RECIPES!!!

Okay, here they are. These both turned out really good, so if you're bored, give them a try. They are both really easy to make.

Buffalo Chicken Stromboli
Rachael Ray

1 Bread Loaf (found in the frozen foods with the Rhodes Rolls)
3-4 Chicken Breasts or a Rotisserie Chicken or Leftover Chicken
1/2 Cup Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce or Hot Sauce (They both taste the same)
1 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese
1 Egg

Set out frozen bread loaf to unthaw and raise. Cook chicken in a skillet coated with cooking spray. When cooked, pull apart with a fork so it's shredded. Pour in a 1/2 cup of the Frank's sauce and stir til chicken is coated. Roll out bread dough into a rectangular shape. Put chicken on bread dough and top with cheese. Roll up starting with the long side and seal. Brush entire loaf with the egg. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Cut into slices.

**This originally calls for celery, carrot and bleu cheese and I took it out. I also served the sandwiches with ranch dressing. YUM! Here is the link to the original recipe.

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2652



Polynesian Chicken
Uncle Ben's Rice Box

1 Cup Uncle Ben's Converted Brand Rice cooked according to package directions
4 Skinless boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Can (8 oz) Pineapple Chunks and Juice
1 Cup Apricot Pineapple Marmalade or Jam
2 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce (regular soy sauce works fine, too)

Apply coating spray to large non-stick skillet. (I put the skillet over medium heat.) Add chicken breast and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add juice from pineapple to chicken in skillet just before chicken has finished cooking.

Mix pineapple chunks, marmalade and soy sauce. After pineapple juice has evaporated from skillet, add marmalade mixture to chicken. Cook until sauce is a glaze. Remove from heat and serve with rice.

**I also made broccoli to serve as a veggie. Both of these recipes were really easy and pretty quick to make. Both of them were really good. Give them a try and ENJOY!

Life's been boring....

No wait! I shouldn't start out like that. I am going to try to start thinking positively from now on. Ya know, have a better attitude about life and all that great stuff. It all started with this quote that I found not even 1/2 an hour ago.



"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results." ~Anon



It hasn't even been 1/2 an hour since I came upon this new revelation (that word doesn't sound right) so I will let ya know how it goes later on.



Anyway, I really am just at a loss as to what to talk about here. It doesn't seem like much has been going on, but I've been busy. Dalan was out of town, again, for two weeks. While gone, a few furry, disease carrying friends found their way into the house. I was serious when I said the mice are trying to kill me. One morning while making breakfast, one ran right in front of my feet. Yeah, my reaction was awesome! I freaked, screamed, jumped up and down and couldn't move. Kaela is watching me from the other side of the counter wondering what in the world is going on. So, my dad comes over and sets some traps and I set out a glue trap. We ended up catching three mice. UGH! Me, being the paranoid person I am, would not sleep in our room while Dalan was gone. I chose to sleep on the couch downstairs with the lights on. When Dalan got back, he sealed up the problem area and we found a stash of plastic bags and socks under one of our drawers in the kitchen. Not from me and I'm assuming the mice couldn't have drug it there. No possible way. I'm thinking the previous owners must of done it and when we cleaned out this place, we somehow missed it. So, as of now I haven't seen any other signs of the stupid things and I'm hoping it stays that way. Dalan seems to think they will just find another way.



Hmm...Kaela had a dance competition on the 21st. All the girls from the dance company Kaela goes to did very well. It was so much fun watching her dance. It was a long day but a pretty exciting one. I, unfortunately, wore the wrong shoes. I really wasn't going for comfort when I wore them. I just thought they were cute. I paid for it every time I got up and walked somewhere.



Anyway, that's about it for now. I have made a couple really good things for dinner the last couple nights. I know I said I would try to post recipes and I've totally slacked. So, I will post them tomorrow.



Hopefully :o)

Girl Scout Cookies!

On Saturday, I will be so lucky to get to sit outside of the local grocery store and sell Girl Scout cookies. Is there really anything more fun than that? I think I can think of a few things. Last year was horrible. The wind blew (which isn't uncommon here) and it was freezing. I sold cookies while Kaela hid under a blanket. This year should be better as we won't have to deal with the third obstacle we encountered last year. Ten cent hot dogs! UGH! Everyone would walk by us to get those damn things. People here go crazy for them. I eat one and feel like throwing up. Unfortuately, my husband is one of those who has to buy 20 of the stupid things just like almost everyone else here. Anyway, back to cookies. So, if ya'll are in town and hungy, skip McDonalds and Leos and come by the store and buy some Girl Scout cookies. I promise they are delicious. It's for a good cause and the quicker I get rid of these things the quicker I get to go home.

Me...high maintenance? I don't think so.

A few days ago Dalan told me I was a high maintenance friend. There is nothing high maintenance about me. There were reasons for this comment but I won't go into them. I told him that is hardly the case. I just think I attract the crazies! I mean seriously! I'm the friend who if you don't e-mail, call or text for months or even a year or so I will still remember you and will be there if you need anything. As long as you have never wronged me, we're good. I'm not the type of friend who needs to have constant contact with someone to know our relationship is okay. I am just not needy like that. Hell, if I knew you or knew of you at one time, it is very rare for me to forget you. I never forget a good friend. I stated my case in the two instances he was speaking of and told him in no way was I in the wrong and he agreed. He most likely agreed only so I would be quiet though. But, whatever! Then again, he most likely knew he would get a reaction out of me by saying that and he did. Ugh!

