Red, White and Green Salad

I love Spring and Summer time! 

It's starting to warm up outside and on most days during the summer, 

it's actually too hot to cook!

I would much rather eat something light, so I find myself eating more salads.

This salad calls for very little cooking...just some boiling water is all.

When I need a quick dish to make for our fellowship dinners after church, 

this is one recipe that I use. Prepare the salad before church, put it in the fridge

and by the time church is over, it's ready to eat!

 Red, White and Green Salad

1 pound small red potatoes, cooked and cubed

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 pound green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces and cooked

7 TBSP olive oil

5 TBSP white wine vinegar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, tomatoes and beans. 

In a small bowl, combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Pour dressing over vegetables; toss to coat.

Refrigerate for several hours before serving. 

Makes 8 - 10 servings

and is a good recipe to double!

Let's Go To The Hop!

Well, ok..maybe it's not a "Hop" like that...
but it is a Blog Hop!

I love Blog Hoppin'! 

This is one of the best way I know to 'meet' other fellow bloggers!

I enjoy following those that have a love for

God, Family, Cooking, Crafting, Decorating, and Saving Money!

And, of course, there are those that I follow because

I find them very interesting or funny!

Since the day I started my blog, 

 I have come to meet some of the most amazing people!

And because I love making new friends, 

 I have joined the Blog Hop hosted by

Feeding Four and Scraps of Life !

If you feel like you have something to offer the blogging community, 

and/or you just want to make new friends,

then hop on over to their page

and enter your information into the linkup below their post.

If you stop by or follow me, please let me know!

I would love to get to know you better

and I always follow back!

Have fun!

This Is The Stuff.....

In the middle of my little mess, I forget how BIG I'm Blessed....

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYBODY!

Long post....it's been a busy week!

Last week, I was checking out the status post of my friends on Facebook and noticed that my daughter, who lives 4 hours too far away, posted that she was ready to move in to her new house. After a quick phone call to her, I packed my bags, gassed up my car and hit the road! I got there just in time to help her hubby make another trip to the house to pick up some more boxes and get the rest of the beds. We spent the next two days picking up the rest of the boxes and furniture and getting the house cleaned for inspection.
I love her new house. It's in a very nice neighborhood and not secluded like the other house is. My older grandson will be able to play outside with the neighbor kids, so he's pretty excited about that.
My daughter had planned a much needed-well deserved-girls weekend out, so I brought my grandsons home with me since their daddy had to work...and I wanted more Gramma time too! But, I also needed to get back in time to watch my youngest grand-daughter. Of course, I was running late, but making good time with no potty breaks.
The oldest grandson was busy playing with his Nintendo DS...FULL BLAST..."because the sounds effects aren't any good if you don't have the volume turned all the way up"!! But the baby was tired of riding in the car seat and started fussing, I was trying to entertain him by teaching him the sounds that animals make. The last one was "what does a doggy say?" He got that one down pretty good since he has a little doggy at home and he's familiar with the sound! ARF, ARF! ARF!!
I had the rear view mirror tilted down so I could see the baby in the back seat. I was almost back in to city limits, when I looked in my side-view mirror and saw this:

Oh great..what did I do wrong? Well, come to find out, while I was looking in the rear-view mirror at my grandson, I missed the speed limit sign when it reduced speed by 10 mph. So instead of driving 3 miles over speed limit, I was driving 13 mph over!!! No wonder he pulled me over! I do tend to have a lead heavier-than-usual foot...especially when I'm on the highway, but NEVER when my grand-children are the in the car!
The nice officer walked up to my side of the car and shined his sun-bright-high-beam-like-flash light in my face.
"You in a hurry?"
"Yes sir, as a matter of fact I am" I said...in a very sweet innocent tone of voice, of course.


