Bistro Chicken

I made something super easy and yummy for dinner the other night.

I got the recipe from my sister in law.

Bistro Chicken

*2 tsp oil

*3 cups mushrooms

*1 med Onion

*1 can {15 oz} stewed tomatoes undrained

*1/4 cup zesty Italian Dressing

*3 Tbl tomato paste

*4 small boneless chicken breast halves {cut into bite size pieces}

*1 cup mozzarella cheese, I always just dump it on. We like cheese!

*Bacon {crumbled} 

*Pasta, any kind

1. Heat oil, saute mushrooms and onion until onion is cooked through.

2. Stir in stewed tomatoes, dressing, and tomato paste. Heat to simmer.

3. Add chicken, simmer {covered} 12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

4. Add bacon and cheese, simmer {uncovered} 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

5. Serve over pasta. We like to use fun noodles!

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Try this easy recipe!

Chicken Noodle Soup

New addition

Ok, so not really a new addition.

But we are in the process of finishing our upstairs.

When we built the house, the plans had a bonus room above the garage.

We wanted to save a little money so we have the contractor

only do what was necessary in the room to pass inspection.

That left us with sheetrock only up to our waists,

no insulation, and particle board for floors.

We have lived in our house for almost 5 years

and we are just getting around to finishing.

Blake did pretty much everything on his own.

It's kinda fun to say that he {kinda}

built the room.

He did the wiring, sheetrock,

{we did pay someone to do the mudding and sanding, that job is for the birds!}

molding, and beadboard.

And right now we are painting!

Which means we all have paint in our hair, hands, arms,

and pretty much everywhere.

Here is a sneak peak!

Just some more paint and then carpet!

I'm so excited to have somewhere to put kids toys,

and if you ask Blake, it's his mancave.

I'll let him keep thinking that at least until he has finished his projects.

Na, na, na, na...

BATGWEN!



Be jealous...

be very jealous.

This is what I get on the daily.

She won't go anywhere

without that stinking

"mimi."

Love this little person,

and her spunky fun attitude!

Arachnids

It's almost Halloween Time. 

Nixon is terrified of Halloween.

I put a few decorations up in the house,

fake webs, a witch

you know the normal.

He took one look at the webs

and left the room crying.

And insisted they come down...

They are still up

{insert evil laugh}

I'm sure that he gets it from me. 

At least thats what Blake says

 In elementary I used to hide my face during the

parade where everyone showed off their costumes,

because I was afraid of the older kids.

I have gone to a Haunted House once,

and it's going to stay that way.

I kept my eyes closed the whole time.

Biggest waste of $30.

Spiders,

Don't even get me started.

I hate those little creepy buggers.

They always pop out,

The ones I find are ALWAYS HUGE!

Gweny...

Not so afraid.

My mom had bought some new Halloween decorations

and had them sitting on her table.

Gweny say these big black hairy spiders 

 with suction cups on them.

She begged Grandma to let her have one.

That girl, carried that spider

around with her everywhere.

She even insisted on taking it to bed with her.

Who wants to cuddle a fake spider?

That girl...

The next morning,

"Mommy where my 'pider?"

We found it,

she carried it around all morning.

She wanted to take it to the babysitters 

I made her leave it

in the car.

Then I covered it with a blanket.

I didn't want to look at it.



Chicken Noodle Soup

It is starting to get cold outside.

Cold weather means comfort food for me.

One of my very favorites is homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.

My Mom has been making it

ever since I can remember, and she taught me how easy it is!

I said to Blake as I was making it

"what do you think the chances are the kids will eat this?"

He told me "slim to none."

(My kids don't like anything unless it is Chicken nuggets or Pizza.)

But, they loved the soup and even ate the whole bowl.

Chicken Noodle Soup

*Chicken- Thawed

*Noodles (my fav are the homemade style egg noodles. Found in freezer section at Walmart)

*Carrots-Chopped

*Brocolli-Cut in bite size pieces

*whatever veggies on hand. I would normally put in celery and onion, but my family doesn't like either.

I like to make my broth from scratch. It's really not too hard, but does take a little longer. Put your chicken in a big soup pot and cover in water. Season with Season Salt, Pepper, a little Garlic Powder. I also add onion powder because my family doesn't like the real thing, but I still like the taste. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a steady boil for 45 min-1 hour. You can add a boulion cube if you think it needs more flavor. Sometimes when boiling chicken you get a froth on top, spoon it off. Take out the chicken and shread or chop into bite size pieces. Add in the carrots, onion, celery and noodles boil for about 10-15 min, these take a little longer to cook through. Put chicken back in, add the brocolli and boil for about 5 minutes. 

