burrrr-acious! my word for SUPER cold!

Welcome to North Dakota!! It is so cold today!  I am a true North Dakotan... meaning I LOVE THE COLD AND WINTER!  But this is even a little too cold for me.  This is the second day of this weather and I am kind of getting ready for it to move on.  Now, I feel I should explain, because two days of this wouldn't usually be so bad, except that all of last week was well below zero too!  

Now -14* is not all that cold, but when you add in the pesky wind that happens to ALWAYS blow in North Dakota and the windchill (or RealFeel as they like to call it now) makes it feel like -49*, that makes it a little unbearable! 

So for dinner, I am thinking something warm and hearty is on the menu.  While I am not quite sure what to make tonight, I just wanted to share this recipe I made on Monday.  I wish I could make it again, because it would be perfect for warming us up tonight!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup milk
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
3 cups uncooked macaroni
chicken bouillon
pepper
3/4 cup Ritz cracker crumbs

Directions:

In a large skillet over med-high heat, saute onions in butter until onions are tender. 

(I'm not a big onion fan, but this really did make the dish WONDERFUL! So trust me, even if you don't usually like onions, don't omit this step!)

Add in soup and 1 ½ cups cheese; gradually stir in milk.Cook over medium heat until cheese melts; stir in chicken; taste and adjust seasoning with bouillon and pepper.

While everything is melting together, cook the noodles in a separate pot.  Cook until just about done, as they will soak up some juice as they cook in the oven. 

When noodles are done, place them into a 3 quart baking dish. Transfer mixture to the dish and mix it all together.

Sprinkle on the Ritz cracker crumbs. 

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Top with remaining ½ cup cheese and bake 5 minutes.

I got the recipe idea from the site below.  I added a few changes to make it my own!  

ENJOY! :)

http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-macaroni-casserole-351655

organizing my art supplies

I have a HUGE art class this year.  I have never had one so large.  And I finding out that the hardest and most time consuming thing we do all class period is hand out and clean up supplies.  

I was on pinterest the other day and saw an idea for organizing supplies like sharpies, pens, pencils, etc. and I immediately thought of my art class supplies.  

It is very simple and only took about 30 minutes to complete the whole project from start to finish, and it needs very little supplies.  In fact, I had everything I needed right in my classroom! :)

I started with a box I had laying around and got all my empty paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes out.  I cut the paper towel tubes in fourths and some toilet paper tubes I left whole, and some I cut in half.

I then put a piece of packing tape on the bottom.  This would not have to be done if you aren't planning on ever taking the supplies out.  But I am going to use them to pass out the supplies to my class, so I needed to have something on the bottoms.

Then I put them in the box, filled them with the supplies, and made a sign for the front. 

If I wasn't going to be using this for such a messy supply like chalk, I probably would have covered the inside and all of the outside with paper and made it really pretty!  But for right now, just covering the front looks good for where I have it sitting on my shelf of art supplies! 

It is VERY primitive, and not nearly not as cute as I would have liked, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! :)

Easy as pie!  I hope this will help organize my art class better as well as give us more time to create and less time passing out supplies.  

Let me know what you do to keep art supplies organized in your life.

Be Blessed!

Cassandra 

welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog! Like the title implies, I will be posting a little of this and a little of that. Anything from recipes to crafts to household tips and tricks to ideas for kids to thoughts and ideas from the Bible... pretty much anything that brings me joy, makes me happy, and makes my life easier. 

A little bit about me...

I am married to my wonderful husband Caleb. We were married in June, and it has been a fun adventure so far!

I love Jesus! He is my all, my everything, my rock, and my strength. I can't imagine what my life would be with out his love, guidance, and protection.

I run the children's ministries department at my church. I have been doing this for 5 years, and I LOVE IT!

I teach middle school. This is my third year teaching. I never imagined I would teach middle school, but God is showing me His plans are bigger than my plans. 

I love to scrapbook, but never seem to find the time to do it. There always seems to be some other new fun project to tackle.

I am trying to become a better sewer. My husband got me a sewing machine for Christmas, and I'm trying to put it to good use!

I have also started to crochet. Still trying to get the hang of it, but it's something nice to do while watching movies.

I am kind of obsessed with wreaths! I LOVE THEM! I would make so many of them... if I only had a place to display them all!

I love penguins, cold weather, and skiing.

I LOVE TO GARDEN!! I always end up running out of space and have way too many flowers and plants!

If I ever have spare time, I am on pinterest. Check out my boards and follow me! http://pinterest.com/cassandraheber/

I love to cook new food for my husband! And he always likes to try new foods! So it is a win win for both of us!

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!