Up, Up and Away!

I posted camera phone shot yesterday of a hot air balloon that flew over our mountain yesterday morning as I was taking the kids to school. I didn’t have my trusty camera in the car (shame on me!) but I was able to grab a quick shot with my phone.

This morning they were back again, soaring over the mountain. I was alerted to their presence by Buster, who HATES the sound of the burner and thinks the balloon is some type of monster from the sky that is going to eat him up. He is really a scaredy-dog, that one.

So, I went outside to see where the balloon was – imagine my surprise when I saw the chase truck driving down the street in front of my house!

Oh my! It’s going to land in our subdivision! I ran inside, grabbed my shoes, my good camera, and SuperMan.

By the time we got halfway down the street, it was obvious that the breeze was not going to let them land in the cul-de-sac after all. So, up they went, back into the air and over the trees to head to the next possible landing spot – the cul-de-sac in the neighborhood adjacent to ours.

It was so pretty – and Buster was so scared!

They were waving at everyone who had come outside to see them.

And then they were headed back down to attempt another landing.

What a nice way to start the day – soaring above the mountain – I would LOVE to do that one day… even have my own balloon. I’ve always loved flying and even contemplated taking flying lessons once when I was in college (and broke with no way to pay for flying lessons!)

I took SuperMan on a hot air balloon trip once years ago. I managed to arrange a super-secret anniversary present one year. My brother and his family live in the Pacific Northwest and he helped me to arrange a sunrise balloon ride as an anniversary present. All I told SuperMan was that we had to get up at 4AM and the directions to the place we had to go(a farm/field in the middle of nowhere).

(OLD OLD OLD scrapbook pages from 2003!!! Look at how young we were!)

It was awesome. We had such a good time. I was enraptured by the peacefulness of gliding just above the treetops, floating along without a sound (except the blasts of the heater) and gazing at the countryside below.

It was one of those experiences that I’ll remember forever – and one day I will figure out how to fit another trip like that into our lives. Hmmm… maybe for our 20th? It’s not that far away…

Well, I hope you have a wonderful Friday. I’m off to get my to-do list for work checked off so that I can get my to-do list for home checked off shortly after that and then I can relax and enjoy the weekend (maybe scrap a little?)

I am planning to finish Jessica Sprague’s Up & Running and Now We’re Rockin’ with Photoshop classes this weekend. I’ve been piddling with them, but I want to spend some concentrated time on them so that I actually internalize the concepts and skills (and get my money’s worth from the classes!)

If I get to actually DO this, I’ll share some of my pages!

I don’t know what happened today

Well, I do know, actually.

Work!
And more work… And ferrying kids to school… And a sick Big Girl who needed TLC.

So, I’m sorry about not having a post for you today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better!

But I do have a picture to share:

The girls spotted this overhead on the way to school. When I got home Buster was very distraught at the Hot Air Balloon Monster that was over his yard!!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

I have a fantastic pasta salad recipe for you today –

But, before I get to that, I have a question for you – especially those of you that print out my recipes and use them at home. I’ve been including the recipe directly on the blog and adding a print option to the post. In the past, I’d used AllRecipes.com and posted the recipes there.

I’m considering going back to that method for a couple of reasons and I wanted to know if you had any strong opinions one way or the other… Here are the reasons I’m considering switching back to that method:

consistent format
easy access
super-easy printing
you can save the recipes into your own recipe book and have a compilation of your favorite recipes

So, today’s recipe is linked below to the recipe on AllRecipes.com. If you wouldn’t mind, click over and see what you think. I think I’ll be slowly migrating my recipes over to this site and re-linking them on the Recipes page of this blog so that you can easily access & print them from one place.

I’d love to hear your input, though, so please let me know what you think!

Okay, enough of the business –

Here’s the recipe for you today – a really yummy pasta salad. I think I’ve mentioned to you before that I absolutely LOVE sun-dried tomatoes. I love the saltiness, the chew, the just general yumminess of them. I could eat them like candy, I think.

So, when I was craving pasta salad the other day, I thought about trying to find a way to incorporate some sun-dried tomatoes into the mixture. I wanted something a little different than the usual chicken pasta salad I make, something a little more Mediterranean in flavor.

I have a basil plant on the back porch that my momma gave me and I’ve been searching all summer for some great recipes to make use of the basil. (By the way, anyone want to teach me to make pesto?)

So, I mixed and tasted, chopped and stirred. And this was the result. SuperMan absolutely loved it (as did I) and said it was even better the next day or two for lunch at work. I was really glad I was able to give him a tasty (and filling) yet cool salad to eat on the hot, dog-days of summer.

Give it a try – especially if you have some leftover grilled chicken like we did – adding the chicken makes it a hearty meal.

Click on the title to go to the link on AllRecipes.com.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1/2 lb wagon wheel pasta (cooked)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (reserve oil)
1/4 cup olive oil (or use reserved oil from tomatoes)
1 cup grated Parmesan (or use Parmesan/asiago blend)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions

Boil pasta in salted water.
Drain & set aside.
Place basil & tomatoes in food processor. Pulse 4-5 times until blended.
In a large bowl, toss the pasta, tomato/basil mixture, adding the cheese, salt, pepper, garlic & oil.
Toss to coat.
Serve warm or chilled. It tastes great both ways.

