Friday Recipe -- Southwestern Chicken Salad

This is a new salad recipe we tried this week and Mr. Man fell in love --and remember he isn't a huge "salad as a main dish" kind of a guy!

Southwestern Chicken Salad
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
4 c Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
2 Roma tomatoes, cubed
2/3 c sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 c corn
2/3 c crushed tortilla chips
2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced into strips

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:
1 c ranch salad dressing
1/4 c salsa
1/4 tsp chili powder

Mix lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and corn in a large serving bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

Place a serving amount of salad on plate. Sprinkle some of the crushed tortilla chips on top of salad. Lay some chicken strips on top of salad. Pour dressing over top of salad.

Changes all around

Poor little Lady Bug...she is surrounded by changes (listed in the order she complained about them to me on the way to daycare this morning)

1. Her foot decided to grow so she has outgrown all of her favorite summer shoes.

2. She moves up next week to the 4-5 year old "pre-k" class at daycare.

3. Her current (and most favorite) teacher found a job at a different daycare center so after today she won't be there anymore.

4. She doesn't really like chocolate chip cookies now, but still thinks Cookie Crisp cereal is the greatest thing ever.

It sure is tough being 4, don't ya think?

i-pod or my-pod

I work in a small law office and usually it is so overly quiet in here I can almost go crazy listening to my own thoughts all day! For the past couple of days I have been working with a client preparing some documents that are to be submitted to the judge at the end of this week. Well, yesterday he had on his i-pod while we were sifting through files. At first I was fine with him listening to the music because I was so busy I hardly noticed. Pretty soon, as I began to slow down a little and spend more time compiling notes, I could hear the music more clearly. His play list was very good, nice and rounded between all types and genres of music. I found myself wanting to sing, but needed to remain professional. It was hard to remain still and pretend as though I couldn't hear his music.

Then Beyonce's Single Ladies came on. Now, whether you hate that song or love it...the tune is catchy, especially when cooped up all day in the office going through boxes upon boxes of files. I couldn't stop myself and found myself jamming to the tune, apparently more loudly than I thought....he looked up at me and we both burst out laughing!

I was embarrassed beyond belief!! Good news is that he had been FOUR hours late to meet with me so I was a little ticked at him...after that outburst of song I wasn't mad anymore (but I'm still embarrassed)! LOL

Guess I need my own i-pod, or maybe not!

Take a tour of my house - the Sunroom

This is one of the rooms in the house that I fell in love with when we were looking at the house! It has also become one of the favorite spots in our house for entertaining or just hanging out together! It is a great place to sit and visit, or sit alone and read while watching the birds and squirrels in the backyard.

This room is an addition to the original house and it is just off the kitchen. There are french doors just off the eating nook in the kitchen area that lead to this sunroom. I am not sure what the original owners of the house used this room for, but with our family of 5 we use it as our main dining area.

Here is a picture of the french doors looking into the sunroom. This is taken from the kitchen breakfast nook area. The vinyl wall letters were not there when we bought the house. I added those later (p.s. - I LOVE vinyl wall words. So easy to put up and if I ever get sick of it I can just peel them off!)

This is a picture of the our dining table and the "room of windows". I love all the windows that look out to our backyard.


Now this is looking from the dining table towards the sliding glass doors and to the left you will see another table. This table sits just under the window that is in my kitchen above my sink. This table we use for the kids to do crafts on. OR when entertaining it is a great place to set out all the dishes and food!
This picture is taken from the sliding glass doors looking towards the french doors. The room is very large. I also love the built in bookshelf to the left of the french doors! (the table in the picture is the "craft" table)

VBS, cops, traffic tickets and other craziness

This week was VBS. Our church does VBS in the evenings from 6:00 to 8:30. This year's theme was a camping theme. Mr. Man and I were in charge of games. One night was a ring toss and they had to answer bible story questions. Another night was an obstacle course, set up similar to Survivor game, where the kids ran a serpentine thing, then through some rings, into a tent to find a puzzle piece that matched their team's color. They ran back and put the puzzle together, the puzzle formed the memory verse for that day. Another day was just fun times with water balloons and a water rocket launcher.

