TGIF!

So glad we've made it to the weekend!!  Is it just me or do things seem to get busy in the spring & summer?!

We've been busy busy around our house - no little squirrels trying to get in like at Easter, just those darn mosquitoes.  UGH!!

We have good news - after dad's oncology appointment, presently he is finished with both Radiation AND Chemo!  Yep, we're doing a crazy happy dance around our house!  Next up - tests to one confirm that the cancer cells are gone and two, more tests to determine his fitness for surgery.  So for a little while anyway he can continue to get stronger each day and recover from the radiation & chemo that were pretty tough on him.  His white blood cell count is pretty low right now, even after the injections he was doing to help boost reproduction of the cells and his platelettes are pretty low also, but I'm sure the R&R, no radiation and no chemo will do mind, body & soul good!

We're headed over to my folks tomorrow - now that everything is growing, the grass needs to be mowed, brush needs to be cut (we got my dad a new toy that we had to quality test to make sure it was a good gift), restring fences in the front pasture and clean out flower beds and the like.  Hmmm, with all this time we're spending at my folks, we might just plant a garden there one weekend!  Now that'd be a few things we could 'harvest'.  :)

Speaking of gardening and harvesting, we've picked up our hanging contraption for our tomatoes AND strawberries this year.  We're hoping that both produce like we want them to.  That way we can make strawberry jam with home grown berries and salsa and tomato sauce with the home grown tomatoes.  Glen and I area already making a list of what we plan to can this summer/fall.  Of course we've been talking about it with both moms too and pickles and beans have also made it onto our list.  :o)

Now that the nice weather has arrived (THANK GOODNESS), the grill is being used like crazy.  I have to share a YUMM-O DO-OVER recipe we made last night.  Probably not so light on calories, but it sure was good.  Instead of sauteing the chicken, we grilled it and then cubed it up. 

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

(insert mmmmmmmmm here)

1 package (12 ounces) fettuccine

8 bacon strips, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Additional shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook fettuccine according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain, reserving 1-2 tablespoons drippings. Saute chicken in drippings until no longer pink. Add mushrooms and green onions until mushrooms are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

Stir in the cream, cheese, paprika and pepper. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes. Stir in the reserved bacon. Drain fettuccine; place in a serving bowl. Add chicken mixture; toss to coat. Garnish with additional cheese. Yield: 6 servings.

Can you say ORGANIZATION?!

Ever get into one of those modes and you just can't stop?! Last week with all the rain, we both got on this organization kick. Originally it started with 2 new shelves and a peg board in the garage which then overflowed into organizing the storage space in the basement under the steps which lead into organizing the closet in the basement.

HOLY MOLEY! But what a great dent we've made.

We both laughed about the high-tech label maker we picked up, but just about everything now has a label! You know what's in EVERY box without even having to pick up the lid!! Talk about organized!

Organized Basement Steps Storage

Organized Basement Storage Closet

The Garage is just about done, so hopefully we'll have those photos to post soon. :)

We've decided once the fall arrives we'll be doing some attic organization. I can hardly wait.  Good thing Target has rubber bins on sale again this week.  :o)

What is it about getting organized that makes you feel like you can take on the world?

Oh and I have to share before I forget - on Monday we tried our hand at broiled tomatoes with mozzarella cheese - can you say yummo!

We did the shake & sprinkle method, so no measurements here.

Two medium tomatoes, sliced in 1/2" slices

Mozzarella Cheese

Balsamic Vinegar

Fresh basil

Pinch of Salt

Garlic Powder

Crispy Bacon crumbled

Cut tomatoes into 1/2" slices. Lay on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Salt & Garlic Powder. Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. Top with Mozzarella Cheese, fresh shredded basil and crispy bacon. Put about 3" from broiler. Broil until cheese is bubbly, melty and a bit crispy. You won't even get them off the baking sheet before you're diving in.

Needless to say, we'll be having more of these!!
This weekend, we also spent sometime with my mom and dad - kicking off the College football season!  My dad and Glen took in the Michigan State as well as the Michigan game, Marching Michigan Guy and the Ufer Horn.  It's a spittin' image of the Ufer horn!

 While the boys watched football, my mom and I made a run to the yarn shop - can't NOT use a 20% off birthday coupon and then we came back and in four hours made roughly 70 jars of jam.  This is just a little yummy visual for you!  Peach, Peach Raspberry and Strawberry.  Yep, YUM!! 

We hope that you had a terrific holiday weekend - it was a nice way to end summer (even though it seems like we hardly had one....here's hoping for an Indian Summer!)

 Min & Glen

What a wonderful Holiday Weekend!

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

We spent part of the weekend with our family - we celebrated the 4th with our folks - both Glen's mom and dad & my mom and dad came over for a good ole' fashioned BBQ. And while I didn't take any food photos (I think I was just too darn hungry!!), we had a lovely dinner outside.