Key in background noise "ARF ARF ARF.....VAROOM, CRASH, OH NO!...ARF ARF ARF"

He told me what he clocked me at. I told him why I missed the sign. He asked me where I was going. I told him I was headed to the softball complex to pick up my grand-daughter so I can watch her while my son and his wife play in the CHURCH (had to throw that word in...I knew only God could help me now!) league softball game"

Key in more background noise "ARF ARF ARF....BANG BANG, "I MISSED", BANG BANG...ARF ARF ARF"

Then he asked me where I was coming from. "I'm coming from my daughters house, 4 hours away"
"Who are these kids with you?" "They are my grandsons. I brought them home with me until Tuesday."
After a series of more (of what I thought were unnecessary) questions "What ages are the kids?" "What church do you play for?" "What time is the game?", he finally asked for my drivers license and proof of insurance. "Mam, your insurance is with State Farm?..I hear the man at this office is no longer in business" "No sir, a woman took over and she's running the office now." What does that matter? As long as I'm insured right? And then....go figure...the nice officer looked at my insurance papers and said that the only proof it shows is that my insurance expired in November! What? Oh No! My hubby took my insurance papers and card to work to make copies of them! He had to insure a new (to us) vehicle his company just gave to him. (I love free stuff...especially automobiles!) He never put it back in my glove box! UGH! What now officer?

Key in even more background noise "MAMAMAMAMA....ARF ARF ARF....OH NO..GET BACK HERE GUY..YAY, I GOT HIM...MAMAMAMA...ARF ARF ARF"

Ok...by this time, all I could think of was "how am I going to pay for this ticket?" Speeding, no proof of insurance, and now I'm sure of a noise violation....the list of offenses was getting longer by the minute!
The nice officer came back to my car, after running my tags through to dispatch, and found out that I have a clean driving record...I'm just lucky blessed like that...and yes indeed, I do have insurance. YAY ME! One offense off the ticket!
He gave me back my license and expired insurance papers, looked at me and said "Mam", as my older grandson looked up from his game to say "Gramma, if you really were speeding, you do deserve to get a ticket!" WHAT? I thought you were on my side! Aren't you Gramma's boy?
The officer laughed...."No mam, I'm not going to give you a ticket this time. I don't think anybody could possibly make all of this stuff up!"



But there's more...looky, looky at what....I WON!

Brandie at THE COUNTRY COOK was having a give-a-way, so I entered. Like I said earlier, I love free stuff, and who doesn't like to win prizes?...but this jewelry is absolutely beautiful! If I didn't win it, I was going to ask how I could buy it! Here's what Brandie said about it: 
"So here it is - courtesy of my Momma. She sells this jewelry and it is called lampwork glass jewlery....This jewlery is all handmade by a highly skilled artist who uses a torch and different colored glass to create these works of art."

 
   I love the little cross!

 Thank you soooo  much Brandie!

And be sure to tell your Momma thank you too!

I absolutely love it..and the beautiful bag it came in!

What a great gift this is! I'm still excited!

I love to visit The Country Cook's blog! 

We have a lot in common..

a great love for family...

and food!!

I took the grand-baby back to my daughter last night. I had so much fun with him. He's almost a year old and he gets in to everything!! 

He's almost mastered walking on his own...

won't be too much longer!

My momma and I met my daughter at her in-laws where she hosted a Park Lane Jewelry party. She going to start selling this jewelry ...and I'm thinking about it...not quite sure yet. 

My oldest grandson is spending the rest of his Spring Break with me. His 8th birthday is Saturday and we're having his party here at my house. It's been a long while since I've hosted a young ones birthday party...

this ought to bring back a lot of memories for me.

I hope your week has been as great as mine!

p.s. I'm tired!

I've got braggin' rights....

My youngest (almost 21 yr old) daughter is fit as a fiddle! It's pretty obvious she did not get her speedy metabolism from me!
She has been a dancer since she was a small child. She'd put on some music, grab a microphone (a.k.a. candle stick) and off she'd go! When she began her teen years, (post tom-boy stage) she took dance lessons..tap, jazz, ballet, toe, clogging...you name it...she loves to dance! That girl can move in ways I never thought a body could move! 

She began working out at our local gym about 2 years ago...and now has a six-pack and leg and arm muscles like I could only dream of having!  The fitness director asked her if she would be interested in being the new Zumba instructor at the gym... she was so excited! She was so determined to fill this position, that during one of our 'snow storms', against my better judgement, she drove the 5 hour drive to certification class! She is now Zumba and CPR certified! She also works part time at a nutrition center and assists with casting while also performing in a play at the high school. She loved Drama class when she was in school, so any chance she gets to assists or perform with the school or at the Arts Center she does it...And she's sooo good at it!

She's also on our church softball team! Is there anything this girl can not do? And she still finds time to sleep!

Oh, and did I mention...she's on a semester break from college while she gets her job training and scheduling in order? She's always wanted to be able to support herself through school...Miss Independent! Besides for dance, fitness and drama, her passion is Marine Biology!

She says that one day that will be her on Animal Planet... hosting Shark Week!

She sure knows how to make a momma proud!

Dance 2007

Senior Dance 2008

Zumba Instructor 2011

Blonde moment!

I've had more blonde moments
in my lifetime than I care to mention...

but thank goodness, none of them compare to this!

Need a good laugh?
Hop on over to Homesteaders Heart for more Friday Funnies!

Quick and Easy Chicken Quesa-jitas

It's that time of year again...softball practice for our church league has begun. That means quick meals so the guys can head off to practice. And ...I can play with my grandbaby while her mommy and daddy practice too.


I try not to buy pre-cooked meats, but if they are on sale and it's going to save me money, as well as time...well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Tonight, I whipped up some
Quick and Easy Chicken Quesa-jitas
Grilled Chicken Strips
Fajita seasoning of choice
Flour tortillas
Mexi-Cheese
Onion and Bell Pepper, sliced thin

You can use as much of each ingredient as needed for you and your family and save the rest for later. This bag of Grilled Strips made 7 Quesa-jitas...only because the men in my house are meat eaters! I can't skimp when it comes to putting meat in their Quesa-jitas like I do mine.

Put your chicken strips (2 per Quesa-jita) on a plate and heat in microwave as per instructions on the package.
Slice up a little bit of onion and bell pepper (if you don't already have them sliced and frozen in a ziplock bag in the freezer for more added convenience).
In a skillet, over medium heat, add a dab of oil and the onion and bell pepper slices.

Saute' the onions and peppers until they are soft. I stir in a teaspoon full of brown sugar to add a little bit of sweetness.

In another skillet, add chicken strips and fajita seasoning of choice...just enough to coat chicken. Mix together and cook until heated through...about 3 minutes.

 Spray sandwich maker with non-stick spray. If you do not own a sandwich maker, then you can use a non-stick skillet, sprayed with non-stick spray, set on medium heat.
Set tortilla on sandwich maker, as shown. Add chicken mixture, onion and peppers, then mexi-cheese. Pull other half of tortilla over first half and close and seal the lid.  Heat for approx 3 - 4 minutes.
Cook the same way in a skillet, except after about 2 - 3 minutes you will need to carefully turn the fajita over to cook the other side. Remove and set on plate.

Cover with or dip in Salsa and Sour Cream!

This was mine...not so fully loaded...

This one belonged to one of the men folk....FULLY LOADED! Where o' where do they put it?

Happy Eating!

In the end...it's all good news!

