REASONS I SMILE

Chicken Tetrazzini

What You Need:
2 breasts chicken, cooked and shredded
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz Vermicelli pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 stick butter
Parmesan cheese

What You Do:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except Parmesan cheese.
Pour into baking dish.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes

Shepherd's Pie

What You Need:
2 lbs beef (80/20)
1 sweet onion, finely diced
2 beef bullion cubes
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp kitchen bouquet
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 large can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 cup frozen peas and carrots

For potatoes:
8 medium yukon gold potatoes (peeled and quartered)
1 cup heavy cream
4 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper

What You Do:
Cook onion and beef in skillet until onions are translucent and beef is no longer pink. Drain grease!
Add all other ingredients (except those listed for potatoes)
Stir together well, put lid on and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Make potatoes - I prefer to use the instant pot (following this recipe).
If using Instant pot, put 1 cup of water on the bottom, lay potatoes on wire rack. Season with salt. Put lid on, close seal and turn on to pressure cook for 10 minutes. When it's done, vent the IP, then drain the water. Mash potatoes, add cream, butter, salt and pepper and stir together.

If not using instant pot cook the potatoes in salted water until soft, then strain and mash, adding cream and butter.

In a greased 9x13 dish put the beef mixture on the bottom. Top with the mashed potatoes.

Bake in oven at 365 for 40 minutes.
(Can freeze this to cook later, just thaw it in the fridge before putting in the oven.)

Dog Pics

While the dogs stayed at Chad's this summer, his friends came over and one of them had an iPhone 7 with portrait mode and took some great pictures of the dogs.

6 Pack NYE 2018

For New Year's Eve this year we went to Roanoke to Mariah's house (like we did for Friendsgiving). Since Brenna and Loyd couldn't make it we had to call it 6 Pack NYE instead of a BFF weekend.

Saturday night we went to Ballast Point Brewery.

We started superfeast with breakfast cooked by Trey - bbq eggs benedict

Sunday afternoon we went to Valhalla Vineyard... in our matching sweatsuits. We were discussing what to pack for the weekend, debating dressing up for New Year's Eve. And then we joked that instead we should wear pajamas... that turned into last minute buying matching sweatsuits at Walmart. And making logos for them on the silhouette.