All About Me And A Bag Of Chips!

Foodie Friday!!

Hey everyone! It is that time of the week again when my blog becomes "all things food" LOL I hope you are having a great day. We are all OK, DH, myself and Sophia all have colds. Sophia also had a little fever this morning, so I just kept her home. Usually their policy is if the snot isn't green she is good to go, but I figured with a little fever, a nose running like a tap and cough, missing one day of kindergarten would be ok. ;)

So onto food things! This weeks little goodie isn't really a gadget, but it is just to adorable to miss!

SMILE CUP





Is that not just the cutest!!

Ok so onto this weeks menu. One of the dishes I had planned to make gets carried over to this week since I had leftovers of my yummy pasta dish I posted about yesterday...

Menu for the week of Nov. 1st until the 7th

• Sat- Out For Dinner.
• Sun- Ribolita Soup
• Mon- Leftovers.
• Tues- Sandwiches- Soup.
• Wed- Chicken Parmigiana with Penne and Steamed Broccoli.
• Thurs- Breakfast for dinner.
• Fri- Sloppy Joes - Salad.

So that will wrap things up for another week here, have a great weekend and until next time..TATA!!

Brrrr it be a-cold out!!

Mama mia has it been chilly out the last few days! It's not usually this cold at this time of year here. I may have to start sticking Sophia in her snowsuit for school! Not to much interesting going on the last few days here. Sophia has been invited to her second birthday party. It is after school next Wednesday, so she is super excited about that. Oh, a little update about CS4. I changed a few settings and now it is just zipping along, though to be honest I wouldn't say it is any faster then CS3, on my machine anyways. I am very exited for this weekend, DH's brother is coming to babysit and DH and I are heading off for an afternoon of Christmas shopping, dinner, good conversation and hopefully a coffee from my favorite swanky coffee shop! I can't wait, it feels like forever since we have had any time just the two of us. I really want to get the Christmas shopping started and hopefully finished soon. I hate running around at the last minute!! I also have a recipe recommendation for you! I made the following recipe for dinner last night and it was SOOOOO good! Very rich though, so I think next time I make it I will replace the cream with milk. I also used wholegrain penne and added in some onion and added a cup more broth and a little extra flour to thicken! Good stuff this is......

Italian Mac-n-Cheese

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 4 servings, plus leftovers

1 pound ziti rigate, penne rigate or cavatappi (ribbed, hollow corkscrews)
1 pound Italian bulk sweet sausage
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 (10-ounce) sack, 2 1/2 cups, shredded Italian 4 cheese blend, available on dairy aisle
1 can diced tomatoes, drained well
1 teaspoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco), optional
1/2 cup Parmesan, a couple of handfuls

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta to a chewy al dente, about 8 minutes.

In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain cooked crumbles on paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.

Preheat broiler to high.

To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of 4 cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings, adding hot sauce if desired.

Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to baking dish, casserole or oven safe serving platter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of 4 cheese blend and the grated Parmesan over the top and brown under hot broiler.

Well that will wrap thing up for today! I hope you have a good one and until next time..TATA!!

A Little giftie for you today!!

Good morning everyone!! I hope your all having a great day. I have been a bit stressed out lately about all this financial stuff and how it is affecting my mortgage, so in the hopes of getting my mind off that subject for a bit I made a little snowflake transparency alpha to give away here on my little blog!! I think it is pretty cute and I hope you like it also! I also wanted to give a heads up to my fellow scrap-shopaholics that We Are Storytellers are having a really cool sale this week. It started today and everyday through Nov. 1st they will have several things on sale for 1.00 dollar! The stuff on sale changes every 24 hours, so make sure you stop by daily to check what is a buck that day, and no I am not affiliated with them at all, just thought it was a pretty rawking sale and wanted to get the word out! Of course if they are looking for a new CT member....just kidding...LOL

Ok, so onto the free gift. Remember not to pass around the link, send whomever wants the alpha here for the link and I LOVE comments, so please leave me one if you nab. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. ;)



You can nab the alpha HERE

So that will wrap things up for today! Have a good one and until next time..TATA!!

Weekend update and a couple new LO's!!

Good morning peeps!! Seems that yet another Monday morning is upon us. I hope you all enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend! Ours was nice, nothing overly exciting to talk about. DH took the kids and went to visit his brother and his two kids. It was nice for me to have a little alone time. We turned our clocks back on Saturday night, so that meant everyone was up early on Sunday. lol Sophia had riding lessons Sunday and it poured rain the whole day, so we just hung out in front of the TV and vegged. Perfect Sunday afternoon in my book! ;)

In scrapping news I have two new LO's to show off! The first is made with the rawking new COLLAB GRAB BAG by Chrissy and Angie at Elemental Scraps.com I am usually underwhelmed by most grab bags, but I can honestly say this one is so worth the 3 bucks, it's packed with great quality items!! Love it!!



