Good Morning!!  It’s April already!!  Had a nice spring break, it rained most of the time.  Had a nice lunch with my mom and daughter, and visited the home décor shop that is connected to the restaurant we ate at.  My mom bought the cutest little yard decoration.  It’s a little boy jumping over a fire hydrant wearing a baseball outfit.  His hat has a C on it, yep for Cubs!!  Once we find the perfect spot for it, and get our yard in order I’ll post pics.  Only 2 more months of school left!!  Enjoy your week!!

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

RECIPE I’VE TRIED:

Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells.  This were really good, and I just thoroughly impressed my kids. (it must have been the fresh parsley I used as a garnish on top).  Very good flavor, and pretty simple to make.  Ben, my Chopped guy, sat down with his plate and said, “Isn’t this fancy? Maybe a little too fancy.”

Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells

Courtesy of delish.com

1 lb. jumbo pasta shells

2 c. Shredded chicken

1 c. ricotta

3/4 c. shredded mozzarella

3/4 c. grated Parmesan

1/4 c. freshly chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tbsp. butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 350º. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook jumbo pasta shells according to package directions until al dente. Drain and return to pot.

In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Make sauce: In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes, then add cream cheese and whisk until completely combined. Stir in milk, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan, and bring to a simmer. Season with more salt and pepper. Let thicken over low heat, 3 to 5 minutes.

In a baking dish, spread a layer of sauce. Stuff shells with chicken-ricotta mixture and place in baking dish. Spoon more sauce all over shells.

Bake until warmed through and bubbly, 15 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve.

FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNET:

So clever and fun!!

FAVORITE PIC(s) FROM THE CAMERA:

This is a pic of my mom’s sandwich from our lunch.  Coincidentally we all had turkey sandwiches (my fav!!).  It’s such a quaint little restaurant, original hard wood floors, and exposed brick walls.

QUOTES:

Good Afternoon!!  We are officially on spring break, and it is quite gloomy outside today.  Looks like the whole week will be like that.  Friday, it was sunny and 80°. My daughter and I had all the windows open, and enjoyed cleaning up the house, by 6 p.m. the temp dropped to 46 °, we call it Swinter (summer and winter in one day).  Don’t have any great plans during this time off, maybe lunch with my mom and daughter and a stop at the local Marketplace where they sell vintage home décor, our favorite!!  Hope everyone has a great week!!

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

WHAT I’M READING:

I actually went back to a book that I had not finished. J. S. Scott’s A Billionaire’s Voice. A deaf former Olympic ice skater falls for a hot looking billionaire.  Romance stories always follow the same patterns, they meet, he’s rich, she’s not, she doesn’t think he would ever fall for her, he has to have her.  One point they break up, then they realize they can’t live without each other, and live happily ever after.  Yet I keep reading them, can’t help it, I just love a good romance 😉 I think what draws me to these stories are the characters, their occupations, and their personalities. I also look for how things are described, good dialogue and how an author incorporates gestures.  Now I just need to put all this accumulated knowledge to use and write my own romance novel.

RECIPE I’VE TRIED:

This is actually something my daughter has tried, everyone loves them when she makes them.  These are super easy, and super delicious!!

Easy Apple Pie Bites

 Ingredients: 

• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced into 8 (1/2-inch) slices
• 1 (8-ounce) can Pillsbury Original crescent rolls

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Unwrap the crescent roll and separate the triangles.
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
4. Evenly spread butter onto each triangle.
5. Sprinkle each triangle with a lot of sugar and cinnamon mixture, and sprinkle with the pecans or walnuts,
6. Wash the apple and cut into 8 equal slices.
7. Place a piece of apple on each triangle of dough (on a wider side) and roll it in a croissant.
8. Arrange crescent roll croissant(bites) on a cookie sheet.
9. Spread the remaining butter on each crescent roll croissant and sprinkle with additional sugar and cinnamon.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.
11. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe and photo courtesy of cakescottage.com

FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNET:

Gorgeous!!