Friday night after VBS was over, I was helping clean up and the lady that was doing the Bible story center came to me and told me that they were learning about consequences for not obeying laws, etc. Spirit pipes up and tells the whole group how his mom got pulled over by the cops one night and got a ticket.

Thanks, son, for ratting me out!!
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Which brings me to the next story... Thursday night I was innocently travelling down the highway...had my brights on (but I had the brights on because I realized I had a burnt out headlight! whoops) and pretty soon here comes a cop up behind me with his lights on. I pulled over. He came up to the car - I NEVER get pulled over so I was shaking and couldn't find my license. Then I find that but now I can't find the registration. After a couple minutes I finally find all the right documents (well, except our insurance JUST renewed and I didn't put the new card in the car yet and my defense on that one is that the car has been broken down for over a month and it just got fixed 5 days ago and it slipped my mind to put the new insurance card in there!) The officer asks me if I know why he pulled me over and I told him probably because of my bright lights. So he heads back to his car and after what seemed like forever he came back with a 2 point violation for "failure to dim lights". Meanwhile, Lefty is in the car with me freaking out that I am going to have to go to jail and all sorts of drama wondering also what will happen to him if they take me to jail. I kept telling him I would not be going to jail, but he wasn't buying it until that cop came back with the ticket and let us go home!
*************************************************************************
This week I got to have lunch TWICE with a good friend! We used to work together and we would go to lunch all the time. Then I got a new job and she became a SAHM which made it harder to get together so for us to be able to meet two times in one week was a wonderful treat! I miss those times of just chatting about silly girl stuff.

Friday Recipe - Linguine

I have posted these recipes before, but we haven't eaten at home much this week so I don't have any new recipes to share and as I was planning next week's meals I thought of these recipes. Enjoy!


Linguine, Bacon and Spinach

This is a nice refreshing meal and it won't heat up the house too much!

For dessert you can make this quick, easy dessert that tastes like lemon meringue pie!

Lemon Jello Dessert
INGREDIENTS:
1 package of lemon jello
1 1/2 c boiling water
8 oz frozen whipped topping

Mix together jello and water. Stir until dissolved. Mix in 2/3 of the 8 oz container of FROZEN whipped topping. Whisk together until blended. Put in refrigerator to set up. It will separate and layer as it sets up.

Serve topped with additional whipped topping if desired.

This is where you should really pay attention...

Lady Bug comes up to me the other day when I was doing some serious multi-tasking and trying to get several chores done. She is doing what she does best right now, which is tell me long stories (well, technically she is pretty good tattler too, but this time she was in story telling mode). I was doing what I do best when I am in multi-tasking mode, and I was only half listening. She is carrying on about a movie she saw and there was a blue birdie. Then I missed some of the details but the next thing I caught was:


Lady Bug: "And then the bird died just like the bird in our yard."


Me: "What? What bird in our yard?"


Lady Bug: "There is a dead bird on the sidewalk in the back yard."


Me: "Can you show me?"



So we head out to the back yard and sure enough. There was a dead bird. We have no idea how the bird died, but the dog was over there sniffing at it. I ushered the dog in the house and quickly hollered for Mr. Man to come out. He scooped up the poor bird and put it in the trash.

So in all my multi-tasking I am just glad I tuned in to the finale of her story so that the poor bird didn't lay out there and get eaten by cats, other birds, rodents or worse yet my own dog! I guess I should pay more attention to her little stories, who knows what I've been missing out on!

