St. Patrick's Day Menu Ideas

Even though I don't do much to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I make the same Irish themed dinner every year. I make a yummy Reuben sandwich, I got this recipe on simplifysupper.com, I am also posting pictures, I feel like it is easy to explain the "wrapping" of the sandwich in pictures.

Reuben Sandwich:

1 Loaf frozen bread dough, thawed. (We like to use our pizza dough recipe.)

1/2 cup Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 pound sliced corned beef (Sometimes we use pastrami or half and half is good too.)

8 slices Swiss cheese (Honestly, I only ever use 4, cuts down on the calories.)

1/2 cup sauerkraut

Thaw frozen bread dough per package instructions. Roll out dough until it is 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Place on top of a cookie sheet. (I ALWAYS use parchment paper, you will see why later.)

Spread the Thousand Island dressing down the center making a strip about 3 inches wide. (Then cut tiny slits on both sides of the dough.)
Add corned beef, cheese, and sauerkraut. (As you can see we cut the Swiss in half and place it on. We also only do sauerkraut on half the sandwich, because not everyone likes it.)
Fold up the sides of the dough and press to seal. (This is the main reason I included the pictures, I think that description could be confusing if you didn't know to cut the slits in the sides.)
Bake according to dough package instructions, generally325 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Slice and serve hot. (This picture explains why I use the parchment paper, sometimes, most times, the dressing seeps out a bit, the paper makes clean up easier.)
I am super excited to eat these Thursday, they are so yummy! I also serve potato chips (the Irish love their potatoes), peas (cause they are green), and this year I am adding rainbow jello. I usually serve sorbet fizzes as a drink/dessert, they are just 7UP with lime sorbet.

Do you have any St. Patrick's Day traditions? What do you serve for dinner that day?

Finding Gold at the End of The Rainbow: Weekend Website

I know I have shared this website before, but Marie from Make and Takes, has too many fun ideas not to share. I LOVE this cute, easy, inexpensive craft, it is the perfect centerpiece for a St. Patrick's Day dinner. You can also make mini pots of gold for favors if you are throwing an Irish themed party. I have already made a big one and it is sitting on a shelf as part of what little St. Patrick's Day decor I have. This would also be a fun activity for kids on St. Patrick's Day, have little leprechaun footprints lead them to their very own pot of gold. Find the full tutorial HERE. Have a great weekend!

March Madness!!

I love March for a lot of reasons. It is the light at the end of the winter tunnel and we get some warm days thrown in with the crazy Spring weather. One of my favorite things about March though is March Madness and NCAA basketball. I grew up in a household where sports was on 24/7. My Dad and 3 brothers all are HUGE sports fans, they have played and watch lots of different sports. I have one brother that works part time for ESPN and another brother that was a sports and UFC anchor for years. I don't regularly watch college basketball, but the NCAA tournament games are so exciting and fun to watch and it has been a tradition in our family for years to fill out brackets. It started with my brother Ryan, the sports anchor, he INSISTED that EVERYONE fill out a bracket, including his children. As soon as they were old enough (about 2) to participate, he would show them a picture of the teams logo and have them pick which one they wanted to win. Ryan was killed in a car accident on May 31, 2006, but every March I can't help but think of him and his tradition, and we have carried it on ever since. My son isn't old enough this year, but next year he will definitely be choosing a bracket. My nieces and nephews are older now and really get into it. They have such a fun time picking teams and seeing how many of their teams are winning. Most of the brackets are done online now, but I have found a simple way to include the younger kids in the bracket fun.

I print out the teams logo, use a little bit of double stick tape, and attach it to a Popsicle stick. I show 2 Popsicle sticks and have them choose which one they want to win.

We usually post the brackets and highlight the winning teams for them to see. I don't know what it is about logos on Popsicle sticks that is so fun to play with afterward, but they always love them!

I use the pictures below, it has most of the teams. It may seem cheesy, but it is a really fun tradition in our family.

It all starts next week, and we always have nights to sit and cheer on our beloved Utes. I usually make a fun snack, I thought I would share a quick recipe for some yummy popcorn.

Cheesy Barbecue Popcorn

2 TBSP melted butter

1/2 TSP chili powder

1/2 TSP garlic salt

1/4 TSP onion powder

8 cups popped corn

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Combine butter and seasonings; mix in popcorn until well coated. Sprinkle with cheese, stir well. Serve immediately or store in airtight container.

