Looking for a good recipe?

Here are some wonderful recipes from my Ward Relief Society Dinner. They are great and I will be making these recipes for my family as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I know my family will.

ROLLS:

Ingredients

18 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
fresh parsley or rosemary, if desired

Instructions

In the morning take the rolls out of the freezer. Spray cooking spray on a dinner plate. Place the frozen rolls on the sprayed plate. Spray the top of the frozen rolls with cooking spray. Place plastic wrap on top of the rolls and put the plate in the refrigerator. The rolls will be thawed, but still cold, by the afternoon.

In the late afternoon:

In a small bowl combine butter, garlic powder, garlic salt and dried parsley. In another bowl, place parmesan cheese. Dip each roll in the butter mixture and then the cheese. Place the rolls on a large sprayed baking sheet or pizza pan to form a long rectangle (9 rolls x 2 rolls). Sprinkle any remaining cheese over the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until they double (about an hour).

Remove plastic wrap. Bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

To see the recipe we referenced to make these, here's the link:

http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/1932

SALAD:

Olive Garden Salad Mix

1 bag American Blend Dole Salad (romaine, iceberg, radish, purple cabbage, carrots)

4-5 slices red onions

4-6 black olives

2-4 banana peppers

1/2 cup croutons

1 roma tomato sliced

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

4 Tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. garlic salt-or one clove garlic minced

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar (adjust more or less depending on how tart you prefer your dressing)

Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed.

U of U game at TCU

We went to Forth Worth a couple of weekends ago so Ryan and Johnathan could go to the U of U and TCU football game. It wasn't a great game but the boys still had a fun time. I decide to take Luke and Lauren to the mall to help pass some time.

We all went to the children's musuem. Behind this big t-rex is the biggest sandbox I have ever see with huge shoves. The kids would have played there all day if we had let them.

Luke was so funny because this was one of the first rooms that he walked into and he wasn't expecting large animals. At first he was excited and the closer he got he decided that the bears started to look too real.

They have a whole farm area that the kids can plant and pick vegetables and this is Lauren milking a cow (water is coming out of the utters). She thought it was pretty cool. I wanted to see how long it was take her to fill up the bucket.

The Cotton Bowl was right next to the children's museum. The boys had to get a picture. Fun weekend with lots of driving. I wish TX wasn't so big. The cotton fields are so beautiful this time of year it was fun to see all the harvesting going on.

Football Party

I kept the cake a surprise until the party. Which is a hard task to do. He was so excited when I showed him his cake. If you can't tell what it is.... It is a football field. I did chocolate cake for dirt and green frosting then put coconut that I made green so it looked like grass. The field goals I made out of straws. It has two trophies and a football on it.

I bought all the boys a football and had them write their own autograph on it. They also put their favorite team and logos on the ball. We also brought a football target they got to see if they could make a shot.

After we went and played glow golf. We had 10 kids that we decided that it would be too hard to keep score so Ryan said who ever got a hole in one gets a special surprise. Can you believe almost everyone got a hole in one? I think it was ridged. Some even got more than that. It is a good thing I had enough trophies for everyone could take one home. If you can't tell what this is in the bag it has a trophy, Hershey's kisses and green plastic grass.

The best part on my day was when Johnathan wrapped his arms around me and told me it was the best birthday party ever. It makes all the hard work worth every minute. I never thought planning a boy's football party would be this much fun. Happy Birthday Johnathan I can't believe you are 7. I am so proud to be your Mom.

Trick or Treat

Here are my funny little kids. My husband was taking pictures but didn't realize the Lauren doesn't have her witch hat on.

Lauren with her witch hat. A couple of weeks ago I was getting her costume ready and she said that she needed a broom with her costume. I found a real broom at Hobby Lobby. She was very disappointed and said that she didn't want a "decoration" broom she only wanted a "kid" broom she could play with. I understood where she was coming from and found a kid broom at a party store. Note - she never even took it trick or treating.

Johnathan is Captain Jack Sparrow. He picked out his costume and was very particular about what he would be. He liked the fact that he got to wear a beard and long breaded hair. His hair kept getting in is face so he would swing his head around to get it away. It gave him a good pirate sway.

Luke is Bob the Builder. He loves watching Bob the Builder and loves tools. I thought that would be a good fit. The trick with him is to let him wear something he likes otherwise the costume won't last. Luke is doing our families famous "Gun's Up" move. We learned this when we came to Texas. They do at Texas Tech. Point your fingers in air like guns.

Our Mr. and Mrs. Potato head pumpkins. Lauren's is a princess, Luke's is a skeleton and Johnathan is not in the picture but it is a pirate. Very fun, easy and a lot less mess then carving pumpkins.

What a fun day way too much candy and sweets. My stomach hurts just thinking about all the junk I have eatin over the past couple of days. Can't wait to make it back to the gym.

