Hitting the road...

We are headed south for 2 weeks to visit family, so you probably won't see much from me while I'm there!! We have a fun packed busy two weeks planned! Catch y'all later! :)

Getting Creative

This always happens to me...I'll go to the store, and pick up a bunch of veggies and other cool stuff that I have the best intentions of using up, but I end up getting WAY too much, and then one day I open the fridge and realize that 1/2 the stuff in there needs to be cooked ASAP or it will spoil and have to be thrown away.

This was the case last night...which lead me to this:

...and the funny thing is most of the day I was just going to order pizza. So what is this? Well the veggies you see are summer squash and zuch that have been in my fridge for awhile. One of my favorite ways to eat them is to slice them up, along with a medium onion, spray a pan with cooking spray, add the veggies, some salt and pepper, and cook on medium until soft but not too squishy (stirring occasionally) and viola - a yummy and healthy side dish:

To go along with the veggies I dug around and found a bag of frozen butternut squash ravioli that have been hanging around the freezer for awhile, and some turkey sausage. So, I threw together a quick and pretty easy pasta dish which is what you see below. I'll include my "recipe" but I'm sorry to say it's not very exact.

Butternut Ravioli with Turkey Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 package lean sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 1 bag frozen ravioli (any kind you like but I had the squash)
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 10 sage leaves (more for garnish)
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook turkey sausage according to package directions, remove from heat when done and slice. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. Melt butter in large pan, add sage when melted and remove from heat for about 10 min. to let sage infuse into butter. Put back on heat, and mix in milk and cheese, let bubble slightly and stir. Add in the pasta and sausage, stir to evenly coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I chose to leave out one of the links of sausage and slice it up and put it on a salad. It was delicious, I used spinach, the meat, and then topped it with yellow bell pepper and the veggies from above. Nice and light and YUM!

As you can see...we were ALL happy campers!!

Okay, well once again I need to jet out of here, if we're not on our way to one place we're on our way to another. But I am impressed I actually got two posts in one day in! WOAH! Time for us to hit the gym then it's off to soccer camp.

The Tin-Man Tri 2009

Well, this is going to be short, because once again I should be folding laundry and getting geared up for swimming lessons! Today is our last day of that however - although I think I'm going to get the big kid private lessons once we get back from GA. Moving on. I thought I'd post some pictures from the Husbands Tri this weekend. In case you were curious of distance and all that, it was an 1100 M swim, 20 mile bike ride, and a 7.2 mile run. I have NO idea where they came up with these numbers, but it's "close" to those of an Olympic distance. He finished in just over 2 hours and 30 min.

The boys enjoying a breakfast tail-gate before the race

Ready to Race!

Ready to Swim

off on the bike

transition to the run

coming into the finish!!

post-race family picture

So, there you have it, a brief sum-up of the race in pictures. It was a good time, and I for one really enjoyed being the one to do the cheering on for a change. I am so proud of him! It's been a lot of training and hard work - he did great. We couldn't have asked for better weather either. It was a little muggy, and would have been terribly hot, but we had good cloud cover because there was a chance of showers, which thankfully held off until the moment we got back to the hotel!

Because we were close to KC for the race, and with my parents being in town for it as well, we left Sunday AM to head to KC and enjoy an AWESOME Fathers Day brunch and then we all went to church at our old church. (In case you're wondering I was born and raised in Overland Park, KS). Here is a picture of the boys on Father's Day.

After church my parents went back to the airport to catch their flight and we began our drive home. It was a great weekend, but I was beat!

I've got another post but I need to get a move on so I'll try to post that later today. Enjoy your day!

I'm here...

just been a little behind. This past weekend we were out of town for the hub's Tri...he did GREAT by the way, coming in 4 min under his goal time! I'll have pictures later, they are on the other computer. But just wanted to check in real quick.

Haven't done any great cooking or baking this week...but I'll do some this weekend. I'm scheduled to take a meal to a friend who just had a baby not to long ago (her hubs is overseas right now) so I know what that's like. Well...the having a baby and not having your husband home part...anyway - rambling. So I'm cooking Friday night for that, then sat I'm going to a MOM family bbq night thing, so I'm bringing something to that as well.

Kids still have swimming this week, tomorrow is the last day, and then big kid has soccer camp through July, so that's pretty much where we spend our time these days. The pool and the soccer field...and Dairy Queen. Yes, it's bad, I've reverted back to my old pal DQ and we've gone there once a week after soccer!! At least my favorite thing is just vanilla soft serve with nothing else, otherwise I'd be in real trouble!!

Okay, well I've got laundry to fold and kids to suit up for the pool, but I'll be back soon!

Mind blank

I can't remember if I've posted these or not?? Every now and again I'll treat the boys to cinnamon rolls from scratch. Usually I save this for a holiday or special occasion, but sometimes it's just because. In this case it was because the big kid and the hubs both requested them for breakfast Saturday morning and who am I to say no? Plus they are SOOO good! Believe me when I tell you it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to sit down and eat the whole batch.

