The Return of The Award

Morning Glory tagged me for the "Refrigerator Meme", so I put that up over on my blog meme: Mama's Memes. Check it out if you're so inclined. :-)

Does anyone remember an award that I used to give out? An award I said that I would give out every Friday after trying a new recipe submitted by one of you wonderful readers out there? I called it something like, "I Helped Kristen Cook Award"? Is that ringing a bell to anyone? For any of you out there who are new to my blog, I'll give a little background. I am no Martha Stewart. I am no Betty Crocker. I dread dinner time every day because I face the dilemna of what to cook for my unbelievably picky family of eaters. Awhile back, I asked my readers to start submitting recipes to me to assist me in my cooking woes. I received many great recipes and decided that on Fridays, I would hand out a little, albeit "cheesy", award for recognition in helping me cook. And then I got lazy. People quit submitting. I ran out of ideas....again.

Awhile back, a blogger named Code Yellow Mom submitted a recipe to me in my comments. And this weekend we tried it and it was delicioso! A hit with all the family (except for Care Bear who would exist solely on peanut butter and cheese if she had the choice). So, I am bringing back the award this week to recognize Code Yellow Mom for her fabulous contribution. If anyone is interested in contributing to this cause, feel free to submit a recipe in my comments, or by emailing me; my address is in the sidebar. So, without further ado, the return of the "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK AWARD".

Awarded to:

Code Yellow Mom

And here is her recipe:

PORK AND PEPPER STEW

2 lbs. lean boneless pork loin (or roast)
1 large onion
2 large red bell peppers
1 clove garlic
1 lb. small new white potatoes
2 Tbs. parsley
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 tsp. basil

Cube the meat. Heat the oil in a dutch oven. Add the pork, and garlic and saute until pork is lightly browned on all sides. Chop the onion, add it to the pot. Chop the peppers and add. Saute until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes (undrained), parsley and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the pork is tender, about 20 minutes. Seriously hearty and delish. Hope you like it!(I'm waiting until it's cool enough to make it here.) Oh - and I like to do Rhodes frozen rolls with it and sometimes a salad if I feel like chopping more veggies. :)

Oh - the potatoes go in right after the peppers. Cook all that for five minutes before you add the tomatoes.

It was so yummy! I highly recommend it! Thanks Code Yellow Mom!

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for the snow today! I got to play with Blondie 1* in the snow today and it was a lot of fun; except then my hands got really cold and I had to come inside and take a warm bath to get warm again. But it's OK because Blondie 1 said she was going to make me something really cool.
Please help Micah** to get better. Mommy told me he's sick and I want him to get better because I want to meet him someday.
Amen.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask you about my dreams. Please help me not to have bad dreams. I love you.

*Blondie 1 is Care Bear's best buddy in the neighborhood.
**Micah is a little boy that Grandma Dawn told us about the other day that has an urgent prayer need. Please click on the link if you are interested in praying for this little guy.

A Milestone-A Pseudo Award-And What's That?! RAIN?!

Care Bear's birthday is next week. She'll be the big 4. Last night, Blondie 1 and Blondie 2 were riding around the neighborhood on their super bright neon pink and purple "big kid bikes" racing eachother, while poor Care Bear lagged behind on her much too small for her pastel pink and purple tricycle. She came in defeated and said she no longer wanted to play because "Blondie 1 and Blondie 2 are racing eachother and I don't have a bike to race with them." That was it. I decided at that moment that Care Bear was getting an early birthday present.

Ah yes.....her first big girl bike. My mom had actually gotten this for her for her birthday....beat me to the punch, so I offered to buy it from her so we could give it to Care Bear. The look on Care Bear's face when this was brought out made me feel good about my decision to give this to her early. I just could not stand the thought of waiting another week and seeing that look on her face everytime her best friends got on their bikes and she would have to resort to climbing on her little trike and bumping her knees on the handle bars every time she rode. However, Feisty had the complete opposite reaction. Feisty is the biggest Dora fan you will ever find. This girl has Dora-mania. When she saw that bike coming out of the box and found out it wasn't hers....well lets just say that she was a tiny bit heartbroken. Not even inheiriting the little tiny Elmo bike with training wheels or Care Bears tricycle could calm her. She wanted the Dora bike.

