A Blog From Bed with Julia Child....

Hello faithful readers - and some new readers if you are just joining us - this blog is coming to you from my bed. And it's wonderful.
Lately I haven't been sleeping well.. I have no idea why but let me tell you, I have these weird, very vivid dreams all night long. Apparently last night, my dreaming interrupted Luke's sleep cause just as the person in my dream grabbed me and I started to scream, Luke grabbed me to wake me up because I was screaming in real life. Needless to say, it scared the life out of both of us. And this has been my new sleep pattern...
So now that it's 10am, I am still in bed, I shut the door so Luke is in charge of the dog, and I am resting from my sleeping. I don't think that's normal but it sure feels comfortable right now...

So where does Julia Child fit in my bed? Why it's me! (Ok not really...) But friends and family, I have an exciting announcement! I COOK! Yes! I make actual meals WITH VEGETABLES! I know, right?! Now don't get me wrong...if I had a bunch of ingredients laying around, I'd have no clue what to do with them with the exception of 'put the butter in the noodles', but I can read enough to follow a recipe! And it turns out, I don't mind it - most days. Now that being said, I will admit we fall off the bandwagon every once in awhile (for example, last night we partook in Pizza Hut's $10 dinner box.... Heaven, I tell you. And yes, I recognize that Pizza Hut is not really food, but boy was it good. Don't judge me.) but for the most part, I cook HEALTHY meals. I know. Healthy, right? Who knew?
And of course, along with my 'hits' there have been some definite 'misses' (which include swearing, throwing pots and pans into the sink and grabbing for a box of cereal) but all in all I've been very pleased.
Now the reason I've decided to go public with my new talent is that every time I make something, I take a picture and share it with my mom since she is our family's go-to for amazing food. (Well, and Nonna too but she doesn't have text. Let alone a cell phone...) But now I want to share this with everyone! Also, I want to tell you about our new system for those of you either watching your spending and/or hating to cook because you never know what to make. (Like me) After, I'll post pictures and names and if you'd like the recipe, please comment or email me or text me or Facebook me or whatever. :) I'll gladly share!

So for those of you, like myself, who don't know how to throw things together and so never have a clue as to what to make for dinner and end up either not making anything and getting fast food or pouring a bowl of cereal....this is what I did: I sucked it up. And I got creative.
I realized that part of my problem was I had all this food, and no idea what to do with it. I also found we were buying a lot of processed foods such as frozen pizzas, mozzarella sticks, chicken patties...anything that was easy to throw in the oven and taste good. And vegetables? Yuck. No, thank you. Besides, isn't the potato in the T.G.I.Friday's fully loaded potato skins technically a vegetable??? (And by fully loaded, they mean mounds of melted cheese and bacon and all things fattening and artery clogging and yummy...Mmmm... ::sigh::) But I digress. I knew we needed to change our eating habits not to mention save some money. We were, or I was, buying things to stock the fridge....not necessarily to make a meal. The solution???


TA-DAAA!

I think if you click on the image, you can see it bigger. I think.

 This is a little helpful guide I bought (I think at Anthropologie but I've seen them everywhere. And I believe it was only $8 so don't be afraid by going into Anthropologie...you're not buying $5,000.00 pants.)
What I do is create a menu for the week starting on Saturday. I look through all my cook books for new ideas and scatter them throughout the week. This also forces me to pick a vegetable. And strangely, I've enjoyed a lot of the veggies I've made! I also, because I'm OCD, write the cook book name and page number under the meal so all I have to do is grab the book, open, and ready to go. Then I take the menu from the week before, flip it over, and write my shopping list on the back. (To save paper) This way, I am only shopping for exactly what I need instead of "oh! That looks good" Or "I think we're out of that"... So in the end, we save money. It's really a win-win! And fun cause it takes the thinking out of cooking which for me, is a must! And again, I am able to find new recipes we've never tried before. I've learned to accept that sometimes your creations are going to suck - and that's ok! Lucky for me, Luke is awesome and is really patient with me. We usually laugh a bad dish off. (After I've thrown my tantrum about all the hard work and wasted food.) But I'm getting better about letting it roll off my back. And there have been some really big wins in there too! My stomach is growling now just thinking about my yogurt chicken....Mmmmmmmm.....

