SUNNY DAYS the KIDDIES will PLAY

Since the weather has gotten warmer and my child has become incredibly rambunctious the only solution has been to retreat to the park in the early afternoon.








My Johnny has become an expert tree climber ( mommy has a nervous breakdown each time he runs for that tree) 

He thinks  the tree is his throne!!
















My little prince is a boy through and through.

My dog Coco is still the better tree climber in the family. She'll jump up all by herself!

Hanging by the "beach" (living in the city we work with what we got since we live by the river we therefore have a beach). My Johnny collecting rocks and sticks. We learned how to skip rocks in the water. My son has an incredible arm!!

And to end our lovely days in the park we usually run around in the grass ( we race) Johnny's favorite thing is to get Mommy to run all he has to say is " ready, set, GO!" and we usually take of from wherever we stand.
So we'll run around and pick some "wishies" to blow into the nice breeze.


I Love our family outings at the park. It gives us time to play and run and spend time together and get back into nature.
Hope you all have somewhere you like to retreat to with your families.

I am Inspired

I have been inspired lately by .. well... everything! the weather, the season, the internet, my friends, my job....  I want to do somethings on my list. I've been hearing it alot, people talking about there "lists" Mine is quite extensive and keeps on getting bigger(longer). I just got a job which is exciting for me but not many hours and not a great pay but its something for me to have for my self. SO i can do the things I want to do!
Soo todays inspiration is putting together and week full of recipes that are new to me but will still be enjoyed by my family so that is m post for today. A week full of budget friendly healthy easy recipes that satisfy. And as I attempt each recipe I will post about it since I got such a huge response from my stuffed shells and cake balls. haha well huge for me. Plus it will help me start blogging again and be involved within my own little world.

WEEK 1
-Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto
-Quesadillas
-Pulled bbq pork
-grilled pizza
-steak Kabobs
I think thats a good variety that everyone will love.

Prayers Please!

When is it when everything seems to be going well, something dramatic happens that makes you look at life in a whole new way. i think its God's funny way of making you worry while forcing you to talk about certain fears. I think its also his way at telling us "things can always get worse". I like to be the optimist and think "if we're so far on the bottom, it couldn't get any worse"
You see my Bf's cousin was critically injured last night. My boy came home from work and was trying to take a nap when his phone started ringing like crazy. Here I am making dinner, relaxing with the family, looking forward to our night in and then John is running out the door to get to the hospital. My man is amazing though. Instead of breaking down or doing anything irrational He acted like more of a babysitter, mediator, and taxi driver. He had to break up fights, make sure everyone was ok ( who couldn't handle themselves or scared they might do something crazy).>>>> anyway this really isn't my story to tell but This family def. needs all the prayers they can get. They may not be my family and i may not be that close with them, but its my boyfriends family and that is more than enough for me.

IM BACK!!

I feel like I haven't had internet in forever. Well i kinda haven't its been about two months without it and to be honest I think it was a great thing because me and my family are doing better than ever. I just read my last blog and realized how lost i was two months ago. Me and the boy are doing great. It took some serious events and long tearful discussions to get to where we are but we both realize that without each other we would have no one because in all honesty WE are the only ones who make each other happy ( besides ourselves) and we are the only ones who want to see ourselves succeed. Lately it seems that people we have been surrounding ourselves with find some way to bring us down. Now i thought that was impossible because we def. have hit rock bottom. Wehn it comes to our financial situation we are struggling, but i broke down and asked my parents for some help, found a job and have been supporting my man every way possible to help him get back on his feet again. I only work minimal hours which is good and bad. I wish i could work more for better income but it still gives me the time i need to keep my lifestyle when it comes to raising my son. I love my job, back in retail is exactly where I'm supposed to be, strange how when i was younger I hated working in retail and hated how my bosses would think it was the end of the world if the store wasn't exactly right. But now i guess I'm just like that because I love being back in a clothing store.
So ever since our internet and cable got turned off (lack of money and tv n computers are not necessities in my book) me and the hubs and our little one started taking the dogs to the park and getting outside. It has been beautiful! Exercising, getting fresh air, getting out of the house and enjoying our lives. Living the simple life in every way. Because we have too but it has been a blessing. We have reconnected as a family and really gotten to know one another again. I realized who is important in my life and who i really don't need in my life and for that I am grateful! SO now I'm back online and things are going to continue to be different but we"re happy this way. I'm in love with life again. Things are looking up and I never wanna look back.
And special thanks to my mom and dad without the two of them, my family would be suffering along with struggling!!

