Rebekah's Recipe Challenge: Day Three

Dinner Menu:
Italian Sausage Pasta
Caesar Salad
Garlic Bread
Pound Cake

This meal was served to us one weekend years ago when we were visiting the Louis'.  I remember thoroughly enjoying the entire meal and was so impressed that Rebekah made a cake for us.  What a hostess!  I asked her to send me the recipes so that maybe one day I could make a guest feel as well-fed as I felt that weekend =).  She did and I'm embarrassed to say that I don't think I've gotten around to making the whole meal together before now...shame on me!  I think I've made the cake before but that's about it.  So I was excited to re-create this meal altogether and take a trip down memory lane at all the great times we've spent with our friends!

This meal was a hit with the Blanchers...we're three for three!  Thomas was thrilled because it consisted of his very favorite thing...sausage!  Adam loves anything Italian and kept talking all night about how good the cake was making the apt smell.  He was also a big fan of the garlic bread.  I must confess that this garlic bread was the frozen kind that you put in the oven and cook for five minutes...it was nothing fancy.  We did learn, though, that the Wal-Mart brand of garlic bread is just as good as the Pepperidge Farm brand, FYI.  I really liked how the sauce to this pasta was made with tomato paste and a sundried-tomato vinaigrette.  It tasted really good!  The red onion was also a nice addition.  They cook down well and make the meat sauce hearty.  This would be a great dish to make for a large crowd.  It makes a lot!  And it is recommended to just buy a bag of Caesar salad.  If you want to be adventurous, you are more than welcome to construct one from scratch but in my opinion, the bagged kind is just as good...

The cake is quite scrumptious too.  It's made with two different types of pudding...the cake mix that you buy has pudding in it plus you add a box of instant chocolate pudding.  It makes the cake light and fluffy!  Plus the chocolate chips just add goodness that only chocolate chips can. 

I must show you the finished cake product.  I know there's a picture of a piece of it above but I was so proud of how pretty the cake was so just let me gloat!

Thank you!  Thank you!

Italian Sausage Pasta


2 lbs. ground Italian sausage
1 lb. rigatoni (I've used penne before too, since it's smaller)
1 large red onion, sliced
1/2 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. KRAFT sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 - 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Brown the meat; drain. Add onion and tomato paste; let simmer on low/med 20-25 min. Add dressing, parsley, and cheese. Toss with cooked pasta.

Pound Cake


1 box Pillsbury yellow cake mix with pudding in mix
5 oz. box chocolate instant pudding
1 cup oil (I use vegetable or canola)
1 1/2 cups water
4 eggs

Combine the above and beat until well-blended. I use a hand mixer for a few minutes until the lumps are gone.

6 oz. chocolate chip morsels

Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into a well-greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350' for 60-70 minutes depending on your oven. I just check with a toothpick for a clean exit. Remove from oven and cool.

When ready to serve, sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top of cooled cake.

Rebekah's Recipe Challenge: Day Two

Dinner Menu:
Mini Meatball Sandwiches
Green Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

This meal can be summed up in one word...YUM!  The meatball sandwiches with their cheesy, saucy goodness and the salad with its sweet, tangy dressing left us all with that good, full-up feeling in our tummies!  The meatballs were easy to make up and the sandwiches were easy to assemble...just add cheese and bread.  While the salad had a lot of different components in it, we felt like it was a great compliment to the simplicity of the sandwiches.  Plus what makes the salad so awesome is all of the stuff that you put in it...I'm a big fan of hearty salads!  The dressing is a mixture of Dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, and a hint of Tabasco...the perfect blend of sweet and spicy! 

Mini Meatball Sandwiches
check it out at The Pioneer Woman website:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/16-minute-meal-3-mini-meatball-sandwiches/
A couple of side notes:
1) this recipe was actually given to Rebekah by our friend Liz...thanks Liz!
2) instead of using rolls, we used small split-top buns

Green Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

dressing:
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs honey
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 shakes Tabasco
1/2 c olive oil

Whisk or shake in jar.

