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Showing posts from February, 2012

What's for Dinner Wednesday - Fettuccine Alfredo

I love pasta.  Not like, LOVE.  How can you go wrong with something as basic as pasta?  Anyone can make that, right?  Sure!  Well, maybe not so well in a broken crock pot , but let's move on from that.  How about a creamy Alfredo sauce?  MMMMmmmm.   You could head down to the Olive Garden, but get ready to pay $13 a plate.  Plus, who has time to wait for that?  This recipe is super quick and easy and tastes better  than Olive Garden - and don't you dare grab a grocery store jarred sauce which is filled with preservatives!  You deserve flavor and I'm going to give you a recipe which give you that for about 80 cents a serving.  Yes! Now, I'm not going to lie.  This isn't for the calorie counters.  This is real comfort food.  However, it's fresh and you know  what's going into your dinner.  However, there are a few things you can alter to make it healthier.   Start with using whole grain pasta.  Can can also follow the advice I found on Pinterest  and rep

Organize It - Shoe Rack Grips

Do we really need all these shoes?  You can only wear one pair at a time.  I guess it's a necessary evil.  Shoes aren't my thing.  I have more flip-flops and athletic shoes than anything else.  I'm happy with that.  My favorite shoes are actually my slippers.  I could wear them all day and would wear them out if I thought I could get away with it. My hubby, on the other hand, can't have enough shoes.  Our youngest K takes after him.  We have a fairly large rack for our shoes in the closet to accommodate all those shoes.  It's nothing fancy and fulfills my two requirements.  It's functional and doesn't take up a lot of space.  But there is one huge flaw.  Our shoes don't stay put! It ok for shoes that have heels on them because they hang on the back bar. Shoes like this: But if they are flat, like tennis shoes or flip flops (like most my shoes) then they slip right off and I trip over them trying to get to my clothes.   What's a girl to do?  I

Family Outing to Parkesdale Farms

February in Florida means it's time for strawberries!  I love strawberry shortcakes and the best around are at Parkesdale Farms in Plant City - yes, I know the sign says 'Groves', but everyone here knows it as 'Farms'.   You can see how popular it is by the line to get in.  It's worth the wait - believe me! It only took about 15 minutes to get through the line and dig into our berries. Just look at this!  I'm ready to go back just looking at all that goodness. The whole place is strawberry overload, but how can you not love these cute napkin holders? Kourey brought along a friend to share our happiness.   They had such a good time. After our bellies were full, it was time to stroll around the marketplace.  I could easily spend my husband's weekly salary in one swoop, but I just picked a few of my favorites.  There are tons of different plants, like these peppers, that are just begging to be planted in the garden, as well as different potted flowers an

Mardi Gras Beads

Happy Friday!  The weekend in our home means time for crafting, so let's get started. In the Tampa Bay area, we have our own "Mardi Gras" celebration called the Gasparilla Pirate Invasion.  There are parades with beads, parties, floats, and all sorts of mayhem.  After being here for 10 years, we decided it was high time we went to one of these events.  Of course, we picked the tamest one so we could take the kids - the Gasparilla Children's Parade.  We joined up with some of my co-workers and their families, so it was an all around good time. We had perfect weather and the kids caught lots of beads.    So, now the question begs..what do we do with all those beads?!?!   Bead Wranglers The girls had an idea.  They wanted a bead curtain to hang over their doors.   Hmmm...ok.  But how?  I didn't want anything permanent.  Sure the beads are fun now, but I am sure they will lose their value in due time.  A trip to the Home Improvement store gave me an idea.  Don&

Italian Dinner - Almost Disaster

Have I mentioned how much I like Pinterest?  Well, I really do.  I love finding stuff to make that others have already tried.  With my busy schedule, I don't have time to experiment.  I want someone else to fail and fix for me. I'm selfish like that. So, my hubby is not a fan of spaghetti.  This means that I find a way to fix it any chance I get.  Not really, but the kids and I like it, so we tell him to suck it up.  Even though it's not difficult to make and it's super quick, I like to change things up a bit.   While looking for meal ideas, I found a recipe on Get Crocked for  Spaghetti Pie.  Hmmmm....interesting.  I had already decided I wanted to try a Parmesan Knot recipe I found on Pinterest and these would be perfect together.  I even convinced my hubby to put the ingredients in the Crock Pot for me as I headed out the door.  I was hoping to come home to this: Crock Pot Spaghetti Pie from Get Crocked Easy Parmesan Knots from Real Mom Kitchen What I

YoTaco Wednesday

Yippee, it's Wednesday!  Every Wednesday we have a family tradition.  We typically don't eat out, but this is the one day that we look forward to each week.  Our local Tres Amigos has a customer appreciation event in which they offer $1.25 tacos and margaritas. Tres Amigos Rarely, we will indulge in the margaritas if it's been an especially trying week, but typically we just stick to the tacos.  Nothing fancy.  No sides (with the exception of the tortilla chips and salsa).  It's a fun atmosphere and cheap eats. Tacos! Then we head over to Yogurtology to get our dessert on.  There are several "pay by the ounce" frozen yogurt places around us, and we've tried them all.  Yogurtology is by far our favorite.  It's nothing fancy.  In fact, it's minimalist.  I love the stark white room with modern furniture and the employees are super friendly.  They have unique flavors and tons of topping choices. Yogurt Station I love the fresh fruit t

These Boots have been Walking!

I try to keep my closet organized, I really do.  And who doesn't love a good pair of boots?  However, they don't fit on my shoe rack and tend to get ignored.  They are so sad that they sag! Here's a quick and easy tip to get those boots standing tall again.  I have some magazines that I'm just not ready to get rid of yet, but haven't had a chance to pull out the items I want to keep.  Double score!  Just roll those puppies up and stick 'em in yo ur boots.   See? Now they are happy again and I don't have toss my magazines or my boots! What quick tips do you have?