Spring Break Update-Finally!

Friends, This has been an absolutely CRAZY week!  I have been going non-stop since this weekend!!

Spring Break was great! The first part (Friday night-Tuesday night) was spent out west. We got back late Tuesday night and Wednesday-Friday was spent relaxing and cleaning up the house. Friday was my Hubby's 26th Birthday. We celebrated with Joey's Pizza for lunch (I surprised him :) and with Genghis grill (Mongolian BBQ) for dinner! We hung out with our friends TJ and Heather the rest of the night and I made an awesome peanut butter pie for Derek. I will be featuring this on my Friday's Four New Recipes hopefully tomorrow soon. Friend Heather and I ran 10 miles on Saturday and it felt really good! We made it before the rain came! I had a beauti control spa party at my house on Saturday evening. It was so nice afterward a long run! From then on I have been bust until today. Sunday-church, bible study. Monday-back to school, church league softball started/I ran 3 miles. Tuesday- school, Kenzi's Arbonne party. Wednesday- School, Derek's bowling league. Thursday- School......cook dinner and enjoy a movie and The Big Bang Theory's new episode, which was hilarious!

Here is our Spring Break recap and a smilebox slide show I put together tonight!


We flew march 18th from Nashville to la then to Vegas. Didn't get to Vegas until 11:30 and then drove to the Bellagio parked, walked around some and then went to go check into our hotel circus circus. Very different atmosphere. Couldn't believe the amount of kids in Vegas at such a late hour. We got something to eat at the deli in the hotel while Kenzi and Derek waited in a huge line to check in around 1:30 am. We didn't get to sleep until 2:30 pacific time. The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast with tom and sandy at the hotel. We checked out and went to the Venetian hotel where we got to go to the shops along the canal. The gondola rides looked so cool. We drove to see the Bellagio fountain show and it was so cool. Too short though. We left there and headed to the Hoover dam. It was really neat to see. We left there and stopped for dinner in Kingman, AZ at a cute route 66 diner. The cheeseburger, sweet potato fries and the root beer float were amazing! We stayed in Williams and then Sunday morning we got up and drove to the grand canyon. It was cold and cloudy but so breathtaking! What an awesome creation of God! The mountains out here are unreal! The whole landscape is something I've never experienced before and it is so cool. We are driving toward Phoenix now and the snow capped mountains are really beautiful! We stopped in Sedona to get out and stretch out legs (aka shop). The red rock formations are so amazing! Monday afternoon was cold: 50 and raining. We are sat in the in-n-out burger parking lot because the key fob stopped working and we  waited for the enterprise guy to come with a new car. We are suppose to be at an Indians spring training game at 1 and it was 12:49. On our way here, the cactus along the sides of the roads were crazy.  The Indians game was canceled because of rain on Monday. We came back to the hotel and rested. We went to dinner at the arrogant butcher in downtown phoenix with one of Mackenzie's authors, Austin Gutwein, he is 16 and wrote "Take Your Best Shot" he is so nice and generous for a 16 year old. Tuesday we got up and packed, went to mi mi's for brunch with Derek's first cousin Stacy and her kids and husband. Then we went to the reds spring training game for a little bit until we had to leave. Wish we would've checked our flights because we were suppose to leave at 4:55 and it's delayed until 6:15. We got back really late but it was a really fun trip. Wish the weather would've been nicer but such is life. Enjoy the slide show!

This picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Happy 26th Birthday, Husband!

Last year I posted all kinds of cute pictures of my hubby through the years and today I'm going to post some of my favorite pictures from this past year! So here's to you, Derek. I love you with all my heart and I'm so blessed to be able to share another birthday with you!

My B-day July 2010

Our 1st Anniversary-July 2010

Charleston, SC family vacation-July 2010

Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, TN Fall 2010

Michelle and Jeremy's Wedding Fall 2010

Skiing December 2010

Spring Break-March 2011

I need to learn to take more pictures!! Happy Friday as well!

