Cars 2

So, we took the kids to the much anticipated showing of Cars 2 at our local theater this afternoon.  We all have been waiting for this movie for a very long time!  The kids counted down the days for the last week until we went.  You could say the kids, Dylan in particular, are obsessed with Cars!

While the movie was great, it was not what I expected.  If I had to choose, my vote would go to the original Cars movie.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but the movie fell short of whatever it was.  I don't want to ruin anything for those who have not seen it so I won't go into any details about the movie.  Just that is was good, not awesome, just good.

Don't get me wrong, I will be buying the DVD as soon as it hits the shelves and I'm sure we will watch it at least 5 million times when I do.  I am just hoping it grows on me as much as the first movie did!

http://disney.go.com/cars

Oriental Slaw

A few years ago Hubby's grandmother made this as a side for one of our Sunday dinners.  We fell in love with it and eat it quite a bit during the grilling months. It goes perfect with burgers and dogs and, well, just about anything! 

Oriental Slaw

2 packages of ramen noodles, chicken flavor

1 package of slaw mix

3-4 green onions, diced

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 cup oil

2/3 cup vinegar

2 tbs sugar

both packets of flavoring from the noodles

1/2 tsp pepper

In a large bowl combine slaw mix, onions, sunflower seeds and almonds.  You can add more or less onions, seeds and nuts, whatever your preference!  Crush up the noodles until they are no longer clumped together. Add to slaw mix.  In a large cup mix oil, vinegar, sugar, flavor packets and pepper. Stir well to dissolve.  Poor over the slaw mix. Either stir up real good or put the cover on the bowl and shake it up!  Best served cold.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

It is blueberry season around here! The kids and the hubby love blueberries, I do not. Well, I love stuff with blueberries in them, I just cannot seem to eat them as they are!  I was getting ready to make some blueberry muffins and decided to make a coffee cake instead. I'll make the muffins another day!


Blueberry Coffee Cake

10 tbs  (1 stick & 2 tbs) Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla 
4 cups Flour
4 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk
3 cups Fresh Blueberries

TOPPING:
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbs) Butter

1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla until mixed.  Add flour and milk until combined.

Grease 2 - 9 x 13 inch baking pans. Pour in batter.

In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and cut together using a pastry cutter or knives. Sprinkle over the top of the cakes.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown. 

Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

The kids LOVE dessert pizza! They love any pizza but if they had to vote, dessert pizza would obviously be their favorite!   When we order in pizza from a certain pizza place with the initials PJ....they know they are getting a yummy treat!

Well, I hate ordering in pizza, to me, homemade is the BEST!  So, I make my own dessert pizza!  And the kids love it just the same!

I make mine in a cookie sheet and cut them into sticks

Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

Pizza Crust (you can find one here)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tbs cinnamon

8 tbs (1 stick) butter

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbs of milk or water

Mix flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.  With your hands or a pastry cutter, combine the cold butter with the flour mixture.  You want to crumble them leaving fairly large crumbles. Spread on the pizza dough.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the crust is light brown and cooked through.

Stir together the powdered sugar and water and drizzle over the cooked pie.

The Beginning...

So, Groupon had a deal the other day for Curves. $40 for 2 months and no enrollment fee.  I thought about it...and thought about it.  Heck, its only 2 months right. If I don't like it, I don't have to continue. If I do, well great! I have saved myself some money!  All sorts of self doubt went through my head. Do I really want to go and look like the fat fool on all these machines?  I just know what is going to be going through everyone's head!  She is WAY to big to be doing this! Well, I knew all that was just my head talking, and if people were really going to think that, screw them!  I'm doing this for myself and no one else!  I bought the Groupon.  And instead of waiting the 2 months I had to redeem it, I went that night, last night.  Signed myself up, got weighed in and measured...which was a super morale booster let me tell ya! The coach walked me thru the circuit and that was that.

Well, I went back tonight. I had every intention of doing my 30 minute, 2 round circuit of all the machines and be done with it.  They offer a Zumba class twice a week at the Curves I joined.  I was going to stay a little longer and check out from afar the Zumba class.  Because there was NO WAY my giant behind was going to be able to make it through another 30 minutes of dancing around like a fool! (Mind you, I have NEVER seen a bit of Zumba so I had no idea!)

Anyway, I did my 30 minutes, on a few machines and towards the end my left leg felt a little shaky.  That knee is horrible and the whole leg is just screwed up thank to being pregnant.  But, I made it! I was so proud of myself! I didn't need to sit and take a break, my heart rate was around 154 ish. I could tell I was getting a good workout. When I was done, the Zumba instructor had arrived and I decided to watch. She encouraged me to join and do what I could do. Hmmm....

Okay! 5 of us got in a circle, the music started and away we went. OH MY WORD! First of all, I am not coordinated AT ALL! My arms, hands and feet do not work well together.  But that's okay! I eventually got the hang of it. Sure, I was not as "bouncy" as the instructor, well, quite frankly because bouncing all this weight on my knees is virtually impossible!  But I did have some pep in my step and a sway in my hips and boy did I dance my rear off for 30 minutes!  it got my heart pumping and I was sweating like crazy but I was still able to kinda chat while dancing so I knew I wasn't in danger of having a heart attack!  And before I knew it, it was done.

I would just like to say how proud of myself I am! I never thought I could do it! And I did it! I cannot wait to go back tomorrow and I really cannot wait to do the Zumba class again on Thursday! (I know I say that now, let's see how I feel tomorrow!)

Sausage Breakfast Burritos (Freezer Cooking)

The hubby goes to work early and never has enough time to eat breakfast before he goes.  I like to have these stocked in the freezer so he can just grab one and and heat it when he gets to work.  Saves us money so he doesn't go to a drive-thru and it is so much better for him than pop tarts!  Plus, they are always around when the kids want one.

Sausage Breakfast Burritos


2 lbs ground sausage
2 1/2 dozen eggs
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
1 oz. jar of salsa
20 large flour tortillas

Cook the sausage and drain off grease.  Scramble the eggs.  In a large bowl, mix sausage, eggs, cheese and salsa.

Spread about 1/2 cup of the egg mixture in the middle of a tortilla.  

Fold the sides in and roll up from the bottom, forming a burrito. 

 Roll the burrito in a piece of tinfoil and place in a freezer bag and freeze!

When ready to eat, either heat up in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or removes from tinfoil and heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Spaghetti Pie

I am addicted to pasta!  I could eat some sort of pasta every day of the week.  NOT a good thing considering I'm a diabetic and shouldn't be eating so many carbs!

If you like spaghetti or lasagna, you will LOVE spaghetti pie! I know my family did.

Spaghetti Pie (this makes 2 pies)


1 pound spaghetti
1.5 pounds ground beef
2 small onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 tbs minced garlic
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 tbs of Italian seasoning
4 tbs of butter
2 cups Parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups ricotta cheese


Cook spaghetti according to the package.  In a saucepan cook ground beef. Once cooked, add in onion, pepper and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain grease and add in Italian seasoning and tomato sauce.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine spaghetti, melted butter, 1 cup Parmesan and eggs.  Divide mixture into 2 greased pie plates.  Push spaghetti up the sides of both dishes and the bottoms making a crust. Spread ricotta over spaghetti and sprinkle on  1/2 cup mozzarella.  Spoon meat mixture over the ricotta and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella and some Italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top slightly browns.  Serve with some garlic bread or a side salad and enjoy!