Take a tour of my house - The kitchen

Next up in our little tour of my home is the kitchen. The first house Mr. Man and I lived in after we got married had a small kitchen and we remodeled to make use of the small space better. Then all of the other houses we have lived in had tiny kitchens, one was almost impossible to move in if there was more than one person in there! So as far as kitchens go, this isn't what I would design for us but it is certainly a nice part of our house. The layout of it is very workable and open!

My kitchen

This is taken from just past the living room area and is looking at the eating nook. The below photo was taken from when we were looking at the house and so this is not our table. The eating area is quite small for a family of five, so as you will later see we actually dine in our sunroom and use this little area as a breakfast/homework nook.

BEFORE:

AFTER:


The below photo is taken standing by the eating nook looking towards the remainder of the kitchen. You can see the garage door open there that leads to the oversized one car garage and also to the backyard. (this photo was taken the day the inspector was there)

BEFORE:

I love the U-shape layout of the kitchen for entertaining. I can visit with guests while cooking, or help the kids with homework while I am cooking. I also like that I can see the kids in the backyard too if I am doing dishes or cooking. I have an over-the-stove microwave I need my husband to hang. But in order for him to do that he needs to take out the cupboards so finding the time for that may be awhile!

AFTER:

The next room I will showcase is the sunroom, my favorite room in the house!

A bad start to a day

To start my day I woke up late.

Started my coffee pot, only I forgot to put the actual pot under the brewer and the coffee "brewed" all over my counter.

I spilled milk on my pants - this was supposed to be my "final outfit" for the day after trying on and hating 4 other outfits!

Just as we are heading out the door, the dog gets out and takes off running down the street.

After getting dog back in the house, we load up into the car...20 minutes later than we needed to be.

As I get on the road, I realize I need gas. not one of those, "Oh, the tank is half empty I should get some gas." Nope. This was "Oh crud! The tank is on EMPTY, I need to stop and get gas NOW!" So this added to our already lateness!

After pulling out of the gas station I hear this from the back seat: "mooooommm! My stomach hurts. I have to go to the bathroom!"

NICE! I find a place to turn around and back to gas station for potty break. As we pull back in, this is what I hear "oopps. I tooted and I feel better now. I guess I don't have to go to the bathroom."

Ok. Fine. Back on the road. Road construction, 20 mph when I was expecting to be able to go 45 mph!

Here's to a better day! Phew!

Winner!

Congratulations to The Fam Five for winning my birthday / summer survival book giveaway!

Thanks for everyone who played along!

Chicken Kabobs

These have become a new favorite in my house. They are a little sweet and a little spicy. Very yummy!

Chicken Kabobs
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
2 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning, divided (see recipe below)
1 c sugar snap peas
1 (20 oz) canned pineapple chunks
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 c apricot jam

Sprinkle chicken cubes with 1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning, toss gently to coat all pieces.

Alternately thread chicken, peas, pineapple, red bell pepper on metal skewers, leaving a small space between each item.

For sauce: combine 1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning and apricot jam in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat until jam has melted.

Place kabobs on grill. Grill for 8 - 12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Turn once during cooking. Brush with sauce a couple times during the last 3 - 4 minutes of cooking.

Serves 4.
NOTE: I serve mine with fresh steamed rice.

Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbls dried minced onion
2 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, stir together the dried onion, thyme, allspice, ground black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Store in an airtight container.


NOTE: If you want to use this seasoning recipe in other recipes such as pork or other chicken recipes, run the meat with 2 Tbls vegetable oil, then rub seasoning onto meat.

An early birthday lunch date

About a week or two ago Spirit asked his dad how much money it would cost to take me out to lunch. Mr. Man jokingly asked if he was paying for just the two of us or the whole family? Spirit said that he really wanted to go out to eat, just the two of us on my birthday. So Mr. Man, not putting a ton of thought into it, says $12.00 should cover it. Then Spirit told him where he wanted to take me (my favorite little hot wings spot) and Mr. Man decided it might be a little more than 12 bucks and gave him $10 to help pay.

