Fresh Fruit Smoothie

Peaches (cut up and washed)

Strawberries (cut up and washed)

Raspberries (cut up and washed)

fat free yogurt

fat free milk

sugar (optional to taste)

What's cooking in the crock pot?

Last night, for dinner I made my white chicken chili again. Pretty much the same way as last time. I added celery and corn this time. It was still good but I liked it more the first time.

3 chicken breasts (cut up)

2 pkgs of McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning

2 tbs of oil

2 cups of water

2 cans of white kidney beans (undrained)

1 onion

celery

canned corn

African Violets

A few weeks back I had my IVC filter removed and as I left the hospital I was given a goodie bag with a little African Violet plant. I don't know why but it made me so happy. I don't know if every patient receives one or if it was b/c I knew the girl who worked there. I knew exactly the perfect place for it. I know that African Violets love half sunshine and half shade so I figured one of my back windows would be great for it. I have it placed in a candy dish that belonged to my Grandma Runyon. I've been taking care of my little plant everyday and I'm glad to say that it's doing wonderful good. Look at all the blooms!! :)

New things Monday

I used my new pampered chef baker dish. I love it so far. I made homemade mac and cheese. I used macaroni noodles and penne noodles. (Both boxes were about half full b/c Nate used half the boxes for something one night) Anyways, I put the noodles in the baker dish and added broth just to cover. I cooked noodles for 12 min. Then I drained some of the broth and added some W sauce, pepper and lots of different cheeses. I had so many half used packages of cheese that I just used all the ones that were open and mixed it up then cooked for another 3 min. It was good but not really what I was expecting. Maybe it needed some milk or maybe some of the cheeses didn't go well together. Not sure...I like it better when I make it in the oven. Nate loved it so that's makes me happy. :)

A Wegman Dinner

For dinner tonight, Nate and I went to Wegmans. We thought it would be fun to get something different and make it together. Of course, everyone else in FXBG was at Wegmans today too. But Wegmans is an awesome store so I'm glad it's still going strong.

For dinner, I picked myself beef and Nate got himself chicken. Nate cooked our proteins on the grill. My steak was PERFECTION. It didn't need any A1 sauce or anything. It was really good and tender. MMMM :) Nate liked his chicken but he didn't realize it still had the bone so he was a little disappointed.

I cooked up some wild rice that we got from Wegmans as well. We weren't that impressed with the rice. It was bland but simple to make. I also heated up some canned corn we had in the pantry for an extra side dish.

We got some fresh fruit from Wegmans too. Peaches, strawberries and raspberries!!! You can't go wrong with fresh fruit. :) I cut them up and washed them. Nate wanted a smoothie so that's what I made for us. I put the fruit, fat free plain yogurt, little bit of fat free milk and a little bit of sugar and puree all together. It was a nice refreshing dessert after dinner. :)

Now it's time to do the dishes..... :(

Spaghetti Carbonara

For dinner tonight, I decided to make something different. I came across a recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara and thought it looked like a great dish to try. It's delicious and simple to make.

Don't you love my pasta dish? I got it from Kohl's! I LOVE IT! :)

1 - 16 oz box spaghetti
(I used 3/4 a box)
2 - tablespoon olive oil, separated
8 - slices bacon or Italian bacon, diced
1/2 - small onion, chopped (I used 1/4 cup)
1 - clove garlic, minced
1/8 - 1/4 - cup dry white wine (optional)
2 - eggs, beaten
2 - tbsp heavy cream or milk
1/2 - cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 - pinch salt and black pepper to taste
2 - tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
extra grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside. While the pasta cooks start on the bacon. In a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat; add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add wine if desired; cook one more minute.

Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together. To ensure a creamy, silky sauce, mix the cheese, cream and beaten eggs together then stir into the pasta, off of the heat. Tossing constantly with tongs or large fork until eggs are barely set. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty). Serve immediately with chopped parsley sprinkled on top, and extra Parmesan cheese at table.

New Things Monday

For today I picked up a 6 pack of Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream cupcakes. My brother told me about them so I figured they would be perfect for new things Monday. :)

They are a bit costly at $10 for a pack of 6. They are pre-packaged so you can't change them up. You get 2 of each of the Sweet Cream, Cake Batter Delux and Double Chocolate devotion.

We both chose to try the Double Chocolate devotion. It was good!! You can even eat everything, including the liner shell. It's chocolate!! :)

Here it is cut open so you can see what it looks like. :)

Lunch is served...

My brother picked up some little potato rolls from the grocery store yesterday. And then today he picked up some chick-fil-a nuggets and he made us little chick-fil-a, chick-n-minis. What a great lunch! :) Thanks bruder! :)