Our 4th, plus a few recipes

We celebrated Independence Day small town style! In the morning we took the girls to watch the parade that Wilmore puts on every year. There are lots of tractors, fire trucks, horses, and a lawn mower brigade! It's a tiny little parade but pratically the entire town comes out to watch, it's a really fun tradition :)

Following the parade we went to the festival where they have horse rides for the kids. Kirsten rode one last year at the festival, but I kind of expected her to be too scared to ride once it was her turn this year. She got right on though and did great!

Her horse was a little chunky :)

We let Kirsten stay up late so I could take her to see the big firework show that takes place just down the road from our house. Since the fireworks didn't start until 10pm, Daddy stayed home with Kara so she could sleep. Here is Kirsten and I watching the fireworks.

We had a great time enjoying all the fun celebrations our little town had to offer!

Now for a few recipes. These are super basic recipes of things I made the this past week that I thought were worth sharing.

Homemade Popsicles

2 cups boiling water

1 packet of jello (any flavor)

1 packet of koolaid

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups cold water

bring 2 cups water to boil, stir in jello, koolaid, and sugar till disolved. Then stir in cold water. Fill popsicle molds, or just use little dixie cups and popsicle sticks. Freeze and enjoy!

Texas-style cheesy potatoes

1 bag Ore-ida southern style hashbrown   

1/4 cup melted butter                                 

1 can cream of chicken
12 oz sour cream                                                              
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 t seasoned salt
1/4 t black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into greased 13x9 baking dish. Cook for 1 hour.

These are super creamy and yummy! Just don't eat the whole pan : )


Layered Bean Dip

1 can refried beans
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
4 oz sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 chopped tomato
sliced black olives
1/2 jalapeno (seeded and finely chopped)

(I also like to add a layer of fresh guacamole, but we decided to make this last minute and didn't have any avocados on hand.)

Mix refried beans with 1/2 packet of taco seasoning, spread into bottom of a serving dish. Then spread a layer of sour cream on top of the beans.  Top with cheddar cheese and remaining ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.