Back to School 2014

Well the kiddos are back to school. That means I'm back to my regular job at the high school.

This has to the the fastest summer ever. It just flew by so darn fast. I want Summer back. I don't know if it's because I took a summer job or what???? I never got my summer tan I wanted and I barely used my pool. Butttt I do love Fall. It's my favorite season besides Summmer. I just love the Fall colors and I absolutely love Pumpkins and Sunflowers!!!! In my next post I will share my Autumn Decor!!

Ok so here are the kids back to school!! Kaleigh and Briella are in 3rd grade and Devin is in 7th... OMG yes 7th grade. I remember when he was in preschool with his baby blanket and doggie in his back pack. Where the he'll has the time gone??? I'm starting to feel old over here. He's so big we bought him a size 11.5 sneakers. Yup that's right my kids gonna be a freaking giant while I'm over here shrinking into a midget!! LoL.

The girls are so adorable this year. Briella is really into clothes and dressing up. She's my little fashonista!! Kaleigh loves pretty clothes too but she's more all about enjoying each moment of life. That are just too cute!

Schools Out... Here starts out Summer

Today was my last day of work!! Yay I'm so excited to enjoy the Summer. I'll miss a paycheck but it'll be fun to be home with the kids and have some Summer Fun.

Our pool is open and ready for the Sun to come and stay. We can't having rain here and it stinks I want hot sun.

My sons Birthday is on the 20th so we'll be having a party the weekend after. He wants a pool party and sleepover. The boys will be sleeping in a tent. We did this last year and it was so much fun. For a few years we were taking them to the campground but now we have a pool so we do it at our house.

Also I started my Summer reading!! I don't take much time any other time but Summer to read. I read the same other every year, Elin Hilderbrand. I'm reading The Blue Bistro right now. She's an amazing author if you like good summer books most of all her books take place in Nantucket and are all just fantastic reads.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of their Summer!! Hope I can survive the next couple months with the kids!! Hehe
{Lisa}

Home Made Orange Cleaner from Pintrest

This idea came from Pinterest!! I had to try it and OMG is it lovely!!

I'm always looking for homemade things and I love anything organic! My favorite cleaner is Mrs. Meyers. When I saw this I just had to try it out. It's very simple and I'm telling you you'll love it. Great for cleaning almost anything even hard wood floors and your bathroom.

Eat some oranges and save the peels!
Put the peels in a jar, I like to save spaghetti jars. Fill the jar with white vinegar. Let sit for 2 weeks. Remove the peels and transfer to a spray bottle. You can also add cinnamon sticks. I tried one like this and liked it a little better for smell.

I'm absolutely in love with this cheap homemade cleaner that I can even give to my kids to clean with!!!

What are your favorite homemade house cleaners??
{Lisa}

Healthy Banana Freeze Pops for kids

Happy Monday!!
Summer is on its way and I have a delicious treat for you and the kids. My banana went brown very quickly this week. I guess because of the heat. I always buy a lot of banana at once to last cause we eat a lot of them here!! But my kids refuse to eat them when they get brown spots. So what better then some freeze pops!!!

I used my Ninja for this but you can use any blender or food processor that you have!! But the ninja is awesome!!

Ok here's what you'll need
About 4-5 Ripe Bananas
About 4 cups of Coconut milk or any milk of your choice!!
A little sugar or honey! I used 3 packages of Sugar in the Raw

Blend everything together and put into little cups or a pop maker. I used plastic little cups that we use for brushing teeth. We always save our Popsicle sticks too!!

Just pour and freeze!! Super yummy. I really love the coconut milk for this it just makes is Summery but go ahead and use what you like!!
Enjoy and stay cool!!
{Lisa}

Pasta with Olives & Caper Sauce

Happy Friday!! Hope everyone has been enjoying their week?!

Here's a yummy Italian dish that I just adore!! This is just a great comforting kinda dish. I try to make a few meals a week without meat so this is just perfect if you love vegetarian dishes or Italian food for that matter.

Let's get started!

6 TBSP of EVOO (some Rachel Ray term for ya!! Hehe)
6 Cloves of garlic sliced
1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can of stewed or crushed tomatoes I used stewed ones and cut them up! I also cut up some cherry tomatoes
2-3 large celery sliced thinly
1 cup of black pitted olives put removed and cut in half you can also add green ones but I didn't have any in the house
1/3 cup drained capers
1/4 cup of Basil chopped
1 lb of pasta
About a 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano

Boil salted water for pasta.
In a large skillet heat up about a 1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add garlic and sizzle till golden about a minute or 2. Then add crushed red peppers, cook for another minute. Add Tomatoes and celery also a little salt and pepper if you'd like! Just remember the olives and capers are salty so be careful. Fill tomato can with pasta water and add to skillet. Bring sauce to a boil. Add olives and simmer.Let thicken about 10 minutes. Add capers and basil, simmer for a few minutes. Add pasta and stir till well. Drizzle with EVOO and stir. Remove from heat and add cheese and serve!!

Love this dish so much! Great for leftovers too!!! What's your favorite Italian dish??

Thanks so much for checking out our Blog!! Have a wonderful Weekend!!
{Lisa}

Follow my Instagram for some more food ideas LisaLuvsMac

Lunch Lady Mommy Chit Chat

Hello Bogging World!!! So it's official yesterday was my first day a REAL lunch lady!!! Hehe I've been subbing in the cafeteria for a few schools in town all year and a job opening came up at the High School!! I'm so excited to have a steady job instead of subbing! I liked subbing this year cause it was my first year back to work in many years of being at SAHM. So that eased me into working again.
Yay!!! :)

So this kids last day of school is on June 20th. Which is also my sons 12th birthday! I think this is the first year he's ever been in school for his birthday!! He's off to the middle school next year!! I just can't believe how big he has gotten and he's 2 inches taller than me now :( omg crazy!!!

The girls will be going into 2nd grade next year! Which seems impossible. I feel like they were just babies!!

I'm super excited for summer and to kinda be off routine for a bit!! We'll enjoy the pool and I have some painting projects to do!! I'll be sharing those with you! Also so much to do around the house! I feel like there's always something to do and redo! I can't wait to share my home with you!!

Well thanks so much for checking out my blog and please feel free to leave comments I'd love to chat.

Here's some recent pictures of the family I wanted to share.

Hubby Lunches

Hello Welcome back to my Food blog!!
Today I got to work at the kids school again!! I love seeing them and all their friends!! Everyone always says hi and gets all excited when they see me!!!
My son is taking the CMT's this month. The crazy thing is he likes it!! Haha when I was younger I hated any kind of tests!!

So I wanted to share some of Hubby's lunches I made him. I like to make a few days at a time sometimes even the whole week depending on what I'm making him!! I made some egg salad sandwiches for a couple days!! One I put on ciabatta bras and the other on this really yummy whole grain bread!!! Over the weekend I made him chicken salad sandwiches so the leftover I put in a salad for him!!

I mainly pack him cold lunches because its easier but somedays he'll get leftovers from the dinner before! Like on Sunday I made homemade sauce and meatballs!!

I eat some type of salad everyday for lunch!! Unless I'm really cold and want something nice and warm, salad it is!! I just love salad so much :)

What do you pack for lunches??

Rustic Pasta

I love making this pasta!! I sometimes make it different than other times! Just depends on what's in the house!!

I sadly didn't write down exact measurements but I think it's ok!! It's just one of those dishes you kinda through together and it tastes amazing!!!

What you'll need
Olive oil
Pasta I used penne
2 - 3 carrots
Cauliflower I used about a 1/4 of a head or more
Spinach I used about a half of a container I'd say about 3 cups
Spaghetti sauce I used about a 1/2 of a jar
3 garlic cloves

Start by putting a little oil in pan just enough to cook up your cauliflower and carrots!! I cut the cauliflower small and used my potato peeler to peel wide pieces of the carrots. Cook till almost tender add garlic and if you want some salt and pepper and parsley or Italian seasoning! Cook for a minute then add sauce and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil!! I love doing this it makes it less tomato sauces but yummy!
Cook pasta! Add to veggies and sauce.
Now add in spinach and stir in let cook for a couple minutes! Spinach cooks super fast!

That's it ready to serve!!!!

I love this its yummy and feeling and you won't miss out on not having meat.

Hope you guys like it!

Also instead of olive oil butter tastes good too but the olive oil is much better for you.

Today I got to work at my kids school it was so nice. I've been working at the middle school for the past few months.
I kinda forgot how it was to work with the little ones. The middle school kids are louder but they are so much more dependent.
Right now I'm just a sub but hopefully ill find a full position for next year. I like subbing for now.
Have a great day!!
Lisa

Pasta with Pesto and Zucchini

Hey guys Welcome!!