Although it was a slight challenge since Spirit is only 8 and doesn't have his own transportation, we went to lunch today. Mr. Man had the day off so he dropped Spirit off at my office. Then he and I went to eat at the little joint, then Mr. Man met up with us to pick up Spirit.

Spirit showed up with his wallet in hand, ready to pay for my meal. The counter at this place is so high it is almost too high for me to see over so you can imagine how cute he looked trying to pay for this all himself! The girls working there loved it! He had to actually step around to the back of the counter to pay the girl!

(this picture below is of him after he ate all his teriyaki wings and had it all over his hands and face. He wanted me to take his picture this way!)

Now, after all my moping yesterday how can I NOT feel better today after his sweet little gesture?

What is even more special, well maybe not MORE, but to add to this, Spirit went to South Dakota over the weekend and kept telling everyone he needed to save $12 to take his mom out to lunch on her birthday. He bought himself trinkets and souvenirs, but he saved out 12 bucks just for me!!

Getting older

You know when you are 6, 10 or 12 birthdays are something to look forward to. You count down the days to your birthday! It has been 10 or more years since I did any counting down for my birthday and now that I am approaching . . . *cough* *cough* . . . thirty . . . six *hack* *hack* *cough* *cough* I am not enjoying getting older as much as I used to. My birthday is this coming Friday and I can actually feel myself getting older. My joints hurt in the morning, things are sagging more and more, I am more forgetful than normal and my doctor told me this week that I am in Perimenopause. WHA???

In years past I haven't felt older or any different on my birthdays, but I remember hating turning 31. Yes 31. I guess to me it felt like I was officially in my 30's. Silly, I know! But that is the only birthday I had issues with and normally it is another day. I celebrate and then move on to the next day, no big deal. Then this week I realized that I needed to see my ObGyn due to some personal issues going on each month before and during my period. These issues have been going on for several months and getting worse. I guess being 36 (or almost anyway) I am that much closer to 40 and I never thought I'd have an issue with being 40, but this perimenopause thing has me all freaked out. I know it is a treatable thing and isn't life threatening, but it just means I am older. I don't think I am ready to be "older". I know that we all get older and a big shock, someday we will all die. *gasp* But that doesn't mean I have to like it!

As I write this I realize an "older" woman should NOT have her birthday so close to her period 'cause this dang PMS stuff makes getting "older" even worse.

So happy birthday to me in 2 days -- woo hoo.

GIVEAWAY

I am going to be doing a giveaway as sort of a reward for surviving the summer with the kids and in honor of my birthday coming up! My kids have 11 weeks summer vacation and we are on our 5th week so far! No major injuries, no major problems or complications! It has been great! So here's to another problem-free 6 weeks of summer break! So whether your kids are nearing the end of summer break or still have a long way to go, here's to us all surviving the remainder of summer and here's to me growing OLDER!!! (boooo that last part!)

I will be giving away 2 books by Emily Giffin. They are easy reads and very entertaining. I really enjoyed these books and highly recommend them!

The first book, is Something Borrowed and the follow-up to that book is Something Blue. The winner of this giveaway will get both books!

Something Borrowed is about a young attorney named Rachel. Rachel has always been the good girl, always following the rules and doing the right thing. Her best friend from elementary school, Darcy, throws her a party for her 30th birthday! That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. After she realizes Darcy doesn't have a clue what happened between the two of them, she decides she needs to put it all behind her and move on. But, she has genuine feelings for the guy and discovers he feels the same way. As her best friend's wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. She begins to justify her actions, realizing her best friend hasn't always been that great to her and so on. She discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

Something Blue is the follow-up to Something Borrowed and this book is told from Darcy's point of view. This book takes you into some serious soul-searching. Darcy has to do a lot of soul searching in this book and I found that I was doing some of that myself right along with her. Follow her as she discovers what a true friend is and how she has some changing to do!


