Over the Freeways and thru Seattle...

So how is everyone? Hopefully great! How was your weekend? This is what mine looked like:

Alot of this going on

                                                      Took a trip to Seattle with my date!

                                                           Shopped at my favorite thrift strore!

                                            and did more of this to Bellevue Square

                                   After roaming around the mall, in which my date had never been
                              there before, we ate at the Greek Kitchen, YUM!

                         We both ordered the lamb and beef gyros, Delish!

                                             We finished off our din and went back to pick one of offsprings!
                                       Went to church, btw, AWESOME WORD! Then off to Seattle again
                                       for a birthday party and dinner at my inlaws house! We always have
                                         blast when we get together!  Came home, really late and played
                                          on their day off from school.

Before we ended the nite, one of kiddos suggested we make Snickerdoodle Scones, as long as he helped!

                                          So here's the recipe, I modify it, due to my son's non-dairy diet

I hid the N. facts, it's a dessert, and not healthy in the "good fat" arena!

So here is what did not happen this past weekend:

not alot of tv

                                                            and not alot of running, sad face!

Hope you all have an awesome day today, Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

What's Up?

How was everyones week? Ours was really busy, with kids school activities, neverending errands and oh yes we feed them too! There are just some weeks when I don't feel like cooking!!!  But, I'm a June Cleaver in todays world,  I love to feed my tribe!

Every Friday nite we have pizza from Papa Murpheys, movie, with homemade popcorn! Salt,salt and more salt! It has been our family nite since our 1st was born!

Which leads me into Saturday, as I roll out of my bed and try to run of the excess bloat, blech!
Running seems to wring me out some, but then I add strength training for that added wringing!

and presto, I look like her! I wish!!!!! That picture is inserted in my workout notebook for inspiration, not really to look like her. She is pretty amazing and so is her story. Well, I'm off to run and go about my day, everyone Be Blessed and Be a Blessing to others!

Sweet and Spicy Pretzels

I wanted to try this recipe I found on Recipezaar. You know how the ingrediants just melt in your mouth without ever touching your tastebuds? So I tried it and well, they turned ok. They are much more tasty the next day. Why is that? Some things need time to marinate or infuse together to bring it all together, to taste really good! Like for example, next days potato salad...YUMMO!

So here is the recipe:

Here is the next day look:

So maybe you would like this for your Superbowl party or

a snack for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I think they

are ok, but maybe someone out there could spruce it up a bit.

Tea for ME

Recently I have been following some blogs that have perked my interest in eating more wholesome, raw foods for health reasons. And it just looks dang tasty!
They post their teas and has my mouth drooling to taste, so I went out on a search for some really good green tea.  I found sencha green tea at World Market  16 bags for $ 4.00! Way better pricing than some other places that wanted $12. Plus it's organic.  So, I tried it and LOVE it! I know your not supposed LOVE material things, but it comes pretty close! I also really like peppermint tea! I've read it is a great astringent for your skin and helps wake you up. For the last few months, I like to drink tea at nite, right as the boys are hitting the sacks.  I always stir some raw honey to sweeten it up.

These are my 2 faves right now .

Here they are together, working on infusing!

It's fun to steep and dunk!

Adding some saweetness!

Mesmerized by the swirls...

And there you have it, TEA!

What's your favorite? Do you smell the bag? Favorite mug?

Clam Chowder

So I found a recipe, of all places, in Runners World magazine for Clam Chowder.  I looked at the ingrediants and knew it was going to be inexpensive and easy.  The last time I made clam chowder, it was a disaster! Yuck! That was 12 years ago. So I gave it another chance.

So here are the volunteers! Aren't they wonderful to assist!

Recipe:

1 onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 Tablespoon of Olive oil

2 8-ounce of minced clams

1 8-ounce bottle of clam juice

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

3 russet potatoes, cubed into bite size pieces

1 12-ounce can of fat free or low fat evaporated milk

In a skillet, saute the onions,garlic and celery in the olive oil.  I added the pototoes to brown with the vegies.

Transfer to a crockpot and add the other ingrediants except the canned milk. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Or on low for 6 hours.

This is what I am like waiting for those hours to pass by, I look at the clock alot!

During the last hour, add the milk. I added some flour and a little water to

thicken it. That's the way we like it around here! Season with salt and pepper

or for fun, cooked bacon. It makes about 4 good serving bowls.

Of course, we accompany it with crisp Ceasar salad and

crunchy sourdough bread!

Mmmmmm! It was really good! And if you know me, I like to make sure

if it's something to have again, and YES! Everyone liked it! The hubby said

it tasted just like his grandmas!  That was so awesome to hear!

Thanks Runners World magazine! It was a hit!

Good Evening, So here is my weekly menu for this week:

Sunday: Eat out nite

Monday: Turkey Burgers with spag. noodles( all the trimmins)

Tuesday: Mac and Cheese, w/ Chicken sausage, salad

Wednesday: Homemade Clam Chowder, Ceasar Salad

Thursday: Braised Ribs, Noodles, Green beans

Friday: PIZZA !!!

Saturday: not sure =}

Starting next Tuesday, I will be trying challenging/ new things to cook or bake. 

I am calling it " Taste Tester Tuesdays"

Have you made anything new this week? 

Christmas Mix

Every year my family makes Christmas Mix! It's a plethra of goodness! So I will share with you!

Melt the almond bark according to package directions. Lay some wax paper on a flat surface and tape down. Mix the dry ingrediants and spread out the mix on the wax paper. Pour the melted almond bark on top and mix with a flipper to throughly mix it all. Let it set for about 10 mins. and break it up and eat! Mmmm! Delish!