I've tried a few different recipes for cinnamon rolls, but this one from Alton Brown is the best I have found yet, and to me, the easiest to make and not muck up!! Just keep in mind they have to sit overnight in the fridge so don't try to make them the same morning that you want to eat them because it just doesn't work like that for these suckers. I add a little more brown sugar than the recipe calls for, but that's the only real change I make. Oh, and I always end up with more than 12, I usually get around 15 but I guess mine are just smaller.

These pictures are actually from over Easter which is the last time I made them, but my batch this past weekend looked about the same. I just didn't feel like digging out the camera.

Not much else to report really. The kids started swimming lessons this week which has been a lot of fun for all of us. This weekend we head out for the hubs first Tri! WHOO HOO! We're all very proud of him. We'll be home Sunday evening. My parents are flying in as well to see him so it will be nice to have them around and get to see my dad for father's day.

Well, I need to get a move on some laundry and cleaning while the little ones are resting! Catch y'all later!

Pat-on-the-back pasta

My hubs deserves a shout out every now and then. He is a wonderful husband and fantastic father, he's supportive of me in every way. He works hard all day, comes home and hangs with the kids, then after getting them in bed he makes time for both me and all his coursework for both his masters and JPME (Navy stuff for all you non-Navy folks). He's been training super hard for his first Tri coming up next weekend for which I am VERY proud of him! He has been running for awhile now, but the biking and the swimming were new for him and he really stuck to it and put in the time and hard work involved. I am just so proud and feel very blessed to be the one he comes home to every night and gets to wake up with every morning.

So, now that I've gushed about enough to make you all want to gag, I'll stop. But, because he is so great, when he asks for a special dinner, I can hardly refuse. A few nights ago he requested a "different" kind of pasta. Meaning - no lasagna, spaghetti, or my "spicy" noodles. Well, seeing as how those are my "go-to" pasta dishes, I had to get creative, so I turned to the goddess of Italian cooking, my favorite - Giada. Plus she is just too darn cute! I flipped through my cookbook I have by her, and decided to go with her Chicken Carbonara. I have made it once before, but it was WAY back when we lived in KB so I'd say it's been at least two years. Her recipe is a bit on the heavy side, and it makes a TON so I halved it and made a few other changes, but it came out fantastic!! If you're looking for a different spin on spaghetti noodles this was a big hit and I recommend it! Here is a link to the original, I'm going to post it the way I made it.

Ingredients

Cooking Spray
2 ounces thinly sliced bacon, chopped
1 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
3 large egg yolks
1/8 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/8 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 cups coarsely shredded chicken, cooked
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Directions
Spray heavy pan with cooking spray and add bacon and garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cheese, yolks, basil, and parsley to blend.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain.
Add the chicken to the pan with the pancetta and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the sauce coats the spaghetti thickly, about 4 minutes (do not boil or you might end up scrambling the eggs). Season the pasta, to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the pancetta will likely add all the salt you need). Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle lemon zest over, and serve. (Her recipe calls for toasted walnuts as well but the hubs doesn't like nuts in his pasta so I leave those out)

Also, because I don't eat a whole lot of pasta, so I made myself a nice salad to be my main dish. It's got chicken, broccoli, yellow tomatoes, and some other stuff that I can't remember now, but it was delicious!

oops..

I forgot to mention one more new thing from my last post! I made a cute new insert for my coffee cup. I know, no huge life altering thing there, but it's cute so I wanted to share.

However...I made this BEFORE giving big kid his haircut, so I guess I need to make a new one soon! Haha. Have a great hump-day y'all. I'll be back soon!

Out with the old...

...and in with the new (or clean, or just different). Clean sheets, new haircuts, even transformed some old bananas into something much better (pictures and recipe on that below).

Yesterday was pretty busy for us - although for most of the day I was feeling lazy...don't quite know why though. So lets see, the day started out getting rid of old dirty laundry and replacing it with clean stuff...changed sheets, picked up the house, all that fun stuff. By 9:30 we were on our way to the gym.

Came home for lunch, the little one took a nap, and the big kid did quite time. I have been inspired to make a shower curtain for the boys bathroom - and therefore re-decorate it, so I browsed online for some ideas to get a start on that. After quiet time I decided it was time for the big kid to get a haircut that would be better for him this summer. If you've ever met my kid you know he has a TON of hair, and he's always so hot and sweaty - so (drum roll please) here are the before and after pictures.

BEFORE

AFTER

HE LOOKS SOOOO BIG!!! And if it were even possible, it makes his eyelashes look even LONGER than before. It's quite the change, and I still can't believe I did it, but it will be good for the summer. Although mark my words, come this winter I'll let it grow out again!

Anyway, so after the new haircut, he helped me use up some old bananas for this wonderful banana bread! It is really yummy, and it's from cooking light, so it's not too bad for you either!!

