Gotta Love My Boys

So I was enjoying a wonderful evening with the ladies of our Sunday School class in celebrating the third pregnancy of dear, sweet Kristi Gay at Sommer's Place on the East side of Montgomery (remember this tidbit of info as it will be an important detail in the story later), when I was told that my cell phone was ringing. I had not heard it since we were in a busy restaurant. So I pull it out of my purse and see that I have four missed calls and several text messages. As I'm looking at it, the phone begins to ring again. It's a number I don't know, but I answer it anyway. It's a very frantic Scott. "Jamie, where have you been!!!???? Davis has locked me out of the house and I don't have a spare key!!!!!!!!!" Well, first of all Mr. Ramsey, you know where I am. And second of all, I'm in Montgomery! A speedy exit from the restaurant is possible, but I'm kind of far from home over here. On a good traffic day it's a 30 minute drive to our new home in Prattville. I tell him to hold tight and that I am leaving now. We throw my food in a to go box and I dart out of the restaurant. I hurry home, breaking several traffic laws on the way. I pull up to my frazzled husband in only his boxers (white with little green shamrocks on them; a gift from Ireland from his Mom) and an undershirt waiting by the back door. Davis is crying but I was happy to find out he had not been crying for the entire hour that he was locked in alone with only Sam and Libby (dog and cat respectively). The story goes that Scott went outside to tend to the cats who had ants in their food, when Davis locked the deadbolt behind him. Scott ran to the neighbors house (in boxers!!) to call me for help. I guess we've learned a lesson here - we need to hide a spare key! Thankfully everyone was okay, I just missed out on an enjoyable evening with my lady friends. There is never a dull moment with my two boys. If it's not one thing, it's another. And I love every second of it.

Potpourri Part One

Potpourri: a collection or combination of miscellaneous, unrelated elements or objects.

Missed me? Missed you too. Just been bumming at the beach with the fam for the past week. So this post will be a potpourri of sorts including, but not limited to, recipes, playing in the rain, witnessing the formation of a rainbow, big boy undies and the beach trip in review.

First of all, I must give you a bit of background on the Davis beach trip. In a word: FOOD. It's all about the food. We plan our meals in advance and we all bring tons of our favorite snacks. I decided to bring buffalo chicken dip, ground beef casserole, lemonade pie and rice krispy treats. I also thought it would be fun to share the recipes with y'all. I am not going to share the rice krispy treats recipe though. If you have not made them, shame on you.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 10oz cans chicken, drained
3/4 cup buffalo chicken sauce

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup ranch dressing

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat the chicken and buffalo sauce in sauce pan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and ranch. Cook, stirring until well blended and heated through. Mix in half of the cheese. Pour into baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and bake at 350 until heated through and cheese is bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips or Chicken and a Biscuit crackers. Yum yum.

Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole

1 pound hamburger meat
1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained

1 can rotel
1 6oz can tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

3 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 8oz container sour cream

1 3oz package cream cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Brown meat and drain. Mix in both cans tomatoes and next four ingredients. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes. Cook egg noodles according to package; drain. Stir together hot cooked noodles, sour cream and cream cheese until blended. Spoon egg noodle mixture into a lightly greased 9x13. Top with beef mixture; sprinkle with cheeses in the order listed. Bake, covered, at 350 for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes.

*Cook's Notes (that'd be me): Got this recipe out the AMAHZING Southern Living cookbook "comfort food." I recommend that everyone gets this cookbook!! I've made tons of stuff out of it and have not been disappointed yet! This freezes very well. I also doubled the recipe for the beach and it made a ton. That's why the photo has two of everything. I also use mild rotel so the kids can eat it. And, um, I've also been known to throw in a little extra cream cheese. It can't hurt it, right??

Lemonade Pie
*Got this recipe out of the hot off the presses August Southern Living, aka the proper Southern lady's must-have mag.

1 12oz can evaporated milk

2 3.4 oz packages lemon instant pudding mix

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 8oz packages cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 12oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

Whisk together evaporated milk and next two ingredients in a bowl 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Beat cream cheese and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add lemonade, beating until smooth; add milk mixture and beat until blended. Pour into crust. Cover and chill 8 hours. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

*Cook's Notes (me again): if you choose to use sugar free instant pudding, the package will only say 1oz. This is correct - don't buy 7 packages trying to equal two 3.4oz packages like some idiot I know. Also, next time I make this I am going to get a bigger pie crust as all of the mixture barely fit into the 9 inch crust. And I will make this again - easy and delish. I know, mine's not as pretty as the one on the cover of the mag, but mine was meant to be eaten, not photographed.

To be continued...