a few more tortilla chips with a little bit more parmesan on top.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until bubbly.

DIG IN!

TURKEY STUFFED PEPPERS

This was our family supper tonight.  I had a slight bit of filling leftover, so my 11-month-old ate that for her meal.  I adapted this recipe from skinnytaste.com.

1 cup cooked rice

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced finely

2 boneless/skinless turkey breasts cut into small pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons creole seasoning

salt to taste

1/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 small tomatoes, diced finely

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 cup parmesan cheese + more for garnish if desired

2 large sweet bell peppers (I used 1 yellow & 1 red)

Heat oven to 400°.

Cook the 1 cup of rice. I cooked it in chicken broth for more flavor added.

In a medium saucepan, pour 2 turns of olive oil over a medium heat.

Add onion to the pan and saute about 2 minutes until it starts to turn translucent.

Add turkey pieces, creole seasoning, and salt. Saute until the outside of the turkey is cooked.

Add the white wine and 3/4 cup of the chicken broth. Cook about 2 minutes.

Add the diced tomatoes and basil and simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed (about 5-10 minutes).

Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked rice and parmesan cheese.

Season with more salt to taste.

Wash and cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove all seeds.

Place the peppers in a baking dish.

Spoon the meat mixture into each pepper half and fill it with as much as you can.

Pour the remaining 3/4 of the chicken broth on the bottom of the pan.

Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for about 35 minutes or until the peppers are soft.

Top with extra parmesan cheese (if desired).

DIG IN!

ESSENTIAL WEBSITES FOR MOMS

babycenter.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

cdc.gov/vaccines

cdc.gov/nutrition

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

thebump.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 Best Foods For Baby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mommy School

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pee On A Stick (for becoming a mommy)