Well I hope this helps! And if anyone has any recipes they'd like to share with me, please do! I'm always open to something new and yummy!
I'll leave you with some of my dishes and I'll try to remember the names. I am now relaxed and VERY hungry so my blog is done! Breakfast time for me!

Thanks for reading and Enjoy!!

This is just good ole tortellini with vodka sauce. Don't tell Nonna, but the sauce came from a jar...

Clearly, I didn't make this. But tis the season...go get one!! Yum!

This is the YUMMY Chicken and Yogurt Kabobs. I was concerned about it because as I was adding garlic to the yogurt, I thought, this isn't natural and can in no way taste good...Oh but it was... And actually, the lettuce is supposed to go between the chicken and the rice but Luke doesn't like lettuce so I put it on the side. Oh. And if you'd like to try this, unless you were going to add extra lemon juice to the chicken once it's on your plate (which you don't really need) don't bother with the lemon wedges. It was a waste.Pretty, but a waste.

This is what it looked like with the lettuce. Yum!

This is Chicken alla Milanese. For me, it was a miss. WAY too salty. Luke liked it though. I haven't completely taken it off the table, though. I think next time I'm not going to add the extra salt it calls for because whatever else was in it was salty enough. FYI

Chicken Satay. The sauce kinda separated but it still tasted really yummy. Looks kinda plain, but full of flavor! And yes, another kabob. Seems to be my new trend...

Mmm...beef kabobs...came out SO GOOD! With spicy mustard sauce and worcestershire sauce...holy yum.

Along with Spicy Green Beans. Luke is not a huge fan of green beans but he LOVED these!

Only our favorite dish EVER! It's Chicken with Parsley. I have made it for my family too. I could eat this all day, every day. In fact, this just might be dinner tonight...

Stir fry with chicken, pineapple and peanut sauce. Luke loved it. I ate cereal...

Oh my God, don't judge me. This is heaven in a greasy $10 Pizza Hut Dinner box. I could live in this box.

Long post, but so yummy! This is Julia Child signing out. And getting out of bed... ;)

A Short and Sweet Post...

Hello everyone!

I am writing a (hopefully) short post because I have a few minutes before I have to start on laundry and cleaning my kitchen. (In other words, I am blogging to procrastinate.)

A small update from my last blog: You live you learn. I joined Luke at honor choir so we could spend the day together. Well...as it turned out, I spent pretty much the whole day by myself. He was in a meeting in the morning then was helping with the choir for the rest of the day in one way or another. So note to self, I'm going to stay home next year. Oh well...at least I got to blog, window shop Etsy and organize my photos folder. So the day wasn't a total waste.
Also, if you remember I commented on how well dressed and dapper Luke looked that day. Apparently I wasn't alone as he was told by several students that other students were commenting on how "hot" he was. One even commented that "he's not from Jefferson County..." Haha! Oh yeah. I am totally married to the hot teacher. Thank you very much. Hahaha! Luke just shrugged it off but I know it gave him a little boost. :)
At the end of the day, the kids sounded great and I think they had a lot of fun. They behaved so so well and we were so proud of them. It was a very successful day!!

It began to snow this morning so the school called only a half a day so Luke is downstairs watching TV. It's warm enough that it's not really sticking but it's coming down. They are predicting 1-3 inches so we are hoping for a snow day tomorrow as well. As a student I never thought about how excited teachers would be as well for a snow day, but it is very exciting. So fingers crossed!!

And last but not least, my Kylie update. Yesterday was her first obedience class and we have been working very hard since then to work on our 'homework' with her. We are working on 'sit' and 'watch me'. She knows 'sit'. She just does it when she feels like it. So we are working on doing it all the time. And 'watch me' is where she looks at our face when we hold a treat up to it. She's pretty good at it. Being the oldest in the class by 9 months, she looked like a rock star.  However, there really wasn't much to it. Like I said, she knows 'sit'. The teacher said the first class is always more of a Q and A session more than anything and the next class should be more challenging. Good! Lets whip this puppy into shape!! She is in the beginner class for 6 weeks and there are 2 more 6 week classes to follow. At the end she gets a 'Model Citizen Award'. I told Luke I am framing that thing in GOLD! Terrible little dog...