Once the bike was put together, Care Bear climbed on that thing and rode it like she'd been doing it her whole life. Quite the pro. I'll give her a few months until she's doing it without training wheels. *sigh* Another milestone. What's a mother to do when her kids just grow up too fast?!

And now.....it's been quite awhile since I have awarded an "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award. I'm dry guys. I have no new recipes to try. You can't get the award of you don't submit the recipe, folks! Come on now! I mean, I know it's a meaningless award and in the big blog scheme of things, who cares about a stupid award telling people that you helped some fledgling kitchen challenged mom cook a good meal for her kids, but I still need help! SUBMIT, SUBMIT, SUBMIT! I'm getting bossy now, aren't I? Anyway, I do have an award this week, though. It was very popular with the kids, they ate it all up, and it was quick, easy and cheap. So, this weeks award goes to:

BANQUET CHICKEN NUGGETS!

Do you suppose the people at Banquet have a blog where I can send them the code for the award? Hmmm.

And my last little "nugget" for today (you see how I did that? did you catch that pun?!), it's COLD outside this morning. Yes, COLD. Not just chilly. I'm wearing a sweatshirt. I have a blankie over my legs. I'm so happy! Leaves are starting to fall off the tree. I'm having visions of fires in the fireplace....socks and shoes with laces.....the smell of fall.....kids jumping in leaves.....I'm getting ahead of myself because I know by tomorrow we'll be in sweltering heat again. I'm thoroughly enjoying it today, though.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Multiple Awards This Week....

Well, am I a slacker, or am I a slacker? I think it's been a good three weeks since I gave out any "I Helped Kristen Cook" awards. Bad Kristen! So, this week I am giving out three. And people....I am running slim on recipes. I'm scared! So, any of my new readers out there who would like to submit a recipe to be considered for the award, just click on the "Write to Me" link on my sidebar and submit a recipe, or you can post one in my comments....whatever is easiest for you. Also, even if you have won my award, don't make that keep you from submitting a recipe....I never said you couldn't win twice! ;-) So, without further ado, onto the awards!

My first award is going to a person whose blog I really enjoy. She submitted a recipe to me quite awhile ago and I tried it on my family a couple of weeks ago with great success. It's a yummy and simple, great summer recipe. This is the recipe she submitted to me (she even included a "kid friendly" version of the recipe):

Ranch Chicken Wraps with Dried Cranberries – by Janice Croze of www.5minutesformom.com

Okay with wraps the beauty is in the improvisation. Anything goes. This is one of my favorite versions. Add or substitute to your liking. I really love dried cranberries in it though – so do give them a shot if you haven’t had them before.

• Wraps – my favorite is spinach or sun dried tomato, but any kind you like will work well
• Greens of your choice - spinach, baby greens, or lettuce etc. Whatever you like – I use all different kinds of greens.
• Cooked Chicken sliced or cubed – I never have time to cook. So I buy the whole rotisserie cooked chickens in the deli. Perfect for us busy moms.
• Peppers – red, yellow or orange. (You could use green – but I prefer the sweet ones.)
• Cucumbers – sliced, diced or quartered
• Avocadoes – thinly sliced
• Sunflower seeds or nut mix of your choice
• Dried cranberries – you can buy them bulk or buy the name brand Craisins
• Grated Mozzarella Cheese
• Creamy Ranch Dressing – preferably low fat/light

Place a bed of lettuce on each wrap. Arrange chicken and then add veggies. Sprinkle with nuts, cranberries and cheese. Top with Dressing. Wrap and enjoy.

Quick Kid Meal
Wraps
Plain Cream Cheese
Avocado slices
Chicken (optional – I often just do avocado, which is my son’s favorite)
Spread cream cheese on wrap and place avocado slices and chicken in middle. Wrap and cut in three equal pieces for little hands.

The first award goes to....

Janice from...

5 Minutes For Mom!

Thanks, Janice, for the great recipe! I do plan on using it again!!

Now, onto award #2! This person submitted a recipe to me way back when the idea of this award was first born! I think she actually got the recipe idea from someone else and passed it on to me, but regardless, it was a fantastic recipe, wildly successful and oh, so tasty! I also have several other recipes of hers....she is a fantastic cook....believe me I know, I spent several summers at her house. Anyway, here is the recipe I tried: (copied and pasted directly from her comment when she submitted it):

"I tried a recipe that someone named Mary from a blog called "Mary on a Mission" posted on blog I read regularly. It's so good! Give it a try and let her know if you like it to:

"Bake chicken breasts in the oven on 350 for about 25 minutes. Then you put a little honey mustard dressing on them, top with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a little cheddar cheese. Put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese after that. This is supposed to be like Alice Springs Chicken at Outback Steakhouse."