FAVORITE PIC(s) FROM THE CAMERA:

Boys sorted out all their Lego’s by color.  This is a small portion of what they actually have, each color has their own container, so much easier when they are organized like this.

QUOTES:

Good Afternoon!!  Happy first day of Spring!!  Last week we had a little snow storm, dumping about 4- 6 inches of white fluffy snow.  It was so beautiful as it came down, see FAVORITE PIC(s) FROM THE CAMERA below.  But it has all melted, and we are ready for spring.  I am actually looking forward to warmer weather.  We start our spring break at the end of the week.  Enjoy your week!!

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

WHAT I’M READING:

I finished the beta read: Poggibonsi: an Italian misadventure by Dan Alatorre.  A really good story!! Comedy, romance and a few surprises thrown in.  It will soon be published, and once it is I will post my review then.

MOVIE REVIEW:

I don’t normally go to the show, but this weekend opened Beauty and the Beast, and it was playing at the theater in town, my sister asked if I wanted to go, and I was like Yes!!  My niece and future niece-in-law (is that actually a thing?) also went (my daughter had other plans, so I’ll just have to see it again, lol).  I always liked the story, even though I watched it far too many times with my daughter.  But I knew that the special effects were going to be awesome, and they were!!  Disney also added to the story, and there were a couple new songs as well.  It was all that I expected and more…and why wouldn’t it be…after all, it’s a tale as old as time  😉

WHAT I’M WATCHING ON TV:

I have watched This is Us from the beginning.  I have yet to watch the final episode.  That has been a really good show, emotional, but good.  The other one I started is Imposters on Bravo.  That is a really good show.  Each episode leaves you hanging.  Monday starts Dancing with the Stars, which I haven’t watched in awhile.  But David Ross, the retired Cub’s catcher is competing, so I will try and ‘catch’ (see what I did there, lol) a couple of episodes of that.  I haven’t kept up with Quantico, might still watch that one.  I’ve kept up with Blindspot, which is really good!!  I also watch The Good Place.  The episodes are short, so I’ll watch them here and there.  I like Kristen Bell, and Ted Danson is in it as well.  It’s pretty funny, and nice to have a light-hearted comedy in the midst of all the drama, lol.

FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNET:

This is incredible!!  Worth watching through to the end.

FAVORITE PIC(s) FROM THE CAMERA:

QUOTES:

Good Evening!!  Trying to get back into the swing of things.  After not having any snow for the months of January and February, we just now got a couple of inches this morning. Nothing to write home about really, maybe 2” but they are talking some lake effect snow for us tonight. We finished the standardized testing for the boys last week, now we are concentrating on getting the extra projects done so that we can enjoy our spring break at the end of the month.  We are also trying to adjust to the time change from over the weekend, where we had to “spring forward.”  Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

WHAT I’M READING:

I just finished reading the book I was Beta reading, need to get my thoughts together on it.  It was an enjoyable read, had me literally laughing out loud.  I’ll post my review of it next week.

I haven’t been using my kindle as much, as I have downloaded the app on my phone.  But I did use it to do this beta read, so that I could highlight and add notes as I went along.  As I was looking through my library, I noticed I actually have a couple of books that I have started, but never finished.  I’ll have to get to those soon.

RECIPE I’VE TRIED:

A few weeks ago, I actually did try the Slow Cooker Shredded Steak Tacos, and they were really good, they have a really good flavor, and so easy to make!!  A nice change from the tacos I usually make with hamburger meat.  Find the recipe from my previous post here.

FAVORITE PIC FROM THE CAMERA:

This is a throwback photo that came up on my FB feed as a memory.  I had forgotten all about it.  It’s Livi’s first attempt at photo editing.

FINALLY…a bag of chips that can satisfy a hungry teenage boy!!

 QUOTES: