Catchin' up... More Food!

While the gals were here, I had a head of cauliflower waiting for Donna to make her dish. Well, we ran out of time. I didn't have the recipe, but I steamed the cauliflower, added cooked bacon, black olives, different cheeses, and some spices. After baking it in the oven, we served it with sour cream and dug in! Delicious!

From Cook's Country, we tried their Crispy Chicken Nuggets with various sauces. I must say we've made better sauces, but the chicken was incredible! The gang loved them. A light, crispy outside and a tender inside. I would like to try baking them next time and see if they're as good.

 Sloppy Joe's are a hit with the boys. This time we baked sweet potato fries, yummy! I never thought I would eat anything from this 'heart healthy' book. Surprise, surprise! The Chicken Marengo is to die for! We had made this for years and then I couldn't find the recipe. I'm glad I opened the 'healthy' cookbook again! The last two clips is a picture of Fire-roasted Tagliatelle. Tagliatelle is a pasta similar to fettuccine. I threw it together with some sauteed red peppers, onion, garlic, fire roasted peppers, cumin, and s&p. I also added cheese and a little cream at the end. Oooooo.... sooooo good. Next time I'm going to add black olives and sauteed mushrooms.

 Speaking of sauteed mushrooms, we love to saute them and add balsamic vinegar. A quick side, loved by all. Jordan is on the search for 'Peanut Butter Chicken.' The restaurants here don't serve it and we can't drive up North every time he wants some. This first try was horrid! Absolutely horrid! (I do have some good news coming later.) We also made Ree Drummond's Perfect Pot Roast; and was it ever! Very good!

This last set of pics is dedicated to Sausage, Peppers, & Onions, and Haluski. My parents make this meal and we love to make it in our home, too. The veggies are beautiful. The only thing is I couldn't find my recipe for the Haluski and I added caraway seeds, not remembering. Nope, it was a different creature, but still good. I prefer my Haluski without caraway seeds... note to self!
~ Jenny ~
♥

Catchin' up... 4 Gals Come for a Visit

October brought more visitors... family from Tennessee! We just love anytime spent with Donna, Heather, Jan and Keely. My boys grew very close to their Aunt Donna and Uncle Shane while living in New York (you can see part of why with all the Halloween candy she brought for them...) and were devastated to see them move. How happy we were to spend so much time with our Tennessee family while traveling for the big job search. We hope to see much more of them now that we're only a state away. We crammed a lot into their two night visit.

The first night I enjoyed whipping up the Pork Scallopini we so love. Donna chopped away at a beautiful salad. For Dessert we tried Pioneer Woman's Cobbler for the first time ~ with blueberries. Was it ever delicious! Jordan believes it should be a weekly dish. It was most scrumptious with homemade whipped cream courtesy of Keely!

The next morning Keely joined John and I for Jordan's soccer game at 8:30, along with our Starbuck's coffee from Harris Teeter. The rest of the sleepyheads (and Tim, who had been working) joined us for John's game at 11. It was a wonderful time and enjoyed lunch at Sweet Tomatoes after the games. The kids were dying to go Frankie's, but the grown ups won out and we got to check out the Farmer's Market!

So many beautiful fruits, veggies, and plants. I do believe the kids enjoyed it, too. I'll tell y'all, it was soooo wonderful to have a girl in the bunch. I was very sad to see Keely go (and the rest of the gang.) The market also had an enjoyable indoor area of arts, crafts, and novelties. Mmmmm... I can still smell the clams we would have tried had our bellies not been full. Note the pic of the kids in front of the pumpkins... the smile didn't stay for long as their was a split. Oh, yes, we bought pumpkin guts at the market. :(

It was finally time to move on. Frankie's! Cheers from the kids. Lazer tag is a definite must, even us old folks joined in! (I won't mention that Tim beat my score this time, I'm not used to being beat in lazer tag!.... revenge!!!!) The kids had a blast with the bumper boats and spraying each other.

The kids had their turn on the racetrack. Keely sure did whip around it! I was waiting for someone to take out some tires, but all could get their driver's licenses (don't tell them I said so.) Inside the arcade we all played a bit. I do believe the entire gang had a turn at air hockey. Keely raked in the tickets (beginner's luck we decided). On the way out I eyed a Frogger machine (they have Ms. Pacman, too). If we ever go back, I know where I'm headed! Ribbit!

 Somehow, we had enough energy to crawl

over to Longhorn and wait, and wait, and wait. It was well worth waiting for! Have you ever been to one? It was so late in the evening, I wasn't hungry... until the food came. The Stuffed Mushrooms were INCREDIBLE! Shrimp, French Onion Soup, Salmon, Ribs,.... Oh, my! What a feast! That is hot chocolate pictured; the kids were in heaven.

 We came home and crashed. Okay, so maybe we gabbed a bit, and then crashed. We did spend some time hanging, working on ancestry, listening to Dailey (or should I say Kilts?) stories, playing bakugan, marbles, cards, making french toast, serving Heather Gevalia coffee, lol, and having Jan save Heather with her incredible doctoring skills!

What a blast to be had with all! We were so sad to see the gang leave. Saying goodbye is always hard, but is a must so we can say hello, again. Anyways, although we did say goodbye, it wasn't the end, because our crazy family are...

Stalkers!!!! Lol! We jumped into the van and followed them to Starbucks. (The Gevalia just wouldn't do)   ;)

It was nice to steal a few extra hugs...


...Here we are, the whole gang. We miss y'all! (Believe it or not, we still have more Tennessee family and friends, and our looking forward to visits by all!)