I baked my chicken for closer to an hour because the pieces were big ones, but it is sooooo good!"

Award #2 this week goes to:

Morning Glory from...

Seeds From My Garden.

Thanks, Morning Glory! It is definitely a recipe I plan to file in my "My whole family liked this meal" recipe box! ;-)

And now, for the 3rd and final award: This person didn't actually officially submit a recipe to me. But I am going to give her the award anyway because for the first 20 years of my life, she cooked for me every day, and throughout those years, I picked up "just a few" recipes from her that I use quite often on my family. Plus, she did give me life, so I think she deserves some kind of award. So, the final award this week goes to:

Grandma Dawn from...

Call Me Grandma Dawn.

Well, that concludes this weeks awards. Winners this week: I will send you the code to put the banner for the award on your blog, if you are interested. If you don't want to put it on your blog, no biggie...I'll just be a little hurt. ;-) (JUST KIDDING!)

And in some Feisty news today: Awhile back I posted my excitement about her apparent decision to decide to start sleeping through the night only to deflate my balloon of happiness of this a few nights later. Then not long after that, I posted about Feisty learning to go potty. She has about a dozen pairs of "uhwundare" (Feisty speak for underwear), which I affectionately refer to as "Tiny Bum Panties". She has successfully been going potty now for awhile and at our reunion, didn't have to wear diapers or training pants except when going to bed. Well, ever since the "terrible twos" commenced in full force since returning home, she seems to have switched gears. At the risk of destroying her sleeping progress, she now has decided to sleep peacefully through the night for the past week and a half, but for some odd reason has decided that she no longer has use for her uhwundare, or her training pants, and now wants to wear diapers and only occasionally tells Mommy when she has to go potty. Not knowing that she had decided this, I continued to put underwear on her, only to discover poop and pee on my floor on several occasions. She likes to inform me that she has done the deed after it has already been done. I guess sleeping through the night and going potty are just too much for her two year old self at this point. *sigh*. One step forward, two steps back...

Happy Friday all!

An Award and Other Stuff

Well, guess what folks? I have created a banner for the "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award. If you are a past winner and are interested in the code for the banner to put on your blog, just shoot me an email and I'll send you the code. The award looks like this:

I know, it's absolutely nothing special, but it's a form of recognition for all of you amazing people who have truly helped turn dinner time around at my house and I appreciate it immensely! Speaking of.....send some more recipes my way. I'm getting low and if I don't get more soon, I'll run out! I can not under any circumstances let that happen! So, here is your call for recipes. Click on the "Write to Me" link and send 'em my way! With that said, let's get to today's award.

It was a fantastic recipe that was extremely easy, extremely inexpensive, and extremely delicious. AND, it can be eaten in a variety of ways. There's not many more fantastic feelings in the world than when your husband genuinely compliments you on what you made for dinner; especially when you have a husband like mine, who is an extremely picky eater! The winner this week is:

Rachelle from:

Teacher, Mom, Mad Woman!

And here is her recipe:

Taco Soup
1 can diced tomatoes (I prefer ones with green chiles)
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 lb cooked ground beef
1 package taco seasoning

Don’t drain any cans. Just dump all in a pan, stir together, and heat until warm. Serve in a bowl with cheese on top and tortilla chips. You can also add sour cream if desired.

So, thanks Rachelle for the wonderful food!! If you want the banner on your site, just let me know!

MY FIELD TRIP TO SEE ACE!