Recipe Friday is back in action!

Scalloped Potatoes

2lb. frozen southern style hash browns. (cube ones)
1 stick butter melted and mix in hash browns
1/2 c. chopped onions
2 c. cheddar cheese
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt and pepper
mix well
2 c. crushed cornflake crumbs and 1/2 c. melted butter. Mix
Pour over potatoes.
Cook 350 degrees for 55 min or Crock pot High for 4 hours!

Baked Chicken Casserole

8 Chicken Breasts-boneless (I used only 4 because it was just for Derek and I)
8 slices of Swiss Cheese (I only used 4 again)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. white cooking wine (but you can use water-I used water)
2 c. crushed herb bread crumbs
1/4 c. butter melted.

Place chicken breasts in single layer in 9x13 baking dish. Place 1 piece of cheese on each chicken breast. Mix soup and wine/water and pour over chicken. Sprinkle bread crumbs over chicken and then drizzle butter over the chicken mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.


Old-World Manicotti

12 large Manicotti shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups ricotta cheese
6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 2 tablespoons dried basil
1 (26-ounce) jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13in. baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cool water. Let pasta dry on paper towels.

3. For filling, in medium bowl, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with the ricotta and fresh basil. Using a teaspoon, carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese mixture.

4. Spoon 2 cups spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

5. Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan; bake for 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

Nancy's Vegetable Beef Soup

Makes 6-8 servings

2 lb. roast cut into bite-sized pieces or 2 lbs. stewing meat
15 oz. can corn
15 oz. can green beans
1 lb. frozen peas
40 oz. can stewed tomatoes
5 beef bouillon cubes
2 tsp. salt

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Do not drain vegetables.
2. Add water to fill slow cooker to within 3 inches of top.
3. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours, or until meat is tender and vegetables are soft.

Cooking with Heather and Tiffany

I am so excited to start this segment! Heather and I are best friends, running buddies, bakers, and chefs :) We have so much fun together and it helps that our husbands are best friends as well!

Here are some recipes/pictures to go along with the recipes.

Ingredients:

Servings:
12 12

12

Servings Size

• 
  

• 1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour

FILLING

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup margarine, softened

ICING

• 8 tablespoons margarine
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. 1 For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. 2 Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
3. 3 Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. 4 Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. 5 Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
6. 6 It should be approx 1/4 thick.
7. 7 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. 8 To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. 9 Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
10. 10 Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
11. 11 Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
12. 12 Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
13. 13 While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
14. 14 Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. 15 When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnabon-cinnamon-rolls-76864#ixzz1HX0VHek0

SOOOO yummy!!! yet so so so fattening! All in moderation,right?

So anxious!

Hey Friends!

Sorry for the delay on the recipes this week. I made some really good ones but I had to choose last night, blog about my recipes or pack for spring break vacation. I'm currently at school for the rest of our Professional Development but finished all my responisbilities, so I come to you quickly and brief!

Have a fab spring break to those teachers who are on Spring Break this week!

Adios! I'll be back Wednesday with a full update, followed by some special posts!

P.S. When I get to 50 followers or 100 posts, I will be hosting a giveaway or two!

Things to be excited about...

1. 5 days until Spring Break!!! We will be traveling a bit to:

And here:

And here:

(Phoenix, AZ for Spring Training)

2.  I am also so so so excited to start this series here and there:

3. I love Hubby's new toy:

The beloved Ipad 2! I'm in love with FaceTime because my brother has an iphone 4 and I can see him and my family in WV :) We still have the iphone 3GS.

4. I went to the place below for the first time on Saturday with a few of my girls! It was AMAZING!

Back to "watching" the PD course I have to finish by Friday and hopefully I will be finished with it TONIGHT!

A question for all my teacher blog friends (or other friends who have creative minds :):

How should I decorate my classroom next year? The first year, I did under the sea with fish and treasure chests, this year was a castle/fairytale theme. I really want something really cute. We aren't allowed to hang things from the ceiling because of fire code but I would love to come in over the summer and create something amazing if I thought of a great theme.