About a week and half ago my oldest son developed severe headaches. He went to the doctor and was treated for a sinus infection. Not realizing the severity of his problem, I took off a few days later to visit my daughter for her birthday. When I returned the next day, he was feeling much worse than before, but he went on to work anyway. After a couple of hours, he was in so much more pain. He told his boss he had to go home. One of his fellow employees found him sitting in his truck 2 1/2 hours later..not knowing where he was or how he got there.
He was rushed to the emergency room and they performed a CT Scan on him. The doctor found that his sphenoid gland was enlarged and infected. This gland is up above your sinus and being filled with fluid, it can cause so much pressure in the front of your head. This was the cause of his headaches. After a couple more miserable days and more antibiotics, he still was not getting any better. So, he made another trip to another doctor. She realized the seriousness of the problem and referred him to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. He ordered three days of antibiotics and steroid injections and scheduled him for surgery. The doctor also feared a tumor and/or cancer.
Yesterday was finally his day of relief! The doctor had to repair an old break in my sons nose in order to allow the scope to reach up to this gland. After re-breaking his nose and setting it, he was finally able to drain the fluid. There was no sign of a tumor or cancer! The doctor reported nothing but good news!
My son is still hurting, but nothing like he was before. He says that this pain is so much more tolerable compared to the pain he suffered from the headaches.
During most of this time, their baby was also sick...runny nose, cough and fever..she was miserable. Between my daughter in law and me, we held down the fort. If she wasn't able take care of them due to her work schedule or running errands, I was with them. My DIL is a rock. She's a great wife and mother. And now she's exhausted...but never once complained.
My DIL had to return to work today and the baby is so much better so she went to the sitter to play with her friends. I went over to their house this morning to sit with and take care of my son for the day.
As he slept in his recliner, I sat on the couch and watched him sleep. All I could do was pray and thank God for taking care of this child of mine. It doesn't matter how old he is...he's still my baby.

My son and his wife

Lose Weight ...Change Shampoo

 

I figured out why I've gained weight. 

The shampoo I use in the shower that runs down my body says, 

"for extra volume and body." 

Going to start using Dawn dish washing soap. 

It says, "dissolves fat that is otherwise difficult to remove."

 

 

 

 

Birthday Surprise with a 7-Up Cake

When I was about due to deliver my oldest daughter, my doctor gave me

a choice to deliver c-section on February 29th or March 1st. 

I chose March 1st because I didn't want the kids at school 

to tease her about not having a 'birthday' every year.

Now that she is grown, I think February 29th would have been the 

perfect day for her to be born.

It's such a unique day...it would have fit perfectly for the unique person that she is!

7-Up cake is her favorite cake! 

So, on Monday night I baked this cake for her and on Tuesday 

my momma and I drove the four hours, to where she lives, 

to surprise her for her birthday!

She was so surprised!!!

We went out to dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant.

I think the lemons from our tea were my youngest grandsons 

favorite part of the meal!

 My oldest grandson waited patiently for his meal...

The tablecloths were paper, so we spent the time playing tic-tac-toe 

and working on his cursive handwriting.

 When we returned home, my grandson helped me make the powder sugar glaze.

He said he kind of liked the 'white spots' he made on the cake!

I think it added a nice touch too!

When my son in law asked my daughter, a few days before, 

what she wanted for her birthday, she told him 

"You're my husband. I think you can "READ" me pretty well!"

She was so excited to see the Kindle and case that he bought for her...

not so surprised...just very excited!

After a great night of celebration and fun time with my daughter and her family, 

my momma and I got up the next morning, 

took my grandson to school, then headed home.

It always makes me sad to leave them because they live so far away, 

but it makes our times together so much more special!

7-Up Cake

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon extract

7 oz 7-Up or Sprite

Preheat oven to 325*.

Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar 

until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

Beat in the flour alternately with the 7-Up, mixing just until mixed thoroughly.

Pour batter into prepared pan. 

Bake for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool on a cake rake for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. 

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

3 TBSP milk or water

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together until smooth (to avoid the white spots!) 

and drizzle over the top of the cake.

The phone was for you....

I'm sorry...but I couldn't resist this one.

So many of my phone messages have been misunderstood...if I even get them! 

Can you relate?

WHY MEN SHOULDN'T BE 

ALLOWED TO TAKE PHONE MESSAGES

HAVE A HAPPY DAY!