I love Pesto sauce and during the summer we cook a lot with zucchini cause I grow it in my garden! I of coarse had to go get done at the store cause its so cold and snowy here!! Sad face for real!! I want summer back!!!

Anyways this is one of my favorite dishes to Su around with. You can add chopped cashews or red pepper flakes or chert tomatoes! Whatever you have in the house!! This is what I did though!

Box of pasta
Small jar of pesto sauce
1 green zucchini
A couple baby carrots sliced thin, I feel like a should have used a few more
A few TBSP of Parmesan cheese
Pepper to taste
2 garlic gloves
1 TBSP of butter and olive oil

Cook pasta. Cook zucchini and carrots in a pan with some olive oil add pepper and garlic. Once cooked add in pesto sauce. Add cooked pasta a 1 TBSP of butter and Parmesan cheese and. Cook a minute or so till nice and hot. Then ready to serve!! Super easy and Super tasty :)

Health Food Store Goodies

I have a really nice health food store by me! Most things are pretty pricey and its a small store but I find all I need there. Though I don't shop there every week it's still one of my favorite stores to buy food. Because I rarely eat meat and I'm sensitive to eggs like to buy Vegan products.
I have a cold and been working a lot lately so I needed some premise easy lunches and something organic and healthy to get me feeling better!!!

The Vegetarian Chicken Salad is great to put on a wrap or sandwich or even to top a quick salad with! It's made with Tofu and vegan mayo! Has parsley, celery and other spices!! Great sub for a tuna salad.

The Mexican Bean Salad is so yummy to make a taco salad with!! Top it on a salad with some vegan shredded cheese!

Sesame Noodles!! A yummy quick lunch to eat and it's big it lasts me a few days!!
I love to eat it cold.

Quinoa Salad is a great lunch to or just to have on the side with dinner!! Who doesn't love some Quinoa!! I also bought some Quinoa to have in the house to cook.

Every time I go there I get a single packet of Almond Butter or sometimes Cashew Butter! Tastes great on an English muffin for breakfast!

For a snack I bought some all natural fruit strips!! They are so good if you have a sweet tooth!! Also some granola to snack on or maybe put in yogurt!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!!

Stuffed Pepper

I haven't had stuffed peppers in so long! I was craving something with sauce but didn't want any pasta so yum I made them!!

Stuffed Peppers are one of those meals that seem kinda hard but it's do easy to make and always comes out so great!!

What you'll need
I used 5 green peppers
1 pound of ground turkey, I also like to use Boca meat a lot
1 jar of sauce
1 package of brown rice
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
Italian Seasoning
Italian style shredded cheese
Salt & Pepper
A few sprinkles of Parmesan Cheese
Brown up meat and add in chopped onion and garlic! Add seasonings & parm cheese! Cook till down. Cook rice to directions & them mix that into your meat! Add a your sauce but leave some out to coat the bottom of baking pan and some to top off peppers.

Cut tips off of Peppers and take out the insides of them. Put the meat mixture in and top with sauce. I didn't sprinkle the cheese on till the last 10 minutes. They cooked at 350 F for about 1 hour, it depends on how soft you like your peppers to be! I like mine soft.

I served it with Naan bread! It's like a flat bread with garlic. I put a few TBSP of Pesto sauce on it and topped it the with the shredded cheese. Bake it for about 10 to 15 minutes till crispy. It's so good!! During the summer this bread is amazing on the grill! You can add sautéed zucchini or whatever you like!!

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!! Have a wonderful day!!!
LisaMarie

13 Bean Soup with Turkey

More Turkey leftovers!!! Haha it's safe to say I'm officially sick of Turkey and had to freeze the rest of the meat.

I has the Bob's Red Mills 13 Bean Soup in the cabinet for awhile & figured it was time to make it.
You soak the beans over night. Use a big bowl or pot cause the expand a lot! I used a container from BJ's that was from our Christmas cookies.

Next day I put beans in crockpot with about 5 cups of water. I just filled it up. Added a can tomato paste,stewed tomatoes, adobo seasoning, garlic, Italian seasoning plus more parsley, 3 beef bouillon cubes, pepper and of coarse Turkey meat!!!
I let it cook all day!!

I was super delicious and Hubby kept going back for more. Also it was very filling. This soup mix would be great made into a chili also.

The girls had chicken nuggets and tator tots because they are so picky!!
Hope you liked this recipe. I'm having a lot of fun sharing my recipes with you!!!