Cheesy Sausage and Pasta

Today I am sharing a new to us recipe.  I know shocker.  A recipe.  Back in the day most of my posts were about food, and I loved doing those kind of posts.  I also had a lot more time to post recipes and our everyday life.
Now I only have time to post what we're up to, haha!!

Anyhoo, I found this recipe from Yellow Bliss Road.  Her recipes are really easy to make and very kid friendly.  As with all recipes, you can use whatever ingredients you're family will love and omit others.  I'm not a fan of cream soups, so I always make my own whenever a recipe calls for a can.  I very rarely follow a recipe as written, that's whats so fun about cooking!

We are lucky to always have rings of venison and goose sausage in our freezer.  We make and smoke it ourselves and it's SO good!  The best part of this is that it's a one pot meal.

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb any kind of sausage, sliced
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (about two fresh cloves)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted ones)
• 1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
• 8 oz dry pasta (I used gluten free penne noodles)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar-Jack cheese (I used half cheddar half fresh parm cheeses)
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, for garnish

Heat 1 Tbl of oil in pan, saute sausage and onions together until onions are soft, add garlic; cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.  Add chicken broth, cheese, milk, pasta and salt and pepper, bring to a boil, cover then simmer for about 15 minutes or until pasta is done to your liking.  Garnish with green onions and more shredded cheese!!

Linking up with Allie!

What's Up Wednesday

Time for another installment of What's Up Wednesday with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel!

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Julia Childs Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms- If you've never tried it, you have to, so so yummy!

Tuesday: One Pot Cheesy Sausage and Pasta- This was a get-it-on-the-table-quick kind of meal, we loved it!

Wednesday:  Pigs in a Blanket-  Just good ole fashioned hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls with cheese stuffed in.  Oldy but a goody!

Thursday-  Leftovers!!

Friday-  Our good friends that bought a local bar last year are having their one year anniversary so we'll eat there and enjoy some cocktails!

WHAT I'M REMINISCING ABOUT:

With summer upon us, I am really working at getting a "schedule" set up for the girls to keep them busy.  I bought each one a planner and I plan on writing in it every night with fun things they can do the next day.  It reminds me of the old days when I was home fulltime doing daycare.  I really do miss planning the preschool curriculum and crafts...

WHAT I'M LOVING:

ALL the RED WHITE and BLUE!!!!  I have always been a fan of the Americana decor, our first house was decorated like this and I kept most of that decor and pull it out for Memorial weekend and keep it out all summer.  I still have 2 bins of stuff to put out, ha!

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO:

Besides finishing up some things in the basement, we were able to enjoy an amazing Friday night with a bonfire!  Brad and I enjoyed the fire and the girls decided to hang out in the hot tub.  Absolutely perfect night!

One of our favorite things about Memorial weekend is that the cows come out to pasture next to our land.  It's like a stampede when Brad's brothers lets them out!!

WHAT I'M DREADING:

Not a thing!

WHAT I'M WORKING ON:

Getting the girls' summer schedules figured out.  We cut back on summer camps this year, the girls weren't overly interested in doing much which is fine by me.

I've decided that every Sunday I will take one of the girls out for a coffee date.  It's hard to get one on one time with them and I feel this is a great way to get that in.  Alayna and I had our date on Monday.  We went to Barnes and Noble to get her summer activity book and I let her pick out 3 new books.  It was such a nice time with her!

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT:

Getting this damn basement finished!  Ugh, it's been one thing after the next.  We just want one thing to work out, lol.

Besides that, SUMMER!!  We hope to get the pool up this weekend, weather cooperating.  The girls and I ran to Target last week and I stocked up on pool accessories...goggles, pool toys and floaties.  I think we're set!

WHAT I'M WATCHING/READING:

I'm watching nothing now that Survivor is over.  I really want to get into a Netflix series, but honestly can't figure out where to fit that in, lol.

I'm currently reading this.  I am really enjoying it so far!

I am really trying to get caught up on all these books I have half done!

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO:

I am a lover of ALL types of music.  Except super heavy metal and nasty rap (I do, however LOVE me some Notorious BIG and Snoop Dog!!)

Monday when I was cooking the creamy chicken and mushroom dish, I had on the French Cooking Channel on Pandora and my family thought I was nuts.  I love that station!  Emma said it felt like we were in a fancy restaurant.  Last night I had on the Big Band station while we ate.  Tonight it will probably be Bluegrass!!  I just love music...