Well that's my post for today! I guess I can't procrastinate much longer. Shoot. I don't know if I have any pictures I haven't already shared but I'll look.

Thanks as always for reading and Happy Valentines Day!!

Nope...no pictures... Sorry.


MARZULLO WEEKEND COUNTDOWN : 5 DAYS!!!

We Are Coming to You LIVE From...

Happy Saturday to everyone! This post is coming to you from Washington Jr High in Washington, MO. Luke's honor choir kids have honor choir today and I tagged along for an extra hand and to spend the day with Luke. Since he is at work most of the time, we enjoy our precious weekends together and try to use every minute we can together. As of this moment, Luke is taking part in a director's meeting and I am sitting on the other side of the cafeteria with my computer. I can see him, I'm just not included. Kinda.
He looks cute. (I'm biased, of course) but he is wearing jeans, a black button down and a cream sports coat. Very "Expodesign-esque" if you ask me. My dad would be proud! ;) He looks good. Very sporty but casual. Professional but care-free. I like it.

Side note, I think I am looking at to poster of Justin Bieber. I'm not 100% sure, because there is a light fixture covering half his face but I see the hair. Blugh. Bieber...

Things have been a bit quieter around De Soto these days. Luke goes in early to work with his honor choir kids and comes home late rehearsing with his solo and ensemble kids as well as musical rehearsal. He's tired at the end of the day but loves the work so he doesn't mind the long days.

I have been decorating more and more these days. In addition to my new sculpture, I've bought frames and other art pieces. The house is really starting to come together and feel more like a home. I've ordered some prints for my frames so those will be filled and 'official' sooner than later. I am having a little trouble with one of my picture projects though... And for those of you who don't know this, both my grandfathers passed away a few years ago not very far apart and my Aunt has this little picture of them on her counter with a candle by it. She lights the candle at family functions as a reminder that they are with us. Well I received a beautiful candle for Christmas and I have a great place to put  my little memorial. So in searching for photos of Grandpa and Nonno, I came across a few pictures that made me cry. They won't work for what I need them for, but they still made me smile a misty smile. I'll share them below. (And by the way, if anyone has a good picture of Nonno and JUST Nonno, I'd really appreciate it. I can't find anything clear or with him smiling. Thanks!)
Actually, the most exciting news I have is that I have FINALLY cleaned our loft. Since we moved in, the loft, although we have been using it as a functioning office, has pretty much been the catchall room. All the boxes we hadn't unpacked yet were thrown up there as well as things we didn't know what to do with yet. It was a disaster. And not functional at all. Well... we had some friends over for the Super Bowl and that was the excuse I needed. I cleaned EVERYTHING! Not a single box in our home has been left unpacked. I love the upstairs so much now that I spend more and more time up there just taking it all in and RELAXING! It's been heavenly. :)

Another exciting upcoming event, if you will, is next weekend the Marzullos are coming to visit!!! (Who are the Marzullos you ask?) They are only my most favorite people EVER! They are my 3 cousins and my Aunt. Yea! I cannot tell you just how excited I am!! Then in March the Momma is coming as well. All just for funies!! I love funsies!!
And Kylie has been getting herself ready too. She is learning a bunch of new 'tricks' in anticipation for our guests. She can now jump over the back of the couch, slip out of her collar when we're outside and take off, and if she pushes our bedroom door just right, sometimes she can pop the door open and attack me in my sleep. It's great. My family is going to be so excited to see all her new obnoxious tricks! (We are looking into obedience training tomorrow...) So lots of fun!!

I can't really think of more to write about and I still have 7 hours to go. Shoot. And Luke left me to go watch the kids sing. (Crazy, right? Wanting to see his students sing at a singing event??)
Well I should go. I'll see if I have pictures to post for viewing fun. I may even post again after lunch. For the record, the kids sound great. I can hear them from here. :) I guess this is a good time to figure out this Pintrest thing I joined and everyone is talking about...

Thanks as always for reading!!! As of right now, I've had 1,069 view to my blog! How cool is that???
Thanks, everyone for caring! Have a wonderful weekend and STAY WARM! The high today is 28 and we are FREEZING! It's amazing just how quickly one becomes acclimated to warmer weather... That I DON'T miss about Chicago!

