New England Minute

I got an Entertainment book called Breathe New Hampshire the other day. It is a discount book geared towards families. It has events in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine &Vermont. Breathe NH

Some photos from this week

1. 1 of my fave restaurants in MA 2 & 3. Dancing in the bathroom of the restaurant

4. Some stuff I bought in Michaels today

5. Riding around the yard today in her Barbie car.

Free beauty samples from Target

I got some free samples today in the mail from Target. I love the cute little bag that everything came in. I'll be trying all the samples tonight.

Nail Files. Week # 17

Today I have on China Glaze's Secret Peri-wink-le. I love this color. It's really different. Do you notice my nails getting shorter every week? They're in bad shape.

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Mama & daughter day

I was going a little stir crazy today. Yesterday we had a playdate at our house, but we didn't go anywhere. So I had to get out today. We went to Target. Then lunch at a pizza place (below).
Got new chair at Walmart. Anthony saw it the other day. They had pink or purple, so I went with T today for her to pick which chair she wanted. She picked the pink.

We got an Entertaintment book called Breathe NH. We got a discount because a bunch of Mom's in our Mom group ordered them. So we went to the girl's house to pick up the book.

Geez, I have a big head. haha.

Scrapbooking club at our house tonight. 1 more day of school Vacay. yay. I think I can make it through this. 1 more month & she's out of school for Summer vacay. They get out the end of May.

Wordless Wednesday~Dentist, clean teeth

Tastefully Simple freezer meals workshop

My friend Stephanie is a Tastefully simple rep & she decided to have a freezer meal workshop at her house. I went last Thursday night. She also had 1 on Friday night. I had so much fun. There were 4 of us making meals. We made 10 meals. Part of the reason I wanted to do the freezer workshop is because of my Dad having his surgery. So we gave him some of the meals for after his surgery. So far we've had 2 of the meals, The 1st 1 was the Mediterranian fish & then we had the Taco terrific. (I made that with ground chicken instead of meat). That's the good part about the freezer workshop, you can change things around a bit. Check out Tastefully simple's site.
http://www.tastefullysimple.com. Here is Stephanie's e mail address, if you are local & you would like to schedule a freezer meal workshop. tastefullystephanie027@gmail.com

School Vacation

Day 1 of Tara's April Vacation & I'm already needing 1 of these.

Photo via Pinterest.

Date night

Tara slept over my parent's house last night. So we went out on a date night to On the Border. That is 1 of our fave restaurants & we don't go there too often. It has changed a lot. The salsa was different, the chicken in the tacos was different & even my fave margarita was different. Not sure if we'll be going back for a while. We actually found a new Mexican restaurant closer to our house that we like. She won't be sleeping over my parent's house for a while because my Dad is having surgery on Friday. He has an aneurism on his heart. I'm really worried about him. But he usually watches her or she sleeps over there once in a while.

Not happy with New Blogger

I can't seem to get into my blog through aol, so I'm in Explorer. Not very happy with the new set up. Sometimes change is such a pain. Hopefully I can figure out how to add photos & do a normal post tomorrow. I hate posting something with no photos.

Nail Files. Week # 16

Today I have on Essie's, It's Genius. It's sort of like 1 of the other colors that I have, but it's still really pretty.

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Baked Chicken Parmesan recipe

I made this recipe last night. I found it on The Weigland's blog & she found it on Joyful Momma's kitchen's blog. It was so delicious.



Baked Chicken Parmesan

5 thawed chicken breasts, cut to 1/2 to 1 inch thick

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (5 oz) bag Butter and Garlic croutons

2 cups marinara sauce. (I used Classico roasted tomato and basil)

1 Tbsp dried basil

3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

1. In a casserole dish, (I used an 11x9 foil pan) drizzle in the olive oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Put the minced garlic evenly over the olive oil.

2. Layer on the chicken breasts in to the bottom of the pan.

3. Pour marinara sauce over top and sprinkle with the dried basil

4. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1 cup parmesan cheese.