WHAT I'M WEARING:

Umm clothes.  I am SO not a fashionista.  I really want to be, but have no desire.  I keep telling Andrea she needs to style my closet!!

WHAT I'M DOING THIS WEEKEND:

We do have a couple grad parties, but our main goal is to get the pool up.  and I'm still organizing the new spaces, so I'll keep chugging away at that.  

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

Having the pool up and running and having all our spaces finished!!  I need my husbands stress level to diminish, lol!!

BONUS QUESTION: FAVORITE VACATION:

We've traveled quite a bit with the girls, and some on our own.  My all time fave spot will always be Duluth!  We vacationed there when I was a kid and I just think it's a magical place.  You can see my recaps here, here, here, and here.  Two Harbors (about 20 min north of Duluth) is where we honeymooned and spent our 10th anniversary.  Lots of special memories there!

However, I think my favorite vacation was when we went to the Black Hills a few years ago.  You can read those recaps here, here, here, here, here.

Hope ya'll have a great week!!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday peeps!!!  I am SO happy it's Friday, AND a holiday weekend!  I need 3 days off!

It's been so freaking crazy around here....we're in the final stages (finally) of the basement finishing.

We had friends over last Friday and enjoyed a couple cocktails at the bar since our granite top got installed that day.

We are in LOVE with the bar!  It turned out so well, now we're just waiting for the carpet to go in. It was supposed to go in today, but the salesman ordered the wrong trim.  Insert eye roll.  I could go on and on and on about all the things that have gone wrong during this process, but I'll spare you those details.  We're just so happy to almost be done!!

This is Rachel's room, FINISHED!!!!!  We will move her in this weekend, and then Alayna into Rachel's old room.  My craft room is a hot mess right now, so I will try and post pics next week.

The carpet downstairs will go in in a week and a half.  Can't.wait.

Saturday we went over to my sister in laws to get pics with my niece who had prom.  Isn't she absolutely stunning??!!

This week has been the last of orchestra concerts.  Alayna's was on Tuesday, here she is with her cousin Will.  These two are TROUBLE!!

Emma's concert was tonight.  Very bittersweet, this is her last concert ever in orchestra.  The school she will attend next year does not have orchestra, which makes me so sad.  She loves playing violin, and is so good at it.

Our weekend will be busy.  We hope to get the pool up, flowers planted and kids moved.  I'm not promising anything, I also want this weekend to be a little relaxing.  Brad has been traveling a lot and we haven't had a lot of time to just chill with him working on basement stuff.

We plan on smoking some ribs on Saturday and making some yummy sides like cheesy potatoes and BLT Pasta Salad.  Cheesy potatoes we make on special occasions and the BLT Pasta Salad I made on Mother Day and it was a huge hit!  Emma has breakfasts all planned out, so I think we're all set for food!

I always put a few decor items out for Memorial Day, like this picture of my Grandpa Arlo.  He was in the Navy, and I absolutely love this picture of him.  He was an an amazing grandpa and I miss him dearly!  Emma also made me a Memorial Day sign.

My last thing for Friday Favorites is this little gem.  It's an under the desk bike.  My co worker bought this and an elliptical to use at her desk, but the bike didn't work so well for her.  I tried it and loved it and bought it from her.  People, this thing is LIFE changing for me!!  I sit at my desk and peddle away.  Today I biked for a total of 3 hours which translates into almost 9 miles of biking!!!!  Now, I am not peddling so hard that I'm breaking a sweat, but for me who struggles with sitting all day, it makes my day so much better!  I'm anxious to see if it will tone up my legs.  I am definitely noticing that I am hungry more often haha!

So there's a little bit of what we've been up to this week.  I hope you all have an amazing Memorial Weekend and are able to remember all of your loved ones and all of those who have bravely fought for our freedom....

Linking up with Erika,  Andrea and Narci

Friday Favorites

Ohhhhh Friday.  Sweet, sweet Friday.  I have been waiting for you since Monday morning.  This week I felt like this.every.single.day.

It's been a super rainy/stormy week, so I will blame the weather for my sheer exhaustion.  

