Chocolate Eclair Cake

I have been a big fan of Kelly's Korner and on Fridays she hosts a neat thing called "Show Us Your Life"!  This weeks topic is DESSERT RECIPES---My favorite:)  I have finally got my blogging act together to try and participate this week.  I am going to share a recipe that is sooooo..yummmy and easy to make.  I have even let my kiddos help with this a few times.  My mom introduced this recipe to me a long time ago and it is usually made at holiday gatherings.  I have also found this recipe in one of my handy old church cookbooks that I love to use.  Anyway here goes...

CHOCOLATE ECLAIR CAKE

 

Ingredients:

2 small packages of instant french vanilla pudding

2 and 2/3 cups of milk

8 oz. container of cool whip

1 box of graham crackers

milk chocolate frosting (I usually use 1and 1/2 containers of this)

Combine pudding and milk in bowl, mix until smooth.  Add Cool Whip.  Mix well. Set aside.

Grease 13x9-inch pan well.  Line bottom of pan with graham crackers.  Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the graham crackers.  Then add another layer of graham crackers followed by the rest of the pudding mixture.  Then place a final layer of graham crackers over this.

Cover the top with milk chocolate frosting to your liking, I usually use 1 and 1/2 containers of frosting!

Let the kids lick the spoon :)

Cover and place in refrigerator 24 hours before serving

ENJOY!!!!!

P.S.  If you scroll down a little bit (Sept. 14th) you will find another dessert recipe for

Chess Bars!!!  My Favorite:)

Great Giveaway!!!

I have had my eye on this for quite some time now:)  http://craftysouthernmama.blogspot.com/ makes these camera straps and in celebrating her 50th blogpost she will be giving one away.  She also has an Etsy site you can visit if you want to---since I am going to be the winner---you may need to purchase one. HA!  Check out her blog and leave a comment to get entered for the giveaway.  I love visiting Mandy!

Friday Night Cruise-In and Saturday Car Show

This past weekend Jimmy and I went to a cruise-in/car show.  We have been going to this annual event since around 1995-before we were even married.  The event takes place in a near by town around the square.  The cruise-in was on Friday night and you just cruise your hot-rod up to the square, park it and walk around.  They had a band playing oldies music and lots of food vendors and restaurants.  It was a lot of fun for us to go out like this, because we are usually involved in our childrens activities.  On Saturday we went back and took the kids.  There were a lot of people there and also many arts & crafts booths and inflatable jumping castles for the kids.  Lots of  cars for the guys to look at and shopping for the girls.  It was a great way to spend the weekend, date night (Friday), then family time on Saturday. 

Jimmy's car is the yellow 1967 Barracuda

Having fun with friends at the cruise-in and waiting for our food

A look at one of the streets and a few of the cars we saw

All three kids hanging out in front of their Poppie's Chevy Truck

Nate playing around in our 1950 Ford

Here is Andrea with the great pumpkin we saw @ one of the vendors

And we finished the day with a "funnel cake"  YUM! YUM!

Wednesday Night AWANA

During the school year our church http://www.oaklandbchurch.org/ is doing the Awana youth program.  This is a nonprofit curriculum based program designed to help churches and parents raise children and youth to know, love, and serve Christ.  This is the third year we have been involved in this program.  It is for children ages 2 years to 6th grade.  We usually have anywhere from 70-80 youth @ Awana and our church seems to be growing more and more:)  The awana program has even helped the adults be more involved as well.  So while we are rushing to do homework and supper before church---it makes me THANKFUL to know how excited my kids are on Wednesdays to be going to church!  They have even made lots of friends in church, some of which are in different schools.

AWANA is the first letters from 2 Timothy 2:15, which is--Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed!

