First of all...

Monday, July 20, 2009

eh...

Today I took chicken breasts pounded them so they were evenly about say 1/2 inch thick then i coated them w/sour cream and breaded them w/bread crumbs mixed with 1/2 a packet of Warm the Oven dry. Then I baked them for about 25 min in a 365 degree oven. They were, eh. Alright, just needed something, not sure what yet. I also cooked cauliflower and the mashed the cauliflower w/prepared warm the oven dip--and that was yummmmm. (1/2 a packet of WTO with 4 oz of cream cheese)

I also took 1/2 a packet of WTO and whisked it into 1 cup of whipping cream, simmered that on the stove and added in 1 cup of diced tomatoes and 3 chopped cooked slices of turkey bacon and served that over Barilla Plus Angel Hair pasta for lunch. that's my version of carbonara pasta. Good thing I ran 9.5 miles today, eh?

So continues my adventures on the hunt for a really really good Tastefully Simple Warm the Oven entree!

**************Nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while*************
The nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while happened yesterday at church. Now what happens when we go to church is that Tom and I basically try to keep a lid on Anna, who doesn't seem to get the idea of not talking and sitting when you should sit and not going to get a drink of water and so forth. So it was another stressful hour at the end of which I was singing and bryce was standing next to me.

So Bryce whispers in my ear: You should be up there (he pointed to the choir) because your voice is beautiful)

awwwweeeee.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Recent Recipe Creation

This could be called Italian Stir Fry or a Skillet Meal. I made it with 1/2 a box or 8oz of bow tie pasta.

*2 boneless chix breasts pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
* 1 packet of Tastefully Simple Warm the Oven Savory Cheese Dip
* 1/2 cup of olive oil
* 1 tbsp of vinegar
* 1 can of diced tomatoes
1/3 cup of green pepper
1 small zuchinni sliced and 1/2'd
8oz of bow tie pasta or your favorite pasta.

In a small bowl whisk 1 packet of Warm the Oven into 1/2 a cup of olive oil, then whisk in 1 tbsp of vinegar. Take a ziploc bag and put in the 2 chicken breasts, then add 1/4 cup of the Warm the Oven Mixture (reserve the rest). Squeeze out excess air and put in the refrigerator to marinade for 30 minutes (or more)

**** after marinading****
1. begin making pasta according to box directions.
2. Spray your favorite skillet with Pam, turn heat up to med. high, add Chicken Breasts and cook in the pan for about 3-5 minutes on each side until each side is nicely golden brown.
Take the chicken out of the skillet, add the green pepper and zuchinni and saute for 2-3 minutes, then add in the rest of the Warm the Oven Mixture and the tomatoes to the skillet and turn down the heat to med. low. Diced up chicken, add back to skillet and let everything simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the pasta is al dente, drain pasta. plate the pasta, and top with the Warm the Oven Chicken and Vegetables, and serve.
Should make 4 servings.

Next

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Found the charger for my camera battery!

First here is how the butterfly cake I made for Anna's bday turned out. The fun thing was that the colors on it matched the dress Anna came home in after her girls night w/K. The next picture you can see Anna has been primped and pampered in true princess style, complete w/curls, a tiara and the 'pretty nails' she has been begging for since school let out.

She wore the nails until it was time to open presents and then she was faced with a big decision. Keep the nails or rip open the pile of gifts. What's a girl to do? She went with ripping off that wrapping paper!

And the last picture is Bryce with his new glasses! He is very excited to see things--especially really getting to see fireworks for the first time. I am so grateful that there was a frog sitting on a lily pad when we visited the Little Red Schoolhouse a few weeks ago! If the frog wasn't there, I wouldn't have been very suspicious of Bryce's eyesight! The frog was about 6 feet away from us on a lilypad and Bryce just could not see it. The frog lead me to ask some questions and Tom took Bryce to the eye doctor and sure enough, Bryce is near-sighted.

The glasses are literally opening up new worlds for Bryce and I am confident he will see a big increase in his baseball batting average this fall!





Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!!!



We are having a few people over today for the 4th for some food and to break in my fire bowl. See pic above, I got it for free w/my Tastefully Simple Indulgence points--something we get monthly based on our sales. So I'm very excited to try it out, we have everything needed to make S'mores.

This morning I have been working on preparing the menu for our 4th of July Celebration.

We are going to be having...
*veggie tray w/Tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon dip
I like whole carrots vrs the flavorless baby carrots they sell, so I'm cutting up some real carrots along w/celery and everyone's fav. Sugar Snap Peas
*Fruit/Cheese/Cracker tray to go along w/a selection of white wines :-) The Kraft Natural Cheese is on sale really really cheap at Jewel so I got one of each of the cheeses that they make, and then I blew all my savings on some yummy Gouda cheese!
*Chicken Breasts marinaded w/Tastefully Simple Sassy Sangria Grill Sauce
*Corn on the Cob brushed w/butter and sprinkled with my favorite seasoning ever, Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt.
*One guest is bringing Potato Salad and the Baby Blue Cobb Salad. Recipe from the TS fan page on Facebook

I am also making a salad, one with no dairy products in it, because Tom can't do dairy, this recipe is from the Hungry Girl Newsletter:

Crunchy Sassy Chinese Slaw

PER SERVING (about 1 cup): 111 calories, 3.5g fat, 375mg sodium, 17.5g carbs, 4g fiber, 10g sugars, 3g protein -- POINTS® value 2*

This slaw is so good, it's hard not to eat ALL of it (so do everyone a favor and make a double batch!)...

Ingredients:
One 16-oz. package Mann's Broccoli Cole Slaw
1 cup canned water chestnuts, drained and sliced into thin strips
1 cup canned mandarin orange segments packed in water or juice, drained and chopped (and rinsed, if packed in juice)
1 cup chopped scallions
2/3 cup Newman's Own Lighten Up Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss all ingredients together, and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir well before serving. Enjoy!

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

AND FOR DESSERT:
Smores!!!!

or my festive brownie creation:

Prepare the Tastefully Simple Truffle Brownies as directed.
Mix 1/2 a container of lite Cool Whip w/a large scoop of our White Mousse Chiller Mix and top the brownie once cooled.

Then take blueberries and cut strawberries and make a flag design!
Lastly,
Patrick really really wanted a jello dessert, so what we made red jello in a round bowl and then right before serving I am topping that w/Cool whip and then putting blue jello on top of that.

Now it's time to cross fingers for no rain tonight! Happy 4th of July