My second LO to show off is made with Dani Mogstad's new HOLIDAY SPIRIT kit over at Sweet Shoppe Designs and put me in the holiday spirit it did! I was thisclose to dragging out the Christmas decorations, but DH promised to have me committed if I did, so I guess I will wait a couple more weeks! LOL Seriously though, this is a GORGEOUS kit!!



Well folks, that will have to wrap things up for today. I have a TON of laundry to do, a bathroom to clean and a bunch of other small things to get finished. I hope you have a great Monday and until next time...TATA!!

Foodie Friday!!

Whoot it is FINALLY the end of the week! How excited am I! So I have a little bad news today. You know how yesterday I said DH's folks where leaving for Rome, ya well unfortunately his dad was rushed to the hospital in the morning because he was having trouble breathing. :( He had fluid in his lungs (he has been in the hospital a couple times this summer for the same thing). They drained the fluid and he is doing really well and should be released today. Such a relief, so I don't know when they will leave for Rome now, but the only thing that matters is that he is doing well. :)

Ok, so on to some foodie stuff for today! First up is this cool gadget I stumbled upon the other day. I usually always make my own dressing and marinades and this looks like it could be a great addition to my gadget collection!!

BONJOUR SALAD CHEF



Our salad dressing mixer allows cooks of all ages to swiftly blend homemade vinaigrette's and salad dressings with the push of a button. It’s equipped with an emulsifying blade that instantly creates rich, smooth results using your own fresh ingredients. The vinegar emulsifies with the oil and added flavors, producing an even consistency – and taste – throughout your salad. The clear plastic carafe is conveniently labeled with oil, vinegar and lemon juice fill lines and comes with an airtight lid for storing dressings. Recipes are included. It uses four AA batteries (not included). The carafe is dishwasher safe. 12-fl.-oz. cap.; 3" diam., 12" high overall.

Isn't that cool!! Not a bad deal at 19.99 either!!

So onto this weeks menu. I have about seven weeks worth on menus planned (ya me) and have a lot of new recipes I have been trying. I have been trying to mix up new recipes with cheaper options and that seems to have been keeping the price of groceries pretty even.

Menu for the week of Oct. 25th until the 31st.

• Sat- Grilled cheese - Soup.
• Sun- Fish and Shrimp Stew: Vatapa de Peixe e Camarao - rice - steamed veggies.
• Mon- Leftovers.
• Tues- Sandwiches. (Ballet class night)
• Wed- Italian Mac-n-Cheese - Salad.
• Thurs- Chorizo and Potato Fritta - Salad.
• Fri- Ribollita soup.

So I guess that will wrap thing up for this Friday!! I hope you all have a fab weekend and until next time...TATA!!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Please, PLEASE let this American election be over soon. I BEG you, I am SO tired of hearing the stupid and uneducated things that are flying out of peoples mouths all over the place!! I feel sorry for those of you that actually LIVE in the U.S and have to listen to this crap day in and day out! LOL



Again, not a picture of me, but she is doing a great impersonation of me this morning!! LOL Ok, that was my rant for the day....

In other less annoying news, the inlaws are coming for lunch today. DH has to drive them to the airport, so they are coming early to have lunch and say good bye to the kids. I have to run and get Sophia when school lets out AND, and this is BIG news, I will be getting a STARBUCKS!! Whoot!! The only one they have in Copenhagen is at the airport, so DH promised to nab me one of their yummy holiday flavors. I can't wait! lol

Well I guess that is pretty much it for this Thursday. I hope you have a great day and until next time..TATA!!

So much pain, so little time!!

How's that for a title! lol Man I have a KILLER sinus headache today, so this is going to be short today. I keep forgetting that Mel tagged me a few days ago, so I am FINALLY getting to answer that tag!

Here are the rules:

• Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.
• They have to be real places, names, things. nothing made up!
• You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name? Eve

2. A 4 Letter Word: Evil (LOL couldn't help it)

3. A Boys Name: Evan

4. A Girls Name: Edwina

5. An Occupation: Engineer

6. A Color: Ecru

7. Something you wear: Eye glasses

8. A Beverage: Evian water

9. A Food: Eggplant

10. Something found in the bathroom: Electric razor

11. A place: England

12. A Reason for being late: Eagle ate my baby?? LOL

13. Something you shout: Enough

So there ya go! That will wrap things up for today. Have a great one and until next time..TATA!!