Night all :)

It's FRIDAY, It's FRIDAY!!!

My Friday's Four new recipes is postponed BECAUSE.........(wait for it, wait for it) My friend Heather and I (the one who inspired me to do new recipes and blog about them) are going to be cooking up a storm on Saturday. I wanted to document it and have little segments of "Cooking with Heather and Tiffany" to add to my Friday's Four New Recipes Series. We wanted to start a Recipe book club that would consist of:

Recipe Book Club

Once a month get together on a Saturday Night.

Rotate who has to bring something each month= Appetizer, main dish, side dish, dessert, and drink . 2 people per course (see above). Samples-enough for everyone. Enough copies of recipe for everyone. Everyone will get to eventually get to bring all courses.

Everyone brings their own recipe books to share (bring 1 or 2 and then bring different ones each time we meet) and their own blank recipe cards to write down the recipes they want from others' cook books.

Hopefully we'll get it up and running in the next couple months. Not many people showed interest yet but I bet because March and April are pretty busy months with Spring Break and Easter and such...

In other news...The Bachelor Finale is approaching which makes me miss my college days because we would have "Bachelor or Bachelorette parties" on the night of the finale. We made cute little snacks and drank sparking white grape juice :) 

We had so much fun and now I'm watching it while the hubby is on his computer say every 5 seconds "Why do you watch this smut...." Oh well! Atleast I get entertainment out of it. I'm so on team.....

Emily!!!

I hope she gets the final rose! Well it's Friday and I'm off to teach the cuties. They had their music performance last night and it was just darling! I'll post more on that later!

It's Wednesday so where's the Wedding part?

Hey Ya'll! I have finally completed the series of Wedding Wednesdays featuring myself and my Senior year roommates, Kelsey, Emily, and Katie. I would like to keep this series open so if you want to feature your wedding on my blog, email me at tiffanyclark87@gmail.com and I will be posting them sporadically. I really want to link up with The Pleated Poppy for What I wore Wednesday but I can't do that until I get a full length mirror in our house. I need to keep my eye out for one!

In exercising news, I'm really bummed because me and a few of my friends were suppose to do a 5k at Opryland last weekend. It was postponed because of storms. It was postponed to this Saturday, the 12th, but was re-postponed again to the 19th because of another race and that is my spring break and we'll be on vacation that weekend. GRR. Not very happy about that. Atleast it wasn't expensive...

In teacher news, this week seemed to drag but I have some of the cutest kids and some of them have just taken off on reading this week. I am seeing smiles on their faces because they just "get it" and are reading higher level books and it makes my heart swell because that is what being a teacher is all about! I love their hugs and "I love you's", they call me "Mom, Momma, Mommy" all the time by accident and say "Mom..oh I mean Mrs. Clark" but I love it! They recently have been saying "Oh come on..." when I want them to do something that they are thrilled about but it's so cute. I student taught in a 3rd grade classroom and thought that is definitely where I wanted to teach but these firsties have melted my heart. It's tough some days but when they smile because they are reading double or even triple the level they were reading at the beginning of the year or just have made their A.R. goal in reading, it makes it all worth while!

Four New Recipe's MONDAY!

Sharon's Chicken and Rice Casserole- Fix it and Forget it Cookbook

Makes 2 servings
10 3/4 oz. can of cream of celery soup
2 oz can sliced mushroom, undrained (I didn't use these because we aren't the biggest fans of mushrooms)
1/2 cup raw long grain rice
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp. dry onion soup mix.

1. Combine soup, mushrooms, and rice in a well greased slow cooker. Mix well.
2. Layer chicken breasts on top of mixture. Sprinkle with soup mix.
3. Cover. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (my hubby accidentally put it high but it was still edible)


Cinnamon Crunch Cobblestone Muffins- All the Best Cookbook from Pampered Chef
Prep time: 15 min. Bake time: 20-25 min.

