April 27th

I hope your weekend has been great. We have mostly just relaxed. Very nice. I ended up with a 2 hour nap yesterday! I wanted to share another recipe. I have been making it for several years. I love it. To be honest, only Hubby, myself and 2 children like it (most of my kids don't like cooked veggies, only raw) But I make it anyway because it is so good for my lunch the following week! I like it room temp and cold too.

Pasta Primavera Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis





3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
1 pound farfalle (bowtie pasta)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.



Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
User Rating:











Episode#: EI1C05

I am getting ready to print out some pictures. I am hoping to scrapbook today.

spoke to soon.....

About an hour after I made that post I was so sick! So hard to be sick when hubby is not home to help. After I put the kids down to bed I just laid on the couch. I feel good today though.

I have been in the kitchen all morning. I put a beef stew in the crockpot for dinner. Then it was time to get lunch started! I did a load of laundry and cleaned the upstairs bathrooms (3). All I have left to do is a load of towels and vacuum the upstairs.

I am a perfectionist. I think I have mentioned that before. I need my house in order, chores done (so to speak :) ) before I can do other things, such as scrapbook. The problem is this. Our house in california had so much storage. Here not so much. So it is more cluttered than I like. We have added another baby and the baby in California that was too small to make messes is now 3. Just having 11 people in a house makes for messes. My selfworth is tied up in my house's appearance. I was always complimented on how clean and tidy my house was. I am not able to keep this house at that same standard. SO everyday I beat myself up over and over. I know it is fairly clean. But my walls are a mess. Matte finish paint is not for people with small children. I can't figure out why all the houses in Georgia seem to have this paint. You can't wipe tem down. I don't have time to wash windows, clean baseboards, blinds. I really need to get over this. I want to enjoy my days, have fun with kids. Not feel like I always have to be cleaning something!

I think I burned myself out on taking pictures. Making myself take a picture a day took some of the fun out of it for me. So I have hardly picked up my camera since March. But I am starting to want to take pictures again. Learn more. Play with settings. Have more control over the finished shot. But maybe not everyday.

I hope you have a great day!

Hey ya'll

I am starting to feel human again :) Still a little bit under the weather at night but it is much less than it was. and since I am 12 weeks tomorrow, I am hoping it will soon be gone.

We are having such beautiful weather here in the south. Upper 70's. So nice to be outdoors.

I am so bummed that Carly was voted off on American Idol. I love her voice, in fact I have 4 of her songs downloaded onto my Ipod. But I always have wanted David Cook to win. His voice reminds me of Third Day :)

Here is what I am reading, or should I say rereading. It is so funny. and very true of some of the online groups I have belonged to in the past :0




and here is a favorite beef stew recipe. It is so yummy. and smells incredible in the crockpot. In fact the first time I made it. It woke me up from a nap :)

Beef Daube Provençal


Best Beef Recipe. This classic French braised beef, red wine, and vegetable stew is simple and delicious. It stands above all of our other beef recipes because it offers the homey comfort and convenience of pot roast yet is versatile and sophisticated enough for entertaining. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme. --Recipe by Lia Huber (November 2004)

2 teaspoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
3 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)
Chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 300°.
Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; bring to a boil.

Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Wine note: This satisfying beef stew deserves a rich, earthy, and soulful wine--one with a soft, thick texture. I love the complexity and juiciness of the Kuleto Estate Syrah 2004 from Napa Valley, California ($45), which elevates this stew into a princely dinner. --Karen MacNeil

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup stew and 1/2 cup noodles)

CALORIES 367 (31% from fat); FAT 12.8g (sat 4.3g,mono 5.8g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 29.1g; CHOLESTEROL 105mg; CALCIUM 76mg; SODIUM 776mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 4.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.4g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. But I have never heard my husband laugh so hard as when he heard this song!

BRAD PAISLEY LYRICS

"I'm Still A Guy"

When you see a deer you see Bambi
And I see antlers up on the wall
When you see a lake you think picnic
And I see a large mouth up under that log
You're probably thinking that you're going to change me
In some ways well maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up but no matter what
I'm still a guy

When you see a priceless French painting
I see a drunk, naked girl
You think that riding a wild bull sounds crazy
And I'd like to give it a whirl
Well love makes a man do some things he ain't proud of
And in a weak moment I might walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I'm still a guy

I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

I can hear you now talking to your friends
Saying, "Yeah girls he's come a long way"
From dragging his knuckles and carrying a club

And building a fire in a cave
But when you say a backrub means only a backrub
Then you swat my hand when I try
Well, what can I say at the end of the day
Honey, I'm still a guy

I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

These days there's dudes getting facials
Manicured, waxed and botoxed
With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands
You can't grip a tacklebox

With all of these men lining up to get neutered
It's hip now to be feminized
I don't highlight my hair
I've still got a pair
Yeah honey, I'm still a guy

Oh my eyebrows ain't plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Oh thank God, I'm still a guy

and I leave you with a picture. We went strawberry picking this week. I grabbed Lance's camera and forgot to check settings. It was set for incandesent lighting. So I really had to work to get these pictures decent!

April 16 th

I love this song. I hope it blesses someone.

April 15th

Happy Tax day LOL.

My lunch today. A yummy blt. You'll notice it is not the same sandwich I have been eating everday for the last 5 years. Why you ask? Well it seems that every pregnancy they learn of something new that you should not consume. Deli products. Unless they are the packaged kind. Because they may not be kept cold enough to keep bacteria away. So I must find new things to eat.



Food is funny when you are pregnant. I love chocolate. My husband says I eat so much I must make chocolate milk :) But this pregnancy I can't eat it. So weird. What could you not eat when pregnant? Please share :)

April 7th

As you can tell I am having a hard time keeping up with the blog right now :) I will continue to do my best but I am not aiming for every day right now. I can barely make dinner!

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken.

Evidence of life with little ones :)



It was so warm the other night. After going out to dinner we came home and played with sidewalk chalk.

March 30 and 31. April 1st

I was a bad girl and did not take a picture on Sunday. I was busy doing this and that. Mostly cooking, I made aplle dumplings, cooked lunch and we had ribs, corn and baked potatoes for dinner, that I just plum forgot. So here is yesterdays






and today's. A card I made using the march kit at 3 Scrappy boys.