If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done.

Trent was assigned this USA Scrapbook at the beginning of the school year that I had EVERY intention on working on with him over the Christmas break. Yeah, it didn't happen. There was family visiting and tons of running around and we just didn't get to it. That and I kept thinking, "Oh, we have 'til April." Trent is also not the type of kid to beg me to do homework, so the project got put on the back burner until about a couple weeks ago when a reminder was sent home saying it was due March 16th, not April like I orginally thought. Well, isn't that just nice. Totally my fault though. I'm always putting things off right up until the last minute. I always think I have all this time and then time mysteriously disappears. This is a big project. It consists of every letter of the alphabet and each letter has its own topic chosen by Trent. There are 5 additional people he needs to include in this so that makes 31 topics. The project also needs to have a Cover page (for the front), a Title page (for the inside), a Table of Contents and a Bibliography. WOW! I can't imagine any kid doing this on their own or even with the smallest bit of help. I couldn't even write more than two short paragraphs on panda bears when I was in 4th grade. The whole report was pathetic and needless to say, I got a big, fat, red F!! Thing is, I did my report totally on my own while I'm sure the other kids had their parents practically do theirs for them. So, am I proud of that F? At the time I wasn't but now sure! I probably could've done better but I did it on my own. I basically got an F for lack of parent involvement, which is kinda dumb. Back to Trent, this seems like mostly a parent report and it seems like this has been the case the last few years. I find myself doing most of the work. It feels that way anyway. However, I know I'm not doing all or even most because Trent walks away learning something. I try to show him how to look for information and what to pick out, take notes, put it all together and type it all out. THEN we have to print it, put it on colored cardstock and then also print out a picture to put with the info. Yeah, it's a pretty lengthy deal. It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to do one letter depending on the topic he has chosen. So, we are rushing to get this thing done. I think he has 19 topics left. It has actually turned out really nice so far I think. Hopefully we can get this done and he will get a good grade on it. It's going to be a lot of work to fit into 21 days but I think we can do it.

If you love something, set it free.

You know that old saying, "If you love something set it free. If it comes back it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was." That is about as good of saying as I can come up with for the issues I have been having with someone. Thing is, I'm not the one who set said someone free, although I wish I would have been. I chose not to be the free-er only to avoid confrontation and arguements and trust me, it really was my best option in this situation. Thing is, you would think I would be upset and really I am not. Life has been so much more relaxing. So drama free. So much less stressful. Thing is, I don't know if I care if said person comes back. I've decided I 'm sick of people who bring nothing but drama to the relationship. I'm sick of people who do nothing but brag about what they have. I think I have grown and have come to realize that material things just don't matter. Well, okay, they kinda do sometimes but I have different goals in my view. I have different priorities. I think I have grown in the past year. I used to always want things RIGHT NOW but I'm starting to see that good things come to those who wait. I'm starting to see what is important and it's not the big dream house or the expensive vacations or the nice, loaded with every option car. Sure, those things would be nice to have but the world will not crumble if I don't have them. One day I will have them (thinking positively). It's only a matter of time but right now I'm thankful for what I have in my possession. I guess I have gotten to the point where I am weeding people out. I've also gotten to the point where I'm not going to sweat the small stuff. I'm over it! I'm moving on and really I think that makes me a grown up....or something.

Look what came in the mail Friday.....

We left for State Wrestles Friday right when the kids got out of school. Before we left I was so excited to find this sitting by my door....

MY SUPERBOWL GEAR!!! YAY! It was my early Valentines present to myself. I've been anxiously awaiting for this all to arrive so I'm glad it finally got here. Trent loves his hat and wore that with a pullover he already had up to State. The excitement will never wear off. Not for at least another 6 months or so. I still wish I was back in PA for the celebration. It would've been nice to be there for it. Plus, it was just another excuse to get back there and visit. I love that state and how could I not. It is where my life began.

State Wrestles was okay. I really don't get into it and pretty much stare blankly at the mats. My brother in law was beat out early :o( so there was really no one I personally knew wrestling. Delta did take State so that's cool! Early Saturday morning I had taken the kids to the lobby to get breakfast. Trent wore his Superbowl hat down. There was a guy who said, "How can you let your son wear a Pittsburgh hat?" I replied with, "Uh, I'm from there!" He kinda just said, "Oh." He then went onto to say he's a Cowboys fan and said something else and I said, "Yeah, look who won the Superbowl though." It's so funny how people can just say random comments. It was all in good fun I'm sure but geesh, why say that in front of a kid. I'm proud my kids are Steelers fans. Then later that night we were eating dinner and a guy walks in and sees Dalan's shirt and says, "Steelers? You guys!" I just laughed. It's kinda funny how people hate on them and then you can run into people who are fans and will have a conversation with you like they've known you for years.

Anyway, hope you all had a great Valentines Day. I personally am over it and don't care too much for the holiday. I don't need a holiday to remind me to tell the people in my life that I love them.

So, to end this.....GO STEELERS! I can't wait for football season to start again.