After a busy few weeks, I'm really looking forward to just chilling this weekend.  And by chilling, I really mean cleaning and organizing.  I want to get the laundry room decorated and organized and start working on the bar area in the basement.  Our granite table top comes in tomorrow, and then I am free to decorate and fill the cupboards, cannot wait!!

Here are some of my favorites from this week...

I found this note that Alayna wrote for Emma's lunch, is there anything sweeter than this??!  And I love that she writes her last name!

After a super stormy day, this was the view from the porch, beautiful!!

Alayna had track and field day at school today.  Brad and I both went for the morning and we FROZE!!  Seriously, it was cloudy, windy and about 45 degrees, brrrrr!  We only got to watch her do the long jump.

She ended up coming in first place!!  She was so excited!  It was all the 5th graders from her school and 3 other surrounding schools.  We were pretty proud!

I forgot to post a pic of the pics that Emma made for me for Mothers Day, aren't these amazing??!!

And lastly, summer ball has begun!  Alayna loves playing softball, her team is really good and lots of fun to watch.

Happy Friday friends!!  Linking up with Andrea,  Erika and Narci

Kicking Off Summer!

This is my first time linking up with these ladies, this month it's all about Kicking Off Summer!



Oh summer.  When I think of summer, I think of lazy days by the pool, sleeping in, reading and just relaxing.  However, the older the girls get I feel like it's the busiest time of the year!!
This meme is what summer is like for me, lol!



This year we actually don't have much planned and I'm super happy about that!  I want the girls to enjoy summer and relax.  I'm really excited about having my house cleaners back, haha!!  The last couple summers, the girls have done all the cleaning and most of the laundry.  WIN!

So what do we have planned??

Making these ice cream sandwiches.



To go along with this strawberry lemonade...



After swimming for hours....



We cannot wait to celebrate the 4th of July , it's our second favorite holiday!



And enjoy campfires.  Can't wait!



I'm really going to work on getting Alayna excited about reading.  Reading isn't her favorite, so I am hoping to get her signed up for a book club at Barnes and Noble.  She will be so excited to get some new books.

So, that's what we're going to be up to this summer!!!

Mothers Day 2017

I had a WONDERFUL Mothers Day weekend!  It was busy, but full of family and fun...those weekends are the best!

Friday night we had Alayna's birthday party and Brad and I enjoyed a campfire while the girls giggled and watched movies.  Surprisingly the girls weren't too loud and actually were all sleeping by 11.

 Saturday was a gorgeous day out, I ran some errands in the morning and then we had the rest of the day open which was wonderful!  Brad and his brother were hanging doors, so the girls and I headed out for a walk in our woods.

We have 6 acres attached to Brad's parents farm.  It's so peaceful back there!

The dandelions were in full swing, and so beautiful.

We have a small pond that we like to go check out.  I would love to get a canoe to keep out there, it's so quiet.  We love coming back here, but with all the hunting going on, we don't get back there too often.

We had another bonfire that night, it was a glorious day enjoying the beautiful weather.

Sunday morning we relaxed and got ready for my mom and her husband to come over for brunch.  Brad always makes an egg bake and sausages and my mom brings Great Harvest bread.  So yummy!

After they left, the girls and I headed outside to soak up the sun.

Later in the day we headed to the farm to celebrate with Brad's family.  It was such a great weekend, I'm a very lucky momma to have such a wonderful family!

Rachel is all about the poses, so sometimes its fun to ham it up a bit.  :)

Alayna's 11th Birthday Party

We survived the last birthday party for 2017!!!  (My girls' birthdays are March-April-May) By the time May rolls around, my planning skills start to wane, ha!

We talked Alayna into an overnight party this year instead of a roller skating rink party.  The skating place in town is rough, and smelly and has CARPET on the walls.  Yuck.  She decided to have a movie theme, which worked perfect because I still had a lot of decor from Emma's Hollywood party a few years ago!

She had 5 of her little girlfriends over and they whooped it up!

They made mini pizzas for supper, went in the hot tub, sat by a fire (for all of 5 minutes and then were done, Brad and I enjoyed a nice night by the fire!!), had an ice cream sundae bar and then watched movies before being out like a light!

Of course I didn't get a single pic of her and her friends....Also, note the wine in the back, lol!!  Brad had picked up some of my faves on sale.

Happy birthday Mousey!!!