Whirlwind of wedding planning

So, Mike proposed back in May on Mother's Day.

We have yet to set a date because his work doesn't do vacation schedules until November and Mike's the newbie to the shop so he's the last to get his pick of what week he wants.  However, that hasn't stopped the planning from going on.

I have my guest list done, my dress and bridesmaid dresses picked out, flower girl dress and all the guys clothes picked out.  I haven't asked my bridesmaids yet because I haven't seen them in person and Mike hasn't asked his guys either.  I have also decided how I want my cake decorated. I think I'm going with a small cake for Mike and I to cut, but then cupcakes for everyone else.  My extended family has about 40 people in it and almost half of those are kids so I figure cupcakes are fun for them.

As far as location, that's still undecided too. I would like an outdoor ceremony but I am too scared of bad weather to have an outdoor reception. My luck it would be a severe thunderstorm that day and we would all be rain soaked.  I do have a list of places I want to check out, but until I know a date I haven't called places yet.

We had engagement pictures taken back in August and I'm going to use those to make the guest book like this. 

Here's a few of my favorites from our engagement photos. I haven't seen all of them yet, the photographer just posted about 30 of them and is getting us the rest this week. Can't wait! 

Photos were taken by Nichole Frank Photography

I also have a few ideas of center pieces and stuff for the shower. Oh, and the first thing I did was create our registry, but there's only a few items on there so far. We are registered at two stores and we're doing a honeymoon registry. I decided that since we have lived together for 8 years and we have a house full of stuff and I don't want people buying us items we won't use or don't need a honeymoon registry would be a great alternative. We are going on a cruise and the cruise line offers the registry through them for things such as dinners, room upgrades, or excursions. Can't wait! 

So I think that's all I have done since we got engaged 5 months ago. I'm already overwhelmed! 

DIY Halloween Eyeball Wreath

This wreath may be one of my favorite Halloween decorations I have. I pinned something similar on Pinterest last year, but they place they suggested to get eye balls made the wreath cost almost $60! No thank you!  I made this one for $6.  I bought several of these wreaths last year after the holiday for $0.50 each.  The eye balls were a dollar a bag from The Dollar Tree. I was so excited when I saw them there. 

I bought 7 bags of eye balls, but only needed 5 to cover the front of the wreath. I could add more around the edges but I worry they'll fall off when I have to store it after Halloween is over so I just did the front. 

I just started hot gluing them on one by one, making sure all the pupils pointed the same direction and worked my way around the wreath. 

When I was almost all the way around I hot glued a halloween ribbon on it so I would have a way to hang it up.   I held it up and filled in some of the empty looking spots and then hung it up and stared at it all day. I was so proud! 

It hangs on our front door and I did add some window cling bats so the whole door is mighty festive and ready to scare the kids. However, now that we live in the country I doubt anyone besides my family will even see it. 

I wish I would of covered the wreath with some orange or black ribbon or tulle just to hide the straw a little more, but when I started I was too excited to think about that. 

Stove Top Swiss Chicken Casserole

I've mentioned before that I like recipes with stuffing in them. It's like Thanksgiving but without eating more than you should. This casserole dish was a good one to use your left over chicken in after a holiday meal.

shredded chicken

1 pkg Swiss Cheese

1 16 oz. box pasta

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 box chicken stuffing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta al dente'.  Mix shredded chicken, pasta, and cream of chicken soup together.  In another small bowl, mix stuffing and sour cream together. 

Spread pasta mix on bottom of baking dish.  Spread stuffing mix on top. Cover with swiss cheese slices.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Queso Taco Pasta Bake

Taking a break from the freezer meal sharing to share this amazing pasta dish. It was one of my new favorite dishes.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup salsa

1 pound lean ground beef

One 10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes, mild

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3/4 pound small pasta of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a saucepan.  Whisk in flour, salt and pepper for about 30 seconds. Whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Continue to whisk until thickened.  Stir in  1 1/2 cups shredded cheese and salsa until well mixed. Set aside

Brown and drain ground beef. Mix in tomatoes and cumin. Mix cheese sauce with beef.

Cook pasta al dente'. Drain and mix with cheese beef mixture.  

Pour into baking dish. Top with remaining 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. 

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Golden Chicken & Noodles

The crock pot freezer meals I made a few weeks ago are running out. =(  I have another list of some that I want to try, but it will probably be a few more weeks before I get them all prepared.  Today's recipe is golden chicken & noodles. I made this the other day, but we ended up going shopping and just ate dinner out so I threw it into the fridge and just warmed it up the next night. It was delicious.

