WWW ~ Clean up, Hiding Toys & Rick's Birthday!H

Well it was a fun weekend here at the house both boys not feeling the best, let's just say Caden's crip needed to be taken apart for a deep clean! After I finished up work Saturday, my dad picked the boys up for two glorious hours! You think I could rest, nope I got to cleaning. I headed to the boys room. How can two little boys make so much of a mess in there! No matter how many times I tell them NO FOOD in your room they keep sneaking it in there!!!

So while cleaning the crib I decided to tackle the toy box. OH boy was I in for a shock! It smelled a little funny, as I take out the toys I get closer to the bottom were I found dried PEE!!!! WTH really dude (has to be Cole) you pee'd in the toy box! You ask him he has no clue? So out come the toys I wash them down and while doing that I got a black bag full to donate (yup see it there all those toys went to Value Village).

Things you find in a Toy box:

Pee! Yup who would have thunk it?

Cracker Crumbs, I always store my crackers in pee!

And oh yeah a diaper! Guess brother thought his pee needed to be w/ brothers!

Oh yeah and I found not One but TWO

APPLES one under each bed!

Should I be happy they sneak healthy food?

Yup that is what an apple looks like if left under one's bed!

With Rick's GC for his brithday from my MIL we hit the mall

I took the boys to the playcenter!

Caden had to have a snack, PB&J

Don't you eat your sandwich like this?

Caden decided my brand NEW TP needed to be organized!

While mom cleaned up I grab her slanket and got to sleep.

Yup Slanket is now "My Blanket" yup Caden says this!

Cole rearranged the toys, of course you need drivers!

Oh yeah and Deigo wanted to hide in the TP after I cleaned it up

Rick's Birthday!

I'm such a great wife I wrap in a Kmart Bag .... LOL

What he got a new Wii remote, 2 wii games, Aviation DVD's and new Apron

(picture of him in it coming soon)

After huffing at my parents they went to a early dinner.

Mom whipped up a cake for Rick! YUMMY

The slowest Mexican Restaurant EVER!

Overall a good weekend, Sunday Rick was suppose to go to Church with me on Sunday but was throwing up so it was just me and the boys :(. The comedian at Church they hyped up wasn't that funny. On my way home called my dad to see if they wanted "TO GO WITH US" to lunch. My dad thought I was trying to get them to take us to lunch and pay! NO I wanted you to go with us. LOVE them to death, I haven't borrowed $ in years, but still they always think I want money! KILLS me. So after a huff and me hanging up and calling my bff in tears (they can always do this to me). She calmed me down letting me know I'm a good person they love me they just are weird like that. A good cry and then dad calls and invites us to dinner??? WTH, I know my same thought. We go to dinner I PULL out my card to pay and they say they are paying. I give up, really I wasn't wanting a FREE meal. Really my parents are awesome people you just don't mix them and money into the mix. They are amazing and have done well for themselves and have taught me to take care of myself and not needing anyone, but again don't borrow money ... LOL.

So there it is my weekend in a wrap it was fun a lot of sick people but we made it threw it! WELL kind of Caden still sick, yesterday he came up to me to tell me "Momma my nose hurts". Poor guy nose is all red from sneezing and snot everywhere :( OH joy!

Winners Check them out!

Wow time flies check out our winners!

Desire A Devil Book Giveaway

59 Grand Pooba

44 ellie

7 Amy

106 Deb K

32 Terra H.

Sins of the Flesh Book Giveaway7 Pricilla63 Brooke72 Anne-Marie T61 kys1 Rhonda
A Climate for Change Book Giveaway13 Renee G20 gahome2mom30 Daffy 68 Deb K
Can God Be Trusted? Finding Faith in Troubled Times Book Giveaway9 Becky 44 Jaime10 casey aubut 5 Daffy18 Just Breathe
It Happened One Night Book Giveaway27 moushka 15 Rebecca Jo83 Anne-Marie T 67 Grand Pooba33 gahome2mom
Spread Heads Giveaway19 Diane {createdbydiane.blogspot.com}
Teri Woods Alibi Audio CD Giveaway (3 Winners)34 Miss Spoken72 Nickolay 11 luckyme
Alex Cross's Trial Audio CD Giveaway (3 Winners)29 Rhonda25 Daffy 7 LoveMy2Dogs
I Drink for Reason Audio Book Giveaway (3 Winners)58 Annoymous (tboardley)36 Theresa N. 35 News Around The Blogs

nicholas Sparks The Last Song Audio Giveaway (3 Winners)

