Chicken Tortilla Wraps

Thursday, February 28, 2019 No comments
I've been trying to break up the hum drum of lunches this year, so....I went to pinterest (this one is from a site called The Yummiest Foods).  I did NOT take a picture of this in the process b/c I've had a lot of fails, so I wasn't sure what I'd think, but this one was really yummy, so any picture is better than no picture so I don't forget b/c it's definitely going to be something I bring out again.  So, since this is first and foremost where I store ideas and recipes I like...
Dear Me,
You liked this recipe.  Make it again when lunch is getting boring and you are looking for inspiration.
-Christy

Ingredients:  3 c. chicken (baked or boiled with a little seasoning-shredded), 3/4 c. celery, 1/4 c. dried cranberries, 1/2 c. mayo, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 c. pecans, 4-6 flour tortillas.
Instructions:  Mix all the ingredients together after your chicken is cooked.  Chill.  Wrapped chilled ingredients evenly in tortillas.

Teaching Tuesday: 100th Day of School Overview

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 No comments
 In no particular order, I finally pulled some photos off my phone for 100th Day.  I posted some of the details in previous post, but my approach this year was to create a 'museum' in my room  where students got to explore what life was like 100 years ago.
 I had a station where I found youtube videos of how breakfast, lunch, and dinner has changed over the last 100 years the students could scan and watch.  Each student also got to eat an Oreo (born MORE than 100 years ago) and I printed out what advertisements looked like for some of the foods we still have today (Jello, Corn Flakes etc).
 I had a station for politics and current happenings and found some videos about the President (Woodrow Wilson), women's right to vote (passed this year), and a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon (officially made a National Park in 1919.
 I had another station for fashion where students could watch the fashion and hair styles for women and men change over 100 years.
 I created a nearpod they could tour to look at what school was like 100 years ago.
There was also a station for daily life that included this like how to play jacks and marbles, and had some toys and inventions from 100 years ago (what the telephone looked like, cars, planes etc).
 And I had a station where Charley Chaplin scenes were playing and students could scan a QR to find out about Silent Films, famous stars, and listen to music from this year.
Teachers signed up and brought there students at their allotted times.  I borrowed some 6th graders to be docents for the tour.
 I also placed some baskets in the hallway with cups and yarn for students to measure and build things, along with posters to write things like-100 books we've read, 100 words we can spell etc.
 Each student was given a bag with a bookmark, pencil, classroom ideas, and a Blowpop along with a Science experiment (100 licks to the center-there weren't enough Tootsie Pops at the store, so we had to go with Blow Pops)
 Perhaps most importantly, we made Jello/Oreo Pudding Cups for the teachers to enjoy while their students browsed because....snacks are important no matter what the year!
I've already got (different) plans for next year.....Roaring 20's style, but first....I have the other 80 some odd days to survive until summer!

Current Happenings

Sunday, February 17, 2019 No comments
 It has been a busy last few months. Most recently, I've been taking a course so that I can get my ESL certification (test results pending-I took it on Saturday and it was so much harder than I thought it would be).  I've also been doing a lot of traveling, some of which I never got around to blogging about.  BUT, here's a spring summer update.  Right now, I've been collecting things for a bathroom redo.  I found the (above) fun enamel towel/soap holder on Ebay awhile back.
 I'm doing an eclectic vintage French theme in my guest bath, but I'm doing it piece by piece (or rather, paycheck by paycheck) and while I'm saving up for the big things (sink/tub/tiles/faucets), I've been collecting some of the fun things.  I also found the (above) vintage dictionary page from the French 'swimming' page with some quirky pictures.  This weekend I finally picked up a floating frame to house it.
There is a lot of black and white, but I'm also trying to throw in some gold/molding.  I have found some fun silhouette frames, and vintage magazine page samplers, fun vintage cream containers etc.  The (above) is just a small sampling).  I've also bought some fabric samplers, vintage flashcards, buttons etc.  It'll be a process than probably goes through the summer b/c I'm determined to stay out of debt in the process, and I have some other priorities first.
I have a ton of parties and adventures filling the next few months and I'll (hopefully) get to stash my study books, and get some blogging done!