Oooh.. One more thing, kind of a side note... I have a couple friends who are in need of some prayers right about now. I can't really go into detail because of the personal nature of both people, but please just keep them in mind next time you're thinking about it.  They could use a little prayer and a lot of love. :) It is very much appreciated.

Thanks!! And as always, sending LOVE!! :)

Yes, I must chew my toy on your butt. Why is this an issue???

I love this picture. (Look how clean the wall is behind her? It was all boxes last week!)

A little nostalgia for you... (And I may or may not have been sick here. I can't remember but it sure looks like it)

This one makes me smile most. This is Nonna and Nonno's 50th? wedding anniversary at Spavone's where my cousin Anthony and I decided to ask our grandparents to dance. This is the nonsense that ensued.

First Post of February

Hello everyone

So much has gone on since my last post. And great things. So this post isn't really going to be about Missouri but more about me bragging about how life is good.

A week or so ago I went home for a short visit. What a great visit it was! I got to go shopping with my mom and sister where I bought some AMAZING shoes and a 4ft knife for my wall!! Plus it was nice to spend some time with them. I miss spending time just us girls. And who doesn't love TJMaxx, right?!

Then I got to meet with my old dear friend Jeff for coffee. It was SO great to see him and catch up. Jeff was my mentor back in high school... I don't know what I would have done without him back then and it was so wonderful to be able to visit with him. Thanks, Jeff for a great afternoon!
I was also able to see Melissa and get my hair done...she has to be the cutest pregnant woman EVER! And she made me look so much better. Phew! Then I got to visit with the Papadakis crew. SO good to see them as always.
Also during my trip I got to have a date night with my dad. We saw my friend perform with Sapphire Jazz and had a yummy dinner. It was nice to spend time just me and dad. Plus great music?? Yes, please!

I was able to have lunch with Jeanie and catch up on all the goings ons with her. It was so much fun to visit with her!! I miss our weekly meetings! :)

Another exciting event was my girlfriend Lynne's engagement party where she asked me to be a bridesmaid! I can't wait for her wedding...Knowing Lynne it's going to be a BLAST of a party! Super excited!! (Thanks, Lynnie, for asking me to be a part of your special day!!)

And most exciting was I was able to reconcile with a very special friend of mine. Talk about a blessing... I have to remind myself sometimes how amazing my life is when I am homesick and feeling sorry for myself or alone out here. But really, I am so SO lucky. I have been having so much fun talking with Kristina this past week and catching up...feels like we haven't missed a day! And it makes me so very happy. I am SO glad to have you back in my life, Kris!

So that is my bragging post. I am just so lucky and blessed to have such awesome people in my life. Not to mention my family and even all the people who care enough to read my little silly blog! Apparently I have a small fan club.(Hi Karen and Mrs Minzey!) So to everyone who brings so much joy to my life, thank you!! It is so very much appreciated!

As for Luke and myself, we hung picture frames up today! It kinda makes my walls semi official. Finally! I only have one picture in them as of now, but I'm working on it. I think I have a picture... And I bought this amazing treble clef sculpture that's next to the fireplace. :) I love it!

That's my blog for today! It's been a long day so I'm feeling kinda sentimental if you can't tell. But I'm happy! :) I'll post some pictures too.
Thanks as always for reading!! I'm sending out love and hugs!!

I got a bone. I have no idea what to do with it, but I got a bone. (It took her 5 days to start chewing it because she was so concerned with "burying it" in the couch cushions.)

This was Luke's bday present. He bought himself a record player "from me" but I didn't want him to not have anything to open. So I bought two. One for him, one for me. He opened it in the garage and I was in the house waiting.... I was really fun!

I don't love how symmetrical they are, but the nails are in so there they are. And yes, I realize the middle picture is crooked. I fixed it. The other pictures are also the ones that come with the frames so it's all a work in progress... Plus, picture a small table under the pictures. As soon as we get our couches, we'll get a table.

This picture does absolutely NO justice for these shoes. they are fun colors....reminds me of the 70s. As my sister walked over to me looking at them in the store, I didn't even look at her. I just put my hand up and said "Don't ruin this for me. I'm buying them." HA!

Lynne asked my to be a bridesmaid by making hangers that said 'bridesmaid'. Super cute!