Play Date!

Today, Monique brought her sons Vinny & Christian over to Michele's for a play date along with Cheryl, Elsa, AJ & I. We all had a really great time and the kids all played so nicely together. The moms got to enjoy some of Michele's excellent cooking (2 kinds of quiche, a awesome walnut & cranberry salad with very fancy cucumbers & some delish corn bread!), some of Monique's awesome products (Arbonne) and most importantly some adult conversation! Monique's youngest is 6 months and it was so so so so nice to hold him and give him a bottle and do all that "baby" stuff again! As much as I LOVE watching AJ grow and LOVE all her different stages I miss the baby stage! Anyway, we all had a really great time and hopefully we will get to do it again some time soon!!

Cinco de Mayo!

Today we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo with some Mexican fare - yummy! Since I make tacos every once in a while, I though I would try making something I have never done before - enchiladas! After doing a little research on the Internet and getting some different recipes from friends I made up my own recipe! They came out SO SO SO good! We had some hint of lime Tostiots with salsa & homemade guacamole as our appetizer! Dinner tonight was fabulous! I LOVE Mexican and what better of a day to make it! Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!!!



Enchiladas-
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves grated
1 lb shredded chicken breasts (I just boiled 3 boneless/skinless breasts and shredded)
4 oz cream cheese softened
4 oz sour cream
1 small can diced green chilies
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cups Monterrey jack cheese
1/2 cup fresh salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbs olive oil
8 soft flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook till softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then add the chicken and mix. Add the sour cream, cream cheese, chilies, salsa, cumin & cilantro and mix through. Add 3/4 cup of the Monterrey jack cheese, turn off the heat and stir. Line the bottom of a large rectangle pyrex with some enchilada sauce. Place a few spoon full of the mixture onto a tortilla and roll up. Place in the pyrex seem side down and repeat till done. Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and then the rest of the cheese. Bake in oven till cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through.

The filling-



Rolling them up-



All ready for the oven-



Ready to eat-



Chips, salsa & guacamole appetizer-

Little Drummer Girl!

In the basement at my moms there is a kids drum set that used to be Donnie's - AJ and Chris LOVE going down there to beat on the drum! AJ is pretty darn good a keeping a beat and going back and forth between the drum and the cymbal. Being a former drummer himself, daddy is very proud!

Sunday Breakfast!

I love Sundays - we really like to dedicate them as our own little family time - just the 4 of us (we always include Marley)! This morning it was so nice to sit and have a nice breakfast around the table and enjoy each others company! Today I tried making a crust less quiche and it came out SO yummy! We also had some fresh fruit and left over chocolate chip & blueberry muffins that AJ & I made earlier in the week! Sundays are super!!!





(SO SO EASY) Crust-less Quiche Lorraine

6 eggs
1 cup milk
shredded cheese (I mixed swiss, monterey jack & cheddar)
6 slices of cooked crispy bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a square pyrex dish. Crumble the bacon into the bottom of the dish, then add the bacon and cheese. Beat together the 6 eggs and milk and dump into the dish. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Saturday with the Carras Cousins!

Today we went to see the Carras cousins in Livingston - we got to see both Chris & Matt play a little league game & then went back to Tracy's to spend some time and have some lunch! It was great to see AJ having fun with her cousins - she really enjoyed playing with them and I enjoyed watching! They have the cutest dog Patches and AJ LOVED him (she is such a animal LOVER)! We even got to see grandpa Matrale (AJ's great-grandpa) & got to listen to a few stories (which we have all heard a thousand times but still enjoy hearing again just to see & hear the enthusiasm)!!!






Sorry about these last three (unflattering) shots - Matthew was having some fun with the camera & so I just had to post them!!!

Baking with AJ!

AJ and I made some chocolate chip muffins today - she had a great time helping me mix and fill the muffin tins. I am not much of a baker so I got the boxed kind but they still came out delicious - more importantly we had FUN making them! I can hardly believe my little baby is going to be 2 soon - it seems like just the other day I was cradling her in my arms while she slept all hours of the day and night (she has always been a GREAT sleeper) and now she's helping me cook - crazy how quick time goes by!!!

Spinach Parmigiano-Reggiano Orzo

1/2 lb cooked orzo pasta
2 TBS EVOO
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup chicken or vege stock


In a mini food processor combine 2 cups of spinach and stock and process till smooth. Place oil in a pan over medium heat, add the onion and saute till tender then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the spinach & stock mixture and orzo to the pan and cook till heated through. Add the remaining cup of spinach, give it a stir. Add the cheese and serve! We had ours with some grilled filet mignons and some sauteed brussel sprouts. Dinner was great and full of iron - hopefully it will help with my anemia!!