1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
2 packages (11.3 ounces each) refrigerated dinner rolls
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop pecans. Combine pecans, sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl; mix well.
2. Separate rolls; cut each roll into six pieces using a pizza cutter. Place half of the dough pieces and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a bowl; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture; toss to coat. Divide dough pieces evenly among six muffin cups in muffin pan. Repeat with remaining dough, 2 tablespoons of the butter and 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture; divide evenly to fill remaining muffin cups.
3. Add flour to remaining sugar mixture in bowl; add remaining butter and mix until crumbly. Using a small spoon, place a scant scoop of crumb topping over each muffin.
4. Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are deep golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and serve warm.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Pioneer Women's Biscuits and Gravy- click here to see the recipe!

Homemade Kettle Corn using a whirly pop! Click here to see the recipe!

Hope you will enjoy these recipes as much as I have!

No Recipe Friday

So sorry friends. I dropped the ball this week. I only made one new recipe and it turned out OK but hubby accidently turned on the slow cooker to high instead of low. I'll post four new ones this coming Monday along with four new ones next Friday. I plan to make a lot of new things this weekend! So stay tuned for Crockpot Chicken and Rice, Cinnamon Crunch Muffins, Kettle Corn and Crockpot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal!

Have a wonderful FRIDAY! Wish me luck, I have my first 5k tomorrow  (piece of cake since I started out with half-marathons but it's still a race and I'd like to run most of it!). It's also suppose to storm pretty bad, so pray that the rain hold off for 45 minutes or so in Middle Tennessee!

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant..."

 "An Elephant's faithful, 100 per cent!"

Me as Horton and Amy as Daisy Head Maisey

Read Across American Day/ Dr. Seuss's Birthday was so much fun! This is what we did all week:

Monday: Crazy socks day- we read fox in socks and played some rhyming games. 

Tuesday: We went to the Adventure Science Center on a field trip. Much fun but CRAZY!

Wednesday: Dr. Seuss day. We did rotations all day for Read Across America Day. I read Horton Hatches an Egg and dressed up as Horton. I had a plastic Easter egg that was filled with Smarties. Whenever I said the word "Egg", they had to pass the egg carefully. When the last "egg" word was said, that person got to keep the egg. The kids from all classes really loved it! I used an awesome flip chart from prometheanplanet.com, and then had the students draw something really important to them on an egg and then write instructions on how to take care of it!

Amy read Daisy Head Maisey and had them make Daisy head crowns.
Lacey read The Foot Book and had them trace their foot and write different actions they can do with their feet. She made it into a classroom book for me to keep.
Rachel read Hooray for Diffendoofer Day. 
Christie read The ABC book.
Rosemary read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.
I can't remember what the other activities were but the kids sure did have fun that day!
Thursday: We dressed up in all blue or all red for Red Fish Blue Fish! We read some more Dr. Seuss books and did some Dr. Seuss writing.
Friday: PJ day. We are reading Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book and doing some fun Dr. Seuss activities.

Next week starts Research week in Reader's Workshop.

As for workouts this week, I did really good on my 4x400 on the treadmill Monday. I didn't do my strength training Tuesday. I got up earlier on Wednesday and did a legs and butt strength training on Your Shape Fitness Evolved and after school I ran 3 miles in the neighborhood where my school is. It has tons of hills and lots of my kids and former students were out and about so that slowed me down a bit but it was nice to see them and say hi! Today, I was suppose to do 4 miles but I got caught up at school later than I wanted to be and only had time for one mile outside before it got dark. Derek and I played kinect sports for an hour after dinner. We played soccer, track and field, bowling, boxing and beach volleyball. We didn't play table tennis because Derek was getting tired and it was the last game on the video game so at least we played as much as we did.

Very exciting weekend coming up! Have a wonderful FRIDAY!!