To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment (any ol' comment will do!) here before midnight this Friday, July 17th. I will draw a winner using Random Number Generator sometime over the weekend and will announce the winner Monday morning (July 20th).

Good luck!!!

My Sisters Keeper

I saw the movie My Sisters Keeper today. It was a tear-jerker, but I liked it a lot. I recommend it, but remember your tissues.

I had the unfortunate experience of a lady sitting behind me who kept giving the entire theatre a play-by-play of the movie. She had everyone in the theatre annoyed. She got plenty of "Shhh"-ing during the movie. THEN to top it all off her phone rang near the end of the movie and she ANSWERED it!!!

Other than Captain Obvious sitting behind me, the movie was awesome!!

I'm a Loser Baby...

I haven't been updating this blog near as often for many reasons.

• With the kids out of school for summer, we have been seriously out of routine.
• It isn't worth it sometimes to fight with three kids for my own computer time.
• We have had to run the kids here and there for different summer events making it hard to find the time to get on the computer.
• I have been busier at work and putting in more hours than normal.
• In some ways I feel like I have nothing blog-worthy to share.

I promise that I will be better about updating here. Starting now.

I also haven't had time to read blogs - when I do find a few minutes to read I haven't been commenting - I promise to get better at that too!

Friday Recipe - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I have been so busy this summer I haven't had a chance to try any new recipes to share, but look at these cupcakes that I am hoping to try this weekend!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Here is something I took from the submitter of this recipe. Maybe these tips will be helpful if you want to try this recipe.
I'm the recipe submitter & wanted to clarify a few things so people are not disappointed. First, you cannot skip the freezing the cookie dough step...if you do, the dough WILL bake along w/the cake and be very dry. It's also imperative you don't overbake (or you'll get the same dry baked cookie results); I actually usually only bake about 16-18 min. I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH, DO NOT OVER BAKE! It will seem like it's too early to take them out, but it's not. Check the outer ridge of the cupcake (otherwise you're getting the dough on your toothpick which should stay *wet*). These are great w/pretty much any cake flavor and can be made even easier by using prepared cookie dough (just don't skip the freezing step!). When I try a new chocolate chip cookie dough recipe (or even bake old favs), I always double it and freeze some cookie dough balls for future batches of these! I HAVE tried this as a cake, but have yet to perfect the cookie dough ball size/bake time...when I get it *right*, I'll add the dimensions/bake time to my review. THANKS, everyone, for trying (and rating and posting pics of!) my recipe! Enjoy!

Take a tour of my house - The living room

My husband and I have lived in 6 homes in our marriage. Most of them rentals with limited decorating options. We own the house we are in now and love it! When we were house hunting in early 2008, we stumbled upon this house when we were out driving one day, it wasn't on our list of ones to look at with the realtor, but we had our realtor try to get us in that day. He was able to get us in right then. After we looked at all the houses that day (about 15 or more!!), we had narrowed it down to 2 we really liked(this one and then one about 6-8 blocks away from here). So we went home and did pros and cons of both houses. After lots of talking and being torn we finally decided to put an offer on this house. It was owned by one owner, but they had been renting it out for the last several years. We ended up being able to visit with the seller a little bit, they had one son and one daughter; both kids had moved out and were in college. They were so excited to see a family buying their home. You could tell this home meant a lot to them. In fact, we still keep in touch with the sellers.

I thought it might be fun to do a little tour of my home. I have some before and after pictures too. It is still a work in process, but we are enjoying making it our own.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting the house room by room. Might end up being pretty boring, but maybe not, we'll see.

First up:

The Living Room

When you walk into our home, you will enter the living room first. This isn't a room we spend a lot of time in, but it can end up being my messiest room since everyone walks in and dumps their belongings here. This room is also the one I have spent the least amount of time decorating in. I'm not sure why, just haven't been inspired in this room.

These pictures below show the living room before we really unpacked any boxes so they are serious "before" photos.

