3-Cheese Cordon Bleu Pasta ~~~ WHAT?!

Hey Hey Hey Fellow Bloggers!!! It's me, MommyBee :) Hope you all are in good spirits today! I know I am! So since lifes good (for the moment at least)---- and while I'm in such a good mood, I thought that I would share with you a delicious new recipe! (I'm really not trying to turn this into a food blog---promise) See, the thing is, when G is not here, I really don't cook all that much. Me, M, and A are pretty content with the occasional take-out, frozen pizza, hamburger helper, or ramen noodles. <<<<this may not make a whole lot of sense, because those of you that know me, know that I LOVE to cook>>>>  But I guess I just feel like, when G's not here theres really no point in making a big, wonderful dish for dinner because the truth is M and A could really care less. Sooooo anyways- I'm rambling---- back to the point. Since G is home for the time being, I thought tonight would be a good night to make one of his favorites, 3 Cheese Cordon Bleu Pasta. I have to admit, the concept of Condon Bleu Pasta was not entirely original, (the original idea came from here ) but I feel like I've tweaked it enough to be my own. So here goes----

3-Cheese Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

What you'll need:

- 1 lb. pasta (any shape, just not spagetti or fettucini)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups Provel, shredded or in strings
- 1 8oz brick Swiss Cheese, shredded
- 1 8oz package Cream Cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1 1/2 cups Milk
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1 8oz package Diced Ham
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups Chicken, cooked and cubed
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cayene Pepper

-So, first things first --- you're going to want to cook and cube your chicken
-Then, cook your pasta (make sure to add plenty of salt and a bit of oil to the water)
-Once your pasta is cooked to an al dente firmness, drain, and return it to the pot
-Then, add in the cooked, cubed ham and the cooked, cubed chicken
It will look a little something like this:

-Now it's time to start pre-heating the broiler
-In a medium sized saucepan combine the milk and cream cheese (it's really important that your cream cheese is softened for this)
-Cook this over low/medium heat, stirring frequently, until it becomes smooth
-Once the texture reaches a smooth consistency, add it to the pasta/chicken/ham mixture
-Then, stir in the provel, the swiss cheese, cayene pepper, salt, and pepper
It will look a little something like this:

-Mix everything together until the cheese is melted and then throw it all into a baking pan
-Top with the Panko crumbs, and pour the melted butter over the top
-Place the dish in the oven and broil until the top is browned (about 4 minutes)
This is the dish:

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

This is soooooooo good and sooooooooo easy!!! I hope you all like it!!

Graduation Gifts ~

Hey there bloggers! MommyBee here!! Sorry it's taken so long to get back to my blog- things have been pretty nutt-so around here as of late. Here's an update-- G has been in Kansas on work since Tuesday, M is finally do with school, I'm finally done with school, and A is well, fine. Since M and A's birthday party, I've immersed myself in yet another project. My baby sis, B, just graduated from highschool!! Sooo, since I'm not really involved in the planning of the party, I've put all my energy and focus into the gifts. I know, I know, new grads--- they all want money. Buuuttt, I'm not a 'give money for a gift' type of person. I'd rather give something a little more personal, you know? Sooooo, I decided to make her a graduation scrapbook. (You may not know this, but I'm something of a scrapbooking genius). Here's the first page:

Ok, Ok, so let me be the first to say, this picture ^^^ does not do it (or me) any justice. You'll just have to trust me ---- it's WAY cute!!! And I'm sooooooo excited to give it to her!! Then, M and A wanted to get her something especially from them, so we decided to go with cheap & yummy --- cookies! We bought a zebra striped box from Hobby Lobby and then prined out a label for it that says: 'Congratulations Aunt B! You're One Smart Cookie!' It lookes like this:

That would've been enough--- if I was a normal human being --- but we all know, I'm not. So we also put together these really cute 'Exam Cram Baskets' (one for B and one for her boyfriend, who also graduated this year) They look like this:

I just bought a 3$ basket from Walmart and filled it up with all kinds of 'exam-ish' things. I put a notebook, pens, pencils, hylighters, 2 bottles of Jones soda, notecards, sticky post-its, ibuprofen, a reusable coffe cup, and some snacks. The super cute 'Exam Cram Survival Kit' printable came from here. <<< (She also has tons of other gift basket ideas). And finally, we put together two candy boxes (one for each of the grads). This is what it looks like without the poem attached:

This idea came from several different sources, and I ended up just making my own poem (pulling from different ideas here and there) This is how the poem reads:
'Look at you Smartie pants! We're so proud of your aMazing accomplishment! You've studies Extra hard and earned that--- Whatchamacallit? Oh, yeah, diploma. Don't listen to Snickers that you are a DumDum or Nerd. Because you are one Hot Tamale in this Milky Way!! You are on your way to making 100 Grand. Now I know that it has been a Rocky Road with Mounds and Sour Patch's along the way--- But you have proven that you're not an Airhead, and now you've reached the ultimate Payday. Don't Rolover thinking you're some Red Hot Big Hunk that can live off of a Sugar Daddy. Just Take Five and enjoy your Fast Break of summer. Soon enough you'll have to hit the books and Scor high on those exams because it is up to you wether or not you succeed. There are Good N Plenty times ahead and remember, if you ever need a lifesaver you can count on us. Congratualtions Sweetart!! Hugs and Kisses! We love you to Pieces!! ~ Love, MommyBee, G, M, and A'
Cute right?? You see, everything that's underlined is in the box--- it's all candy!!! When I saw all the different interpretations of this gift idea I knew that I had to do this :)
Well, I suppose thats about it on graduation gifts ---  Until next time, bloggers
xoxoMommyBeexoxo

Sweet Shoppe Party Games, Etc....

Hey Hey Hey!!! Hope this blog is reaching you all in good spirits :) This is MommyBee of course & today will be my final blog on M and A's Sweet Shoppe Party. Bitter-Sweet, I know. But anyway, as promised today will be mostly about the games and some other fun misc. stuff. So, without further ado - Heeerrrreeee we go!
Let's start with the games.This is a picture of the table next to the candy buffet.

This table was mostly for Misc. items that I didn't really know where else to put ^^^ We had birthday hats, bubbles, the DumDum tree (don't worry, I have the tutorial on here, just keep scrolling), and a basket filled with swirly pops. This was also where we put the 'Guess the Gumdrops' game. This was really easy to put together & everyone seems to like it for the most part. That green basket held everything we needed for our 'Peppermint Races'. I (unfortunately) didn't get any pictures of the game but let me try & explain how it works. Okay, so basically you line all the kids (and adults) up. You ask them what level of hardness do they want (level 1- spoon, level 2- fork, and level 3- knife). Give them their silverware, place a peppermint on it & whoever reaches the finish line with their peppermint first wins! This was a well liked game.We also did a 'Licorice Competition'. For this game, I had all the kids (and adults) place their hands behind their back. Then, I placed a piece of licorice in each of their mouths. The object of the game was to see who could finish their piece first witout using their hands. We also had a cupcake shaped pinata (which I did get a picture of)

That's M getting ready to swing :) & of course, EVERYONE loved the pinata. We also did a 'Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake' game--- & if I do say do myself, it was super duper cute!!! Here are the pics:

See?? I told you! SuperDuperCute!!! This was soooo simple to make & everyone just thought it was adorable :) It was so easy to make to! Just some big, colorful poster board from the dollar store, tape, and glue. & I think that's about all we did for the games that day. Okay, now, what you've been waiting for --- the DumDum Tree.

Ahhhh!  I just love this! So, basically all you need is A LOT of Dum Dum suckers, a styrafoam ball, a styrafoam block, a doll rod, a pail or bucket, and then something to cover the styrafoam block (we used jelly beans). A word of caution though --- as easy as this is, you can still screw it up!!! (believe me, I know) Be careful of the size of the styrafoam ball that you get--- bigger is not always better. This thing gets suuuuper heavy with all those suckers in it, and you don't want it getting knocked over. That was our biggest issue, it was just so top heavy that it was hard to keep standing (we eventually put rocks in the bottom of the pail to keep it steady. Well, I suppose that's about it for the Sweet Shoppe Party. We covered the candy buffet, the food, the cake & ice cream, the games, and the decorations. If I left anything out that you really need to know, feel free to ask :) In the mean-time, I'm going to get started on my sister, B's, graduation party!!! (details soon to come :)