Footnotes

OPTIONAL: Add 1-2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped, to make this salad a meal. You can also rough-chop the basil & tomatoes if you’d rather have larger pieces in the salad.

My computer is down

Computer

Sorry – I couldn’t resist!

Project Life Tuesday ~ 16 August

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Just a few shots today from our weekend adventures as I’ve already shared the back-to-school shots on the blog last week.

We took the girls to the science museum on Saturday. Had a great time exploring all of the exhibits together.

That’s it for this week!

Join the Project Life link-ups over at these sites:

Menu Plan Monday ~ 15 August

I changed things up on my blog just a little this past weekend. If you are reading this in a reader or through an email subscription, I’d love for you to click over to the actual post and let me know what you think! Playing around with a little cleaner design – I like it. How about you?

You may have to update your feed if you subscribe in a reader – I am not sure. I tried to update everything to be seamless, but I’m just a rookie at this, so I may have missed something.

You can update your subscription here.

This week we start dance classes, added to the first full week of school for the girls. Should be a busy week for us. That’s why I got my meal plan ready early in the weekend and went shopping. Hopefully, there won’t be any last-minute dashes to the store for things we forgot or stops for takeout dinners. I’m going to get us back into our routines (if it kills me!) this week for sure.

I’m breaking out the crock pots and making sure we have healthy meals in spite of our busy schedules!

Sunday, we “baked” two chickens in the crock pot while we were at church. If you’ve not tried my Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken, I highly recommend it for busy weeknight dinners (or having dinner ready when you arrive home after church on Sunday!)

One of the chickens was our Sunday dinner and the second one was deboned and will become chicken salad for sandwiches (in pita pockets) this week. If there is any extra, I’ll use it to make salads with chicken on them (as opposed to chicken salad – hee hee) and maybe do that for lunch one day, too. I whipped up some cole slaw for SuperMan to have with his chicken salad sandwiches at lunch, too, and he has requested a second round of a pasta salad I made last week that I’ll share the recipe for soon.

I also made a trip to my favorite meat market/butcher and stocked up on some yummies to cook this week.

So, here is our plan for the week:

Monday: grilled steaks (that were planned for Saturday but didn’t get cooked) with grilled veggies & potatoes
Tuesday: Slow-cooked pork loin with sticky rice
Wednesday: Grilled Pork Chops with cous cous & a salad
Thursday: BBQ sandwiches (from the leftover pork) & homemade fries
Friday: Asian Flank Steak with stir fry
(that was planned for last week, but I ended up making Chicken & Dumplings instead because Little Bit wasn’t feeling well)
Saturday: we’ll probably eat out – either Friday or Saturday, so the meals will interchange.

I’ve also made the Amish Breakfast Casserole that I love so much, and I am thinking I’ll make some type of bread (maybe banana?) for the kids for breakfast. Hmm… Maybe I’ll make a banana-chocolate bread…. (the wheels are turnin’)

Well, that’s it from this kitchen. What’ve you got planned in yours?

Hop over to orgjunkie.com for some more great menu ideas!

Second Day of School – Just because

Little Bit wanted a “second day of school” picture with her Daddy – since he wasn’t home to go to school with them yesterday.

They sure look happy!

First Day of School

Thursday was the first day of school for the girls. They were so excited, and I guess I was, too, given that I woke up at 4AM and never went back to sleep! (which is becoming a bad habit, I might add)

After getting dressed and ready with surprising speed (and why is it that it’s always so stinkin’ easy that first week or so of school? And then they turn into sloths and can’t move faster than –23 miles per hour?) the girls came downstairs to enjoy some bacon, eggs and cheese sandwiches.

Then it was picture time:

Oh my gosh, they are getting so big!!

And then we were off to school:

(those are from open house the other day)

I was surprised that the girls asked me to walk them in to their classrooms, but I was very happy to do so. They were so cute trying to look all grown up and yet holding on to my hand so tightly.

I know I won’t have many more years of that first-day-of-school walk-in honor… probably only a couple, actually, so it was really special this morning.

Then, I headed home and got busy with work – in a surprisingly quiet house!!

The pups and I picked the girls up from school (Sydney was a maniac and ended up in the front seat looking (and barking) at all the teachers and kids as she tried to spot her girls) The kids were thrilled to see the pups and asked me to bring them every day (I”m not so sure about that!) when I pick them up.

After that, it was snacks, homework (yes, even on the first day of school) and some down-time with the TV. Little Bit crashed early and Big Girl wasn’t far behind (nor was I, having finally “hit the wall” from my early rising)

One day down… and, oh, about two hundred more to go!

What I’m Reading Right Now

I thought I’d share with you another installment of the books I’ve been reading this summer. My reading has slowed down in the past few weeks – mostly because it’s been so busy around here that by the time I finally sit still in the evenings, I’m too sleepy to read for more than a few minutes and then I crash!

I’ve been into some mystery/crime novels this summer. Not sure why, except that I can’t seem to stomach any romance novels right now. The escapism of the mysteries seem to be what I’m looking for – and enjoying – right now.