~Jenny~

♥

Catchin' up... Still in October

What a chore this was! Weeding through the boys' soccer pics. Oh, how I wanted to share with y'all 5, 10, 20, no... at least 30 pics of the guys each. I settled on six and Jordan picked them out with me. If anyone has any desire to send me a 200mm tele min. with an f-stop of 2.8, feel free! Then I might be weeding through hundreds of pics! :)

The boys and I had fun with birds. We used really cool watercolor pencils and then a wet paintbrush. My guys were amazed by the transformation. I wish my art skills were good to work with the boys. That's an area of schooling I fall short. When we'd go to Florida, the boys loved art with their Aunt Jan and have been able to take advantage of a few workshops.

 

Sometimes we have another student, Lily. It's a rarity to see her sitting in a chair, her usual spot is on Jordan's bed or sprawled out on the school table.... the guys have a favorite place for games, their closet, lol! It was a solution for Lily wanting to play out of turn. My Little Men are certainly comfortable with their new 'home.'... Scootering in jams? What's next? :)

♥

~ Jenny ~

Catchin' up.... Company

Good morning!

I was going to share more food, but instead will share some delightfuly, crazy company our home had before this busy day today. Here in North Carolina we've found ourselves miles from all our friends and family: north, south, and west. What a blessing to discover a cherished couple found themselves living a couple of hours away at about the same time!

We took the Brooks to a favorite place that the boys and I discovered a couple of miles from our house. Frankie's. What a blast (and a workout) playing Lazer Tag!!!! After we hung out in the arcade part and all played. Do you notice where Joe ended up? Not surprised! Even Tim had fun racing Jordan... should I let it slip that Jordan won by a couple hundred thousand points? Shhhh....

At the house we hung, enjoyed pizza & wings (from Randy's... it's pretty good pizza!), some other goodies (fudge and such), you'll never believe what movie, and just good fellowship. We love sharing our little home with friends. ♥

~ Jenny ~

Catchin' up.... Where did October go?

Yikes! It's been a month... full of fun days, sick days, Providence days, soccer days, crazy days, school days, family days, and friend days. Where do I begin? How about with food!!!! Yum! We all love food sooooooo much. (Okay, some more than others.) I certainly do like creating in the kitchen, especially when my Little Men are in there with me.

One night we made a delicious roast (and I'm NOT a roast person, doing it for my guys) with veggies. I was pleasantly surprised and my guys enjoyed it. What was even more incredible (I thought) was cooking the leftovers down the next evening and making 'sloppy joes'.... yum! A definite winner. I also threw the leftover veggies into the cast iron and gave 'em a nice crisp...             No more leftovers! Do I remember what I did? Lol!!!! NO! *sigh* I do need to keep track of these things! (I was so sure it would be a loser... roast, right?)

 Before I share more dinners, a little breakfast and lunch to reveal. Our boys LOVE Baked Oatmeal! I found the recipe in a cherished Amish cookbook. Living in NY's North Country for many years, I was fortunate enough to live among the Amish. I found their 'simple' life fascinating. Although, I didn't find anything 'simple' about how hard working and devoted they are. As much as I hint and suggest, my husband has no desire to 'simplify' to the point of no electricity or vehicles. When it boils down to it, I would miss my photos. Back to the oatmeal. I did add a fruit topping (depending on what's on hand) to it that now the boys won't let me do without. Another delicious breakfast, which I don't make as often as I'd like, is grits. Now, I realize there are some people who like sugar on there grits. Not me! (And what my boys don't know won't hurt them!) I love to fry up some bacon and poor on the butter and maybe even some garlic powder. I could go make a batch right now!

Quesadillas are an easy lunch for my Little Men. They like to choose their own 'guts.' When avocados are present, guacamole is made! In fact, the boys devour the quesadillas, while I chow on the guac! It's my Granny's recipe. Funny thing is Granny didn't care for guacamole, but she sure did make a mean one!

Jordan likes to create in the kitchen. This is one he'll eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner... granola, bananas, yogurt, cinnamon, and agave nectar. Sometimes he adds raisins or dried cranberries. I like to throw in some toasted almonds...

Ahhhhh, Rib Dinner. These ribs are extremely easy. Once grill season was over, we would miss our ribs. Not anymore! Chef Prudhomme has some excellent spices available including Meat Magic. Rub the magic onto some ribs and let them bake in the oven. Mmmmm.... I can smell them now.

This time the ribs were served with Parsley Potatoes and Cheese Toast (makes the kiddos real happy.) I fell in love with Parsley Potatoes when my parents took me to Kojak's House of Ribs in Tampa, FL. Oh, my! I don't believe Paula Deen uses that much butter (and parsley). They've since become a favorite here.We do extra potatoes for left overs the next morning. Yep. Mash 'em a little and throw 'em into the cast iron pan!

There is nothing like homemade Mac N Cheese. I especially like my Mom's. It's the best, hands down. But is that what I made? Nope. I have boys that don't like bacon in it, bread crumbs on top, or the large macaroni. Goodness! In fact, one boy doesn't care for pasta. *sigh* All three saw this recipe in Cook's Country Magazine and thought they'd like to have it. Okay, consider it done. It was different from Mom's, but enjoyable. The outcome? Satisfied all but one.... still searching.

I would love to add more, but I'm just exhausted! Who knows if any of this post makes sense considering my eyes are being held opened with toothpicks. I hope to continue tomorrow,... probably in the evening.

~Jenny~