I WON AGAIN!

I WON OVER AT DANIELLES AGAIN! WOOO HOOO! I WON A LEARNING DVD FOR KIDS! YAY FOR MY KIDS! HA YOU HAVE TO GET OVER THERE AND ENTER!

GIVE AWAYS....MORE and MORE!

Danielle has some cool give aways going on......I'll remind you I've won many times! (smile) so check it out.....I'm sure you'll find some cool things to win over HERE! Plus look how darn cute she is! she made this page with the COOL product she has a give away for....If you like to scrapbook or make cards etc. check it out....it ends tonight!

B B Q!

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches in Barbecue Sauce

1 med. onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 ts.)

1 C. Ketchup

1/4 Water

3 T. yellow mustard

2 T. Cider vinegar

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. dark brown sugar (or light if you don't have it)

1 ts. Chili powder (I used 1/2 ts.)

1/4 t. black pepper

4-5 boneless chicken breasts (I used a Chuck roast instead of chicken here, but chicken is so tasty too!)

6 -8 buns

Stir all ingredients minus meat in a bowl. Place chicken or beef (or pork roast) into a Crock pot, pour sauce over and turn on High for 4 hrs. or low up to 8 hrs. 1/2 Hour before you're ready to serve, use two forks to shred meat in crock pot, then stir well so sauce coats it. Serve on bun. (This recipe is from Getting thin and loving food cookbook)

Sweet Potato Fries:

3 large sweet potatoes washed. Slice potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slice (Like thick chips) toss in a large bowl with 2 T. Veg. oil, and sprinkle generously with Paprika, and lightly with pepper. Place chips on 2 large cookie sheets sprayed lightly with Pam. Bake at 400* on lowest shelf in oven for about 25 mins. (more if you like them a bit more crispy like I do, I like em with some blackened parts). Turn fries after 15 mins. Bake longer if not browned like you wish.

Dipping sauce: Equal parts Mayo and Ketchup, stir and let sit in refrigerator at least 1/2 hr. if possible. Here I used 3 T. of each for 3 of us that like it.

Sauteed Cabbage:

Cut cabbage into thin strips, and wash. In large skillet place 2 T. butter and 1 T. water.....add cabbage and saute on Med-High heat for 10-15 mins. until softened.....Add 1 T. brown sugar and cook until water almost dissipates. Add salt and pepper for taste.

ENJOY!

Seasons are changing......

Seasons are changing and so are the recipes! I love Spring and Summer foods and this is one we had a few weeks ago on a nice warm day! Chicken Salad
4 Boneless chicken breasts, poached (see below)
3/4 C. Mayo (more or less depending on how you like it!)
1 sm. can Crushed Pineapple, drained
1 ts. Mustard
Salt and pepper
Cashews or Peanuts (for garnish)

The greatest tip I ever heard was how to poach big batches of boneless chicken to have on hand. Place chicken breasts (my big pot holds 5-6 nicely) and just cover chicken with water. Bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes, turn heat off and cover for 2 hrs. Drain chicken and you will have the most moist chicken ready to shred or dice, and you can freeze it any way you'd like to have it ready!

Cool 4 boneless chicken breasts slightly and chop in bite sized pieces. Add mayo, mustard, salt and pepper to taste and pineapples and stir. Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. Overnight is even better.

We ate this on buns, but I enjoy it on it's own as well. Sprinkle with peanuts or cashews and it's delicious served inside a wedge of Cantaloupe. As you can see here my cantaloupe was already cut up but it was still yummy side by side. Another thing you'll have to try is pepper on your Cantaloupe with this salad, it's so good!

ENJOY......we'll soon be enjoying the Farmers market! I can't wait! mmmm

GIVE AWAYS......

Danielle is having a great give away here that ends TONIGHT.....but you have time to get in on it and she has a BUNCH more give aways yet to win......If I win I want these cute orange boots.....I can see myself out in the puddles in these babies!! hope you WIN!!!

Unsure of trying.....Turkey burgers and fries!

Well I was unsure if I wanted to even "try" a turkey burger....I knew I didn't think the frozen patties looked so good but my parents and many friends actually love ground turkey so I thought since we're trying to eat healthier and save some money our Friday date night would be at home "fast food!" So I got some ground turkey (I bought the 99% lean Turkey)...and here's what we did!

1 19 oz pkg. of Ground White turkey (makes 6 patties)

Mix ground turkey with 1 ts. Seasoning salt, and 1 ts. Worcestershire sauce, and make into 6 patties. Grill patties (we used our George Foreman grill) or you can grill them. They take a very sort time to cook. 5 Min's. on the George Foreman and likely the same on the grill. They have no fat in them so they cook up very nice and tight.

In the meantime, wash and slice in half 8 oz. Portebella mushrooms. In an iron skillet (or reg. skillet) melt 2 ts. butter, on Med. heat saute mushrooms until browned. Move mushrooms aside in pan and add 1 large onion cut in thick slices and saute until soft.