Before and After

I love the sponge curlers for Lauren's hair. Her hair if finally long enough so I can fit her hair in them. She sleeps on them over night and beautiful hair in the morning in only minutes. I do realize this is an old trick but it is new for me.

She wanted me to take a picture of the front and the back so you could see how gorgeous she is. It is so fun to play dress up.

Menu Board Insturctions

In response to the menu board instructions. First, I use a erasable marker to write the days of the month and the menu. I use it just like a calender. It helps me plan the up coming weeks menu and it keeps track of the meals that have all ready made that month.

*You could use it as a family calender and not put the words menu on it.

1. 12 x 12 piece of thin wood

2. 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper

3. 8 x 11 piece of paper, print a calender on it and laminate it

4. embellishments

5. craft paint that matches your paper.

Paint the sides and back of the board. Modpodge the 12x12 piece of paper. Modpodge on top of the scrapbook paper and the edges of the wood to help seal it. Glue the calender on with craft glue. Embellishments I put on with hot glue. I bought a stand to put mine on but you could use a wall hook to hang it on the wall. Hopefully I have answered all of your questions.

Menu Board

This is my latest craft project.

It is a menu board with the days of the week.

Grandparent's Visit

When Grandpa and Grandma Whitby visited we celebrated Ryan, Chelsea and Johnathan's birthday. Johnathan loved the Indiana Jones lego set.

This is Ryan's brother's little baby Oliver. Isn't he cute. He has little braces on his legs to help his hip grow properly. He is so fun to snuggle.

Lauren got a witch Polly Pocket.

Grandpa Whitby resting. There isn't much resting going on at our house.

Lauren's soccer game. It was so cold and rainy but we got a cute picture under the tree trying to keep dry. Thanks for coming and building memories with our family. We love to have Grandpa and Grandma Whitby visit anytime.

Soccer Time

First Day of practice. Before practice she is telling me that no girls play soccer. Only boys play soccer. On Saturday we ran into her new best friend from preschool and she was playing soccer too. I was glad that she could see that girls can play soccer. Ryan had to buy her pink soccer shoes because we couldn't guarantee that she would have pink uniforms.

First soccer game. Lauren did better than expected the first quarter even scoring 2 goals. She started slowing down the other two quarters. She was begging me to let her come and sit by me. I told her that if she came off the field she couldn't have a treat. Funny how she was able to finish the game no problem, just a little tired.

Johnathan was very excited about his new uniform. They look very professional this year. He couldn't wait to wear it. Johnathan and his friends Taylor and Jon. I think the score was 15 - 2 for the Twisters.

First Day of School

Lauren's first day of Preschool. Her teacher is Ms. Atwood. She was a little nervous at the first but then had a good day. I was a little sad to have my two kids gone but I got over it after I realized that 2:30 comes very quickly.

Johnathan's is in first grade this year. His teacher is Ms. Cozart. He is very excited this year because his three friends are in the same class. The poor teacher doesn't know what she is in for. He wouldn't let me walk him in to his class the first day of school. He thinks he is too big.

Bear Lake

This is my last post from our Utah trip. We loved visiting with everyone and had a great time. Thanks for the fun memories.

Ryan's family has been going to Bear Lake for the past 25 years. His grandparents are so nice to take the entire family every year. We always have a wonder time. There are lots of the things to do. The toughest decision is what you are going to do next.

Luke was so nervious on the jet ski. We went really slow but he didn't know what to think of everything.

Lauren thought she wanted a boat ride but she didn't. I let her go on the boat and couple minutes later she was back. She was most excited to play in the sand.

There is a mini golf course on the resort. Johnathan was in heaven.

Johnathan's cheeks are so red because he stayed on the boat all day. He didn't want to get off.

The Farm House

This is my dad's family farm house that I have been visiting since I was a little girl. This was the first year without Grandma who passed away last fall. We missed having her there. I am sure she is very proud we are still getting together.

Badminton Anyone?

Badminton net was set up in my in-laws backyard. Boys against the girls, it became very intense and the boys came back from behind. Johnathan always gets pretty competitive. I wonder where he gets that from?

All the cousin babies that are Luke's age.

While all this commotion was going down Lauren was in the sandbox making a terrific sand tower.

Van Dyke Cousin Fun

Summer fun with the Van Dyke cousins. Lauren hair looks really spikey in this picture. I am not sure why other than the fact that she likes to run around with her crazy boy cousins. Everyone loves playing with the swords.

Luke was obsessed over this pretend lawn trimmer it lights up and makes noise when you pushed the button. It was hilarious watching him for hours playing with this thing.

The TV was on ground which made it very easy for Luke to pretend to play video games. He was in heaven. Lexee is such a great baby sister.

Every year we take this picture with the kids in the hammock. This year wasn't a great picture but we will always have fond memories of playing it and trying to get as many kids in as possible.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Van Dyke for the fun time at your house. We always know that we will have a good time.