Serve over leafy green salad with thinly chopped purple onions, feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, sliced avocado and toasted pecans.  Sprinkle salad with Tony Chachere's and toss with dressing before serving.

Rebekah's Recipe Challenge: Day One

Dinner Menu:
Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue
Oriental Coleslaw

This meal was a home-run with the Blancher family!  I was actually at the grocery store when Thomas ate his dinner but Adam texted me that Thomas nodded enthusiastically in approval when he was eating both the chicken AND the oriental slaw.  This must mean that it really is good because Thomas is not a "salad" fan.  I was quite surprised that he ate a serving of it without any bribes!

The chicken was just about the easiest thing to cook.  Who doesn't like throwing frozen chicken breasts into a crock pot only to end up with tender, juicy yumminess??  The sauce tastes like barbecue sauce with a kick.  The oriental coleslaw has a great crunch to with the addition of the almonds and Raman noodles.  The dressing is sweet and tangy.  The slaw absorbs the dressing really well.  It, too, was very simple to put together.  Both dishes were a win-win in my book and complimented each other really well!

The Blancher's give these two recipes an A+ and will be adding them to our routine dinner circulations!

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue (from Allrecipes.com)
6 frozen, skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
(I just used 4 chicken breasts with the same amount of sauce)
1 12 oz bottle of barbecue sauce
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.


Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Oriental Cole Slaw
1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1/2 C canola oil
dash soy sauce
dash sugar
envelope of Raman chicken soup seasoning
chopped green onions
toasted sliced almonds
package of Raman noodles
16 oz. bag of cole slaw

Mix dressing and add to cabbage. Break noodles into small pieces and add just before serving. ( I usually put the dressing on about an hour before serving.)


Serves 8-10.

Rebekah's Recipe Challenge

My friend, Rebekah, has been consistently great at sending along good recipes to me over the years.  They are usually very easy, family-friendly, and really good recipes that I've enjoyed trying out.  A week ago or so, I decided to actually take stock of all of the emails, links, recipe cards, etc. she's given me throughout the course of our friendship and found quite a collection!  So I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to make up meals for a week from the recipes she's passed along and blog about them.  Think Julia and Julia on a very basic level =).

I also plan on passing these yummy concoctions along to all of you, with Rebekah's blessing of course!  So here it goes...may the first annual Rebekah's Recipe Challenge commence!

Sneaux Days

In the south, we can usually count our encounters with snow on one hand.  I mentioned one of our larger snows last year in one of my recap posts.  This year, we've had a couple of bouts with winter precipitation already...where we can actually see snow falling from the sky and it even sticks!  One happened right at the beginning of the year in January.  There wasn't a whole lot of accumulation on the ground but it sure looked pretty falling from the sky!

Me with my sister, Erin and cousin, Nell

We had our SECOND snow this past week.  This one was a bit more significant where it actually stuck and the world looked white, for a day or so.  Exciting stuff for a bunch of southerners!  Kids had a day off from school, many businesses took the day off, roads were closed, and we all hunkered down in the house, glad to have a day to veg!

Unfortunately, we planned poorly for winter this year and the only "snow-worthy" jacket we had for Thomas was his ski coat from last year.  It fit him ok...maybe a little short in the sleeves...but he refused to wear it!  So we stayed inside and enjoyed the snow from the warmth of the house.

Evan was thrilled.

Thomas liked watching the snow fall at the window.

getting a snow-tutorial from Papa

Evan did rise from his slumber briefly for a quick look outside...still thrilled...

It was really pretty outside.

I think that other parts of the city got more snow.  I've seen pictures of places where it looks like there were a couple of inches on the ground!

We had a lot of fun inside during our snow day.  Mamou was able to brave the outdoor conditions (thanks to Papa's all-terrain tires!) and came over to hang out with us.

deep phone conversations

music madness

Hope everyone stayed warm!  This has been a crazy winter.  The weekend before, we had beautiful, sunny, seventy degree weather.  And more snow has been forcasted for later on this week!  Weird.

An Ode to Oil of Olay

So this is rather random but it came to me one day in the shower...

