Independence Day

Our family had a pretty laid back holiday weekend. We are still catching up on our to-do list upon returning home from our 5-week stay in Nebraska. 4th of July is my absolute favorite holiday, and not just because I'm a military wife. I love the BBQs, fireworks, warm weather, and being able to celebrate our nation's birthday and what it stands for with friends and family.

We celebrated the 4th of July at a friend's house down the street. She was gracious enough to open up her home to us and a few other families. I made Happy Potatoes and a flag fruit pizza (I will share the recipes of both at the bottom of this blog post). The food, company, and all the fun made for a great celebration of our nation's birthday.

Here are a few pictures from our day of celebration:

Flag Fruit Pizza

Yummy Food

P-Man

W

All the men surrounding the grill

Recipes:

Flag Fruit Pizza:

Ingredients

• 1 (16 1/2 ounce) packages Pillsbury sugar cookie dough ( 1-2 packages. depends on how thick you want your crust to be, I use 2)
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese ( softened)
• 1 (8 ounce) containers Cool Whip ( thawed)
• fresh fruit, any kind you may like ( i.e. kiwi, strawberries, grapes, oranges, bananas, etc.)

Directions

• Cut sugar cookie dough into 1/4-inch thick pieces.
• Lay it down on a greased pizza pan or rectangular pan.
• Press dough till pressed together.
• Bake in 350°F oven for 10 minutes or until brown.
• Let it cool completely.
• While baking your crust, get a large bowl and mix together sugar,vanilla,and cream cheese.
• Fold in Cool Whip.
• Spread mixture onto baked crust (that is completely cooled.) When spread on, cut up your fresh fruit and place onto your pizza.
• Then put in refrigerator for an hour to chill.
• Then your ready to eat and enjoy.
• Another great and fun way to make this is using the rectangular pan is to use blueberries and strawberries to make an American flag.
• Use the blueberries as stars and strawberries and raspberries as stripes.

Happy Potatoes:

Ingredients

• 1 bag of frozen hashbrowns
• 1 can of cream of celery
• 1 8oz container of sour cream
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese or american cheese
• 2 cups of Cornflakes or Frosted Flakes (for an added sugar taste)
• 1 stick of butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Line 9 x 13 pan with frozen hashbrowns
• Mix cream of celery, sour cream, and cheese in a small-medium sized mixing bowl
• Pour over potatoes and mix in a little
• Sprinkle Cornflakes or Frosted Flakes
• Pour melted butter over top
• Bake 30 minutes covered, and then another 30 minutes uncovered for a total of 60 minutes