Sharing Recipes Part II

This is another recipe that I get requests for quite often.  It is a perfect comfort food/side dish for family gatherings, church meals, or work pot-lucks.  I first tried this recipe after a co-worker shared it with me and also have found it in an old church cookbook(some of my favorite recipes come from these kind of cookbooks)!  This is how to make Sour Cream Potatoes:)  I think it could also be called Mashed Baked Potatoes, just because it reminds me of the perfect baked potato with butter and sour cream!  ENJOY!!!  and let me know if you try it and like it--- 

Ingredients:

6-8 large potatoes, sometimes I use more, don't have to be exact

1 stick of butter

1 pint of sour cream

8oz bar of cream cheese

small amount of garlic salt to taste

I also add 1/2 tsp. or so of pepper

(another variation is to use 2 tsp of onion salt instead of the garlic salt)

Cook and drain potatoes, then whip with all ingredients until blended well.  Pour in casserole or serving dish and bake @ 325' for 30 minutes.  

*When potatoes are almost done I sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bacon bits and return to oven until cheese melts:)

There you go:)  Let me know how you like it!  I hope to share more good recipes with you.  I like to cook, but sometimes with work, three kids, church, sports, homework etc. I don't cook as much as I should.  It is sometimes easy to get fast food, or fix things fast @ home and eat off the redneck china (paper plates)LOL!  Some of our best family times and conversations have been when we have took the extra time to have a good family meal @ the kitchen table instead of on the run.   

Sharing Recipes

I wanted to share some recipes that I am asked to make at family get togethers and cookouts.  This past weekend we visited Jimmy's sister and her family for her youngest son Josh's 21st birthday.  Her two boys love Chess Bars so that is one thing I usually make.  I have seen several variations for Chess Bars but this is how I make them---

 

Ingredients for crust or first layer:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 stick of butter, melted

1 egg

Mix these 3 ingredients together well and press evenly into 9x13 dish  

Ingredients for top layer:

1 lb or box of powdered sugar

1 8oz. bar of cream cheese

2 eggs

Mix these ingredients together and pour over first layer

Bake @ 350' for 45 minutes until golden brown on top and sides

ENJOY!!!!!!

Tomorrow I plan to share Sour Cream Potatoes--another family favorite:)

Remembering

Today I have spent a lot of time thinking back to September 11th, 2001!  I can remember exactly everything about that day.  I was working in an outpatient type setting in a local hospital, when we heard the news over the radio.  I didn't think it was to serious at first but as the morning and events went on, we knew.  I was lucky to be with some great friends and co-workers that day.  We had some time of silence and watched as the events took place.  We were even able to take time out from our jobs and pray together in the hospital chapel.  I remember wanting to go get my 23 month old daughter Sarah and get home and be with my husband and my family.  I was scheduled off work the rest of the week for a trip we had already planned to Gatlinburg, TN.  We were leaving on September 13th, and was hesitant to travel especially with our little girl, but we went ahead anyway.  It was amazing once we arrived in Pigeon Forge the amount of patriotism we saw.  Just about every car had some sort of American Flag or Red, White, and Blue decoration.  In bumper to bumper traffic on the strip of Pigeon Forge this was something to see.  It made things seem a little better.  It made me proud to be an American:)  I can also remember hoping for the ones lost at the World Trade Center in the days that followed and praying for all the victims and families it had affected.  I think about this day often and especially on today I look back and REMEMBER.......THANK YOU to those who serve this country and community service men and women who risk their lives everyday!

.

Movie weekend

So how many times has your children watched this? "Hannah Montana The Movie" We visited our local redbox and rented it on Friday and probably watched it around 5 or 6 times this weekend. Not to mention that we had already seen it @ the movie theater opening day! The kids love it and me and my husband even watched it a few times with the kiddos. Nothing like a good family movie, pizza, and spending some time together. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Hanging out at Nana and Pop's

Hold on Nate!!!!

Andrea is all SMILES:)

Sarah is just along for the ride!

A few years ago my dad (Pop) made this swing for all (8) of the grand-kids. It is just made with a long rope and plank of wood---the same way he made one for me and my siblings when we were little. It seems like everytime we are over at their house my kids ask Pop to give them a push on the swing. As they have gotten older and braver he gets to push them higher and higher. I love the expressions on their faces as I got some good pictures the other day as they had so much fun. It is hard to get them to leave once they begin swinging.