a bit under the weather

I haven't disappeared.

I haven't been feeling well for the last several days.

I hope to be feeling up to posting real soon.

Greek Chicken Pasta Salad (Guest Poster)

I'm VERY excited to have my first guest poster!
Amy of Living Locurto is one of my favorite blog buddies.

She is a stay-at-home/work-from-home wife and mom of two and fabulous graphic designer. She offers free downloads, party ideas, menu ideas and she is the co-founder of I ♥ Faces.

Amy has a fantastic recipe to share (she even put it in a pdf file that you can dowload and print!) that would be a sure hit at a July 4th celebration or any summer BBQ.




Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

• 1 pound Bow Tie Pasta
• 1 bunch Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 Cucumber, Peeled And Sliced
• 1 jar Pitted Calmata Olives, Whole Or Cut (a Small Jar)
• 2 Chicken Breasts, Cooked And Cubed. (I Like To Use Store Bought Rotisserie Chicken)
• 2-½ ounces Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (you May Need More, Depending On Your Taste)
• 1-2 teaspoons Black Pepper To Taste
• 1 pinch Salt, Or To Taste
• 1 container Feta Cheese

Directions

Cook 1 lb. bow tie pasta and run cold water over it to chill. Place in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes while you cook chicken.

Mix in a large bowl:

1. Chilled Pasta
2. Cherry Tomatoes (sliced in half)
3. Sliced Cucumber
4. Pitted Calamata Olives (whole or cut)
5. Cubed Chicken
6. Feta Cheese
7. Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
8. Add Salt & Pepper to Taste

Serve cold Download and print this pdf to put in a 3 ring binder.

Many thanks to Amy at Living Locurto for the recipe and the pdf download! You inspire me every day with all of your wonderful ideas!!

This recipe and pdf download Works For Me! Check out Works for Me Wednesday for lots of other Summer Recipes! (I'm going to link a few of my recipes as well!)

I've also linked this post to Mom Trends Friday Feasts.

Summer in a Glass

Thankfully our 11 day heat wave of 100+ heat index has ended and we are now enjoying beautiful 80's!

During that heat wave I didn't want to cook much and I came across a few delicious summertime frozen drinks that I thought I'd share with you.

Last week, when I was visiting the recipe carnivals I found a drink that I just knew would be a hit in our house! Every time we go out to eat Sunshine likes to order Strawberry Lemonade. So when I saw this summer in a glass posted on The Grocery Cart Challenge I quickly ran out to buy strawberries and lemons.

Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberries (I bought a 1 pound container and used 3/4 of it)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup lemon juice (I used real lemons and it took 4 large lemons)

2 cups ice cubes

We used our smoothie maker, but you can use a blender. Blend until smooth. Drink immediately. Enjoy!

*********************

Last week Amy from Mom Advice posted how to make Home Made Wendy's Frosty!! See Amy's picture of this chocolate creaminess to the right!

This yummy chocolate summertime treat tastes just like a Wendy's Frosty! The original recipe is from The Hillbilly Housewife's "Magic Milkshake". Be sure to read her post for variations and explanation of ingredients.

Thanks to Amy, I've scored the "coolest mom ever" points by making this frosty treat several times already. So far our favorite has been with a scoop of peanut butter!

Homemade Wendy's Frosty (The Magic Milkshake courtesy of Hillbilly Housewife)

1-1/2 to 2 cups ice water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1-1/2 trays of ice cubes, as much as you can spare
2 tablespoons corn oil plus a 5-second squirt of non-stick spray for emulsification purpose (I substitute the corn oil with canola oil & you can read her notes on why you need that non-stick spray)

Place all of the ingredients into the blender, including the oil and the non-stick spray. Use less water for thicker milk shakes and more water for shakes that are easy on your blender motor. The blender should be about 3/4’s full. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes. Pour into cups and serve. Makes 4 - 12oz servings. *I make 1/2 the recipe for 2 servings

So pull out your blenders and enjoy some delicious Summer in Glass!

Visit these other sites for more great recipes!

I'm adding this to Works for Me Wednesday summer recipe edition!

Lions, and tigers oh my!!

Last week I mentioned that I was going to a camera class for my Nikon D40 that I got for Mother's Day.

What I forgot to tell you was I was also going to meet a fellow blogger at that class! Jenny, of Our Nifty Notebook happened to find my blog when I posted my camera strap tutorial. She left a comment that she too had just received a Nikon D40 for Mother's Day. Well after emailing back and forth a bit we discovered we lived by each other and were both going to the same camera class! What a small world! You can click here to see what little "surprise" I had for Jenny.

Can you believe that we were both so overwhelmed with the class that we didn't think to get a picture of the two of us? LOL Jenny brought her cousin to the class and they were both such a joy to meet!!

I took LOTS of notes in the class and hopefully I can get my camera out of auto and try some other settings that might help me get better shots, especially at Sunshine's basketball games!

On Father's Day every year, my husband decides what he wants us to do as a family that day. I'm not sure if I've mentioned here before that he volunteers at a wildlife center near our house. He's a BRAVE man and handles their 2 tigers.

This year for Father's Day he wanted us to spend some time out there so I could take pictures with my new camera and the girls could take some video's with the flip camera!