We celebrated my birthday too on the 4th - it was easier to celebrate then they trying to get together again tomorrow for dinner. So, of course for every birthday celebration, there is a cake. Here's the one my mom made - Homemade Carrot Cake with Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting! Yumm-o!! Of course, like many things in our lives, there is always a story to go with it. Since my folks have become 'a couple' again now that my sister and I have moved out, my mom doesn't do a lot of baking anymore (except for special occasions & our annual cookie exchange). So, when she called me on Thursday and asked if she could make me a birthday cake, I said sure, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting would be terrific.

Being the trooper she is, Saturday morning she dusted off her cake pans and was on a mission. She had to dig to find her homemade carrot cake recipe, when she went to the fridge to get the carrots she realized all she had was the small baby carrots that needed to be grated and when she was ready to make the cream cheese frosting, the recipe was MIA. Luckily Grandma Joy's cookbook was within reach and of course, Grandma Joy HAD a cream cheese frosting recipe in her book!

Needless to say, there was a lot of love that went into the cake (and many people were involved whether they are aware of it or not!) :o)

We even got to watch the fireworks over the lake from our front yard, so it was a perfect 4th all the way around.

God bless our Soldiers and military vetrans for the sacrifices they make to keep us Free!

Min & Glen

Chicken Scampi

Happy Weekend! We hope you had a great weekend! The weather was beautiful and we certainly enjoyed the entire weekend. Today certainly is a large change weather wise from last week. We've shut the AC off and all the windows are open. Beautiful! Friday night and last night we enjoyed a bonfire with some friends. This was the first weekend of bonfires, so of course we had to have some S'mores. YUMMO!!

Yesterday, Holly was nice enough to pick up a lovely red geranium plant for our deck as a birthday gift.

Our veggies and herbs are growing like mad! The cukes, squash, tomatoes & peppers all have flowers and fruits blooming. Of course, yesterday while I was at Meijer, I couldn't help but pick up some canning materials - I'm so ready to start picking our veggies!So today we've enjoyed the weather and for dinner, we decided to give the Olive Garden Chicken Scampi Recipe a try. I don't know if you've checked out the 'Top Secret Restaurant Recipes' cook books, but Glen's mom picked up one for us and we love it. It's great because the author of the book basically recreates recipes from restaurants. A few weeks ago in one of the inserts in the paper on Sunday the Olive Garden had coupon and photo of their Chicken Scampi. It looked awesome so we decided to make it for dinner tonight.

Now mind you, neither of us have had the chicken scampi from Olive Garden, but our version of it was pretty darn fantastic!!
How YUMMY does this look??It tastes even better than it looks. A definite DO-OVER at our house!!
Wishing you a great week!
Min & Glen

Quick & Easy Dinner

YUMMO! Glen and I tried a new recipe last night - some how or another we've never made stuffed peppers before. Well, we found a recipe that sounded good to us and made a few changes - we used sweet red peppers instead of the green peppers and gave it a try last night! A DEFINITE DO OVER!!! So I thought I'd share.

Sweet Stuffed Red Peppers

2 Medium Sweet Red Peppers

1 pound ground beef

2 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce, divided

1/2 cup uncooked instant rice

6 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 tablespoon chopped onion

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 egg, beaten

Slice peppers in half long way (I guess you could cut them in half short ways to and make mini cups), remove seeds and discard tops & stems. Blanch peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes (this was a first - I've never done any blanching - was kind of cool - yep, lame I know, amazing what small things entertain me). Drain and rinse in cold water; set aside.

In a bowl, combine beef, 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, rice, 4 tablespoons of cheese, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and egg; mix well. Stuff the peppers; place in an ungreased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Cover and bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until meat is no longer pink and peppers are tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; return to the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy with a little sour cream on the side (Sounds weird, but we're a Polish family and eat our cabbage rolls with sour cream too)!

Enjoy!

Min & Glen

Happy 2009!!!

We hope this finds everyone well and 'recovering' from the holidays! We are both back to work today, whew, did 6 am come early this morning!

Yesterday we enjoyed football (without swearing at the 0-16 Lions)!

I have to tell you, Friday night, Glen and I enjoyed the best filet I think we've ever had. We'd picked up a new steak rub over the holiday and it had the most amazing taste you could ever imagine! They were so good that we should have taken a photo of them, but the smell was just too much to keep us from eating them.

We're both looking forward to doing it again with the other two filet in the freezer. The twice baked potato was pretty darn good too! YUMM-O!!

We wish you all a prosperous, healthy & happy 2009!

Min & Glen

Our Favorite Toddler

This evening, Uncle Glen and Aunt Min got to spend some time with Colin. Amy had choir practice while Andy was out of town and asked us if we would mind a visitor.

Of course not! We love the chance to spend time with our favorite toddler!

Over the summer my mom picked up a 2 step wooden step stool (mostly to keep me from crawling on the counters to get items from the top shelf of the cupboards.....a short person super human ability). Needless to say, my step-stool is Colin's 'help to cook' stool when he comes to visit Aunt Min & Uncle Glen.

Tonight was no exception!

We made Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini for dinner (one of my favorite pasta dishes). He's such a good helper. He helped crunch up the tortilla chips on top. Watch out Bobby Flay!

