Healthy Vegetable Pasta Recipe

I don't even have a recipe for this dish.  I just throw the most vegetables I can find in a pan and saute. 

This time I had onions, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms.

I cooked them until just tender while I boiled some whole wheat pasta.

After the vegetables have all sauteed, mix in a 14 oz. can of tomatoes and julienned fresh basil leaves.

Heat it all together, then mix in with the drained whole wheat pasta.

I added some Cavender's Greek Seasoning and a little salt and pepper.  This is the easiest and simplest pasta dish to feed my family.  My boys loved it and I felt good feeding them so many great veggies!

Please Pray For Alabama

Please pray for those affected by the horrible tornadoes in Alabama. 

My Momma is from Alabama and luckily all of our family there is safe and sound.  I know that there are so many people not as lucky.

Puppy's First Walk

Yesterday we took Allie on her first walk down the Nature Trail.  It was super windy and I'm not sure she knew what was going on.  She just stood in her spot first and shook.  She was scared to death because she'd never been out of the backyard. 

We held her half of the time and she finally started walking if I walked in front of her.  She wanted to follow me and that's the only way she'd do it.

We think she loved the walk.  She even tried to chase after a cyclist that rode by us!

CamWow on the IPhone-AKA Entertaining Your 9 Year Old

Our New Puppy

After the loss of our precious Alabama Tide "Allie", we were devastated and completely beside ourselves with grief. 

Our Beagle Baylee was acting so lonely and her face even turned greyer than it had been. 

We talked for a long time about how it seemed like our house just wasn't a home without our sweet White Boxer in it.  We talked about getting another puppy but knew we wanted one just like Allie, white with a little brown marking.  If you know anything about Boxers, you know that it's not easy to find a white Boxer with a brown marking.  I wanted the brown on the same side as Allie also, the right side. 

When Allie's stomach turned over the vet said it could have been a genetic defect in her family line.  Since we found Allie at a pet store, we had no idea who her parents were and if they were in good physical shape. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was searching on the internet for a white boxer puppy and looked on puppyfinder.com.  I was just enjoying looking at all the adorable Boxer puppies and figured I wouldn't find one within driving distance of our house, but came upon a breeder in southern Oklahoma.  She had just had a litter with two white ones, a female and a male.  We wanted a female so I called and talked to her.  She told me the female was white all over except a brown eyeshadow on her right eye.  The same side that Allie had a brown ear.  The puppy had two parents that were Grand Champions and the breeder sent me pictures and they were beautiful Boxers.

I talked to Mr. H about it and he said to have the breeder send us pictures of the puppy.  When we saw the puppy, we just fell in love.   While no dog will ever replace our one of a kind Allie, we thought this puppy would be one that Allie would have liked.  I honestly believe she would have really liked this puppy.  I just had a good feeling about this.

We made a deposit and arranged to pick up the puppy in Tulsa when the breeder was on her way to a dog show with the puppy's Daddy Jackson. 

Next, we knew we wanted to keep it secret from the boys because it would be a big surprise to see a little puppy come in the house.  That was the hardest secret I have ever had to keep.  I was so excited for them, I wanted to tell them at some point everyday while we waited. 

The biggest decision was what to call the new puppy.  The breeder had named her Maybelline because of her brown eyeshadow but we decided we wanted to call her Alabama Tide "Allie II".  We love the University of Georgia's mascot UGA and the family that breeds the bulldogs just name the next dog UGA V, UGA VI, UGA VII, so we decided to do the same.  My husband wants all of his Allies buried with him in his casket and he isn't kidding either.  He adored that dog and was crushed when she passed away.

We brought a pink ribbon to tie around Allie's neck when we picked her up.

We walked into the house and I had my video camera ready.  I wish I could put the video on this blog but I was excited and yelling for the boys during the entire thing and I don't want their real names on here.

Small Fry's first reaction was to say, Ohhhhh!

Tater Tot said he knew we would buy a puppy! 

The boys were so excited!  They instantly fell in love and wanted to love on her.  They hugged and kissed on her and she was loving it.

Having a new puppy is a lot like having a newborn in the house but we are loving every second of it. 

She has brought a joy back to our house that we thought was lost when our first baby died.

Instantly at home with her Daddy.

Allie II's parents - gorgeous Boxers

Momma and Daddy

Momma

Stormy Easter

Today it has stormed all day long.....kind of yucky weather for an Easter holiday. 

The boys were with their Daddy so we had a quiet day of cooking.  We picked the boys up at 4 and went over to Mr. H's Moms house for our Easter dinner.  We had the best food; ham, turkey, corn, green bean casserole, green beans and new potatoes, salad and grape salad. 

