Visiting Zoog's from Restaurant Impossible

One of my favorite shows is Restaurant Impossible and I love when they come to Washington State so I can go try out the place.  We've gone to 2 other restaurant's so far and for Valentine's Day we went to the 3rd one on our list.  

This is my OVER Cheese smile

EVERY TIME I meet someone on TV.

Thanks to my husband indulging in my craziness and drove me 1 1/2 hours to Zoog's Caveman Cookin Restaurant & Cave Lounge in Port Hadlock, WA.  We got there around 7:30pm so thankfully the Valentine's Day rush was over but so was MOST of the Valentine's Day specials.  They were only doing that menu and not their full menu which we really wanted to try the BBQ and salmon.

Zoog actually came over to our table to greet us and say hi and see how we are doing. Rick was so sweet and asked Zoog if he would take a picture with me :). We got to talk to him a while. He said a few things were staged like the IRS lady and the Keg of beer. He was going in that following Tuesday for his heart surgery and was in great spirits.

We both ended up with burgers that were very good and juicy. We probably won't make the drive again but it was worth the one trip.

Have a GREAT Thursday!

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Next on our list of warm your belly meals is a Spicy Sausage Pasta found on Kevin and Amanda.  This one I made a while back and let me have a some extra calories with the whipping cream. I did use turkey sausage and whole wheat noodles to make myself not feel so guilty ... lol

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage (I used Turkey sausage)
1.5 cups diced onion (I used a red onion I had on hand)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta (I used whole wheat pasta)
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (I only had Mozzarella on hand)
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.   

Science Fair Time ... Lemon Clock

Next on our Science Fair projects for us was for Caden. Since Caden is in 2nd grade his project was not required but since big brother was doing one he had to do one also. So the Lemon Battery we were planning for Cole we ended up doing for Caden (Cole switched his project). So we tried the lemon with the penny and a nail along with a paper clip. WELL that didn't work so well it may have been the light bulb I had bought from the dollar tree. So plan B was to pick up the kit off Amazon and bam we were in business!

What you Need:

Tri Fold Board (Dollar Tree)

Yellow Poster Board (Dollar Tree)

Yellow Card Stock
White Card Stock
Circut Machine
Circut Simply Charmed Cartridge
Circut George and Basic Shapes Cartridge
Lemon Battery Kit

This was a easy one (WHEN using the kit, NOT when trying to do the penny and nail trick). 

Fail on this try:

The Tutor and Caden cut out the yellow strips to make it look like a lemonade stand. We then cut out lemons and a few drinks from the Simply Charmed cartridge. We did the words and the ice cubes using George and Basic Shapes.  Have fun and decorate the way you want. Take pictures and add to the board along with any images from the web you want to add. 

Caden and the Tutor working on board! He even typed up the info for the board.

Have Fun with it!

Any Science Projects in your future?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.   

Science Fair Time ... Bat and Ball Experiment

It is science fair week here and last week was Mid Winter Break so of course it was time to use our free time to build some cool boards and do experiments. I had Cole set up to do the lemon battery, but his tutor and him change our (ok my plan) to do a bat and ball experiment. Cole used a wood bat and a metal bat and tried a softball and a baseball to see what would go the furthest. 

What you Need:

Tri-Fold Board (We picked up at Dollar Tree)

Wood Bat

Metal Bat

Softball

Baseball

glue

Blue Poster Board (or whatever color you like)

White Card Stock

Light & Dark Brown Card Stock

Red Card Stock

Grey Card Stock (again you can change color)

Green Card Stock (again you can change color)

Cricut Machine

Cricut Cartridge - Sports Mania

Cricut Cartridge - George and Basic Shapes

Baseball Stickers

You don't have to use a Cricut but I must say this was the best investment I have ever made. It has helped with birthday party invites and party items and now the 3rd year in a row has helped with science project boards. 

Take a trip to the ball field test out your theory.  

Come home and decorate your board how you like it! We did in the colors of Mariner's (Blue, Green and Grey). We used the Cricut Machine to cut out Baseballs, Bats and Mits (using the sports mania cartridge). We used the Cricut to cut out the letters for the headers (using the George and Shapes). Cole and his tutor got to down gluing. Cole designed the whole board himself and even went on my laptop to type up the paragraphs he needed. 

Have Fun with it!

Any Science Projects in your future?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.  

Mid Winter Break and Sciene Project

Week two of this cold and I'm blessed with Mid Winter Break (When did we become so PC that the kids holidays for school all got renamed?).  Being a work from home mom I dread these days! Love the kids just not the noises while I'm doing my calls. 

During our break we are being productive, the tutor has been coming over everyday to get the boys science projects and boards ready!  We will show them off next week!! Since projects are so fun for the parents my friend sent me this, thought you could all use a good laugh!

All I can say is this mom ROCKS!!!!

Skinny Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

I'm still sick here, week 2 ... I'm sorry I haven't been around between work and this cold my world has not been working like I would like it to.  So a quick and easy crock pot meal is in order. This Skinny Crock Pot Pizza Casserole on Six Sister's Stuff it is easy to make and is a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

1 Box Spiral Pasta (I used gluten free noodles)
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup pepperoni (I used Turkey Pepperoni)
1/2 can of olives
16 ounces pizza sauce or pasta sauce (I used Pizza Sauce)
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded lowfat mozzarella cheese

Directions

Spray crockpot with non-stick spray In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground turkey with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Rinse pasta and place in the crock-pot with drained ground beef mix. Stir in olives and pepperoni. Pour Pasta sauce and 1/2 cup water over noodle mix. Stir again and make sure it is mixed well. Top with shredded Mozzarella. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

ALEXIS NOTES: I recommend a crock pot liner it makes clean up work so much easier!

Enjoy! Hope you're all warm during this season!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.  

Mini Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cups (WW 2 points)

A while back I made a Easy Canolli Cup's for my family reunion using wonton's that were a complete hit.  I have stepped in to host a woman's group at church. To get more members I went to an event a meet and greet event. Of course instead of just picking up cookies from a store I wanted to make something.  I saw on Emily Bites these Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cups and thought they would be perfect.  They were very tasty, sadly most did not got eaten so over to my bestie's house so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all.

INGREDIENTS:

15 Frozen Mini Phyllo Shells
2 oz Marscapone cheese (I used BelGioso brand)
2/3 cup fat free Ricotta cheese
3 T powdered sugar
¼ t vanilla
A pinch of cinnamon (a little goes a long way!)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, divided

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place phyllo shells* on the counter to thaw for at least 10-15 minutes.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the marscapone, ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and stir together until thoroughly mixed. Reserve a small pile of the chocolate chips for topping and stir the remainder into the cheese mixture.
3. Spoon the filling evenly between all the phyllo shells. Sprinkle reserved chocolate chips over the tops and serve. *I recommend you only defrost/fill as many as you plan to eat at once so that the shells stay crispy.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS:2 per cup (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
63 calories, 7 g carbs, 3 g fat, 2 g protein, 0 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.  

Minecraft Gift Idea

One of my friends was having a minecraft party for her son. I of course wanted to do a Minecraft themed gift. The boys and I got busy making items that we did for Cole's Minecraft party last year.  Thank God Caden is like me and loves making things, he sat with me doing the perler beads.

We made a large version a treat bag to put the gifts in, check out my tutorial here.

We made Perler Beads in the shapes of the characters, check out my tutorial here. It takes a little time put they are so cool when you're finished.

We bought a Minecraft T-shirt to add to the bag.

We picked up a green water bottle at the Dollar Tree and cut down my stencil from the bag and put it on the bottle and made an outline. Cole then colored it in for me.

Twizzlers for TNT - black sharpie and tada TNT.

Kisses in a bag with a label Diamonds.

Glow stick Ax

Caden also made a rainbow loom bracelet in green and black.

Cole glued on creeper and Steve sleeves onto mini candy bars. See the free printable on Keep It Simple. 

Any Themed parties planned?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.  

I Like You a "Latte" Teacher Card

Last year I made Eighteen25's Thank you Latte card last year and this year I found she had a Valentine card that worked perfect to go in the I'm tickled pink teacher gift I posted yesterday! These cards are so simple to make and take less than 5 minutes and it's so thoughtful.

What you Need:
White Card Stock
Coffee Sleeve
Ribbon (I used some red sparkle pipe cleaners)
Coffee Gift Card
Hot Glue Gun

On white card stock (thicker paper) print the free template off Eighteen25's site, she has it set up 2 per sheet works perfect so I can do one for each of the boys teachers. Cut out one of the cards, take a coffee sleeve and cut in half.  Take a glue gun to attach the coffee sleeve to the card (I did like she did and left the ripple side out on the card). REMEMBER you need to use as an envelope to put the gift card in so don't GLUE all the sides leave the top open. I didn't have think ribbon or twin to wrap around the card so I used 2 sparkle red pipe cleaners to give a little bling.  I slide the GC in and you're done!!!

Any Valentine gift Ideas you have planned?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

I'm Tickled Pink You're My Teacher - Valentine Gift Idea

And next on the Valentine list to make is for teachers!  I found this fun idea for Tickled Pink you're my teacher on Homes.com.  They have a free printable that is perfect to add to this fun gift.

What you need:

Pink Cup (I found these fun heart Boxes)

Pink Nail Polish

Pink Eraser

Pink Highlighter

Pink Chapstick (I found lip Gloss)

Pink Candy

Pink Gum

Anything Pink you want to add (I found a few fun pink things)

Add all the items to your cup or in my case jar. I printed the free printable on card stock cut it out and added to the box with some ribbon.

Any Valentine gift Ideas you have planned?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Super Hero Valentines

For Caden being in 2nd Grade I could still do something fun for him and not have to be more grown up like Cole's. I found these fun Super Hero Valentines on The Dairy of Dave's Wife.  Now she is awesome sewed them and all, I'm usually running around like my head is cut off so I went with the glue method.  Her's also looked a lot cleaner but when you have to make 30 of them your's tend not to be as clean .. lol.

What You Need:

Felt (I bought a package at Dollar Tree)

Craft Glue or Sewing Machine

Elastic Band

Card Stock

Print out the free template she has for the mask. I printed and then took a sharpie to outline on the felt. The felt I bought at the Dollar Tree was thinner then the kind I've bought before at the craft store. But I also knew that most of the kids would not keep them so I didn't want to spend a ton of money. If I was doing a super hero party I would use the thick felt. 

Once I had the out line on the felt I cut out the felt mask. The Dollar Tree sheet allowed me to fold over and make 2 shapes per sheet which would make one mask. I glued the felt together with craft glue. I added the strap by tying it on to two holes I made using my hole punch. She sewed her's into the side of the mask.  She also made a free printable that could hang on to the mask as the valentine card!  

The cutting is the longest part of this job!

Any Valentine gift Ideas you have planned?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

iPod Valentine Candy Gifts

The year is already flying by! Valentine's day lands on Saturday this year so I class party will be on Friday.  I was trying to do this a week ago but I did get this done the weekend before! This was a super easy one to make and perfect for Cole being in the 5th grade. I know this will my last year with him doing this for him so I wanted to find something fun but age appropriate.  I found several versions on pinterest, Delightful Order had a free printable for the iPod Valentine Candy.

What you Need:

Conversation Heart Box (I found a 5 pack mini's for $1 at Walmart)

Kisses or mini pb cups

White Card Stock

Ribbon (I used crafting string I had left over)

Glue Gun

Print the Free Template Delightful Order has on to card stock is best but plain paper would to. It has 3 per page, cut one out to glue to the conversation box.  Mine were mini so the box was smaller and the paper wrapped around more then it was suppose to but it still worked! I glued the string on the back under the paper and then cut a smaller piece to glue together like how a speaker wire looks like. I glued a kiss at the end of each of the string to be like the ear buds.  You can do this with ribbon and then just tie a 2nd smaller ribbon on to make the Y like the wires also. I'm a use what you have on hand type of girl.

Any Valentine gift Ideas you have planned?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Pizza Logs Featured twice!!!

A big thank you to Laura at I'm Not a Trophy Wife for featuring the Pizza Log's I made for Cole's friends.  I must say those were the tastiest treat, I would probably have ate them all by myself if the kids weren't here .. lol!

