Modus Operandi ~ A Great Weekend

 

Weekend mean down time at our home!  With the busyness of the week, I know hugga mugga just wants to snuggle a little longer in bed and to be reassured that he is loved.   He wants to spend time with me and I want to let him know that our life can be full without being on the go every minute of every day! 

Connections…we love to get together with friends!  With the sun shining so brightly this morning we threw together a picnic and headed to the park!

Tia brought….Orange Cottage Cheese Salad and

A Veggie Tray!

It’s the little things……..simple pleasures ..it means filling our days with down-time together, finding easy ways to be of service to our loved ones and communities, taking care of our home and each other.  The sprinklers are turned on, the grass is getting green, and we are ready to enjoy summer!

Our recipe for a perfect weekend:

1. Morning cuddles

2. Breakfast of our favorite waffles with strawberries and whipped cream!

3. Finding time to laugh….his favorite things to do…”Make others laugh!”

4, We tried to do a little laundry this morning…our first disaster of the day!   Lint all over the dark clothes!  OOPS!

5. Get ready for a picnic in the park…..

6. Home for some very needed rest and watch our favorite Curious George episode!

7. A very light dinner ….after all that picnic we don’t need much!

8. A bath is definitely needed after all that outdoor play time!

9.  Time to read our favorite book and have a bottle of Brand New Milk…

10.  Off to sleep so we can start Sunday Morning off right….Church early in the morning!

All Aboard

Free-Range Turkey Sloppy Joe

After 10 days of not much to eat because of sickness….we enjoyed

Philly Cheese Turkey Sloppy Joes….and wow…did they bring a smile!

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground turkey – I used free range/fabulous!

1 cup onion diced

1 green bell pepper diced

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup A-1 Steak Sauce

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup Better Than Bouillion Vegetable Base

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

8 whole wheat buns

8 slices provolone cheese – or your favorite white cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet sauté chopped onion and green pepper in butter until tender.   Add turkey and brown over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked.

2. Combine A-1 sauce, Worcestershire, and Vegetable Broth.  Sprinkle in the salt and pepper.  Stir into the turkey mixture and bring mixture to bubbling by turning it up to high.  Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated about 3 – 5 minutes

3. On a baking sheet, layout buns, separating the tops from the bottoms.  On the botom halves spoon approximately 1/2 cup of the meat mixture and 1 slice of cheese.

4. Broil open faced sandwiches until the top bun is golden brown and the cheese is good and melted.   Remove from the oven and assemble and stack with desired toppings.

This will happen again soon …quick, easy, diet delight!

Kendry Speaks….

Where is Easter

Kendry Diving Board

Busy Making Busy Bags

Tonight I was putting together several busy bags for the road trip with Little Man.   One of the bags needs a cute plastic bottle to stuff pompoms into.  

Pet Peeve incoming…..Trying to get sticky stickers off of bottles and jars (and whatever else) is probably one of my TOP TEN pet peeves….because I try to do it all the time… with little or NO SUCCESS at all.   Without getting off track I seem to have LOTS of pet peeves! (pumping my own gas (which I have done for 30 some years), wearing a bra(which I have also done for only 30 years ), losing my car keys in my purse…enough said!)

…. But this is a SERIOUS one! I can’t tell you how much time and how many different methods, substances, etc. I have tried in my search for the holy grail of sticker goo removers.

Off to the internet to do my research again.  Ding Ding Ding….it works…slick as a whistle.

PEANUT BUTTER!….I repeat   PEANUT BUTTER…Lather it on…wait 15 minutes…..

 

Wipe it off….used some Dawn Dish Soap and dried with a towel…Voilà

I kid you not…I couldn’t tell which side the sticker was on….I’m in love!

…Bring on the empty bottles!

Vegetable Plate Flower

 

This will definitely be on the table for Easter Dinner!

Little Explorer

If the weather is even slightly cooperating, we venture to the backyard…

We found lots of treasures….a soccer ball hidden since last summer..

A spider web…..

 

along with several lichens on trees, bird feathers, and grass that is “smushed “ from the winter weather. 

But before long we are back inside because this happens….eyes that are itchy!

Do you like to explorer when the weather is cooperative?

Yes ~ Again God Has Called a Loved One Home

Today my beautiful, sweet, loving, generous, kind…Aunt Nell joined her family in Heaven. Over the past few months grief has taught me many lessons. It is the simple things, the little things, which are often the ones that make our life the happiest. I love and cherish every minute that my life was touched by my Aunt Nellie. So often we focus on all the negative that comes from our grief, which has happened way to often for me lately, but for me it is important that I look at the lessons I have learned and realize that my pain, my incredibly hard journey has taught me to be a better person, be a happier person, do more as a person, and love my life more completely and fully.

I am truly gifted with a loving family. Once again I am gifted with the ability to understand the brevity of life. I am thankful for every second of happiness that life has granted me. I love you Aunt Nellie.   Rob, you and your family are in my heart and prayers.

Pasta e Fagioli at Home

 

Sunday afternoon we dined out at Olive Garden.   Gotta love their soup, salad, and breadsticks unlimited.   Their menu also has some very nice entrée that were very tempting, but we went with the Soup.    DH went with Pasta e Fagioli and I of course went with Creamy Chicken Gnocchi.  

Fast forward two days and DD tells me she would really like soup for dinner, she wasn’t feeling all that well again today.   So I did my best to make a nice big pot of Pasta e Fagioli. 

                                                                                     

Ingredients

1 pound ground sausage

1 small onion dice

4 medium carrots sliced thin

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, mince

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 15 ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 bottle V-8 Juice

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

12 oz package of ditali pasta

Instructions:

1. Brown the ground sausage in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. 

2. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.

3 Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.   Use enough V-8 Juice to get the consistency you like for soup.

4. About 50 minutes into the simmering, cook the pasta until al dente about 10 minutes.  Drain.

5 Add the pasta to the large pot of soup.  Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more and serve.

Ditalini is a type of pasta that is shaped like small tubes. The literal translation from the Italian language to English is "small fingers". It has been described as "thimble-sized" and as "very short macaroni"

It was a hit with the picky eater… 4 year old… he ate a very large bowl full…that means it was worth the time it took to put this all together.

Celebrating 5 Of Kendry’s Favorite Things

Because we have a summer birthday…it’s time to celebrate with friends at pre-school. 

So here is our treat bag of 5 of Kendry’s favorite things this year:  
He loves --- apples juice, baseball, trains, rocks, and Legos (of course)!    Inside the little box marked Friends stick together are 5 hematite magnetic rocks.  The apple juice box says, “Kendry is juiced about Legos.”   The train whistle is a reminder of how often we go to the train park and watch for Frontrunner.   Kendry autographed (with lots of assistance) a soft baseball for each of his friends with his favorite number #4…even though he is going to be 5…he still wants to be 4.

 

Grandma Nancy…helped us make these great Lego soap bars….aren’t they just the cutest!

Here is the treat bag all ready to go……can’t wait to share it with our friends.