First and foremost, let me say that it wasn't quite all it was cracked up to be. The hubster and I left (yes, my husband went with me to see Ace....is that a supportive hubby or what?!) at around 5:00 thinking we'd hit Denver around 6:30, get a good spot and just hang out for a couple of hours until the show started at 9:00. WRONG. The doors didn't even open until 9:00. Luckily, downtown Denver is a pretty fun spot to hang out in, so we just got ourselves some grub and relaxed for awhile until we headed back over to the spot where the show was. At about 8:45 we headed back and got in line. Hubby was very relieved to find that he wasn't the only male there. In fact, there were quite a few men looking begrudgingly at eachother, obviously also coerced by their better female half to accompany them. But at least he wasn't alone! As the line proceeded, we were thrilled to find out that we, as general seat holders (i.e. those who did not win VIP passes from the radio station), got to get in the shorter line and go in first. Whooppeee! Yeah. We also found out that if we wanted VIP passes even though we didn't win them, we could pay a mere $40 for the chance of a lifetime to interact with Ace behind the curtain and get a picture with him!! Ummm....sorry but $40 is a little pricey if you ask me just to get a picture of the 6th runner up of American Idol. So we settled with just hanging out in the club with the other commoners and hoping to get a good spot by the stage when Ace did finally make his appearance.....that long waited appearance did not occur until 12:30 a.m.!! Long before that I was about ready to scrap the whole thing, but we had come this far.....so we stayed. We stayed to listen to Ace sing three songs and then tell us "Thanks for coming" and that he was going to go back stage now again and hang out in the VIP area for awhile longer. Wow. Thanks, Ace, for gracing us with your presence for an entire 20 minutes. YOU RULE DUDE! However, even with the frustration of the evening, it was fun to see him up close and personal. At one point, he pointed right at me....see, I did get a good spot by the stage. Unfortunately, most of the pics I took didn't turn out so great, but here are the ones I did get.

Hubby....on the road.
A very unattractive picture of me while we were eating.
A pic of the brush I bought at a Walgreen's there because I forgot to bring one and my hair was a rat's nest after driving 65 miles with the windows open at 75 miles per hour!
A picture of the "carpet" in the club by the bathrooms. I took this to demonstrate "bad design". People, even someone who isn't taking Interior Design courses should immediately be able to recognize that this is not good design!!

And, the Ace-Man....singin' his heart out.....



So, there you have it. My BIG trip to see Ace. Huh.

I still haven't decided what to do with my hair. I'm thinkin' I'm going to keep it long awhile longer because I'm picturing seeing the hair fall to the floor and it's not makin' me happy. Maybe later.

I think I have to go take a test now! Wish me luck!!

An Award, A Meme, And Other Stuff

I got tired of using the word "randomness", and since I just used it yesterday, I thought I'd simplify it to "stuff" today, lest I sound repetitive and boring. I did think of another item I was going to talk about yesterday that I forgot. Or maybe I just got tired of being pulled on and dripped on by Feisty, so I just gave up.

The other day, Diane at Partners in Prayer for our Prodigals posted about loving someone who is extremely difficult to love. I've had a few of those people in my lifetime. One of those people entered my life 6.5 years ago. She is Yoda's mother. In the past, when posting about her, I have referred to her as WBM (wanna be mom). I have thought about that and realized that calling my step-son's mom his wanna be mom is not within the spirit of trying to love someone who is difficult to love. I highly doubt that Jesus is up there in Heaven referring to her as his "wanna be mom". He gave Yoda to her, and regardless of how I feel about her mothering skills, Yoda is her son. Therefore, in the future, if and when I do write about her, that will no longer be the moniker I use for her. I have to think of a new, creative, yet less insulting name for her.

Don't get me wrong, she is a very difficult person to deal with, and every time she is scheduled to come get Yoda for a visit, or anytime I see her name come across on the caller ID, or a text message come in from her, I inwardly groan wondering if she's going to be in a good mood today, or if she has switched to her other personality and is going to be nasty and rude. You can never tell with her. She is very crafty in making you think she has changed; making you believe that maybe she has turned a corner and grown up finally. Once the feeling of relief washes over me after a pleasant exchange with her, I have to remind myself not to get to comfortable, because likely the next time I see her, she'll have decided once again that she hates me and I ruined her life and took away her family.

Last night was one of the pleasant exchanges. She came to pick up Yoda at 4:30 and was very friendly, chatty and pleasant. She even talked with Care Bear and Feisty and when she brought Yoda back, she sent with him a package of pre-cut chocolate chip cookies for the kids to all make together today. See? Very nice. But I can't get comfortable with that side of her because I've been burned too many times to know that it won't last.

Even in those moments where I wish she would somehow disappear and forget that she has a son, I have to remember that she is one of God's children, He loves her even if I have trouble doing so, and as much as it irks me, she is Yoda's biological mother.

So, thanks Diane for that timely and apropos reminder. I think that post was just for me.

I refuse to discuss the other person I have issues with. I'm not even going to go there. Maybe someday. I'm having trouble forgiving her much less even comprehending loving her. I'll work on it.