5. Top with croutons followed by remaining cheeses.

6. Bake for 55-65 minutes at 350 until chicken is 160 degrees.

This would be great served with a tossed green salad and breadsticks. Try the Olive Garden Breadsticks.

Anytime Costumes review

My daughter loves to dress up. What little girl doesn't? Sometimes she dresses up and does a fashion show and I take photos. She is quite the poser. I was lucky enough to get to do a review for Anytime Costumes. They have the cutest Girl's costumes and also boys costumes, adult costumes, make-up, accessories, wigs, hats, masks and lots more. I let my daughter choose which costume she wanted. She picked out the Child Rose Princess costume. It really is pretty and it has a fiber optic skirt, so it lights up. She has very good taste. My little girl really did feel like a Princess. We already had the crown, but they have some cute crowns to choose from on their website.

Here is Tara in her Princess dress. She had on her purple dance outfit underneath because she had dance that day and it was a little chilly out. The sleeves on the costume are really pretty and I love the rose on the front. It has velcro on the back, so it is easy to get on and off. She danced around the house in the dress, for the rest of the day.

This is the view from the back. Pretty cute isn't it? She can't wait to have a dress-up playdate and show all of her friends her new dress.


You can order Halloween costumes or any type of costume, year-round online from Anytime Costumes. If you are on Facebook, check out their Facebook page, Anytime costumes.

Wordless Wednesday~Nature

Wherever I go

No matter where I go, I always see someone that I know. Even when I'm in nearby towns. We live in a small town & I am in the local Mom's club. The people that I've ran into lately aren't in the Mom club & don't live in our town. Crazy. I saw a lady that I took a Stampin up class from 2 years ago (I seem to run in to her a lot. At least twice a year), yesterday I was in Walmart & was in the bathroom & came out of the stall & my newish hair dresser was in the bathroom. Later yesterday we went to Hobby Lobby & I saw a Lia Sophia rep that I met at a craft fair & I'm signed up for her e mails. I pretty much know that I am going to run into someone that I know when I go out. Even when Tara goes out without me, with my Dad or my hubs, I always ask her if she saw anyone that she knows & lots of times she does.

Lunch date

Anthony had Friday & today off from work. Friday he was doing yard work. So today we went on a Lunch date. It was so nice. I ate way too much & couldn't eat dinner. I had cereal for dinner & skipped having smores.

My pink Smash book

I did the cover of this book today out on our deck in the sun. What fun. I got this paper at the CK Scrapbooking convention last year & this was the 1st time I tried using it. It's clear. It's flocked Trans from Fancy pants designs. I wasn't sure how to glue it on. I just used a clear glue (Hobby Lobby didn't have the glue that I like, so I got another kind & I'm not too happy with it). I tried to put the glue on the dots underneath (on top they kind of feel like felt). It worked out okay. I'm not sure what I am going to use this book for just yet.

Superstitious?

Are you superstitious? I am. I guess I always have been, but never thought about it till recently. Last weekend, Anthony was prepping to put that bike up above the mantel. He had the ladder out & Tara was ready to walk under it. I was like "Don't walk under the ladder"!!! She asked why & I said "you'll have bad luck". Anthony gave me a look & said "no you won't" & he went under the ladder. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not sure why, he's the 1 that will have the bad luck right? So she ended up going under there too. I was so freaking out inside. Then I was thinking maybe they won't have bad luck. I know I've never walked under a ladder & still had some bad luck. Then on Thursday it was raining out (& hailing) & Tara wanted to bring her Kidorable kitty umbrella. She went to get in the car with it open & I told her to close it before she got inside the car. She asked why & I said "because you'll have bad luck". After I said it, I felt kind of dumb. The ladder I totally believe, but the umbrella thing, not so much. I think I only believe in some superstitions,not all of them. It all does seem kind of silly though.

Nail Files. Week # 15

Today I am wearing OPI's Glacier Bay blues. It's a really pretty color. I was in the mood to wear a dark blue nail polish.


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Tomato-Basil Quinoa Stuffed Peppers recipe

I made this recipe tonight for dinner. I didn't even try to get Tara to eat it. She's so picky. I really liked it & I love quinoa. (I got this recipe from Mom Foodie's blog. That's her photo too).


