Hearty Eight-Layer Salad

Now this is what I call a salad.

Mmmmmm.....one of my favorite salad recipes!! This layered salad is a meal-in-one so it makes an easy lunch or dinner.

All the yummy layers stacked up.....

Everyone is sure to love this salad because of all its delicious ingredients! If certain family members don't care for peas, you can simply substitute with a bag of mixed vegetables, or try broccoli.

Hearty Eight Layer Salad

1 1/2 C. uncooked small shell maccaroni

1 T. olive oil

3 C. shredded lettuce

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

salt and pepper

2 C. julienned fully cooked ham (we just used cooked turkey or chicken)

1 10 oz. package frozen peas, thawed

1 medium red onion, sliced thinly

1 C. mayonnaise

1/4 C. sour cream

2 T. Dijon mustard

1 C. shredded Colby or Monterey Jack cheese

2 T. minced fresh parsley

Cook maccaroni according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Place shredded lettuce on the bottom of a large salad bowl as the first layer. Toss maccaroni with olive oil and evenly spread over lettuce. Top with slices of hard boiled eggs; sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Layer ham on top of eggs. Next spread the peas out evenly on top of the eggs. Add onion rings. In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, and mustard well. Spread evenly over top of salad. Chill until ready to serve. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and parsley just before serving.

Enjoy!

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Getting Ready for Christmas.....

And with Christmas comes the fun of.....gift-giving!

Now I don't know about you, but lying in bed at night and coming up with ideas for everyone's Christmas presents is such a fun, cozy, exciting thing to do. For me at least.

And after reading Miss Jen's post about a Homemade Christmas, I thought that I would share with you one fun idea for Holiday gifts......

Decorative Jar Mixes!

A decorative jar mix makes a great gift for friends and family.....it is very easy to do and looks so cute!

If you'd like to read more about jar mixes

and how to assemble them, feel free to take a look at

our canning website here.

Here is one that I assembed this afternoon.....a yummy pancake mix. This recipe, Chocolate Chip Pancakes, happens to be our favorite way to have pancakes!

Decorative yellow ribbons.....and a cute card attached with directions about how to make the pancakes.

And you can use any fabric you like for the top, of course.

Anyway.....there are many many delicious recipes for a variety of dry mixes.

Take a look at a large list of them here!

And finally......here is the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pancakes!

For the Dry Mix:

2 C. oats

1 C. white flour

1/2 C. chocolate chips

1 C. whole wheat flour

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. dry milk powder

1 1/2 T. baking powder

1 T. cinnamon

One at a time, layer the ingredients in order into a clean (and dry!) quart jar. With each ingredient, take time to pack down tightly and evenly. As you add each layer, press the sides down with your fingers and make sure the layers are even. It will be a tight squeeze, but all of this will fit into a quart jar!

Add a lid, band, and fabric circle to the top of the jar. Attach a decorated notecard with these directions:

To Make Pancakes:

Mix 2 C. of Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix with:

1/3 C. oil

2 eggs

1 C. water

Drop by spoonfuls onto lightly greased skillet. Cook until evenly browned on both sides. Serve warm with maple syrup.

I hope you enjoy this fun Christmas gift idea as much as I do!

And remember.....you do not need to can these mixes. They are dry ingredients, so they will not spoil.

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Another.....

.....tag!!

Yep, here it is! I've been saving this one for a while - but here it is! Thankfully, this is a short one.

1. Have you ever ridden an elephant?

Absolutely not. I stick to safe activities.




2. Have you ever eaten squid?

Nope - and I don't plan to, either!! I am not a seafood person.


3. What is something crazy you have done with your best friend?

Well....I don't really think I've ever done anything "crazy" with my friends, but I have done a few pretty silly things with my siblings before. Examples? (please remember that all of the following examples are from years and years ago. Ahem.)

Together, all four of us have:

~Held a presidential election meeting in the basement of our house.

~Dressed up as homeless people,

~Run a pretend shoe store in our living room

~Played "pharoah/slaves"......yes, we did. We dug a mud pit and made mud bricks and pretended we were all slaves under the evil rule of pharoah (a.k.a. our Dad.)

~Tried to make our mom a special breakfast in bed and accidentally sprinkled chilli powder on her toast instead of cinnamon/sugar

~Re-inacted the movie "The Grinch" and raided the kitchen cabinets of all food on a very early Sunday morning, much to the chagrain of our parents.

~Spilled wood stain (alot of it) on our brand new tile floor only days after we'd moved in

~Devised a plan to cut electricity bills and family expenses so our family could adopt a little girl (which still hasn't happened)

4. Have you ever held an alligator?

Held an alligator? Are you kidding???



5. Have you ever let a snake slither through your fingers?

No comment.



6. What is your first and foremost dream in life?

I have a lot of dreams...but my TOP one is definitely knowing and doing God's will; having a close relationship with Him, serving Him with my life, etc.




7. What is your dream vacation?

Going to China.....ahh...what bliss!!



Oh, wait a minute - we're going there anyway.


8. What is the funniest movie you have ever seen?

Funniest movie would have to be Huck Finn (our version, anyway.) Besides those, we love the Andy Griffith Show!! (And yes, I have to admit - all four of us kids were pretty near hysterics the other day when we reviewed our "Winnie The Pooh" movie the other day....for the first time in proably 5 years!!)



9. What is your favorite song?

Favorite? I go through "phases" on this one. Right now I'm currently enjoying the songs that are on my blog, "On Faith Alone" and "Blue Skies".


10. If you could change the world in one way, what would you do?

Make everyone a Christian!!

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Awarded!!

I am honored!!

Haley over at Haley's Happenings gave me this award!!

It also "comes" with a tag, but since I just did one, I'll save it for later.

*Thanks, Haley!!*

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I Tag.....

Lindsay
Joanna
Jen
Courtney

....and anyone else who hasn't done this tag yet!! This particular tag has been circulating alot lately, so I was trying to think of girls who haven't done it yet. The three above where all I could think of - if you want to do it and I didn't tag you, go ahead!!

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