This first picture is a picture of what you will see as you walk into the home. This is taken from the front door. This picture was taken a day or two after moving in. We still hadn't put furniture in this room, except my husband's prize roll-top desk.

Now, here is what this room looks like now. We have picked out a paint color to paint behind the couch, but just haven't had the time to do it yet. I will update photos after we get it painted (don't hold your breath, it may be a few months!)

This next picture is also taken from the front door area and is looking straight ahead into the kitchen area. This was also taken before we had unpacked much.

Here is what this looks like now. From the front door looking straight ahead into the kitchen area. Again, need some pictures hung or paint or something. But haven't gotten that far.

Fourth of July Funnies

On the 4th we ended up not doing our big cookout because:
#1 it rained
#2 most of our guests ended up not being able to come
#3 Mr. Man had to work all day

So, we ended up grilling some steaks, corn and some potatoes. I made the sparkling punch to go with our meal. After we ate we did a little car shopping before we went to the major league lacrosse game here in town. The lacrosse game was a lot of fun and then they did fireworks after the game! It was so awesome!

During the game here are a couple things that happened that had me cracking up:

#1 -The crowd was chanting "Defense. Defense. Defense." and Lady Bug leans over to me and says "Who is Steven?" I didn't know what she was talking about so I asked for more info and she says "Well, everyone keep saying 'Steven. Steven. Steven.'"


#2 -During timeouts and breaks in the game the camera man would pan the crowd and capture people on the big screen. We look up to see Lefty and Lady Bug fighting on the jumbotron! Nice! But then, on the way home we were kind of laughing about that and Lady Bug says to us "I wasn't fighting with him!" and she was extremely serious about that which only made me laugh harder. She is constantly denying the fact that she fights with her brothers. So I told her that it was forever captured in the archives of the lacrosse files! She must have realized that it wasn't her mom and dad making this stuff up and that she couldn't deny it anymore and then she started laughing with us!

#3 -This didn't actually happen on the 4th but just a couple days before. We went to pick up the boys from their aunt after camping with her for 3 days. We picked them up from where she goes to church but we got there after church started so we were talking to some people waiting for the boys to finish up class. Mr. Man was holding a baby when here come the boys from their class and Lefty goes running towards Mr. Man and then stops.dead.in.his.tracks and in a very panicky voice says "WHO.in.the.world.is.that???" We all realized he must have thought while he was camping we had another baby girl and were bringing her home! We all laughed. Except Lefty (probably because of ...well see item #2 above!) After he realized the baby wasn't ours and wasn't coming home with us he gave Mr. Man a hug. But I noticed him keeping an eye on that baby to make sure she didn't get in our car with us!

I hope you all had a super good holiday weekend!

Summer Salad - many options to create several different salads

We have been trying new salad ideas for summer dinners. When my sister came to visit she made a salad and since then we have tried some other combinations that I will share here. My husband loves these salads (and he is much more of a meat and potato guy. He likes salads, but not usually as a main dish.) This salad makes a good main dish or served on the side as well.

Summer Salad
INGREDIENTS:
Romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
Iceberg lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
4 oz crumbled Feta cheese
1 c dried cranberries (I use Cran-Raisins)
1 apple, cored and diced (I use Granny Smith, my sister used a red apple, I think Fuji) Sprinkle 2 Tbls lemon juice over apple after it is diced to keep it from browning.

OPTIONAL ADD-IN ITEMS FOR SALAD:
1 1/2 c strawberries, sliced into bite size pieces
OR
1 1/2 c fresh blackberries
OR
1 1/2 c fresh raspberries
OR any combination of the above
1 avocado, diced

We have put this salad together and use a balsamic vinaigrette or a raspberry vinaigrette, or an Asian Sesame dressing is good too.

If you want to make this a complete meal, marinate chicken breasts for about an hour. Grill chicken until fully cooked. Then slice into strips and place on top of the salad fixings.