If you want to add delicious baked fries to this meal go here for the recipe. So all in all this meal was DIVINE and I would have to admit (and this is coming from a gal who would MARRY a Cheeseburger) they were just as good as a regular burger! I piled it high with sauteed onions, fresh ripe tomato slices and lots of Ketchup! you could put the mushrooms on but we ate ours on the side.......it was delicious! perhaps you've already tried turkey and you're way ahead of me...but if not TRY it!

(Ground turkey is more costly than ground beef....but since it was date night I was thinking how much we'd spend if we went to a restaurant, even McDonald's couldn't beat the price let alone it being healthy! so those kind of indulgences are OK sometimes!)

Gigi Graham!

I'm going to Ladies Day Away tomorrow to hear Gigi Graham speak! it should be a really great day! I'm also an usher and if you saw how MANY ladies will show up you'd be shocked! This event sold out within just a few days of the tickets going on sale!
I'll be back to add to this post and fill you in on how it went.....I'm not as familiar with her as I am with Anne Graham Lotz but I'm sure it will be inspiring and I could use a bit of "girl time" away! haha Until later........

Well the day is done and Gigi was FANTASTIC! so glad I was able to be part of it!

Enjoying Nature!

We had a great week off last week for Spring break! We didn't go anywhere out of town but we sure did alot of fun things in town! We bought a YMCA membership for the week and Mike took the kids almost daily to the pool to swim and enjoy the slides etc. I enjoyed "me" time during those times! ha

To finish off our break we went to a Nature center on Sunday and it was a beautiful day! 68 and full sun! The Nature center is only 10 minutes or so from our house and sad to say.....we've never been there. The kids have for school and with my mom!

Last Spring they built this cool Tree house that was so fun to see and hang out in! We had a picnic lunch just outside the tree house and it was such a nice day for a picnic!

As we walked along the creek I was thinking how nice it would be to curl up with a book and sit on a bench and listen to that rushing water hitting the rocks! It was so peaceful!

Grace was adamant about bringing a notebook with her to "report" on all the things she saw. I wasn't really sure she would end up writing in it......but bless her heart she did and at lunch I was surprised when she read us SEVEN entries she already had written at the different stopping points. We had to laugh while we sat at the picnic sight and she wrote "PB & J tastes alot better outside at a tree house!" (it was true) She proudly toted that notebook to school today with a piece of a Lambs Ear plant she found on the ground, she was sure to remind us often not to disturb nature by picking anything! (I'm telling you...I'm going to remember all of this because I just know she's going to be a Vet or something "naturey!" ha Bless her heart again because her mamma is NOT the most "naturey" kind of gal...unless you count the back yard!)

When the tree house was in sight the girls took off running.......I said to Mike "go figure....this has been here all along and look how excited they are.....who needs Disney?" (OK maybe that's a stretch! ha)
So long.......only 2 more months of school left until we can feel this care free again!!

Taco Pasta Toss....tweeked!

This recipe is a keeper for our family.....4 out of 5 of us loved it....Macy just has her "taco meat" issues for some odd reason...but the girl will down a burger no prob! iyiyi This was a recipe I saw on Rachel Ray but I realized all her spices were the same as the ingredients in a package of Taco Seasoning so that cuts many steps and sometimes people don't have an array of spices at home!

1 1 lb. box whole wheat Rotini spiral noodles, cooked and drained

1 lb. Ground sirloin/or round (or turkey)

1 envelope low sodium Ortega Taco seasoning

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 small can tomato paste (the tiny can)

1 1/2 C. chicken stock/broth

1 C. shredded Cheddar (and more for serving)

2-3 Roma tomatoes diced on the side

Sour cream

4-5 thin sliced green onions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 lb. box of Rotini noodles and cook according to directions. Brown ground beef with onion until onion is translucent, add garlic and stir. Add taco seasoning packet, tomato paste and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Drain pasta and add to meat mixture and let simmer about 5 mins. ( I use my large electric skillet but if you don't have that you can use a large cooking pot, just be sure it's deep enough to hold the noodles and meat mixture). Sprinkle the top with 1 C. shredded Cheddar and put the lid on just until melted, a few minutes.

Serve with any "taco fix ins" you like, I only named a few: Roma tomatoes, more cheese, sour cream, and green onions but you can do lettuce, black olives, jalapenos etc!

I served this with Guacamole and Blue chips.....we will definitely serve this perhaps weekly or every two weeks! Macy eats Nachos and cheese and makes a mini taco salad since she has her taco meat issues! ha not that I cater to picky eaters but I am reasonable....she DID try it! ha

ENJOY!! This served 5 of us, one including a teen aged boy with a bowlful of leftovers (which tasted even better!) I found this faster than tacos, and less mess.....not saying that I'm giving up Tacos....NO WAY!