Then I went to Posed Perfection to see she posted them as part of her game day food line up!

Thank you again Laura!

Thank you Nici!!

Pizza Logs Made:

Have a Great weekend!

HOLY Roots Batman!!

New year and a refresh of my hair do!  This is the first time since my 20's that I have repeated a hair color / style 3 times in a row. I had so many comments on this style I had to do it one last time. You know you're hair is a hit when you're at dinner and a stranger comes up to you and ask if they can take photos of your hair to show their stylist ... lol made me giggle but it was very flattering. 

I know I say this every time but man getting older sucks. When I was young I was always a natural platinum blonde. Now days I have to dye my hair to get that look again .. lol life.

One last time with the platinum and black color!

Have a great day!!

Sausage & Stuffing Brunch Bake - Weight Watcher 7 Points

It's been so busy around here that I haven't had a lot of time for my blog :( I'm sorry that I'm not as present as I should be. Work has been overtime with things to do, which are amazing but leave a little free time and in the free time I'm running to the gym for my classes and the boys classes.  So here is a quick meal that I made that was a hit, hope you enjoy!

I found this Sausage & Stuffing Brunch Bake on my favorite site Emily Bites, she makes cooking meals that satisfy but don't make me feel like the hour in the gym was a waste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb hot Italian turkey or chicken sausage, casings removed
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 8 oz mushrooms, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups herb seasoned stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farms)
• ½ cup fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons light butter, melted
• 5 oz 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar, shredded (I used Cabot brand)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 16 oz carton fat free egg substitute
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Bring a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Cook for a couple minutes, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula for about 2 minutes, until it begins to start browning. Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes until the meat is cooked through and broken up and the vegetables are softened. Transfer the cooked sausage mixture to a large mixing bowl and add the stuffing mix (unprepared). Stir to combine.
3. Transfer the stuffing and sausage mixture to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with the chicken broth and melted butter. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top.
4. Combine the milk, egg substitute and pepper in a bowl and whisk together until combined. Pour over the top of the stuffing casserole. Bake for about 40 minutes or until set and cooked through. Let casserole cool for 5 minutes and cut into 9 pieces.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS:7 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
263 calories, 25 g carbs, 8 g fat, 23 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

12th Man Cupcakes

Well the Superbowl is over, it was a great game from the screaming and yelling in my living room last night. Living in Seattle it was a huge deal we made it there 2 years in a row! Me not being a football girl and a non bandwagon hopper it wasn't a big thing for me. BUT, the charity I work for Birthday Dreams had a 15 y/o homeless girl having a Seahawks themed party.  I made the 12th man treats for Cole's class on Friday and thought I could do that on top of a cupcake also!

WELL my first idea was to make a 12 and do the M&M cake (I made previously for this charity) done in the Seahawk colors!  BUT my order of M&Ms from Amazon arrived an hour before the game which of course was hours after the cake was due.  So I went to plan B Sunday AM.  I got up super early and made the treats and then cupcakes!

What you need:

Candy Melts - Dark Blue

Candy Melts - Green

Candy Melts - White

Vanilla Wafers - I used Minis

Food Writer Black

Rice Krispy Treats
Cupcakes (Chocolate Cupcakes were requested)
Frosting (I used my Sturdy Buttercream)

I used the mini wafers again since they needed to fit on cupcakes. I made a double batch of rice krispy treats,I cut them into rectangles to be the bodies. I melted my Candy Melts and dipped the treats, just about 2/3 of the treat. I used my fondant spreader to make the chocolate smooth for the shirts. I took a food writer and make the face on the mini wafers. I melted some white candy melts and made the 12 on the blue and green to be the shirts. The second time I made them I used a piping bag with my small top to write the 12 it was a lot cleaner this time. I then put a dollop of white chocolate on the un-dipped part of the treat to attach the face. I made a few Flags and square's with the 12 on it too.

I frosted my cupcakes and added the 12th men and flags to them and loaded them up into a clear cupcake containers (I bought mine on Amazon).  I love these containers they make it so easy to deliver cupcakes. They stay nice without being destroyed in the travel.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.