4-5 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

 10 3/4 oz can broccoli cheese soup

1 Cup milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp basil

1 tsp pepper

Extra Wide Egg Noodles (used on day of serving)

On cooking day, just dump bag into crock pot and cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Cook pasta al dente' and mix in before serving. 

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Ready for another crock pot freezer meal? This recipe was delicious. The broccoli was in smaller pieces so it was easily hidden from the kiddos and I so we ate it with no complaining.

1 ½ pounds chicken breasts

1 (16 oz) bag frozen broccoli florets

2 (16 oz) jars Alfredo sauce
pasta (on cooking day, do not freeze)

To freezer, just put all ingredients (except pasta) in a gallon freezer bag. 

On cooking day, thaw for 24 hours ahead of time.  Pour into crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Cook pasta al dente and mix in before serving. 

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Bean Tater Tot Casserole

Here's another crock pot freezer meal that I prepared last week.  This recipe says its for 2 meals, but I only made one with it. We each had 2 helpings and then Mike had some for work the next day.

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 lb string beans, fresh or frozen

1 10 3/4 can cream of potato soup

1 cup shredded cheese

21 oz bag frozen tater tots

Split all ingredients in half and place in 2 bags. Lay flat and freeze. Day of cooking grab from freezer, pour all contents into crock pot and cook on high 2-3 hrs or low 4-6 hours.

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Tortilla Soup

I'm back sharing my second recipe from my crock pot freezer meals I prepared last week.  This recipe was pretty good, but it was more of a chili consistency than soup. Either way it was good.

1 lb ground turkey

1 can crushed tomatoes

8 oz frozen corn

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

taco seasoning (on cooking day)

To freeze, just mix all ingredients and pour into gallon freezer bag.

On cooking day, add one cup water, taco seasoning to taste and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until turkey is completely cooked. 

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Creamy Ranch Pork Chops & Potatoes

On Friday I posted about part two of crock pot freezer meals. Here's the first recipe we tried out. It was really good. Let me know what you think if you try it out.

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork chops

3-4 medium potatoes, chopped in large pieces (I sliced mine)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 packet ranch powder mix

1/2 cup milk

To freeze, just mix all ingredients together and pour into a gallon size freezer bag. 

On cooking day, just thaw for 24 hours before putting in crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 

Crock Pot Freezer Meals- Part 2

I'm back for part 2 of Crock Pot Freezer meal recipes. I did part one last year and it was amazing. It was so nice to just grab a bag from the freezer and toss it in the crock pot and continue with the rest of my day.

This time around I gathered 5 recipes to try out. I try to find recipes that have similar ingredients so it cuts down on my grocery spending. Then I just space them out when eating them so we're not eating chicken 6 days in a row.  Here's what I made-

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops & Potatoes

Tortilla Soup

Bean Tater Tot Casserole

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Golden Chicken & Noodles

*Edit* Since I was using my crock pot almost every day for a week, I bought these Reynold's Slow Cooker Liners.   It was so nice to just put the leftovers away, grab the liner, toss it in the trash and not have to wash the crock pot every night. 

Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole

Here's another recipe that is inexpensive, quick to throw together and the kids will also like it.

1 lb ground beef

1 can sloppy joe sauce

16 oz frozen tater tots

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brown ground beef and drain. Mix in sloppy joe sauce and simmer. 

Pour the meat into the bottom of a baking dish. Top with cheese.  Spread tots in a single layer on top.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until tots are browned. 

Crock Pot Tuscan Soup

Usually anything that is able to be made in the crock pot gets pinned on my Pinterest board. I love using my crock pot.  I don't make too many soups, but I'm so glad I decided to make this one.

One (12-ounce) package of turkey or chicken sausage, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 cups kale, stems removed, & leaves chopped 

3 cups chicken broth

One can red kidney beans, rinsed & drained

One can great Northern beans, rinsed & drained

One can Italian seasoned diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. dried basil

Put all above ingredients into crock pot and mix together.  Cook on low 8-10 hours or until veggies are tender. 

Pork Chop Casserole

We eat a lot of chicken and beef so whenever I come across a recipe for pork chops that looks good I add it to my dinner rotation.  This casserole was pretty good and quick to make. 

4-5 bone-in pork chops (1.5 – 2 lbs.)

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 10.5-oz. cans French Onion Soup

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet. Brown both sides of chops. (don't cook them all the way)

Add soup and rice to dish and mix together. 

Add browned chops on top and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Make sure it's sealed on all edges or the rice won't cook right. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.