I served with toasted buttered bread. My kids loved dipping the bread in the broth. 

What "Comfort Food" is your favorite?  

Date night

On Saturday last week,

I went on a date with my boy,

and we took my Mother in Law along for the ride.

Ok, ok, I admit it,

She took us!

We stopped at Crown Burger on the way,

then headed to the game.

The Jazz got spanked.

Like bare butt spanked hard.

It was terrible,

I think they lost by 30,

but were down more than that at one point.

Blake was working that night,

so we got to see him in his official "uniform."

(Not much better than a man in uniform)

Gweny got to go play with Grandpa that night.

She got to spend the evening

watching movies, 

eating cookies and chocolate chips, 

and drinking diet coke.  

Grandpa told me that she was an angel.

She is always behaves so much better for other people.

Thats a good thing right?

We had so much fun!

The first thing Nixon said when we got there was:

N: Mom, I want to play for the Jazz.

Me: that sounds like a great idea ($$)

Me: I will have to look at see how old you have to be to play Jr. Jazz.

N: No Mom, I don't want to play Jr. Jazz... I want to play with these guys.

I think he'd be a great ball player!

Another funny story.

Nixon had to go to the bathroom.

So I took him to the women's so I could help him wash his hands etc.

He is in the stall doing his business,

and I am standing outside it.

He is giving me a detailed play-by-play

of what is happening in the stall.

I mean DETAILED!

I said:

"Nixon, there are other people in here

and they don't want to hear what is happening in there."

He continued to tell me.

I once again told him to stop,

it was quite disturbing, and very detailed.

A lady comes out a few stalls down

and sees me standing there.

She says to me,

"I enjoyed hearing about it!"

Oh my, only the parent will understand

the way I felt.

I had to laugh, it was quite cute!

Life Lately

Life has been so crazy for the last month or so at our house.

I have a new job!

It is still through Zions,

 but in a different department with a different title. 

This has been a blessing to our family,

but has also been quite a transition. 

I now work full time, where before I was only part time.

The department I work for is so fun!

They care about each other, 

and still have fun. 

They are a close knit group 

and everyone is so willing to help me out

 when I have questions.

The best thing about the job, 

is that I am still located in the same branch

so I am still really to home. 

Also another "perk" to the job, 

is I have a desk... (SCORE!)

 and a chair, (double SCORE)

which means I get to wear high heels to work!!

(Holy crap that is awesome!)

I may or may not have gone on a shoe

shopping spree shortly after starting.

Shhh don't tell the Hub! 

Speaking of the Hubs,

Blake is still working two jobs.

One because he has to,

and the other because he loves it.

His second job is part time at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Here he is a Security Guard.

He works mostly in the underground parking

where the Jazz players, tour busses, and "high ups" park.

He has seen some really neat cars,

driven a few,

and met some neat people.

I think that he mostly likes working there so

he can brag about which player he

high fived that day.

(I don't think he has really high fived anyone)

Or who said hello to him.

He is going to be working

less days during the week now so hopefully

he will take me to a few games and

I can high five someone too!

The kids are going to daycare now,

which was something I avoided for as long as possible. 

But I found a great place to take them. 

I absolutely love the lady that runs it.

She is so good with children 

and has had this daycare open at her house for years. 

What makes it even better is

 the kids love to go to Miss Kaye's house!

She does a little preschool for the younger kids, 

while the older ones are at school. 

She teaches them letters, shapes, numbers,

colors, and much more.

Gweny is always so excited

to bring home her project that she worked on

at daycare.

She insists that it be displayed on the fridge,

and then makes sure that

anyone who comes into the house notices it

and comments on it.

Nixon is in Kindergarten!

(Holy Smokes!!)

Which he LOVES!!!

And I think it loves him too.

He is so smart and catches on to things way quick.

Especially how to avoid homework.

Yeah my 5 year old has figured the trick out already.

I think I was at least Jr. High

before I figured it out.

He just leaves it at school,

then he doesn't have to do it that night.

He even admitted it to me!

Little Stinker!

One of my clients brought up a good point

"next time he doesn't bring it home, make sure you make some

homework for him to do.

That way he won't get out of it so easy."

I've got my eye on that boy!

This new job has brought up cleaning/cooking challanges.

I'm not, nor have ever been

Miss Fancy-always-has-a-clean-house-and-dinner-cooked

but now it's even worse!

If you know of any tips/tricks/recipes

please share!!

Here is to new beginnings!