Dinner Ideas

I have two recipes I made recently that I wanted to share, but no pictures. Sorry. In my opinion, what's a recipe without pictures.

The first one is for my veggie eating brother and sister in law. I made this while my mom was here and we all enjoyed it. (Even the 5 year old)

White Bean and Squash Saute (sounds appetizing right?)

couple of swirls of EVOO

4 squash and/or zucchini halved and sliced

1 small onion chopped

couple of shakes of salt, pepper, and garlic

1 can white cannelinni beans rinsed and drained

chicken or vegetable stock

handful cherry tomatoes halved

Heat oil in skillet and add onion. Cook for about 2 minutes then add squash and seasonings. Saute squash about 5 minutes. Then add stock. Cover and cook until tender. Add beans and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes begin to burst and beans are heated through.

We served this over rice and it was very good. I think I sprinkled some dried parsley and thyme over the finished dish.

The second is more of a tip than a recipe. Have you ever added cream cheese to your spaghetti sauce. We did tonight and it was awesome. I made my spaghetti sauce like normal but added cream cheese at the end. I mixed it with some bow tie pasta, poured it into a pan, covered with pizza cheese, and baked at 350 until bubbly.

It was very yummy and a nice change from traditional spaghetti.

Do you have a tip or favorite recipe?

Here is a little taste of Matt's pre-k greaduation. Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page inorder to here the video. Hope you enjoy!

The Golden Mommy Awards

Last Friday we celebrated our final MOPS (Mothers' of Preschoolers) meeting of the year. We decided to host The Golden Mommy Awards in order to recognize the talents of all our MOPS moms. Let me stop right here and say we jumped on the corny cruise ship and went all out. We dressed up in formals, had a red carpet, gave out gold-spray painted barbie dolls, and even played awards music when each name was called. There was even valet parking provided by some of the dads. The guys wore these hysterical black tux t-shirts; it was very cute. Overall, it was complete and total cheese and I loved every minute!!


The thing I loved the most was that each mom was recognized for a talent/characteristic. Some were serious like most compassionate, inspirational, responsible, or even organized . A few were lighthearted like most pregnant (this mom was due in 3 days!). It was really cool watching everyone get their award because they seemed genuinely surprised and excited.

I received the award for Most Gentle Mom. I had to laugh because that translates to biggest crybaby which is what I almost started doing when they called my name!

I told you we wore formals, the really cool thing was that I wore my high school prom dress from my junior year!! The gym is paying off.

This is our coordinator Dena. She has such a heart for moms and does an amazing job! She received the "Get 'er Done Award". This suits her perfectly because if you need something she is your go-to person. No matter what, Dena will make sure it is done.

I was very glad that my mom was able to join in the festivities. I think it is hard to understand the importance of MOPS if you are not involved. She enjoyed getting to know the other ladies and really saw the value in the organization.

This is my friend and mentor Susan; I love Susan and wish I could adopt her! I first met her on our retreat last year and she kept me in stitches the whole time. She is crazy funny, but has this wonderfully wise and tender side too. She is also going on our mission trip this summer so please keep her in your prayers as well.

Our steering team for 2009-2010.

I have experienced some pretty difficult times this past year and these women were there for me. I am truly blessed.

Busy Bees

I cannot believe that it is almost June!! Where did May go? May is always a busy month in our house but every year I forget this. This year it has been especially busy because Matt is finally old enough to have his own activities to throw into the mix. This is his last week of preschool (sniff sniff), then he is all mine.

Last week Matt had preschool graduation, Richard had a Spring concert, and I had Golden Mommy Awards at MOPS. Everything was great and I will post pictures soon.

I don't think life is going to slow down anytime soon though. We have church fundraising activities planned pretty frequently, home projects, vacation to Colorado, VBS, trips to the grandparents, and the mission trip to Haiti. Not to mention I am still making cake pops. I had a break last week, I only made 4 dozen. This week I need to make 10 dozen by Wednesday so I can go on our MOPS leaders' retreat on Thursday.

Wow, I'm already exhausted and I haven't done anything yet.

Groundhog Day

I feel like I am living that movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Last night I baked two pans of chocolate cake, rolled over four dozen cake balls, and cleaned up a messy kitchen.

This morning I baked two pans of chocolate cake, rolled over four dozen cake balls, and am staring down a messy kitchen.

To top it off, my baby boy is home sick. Not very sick, but he ran a low grade fever last night and I did not want to be that parent who brought their sick kid to school. He was pretty bummed because it was Muffins with Mom Day.

I told him we could have a special breakfast here instead. He picked bacon and grits, lol!

That's my boy.

Cake Pops for Haiti

Guess what Richard and I are doing from July 17-24! Going on a mission trip with our church to Haiti! I cannot express how excited I am about this trip. I have never been on a mission trip and have wanted to do this for a long time. Getting to experience this with my husband is like getting the corner piece of cake with all the extra icing.

Our church is going through BG Ministries. If you get a chance, read Brent's testimony because it is pretty amazing. Interestingly, this trip was planned way before the earthquake. I think the plan was to host backyard VBS events, make repairs at an orphanage, and serve at the orphanage. Since the earthquake struck, the plans have obviously changed. Right now, our coordinator is not exactly sure what we will be doing. He said most likely we will still be helping at the orphanage, working on construction projects, and distributing rice.

The total trip cost is $2400 for the two of us. As soon as we decided to commit to the trip my mind has been in over drive trying to think of ways to earn extra money. After lots of brainstorming, I finally decided to make cake pops. These are nothing more then a cake ball on a stick. I was thinking I would sell them at some church events, a garage sale, and be done. Then last Friday, on a whim, I posted it on Facebook and wow! By the end of the day I had 15 dozen orders. On Monday I decided to send an email to my MOPS group advertising them and a friend forwarded it. By the end of that day I was up to 24 dozen. Yesterday I made it to 37 dozen. Now, I think I am about to approach 55!!!!

When I first posted the idea I thought I would maybe sell 300 cake pops. It looks like by the end of the month I might triple that!!

All I have to say is God IS Good! Give it to God and He will take care of the details!

Needless to say, I am swimming in cake pops and dirty dishes. I have to get 12 dozen made by Friday morning.