For an easy marinade, place chicken breasts (plan about 1/2 chicken breast per person) in a large Ziplock bag. Pour in 1 c of Italian salad dressing. Let marinade for about an hour, then grill to perfection.

Thursday this n that

*This week has been insanely busy for us and there really isn't an end in sight even though we are approaching a weekend. I have had to work late two nights this week and I have to work tomorrow (although it appears that most businesses will be closed Friday in honor of Independence Day.)

*The boys got to go rock climbing this week. I mean real rock climbing with their aunt and cousins. I didn't know they were going to do that or I would have been a nervous mess while they were gone. Apparently someone took video of them so I hope to get that soon! It sounds like the boys had a blast doing that!

*We still only have one car. We are to hoping resolve this issue in the next week or so. We have looked at many vans, cars and SUV's and haven't found anything in our price range that we both like. I know this seems silly but much to my amazement, there are several vans that don't have cup holders in the right places. I am not buying a van without cup holders for the kids. One van had like 6 for the driver (ok, an exaggeration) and only 2 in the 3rd row of the van. How dumb is that. I kept thinking they must be hidden or something, but even the salesman couldn't find them. We have a couple more lots to look at and we also will do some more searching on Craigslist.

*Lady Bug has been visiting the Intermediate Pre-K class at school and hates it. She has been in the 3-4 year old class for a year and now she is moving to the official Pre-kindergarten class. The teachers in the Pre-K class are pretty strict and I think Lady Bug is having a hard time adjusting to that. Her current teacher is always happy and always smiling, so to go from this to the strict environment I think is hard on Lady Bug. I ask her to tell me what she doesn't like and all she will say is "They say bad things to me." when I ask for more than that she gives me examples of someone being strict. If there was something substantial, I would definitely talk to the directors, but just because she has stricter rules I don't think is justification to yank her out of the school! I really think she will adjust as she goes along. She is only visiting now 2 days a week and then moves up officially at the beginning of August.

*Mr. Man has to work all weekend but Friday night we will watch a firework display over by my office and then Saturday evening we are going to a Lacrosse game here in town with a firework show following the game! Should be good times!

WFMW - Gazpacho & Strawberry Pie

I have posted these recipes before, but this week's Works For Me Wednesday posts over at We Are THAT Family is about summer recipes.

One of my favorite summer soups is Gazpacho. The first time I ever tried gazpacho I was hesitant because I felt like soup should be hot, not cold. Cold soup made me wanna gag. But a co-worker of mine made this soup and insisted I try it. I was hooked! This recipe makes quite a bit of soup. I think Gazpacho tastes a lot like salsa with all the tomatoes, veggies and a little bit of spice to it.

Gazpacho

INGREDIENTS:

1 c tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 c green bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 c celery, finely chopped

1/2 c cucumber, finely chopped

1/4 onion, finely chopped

1 clove minced garlic

3 Tbls red wine vinegar

2 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 c V-8 juice

1 c spicy V-8 juice

1 Tbls ground cumin

1 Tbls beef bouillon crystals

Mix all ingredients together and chill for at least 2 hours. Remove and let sit for about 30 minutes before serving.

Can top with sliced avocado or sour cream or cheese or all three.

One of my favorite summer dessert recipesis a strawberry pie that has a layer of sweetened cream cheese, a layer of chocolate and then topped with strawberries!

Strawberry Chocolate Pie

INGREDIENTS:

2 c strawberries

1 1/3 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla, separated

16 oz cream cheese, softened

milk

7 oz Hershey bar

1 pastry pie crust

Melt Hershey bar with about 3 Tbls milk over very low heat; stirring occasionally until smooth. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Pour into baked pie crust and refrigerate until firm. Soften cream cheese and stir in 1/3 c sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a small amount of milk. Spread cream cheese over top of chocolate layer. Wash and hull berries, set berries onto a papertowel to dry. Dip berries into sugar and set close together on cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

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