Not much to report today and a new LO!

Nothing all that interesting to report today, We are just getting back into the swing of things after the Fall break. The weather is so very "Fall like" but also dreary and rainy, so it kind of makes you want to stay in and snuggle under a blanket. I played a little with my CS4 yesterday and I am not sure yet how I feel about it. There is definitely some cool new features, but it seems to run a lot slower on my machine then CS3 did. Not sure why that is and am in the process of figuring it out. lol

I have a LO to show off today. It is made with Cori Gammon's "new" kit MOD SQUAD. It's a very cool kit, so be sure to check that out!



I am also hosting this weeks INSPIRATION CHALLENGE over at Sweet Shoppe Designs. So you might want to check that out!! We are being inspired by TYPE this challenge and here is the LO I made for it!



So I guess that will wrap things up for today. I have a million things to do and I have a wicked cold which is killing my sinuses. :( I hope you have a great day and until next time..TATA!!

Up at the break of dawn!!

Well before the break of dawn actually! For some reason I was wide awake at 5:30 this morning. I didn't actually have to be up until 6, but there ya go!! DH is supervising an exam this morning so he needed to be in to work early, so he dropped Sophia off at her after school place, which is actually also a before school place, anyways, they provide breakfast between 7-8 and then walk the school kids down to their school. There were a few tears this morning, but not to surprising since it was so early, a change in routine and the first day back after Fall break. He peeked back in after a couple minutes and she had stopped crying and was eating breakfast and chatting with one of the adults. So hopefully everything will be fine the rest of the day!

In other news DH surprised me with the new CS4 upgrade from Adobe!! OMG, how excited am I! I can't wait to get started playing, gotta love the perks of working at a school! ;) In scrapping news, I was so excited when I received a PM from Kasia that she was RAKing me her new BEARY SWEET KIT how sweet was that!! I simply adore her designs. So much talent and a sweetie pie to boot! I also make another LO with the new FULL OF WONDER collection over at Weeds And Wildflowers. I think this one may be one of my all time favorites (if I do say so myself lol).



Well that will wrap it up for today! Have a fabulous Monday and until next time..TATA!!

Foodie Friday and a new LO to show off!!

Whoot! It is Friday! How excited AM I!! lol To say it has been a long week would be an understatement, but it was nice hanging out with my girl all day!! Alas though it is back to school on Monday!! Next week also marks the time time of the year when DH's parents head off to Rome for the winter, which means we are going to get their car for the next four months!! Woohoo!! DH was just telling me that gas prices were falling a little also, so that is nice! Our first trip with the car next weekend is of course IKEA! LOL now I have two that are really not that far from where I live. I can and do on occasion take the bus there, but it is a huge PITA to bring anything back home, so we usually wait until the inlaws head off and we have the car to do a big run. I need a few shelves, some more dishes and few other things. I can't wait!

This weeks "foodies" section of the post is going to be a bit abbreviated. I am just going to post my menu for next week and if you click on the highlighted dishes it will take you to the recipes! I have been trying a lot of new dishes lately and seem to have gotten my cooking mojo back!!

Menu for the week of Oct 18th until Oct 24th.

• Sat- Fettuccine with Shiitake Mushrooms and Basil and salad.
• Sun- Chicken and white bean soup with spinach and Parmesan.(recipe posted below)
• Mon- leftovers.
• Tues- Sandwiches. (ballet night)
• Wed- Pork Milanese with Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce and steamed broccoli.
• Thur- Quiche and salad.
• Fri- Tuna burgers with Dill Creme Fraiche and salad.

Chicken and White Bean Soup with Spinach and Parmesan

3 (14oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ cups plus 3 tbsp. tomato-and-basil pasta sauce (I’m sure any would do)
1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
¾ tsp. crushed red pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
6 oz prewashed baby spinach
½ cup chopped fresh basil
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, bring chicken broth, pasta sauce, cannellini beans, and crushed red pepper to a simmer. Turn heat to low. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper; add to broth. Gently poach chicken, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. (The broth should barely simmer.) Stir in baby spinach. Continue cooking soup until spinach is wilted and chicken is just cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Stir in basil; season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and top with grated cheese. Makes 4 servings.

So onto some scrapping stuff!! I was a lucky ducky yesterday and got to play with the new FABULOUS collection from Gina over at Weeds And Wildflowers called FULL OF WONDER. As always this collection is HUGE and packed with pure awesomeness, so run and nab it right NOW!! LOL



So that will wrap things up for another week here! I hope you have a rawking weekend and until next time..TATA!!