Tomato-Basil Quinoa Stuffed Peppers Recipe





Author: Robin Gagnon
Serves: 4

Ingredients

◦1 cup golden quinoa
◦1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
◦1 large clove of garlic (crushed & minced)
◦1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
◦1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes (15 oz.)
◦1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
◦1/4 cup chopped basil
◦2 large red sweet peppers
◦4 oz. mozzarella cheese
◦Marinara or other tomato sauce to top

Instructions

1. Put quinoa, broth, garlic, crushed red pepper & roasted tomatoes in sauce pan. Bring to boil, then reduce and simmer about 35 minutes (see pic for consistency you want).
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Mix in the Parmesan and chopped basil.
4. Cut the peppers lengthwise, and remove core & seeds.
5. Generously pack the pepper “boats” with quinoa stuffing.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Top each stuffed pepper with 1 oz. of mozzarella cheese. Bake 8-10 more minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned on edges.
8. Serve.

Calories: 300 Fat: 8 Carbohydrates: 45 Fiber: 12 Protein: 15


Notes About 300 calories per serving, without adding sauce on top. I like adding a generous scoop of my homemade marina sauce, some extra chopped basil & Parmesan.

If you have some less calorie conscious family members, who expect meat, top theirs with a few slices of pepperoni, over the mozzarella… pizza style.

Wordless Wednesday~Easter photos

Yum of the Day

I just found this yogurt last week when I was food shopping. It's suppose to be for kids, but I ate most of them. It's so good. I'm going food shopping tomorrow & getting more.

Mommy & Me Monday

I haven't done a Mommy & Me Monday in a while. We took this photo yesterday on Easter Sunday.


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Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Happy Easter

The day my hubby became obsessed with a bicycle

It all started a week ago. My hubs decided that he didn't like the mirrored star that we had on the mantel. So we set out last Sat & Sunday to about 8 different stores. Once he gets something in his mind, we have to do it right away. I love to shop, but I was pretty grumpy by the end of the day last Saturday. Our last stop was to Pier one & we saw a pretty butterfly painting, so we got that for the mantel, but when we got it home & put it above the mantel it didn't look right. Earlier that day we were in Kohls & saw a metal bicycle. It was really cute & I liked it for our front yard, with some flowers in it. Hubs fell in love with it for our mantel. Out of all the stores that we went to, that was his favorite thing that he saw. So he talked about it all week. I had mentioned going to Hobby Lobby & checking out what they have, but they were closed last Sunday when we were thinking of going. By Tuesday after him talking about his beloved bicycle for a few days, I gave him a coupon for Kohls & he went during his lunch hour to get it. So today he tweaked it. He cut off 1 of the handle bars, so it won't stick out too far & ran to Home depot to get some hangers for it. He asked me if I loved it & I still don't, but he's happy. Maybe it will grow on me. I don't hate it & I know it's modern & arsty, but just not my favorite idea that he's had. The butterfly painting is now hanging in our bedroom. It looks nice in there. So this is the bicycle above the mantel.

What do you all think?

Nail Files. week #14

Today I have on Revlon's new, Whimsical. I love it. It reminds me of those speckled eggs we use to get in our Easter baskets. It's a pale blue with pink & blue chunky bits of glitter.

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Cute tv show

I think this show is really cute & funny. It's about a look at modern parenthood. The wife works & the hubby is a stay-at-home Dad. It's on Thursdays at 9:30 est on NBC.

Wordless Wednesday~Easter mantel

April goals

*Lunch date with the Hubs

*Put away the Winter clothes/take out the Spring & Summer clothes

*Organize my Scrapbooking stuff & my office

*Work out 2-3x a week

*Have a family movie night

New England minute

Today I went to a huge consignment shop sale at a local school. I met 1 girl's that runs the New England, Macaroni Kid. They have a free online weekly newsletter giving you all the family friendly events in your community. They have fun ideas & giveaways (I won a 31 thermal tote from 1 of their sponsors). There is a National Macaroni Kid too.