chicken pesto stuffed shells {yum!}

I have been very proud of myself lately in regards to my actions in the kitchen. I have been cooking "from scratch" a lot more, and trying new things instead of the same old enchiladas/tacos/nachos/spaghetti/whatever-else-I-make-but-could-never-name-even-under-gunpoint meals. Pinterest has helped peaked my taste buds in many of my cooking endeavors (jalapeno popper dip, stuffed bell peppers, cheesecake lemon squares, s'mores bars) and the other day I saw a picture of stuffed shells. Checked out the recipe, but it was too complex, or at least for this hectic Mama! So I made my own version, crossed my fingers, and prayed that the kids would like it (they hated the stuffed bells, of course).

Much to my surprise, they gobbled it up. I am talking dinner was over in 10 minutes, max. I call that a success, and they were relatively easy, I will definitely be making them again! I had to share my recipe here just in case you are looking for another easy, healthy-ish meal to serve your family. It also makes a lot, I made an 8x8 and put another 8x8 in the freezer, and I still have a bowl of the stuffing left, I just ran out of shells! Here is the recipe, I tried to write measurements, but when I cook as I go I mainly wing it. You can tailor it to your families tastes if you try this out!

Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells
Makes 3-8x8 pans, or 1-9x13 and 1-8x8 (great for freezer meals!)
Prep time: 30-45 mins (or less, I am just a slow cook)
Bake time: 30 mins @ 350*

1 box large pasta shells
1 jar (or batch) of your favorite smooth spaghetti sauce (I think the absence of chunks in the sauce made the kids love it more)
16 oz grated mozzarella (use the block and grate your own, makes a WORLD of difference in taste)
1 small jar pesto (or make your own, but seriously? Who has the time?)
16 oz ricotta
1 1/2 C. (more or less depending how "meaty" you want it) cooked and shredded chicken (I did this step before hand, earlier in the day and it made the meal prep so much faster)

First step, cook and shred your chicken. Set aside. Set a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. In a large bowl combine ricotta, jar of pesto, 1/2 of the mozzarella. Mix well. Add the chicken and stir till all mixed together. Taste and make sure it's how you like it, you can add salt and pepper here if you so desire. I felt the pesto added enough flavor. Set this aside and finish cooking your shells, cook until tender, but not soggy, you want a bit of firmness to them. When noodles are done, drain and rinse with cold water. This helps them stop cooking and makes them manageable for stuffing (you don't want to burn you flesh off on boiling hot noodles!)

Set out your pans of choice. In the bottom of each pan pour a small amount of sauce and spread around to make a thin layer (I did one pan at a time so that I didn't have a sauced pan that I didn't use). Begin stuffing shells, each shell takes a heaping tablespoon or so of filling, you have a lot, so you can afford to be generous. Lay shells touching in your pan. (I got 15 shells in one 8x8). Top stuffed shells with a small layer (1/3 C?) of sauce and then top with 1/3 of the remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered. Devour!

Of course the putting it together part is all how you like it! Your family likes sauce? add more! Cheese is your thing? Pile it on. It's the pesto in the filling that makes the dish! I hope you try this out and let me know what you think! Oh, and when I freeze mine, I completely assemble, cheese and all, and then freeze in your preferred method.

Not a great picture, but yeah, we dug in before I got the camera out! Yum, yum, yum! (If I do say so myself)

chilly!

It is finally starting to feel like winter around here. We are constantly bundled in socks, slippers, sweats, and piles and piles of blankets, and we even have the heat on! Ha! We have been living in Texas so long our bodies aren't used to the cold. Sad day.

All this cold weather makes me want to cook WARM things. Though I would prefer to eat a nice hoagie sandwich every night, the family gets sick of it. Enter chili. I have never been a scratch chili maker, we always got the good stuff in the can, or jar and were satisfied with that. I have seen the error of my ways and have now been converted to the ease and yumminess that is crockpot chili. It's different every time, but always good.

I have a batch going right now that is:

1 pkg Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage, browned well
1 lb. hamburger, browned well
2 cans chili beans, undrained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can tomato sauce
1 pkg of fajita seasonings...I didn't have a pkg of chili seasonings! Yikes! Smells good though, and I think the lime in the fajita stuff will add a little something special.

Throw it all in the crockpot and let simmer all day.

Best part about chili is you can serve it a million ways. We have eaten it over rice with cheese, over Frito's with cheese and sour cream, topped with cheese and a side of cornbread...the list goes on!

How do you like your chili? And do you have a favorite, easy recipe? Please share!

Oh dear.