Here's the recipe I thought I'd share - just in case you want to give it a try!

Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini Casserole

Recipe as is makes 8 servings (or so they say)

9 oz. Cheese Tortellini

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 c. Broccoli Flowerets

1/2 c. Onion, chopped

1 c. Red Bell Pepper

3 TBSP Flour

2 TBSP Olive Oil

3/4 c. Chicken Broth

3/4 c. Milk

1 tea. Ground Cumin

1/4 tea. Cayenne pepper

4 c. Cooked chicken, cut up

(I've used canned chicken a few times as well if you don't want to mess around w/cooking chicken)

3/4 c. Monetary Jack Cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Colby Cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Tortilla chips, crushed

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook & Drain tortellini as directed on the package. While tortellini is cooking, grease 3 quart casserole dish. Heat 1 TBSP of oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook broccoli, onion & bell pepper in oil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Remove Broccoli mixture from skillet. Cook flour and 2 TBSP oil in same skillet over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in milk, broth & cumin. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in chicken, monetary Jack Cheese & the tortellini & broccoli mixture. Spoon tortellini mixture into casserole dish. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes or until bubbly. During the last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle Cayenne pepper, Colby cheese and tortilla chips over the top. Bake until cheese is melted. Left overs are AWESOME and this freezes GREAT!!!

We also got to do some finger painting for a special project! I think we're looking at the next Picasso if he decides to not give Bobby Flay & the Iron Chefs a run for their money
This is the piece of artwork that went home for mommy & daddy!

And of course, we had to play in the neat-o tent that Grandma Linda picked up for Colin. Of course, I couldn't get a great pic as he didn't want to have his photo taken while he was out in his tent!! We had too much fun! You'd never believe just how much STUFF you can get inside one of these little tents - 7 pillows, Uno Attack, blocks, a flash light, a pot, wooden spoon, Colin and 1/2 of Aunt Min!

Well, off to move some furniture and other items around as we have the furnace man coming early tomorrow morning to clean the furnace and duct work and the carpet cleaners coming after the furnace man to clean all the carpets and upholstery of the couch, love seat and recliner.

Hmmm, may have to move the Wii to the basement as that maybe where we spend tomorrow evening waiting for the furniture and carpets to dry.

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend!!!

Min & Glen

Now this is OUR kind of weekend!

That's what the caption of this photo would be if these two could talk!

This is how they spent much of the day Saturday - as big lumps randomly placed around the house.

This photo was last night - while we were grilling some YUMMY Blackened Cajun Chicken.....how Yummy does this look? Mmmmmmmm!

And while Saturday was only a good Spartan's football day, we ended the evening with a nice relaxing Bon-fire in the backyard with some friends!

Hope you had a chance to enjoy the great weather this weekend!

Happy Weekend!

Min & Glen

World's Most Dangerous......

Cake that is!
A little sweet 'after-dinner' treat since tonight is not only SURVIVOR night (Glen and I are Survivor fans), but tonight is also the season premier of CSI.

We've been waiting since the spring for the follow up to the cliffhanger they left us with!

This recipe is courtsey of Mrs. Kovacs, my friend Sue's mom.
I have all the stuff in the cabinet and think tonight's the night!!!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE AKA
"WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS CAKE*"
4 tablespoons cake flour or all purpose (plain, no self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
A small dash of vanilla flavoring
1 coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix wellAdd the egg and mix thoroughly.Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla flavoring, and mix again.Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

*And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!
Happy Bakin'!

Photo to hopefully follow tomorrow, if I can snap one before we dive in!!
:o) Min & Glen

Cooking Invites & A New Recipe

So last night, Amy came over to cut and assemble Colin's 3rd Birthday invitations. The theme this year is cooking (I may have already told you all that....). So, my wonderfully Creative friend has come up with the cutest birthday invitations. Of course, I didn't take a photo, but will post once I get one. THANK GOD for the cricut!!!

Sue was going to join us too but with the crummy weather and TERRIBLE traffic, we let her go home instead of getting to the Kantina at midnight. Poor Sue! We missed you!!!

So, with the crafty evening, we tried a new recipe. Chicken & Dumplings - with a few Kantia modifications of course.....

4 Chicken Breasts

2-10.75 Cans of Cream of 'something' soup (I used a Cream of Chicken and Cream of Potato - Cream of Onion soup would be AWESOME too!)

2 TBSP Butter

1 Bag of Frozen Veggies (I used 3/4 of a family size frozen veggie combo)

Pepper & Garlic Powder to season chicken breasts

2-10 oz. packages of biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Mix Butter, Cream soups and a little water in bottom of crock. Add Frozen Veggies, mix with soup & butter. Last, add chicken breats on top. Add more water to cover all contents in crock.

Drop into Crock Pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours. 30 or 45 minutes before dinner should be done, toss the torn pieces of biscuit dough into the crock pot. Cover and cook until done. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Thanks to Ash for this yummy recipe!

It was so good, we're bothing having 'tovers for lunch today! YUMM-O!!

Let's Go Blue!

Min & Glen