Mexican Pizza!

4 whole grain soft tortilla shells

ground beef

taco seasoning packet

refried beans

shredded cheese (I used a mozz, cheddar & pepper jack combo)

salsa

corn

olives

sour cream 

lettuce

1 TBS butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brown the ground beef in a pan, drain fat and rinse with water.  Put meat back into the pan and add 2/3 cup water and taco seasoning packet.  Mix, bring to a boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Set aside.  Butter the bottom of a 2 baking sheets.  Place whole grain soft tortillas down and lightly rub with some more butter (this will make the tortillas crispy while cooking). Slather the tops with some refried beans.  Then add the beef, some shredded cheese and some salsa.  Pop in the oven for about 5-10 minutes (till the cheese is melted).  Top with some lettuce, oilves & a dollop of sour creme.  AWESOME!

Basil & Parsley!

My basil and parsley both look SO great this year - all the rain has done wonders for it! Yesterday I picked some for Alex to bring in to share with some people at work - all the leaves are so big and so green not to mention the pungent smell!  I love basil, now I just can't wait for the tomatoes to start turning red so that I can eat the two together! 

BLT's & Fries w/ Brown Gravy & Cheese

I was SO in the mood for diner food last Thursday night but didn't feel like going out or spending unnecessary $, so I made my own and it turned out wonderful (and cheaper and probably a tad healthier).  I made the BLTs on whole wheat bread and used mostly all organic ingredients (which I doubt the diner would have used).  

BTW - Whole Foods has the hands down BEST jarred brown gravy - it was thick and delicious - never ever had such good gravy from the jar!

4th at Bill & Shell's & AJ's First Fireworks!

Party #2 of the day was at Bill & Michele's house!  We all swam more, ate more, got more sun & AJ napped!!!  It worked out ok because I was able to wake her to go see the fireworks and then since she was still super tired 1/2 way through we left early and beat the crowd home!  Her first fireworks weren't a HUGE hit but she did like them and she watched without being scared and she talked about them the next morning "fireworks boom in the sky" (at least I know she was kinda awake for them and not just a walking zombie)! 

We had a great long day & luckily AJ slept in till 8:30 AM the next morning (normally she is up at 7:00 AM).  Unfortunately Baby Boy Matrale didn't get the memo and woke me up at 6:30 AM kicking away - it was really wonderful though because Alex got to feel his son move for the first time!!!

Matrale Family 4th of July BBQ!

On the fourth of July we got to spend time with Alex's brother Peter who was in visiting from Florida!  The weather was beautiful, the chili/cheese dogs were DELISH and AJ had a blast playing in the pool with her cousins!  We had a really great time with everyone!

PS- If you look closely at the first pic you will see how I painted AJ's toe nails for the first time - SOOO cute!!!

Space Farm Zoo & Museum!

To start off our 4th of July weekend Alex, AJ & I took a drive out to check out the Sussex County, NJ area.  We are thinking about moving to western NJ next year so we want to start seeing which areas we like best!  While checking out the area (which was beautiful, green, country & perfect for us) we decided to stop off somewhere fun so AJ could enjoy the day too!  We found a great place called Space Farm Zoo & Museum - it was SO much fun, beautiful, cool & the weather was great!  The whole thing is in a huge wide open area and there are tons of animals to view and a bunch to feed!  AJ LOVED feeding the deer, sheep & goats and she just really enjoyed running around in all the open grass!  The museum part was really cool and we got to see tons of good stuff!  Overall we decided that both the area and Space Farm gets two thumbs up!!!!

Ultrasound Pictures at 20 Weeks