67 janetfaye

38 Kristie

42 Heidi

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Audio Book Giveaway (3 Winners)

23 madwoman-doing-cartwheels

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The Murder of King Tut Audio Giveaway (3 Winners)

57 Lorie Shewbridge

27 Daffy

84 Grand Pooba

The Liar in Your Life Audio Book Giveaway (3 Winners)

1 Anne-Marie T

87 Deb K

49 Denny, Alaska

NutureShock Audio Book Giveaway (3 Winners)

15 Grand Pooba

2 moushka

40 Daffy

UPrinting 100 Postcard Giveaway

7 Clueless_Mama

Phew I'm all caught up, wow one day my world will work together! I'm sorry everyone I'm tired I'll email you all tomorrow but I wanted to get this up!

TMTT ~ From Italian to Mexican to Dessert

Today I have 3 yummy recipes to share with you! One I found on the Relish! the meal planning website I'm trying out for two weeks before I put the ONE YEAR subscription giveaway up for you! The thing I really enjoyed about this site is the amount of recipes that they had, plus you could add your recipes to it. Yup you got it so when it prints that lovely grocery list it will add these items needed also!!

First Recipe is from Relish! site, it was VERY easy and very yummy! Rick even enjoyed!

Spaghetti Pies

Spaghetti Pies

Prep time: 25 minutes You’ll need two 10-inch disposable pie plates 1 1/2 pounds ground sweet Italian sausage 12 ounces spaghetti 4 large eggs , beaten 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded 4 tablespoons butter 1 white onion , chopped 1 1/2 cups sour cream 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste 2 cups water 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 10-inch aluminum pie pans

[1] In a large pot of boiling salt water, boil the spaghetti until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. While still warm, combine the spaghetti with eggs and Parmesan in a medium bowl. Pour into 2 well-greased 10-inch pie pans and pat mixture up and around the sides with a spoon. [2 In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté the onion until limp, about 10 minutes. Stir in the sour cream and spoon the mixture over the two pans of spaghetti. [3] In the same skillet, add the sausage and cook until done. Drain and add the tomato paste and water. Simmer for 10 minutes and spoon the sausage mixture on top of the sour cream mixture. [4] Cool and top with the cheese. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil. [5] Using packing tape, affix the cooking instructions to the outside of each pie and lay flat in the freezer. COOKING DIRECTIONS Thaw [1] Preheat oven to 350 degrees [2] Bake covered for 25 minutes, remove the foil and cook for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

Alexis NOTE: This one was meant for the freezer, I made it the same night also halved the recipe since I have a smaller freezer for not much room :). To make it a little healthier I switched out for the whole wheat pasta, the low fat sour cream, unsalted butter and used egg whites only (used 4).

Mexican Seashell Casserole

Mexican Seashell Casserole

1 lb ground beef

½ c chopped green pepper

1 tbs chili powder

2 ½

c small shells, uncooked

1 c sliced onions

1 ½ c tomato juice

½ tsp salt

Brown ground beef, onions and green peppers in skillet until onions are tender. Add tomato juice, chili powder and salt. Mix thoroughly, simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Cook small shells in salted boiling water until tender. Combine with meat mixture. Makes 4 servings.

Alexis NOTE: I switched out the ground beef for lean turkey and used whole wheat noodles.

Ginger Cheesecake Dessert

I had a few bags of gingerbread mix left over and thought what the heck the neighbors probably would love more cookies. I love baking I just don't need to eat it all ... LOL :) So my solution bake to make me happy and then give it away that night!

1	pouch Betty Crocker® gingerbread cookie mix
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
1	tablespoon water
1	egg
1	can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1	package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3	cup fresh lemon juice
2	cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, water and egg until soft dough forms.
2.	Make 5 cookies by shaping dough into 5 (1-inch) balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
3.	Meanwhile, press remaining dough in pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4.	In large bowl, beat milk, cream cheese and lemon juice with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over cooled cookie base.
5.	Crumble 5 baked cookies; sprinkle over cream cheese mixture. Cover; refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 2, bake cookies 9 to 11 minutes. In step 3, bake 13x9-inch pan 11 to 13 minutes.