I have read a few good books and I wanted to share them with you ~

The Black Echo, by Michael Connelly

This was a Barnes & Noble promo book – I can’t remember if it was a Free Friday or 99 cent promo, but I grabbed it because it looked good… and it was. Really good.

The protagonist is Harry Bosch, an LAPD detective who is a bit of an outcast in the Police community and yet has a very strong sense of right and wrong and in getting to the bottom of things.

Harry is called out on a Sunday for a dead body that is found in a culvert pipe at Mulholland Dam. He recognizes the body as a fellow Vietnam Vet and his determination to get to the bottom of things is set.

As Harry digs into the mysterious murder, he tangles with the FBI, the Internal Affairs division and a number of thugs out to ensure he doesn’t figure out what happened to his friend.

It was very engrossing and kept me awake quite a few nights as I read and read trying to get to the end of a chapter, or at least a stopping point, before going to sleep. It wasn’t something I probably would’ve picked out in a bookstore, but I really enjoyed it and plan to read more of his books.

The next in the Harry Bosch saga is The Black Ice, so that is on my to-read-soon list.

Trust No One, by Gregg Hurwitz

This was a really, really good book. So engrossing – it grabs you in the first 20 pages and doesn’t let you go until the very end.

The main character is Nick Horrigan, who has worked to build himself a quiet, safe life. All of that changes when his apartment is invaded in the middle of the night by a SWAT team who snatch him out of his house and take him to a waiting helicopter.

Nick is whisked off to a nuclear reactor which has been overtaken by a terrorist who has asked specifically to speak to Nick.

Thus begins a whirlwind in which Nick is embroiled in a web of lies, deception and half-truths which hearken back to the death of his step-father when Nick was a young teenager. In order to survive, Nick must determine what is truth, what is real, and who is good and who is evil.

The only thing that Nick knows for sure is his step-father’s dying words – “Trust No One.”

I have to say, this was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Certainly not one, again, that I would’ve sought out, but so, so good.

Definitely one I would recommend to anyone looking for an engrossing mystery/adventure/action story.

Another mystery, but certainly a non-traditional telling of a mystery, was my next read:

Dog on It, by Spencer Quinn

I picked this up at a local bookstore on my vacation. It was in a bin of B1G1 books, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try.

It was so cute.

The mystery is written from the perspective of Chet, the happy-go-lucky pup who belongs to Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator.

Bernie is called in on missing persons case and he and Chet work to find the missing teenaged girl, getting into all sorts of scrapes and tight squeezes as they go along and yet their partnership remains strong and they triumph (as you know they will) in the end.

The most charming part of the book is the perspective from which it is written. Watching events unfold from Chet’s perspective is a little like talking to someone with serious attention deficit issues – one minute he is describing the “perp” and the next he is distracted by the enticing she-bark of some mysterious female pup off in the distance. And while it is sometimes a little distracting, it is mostly entertaining – especially if you are an animal lover. I couldn’t help looking at my own pups in a little different light and wondering what was really going on in their heads when I chat with them during the day.

A cute, light read that was definitely worth the B1G1 price. I will be picking up the next one in this series sometime soon, too.

Any good books you have to share?

del.icio.us Tags: books,reading,book reviews,nook color,nook,kindle

Chocolate Chocolate-chip breakfast bread

One of my girls’ favorite breakfast treats are the chocolate, chocolate-chip muffins that are sold in a Duncan Hines mix. Now, while the box says that it is a whole-grain recipe, I have been pretty sure I could make them more healthy if I made them on my own. Heck, just using my freshly-ground flour and eliminating the preservatives the box mix has will make a huge difference, I think.

So, I started hunting for a recipe to play around with. This morning, I experimented and I think I’ve come up with a pretty close replacement to the box mix. I made it as a bread loaf today, but I think the next time I make it I will make the muffins the girls love so much.

Doesn’t that just scream yumminess to you?

I can tell you that, fresh out of the oven, it was gooey, decadent and delicious. The girls scarfed it down and I didn’t mind indulging them in the sweets, because I knew it had wholesome ingredients.

Now, if I can just figure out how to sneak some more protein and/or a veggie or two into the mix, I’d be really happy.

Just in case you want to try this out with your family, here’s the recipe. I think it would make a great first-day-of-school treat for breakfast.

Oh, and warmed up later in the day with some ice cream? Oh, yum!

Chocolate, Chocolate-Chip Breakfast Bread (or muffins)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup Honey Granules & 1/2 cup Sucanat)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, here are a few tips to make this anyway)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or muffin tin.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter & sugar together.
Add the eggs & mix well.
In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Add those to the sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (half of the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup buttermilk, the other half of the dry ingredients, the rest of the buttermilk) until incorporated well.
Mix in the chocolate chips.
Pour mixture into loaf pan or muffin tin.
Bake for 1 hour (loaf pan) or 20-30 min (muffins) until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

del.icio.us Tags: recipe,baking,chocolate chip muffins,chocolate chip bread,chocolate bread,chocolate muffins

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Ingredients

Directions

Footnotes

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