Calendar for Christmas

This year I decided to make a calendar for the parents and grandparents for Christmas. Who can resist a year full of pictures of 3 very adorable kids...=) I purchased my digital studio with this gift in mind, even though I know I will use it much more that just for this. I have gotten the calendar half done, and I want to share with you the pages I've completed. Here it goes.

This truly is very simple to do and so much fun! I think that they are just going to love it. Now I have 3 days to complete 6 more pages. Wish me luck...=)

See ya,

Anna

Chili

This is one of my favorite chili recipes because it is simple and delicious. This one was given to me by my good friend Kim. (thanks Kim) Most already have a chili recipe that they are married too. Love their recipe for what it is, but I urge you to give this a chance. It is so simple and as always delicious...=) So lets' get started. Shall we?

This is an open and dump kind of recipe. You really can't get much simpler

You will need 1lb. of ground beef (I use chuck), onion, packet of chili seasoning, chili beans, stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, salt & pepper, tiny squirt of mustard and ketchup ( missing from the picture, because I didn't feel like ruining it with messy looking condiment bottles)

Let's plow ahead.

Dice the onion.


Add diced onion, ground beef and packet of chili seasoning to a skillet and brown ( do not drain)

Once your skillet looks like this you're ready for the next step.


Open your cans of tomatoes and the beans. Add them to a pot.

Then add your browned beef mixture.

Add a good amount of chili powder. Use your judgement. Just remember you can always add more, but you can't take away. At this point I also add salt and pepper to taste and go ahead and squirt in your kethcup and mustard while your at it. This can be dangerous. You definitely want to add just a bit of mustard, maybe around an 1/8 tsp. and a dallop of ketchup, about 1 Tbsp. When in doubt add a little at a time and keep tasting.


Then stir it all together and let simmer until heated through. Serve with all the fixins'. Shredded cheese, sour cream, fritos ( or you can use seasoned crackers--recipe to come).

Or as usual you can be ambitious and turn this......

Into this.....


and have some delicous chili on hand for anytime...=)

See ya,

Anna

Chicken & Stuffing in Cheesy Wine Sauce

I love this recipe for many reasons:

1. It's delicious
2. It's super easy
3. It's economical
4. It's company worthy
5. It can be made ahead/frozen
6. Did I mention it's delicious?

Okay let's get started. This recipe calls for 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, but I often make it with four, I don't even adjust the ingredient amounts, but do as you wish...

You will need chicken, stuffing, cream of chicken soup, melted butter, provolone cheese, white wine(you can also use chicken stock), spices(marjoram, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, and basil)




Set chicken breasts in a baking dish, make sure that there is only one layer-- so use the appropriate sized dish.

Next layer your cheese--1 slice per breast. I chose provolone, but any white cheese will do, you can also use shredded if that's what you have on hand.

Then stir your 2 cans of soup, 1/3 cup of white wine, and 1/3 tsp. of each of your spices together. Pour all that yummy goodness over top of the chicken and cheese.

Then stir your 3 Tbsp. melted butter into your one package of stuffing(2 cups). Sprinkle over top. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Til chicken is cooked through and everything is hot, bubbly and hard to resist....=)

For some reason I didn't take a picture of the finished result, but trust me it looks, smells, and tastes fantastic.

Now I was really ambitious and like with most things I find that if I'm going to mess up the kitchen and dirty the dishes, I my as well make several to store away for later. This freezes very well. So I turned all of this........

Into this...........

I made it just the same, except after mixing the stuffing and butter together, I put it in a freezer bag instead of spreading it on top of the soup mixture. I'm not sure why I did this.... I just did. Do it your way if you want.

See ya,

Anna

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for and am looking forward to spending the day with my family...=) This card was designed by my friend and upline Emily. She is so talented and I knew I just had to share it with you. She took the acorn image from the falling leaves stamp set and stamped it on cardstock, scanned it into her computer, enlarged it, printed it out, and then made a template out of thin cardboard. What an idea!!!! To make the card we just traced around the cardboard template onto our cardstock, cut it out and assembled, simple as that. haha....=) We also used versamark ink and chalks for the stamping. Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with some Christmas cards to start our season!

Recipe:

stamp set: falling leaves

cardstock: chocolate chip, close to cocoa, kraft

ink: versamark

accessories: bone folder, ruler, stampin pastels, 1/4inch chocolate chip grosgrain, word window punch, 1-3/8inch circle punch, scallop circle punch

Trendy Trees Take Two

This card uses Trendy Trees once again. I had so much fun making this as I used the marble rolling technique. It involves marbles, reinker, and stamp storage cases. Fun and takes no time at all. I hope to do a tutorial on this eventually. So make sure to stay tuned...=) Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow.

Recipe:
stamp sets: trendy trees, teeny tiny wishes
cardstock: kraft,whisper white, chocolate chip
ink: chocolate chip, rose red, old olive, pumpkin pie
accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, 5/8 inch chocolate chip grosgrain, 1-1/4 inch square punch, reinkers, marbles, stamp storage case

Trendy Trees

I love this little set. It was one of those that I knew I would be getting as soon as I saw it...=) This uses the textured paper. This was the first time that I had used any, but I love it. This card used the stamping off technique as well as the stamp-a-ma-jig (one of my favorite tools) Today's card is clean, simple and it would take no time to whip out a few of these for a gift set or just to have on hand. Thanks for looking. See you soon!

As always to order the supplies just go to stampin up and type in Anna Hassenzahl when you are ready to check out. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Recipe:

stamp set: trendy trees

cardstock: rich razzleberry, soft suede, confetti white

ink: rich razzleberry, dusty durango, crushed curry, soft suede

accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, button latte, twine

Falling Leaves

Boy have I been busy! So busy in fact that I decided I needed to start this blog so I could share with everyone what I've been doing...=) Today's card features Stampin Up's Falling leaves stamp set. I used some new in colors as well as some from the earth elements set. My upline held her fall stamp camp a couple of weeks ago and this is only one of the amazing projects we completed! Let me know if you are intersted in coming to a stamp camp or better yet hosting a workshop of your own for you and your friends! All the info for today's card is listed below. To order just go to stampin up and type in Anna Hassenzahl. See you soon.

Recipe:

stamps: Falling Leaves

cardstock: Whisper White, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry

ink: dusty durango, crushed curry, old olive, chocolate chip, ruby red

accessories: 1inch circle punch, twine, dusty durango polka dot ribbon