MSM ~ Relish Meal Planning Meatball Soup

I'm so excited next week I'm going to put up a giveaway for a ONE YEAR subscription to Relish! an amazing site for meal planning. Ok you all know me I love cooking dinner and making something new each night (yes I'm proud to say I haven't made the same dish twice in a very long time). As you know I LOVE searching the internet for a meal idea, but it's usually a fly by the seat of my pants type of deal. Usually around 3:30pm I'm searching the internet quickly to find what ingredients I have and what I can whip up! Meal planning sounds great but really am I really going to sit down each Sunday and write a menu? Yeah right that means searching the internet and finding all recipes at once. I know myself so much better than that! But wait you make meal planning easy and I'm so there! So guess what I found it a place that does just that, each week they post new meals to choose from and you can always pick from previous weeks!

So I wanted to do try this out for two weeks before I put the ONE YEAR subscription giveaway to give you my thoughts. But already I can tell you that I'm already way to freaking excited!!! Guess what it even makes a grocery list for you! And even better it breaks it down by grocery isles sections. The thing I found last weeks when I did the cookbook, I found the recipes made my list but didn't put it in any order. Let's just say I was bouncing from one side to another, so having it all broke down made my trip easier (not a breeze but that is because I had two screaming boys with me ... lol).

My first recipe to show you is one that was a hit especially with Rick's buddy who stops by several times during the week (always around dinner time now that I think of it ... hmmm) :).

Meatball Soup B KF LC

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 35 minutes 1 38-ounce bag frozen meatballs 2 tablespoons butter 4 carrots , thinly sliced 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 1 14.5 ounce can beef broth 4 cups water 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 packet dry onion soup mix 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1 bay leaf coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

[1] In a Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Saute the carrots and celery until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.

[2] Add beef broth, water, tomatoes, onion soup mix, parsley, oregano, basil, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

[3] Add meatballs; cover and simmer 10 minutes longer. (Note: Remove the bay leaf before serving.) Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

I liked this recipe because it was super easy to put together and was ready around 30 minutes!

Check out the pictures of how it comes together!

BUY IT: Relish! is only $7 a month! Just think of the money you would save with having your meals plans, no spontaneous trips to the grocery story where you buy more than you need along with the gas it takes to get there. And I know it's a cliché but really time is money! I know I try to space my time as best as I can and anything that makes life easier I'm all for!

Tomorrow and next week I'll show you more recipes and how this has helped my life, then I'll put up the giveaway for ONE YEAR subscription (yes $84 prize). Hang with me to find out more!

ALEXIS NOTE: If anyone has any suggestions on seeing recipes let me know, I would love to know if you like the recipes on Monday and Tuesday and all the other stuff. Comments have been down so just throwing it out there, would love to know what you want to see more or less of. Thanks as always for stopping by. Muah!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday ~ Cheeseburger Pot Pie

A while back I had the opportunity to give my feedback on a upcoming Casseroles and Pot Pies Recipe Cook book, you know those little ones you find at the check out! Well I was so excited when I received a copy in the mail from them. I think I've made almost every dish out of there. This recipe was one of the first I made an the boys LOVED it! Hello Cheeseburger in the title what more can they ask for!

On a super awesome note the book even had a box top I collect for Cole's school! And some of you may be wondering about the C. Well of course it's for the boys, but where I saw this was on my favorite show Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian she was the winner of the next food network star. I just love her and on her first eposide she made a super yummy potato pie (yes you'll be seeing that soon) and for the air vent she carved in her mom's initial. She said her mom use to do this for the kids whenever she baked. I thought that was the coolest idea and had to do it. Cole of course thought the C was just for him :).

INGREDIENTS

1	lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/4	cup chopped onion
1/4	cup chopped dill pickles
1/2	cup water
1/2	cup ketchup
1	tablespoon yellow mustard
1/8	teaspoon pepper
1 1/2	cups shredded American cheese (6 oz)
1	can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1	egg, beaten
1	tablespoon sesame seed

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in pickles, water, ketchup, mustard and pepper.
2.	Spoon beef mixture into 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.
3.	Unroll dough; press into 12x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares; place on top of cheese. Brush with egg; sprinkle with sesame seed.