The concert tonight: Thanks to those of you that commented and harassed my mom to let me use her camera! It looks like I'm going to get to use it. I will double tie it around my wrist to ensure it stays safe and secure with me. Now I can only hope that I'll get close enough to Ace to get a few good pics, and possibly get a pic taken with him!! I'm facing a problem, though, and that is that I'm having trouble figuring out exactly where it is. My radio station's website (they are hosting the event) tell me where it is, but don't give the address. I'm not very familiar with the big city, and have no clue where it is. My efforts to call them are being thwarted by busy signals, or no answer, and they are not responding to my email!! Do they want out of towners to come this event or not?! Not everyone is from the all might big city, y'know!! Even trying to locate this place on the internet is proving fruitless. I've located a phone number to the venue, but am only getting an answering machine. Grrr. I guess I'll wander the streets of the big city until I find it. No one, or nothing, will stop me from making this event tonight. Not after the trouble and effort I've gone to to secure babysitting for the kidlets tonight!!

Before I can even prepare myself and get beautiful for the show, though. I have an assignment to finish. My professor is going to kill me off! Just when I think I can relax and breathe a sigh of relief after finishing one assignment, I look at my syllabus, and "lo and behold"! There is another assignment due. Or a test to study for. (Which is tomorrow!) Aye aye aye! So, as soon as the blogging is done, I'll be doing that. (Would you say my priorites are out of order?!)

The other day,Nikkie (Snickers) tagged me for a meme. So, here it is!

7 things I want to do before I die:

-Go on a cruise
-Finish my degree
-Work in my studied profession
-See my kids graduate, be independent and happy
-Retire in the lap of luxury
-Pay my mom & dad back for everything they've done for me.
-Go to Hawaii

7 Things I can't do:

-Eat fish
-Hurt people's feelings
-Garden
-Confrontations
-Wake up in the morning
-Stay awake at night
-Tolerate messes.

7 things that attracted me to my spouse:

-his smile
-his laugh
-his love for his son
-his passion for things he loves
-his adoration for me
-common interests
-his shyness

7 Things I say often:

-Settle down!!
-For cryin' out loud!
-I love you so much!
-Let's go!
-I'm so tired.
-What a mess!
-What do you want to eat?

7 Books I love:

-The Da Vinci Code
-Stephen King (any)
-Dean Koontz (any)
-Tami Hoag (any)
-Danielle Steel (most)
-The Bible
-The Five Love Languages of Children

7 Movies I could watch over and over again

-Never Been Kissed
-Legally Blonde
-When Harry Met Sally
-Sweet Home Alabama
-Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion
-She's All That
-The Scream Trilogy

7 People who I'm going to tag!

-Ashley
-kpjara
-Jane
-Janice
-Amanda
-Lei
-Gabriela

And last but not least, after two weeks of absence:

The I HELPED KRISTEN COOK AWARD!!

This weeks winner is someone near and dear to my heart. She sent me a couple of recipes a few weeks ago, and we tried one of them last night, and as all of the other recipes have been, it was a great success. It was tasty, and delicious, super easy and cheap. Here's her recipe:

Chicken Tacos
1 package of regular taco seasoning, any brand
2 cans of chicken broth
4 thawed chicken breasts

Put in the crock pot and cook on low all day or on a combination of high and low for a half day. When ready to serve take the chicken out and shred it with a fork. Serve in soft taco shells with taco fixings. I like to brown my taco shells in a little bit of oil in a frying pan to make them crisp. Soooo good. Excellent leftovers, tastes great in a salad too. A really, really good alternative to ground beef.

And the winner is: (drumroll, please!)

KAREN FROM:

The Big Trade Off!!

Not only is Karen the big award winner this week, but she's also my beloved cousin! Thanks, Karen for the fabuloso recipe and helping me make a healthy and delicious meal for my family!

OK, this has gone on long enough. Have to get that homework done, now. Eh.

3rd weekly award and Randomness

Well, here I am at May 12, 2006 currently re-living 2 years ago when I was in heavy labor with my precious little Fiesty. In 29 minutes (2 years ago) she was born. I can't even believe how quickly time flies. Little did I know that the three months following her birth would be such difficult ones. Care Bear was only 20 months when Fiesty was born and she had a difficult (to put it mildy) time adjusting to no longer being the princess baby. Add to that the fact that she had just been diagnosed with amblyopia and was sporting brand new glasses that she had to adjust to. We had also decided that we could no longer co-exist in the small 2 bedroom townhome we were living in with five of us and found a home three doors down from my parents.

