Food for "thought" Friday

So I was torn on WHICH recipe to post here since I have found a few good ones over the last few weeks... But since the one I found last night needs a bit of tweaking, I figured I should start with one from last week.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 1/2 c prepared rice

6 medium to large bell peppers

2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

1/2 cup honey, separated

grated cheese

Dice onion and place in a skillet, add ground beef and brown however you prefer seasoning to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Once the meat is cooked, add the cooked rice. Add 1 can tomato sauce and a HEAPING 1/4 cup of honey. Simmer on low while you prepare the bell pepper.

Cut the bell peppers in half and remove seeds and membrane. Cut the stem off and place side by side in a 9X13 baking dish. Pour meat mixture into each bell pepper "boat." In a small bowl combine the remaining can of tomato sauce and another HEAPING 1/4 cup of honey. Microwave for about 30 seconds to better incorporate the honey and tomato sauce. Stir well then pour the sauce over the stuffed bell peppers.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until peppers are cooked to desired done-ness. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve once cheese melts a bit.

YUMMY! This recipe makes a lot. I cut it in half and was very happy with how it turned out. Also, the filling freezes well, so feel free to make a full batch and freeze half if you have a small family.

The adventures of Lilia

Lilia has been so much fun lately. She and I have started a new adventure. I recently started reading her a chapter book. She enjoys reading, and is not as thrilled with me reading to her, but she seems to finally be getting into the storyline.

One of her favorite activities is dress up. She loves having neighbor girls come over and dress up with her.


Some nights we let her play a round or two of rockband (drums) before bed. She loves playing the drums and can even survive on her own (on Easy, of course)!

She has also recently found a new love for working out. She likes to take her shirt off like the guy in the video though. This video is especially funny. Don't mind the fact that the darn camera won't focus. The purring sound is the camera trying to focus...



(She is talking about a girl in a sports bra by the way...)

Hope everything is well with you!

The adventures of Lacey

Sorry it's been a while since I posted! I am amazed at how quickly Lilia and Lacey are growing up. Lacey has hit a really fun stage lately. She just LOVES lotion. She has a medicated lotion I have to put on her face everyday, so she thinks that is where lotion goes. Problem is, I keep the lotion out of reach. So instead she uses any and EVERY cream like consistency she can find, as lotion. For example, the chocolate frosting...
Or her personal favorite- butter...

Then there is our latest addiction here at our house. We have become big fans of Wii Rockband! Both the girls love it, and I managed to get a video of Joe helping Lacey rock out on the drums:



You will notice that Lacey keeps grinning at the camera. She thought I was taking her picture, so she was giving her best cheesy grin. Love that girl!

Coming soon: The adventures of Lilia!

Pay it Forward, Round 1

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...Post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!

((And don't worry too much- if you aren't one of the first three, I signed up for two of these... just one of them I don't have to post the blog until I receive the item made for me. So you will get a second chance! Good luck!))

A window to my world...

Sorry I haven't written in a while. It's been a bad week for me. I went in for a root canal on one of my back teeth and am having a hard time getting over the pain this time round.

The kids have been pretty good lately. Lilia is a good helper and remembers to bless me "that [my] owwie teeth will feel better" every time she prays. She asks me all the time if she can give me a kiss, but will she get owwie teeth if she does... Such a good kid. She is also doing really well at school. When she started preschool this year she came home with a set of books called, Bob Books Collection 1. It has 18 books in it, each progressively harder with more difficult reading skills. Well- Lilia is now on the last book in collection 1! She is reading "Sox the Fox" its about a fox that wants to eat a hen and then hen warns all her friends and they all get away from the hungry fox. It's cute. We are in the process of finding and buying her the Bob Books Collection 2. :D She does love reading.

Lacey has found a new love in our rockband drum set. She loves banging on the drums, and using the foot pedal. It's pretty cute. She is also starting to talk more, which is nice. She say "Hi. " and "Bye bye!" very well as well as dad and mom. She is working on "All done" and is a pro with "no!" We were worried about her hearing for a while but it turns out she is just taking her time talking (most likely because her super helpful sister is quick to talk for her). She understands directions very well, and follows them almost everytime. She loves to help me clean up. Such a cutie!

I was reading a friend's blog last night and she posted about a friend of hers who wrote a blog about motherhood. This friend had written that most days she barely touched her "to do" list, and that it felt like on most days she was "running in molasses." Not really getting anywhere, but working hard to make the small bits of progress that she had made. I really like this analogy. It is so true! Everyone has a list of things to accomplish throughout the day. Some write it down, others type it up, some keep it in their head. I can't tell you how often my short list of "to do's" takes me days to accomplish. It's amazing that I find time to do anything between diapers, baths, preschool drop off, cleaning up the latest child mess, lunch making, child dressing, and any other number of regular and not so regular items that trump the "to do" list.

But at the same time- it is on those days when you find that even without finishing your "To do's" you have accomplished so much! You have paid attention to your children, you have cared for them, you have told them (maybe not in words) that they are more important than the laundry or scrubbing the kitchen. You have been a mother. You have loved, and taught, and hugged, and smiled at your children. In the eternal perspective of life, you will be better remembered as the mom who helped her children grow up in a loving home. Not as the mom with the cleanest kitchen. It is so easy to get caught up in everything that isn't done. It is much harder to stop and remember that even if you can't manage to clean every room in your house, you CAN be there with your children, doing what needs to be done (and sometimes doesn't need to be done) with them.

I love the idea that when Joe gets home and sees the house in a bit of turmoil I can tell him that I spent the day running in molasses. My goal for that specific day was to keep up with my kids and if any of my "to do" list was completed, well- that is a bonus!

Hopefully life is good with you. Have a wonderful weekend!

Food for "thought" Friday

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks pretty good. We may be having it for dinner tonight. Yum!

Italian Skillet Supper

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
  

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta; mix with meat mixture. Top with cheese. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

My purse

Last week a friend tagged me. Unfortunately, I then had to get YET ANOTHER dental procedure done, and am FINALLY feeling better, so on to the tag I should have finished last week...

1) "Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late (and the inside too). No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house."

The outside:


Nothing special... just a brown purse... those two tiny pockets on front hold a spare set of contacts and a pill bottle with an assortment of pills (you know, the advil, tums, etc.)

The inside:


The main pocket seriously only has three things in it. My wallet. My cell phone case (the phone was in use while I took the pictures) and a tube of Lacey's face cream.



Thought the second pocket has another tube of Lacey's cream, and some money I need to put in my account... Granted these pictures were taken about 20 minutes after I was tagged, and it has now been a few days and the money is safely deposited (so no one should try to steal my purse in hopes of finding some cash...).

2) " I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it."

I bought my purse at DI. I know, that's awful, but I just don't care too much about my purse. I am not willing to spend a bunch on it. I think it cost me $2.00 or so.

3) "Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your diaper bag/non-diaper bag."

Well- I can't think of anyone in particular that I want to tag... okay so one person sticks out, so I will definitely tag her. Hey Triscuit, you're it! But as for anyone else, if you are a chick, and you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!