Catching up and some recipes

Happy weekend! 

That’s what I said to my kids when they walked through the door from school today.  Friday is a fun day.  The best day of the week.  It was always my favorite day as a child and I can feel my own children’s excitement about it when they get home from school each Friday.  Weekends are a little crazy with everyone being home.  There is always so much going on, but it is nice to switch things up around here and be together. 

I can’t believe it has been a week since I posted last!  What a slacker I am.  I have a pretty good excuse, I guess. I went out of town.  Last Friday evening I was hanging out with my family in the sunny state of Arizona, eating chili at my parents house while my little family was home in the big state of Texas with out me. 

Yep.  My husband stayed home for 4 days playing  Mr. Mom while I took a trip sans kids to visit my family.   It’s a good thing for both of us that he is so good at this role.  I can really get away with out worrying what is going down on the home front and he can enjoy the kids and make up his own rules.  We all know that when mom is away it’s play, play, play.  I’m ok with that.   He loves it, the kids love it, I love it.  We are all happy.  BUT it is always nice to be home again!  I missed my family so much!!!  More than I thought I would.  Sometimes I feel like going away on a trip is all about coming home with perspective and new energy.  I feel like I am lacking in the energy department.  I have spent the week trying to catch up, but I definitely am re-energized to take care of my family again. 

My sister had a baby a couple of months ago.  This was his blessing weekend AND her birthday.  It was the first time I met Greyson.  He was blessed on Lindsey’s birthday which made it even more of a special day.  If you can believe it…I did NOT take one single picture the entire time I was there.  I am so sad about that now.  I packed my camera bag with great care and had every intention of using it all weekend long, but I didn’t pull it out once.  Maybe subconsciously I needed a break? I don’t know.  I think I was just enjoying being in the moment that I didn’t want to bother with it.  Now I am reminded that using a camera is never a bother.  It’s always worth it. 

Anyway, I was able to go visit and just be an aunt all weekend.  I got to be Auntie Krysta to my 3 cute nephews.  Who are not just cute but absolutely adorable!  I am not biased either.  They really are adorable.  See for yourself.  Here is my brothers family (blogged by my fabulous sil Beth) and here is my sisters family (blogged by my one and only sister Lindsey).  We are going back for Thanksgiving and I can not wait to have my whole family together for the holiday.  I am especially excited to see the cousins play together.  The weeks are not going to go by fast enough!  I will have pictures to share of that for sure.

Last weekend was themed a “Sisters Weekend”.  Two of Beth’s sisters flew in to stay with her and I stayed with my sister.  Not planned at all, it just kind of happened that way.   I didn’t get to see Beth very much :( but Lindsey and I had fun doing all of our girly things togther.  We went shopping and I found exactly what I was looking for.  My mission was boots and clothes for church.  I got those as well as a couple pairs of jeans and new tops.  I love shopping with my sister!  It was fun to hang out and watch our T.V. shows together while I painted my toes.  I still have to multi-task!   Honestly, one of my favorite things from the weekend was being with my sister and watching her be a mom.  When I have my kids with me I am so preoccupied that I don’t notice what else is going on around me.  It was fun to hear her and Nick’s conversations and listen to them take care of their babies.  It all sounded so familiar, but so different at the same time being outside of the conversation.  Being a parent really is a sweet thing and you can tell that they love their little family. It was nice to see that. 

Soooooo…this week for me has been all about trying to get my house running again. Which has a lot to do with food.  Food has been on my mind this week.  I planned my meals and got the grocery shopping done for the next two weeks.  I love when that is finished and I don’t have to worry about it again for a while, besides running to the store for milk, bread and fruit.   Since I have been thinking about food, I thought I would share a couple of our families all time favorites.  One is a dessert and one is a meal.  Let’s break the rules and do dessert first.

This is one of our favorites because not only are they so yummy, but it makes a ton.  It makes so much that we eat them fresh out of the oven, freeze some and share some with friends. 

I like to roll the dough into balls like this and then freeze them in big zip lock bags.  We may or may not eat the cookie dough as a snack. 

Here is the recipe.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 cup real butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 1/3 cups sugar

Beat above ingredients for 2 min. I mix it in my Botch.  Then add 5-6 cups of flour.  5 cups first.  Feel the dough, if sticky add 1/4 cup flour at a time until good consistency. 

Add one bag white chocolate chips, one bag milk chocolate chips and one bag semi- sweet chocolate chips. 

Bake @ 350 for 11-13 min. depending on how big they are.  I use an ice cream scoop for mine.  My time is usually 12-13 min.  I like gooey cookies. 

Our next favorite is Alfredo Pizza.  I know I have never blogged this recipe, but I have given it away so many times over the years.  To some of you it may be an old recipe.  This one goes back to our early married days and it is still a favorite.  I do not have a picture of this one, but trust me…it is worth a try.

Alfredo Pizza

1 loaf of French Bread

1 jar of Alfredo sauce

1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage (I am picky about this.  It has to be Jimmy Dean.  No generic for this one)

4 fresh mushrooms (more of less)

Mozzarella cheese as desired

Brown sausage and slice the mushrooms.  Cut fresh bread in half length wise.  Spread a good amount of alfredo sauce on each half generously (we usually use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the jar.  Sprinkle the sausage on top, then the fresh mushrooms and then the cheese as desired.  Broil on a lower temperature so the center gets warm while the top gets crispy. 

That’s all there is to it!   It’s an easy one.

Enjoy!

And just incase you are wondering (since I know you are…wink, wink) Here is our menu for this weekend and through next week. 

 

Next week maybe I will share some of our fall favorites.  I have one more Halloween post to share too.  I just found it tonight.  C – ya next week.