Pizza Pasta

8 oz. Rigatoni Pasta
3 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese grated
2 cups of Marinara Sauce
2 eggs
1/3 cup of Milk
Your favorite pizza toppings

Boil the pasta. Mix the milk and eggs. Once it is mixed, add 1 1/2 cup of cheese and mix. Then mix in the noodles. Place in a 9 x 9 in. pan. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes. Once it is finished cooking take it out and pour on the marinara. Next add the cheese and your toppings. Put back in the over at 350 until everything is melted. Super Yummy and super easy. Very kid friendly!!!

His and Her Toilets

Apparently in our culture we would rather make sure our clothes don’t touch prior to having to share a toilet with the person we are suppose to be attracted to. I would choose to have his and her toilets long before his and her closets. You would always know when you’re out of toilet paper. Toilet seats wouldn't be left up. You wouldn't have to give the embarrassing warning or hear the dreaded warning of, "I wouldn't go in there for a while!" and you wouldn't have to smell the person you are suppose to love and be attracted to bowel movements.

Yummy Healthy Snacks

These are three of my favorite snacks. My kids love them and they are healthy. All of these items can be found at Cosco.

First we have Pluots, the best fruit I have EVER tasted. Super sweet and juicy. They are a cross between an apricot and plum. Everyone who tries them, loves them!

Second is Pirate's Booty. They taste to me like a cross between white cheddar cheeto's and popcorn. Kids love them and the name. They can be found at health food stores but are a much better deal at Cosco.

Third is edamame. My son LOVES eating these. He often eats these for lunch. It is a soybean with great nutrition. Sprinkle some salt on the edamame, peel apart the pods and eat the beans! You can buy them in the frozen isle.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I always am searching for the perfect cookie recipe. I hate it when I make a batch and they taste more like short bread cookies with chocolate chips. I love this recipe it does make 5 dozen so I usually freeze the dough so I don't have all this deliciousness staring at me all day. I just make a dozen at a time and make sure to give some to neighbors (it is how I have to practice portion control).

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-cup butter softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4-cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375
Mix dry ingredients first then add the rest.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet. I have found a tablespoon of dough makes the perfect sized cookie
Bake 9-11 min

Are you salivating a little?

Yummy Pumpkin Pancakes

If your kids are anthing like my kids it is a struggle to get them to eat their vegetables. I love this recipe because Taryn loves it and it has pumkin in it which counts as a vegetable. Oh and did I mention they are pretty easy.

2 cups pancake mix
3 Tablespoons Brown sugar
2 teaspoon pumkin spice

mix all of this into one bowl

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegtable oil 2 tablespoons vinegar

then just mix all the ingreediants together and your kids just at some vegtables in the morning and they don't even know it.

PS I usually cook these the night before and double the recipe. Then I just put the pancakes in the freezer so that way in the morning there is no cooking to be done. I just pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds. They make great snacks too.

Fake Bake (In a healthy way)

I have to share this product my friend introduced me to. I am already seeing the sunspots from all my tanning during my teens and college... My mom always warned me I would regret it, and as she is with everything she was right. I didn't want to use self-tanners. Let's face it, you can always tell by the orange streaks or even worse... we can all smell it. There has been several times at church etc. when I have smelt it and then moments later can look around and find whom it is. I don't know what is more obvious the smell or the orange. Well, my friend who has a natural beauty and tan is an esthetician introduced me to this FABULOUS produce. Fake Bake I love it, my family loves it and anyone who has used it wants to keep using it. The best part is it doesn't smell. Down part... you have to be a beautician to obtain it other wise it will cost you around $30 on the Internet. People with their beauty license seem to be able to obtain it for around $13. I would say a can lasts me around 3 weeks. Let me know what you think or others products that you use.

Clean that POTTY

My sis-n-law told me this secret to a clean toilet which involves NO elbow grease. We moved into our house and the toilets were AWFUL! The house sat empty for 2 years so water and who knows what else... just sat there. I tried everything then, I was given this idea:
Pour a 1/2 cup of bleach in the back of the toilet and WAAAH-LAAAAAAAH (o-k it does take a day or so to do it's work)

YUP... Thats all and it works. I do it about once a week and it has kept my potty clean even in the process of potty training. WOOT WOOT!

Shrimp Tacos

I love to cook and I can't wait to share my first recipe!
Here is one of my favorite things that I created based on one of my favorite dishes, Ceviche.
Shrimp Tacos
Ingredients
1 bag of already cooked and peeled shrimp
2 Bell Pepper (your favorite kind) I like to use Yellow to have a variety of colors
5 Tomatoes
1/2 Purple Onion
2 Avocado
1 bundle pf cilantro
1 frozen orange Juice concentrate
l2 imes
2 tsp Seasoning Salt
Bag of Corn Tortillas
1/4 C. Vegetable Oil
optional - 2 plantains, with more vegetable oil for frying

1. Defrost the shimp under cold water
2. Dice all the fresh ingredients besides the limes
3. combine all ingredients diced and defrosted
4. Put orange juice in Pitcher and make with about a thrid the water you normally use to make orange juice
5. pour about 1/2 cup of orange juice (Possible more)
6. squeeze the lime juice in
7. Add seasoning salt
8. Heat up half of the vegetable oil in a small frying pan
9. When oil is hot, begin frying each tortilla until crispy but not too brown
10. fry one at a time flipping 2 to 3 times
11. I like to make around 4 per person. You will be surprised how quickly it goes.
12. I love fried plantains with my shrip tacos. Peel and slice the plantains. Fry in hot oil. flip and turn until crispy
13. These make the shrimp mixture tast really good just in a bowl with these on top, or just sprinkled on top of your tacos
- If you have any questions, I will respond to your comment.
Take Care! April

I promise this is extremly yummy and fresh tasting. The longest part of this meal is dicing the fresh foods. This is a great meal to prepare during your kids naps because all of the citrus juices keeps it fresh and almost better tasting while it is frozen in the fridge. Leavign the frying for the evening when your husband is home to help with the kids while you take 15 minutes to finish the meal!
Bon Apetit

Fancy Grilled Cheese

I love grilled cheese but sometimes I enjoy a little more to my sandwich. I had this the other day at a resturant and have been able to duplicate it several times. I think it was even better :)
What you will need:
Avocado
Sprouts
Tomato
Multi-Grain Bread
Butter
Colby cheese or other cheese of your choice

Butter up the bread and grill your sandwich with the cheese only. Slice up your avocado and tomato. Once your sandwich is finished peel it apart and put in the veggies. YUMMY!!!

Baby Talk, How to help your toddler talk early

I was talking to my sister the other day about my son being able to talk early. I would like to take all the credit but honestly I think it is his personality along with me working with him (he is very determind). Something I think helped a bit is starting around his first birthday when he wanted something I would have him say it. He would be frustrated at times but I really think it helped. An example would be if I had his sippy cup in my hand and he was grunting and pointing I would have him say the word "sippy". In the beginning it didn't sound ANYTHING like the word I was looking for but eventually he got it right. As long as he made the effort he would get what he was asking for. As he got older, around 18 months I started pointing out the color with EVERYTHING. "Here is your yellow candy!" for example. He knew all of his colors with in a few months. Also while we were coloring, driving etc I would always sing the ABC's. Even if I didn't think he was listening. Then one day while he was playing, right before his 2nd birthday, he blurted out the whole song. I thought he never listened but apparently he was. Maybe it was the little things I did along away, maybe it was him... We will see how it works with the second. The first kid is always a genie pig.