50 is Nifty!

Happy Birthday Mom, you wear 50 well!

My small four person dinner party for my Mom quickly turned into ten people! One of those people was my Aunt who last minute decided to fly up from California to be with my Mom on her birthday! Lucky for me, she is great at entertaining and shared some fabulous appetizer ideas with me.

 This sounds a little odd, but I assure you it's pretty delicious. Sliced cucumber topped with  a mixture of Greek yogurt, chives, salt and pepper, then Salmon Lox and finally a thin sliver of Grapefruit. Somehow, all of the flavors complimented each other.

 Stuffed mushrooms, hummus, pita bread, veggies, pasta salad and my favorite...Baked Brie and apples.

 Yummy cupcakes!

 Sisters!

 Cheers to being 50

Happy Birthday Mom!

Oh Christmas Tree!

 This year we got our Christmas Tree from Boring Bark, in Boring. We got an awesome Groupon for up to a 9ft tree for only $20! Smokin' deal. I am a horrible decision maker so Christmas tree shopping was quite the ordeal. It all worked out in the end though, and we came home with a beautiful tree, a pound of coffee (included in the Groupon), and a pretty wreath for our door!

Sampson was less than happy with the new addition to our home. As the tree was being stuffed through the front door, he cowered on the stairs, not sure what to think of this piece of nature we were bringing into our living room.  Once the tree was setup, I tried to coax him downstairs but had no such luck. I ended up carrying my 50lb timid little guy to the couch where he watched in fear (pictured below). As you can tell, he was just a tad bit skeptical of the whole ordeal.

 

 If you know me at all, you know I get a little...stressed, when things do not go perfectly. This is why you see Jessica and Mike doing the lights...I am the photographer. As you can see, Sampson has become a little more comfortable with the tree.

 It turned out beautiful. However, I did have way to many ornaments and still have enough to decorate TWO more trees.

 One of my favorite ornaments that Jessica got us last year for Christmas.

 Again, as the days progress he gets closer and closer...I sure hope he doesn't develop a taste for Christmas ornaments.

 Beautiful pine cone ornament from Mike's Mom, I love pine cones and there are actually quite a few on me tree.

 I got Mike three Dodge collector's car ornaments last year for Christmas.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas. Decorating. Cookies. Music. Family. Shopping. Pretty paper and bows. And DELICIOUS food!

Of course, I had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving before I could decorate...in order to make The Husband happy. After a weekend of cleaning and scrubbing, my house was ready!

 Our cute trees we decorated on Thanksgiving (Michael is rather proud of his)!

 Michael's Granny used to give the kids Santas each year for Christmas, and here are a few.

Nativity Scene from Granny.

 I really like snow globes.

 Sampson has his own stocking. It reads, "Dear Santa, I've been a very good doggie!" Let me just tell you, I think he is stretching the truth a bit.

 Sampson is not sure how he feels about the Climbing Santa to the right. They may or may not have become enemies in the last couple of weeks.

 All the decorating really wore him out (it was actually all the barking at the climbing Santa).

Christmas lights! Don't worry, we have since removed the Pumpkins!

Who would have thought

The other day, after making this absolutely scrumptious soup (recipe coming soon...), I had a LOT of Kale left over and was wondering how to save it from going to waste. I went on AllRecipes.com and found the easiest way to utilize my leftovers...

Baked Kale Chips

So easy, and so delicious. I seriously just ate them as they came out of the over and never had any extra. Here's what you do:

 - Preheat over to 350 degrees

- Lay out chip sized pieces of Kale on a cookie sheet

- Drizzle with Olive Oil 

- Season with a little salt

- Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes

- BE IMPRESSED

Healthy too! Sorry I do not have a picture. You will have to trust me on this, the flavor is wonderful and this savory treat is pretty healthy as well!

Unstuffed Shells

Yesterday was such a long day, by the end, I just wanted comfort food that was easy to make. I saw an idea in a magazine for these unstuffed shells and thought I would put my own spin on it.

You need:
1 lb. macaroni shells
1/2 box of cream cheese (or more)
1/3 cup parmesan
1 cup any cheese you want grated
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 lb ground beef
1 jar of marinara sauce (or any pasta sauce you think sounds good)

- cook noodles as directed on package
- meanwhile, brown the ground beef
- add pasta sauce into ground beef one it is done, let simmer for a few minutes
- drain pasta
- in a bowl mix cream cheese, parmesan and basil (doesn't have to be perfect)
- stir shells into the cream cheese mix
- spray a baking dish with a non-stick spray
-spread half of meat mixture onto bottom of dish
- pour the noodle mixture on top
- add the rest of the meat mixture
- spread the grated cheese on top.
- bake covered at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, uncover for the last 10.

So Tasty!!!

Michael and I both loved this dish and it made tons of leftovers for his lunches during the week - which is mighty convenient. This recipe is nice because there is a lot of room for variation. You can include different cheeses or use Italian sausage or ground turkey instead! I served this with a salad and Crescent Rolls we had left over from the night before.

This is definitely not a healthy meal, but it's pretty well-rounded with some healthy sides and it's the perfect comfort food some of us need on these cold winter nights! If you make it, tell me what you thought and if you did anything differently.

Do any of you have some fun comfort food type dishes you love?

Chirp

A few weeks ago for my Mother-in-law's birthday, I finally got to use my our new china! 

I made fresh creamy pesto pasta and a salad. Yum!

When we registered for this set, Michael said he would never use it because it's "stupid" to have plates this expensive. He told me while we're using the nice china, he would be using a plastic Scooby Doo plate (where this was supposed to come from, I don't know). I am happy to report, he did in fact use this china, and everyone survived!

They Call It Puppy Love!

We are loving these Fall walks...especially Sampson!

Yup...that's my husband, he occasionally forgets he is a human being.