Classic Banana Bread (Cooking Light)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup butter, softened (I used 3 Tbsp instead of 4)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas) *I used 4*
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (in my oven it took about 1hr 10 min). Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information (for original recipe)
Calories: 187 (21% from fat), Fat: 4.3g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.3g), Protein: 3.3g, Carbohydrate: 34.4g, Fiber: 1.1g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Iron: 1mg, Sodium: 198mg, Calcium: 20mg

I just love the smell of my house when the bread is cooking...YUM!! So, all in all that was the majority of our day yesterday. Last night I had book club which was nice. Today has been pretty low key. We've had thunderstorms off and on all day, so we manly hung around the house with the exception of a quick trip to target. Oh, and I cleaned out my car! It really needed to be done, and I love getting into a nice clean car!

Well, that's it for me. I'll be back soon with more updates!

In the wings...

Just wanted you to know I've been chewing and putting together a post, but I haven't had time today to upload the pictures I want - or finish writing the post. But I did want you to know that I have one coming! :)

When life hands you lemons...

Make Lemon-Cheesecake Bars!!! Actually, as stated in the last post, things here are going really well, but I did have some lemons that needed to be used, and I had a craving for cheesecake so this is what I came up with. I sort of combined a few different recipes I found online to make this one. I knew I didn't want to use a graham cracker crust because I wanted the shortbread crust like you would find in a traditional lemon bar. For the cheesecake layer I used THIS recipe from Martha Stewart. It's very good, and super creamy, just the way I like it. The only change I made was I used one block of regular cream cheese, and my other block was the low-fat kind because that is all I had. Still, it turned out wonderful!! I'll post the shortbread recipe below. But first just take a look at these!!

Shortbread Crust Recipe

1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

To make crust: Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Cream butter and sugar in medium sized bowl. Add flour and vanilla and mix until well blended.
Press dough evenly onto the bottom of an 8"x8" baking pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. (I think I only did like 15 but they turned out fine.)
Prick shortbread crust with a fork and bake for 20-25 minutes or until pastry turns a golden brown. (I think in my oven it was more like 27-30)

When this part was done I just poured the cheesecake on and stuck it back in the oven. Worked great! Also, in my oven the cooking time for the cheesecake was about 5-10 min longer than in Martha's recipe.

ENJOY!

summertime smiles

Things here are good...I mean just look at this little face - how could things not be good when you have these sweet little smiles to look at everyday!

So, things around here are good (we've established that) and summer is in full swing. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I joined a gym - one with childcare - and it's FANTASTIC. Not only do they "watch" the kids, but they actually do stuff with them. They have story time, arts and crafts, and best of all, they get them doing active stuff, like playing basketball, or take them outside to jump rope and color with sidewalk chalk. So, in the morning the kids and I usually spend some time there, then after I am done working out we get suited up and hit the pool! They are both water babies and the big kid is swimming on his own now - which makes his swim teacher lifeguard mama so very proud!!

So, in addition to that, big kid started soccer camp tonight, will start swim lessons in about a week, and we have lots of play dates and fun things to do set up. Sounds busy, but really its the perfect amount of things to do so we don't get bored but we're not so busy that we can't enjoy the more laid back feel of summer. Summer is so much fun. BBQ's, hanging by the pool, playing outside with the kids, camping in the backyard, fishing, etc.

The one thing I don't like is my HOT kitchen. The afternoon sun goes right into our sun room off the kitchen, which makes cooking dinner very uncomfortable. So, in the summer we do lots of grilling and dishes that don't have to stay in the oven a long time (or at all) to keep the temperature down - and me from getting too grumpy! I stumbled across this the other day in one of my Clean Eating mags and we tried it out. It's quick, pretty easy, and can be done on the stove. It goes great with fresh veggies.

Lemon-Artichoke Chicken

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tbsp dried oregano

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 tsp sea salt plus additional for seasoning

1 lb thin chicken cutlets

olive oil cooking spray

1/2 tsp EVOO

1 medium onion, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chix broth

1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and cut

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

ONE: Combine flour, oregano, salt and pepper in bowl. Dredge each cutlet through and shake off excess flour, place on plate.

TWO: Coat large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium to med-high so skillet is hot but not smoking. Add 1/2 chix strips, cook 3-5 min per side, until light brown and cooked through. Transfer to clean plate, and repeat with remaining chicken, coating skillet once more with cooking spray. Cover serving plate to keep chicken warm.

THREE: Turn temp down to med-low and heat oil. place onion in pan and cook, stirring frequently until soft and golden, 5-6 minutes. Add garlic, cooking for 1 minute, stirring constantly; then chicken broth, bringing to a simmer. Follow with artichokes, lemon juice and zest, simmering 2-3 minutes until heated through and slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

FOUR: Pour mixture over chicken and sprinkle with parsley. Serve and enjoy.

I served ours on spinach which went really well with it! I love lemon in the summer - so light and fresh. We will for sure be making this dish again - and soon!