New sister+
New Glasses+
New House= Unhappy Care Bear. For several months.

Fiesty also decided to add to this distress by being a colicky baby for the first three months of her life. I just know she did it on purpose to make her new mommy's life that much more miserable.

I can not count the number of times that I ran the 100 feet down to my mom's house with my screaming, crying infant to seek her help in calming her down. She would sometimes take her from me to give me a rest for a few minutes and walk the street, up and down, up and down, over and over in an effort to calm her down. Suffice it to say, at this time of year for the last two years, I get a little sinking feeling in my gut when I remember how miserable I felt at that time. And that made me feel guilty, because I shouldn't be miserable! I have a sweet, wonderful new baby girl in my life. I can't be miserable, for cryin' out loud!

Now two years later, my daughters are the best of friends (with the sibling rivalry mixed in there every once in awhile.) Care Bear dotes on her little sister, and Fiesty never thinks of doing a single thing in her life without her big sister. At that time I never thought life would be comfortable again, but it is (although very chaotic most of the time.)

All of that to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIESTY. My sweet girl. You are a big two year old girl now, and I am so proud of you and I love you so much, baby!!

Now, I can not let a Friday randomness post go by without mentioning American Idol. You all knew it was coming. CHRIS. I am still mourning the loss of Chris this week. I was truly in shock and a little bit mad at America when I heard Ryan say that Chris was out this week. I really thought it was a joke. I thought Ryan was going to do an AI first, and turn around and say, "Just kidding. You're out Katherine". Yes, it would be a cruel joke, but I would've been happy. I have nothing against Kat. I think she is a beautiful girl with an outstanding voice and talent. I also love Elliot and Taylor as well. But for some reason since the audition round, I had a thing for Chris. He seems to be an upstanding guy; married an older woman, took in her children, loves them and works hard for them. This was his dream. There was just something about him that made me want him to win. But, I should have known. Didn't I say this always happens to me?! Oh, well. I'm sure someone will pick him up. I just wanted my favorite to win. FOR ONCE. I'm done. No more AI for me. until next year.

Alright. No more rambling on. Time for the Friday "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award. This was a great recipe that my whole family enjoyed. My husband is actually looking forward to dinner time now to see what new concoction I will come up with. Of course, I always give credit where credit is due. He knows about you people. Oh, yes. He knows. Today's award goes to:

KEP

from

Holding the Mirror Up to My Soul

I'm copying and pasting the recipe she submitted straight from her comments to me. Thanks again, KEP!

Fry a pound or so of hamburger with some onion and green pepper if you like it that way, then add a can of tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp each of garlic salt and cumin, and a can of green beans.Let that simmer a few minutes while you take a tube of crescent rolls apart and put them in a pie pan to make crust. Beat an egg and smear it on the crust with a handful of shredded cheese. Pour the meat mixture on top, put more cheese on top of that, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

It was soo good! Thanks again!

And I'm out. Hope everyone's weekend is fabu-loso!!

Friday Award Time and some Randomness

Well, here we are at Friday again, which means it is time to award another "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award. I just realized that I forgot to make a "call for recipes" on Tuesday. Cool. My brand new award and I'm already goofing up on it! Hey, this is new to me, too. It'll take time. :-) So, consider this your call for recipes. If you wanna submit one, be my guest either via my comments, or via email. If you do send one to my email, let me know in the comments, though, because I typically only check my yahoo email account once a day or so, unless I'm expecting something to come there.

Let me say that I have already tried several of the recipes that you awesome people have sent to me and they have all been met with great success. I am having so much fun cooking new things for my family and I think they appreciate it, too! ;-) I'm considering awarding twice a week because I have so many. We'll see. I also am working with The Queen to possibly make a banner you can display on your website proving that you helped me cook! More on that to come soon.

In addition today, I will also be throwing in some "randomness". It seems like by Friday, randomness is what I have to offer. Millions of little things that happened through the week all conglomerate together and mush together into a post here.

But without further ado, let me present today's "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" winner. It is:

SNICKERS

from

Random Thoughts of a Tired Mom

She submitted a recipe to me when I first requested them a couple of weeks ago. She put it in my comments, so I am copying and pasting her recipe directly from her comment to me.

