celebration ice cream cake

We recently returned from a ten day trip to California. Before we left, we had a little birthday celebration for Ella with some of her giggly, silly, darling schoolmates. I hadn't planned on a "friends" party, but Ella must have caught me on a good day and I agreed, even though it was quite late in the game.

a simple treat: rice krispie pops

My Ella Bella turned SEVEN years old this week. I'm amazed at how quickly she's growing up. She's certainly grown-up enough to make the big decisions in life, like what she wants for a classroom treat on her birthday.

RS birthday celebration 2013

Our annual Relief Society birthday celebration was last week and I would chock it up as a great success. Our theme was "Small and Simple Things."

simple recipe: brushetta with roasted garlic and a gift idea.

I'm pretty sure, when we arrive in heaven, Brushetta will be served as the appetizer at our "welcome home" dinner. The combination of ripe tomatoes, garlic, and basil, must truly be a gift from God. :)

one simple recipe: heavenly hot chocolate

Here in beautiful Utah, we've had a far more extreme winter than usual. There have been record breaking low temps and snow accumulation totals. Brrr! That's led to far too little socializing among neighbors and friends.We decided to warm things up a bit with a good old-fashioned Relief Society social.

simple recipe: chicken fajitas

We had a bittersweet weekend.

The bitter was that my nephew, Jordan ( a.k.a "Joe" to the family), was involved in a very serious car accident that sent him to the hospital in critical condition. I was scared. I prayed a lot. I immediately called and had his name put on the temple prayer rolls. I'll share more details later (when the legal stuff is done), but so you're not left hanging, his surgery for a broken femur went well, and he's no longer in critical condition. :) We love you, Joe.

The sweet was that our little granddaughter, Madilyn, turned four years old and came from Idaho to share her birthday celebration with us. (I'll share more on that in another post.)

The entire weekend was filled with noise and messes--oh, big messes--and craziness and laughter. It was perfect. We loved that we had so much family time together. 

Patrick and Ashlee came back over on Sunday for lunch. Lynn wanted fajitas. I realized we'd had them three Sundays in a row--twice when the kids came over and another when we went to their house. Guess I don't even need the say how much we love them. And I love how simple they are to make.

my pinterest scores {chicken recipes}

My recipe for Monterey Chicken is by far the most popular on All Things Simple. It's been viewed over 23,000 times. Wow! I tried to figure out how many times it's been pinned on Pinterest, but no luck. I know there's a way though. All the comments from those who have made the recipe have been positive. It's still one of our absolute favorite chicken dishes.

taco salad

When spring weather hits, I start craving salads as a stand alone for dinner. This is my absolute favorite taco salad recipe and a family favorite. I love it because it's healthy, not heavy like some others I've tried, and best of all, it's simple to make.

cooking club: Oreo cake bites

I had a bunch of friends ask where they could order the cake bites we served at Patrick and Ashlee's reception. Apparently they were amazingly delicious. I wouldn't know, I never got the time to taste one. Even more surprising, neither did Ashlee. And she helped make all 350 of them! She confessed she was on the LGN (look good naked) diet at the time. :) She cracks me up.

cooking club: homemade yogurt + granola

We held our second Cooking Club for Relief Society this week.

It was at the home of my friend, Breanna Smithson. She's known as "the foodie" in the ward/neighborhood. :)

She taught us to make homemade yogurt. (It was kind of a personal request from me.)

holiday favorites: cranberry sauce

We had a quiet little family Thanksgiving with some of the kids and our granddaughter, Madi. It was wonderful.

apple carrot muffins

I had no intention of taking such a long break from blogging. I've been enjoying the fall weather, scents and palatable flavors tremendously this year. And I've been quite domestic. (What's up with that?) I actually enjoy it, but it does come in waves for me. So family, enjoy it while it lasts! :)

All the fun recipes and ideas on Pinterest inspire me. I know that's part of it. And then I got together with some friends to can apples. I asked my friend and neighbor, Natalie, to show me how and four other friends joined us. It was so enjoyable. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's were it started.

Natalie had extra Rome apples from her parent's trees, so she gave me a big box. I also borrowed her apple corer/peeler/slicer and now I want my own. It's very cool.

the green monster

I'm still on my health-ier kick and doing well (except for this weekend when I went on a girlfriends' getaway). I ran across this blog and got some great recipes. I especially love this smoothie called "the green monster." It's packed with good, healthy stuff and best of all, Ella has been asking for one every day. EVERY DAY! The girl does not eat anything green because she says it's weeds and she does not eat weeds! Hmph!

 

it's good to be home

We spent the last ten days in Northern California with family. We had such a great time. My brother, Steve, and his wife, Deanna, and two of their kids--Jordan a.k.a "Joe" and Jessica came along for the first half of the trip. It was so fun to have them with us.

As fun as it is to get away, it's always nice to be home and get back to our regular routine and healthier eating. (Yes, I put on a few pounds. Way too many carbs for this girl!) I have a lot to share, but that'll come as I play catch up over the next little while. I haven't even finished documenting our first trip to California this summer yet!

For now, a few of my favorite healthy and super simple meals to share that I'll be using to get back on track:

egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, cheese, tomato and avocado.

sundae bar & hot fudge recipe

In an earlier post I mentioned that Ella wanted a "family" party for her birthday instead of a "friends" party this year. She chose pink ice cream with toppings for the treat. The toppings included: sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and crushed Oreo cookies. I added nuts, hot fudge sauce and whipped cream.

A sundae bar is a super simple treat that feeds a lot of guests. We did one for Ella's adoption party two years ago. Boy, time flies!

marshmallow pops tutorial :: by ella and kate

So simple a five year old can make them!

Step 1: Put a marshmallow on a sucker stick.

Step 2: Dip the marshmallow about half way in a cup of melted pink candy melts.

Step 3: Add an M&M to the top (optional, but very cute!)

ella's yellow drink

Ella saw the post about my favorite green drink. She asked, "What about my yellow drink?" Yellow drink? Then it dawned on me she meant one of her favorite treats--a banana shake. It's three of my favorite things--yummy, healthy and super simple.

my favorite green drink

At the beginning of the year Lynn and I decided we wanted to add more veggies to our diet. I'm pleased to report we've been doing well. :) When that afternoon slump hits (for me it's between 3:00 and 4:00 pm), I like to mix up a healthy green drink--followed by a piece of Dove dark chocolate of course (the green drink cancels it out :)). It does the trick and usually tides me over until dinner.

Not only does this recipe taste good, but it's my favorite because it only uses five ingredients--celery, cucumber, apple, fresh ginger and spinach.

homemade tortilla chips & loaded nachos

Yummers! We found another dish that's a definite keeper. It tastes great, is healthy and even looks pretty. I got the Homemade Baked Tortillas Recipe at Two Peas and their Pod who was guest posting their Loaded Nachos recipe on the Make and Take blog. The chips are awesome! Every store brand we try is always way too salty for us, so these are a delightful change.

tomato basil parmesan soup

Oh. my. yummy. goodness! We had this soup for dinner tonight. I found the recipe in an article in Lynn's BYU alumni magazine and had it tucked away in my "recipes to try" file. We're trying to incorporate more veggies in our diet, so I gave it a try. So glad I did--it's a keeper. And the smell of it cooking is amazing!