I am a fan of moisturizer. 

I should be better about using it on my face on a daily basis but I use hand and body lotion ALL THE TIME.  The world doesn't feel right without it.

My love could have evolved from my somewhat obsessive instinct to wash my hands.  Working in elementary schools and being a mother to young children have brought it to my attention how truly germy this world around us is.  (Can we say germ-a-phobe??)  Washing my hands at any given moment gives me some comfort and control of the ever-constant germs.  (I know, I need help.)

This frequent hand-washing causes my hands to become quite dry, especially during the winter season.  Adam affectionately refers to it as a "wash rash."  It's really ugly actually.  So for Christmas, I think Santa was trying to send me a very subtle message...

I also received a bottle of lotion that was the same scent as the perfume that I wear.  It came in a little gift set thingy.  I didn't have a picture of it though.

Now one might get offended by this message.  How dare you suggest that my skin is not baby soft and needs some assistance!?  Oh no, not me!  I love it all!  I was very intrigued by the "Miracle Hand Repair" cream...I wanted to see a miracle take place!  (It did help tremendously, by the way.  Who knew the power of aloe vera?)

I had never heard of this "in shower" lotion from Oil of Olay.  However, I was excited because it would give me the ability to mosturize daily while not taking any extra time because I could do it while showering in the morning.  Great concept!

Let me tell you, this stuff is awesome!  It really does moisturize your skin although it doesn't really feel like lotion when you put it on.  Plus is smells AMAZING!  Well done Santa!

So, in true Kristen-fashion, I felt as if a small poetry sample would be a great way to truly share how much this lotion means to me...my "ode" to Oil of Olay:

Oil of Olay,
I use it everyday,
And I really like the way
My skin feels like a ba-bay's.

The smell is oh, so great,
It doesn't cost more than $4.98,
It's good to use before a date,
Oil of Olay, you're my first mate!

A little much??  Maybe so...but it's good stuff.  You should try it sometime.

Happy moisturizing! =)

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might

One of my childhood memories was going to the St. Vincent Mall near our house with my grandmother, Nanny.  She was a "mall walker" and I would often go with her.  I would hope that our cruising would eventually lead us over to the nearby GapKids or Claires for a present =).

Anyways, in the middle of the mall was a large fountain.  I thought it was the neatest thing and would habitually stop and stare at the water as it fell, mesmorized.  I would also look down at all of the coins laying on the bottom, as if they were treasures.  My mind often took me to the scene in the movie, The Goonies, where they found themselves at the bottom of a wishing well with tons and tons of coins.  It was brought up that these coins were people's wishes.  They were people's dreams.  I would sometimes think about that as I stared into the water.  I was always in awe of that fountain for some reason.

Today, the boys and I headed over to a shopping center in the north part of Jackson.  It was an outdoor shopping center with some really cute stores.  It was nice to be able to get out, walk around, and ooo and ahhh at all of the cute things that were for sale.  In the middle of the stores was a courtyard with...you guessed it...a large fountain!  Of course Thomas had to go check it out!

I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree because he stared up at the water, in awe, and could have continued to stare had I not redirected him back to our shopping task.  As we were leaving to go home, we passed back by the fountain, only to find us being drawn back to it.  I decided to teach Thomas about throwing a penny into the water while making a wish.  Don't think he grasped the "make a wish" part but he sure loved to throw pennies into the water!  I bet the fountain profited a good 10 cents of our money in a single stretch!

Isn't it fun to think about your wishes and dreams over the years?  Isn't it interesting how some of them are still the same, even twenty years later?  Isn't it crazy how some of them are so the opposite of what you'd wish for now?  I don't know about you but I still wholeheartedly believe in wishes and dreams.  I still get giddy when I see a fountain and still look down for the treasures lying below.  I believe in wishing and dreaming for something and it coming true, just like in the movies.  Call me crazy but it continues to give life a magical flair, amongst all the yuck that can really bring you down sometimes.

These are the wishes and dreams...

...that bring a daily smile to my face!

May your days be filled with magic, good wishes, and great dreams!