Neverending story

Too much on my mind ...confused as all hell.......but I'm trying to make the bet out of crappy situations. Lately my head has been elsewhere, while my body was forced to keep on thinking about others and how to make the ones around me happy. Which is what i'm supposed to do but why wasn't I happy in the process.  Being sad and miserable is a horrible way to live your life, i know this but yet i can't seem to turn this frown upside down, when i try everything just gets all twisted.Just when things would seem good, everything was crashing around me.  My sister had her wedding this past weekend. I had soo much fun and really enjoyed my time being part of the bridal party. I couldn't be more happy for her and her husband.... wow they have only been together for eleven years  and have three kids together LOL But the day was awesome. Despite all the rain and wind we had a beautiful outcome and a great time!  can't wait to see all the pictures.
No offense though I'm so glad this wedding is over! There has been way too much drama, time, money and tears during the last few months. My relationship with my boyfriend has suffered, my mental state has suffered and certain friendships are finished. I don't know how to quite explain everything but i know since i have not written down anything that i have been feeling lately has been making me feel worse. I don't have anybody to confide in that i trust enough to understand and i don't know how to find the right words to talk to my bf without starting any fights. Because thats how we have been living. Like walking on eggshells around eachother and that just makes me wanna cry. I love this man I will always love him but the strains on our relationship right now are testing us to the max. I think we have about exceeded our limit. We will come out stronger on the other side because in reality its just miss communications and my issue has finally become clear to me, I have no control over what has been and is happening in our lives. I have to learn how to accept it and deal or find another way to cope. Me and the Boy are better off with eachother, we are better parents together. So for now i just keep on living and doing what i do best,,,, Be a momma because without my lil slug a bug... I wouldn't be where I am today even though the times today makes living tough... we are survivors and thats what I have always been.

Some people asked.....

I received some comments on my Spinach/artichoke stuffed shells  so I shall deliver..
Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta  shells
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1 bag of baby spinach
1 (8 to 10-ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped (or you can use canned)
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup grated Asiago
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 cups of marinara sauce (use your favorite)
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, salt and pepper to taste and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is slightly golden and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and half the bag of spinach, stir to combine. Wait till that half of spinach wilts down then add the other half. (this will prevent overflowing of pan, if you have a deep pot add the whole bag at once)  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, Asiago cheese and eggs, Stir to combine

To stuff the shells, cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of  sauce. Take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full, about 24 shells. Drizzle the remaining Sauce over the shells, top with the grated Asiago (or Mozzarella if thats what you like). If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 day and up to 1 month.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes (20 minutes if shells are unfrozen.) 

ENJOY!!!!!

Let me know how they come out if anyone makes them.

Believe me theres nothing better to me than comfort food made Healthy ........

Updates and Apologies

So in the past two weeks I haven't felt much like myself. This has resulted in not wanting to post, not wanting to talk to anyone, and not wanting to be creative in any way.

So I am sorry for any of the people (the whole 7 that follow me) that i did not give an update on my sister's Bridal shower sooner. Ya know the Shower that i spent all my time on to make perfect!! Yeah that one. SO here it goes!.... By the way It was a total SUCCESS! My sister was incredibly happy and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

The Menu:

Stuffed Shells with ground turkey, artichokes, and spinach (my sis' Fav)

 The half finished version..........^^^^^^^^^




The Complete finished version>>>>>>>>>

They were so tasty. For appetizers I had made Stuffed Mushrooms and little Caprese Tartlets

 For Dessert I made Strawberry Glazed cupcakes!

 And a Cake my Mom picked up that was adorable!

AND last but not at al least the Favors. Okay so my inspiration was to make wedding cake pops but i'm just gonna blame the fact that i don't bake and lack of practice because the wedding cake idea went well first see here>

 I opted out of the pop idea but the wedding cakes look ok in that picture but trying to dip them in chocolate with no stick became a horrible idea sooo..... I just made cake balls lol Which everyone LOVED!! so it was still a success

 I put them n little boxes (same colors of my sisters wedding) and tied the with ribbon.

 It was a perfect afternoon spent with amazing family and friends I wish i had taken the pictures myself and had my camera (still in the process of searching for it) because maybe this blog won't look like such a mess but my points were made and once i figure some more "techy" stuff out I'll put up my recipes.

 A picture of the bridesmaids with the bride of course!! ( the little girl my cousins daughter since my cousin was working and couldn't make it LOL)