Do you celebrate March Madness at your house?

One Dollar Wednesday... St. Patty's Pennant Banner

I am sorry for the late post today. I have been SPRING CLEANING my home, and have had kids with the flu. Sometimes it's hard to stop cleaning, especially when I'm excited about it, and start crafting. I don't have a craft room, but just do my crafting in a corner of the kitchen. So all my cabinets are being emptied, and purged, and now I'm crafting in the cleaning mess. Yay!

I knew with these funny window clings, from the Dollar Tree, and some cheap-o fabric from Wally World, I could come up with something fun!



I just followed the same pattern that I used for my Valentine Pennant Banner here and added a couple little shamrock window clings. I sewed EVERYTHING together...





and hung it atop the mirror in my living room. It's so nice when you can copy a craft that you've made before, isn't it?

Kiss Me I'm Irish...

I.LOVE.TARGET. I could spend hours browsing the aisles if I had unlimited time and money. What is it about that store that is so amazing? I think my favorite part of that store definitely has to be the dollar spot. They always have such fun stuff for only a buck! When I saw these I HAD to get them for my lil' leprechaun. Aren't they adorable?? I needed something to go with them, so I decided to make a fun onesie. Let me just make one thing clear, I DON'T SEW. I am horrible at it and I had a really bad experience in my Junior High Home Economics class. I can do a *tiny* bit of embroidery, but I really am not good at that either. ANYWAY, an easy St. Patrick's Day onesie, was on my to do.

I got a piece of black scrap fabric from my Mother-in-law for my pot o' gold. I am not artistic at all, so I had my very artistic husband draw me a pattern. I cut it out on the fabric and the wonder under iron on pellon (I had some left over from a previous project.)

I found these fun gold buttons at Michael's. I have a love/hate relationship with glitter. It was the perfect thing for gold coins, but it gets everywhere!
I ironed on my pot o' gold and attached the buttons. I also added a shamrock with some green buttons I had on hand. I really like how it turned out!
I think it compliments the socks perfectly!

My lil' leprechaun will be getting lots of kisses on St. Patrick's Day wearing this outfit. If only I had some green pants, oh well jeans will do!

St. Patrick's Day Party Ideas: Weekend Website

I have always loved holidays, but when it comes to really celebrating St. Patrick's Day, I have never had a party. I do have a fun St. Patrick's Day dinner menu every year, but that is about the extent of what my celebration has been for this holiday. I think once you have kids every holiday becomes a lot more fun! I saw this fabulous party over at tsj photography, can you believe these ladies threw this together in 2 days!? This is obviously an adult theme, but as they point out it would be very easy to transform it into a kid theme as well. I have a fun, hopefully easy, St. Patrick's Day project I want to get done this weekend. Cross your fingers I will get it done so I can show you on Monday. Happy Weekend!!

Friday Freebie(s)

I have guilt...immense guilt, because I told you all to be sure to visit my blog on Fridays to see all the fun projects that I am completing. I have had a CRAZY week, and have started numerous projects, though none have been completed. Thus, I have deemed this the Friday Freebie that I hook you up with the FREEBIES I have found while scouring the web. They're good ones!


1. Chick-fil-a is offering FREE waffle fries today from 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. at participating restaurants. To get your FREE medium size waffle fries, all you have to do is ask about their new HEINZ DIP & SQUEEZE/FREE FRY promotion. Sounds pretty easy!


2. Chipotle is offering "buy one get one free" of their truly AMAZING burritos. All you have to do is watch a 90 second video on their Facebook page Click the CHIPOTLE link above, then hit the "Get Offers" tab and watch the video. If you haven't experienced Chipotle, you are missing out! It is SOOO GOOD.


3. Kindle is currently offering FREE games for download


4. Pizza Hut~ This last FREEBIE requires a small purchase, hence it's placement at the bottom of this post. Get free breadsticks (worth $3.99) from Pizza Hut when you do two simple things: "Like" the Pizza Hut Facebook page, and place a food order through its website. The freebie is to celebrate Pizza Hut accumulating more than 3 million Facebook fans. The deal ends March 6, 2011. Order online for pick up or delivery to get the free breadsticks. A number of Facebook fans are commenting that the free breadsticks did not show up in their order, but when I tested it the free breadsticks were there. When you click through to start your order, the free breadsticks should already be in your cart. Make sure not to delete them or you'll have to start over from Facebook.

Hope you enjoy some of these FREEBIES!