Here are few favorites from that HOT HOT day ! - don't worry, I was NEVER inside a cage, only my lens was LOL I took some on Auto and some on"P/Program" .

The Bug Man is one of the few people who actually get in with the tigers and he's the only one who can hand feed them, brush them and play with them.

(you can click any of the pictures to see larger)

Leo is the lion out there - no one gets in with Leo, not because he's dangerous, but because he doesn't know that he's an 800+ pound kitty cat! LOL He LOVES the girls!

I love the pictures I got of him yawning! Look at those teeth! YIKES!

There are lots of other animals at Riverside Wildlife Center, I only got shots that day of some of the alligators, a bobcat, an emu and a rooster. There is a whole house full of snakes, lizards, lemurs, turtles, spiders and more!

Of course we always get a picture of Dad with his girls!

On a last note, my desktop computer is ready for me to pick up and BETTER than EVER! My AWESOME nephew fixed her all up and lets just say, he added some nice little extras that I am SO going to enjoy!! I can't wait to get it back here and start playing with my pictures, get our iTunes back and running and now Sunshine and I don't have to fight for computer time any more! LOL

I can't wait to start playing with all of my pictures in PS CS3! I've signed up for Jessica Sprague's FREE online Editing class! You have until Sunday June 28 to sign up! So if you haven't, be sure to click her button below and get signed up! I'm sure it's going to be AWESOME!!

Have a GREAT weekend!! -try and stay cool if you're getting the HOT weather like we are!

Great new snack for busy family

This week has been a hot busy summer week. I honestly don't know how some of you mom's with several little people do it! My girls are 8 years apart, with the youngest quickly approaching 13, so I've always had the luxury of usually only one to taxi around at a time.

This week Sunshine had the first of her 2 summer basketball camps, 2 doctors appointments and one party.

So it was perfect timing late last week when, courtesy of My Blog Spark, a big box full of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters showed up at my doorstep. They were the perfect snack to throw in my purse and van while we did all of our running around in the heat!

New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters come in four tasty flavors; Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond, Roasted Cashew and Honey Roasted Peanut.

Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters are the perfect size for snacking, and the resealable pouch makes it convenient to take any where. I also liked the fact that they are a 100% natural snack = healthy guilt- free snack. With their delicious sweet and salty combination everyone LOVED them! There were varieties for each of us, the girls ate the roasted peanuts by the handful, the Bug Man is a cashew lover while I love almonds, but the Nut Lover's variety won out as everyone's favorite.

Not a day has gone by in the last week, that someone in my house isn't munching on Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters!! We will be buying these at our local grocery store!! Go try them for yourself!!

A big thanks to

and

for giving us the opportunity to try this new product!!

Simple Garlic Noodles & Shrimp

I don't know about your weather, but it has been WAY too hot here to heat up the kitchen or the grill. Our heat index for the past several days has been over 100+.

So I thought this week I would share a simple dinner that doesn't require heating up the house.

Simple Garlic Noodles & Shrimp

I just microwave a package of Garlic Shells. Sometimes I use Rice A Roni's Angle hair Garlic Pasta, but I only had the shell noodles this week.

Mix the noodles according to the package, but set the timer for 2 mins less than what it calls for.

While the noodles are cooking in the microwave take 2-3 handfuls of frozen shrimp (I buy the kind with the tails already off) and thaw in a bowl of cold water.

When the microwave goes off, do not remove the noodles from the microwave. Drain the shrimp and add to the noodles and stir, close the microwave and continue cooking for the remaining 2 mins.

Let shrimp and noodles sit for a few mins before removing from microwave.

When I take them out I sprinkle with a little garlic salt and serve.

Last night I served it with my Summer Spinach Salad with fruit ( I omitted the chicken){click here for salad recipe}

What a great light easy dinner for a hot summer night!

check out these great links for other wonderful recipe ideas!

Mom Trends Friday Feasts
The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

This recipe Works For Me! Check out Works for Me Wednesday for lots of other Summer Recipes!

23 years ♥

I was 21 when we got married.

That was 23 years ago.

Two BEAUTIFUL daughters, 21 and almost 13.

Those numbers seem almost unbelievable to me! We did things fast and "furious" back then! LOL.

So tomorrow we celebrate 23 amazing years together. We have been together longer than we've been apart. We’ve been through a lot in those 23 years. We've had tough times and wonderful times.

I know that I love waking up next to you every morning. I love knowing that you’ll make me laugh out loud every day. I love talking to you and sharing everything with you. I love that you put up with me and all my flaws. I love that you are THE best Dad and provider for our family! I love that you NEVER let us down. I love that your family ALWAYS comes first. I love that you tell me I look fabulous when I feel fat. I love that you hug me when I cry. I love that you will go to the store when I don't feel like going. I love that you will pick up pizza when I don't feel like cooking. I love that you know me. I LOVE that you LOVE me. I love that it’s painfully obvious that our 2 kids are our 2 kids and they have good and bad features/traits/habits from each of us. I hope we have managed to set an example for our girls as to what a happy, successful marriage is.

I love that I have had 23 years to spend with you and hope we have another 23+ years together!

Love you Honey♥

You can read more about why I love this man in this post {click here}