We couldn't be more proud of our daughter Marcella for all the hard work she has done in school her whole life. I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. Congrats to all these senior students that made this list!
Illinois Student Assistance Commission 2015-16 State Scholar Award recipients:
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We make chicken n dumplings several times a year. We make it the same way each time and use frozen dumplings from shop n save or walmart. Makes things easy really and they taste perfectly fine. Today I decided to try something new. As several people posted on my facebook wall to use biscuits. I thought hummmm....never did it that way so I will try it out and see. Going by the way I normally make it along with partial way of Pillsbury recipe on their site. I also never used cream of chicken soup in mine so that was new as well. I bought Pillsbury Grand Home style Buttermilk biscuits in a can. They are huge biscuits of dough and they are very easy to peal into two layers. I did that and then smashed each layer down and cut each layer into 6 pieces. They were tiny pieces of dough and I lightly put flour on them and shook off excess flour before putting it in the pot. They puff up at first then while cooking they shrink down. Here is the recipe of what I used.
6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (non--frozen) 1 onion 20 chicken bouillon cubes 3-4 stalks of celery 1 lg. can of Cambells cream of chicken soup 1 can Pillsbury Grands homestyle buttermilk can of biscuits salt and pepper I use a huge soup pot! I fill it a little more than half way. I cut one onion in half and throw it in. I add the chicken and while it cooks, I take the fat off the top (or as my mother used to call it...scum) LOL I cook the chicken about 30 mins. I took the chicken out and shredded it a big into chunks then added it back in the pot. I then add the bouillon cubes and let those dissolve and then I added the cream of chicken soup. I also cut the celery into pieces and add that along with some salt and pepper. While it was cooking I started to make the biscuit dumplings. I pulled apart each biscuit into 2 layers, flatted them out and cut them into 6 pieces. I dipped them in some flour and shook off the excess flour and threw them in the pot. Stir after a few pieces so they don't stick. Once all the biscuit dumplings are in, I cooked an additional 1 hour to ensure the dumplings were cooked through and that the broth flavored them well. Let me just say it tastes awesome! :) Now, I still prefer the frozen dumplings as they are easier and more substantial. But using biscuits if you have to isn't to bad. You HAVE to cook them long enough! I can't believe it's 2015 as I don't know where 2014 went. Tons of things went on this past year. In January we had Snowmageddon... In February, Marcella turned 17! She also went to varsity state for speech and was the only Jr. to make it to the awards for Radio speaking! She received 6th place. She won 1st, 2nd & 3rd throughout the speech season though. She also became Rotary Club student of the month. In March Matt became Worshipful Master at the Masonic Lodge. Our daughters Ashley and Amber had a birthday! They turned the big 26! In April, I attended a huge photography workshop at Union Station in St. Louis, MO. It was awesome but wore me out for days. Marcella was accepted into the National Honor Society. Megan's cat Moe somehow managed to get on the roof of our house. Took hours to get her down. Stayed up to catch the blood moon. Tess Boyer came to our high school during the Talent Show which Marcella was MC for. We had Easter at Matt's dads and Teta Megan and Teta Ashley loved on Drayden. And there was PROM! There was a lot going on in April. Then came May. Marcella was MC again for May Carousel. She participated in Job Shadow where she went to CBS Radio / KMOX in downtown St. Louis, MO for the day. Marcella was chosen by the (teacher) head of student council to speak at the Illinois State Police press event on safe driving. Here is the link to that. She also had her school speech awards banquet where she will have a plaque with her photo and name on the wall at school for devotion to her speech time at school and team. She also had the highest earned points in speech. In June, I happily took my oldest daughter Ashley's engagement photos. :) here are a few. I also took one adorable photo of Drayden. July was awesome! I was in my first fine art exhibit in Orlando, FL. While we were down there, we went to Universal Orlando because we all love Harry Potter and then finally on our last day there, we took a small road trip to Cocoa Beach, FL. to see the Atlantic. Loved every min. of it. I felt like a little kid. :) Here is the image that was on display and some of the highlights from our trip. Like a week after our trip, we headed to Mckendree University as Marcella was nominated for the Youth Salute Award. A photographer in Belleville, IL takes all the kids photos and they go up for a short while at our local mall. We bought this one of course, it is her senior year! :) August came around and it was time for Marcella to become a Senior! And wouldn't you know...this years theme was Harry Potter! :D She entered high school as 2nd VP of student council. This is the 4th year of her doing announcements at school and 2nd year doing the pledge every morning. So she is on student council, speech team, Renaissance, National Honor Society, Spirit Club, Varsity Club and Social Studies Club. As you can see she is very busy. lol September came and my daughter Megan turned 25! She started planning on moving out. Made me sad. You will see more of that down below. I caught the hot air balloon race this year. They actually flew over into Illinois which hasn't happened in many years. Marcella was in a play in our towns local theater. She played the wife Elaine Harper in Arsenic and Old Lace. She did an awesome job! We are suppose to get a dvd of it at some point. I can't wait! Now for October. We found out that Marcella was voted to be on the Homecoming Court which meant dress shopping! Busy month for school stuff for sure. All Homecoming week was crazy busy. Court, Dance, Powder Puff game which she played in and the Seniors won! BTW, Marcella isn't even 5 foot. HA! Daily dress up themes and the parade. SHEW! Also, Drayden turned one year old! Here are a few shots of Drayden I took for his one year birthday! Also in Oct. Me and Matt celebrated 20 years of marriage! whoohoo! Can't believe it's been that long. Time goes by really fast. The very beginning of November was very sad for me. I'm starting to feel the empty nest syndrome. Even though Marcella is still here it won't be for much longer as she will go away to college. My Megan moved to Chicago to live with her boyfriend who is now a Chicago firefighter. She did come home for a visit on Thanksgiving and then New Years Eve. I cried like a baby. I also had to say goodbye to Willow. :( I don't dare post the photo of me crying that Matt took. Just before Thanksgiving, I went to stay a week with my sister because of her surgery. Took care of her, the dogs and house and make sure her hubby ate. Thanksgiving... December, the last of 2014. I took photos, I baked and we bought a new Christmas tree. A skinny one so it would fit! Here is the last bit of images for Dec. Happy New Year! Let's see what 2015 brings!
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion 1/4 c. diced green pepper 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce 2 tsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 2 cans country style biscuits 1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 c. sour cream 1 egg, slightly beaten Brown ground beef, onion, and green pepper in large frying pan; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, chili powder, and garlic powder. Simmer while preparing dough. Separate each biscuit dough in half into layers. (Name brand biscuits seem to pull apart easier.) Press a layer of biscuits over bottom of ungreased casserole dish. Combine 1/2 cup cheese (reserve remaining cheese for topping), sour cream, and egg; mix well. Remove meat mixture from heat; stir in sour cream mixture and spoon over dough. Arrange remaining biscuit layers on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden brown. And it wouldn't be complete without hot sauce ;) |
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