We always have the best time when we are all together.  Mr. H's siblings are hilarious and we are all close, which makes for a funny family dinner!

I took two dishes to the Easter get together:

Aunt Gail's Grape Salad

4 lbs. seedless green grapes

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1 (8 oz.) container sour cream

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz. chopped pecans

2 tbs. brown sugar

Wash and dry grapes.  In large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla.  Add grapes and mix until evenly incorporated.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans, mix again and refrigerate until serving.  Calories 479 Fat 27.1 g per cup.

Momma's Green Bean Casserole

6 cans green beans

3 cans cream of mushroom soup

*bacon grease

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

French's fried onions-1 small can

Cook green beans in approximately 3 tablespoons bacon grease.  After cooking 30 minutes, transfer green beans to casserole dish.  Mix 3 cans of cream of mushroom soup with the green beans in the casserole dish.  Top with fried onions and then cheddar cheese.  Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven. 

*Bacon grease is the secret.  Makes this green bean casserole the best you've ever tasted!

The women in the family

The men in the family

 

The cute grandkids- all close in age, 15, 14, 12, 10 8, 7

You have to take a goofy pic

Look at what everyone does in 2011 at a holiday gathering. They all sit on their phones checking Facebook and Twitter.

After eating our Easter dinner with Mr. H's family, we went to my Momma's house.  She has been having some health problems and just wasn't up to leaving the house so we took her a plate of dinner.  While we were visiting with my Momma, it started hailing soooo bad.  We even tried to pull my car into her garage but it wouldn't fit.  We decided just to leave and try to get home where my car could be in the garage.  When we got home, this is what was in the front flowerbeds.

Have you ever tried to potty train a new puppy when its thundering, lightening and hailing???? 

It's almost impossible.

Mr. H was trying to coax her to potty. In...the...rain. 

 My poor flowerbed. 

I Stand Corrected!

I recently received the comment below on my post about going to the Drummond Home in Hominy, Oklahoma.  I hate that I got the facts wrong and I wanted everyone to see the corrections that someone in the Drummond family sent me.  I think I know who it might be and if its C. Drummond....he's my friend on Facebook and I adore his posts.  He's the father of one of my high school classmates and he has more insightful comments on FB than I have ever seen.  Every post ends with him saying....Think About It, and I honestly do sit and think about his comment.   I'll have to post a couple on here. I have no idea where he finds them but they are good.  He is a lawyer, heck, he might just come up with them. 

"That sounds like a very nice day out with your family. I would, however, like to correct you on a few things. 1. The Drummond Home was built in 1905-ish. 2. The Drummond Sign is NOT the entrance into 'The Pioneer Womans' house. The entrance to their house is actually unmarked. The house that is 5 miles up the road from the Drummond Sign belongs to another family member. 3. the most important part....the Drummond family is not the largest land owner in Oklahoma. That award goes to the Mormon Church and Ted Turner. I apologize but I just wanted to let you know of the errors. But thank you for visiting my family's ancestors home in Hominy OK."

I do have to say that I did learn a few of these corrections coincidentally when I was in Fairfax, OK visiting Mr. H's family for an early Easter last weekend.  We had passed a ranch that had buffalo on it and we stopped to take a picture. 

I had just been told that Ted Turner is actually one of the largest landowners in Oklahoma.  Apparently, he owns a huge section of land running through middle America or at least that's what I've been told.  I thought that was interesting because if you had asked me who owned a huge ranch in Oklahoma, Ted Turner would not have been my answer.

On a sidenote, I worked at a radio station my last summer of college because I wanted to be a radio DJ.  Well, the Station Manager told me a story about when he was working in Atlanta at a TV station.  He worked with a really strange guy.  The strange guy approached him one day and told him he needed to quit the TV station and start a business with him.  He was going to start his own cable network.  (Remember this was before cable was huge.)  Anyway, he told the strange guy that he would just stay at the TV station.  He thought the guy was crazy and there was no way he would go into business with him.  Well.........later that cable network became CNN and the strange guy was none other than Ted Turner-HA!  That's about how my luck runs!!!

I wanted to also post a picture of an area in Hominy, Oklahoma that is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  When you drive into Hominy, there is a big hill that looks over the small town of Hominy.  On that hill, an artist sculpted numerous Indians in metal and they are all lined up on the top of the hill looking like a group of Indian scouts on the warpath.  It's simply beautiful and it has been there for at least 10 years now.