Happy Halloween

I don't know when Neil became so opinionated. As of Tuesday, he was going to be Mickey Mouse (because I am lazy and that is the costume we have that fits him). All of the sudden he started saying that he was not going to be Mickey. The boy is 2. The kids are obsessed with Toy Story right now, so luckily Heather saved me by lending me this Woody costume and gave me the tip that there was a Buzz Lightyear costume at the DI. Joshua hasn't taken it off in 2 days and Neil is currently napping in his costume.
Last weekend we were up in Logan with my family and went to the Pumpkin Walk. Here's the boys by the KungFu Panda pumpkins.

The funny thing about this picture is that the girl who put her face in the Yoda cut-out after Josh got her head stuck in the hole. It was not pretty..

And who knew that glow in the dark fangs from the dollar store would provide such entertainment..

Home again and Kirsten's Recipe Tag

Well, I am back from San Francisco. I tagged along with Russ on a business trip and of the 5 pictures I took, none of them are very good, but since my favorite part of reading blogs is the pictures, I have included the gorgeous view from Alcatraz looking back on the city. We've had a busy couple weeks with the trip and getting ready to remodel our kitchen(don't worry, I will document with before and after pictures). Oh yes, and Russ was called as Bishop of our ward, which will surely bring about some changes in our family.

On an unrelated note, Kirsten started a recipe tag-- I love this idea because especially during pregnancy, I have the hardest time coming up with dinner ideas. Everyone who reads this is required to participate :-) and to post a recipe on your own blog. Let me know in comments if you have posted something. I will look forward to all sorts of delicious new simple dinner ideas. Here's one of our favorite standby recipes.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

1 lb penne pasta, cooked

2-3 cooked sliced chicken breasts (I often bake the chicken seasoned with garlic powder, salt & pepper, or even better when we have leftover grilled chicken)

1/2 pint of cream (or milk)

~1/2 cup of prepared pesto to taste

handful of parmesan cheese

sprinkle of garlic salt

Cook the pasta. In a sauce pan, mix the cream, pesto, parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Heat until warm. Mix pasta, chicken and sauce all together and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top.

AND, just because that was so easy, here's a bonus recipe. This one I cannot take credit for. It comes from my gormet cook friend Christy, but it has also become a family favorite.

Green Chicken Tacos
3-4 cooked chicken breasts (shredded)
8 oz cream cheese
1-2 cloves garlic
½ red onion chopped
~1/2 bottle green chili sauce (I usually use pace green taco sauce)
dash oregano
1 t. cumin
Tortillas, cilantro, lime for serving.

Sautee onion and garlic with a little oil. Add shredded chicken. Cut cream cheese into dice-size pieces and add to pan to melt. Add cumin and oregano. Add green chili sauce. Heat through and serve. Amounts are all farily adjustable, so just add til it looks good. Its good served with black bean/corn salsa.

Enjoy!

Last little trip of the summer..

Since it appears that summer may now be over (48 degrees this morning!!), here's some pics from our last little trip of the summer. We went down to Capitol Reef last weekend for a couple of days. Its really beautiful there. I think its often looked over in favor of Arches and Zion. Here's some highlights:The boys

Climbing trees

I love this picture of Neil

Neil, enjoying his ride.

Josh, ticked because he doesn't get a ride.

Roasting marshmellows.(I know it looks like there is no fire, but there are a few hot coals left.. I promise)

Picking apples in the orchards in the park.

The end.

Harvest

All these beautiful vegetables came out of my very own garden. Pretty, eh? Would anyone like some zucchini? Please.. I'm begging.. take some zucchini! Or tell me what to do with a kitchen full of zucchini when we've already had zucchini bread, grilled zucchini, zucchini brownies, zucchini bran muffins, chocolate zucchini cake, sautee'd zucchini.... etc. etc. Anyway, onto the rest of the harvest. Besides new potatoes with fresh herbs, fresh salsa, caprese salad, BLTs and tomato cucumber salad, here's one of this summer's favorites:

Tomato Basil Mozzerella Pasta Salad (based on this recipe from the WA Post)
Ingredients:
8 ounces pasta (I like gemelli or bowties)
Salt
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice
Tomatoes (a couple of big ones, diced or a bunch of little cherry or grape tomatoes) 10 to 12 medium or large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Dressing
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until it is done, but still a little firm to the bite. Drain and rinse with cold water until the pasta is completely cool. Let it drain for a few minutes and transfer to a large bowl. Add the mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste, adding more vinegar if desired. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: Great as a side dish, or I even added leftover grilled chicken one day and made it into a main course. No mayo in this pasta salad, so its a good one for outdoor picnics and such. Enjoy! (And much thanks to our kind computer genius neighbor Bryan who cleaned our computer of all sorts of spyware and viruses! )

Summer

I know its winding down, but we love summer around here. Here's a few reasons why:

Crusing in a convertible at Lagoon

Checking out the "wildlife" at the zoo

Playing in mountain streams

Riding bikes & eating ice cream cones while wearing only a pj top with your brother's Sunday shoes.

Sidenote: My computer is infected with a virus. Blogging is no fun with a computer virus, so expect posts to be even more sporadic than usual until I get it fixed.

So...

Check out the newest Dickson boy:

He even took a moment to give a "thumbs up", so I guess everything must be going ok in there.

Craving of the Week

I know its summer, but this baby wants the Soup Kitchen (ok maybe its me that wants the soup). I got all stressed out when I went on Saturday and it looked like it was closed, but whew, not to worry, I was able to get my fix. I knew that I had been there a few times in the last month, but last night Russ informed me that I had been there 3 times in the past 8 days. Its tasty.. its cheap.. you can take as many breadsticks as you want.. clam chowder.. creamy tomato.. broccoli cheddar.. chicken noodle.. what's not to like? Feel free to share a craving of your own (pregnant or not), to make me feel less crazy.