Faux Vintage French Window

Thursday, February 14, 2019 No comments
 One of my goals this year is to redo my guest bathroom. It needed redoing 17 years ago when I moved in to this house.  The problem is, I have a few things I need to do in my life that will drain some money advance of this project (which will include sink/bathroom/floors/light fixtures).  So, right now, I'm working on the things I CAN DO that don't cost a lot of money until I either A)  Find a money tree.  B)  Win the lottery (which also includes B 1/2) Start playing the lottery C)  Get those other things 'done.'  So, I already had this window in the bathroom hanging with a wreath in the middle.  The wreath may get another purpose b/c I like it.
 I designed a 'vintage' perfume shop sign using some I saw on Cricut and I used this tutorial on youtube for making it a 20 by 20 so it would fill up the space on the window.  Pause for a silent moment for youtube making life so much easier.
 My design ended up in four parts.  I'm not a perfectionist, so I used a ruler to roughly measure where this would be center, and thus, where to begin the design.
 Then I pieced together the four pieces of matted black and pressed them down to the window.
I'm so eager to get moving on this project, but this at least makes me feel like I am moving forward!  I'm currently storing all the 'new' pieces in my closet, so it gives me double incentive to get moving!  BUT I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Teaching Tuesday: Teacher Incentive

Tuesday, February 12, 2019 No comments
 
 I'm on a committee that works to try to come up with fun things to keep the moral high in the schools.  This is something I originally saw on instagram and adapted to our school.  I created a room service menu with a list of snacks and drinks for each teacher to choose from that will be delivered to their room.
Here is a link to a free printable.  We aren't going to do this for a few months, it's one of several upcoming things we have for the teachers, but I figured I'd post about it before the file gets lost somewhere on my computer.  We are going to buy a bunch of snacks in advance and then deliver, and use the left over snacks for a state test that is going to be the following week.  I imagine you could also tally up the snacks and go shopping that evening, but I'm definitely a work ahead kind of girl.  Now it's time to copy and cut a bunch of these out so they are ready to roll out and down the hallway.

DIY "Vintage" Valentine Card

Saturday, February 09, 2019 No comments


Here's a quick little Valentine I put together.  I found a free printable online of a vintage valentine.  I printed it and fussy cut it out.  I then just glued it down to a pink card with some other scrapbook paper, twine, and tickets, and then stamped a message inside.  I've been trying to MAKE my cards, but I don't always stay ahead of the game, but I'll have you know, I'm ready for Valentine 2020 right now…..just nothing else starting tomorrow.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

Thursday, February 07, 2019 No comments
I've been a little in love with oatmeal cookies the last few years.  This has been my go to for awhile.  It's not rocket science, but.....I'm all about sharing  a good thing, even if it's just to future me who is at the store trying to remember what ingredients I need. 
Ingredients:  1 c. butter (softened), 1 c. white sugar, 2 eggs, 1 t. vanilla, 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. salt, 1 1/2 t cinnamon, 3 c. quick cooking oats
Instructions:  
1.  Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  
2.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to creamed mix.  Last, stir in oats.  
4.  Roll into balls, place on greased sheet in a 375 degree oven.  Bake for 8 minutes.  

Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

Monday, February 04, 2019 No comments
One of the gals I work with brought this to a pot luck recently (from frugalginger).  It was a big hit.  I've actually tried a lot of mac and cheese recipes, and this goes towards the top!  Technically, I didn't use macaroni noodles because I was using up some noodles in the pantry, but the results were the same.
Ingredients:  cooking spray, 20 oz of macaroni (cooked), 12 oz of evaporated milk, 1 1/2 c. whole milk, 1/4 c. melted butter, 1 t. salt, 2 eggs (beaten), dash of pepper, 20 oz of sharp cheddar cheese (grated), Paprika (to taste)
Instructions:  
1.  Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray.
2.  Mix the cooled macaroni, milks, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and eggs.
3.  Pour into slow cooker and top with the rest of the cheese and sprinkle with Paprika.
4.  Cook for 3 hours on low.

King Cake Done Easy....and Delicious

Friday, February 01, 2019 No comments
Last year the leadership team decided to serve king cake via a cart in the hall (someone had given me a bunch of beads that we wanted to pass out, and the ideas was born).  The thing about a king cake is it can be kind of dry....at least in North Texas.  So, the counselor and I found this recipe for an easy sounding cake and let me tell you, not only was in easy to throw together, we had so many people stop us and tell us how delicious and moist it was...this happened over and over again, so I'm not the only one who took this ever important poll.  The original recipe is from plainchicken, we only made one change-we bought additional icing to throw on top.

Ingredients
2 cans (12.4 oz) of canned cinnamon rolls, 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened), 2/3 c. sugar, 2 eggs, 1 t. vanilla, 1 c. milk, purple, green, and yellow sprinkles, cream cheese icing (if you want)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 pan.
2.  Cut each roll into 1/4s.  Place in the bottom of the pan.  Set the icing aside.
3.  Beat cream cheese and sugar.  DON'T skip this step or you will get a strange beaded consistency that will taste well, but look strange.
4.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Pour over the cinnamon roll pieces.
5.  Bake 35 minutes.  Let cook 5 minutes and then pour icing over the top.  We added about half a can of additional cream cheese frosting from a jar.  Sprinkle and serve.