LAZY MAN'S PARMESIAN CHICKEN

"You take some boneless shinless chicken breasts and cook them in the oven with shake-n-bake. Follow the directions on the box of shake-n-bake and about 5 minutes before its done take it out, throw on some spaghettie sauce, some shredded mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese, put it back in the oven until cheese is melted and bam, you have supper."

And it was mmm mmm good! So, thanks Snickers!

Some comments from the family on the masterpiece:

Care Bear: "Mommy, this is delicious. Excellent!" (This coming from the pickiest eater on the planet! I kid you not!)

Yoda: "I've never seen you make chicken like this. What is it?"

Me: "Well, it's called Parmesian Chicken. It's Italian. You'll love it."

(Yoda has Italian roots and is very proud of them. If you tell him something is Italian, he'll eat it. And he did. And he loved it!)

Hubby: "This is great. You'll have to make this again sometime!"

Fiesty: (Well, she couldn't talk because her mouth was overstuffed with food.)

So, there you have it. Another success story in my quest to fix my family delicious, nutritious and inexpensive food!

In other news, in my last Friday Randomness post, I talked about my husband having a new job at DirecTV. Well, about a week ago, he got a call for an interview for a job that he really wanted and he got it. He starts Monday and we are all very excited. This job is much more "up his alley" and doing the type of work he is used to. The pay is decent, the hours great, and I am very excited for him. So, yeah hubby!

This morning on my favorite radio station, they had Ace Young from American Idol in the studio to do an interview and a performance of his own music. He's back in town for awhile and it was fun to hear the interview. He sounds like a real nice guy and has some plans in the works for an album soon.

Speaking of Idol, at this point I am sad to see any of them go. I think this is the best season ever so far and I kinda wish they could all just win. I think at this point, I will be happy with whoever wins.

It's rainy and cold today. I think it might snow again. Cool. I'm never going to be able to clean my kids' closet out of their winter clothes. I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed on the 4th of July.

I start my class a week from Monday. I also got registered for my fall class. It appears as though it may really happen this time. Yikes. I'm gonna be a college student again.

I think that may be all I have for now. Stay tuned, though. Maybe more randomness will leak its way out as the day goes on. It is, after all, not even 9 a.m yet. Give me some time! :-)

The "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" Award

Oh, yes. The moment you have all been waiting for. The unveiling of the largest blog award in the history of blog awards. The "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award.

To your left, on my sidebar, you will see I have a very color-less, flashless, and rather boring heading set up to recognize those who win this prestigious award.

Last week I mentioned my displeasure of cooking, or rather never having anything interesting to cook. I was very pleased to have so many people respond and try to help me in my quest to be a better, more exciting cook! Soo..I have decided to make this a weekly (if there's interest in it) installment.

I have added a link under my profile where you can write to me. Any time you feel inspired, or have found a recipe that you think I just can't live without, please email it to me and I will add it to my stack. On Tuesdays, I will make a special call out for recipes, and you can either email them to me, or put them in my comment. If you email it to me, add a comment letting me know there's one in my email box waiting for me. But don't feel like you have to wait for the special call out to send a recipe my way. Send 'em anytime you please!

On Fridays, I will award someone whose recipe I used that week and their link will be put in my sidebar under that flashless heading. :-)

And I already have a winner for this week. And it is: (DRUMROLL PLEASE.....)

KATHRYN from:

Daring Young Mom!

Kathryn emailed me tons 'o tons 'o recipes and I tried one of them this week, with great success. It was easy, it was way cheap, and the kids loved it. (And so did the hubby, which is amazing in itself...he's pickier than the kids!) And here it is, copied and posted with permission from Kathryn. Thanks, Daring One!

HAMBURGER VOLCANOS!!

1/2 lb hamburger
2 pkgs brown gravy mix
Mashed potatoes (real or fake, depending on your mood)
Brown and drain the hamburger.
Make the Brown gravy according to pkg directions.Pour over mashed potatoes in the shape of a volcano. The gravy and meat are the lava.

I doubled the recipe simply because my family eats a lllottt of food. But it was great! So, thanks again.

I'll be back on Tuesday to request recipes again, but if you feel like sending one in the meantime, I'm not telling you that you cant! :-)

HAPPY WEEKEND MY FRIENDS!