Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Ode to the Cooking Creme . . .

I have found a new product and L-O-V-E it!  For all you foodies out there you may turn your nose up at it but OMG Jeff and I cannot get enough.  It is Philadelphia's Cooking Creme in Italian Cheese and Herb.


Here's what I do -- altered from the recipe provided on the lid.

Ingredients:
1 medium-size zucchini sliced into quarters length-wise then sliced
1 or 1/2 of a purple onion finely chopped
8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
1 cup on cherry tomatoes, whole or halved
~ 3/4 - 1 pound of protein (I have used chicken and *shrimp so far and also made vegetarian by just increasing the veggies.)  Chicken, I cut into bite sized pieces; shrimp, I left whole.
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Cooking creme as above
8 oz of orzo, cooked and drained
1/4 -- 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water

On medium-high heat, heat ~ 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add chicken and brown.  Add veggies, saute until cooked to your liking, 4 - 5 minutes.  Add garlic, once it becomes fragrant (30 seconds), add cooked pasta, cherry tomatoes, and 1/3 of the cooking creme package contents. Stir until well blended.  If the pasta mixture gets to thick, add some pasta water. (If you forget to reserve the pasta water, use milk.)

*  If you use shrimp, add after you saute the vegetables so you don't over cook the shrimp.

Jeff said to me last night, "We need to try all the flavors!"  
"Mikey likes it!"   
Phew!

ENJOY!

P.S. The initial recipe called for the whole tub of cooking creme but I think it is just right with about 1/3.  Then you can have this fabulous dinner more often!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

The Calm and the Chaos


The Calm


Ever feel like that?  (Pink puppy gog courtesy of the Chaos!) . . .

The Chaos



You should see the booty shake that went along with this fury.  I'm definitely getting a dose of my own medicine!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Happy Birthday Handsome Boy!


Today is Conner's week old birthday.  He is growing and changing every day.  His weight was up by 4 ounces on Monday, from Friday!  Today he looks like a Keels to me, that's my mom's side.  

I heard him cry for the first time yesterday.  I think I scared him when I clicked him into the car seat.  It was quite funny.  He is very mouthy though.  I wish I could record it and post it here; he's just letting us know how he's feeling. 



Riley is doing well.  She still needs her time with me.  Yesterday I was holding Conner in the recliner where I typically hold Riley.  She looked at me with those puppy dog eyes then lit up when I invited her into my lap.  It was good to hold both of my babies!

Jeff and I are settling in as well.  I am pretty much back to my old self, pain in minimal.  I'm still restricting my driving and trying to restrict my lifting.  Jeff went back to work on Monday and is picking up the slack where needed.  

I'm thankful for my generous friends who have brought us dinner and a friendly visit.  I'm especially thankful for my mom who has been with us since last Tuesday.  It has been a great comfort to have her here.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Finally to 2

January 19, 2011 at 10:09 Conner Grant McNeil joined our family.  He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces, 22 inches long. 



 Daddy is proud.  Conner has been such a good baby and Riley has been a good big sister.


My heart sings!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I did it!

So I did it.  After reading many blogs and seeing their usefulness for updates, I have started this blog.  I know my page is boring and not cute but I suspect my sweet sister can help me update it at Christmas.  Until then we will deal.  So here's my official first post . . .

Riley recently joined me at the kitchen table while I was sewing.  This was early one Sunday morning.  She had been experimenting with a set of little snippers (thread-cutting scissors) mainly ripping scraps of fabric all the while I was yelling "watch your fingers."  She is obviously not very good at her scissor skills, for one thing she is 2, the other problem is she is a lefty in a righty world!  But then she found my "good" serrated scissors . . . and here was the end result. . . 




Good thing I have lots of tape measures!