Yummy side dishes

I love easy side dishes that I can make early in the day to serve along with dinner at 6:00 when my hubby walks through the door. Yes...i strive to be a good wife/mother! HAHAThis pasta salad is soooo good and easy to whip up. It is a favorite of mine, and you can do LOTS of variety to change it up.

Ingredients:

1 Box of pasta (I used the garden rotini this time, but have used regular and macaroni too)

I cucumber cut into bite size pieces

1 bell pepper chopped

1 half bag of cheese chucks ( I used the colby jack kind-Pepper jack would be awesome)

1 half package of ham cubes (more or less if you like)

1 stalk celery

1/2 bottle of light ranch dressing (eyeball how much you like...you may have to add more after it sits in fridge for a while!)

Mix all together,cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours so it all combines together well.

You could use Italian dressing too...that would be good, or the mini pepperoni in place of the ham would be awesome. The variations are endless.

UUmm this is what is for dinner tonight!

Broccoli slaw is another easy side to make ahead.

Ingredients:

1 bag of broccoli slaw

bacon bits

ranch

just dump broccoli slaw in, coat with ranch, and sprinkle in some bacon bits and stir.

how easy is that. Let it sit in fridge for at least 4 hours to soften the slaw and combine flavors.

We had this last night. So good

Happy Wednesday all!

The Week in Review...

Our computer was out of commission last week, along with my Ipod. Both of them were having issues. I'm so glad to finally have them both back, and finally have time to catch up on my blogging.As you can see from the above picture, we got a new pick up. We traded our van for this little beauty and are so excited. We both really loved the van, but we were foreseeing some repairs that would cost us in the long run and really thought it was best to say so long to it. I'm hoping to get another one someday, but until then I must learn how to drive this big baby.
KK and my great niece (her grand-baby!!) Mackinzie. She is 7 months old and is a little doll. She will be crawling all over soon. She is creeping around right now and a happy little girl. BTW- her feet are too fat to wear shoes!! HAHA

Some of our family. Unfortunately I did not get pics of everyone. The day kinda flew by and I was a little preoccupied tying to "host" Thanksgiving. Thanks Mom and KK for helping me.

This is my little man all tuckered out Thanksgiving morning. He came in bed with Mom and Dad that morning, which is very unusual for him. He is not a peaceful sleeper and not a lot of fun to lay with. It kinda feels like you are in a cage fight during the night!!!!

Have I Told You Lately.....

.......How much these kids warm my heart!!

Last night we had a blast laying on the bed just laughing! There is no better way to end the night than that. It will give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside that will give you sweet dreams for sure!!!!

As we approach Thanksgiving....I feel how thankful I am to have these WONDERFUL kids and a extra WONDERFUL husband. Life.....does it really get any better than this?

FOOD...What else is there to say??

These are just some of the things that I am eating while trying to loose some pounds. These are perfect for lunch. I like almost all of the flavors, and they also have some good desserts too. The spinach Florentine is awesome.
These are awesome. They have little bits of dark chocolate in them, with nuts and seeds. They are sooo good. I think they have 120 calories if I remember right. I'm out of them right now!!

I have drank Diet Coke for years, but occasionally I like a change in flavor. This is my new one. I like all diet drinks....EXCEPT Diet Dr. Pepper. It is just horrible tasting to me. I can't drink it at all. I love Diet. 7up, sprite zero, and Fresca in all flavors.

This is good for your heart. 3/4 cup of oats, 1 and 1/2 cup water and splenda is approx 215 calories and a good warm, filling breakfast.

OOHHH LALA......the lemon is sooooo good. It is my most favorite. 100 calories and they do not taste at all like yogurt. They taste like a pudding. I'm not a fan of the caramel, but the berry and chocolate raspberry are good too.


NOW on to NON-DIET FOOD.

Peach crisp: so easy and so good.

1 can of peach pie filling.

2 pks of raisin and spice instant oatmeal (instant)

Brown sugar

cinnamon

butter

pecans

I just dumped the pie filling, topped with the oatmeal, sprinkled with a couple spoons of brown sugar, sprinkled with a few shakes of cinnamon. I love pecans-so I topped with probable a cup. Cut about 6 pats of butter and spaced them over the top.

Baked for about 30-minutes at 350.

I did not measure anything so it is very easy and good. I used an Pyrex that is about 6 inches square.

This was surprisingly sooooo yummy!

I was a little scared at first.

This is bacon and tomato pasta.

It called for 1/2 lb. of peppered bacon. I used regular bacon instead. Peppered bacon is sometime too much.

1 can of diced tomato 14 oz. or close to it.

1 tablespoon of minced garlic.

a few "shakes" of dried basil

salt

pepper

1 lb of pasta

Fry and crumble your bacon

reserve drippings and remove bacon.

Cook your pasta

add your tomato, garlic, basil to bacon grease and bring to a simmer.

add your bacon back in.

drain your pasta and add it to the sauce and toss.

top with Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste.

serve with a green salad and some garlic toast.

Left overs are awesome!!!!!

A little of this...A little of that!

Hello....Just a quick post of some of what is going on with us.....!! FINALLY finished painting the living room. Unfortunately I can't say we are finished painting ever. We have 3 more rooms to complete....hopefully before Christmas!
I'm loving this deep green paint. I feel like I'm walking into someone else's house everyday.

STOP!!!! Can u guess who this is??

A Strong smell of baby was coming from his room with the door closed!

UMMM, what is that smell???

He ran and hid fast. Can anyone find Charlie please...I can't seem to find the little messy boy.

The carpet sure smelled good that night.

Boy did he have fun! Shake...shake....shake!!!