I love to bake. Love. But since I started weight watchers I haven't really had the chance, because if I bake something I eat at least half the pan. Keith is more an ice cream guy, and of course I try to limit my kids servings (if only I was that diligent for myself!). A friend of mine is hosting a craft night tonight and told everyone to bring a dessert. Yes! That means I had the opportunity to peruse through my favorited recipes and pick the most decadent one, because I can take it to the party, have my five one small piece, and let everyone else eat it too!

I settled on these Fudge Revel Bars from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website (I can waste hours on that site!). The blog showcased a plethora of bars and brownies last week and I about died looking at my computer screen. These ones SCREAMED eat me, and the ingredients are very simple!

They are cooking right now, and I am pretty sure I gained about 5 lbs just from making them. I am thinking I may have to take any leftovers to our neighbors to keep the temptation out of my house!

Plum Tuckered Out!

The last 2 and a half days have been so full of activity that I am ready to crawl back under my covers and stay there for the next week! In all honesty I am most happy when I am spending my days lazing about at home, there are always plenty of things to do, and I never seem to get bored. My cabin fever was getting bad though, because after a few weeks of being a hermit, sometimes you just need to get out!

I thought I would cure it with a much needed picnic, so Monday morning on our weekly grocery trip the kids and I picked out some fun foods to have a picnic that night. I am so glad we did, because I am not kidding, the weather was perfect! It was slightly overcast, breezy, and just down right beautiful! The kids had fun running around, and I had fun sitting and relaxing. It's so nice to take them to the park as a family because Keith can be the parent that chases them around while I get to sit!



Apparently that didn't cure my fever though, because Wednesday became the most booked day I have ever had. Fun, but exhausting. The day started with a trip to the local library for the reopening of story time for the summer. We really love the librarian that does story time (Mr. Bob) and the kids missed him so much during May when the librarians do school visits, so story time gets put on hold. Anywho, we got some great books to start our summer reading logs. The kids are excited to get prizes for reading. I guess there is nothing wrong with a little bribery every now and again, as long as they are enjoying the books!

After story time we headed home to gather up supplies for a trip to the strawberry farm with my friend Betsy and her adorable kids. We all packed lunches and the kids all had a "car picnic" on the way there. Brady was sitting near Betsy's new (2 month old?) baby and at one point told me, "Mama, I love baby Kate", can you say sweet? He couldn't get enough of her, and to be honest neither can I! She is teensy and precious.


The strawberry picking was a success! The weather was perfectly overcast, so we didn't sweat to death, and the kids were all excited about what we were going to be doing. We doled out buckets, set a few ground rules (only pick the red ones and don't eat any), and they were off. All of them did so well, and with a few minor setbacks; ginormous patches of mud, a few falls with dropped buckets of berries (Brady), and one incident of shoes literally stuck in the mud (Brady), we were able to get a good 10 lbs of berries between the lot of us. I am so glad we went, it was a good time and we came home with some fabulous loot!

After picking berries and then cleaning off our feet, we headed over to some friends of ours who so graciously let us use their pool! I couldn't think of a better way to cool (and clean) off from a sweaty, muddy excursion. It was a great way to top off a busy afternoon. Thanks again Betsy for coming with!


After a good nights sleep (the kids slept in till after 8, they were so tired!) I was ready to just stay home and get the laundry done, and make my first ever batches of strawberry freezer jam. My Mom always made this stuff growing up, so I was excited to try my hand at it. I have to say it turned out yummy! And we shouldn't have to buy jam for at least a year! I found some sweet little plastic freezer "jars" (with cute purple lids!)and used some liquid pectin by Ball for my batches and it worked just fine. I was a little nervous because I know my Mom always used the powdered pectin (which makes jam solid), but the liquid was very simple and seems to have done the trick.



Anywho, I digress. The morning was uneventful, well if you can count washing AND putting away ALL of the laundry (woot!) and making the jam (can you tell I am excited about that dang jam??). I was just getting logged on to work, and getting the kids settled down for a movie for the time before Daddy gets home when I got a phone call. It was Keith and he had been rear ended. Through multiple phone calls and texts we decided that since Keith's head broke out the rear window of his truck, that a trip to the ER to get checked out was necessary.

Everything kind of fell into place and our friends were able to pick up the kids, and treat them to McDonalds, and watch them for the next 5 hours (Thank you Taylors!!), and I was also able to leave work and take Keith in. After 2 unsuccessful attempts at getting the catheter needle in his arm (apparently he has tough skin, because the first one literally BENT, and the second on PINCHED CLOSED), he was all C collared up and we waited for the CTs. Thankfully all scans were negative and now all we can do is keep any pain under control and make sure no strange symptoms manifest. It may seem that I am being overly cautious, but in cases like this better safe than sorry! I told Keith that if I ever wake up and he is dead in bed beside me, I would kill him! So we are just trying to make sure that doesn't happen any time soon! Next comes the waiting, and the checking out of the vehicle, and all that jazz. I hate car accidents! This is our first between the two of us, and I hope that we don't have another for a long, long time!

All I can say is after all that excitement, I am ready for a lazy weekend!

Sweet Treat

The easiest fruit pizza you will ever make, and so good!

Dough:
2 C. flour
1 C. softened margarine
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. minced nuts (optional)

Mix together until a soft dough forms, press into half size cookie sheet or 13x9 pan. If you use a larger full size cookie sheet double the dough. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, just until browned. Let cool.

Topping:
1 8oz. cream cheese, softened
1 8oz. cool whip
1 C. powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and sugar till smooth, beat in cool whip on low speed. Spread over cooked and cooled crust.
Top with your favorite fruit, or whatever you have on hand. We have used kiwi, canned mandarins, berries, bananas, peaches, etc. Yum!

Hurrah for good deals!

OK, now we are supposed to be pinching pennies right now because there seem to be a MILLION things that we have to spend money on coming up in the next month or so. But today I went to Target and found some great deals on important stuff! I was so excited, and I thought I would pass the savings on to you! In their seasonal section (where they have the Christmas, Halloween, whatever stuff) right now they have a ton of household items sold in bulk for some pretty good prices. If you compare to the normal packages in the main store it ends up being about the same as buy 2 get one free, which is pretty good considering that things like toothpaste, and deodorant rarely go on sale, and if you are not a coupon person you just end up paying full price when you finally run out (that would be me). So if you are in need of toothpaste, deodorant, toothbrushes, sandwich bags, laudry soap, etc. check out Target when you get the chance!

Also, a few weeks ago Haley (a friend from church for those of you not from around here) took me to a magical place...the Mrs. Baird's bakery outlet!! I will never buy bread again from the supermarket! We went today and I got a package of Thomas plain bagels, a bag of 12 Thomas mini bagels, and 3 loaves of OroWeat bread for $5.50. Now that is a steal! That bread is expensive, but it is SO good for you so I normally splurge on it! And it was 4 for $4! If any of you haven't found this place yet, it is on the SW corner of Arkansas and Collins in kind of a weird strip mall thing. It looks shady, but inside it is nice and clean and full of wonderful deals! Happy shopping!

Father's Day Wrap Up and a movie review

I tried very hard to make Father's Day special this year for Keith. The kids and I took him for lunch on Monday of last week, then I surprised him with lunch on Friday. And we wanted to do something fun this weekend. I ended up working during the day, but we decided to brave a movie with Brady on Saturday night. We knew Natalie would be good, but had no idea how Brady would act. So with my purse filled with Ziploc bags of popcorn and one ginormous water bottle we headed off to see Kung Fu Panda. It would take too long to explain the whole ordeal, but long story short. Keith and I had to take turns going out with Brady because the movie was too loud or too scary or whatever other reasons made him start so say "Wanna go down der" in a loudish (but not SUPER loud) toddler voice. So I missed the first part of the movie trying to convince Brady to go back in, and Keith missed parts of the middle, and then I missed all of the end taking Brady out. The poor guy just didn't like the dark and the loudness and all the people, it made for a not too good combination. Natalie on the other hand did awesome! She laughed, and she even teared up for one emotional part, which I thought was so sweet! She leaned over and said, Mommy I am crying a little bit! She is becoming a movie crier just like her Momma! The parts of the movie that I saw were very good and Keith and I compared notes and decided it was good enough to own. The action was good, the story was funny, and most importantly we ALL liked it! Even Brady liked the parts he stayed in the theater for. It wasn't you typical movie going experience, but it was fun. I was able to take Brady on the Carousel and he loved that. He kept saying Giddy Up and Wheeee! Overall a fun, and very interesting, family night!

Then on Sunday we all slept in a bit due to the fact that the children decided to play musical beds. But, I was still able to prepare a breakfast feast for Keith, and that was fun and yummy. Then after a relatively smooth Sabbath (hurrah! normally Sunday's are the most fightingest of days for us) we ate a good dinner and then sat down to a family activity that I KNEW was going to be fun AND stressful!

We made sugar cookies! When Grandma Lori came to visit she brought this super cool sugar cookie "play doh"! It came in 4 colors and we all just dug in and started making creations. It was greasy and messy and a whole lot of fun. I realized after that I should have video taped it rather than trying to catch the sweetness on camera, but you live and learn!

Ready to play!
Brady was tentative at first, but after watching Sissy he got the hang of it pretty quick! Keith was the master cookie creator! He came up with the funnies things! Baby hands...
Brady with his mouth full of blue dough! Once we let him try it, it was pretty much all he wanted to do...EAT THAT DOUGH! She was concentrating SO hard! I just wish the pictures would have turned out, I am still trying to figure out how to NOT use the flash, I loved the natural lighting, but it was making pictures difficult for a novice like me! Here are some of our favorite cookies. We all had one before bed, and Keith said it best "tastes like fingers!" They were good, but you could tell some of them had been worked, and worked, and worked on! Still fun, and very worth it! Thanks Grandma Lori for the great idea, and sorry you weren't able to play too!

Restaurant Review: Red Hot & Blue

My Dad had to ship some things home from the FedEx store and it just so happened to be in the same strip as a Red Hot & Blue, which Keith and I have seen numerous times, but never tried. Dad ran in and grabbed a menu and after we glanced at it for like a second we decided to have our final dinner of the trip there. They serve Memphis style BBQ and you can check out their site HERE (beware, there is sound). We all really liked it, it has the same style of food as a Colter's or some other cafeteria style BBQ place, but you sit down, and there are TONS more choices of food. We will probably go back, seeing as how Keith loves ribs, but I refuse to make them (too much raw meat). The kids menu was good to, with actual vegetable choices that they would actually eat. Overall a B+.

I must have an issue with taking family pictures, because even though I PLANNED on taking pictures of my Dad with the kids, this is the only picture of him I got. We were munching on yummy spicy sausage. I think he is handsome, and I didn't even get a good picture of the ponytail! Dang it!
Mmm...saltines. Heaven forbid they wait for the food

Gotta love "free" stuff!

This morning Keith found out that his first class was cancelled so he didn't have to leave the house until 10 rather than 8. We passed back and forth the idea of him taking Natalie to school and then returning back to the house for a bit before having to leave. In the end it was decided that I would just take her and then Brady and I would just continue on with our errands leaving Keith at home to have some extra time to get ready in peace (a nice gift, for sure!). Of course, as soon as we got to Target, Keith calls to say his second class is canceled...great! So if we would have had Keith take Nat and then come home I would have had a rare opportunity to drag Keith to my sacred place...Target. As it was I got to see Kelli at Target which is always fun! I love running into friends in a "big city" because it makes it seem that much smaller. Plus all the cool kids hang out at Target after dropping their monkeys off at preschool!

Anywho, I guess I didn't need to share that, but I wanted to record it because that is the kind of stuff that happens to me all the time.

The real interest story of the day came after we picked up Natalie from school. Today is Thursday, I generally take the kids out to eat on Thursdays (or pick up something to take home), but since Keith was with us we decided to eat out (again, I know). There is a CiCi's pizza on the way home from Nat's school and we have eaten there before and didn't hate it and it's cheap and the kids will eat it, so there we went! Anyways we walk in the lady takes our order, Keith pulls out his debit card to pay,and she tells us "oh! our machine is down...you can just go ahead and eat." Um, what? I asked if they took checks...nope. She said just go ahead. So, long story even longer, we got a free lunch today at Cici's! It was funny though, because as we ate we kept seeing people come in, and she kept handing out the "free" lunches (someone was paying for it, just not us!). Stunk to be a cash carrier that day!

Eatin' Out

So, I normally take the kids out to eat somewhere for lunch every Thursday after we pick up Natalie from school, be it McDonald's to take home or to the park, or Panda Express. This Thursday though I was planning on my Step mom being here so I decided I would take the kids out on one more special lunch before more grandparents arrived (they are still coming, just in 2 weeks instead of this week). So anywho, we splurged and went to where else? On the Border! It was such a nice day so I wanted to take them somewhere we could sit outside. We sat kind of outside on their patio. It was very nice. The kids dug right in to the chips. Natalie surprised me and ordered a taco, she wanted rice. She ate all of it in the course of the day! She loved that rice.
Brady was playing "CHEESE"! At first he was posing for the camera, and then he was using his quesadilla AS a camera. A little side note of bragging, both other tables of people that were out there complimented my kids for being so well behaved! I love that, makes me feel like I have done something right! (I really don't deserve such good kids, as I have heard I was quite the stinker!)
The birds were flying/walking all around in there. Natalie was getting pretty freaked out, but it was funny. This is the best picture I could get, can you see him hiding behind the table legs?
Overall a very pleasant dining experience! I love going out to eat with the kiddos!

Restaurant Review: Cheddar's

I have to admit I was a little leery of going HERE. I thought for sure it was going to be along the lines of a Cracker Barrel (which is a greasier, nastier version of Black Eyed Pea), but it came at the recommendation of one of Keith's coworkers (they told us we HAD to get the Cookie Monster) so we gave it a shot a few nights ago. I will say I was pleasantly surprised. We all enjoyed our food and I was SO happy with mine. I got grilled salmon and 2 sides and because I ordered the lunch portion it was only $7.50. Cheap seafood usually is not such a good thing, but it was great! The cookie monster (a large chocolate chip cookie warmed up with ice cream on top) was OK, not THAT good, but fun at least once, and it too was relatively cheap at only 3.99. Overall a pleasant experience and really good prices!

Soup: A day late

Well, two days ago it was rainy and nasty all day long, but I didn't plan ahead and so for dinner we were stuck eating hot dogs, baked beans and salad. Not a very hearty meal for a blustery day. So the next day, just in case, I made soup. And of course it was sunny with a bit of a chill in the air, but the soup was still good! So good in fact (if I do say so myself) I wanted to share with you! It is really easy, and it surprised us all with how good it turned out.



Ham and Potato Soup (Oh, yeah, it's good, but not that healthy so don't flip out at the ingredients!)

1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Bisquick (or other baking mix)
1/4 tsp. pepper (I omitted and it was fine, and not too spicy for the kids)
1 C. grated carrots (I sliced up baby carrots instead)
4 C. water
1 C. chopped celery (I didn't have this, so I used corn instead. Soup would probably be wonderful with both, or any vegetable that you like for that matter!)
4 chicken bouillon cubes
5-6 medium potatoes, diced
2 C. grated cheese (any flavor)
2 C. ham, diced (I just used 2 thick sliced of real ham from the deli, and it was fine)

Throw all these together (except cheese) in the crock pot, and cook on high for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally to mix in butter. After soup is bubbly and hot add cheese and allow it to cook a little longer for the cheese to get fully mixed in.

There ya go, an easy recipe! If you like creamy soups you will like it! I promise!

Hurrah for exercise!

Yay! A late ordered Christmas gift arrived yesterday and Keith was kind enough to put it together for me right away! It had SO MANY PARTS!! He did a great job, and I only cringed a few times when he had to rub axle grease on some of the parts. *cringe*
Here it is in all its glory! My new elliptical. I am excited to have it, because this is the ONLY machine I have found that I actually enjoy. I am going to start with baby steps on my path to a slimmer me, I am scared I will get overwhelmed and then get burnt out! Baby steps like exercise but not yet overhauling my diet...
... maybe that is how a huge box of these made it into my cart at the store the other day. I have no idea!
Mmmm...flaky pastry!

and a little P.S. for my parental units so they don't think we broke the bank...we got it from trusty old Wal Mart, so not the bestest one out there, but good enough for us!

mmmmm......

I was pretty impressed with the spread we pulled out this year. We have been pretty busy so it was a miracle we remembered to buy the food before today! Everything turned out pretty good and I wanted to get it down here for posterity's sake. I am off to bed, we have some early morning shopping to do! You gotta feel the pain for those "low low" prices!

Our Thanksgiving "feast"

My first ever homemade berry pie...yummy!

Hello Autumn, hello pumpkin!

So, I have really had absolutely nothing going on around here that has been post worthy. Except this:

Hello Kelli's Double Layer Pumpkin Pie!

(The first pumpkin pie I have actually liked)

Mmmm...Sooooo yummy!

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

4 oz. cream cheese, softened (I use lowfat on this and the cool whip, and it's just as good.)
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cold milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
graham cracker crust
1 can pumpkin (15 oz.)
2 pkgs. vanilla pudding (instant)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves

In large bowl, mix cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk & sugar w/wire whisk until smooth. (Be sure to gets lumps of cream cheese out.) Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups whipped topping, spread on bottom of crust.In 2nd bowl, stir pumpkin, pudding mix & spices into remaining milk. Beat w/ wire whisk until well-blended (will be thick). Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 4 hours. Serve w/remaining whipped topping. Serves 8. (Ha! More like two.)

P.S. I hope Kelli doesn't mind me blabbing her recipe all over town, but it is just TOOO good not to share! Let me know if it is top secret and I will take it off my blog....hehe...maybe....

Some explanation

OK, so awhile back, my friend Kelli posted this and I thought, "why not"? A few days later she posted this to get those of us participating started. then today she posted this and I think this is a VERY good idea. Because of the fact that I know my friends and family read this blog I am thinking I may (stress on the may) be more inclined to watch what I am eating to spare myself any embarrassment. So, starting tomorrow, I too am going to add to my side bar a daily menu and we shall see if anything comes from it!