Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

 

BROCCOLI AND SUN DRIED TOMATO PASTA
8 ounce dry penne pasta
2 cups fresh broccoli, steamed
1 pint half and half
8 ounce package multi-cheese Italian blend grated cheese
3.5 ounce package sun dried tomato halves **chop fine and perhaps 1/2 a package next time**
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon basil

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, pour half and half, sun dried tomatoes, basil and garlic into a large skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 5 minutes. Slowly stir in cheese and cook until melted. Add cooked pasta and broccoli. Stir well to combine.

**Note: Original recipe said to rough chop the sun-dried tomatoes, but we felt the pieces were way too big and over powering. I would cut really small and maybe 1/2 the amount and double the broccoli.

Chicken Fajita Pasta

This dish was very good. Love the flavors of the fajita style veggies.

CHICKEN FAJITA PASTA
1 pound dry pasta
2 cups milk
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Mix
8 ounce cream cheese, softened and beaten until smooth
2 TB olive oil
2 cups assorted chopped fajita vegetables (onions, colorful peppers)
2 medium chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions. heat milk and Ranch seasoning in a large dutch oven or pan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until hot. Slowly stir in whipped cream cheese into milk until melted and combined. Stir in cooked pasta. Cover.

Heat oil in skilled over medium heat. Saute fajita vegetables for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir into the pasta mixture along with the chicken. Heat and stir for a few minutes until hot.

Orchard Prairie Cemetery

Audrey and I stopped by the cemetery on our way to church.

And then I was asked to substitute teach in Relief Society. It was the week where the lesson is from one of the Ensign talks. "When You Save a Girl, You Save Generations". The bullet points from the lesson were:

• Stand in holy places for your ancestors
• Stand in holy places for yourself and your immediate family
• Stand in holy places for your future family

I enlisted Audrey's technical services to show the Youth Theme video at the beginning of the lesson, and then to show a picture that was mentioned in the article at the end of the lesson. It was from the "Arise and Shine Forth" art competition that was being exhibited at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. It was called "Choose You This Day" and the artist took 10 photos of herself to depict different values or vices we have because of our choices. How it affects who we become as individuals.

Star Trek

We really wanted to see the most recent Star Trek movie and invited the Cutlers to go downtown with us. The movie did not disappoint! Afterwards we went to Red Robin for lunch. What a fun time!

Mother's Day - Part II

After church on Mother's Day we enjoyed Asian Chicken Wraps, Frog Eye Salad and a chocolate dessert we picked up at the store. Then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

ASIAN CHICKEN WRAPS
Sauce:
2 TB plain Greek yogurt
2 TB mayonnaise
1 & 1/2 TB brown sugar
1 TB soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp Thai-style chili sauce
Filling:
2 c. Napa Cabbage - chopped
Tortillas or pita bread
1 chicken breast, cooked & diced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 red bell pepper,diced
3 TB toasted sliced almonds

Mix together all the sauce ingredients. Can be stored in fridge for 4-6 days. To assemble the wrap, drizzle the tortilla with the sauce and then layer chicken, cabbage, oranges, red peppers and nuts. Drizzle more sauce on top - - lots! Sauce is the best!!! Roll up tortilla - slice in half for easier handling.

FROG EYE SALAD
3 (20oz) cans crushed Pineapple
3 (11oz) cans Mandarin Oranges
1 c. sugar 
2 TB. Flour 
½ tsp. Salt 
1 ¾ c. Pineapple Juice 
2 eggs, well beaten 
1 TB. Lemon Juice
1 box Acinin di Pepi pasta
8oz Cool Whip (thawed)
1 cup coconut
1 cup miniature marshmallows 

• Drain pineapple; reserve 1 ¾ cups. Drain mandarin oranges. Refrigerate well-drained fruit in a small bowl. 
• In a saucepan combine sugar, flour, salt, pineapple juice and eggs. Cook until thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Set sauce aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, boil 3 quarts water (with salt & oil if desired). Add “78.Acini di Pepi” pasta - Found in a blue square box in the dry pasta section. Cook pasta for 9-11 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. 
• Mix sauce & pasta together in a very large bowl; Refrigerate overnight.Next day add the canned fruit (drain again if needed), the Cool-Whip, coconut and marshmallows. Stir well and enjoy

Mother's Day Celebration

For our Pre-Mother's Day event, we went to see Iron Man 3 at Village Center Cinemas. Perhaps you would not have thought that would be my choice of a movie, but I picked it and loved it!

Afterwards we went to Dickey's for lunch. John ordered the 2 meat plate, Audrey ordered the 1 meat plate, and I thought I was ordering "light" with the Smokehouse salad. Check out how much food they gave me!

After we got home, got the mail and had a key chain from my sister. She let Audrey and I each pick our color. I picked the purple one. Thanks Kathy!

With early meetings for John on Sunday, we decided to do part of the normal Mother's Day celebrating later Saturday evening. John and Audrey made me crepes for dinner and then let me open gifts. Received a cool red retro kitchen timer from Audrey and a Cuisinart food processor from John.

Kids say the darnedest things

We have 4 next door neighbor kids ranging from 18 months to 6 years. They play in the backyard a lot, but find what WE are doing to be more fascinating. Weeding, sweeping, washing the car, etc. Today after they asked us a zillion why questions (why are you washing the car, why is it on the lawn, why are you sweeping your driveway, are those pink gloves yours, etc, etc, etc) they asked a couple of funny ones. Thought I'd share.

• "Do you have a daddy at your house?" (John replied "I am the daddy")
• Then they asked me "Where are your babies?" (I replied by pointing at Audrey, "There is my baby")
• They asked follow up questions like: Why did I only have one baby, was I going to have more, did I have a baby in my tummy. That is when I learned that they were going to have "at least" 5 kids (evidently their mom is expecting) but probably no more than 80....yeah, that is a lot.
• They wanted to know how old Audrey was (20)
• They wanted to know how old I was. I asked them to guess. "30?" At which I replied "Close!". Then they said "29?" "....sure!" And then the oldest boy told me their mom was older than me because she is 30 and I'm only 29. Audrey was washing the car trying not to laugh too hard trying to figure out how I was able to have her at 9 years of age....

What a great pre-mother's day gift - to look 29 years old!!