Talkin' About Thursday ~ At The Bottom

Today is Talkin' About Thursday over at My Cup 2 Yours!  The topic is to share a nature photo you took and tell the story behind it.  I was oh so tempted to share my most fascinating nature photo - a hawk eating a dove on our back fence - but I decided to spare you, LOL!  :)

We have been to many beautiful places in nature, but this pic is one of my faves:

That's my son in the pic and I'm sort of cheating because my hubs actually snapped this photo.  I love how the photo shows just how small we are compared to the hugeness of God's wonderful creation!

This particular adventure - hiking up a river in a narrow canyon in Zion National Park (Utah) - was one of our favorite things we've done.  On that same trip we saw the absolutely amazing Grand Canyon, the closer view of interesting formations of Bryce Canyon, and then got to experience being at the bottom of canyons in Zion.  You can see more pics from this River walk if you're interested.

Thanks for letting me share a little nature with you today!  I hope you enjoyed it (or would you rather have seen the hawk - HA)!

Don't forget to check out more nature photos and link up your own with my friend Genny at My Cup 2 Yours today!

Oh - and Chocolate Friday is finally back tomorrow - yay!  Link up your chocolate posts!

Have a terrific day friends!

Talkin' About Thursday ~ Tortellini For Dinner

We're talking dinner recipes today!  I thought I would give you some options for tortellini because it's easy and kid-friendly!

I love tortellini whether it's the fresh kind from the refrigerated section of the store or the dried kind in the pasta aisle.  I always pick up a bag or two of dried cheese-filled tortellini when I'm at Trader Joe's.  And Costco finally started carrying a large bag of dried tortelloni (bigger tortellini) again - we used to buy it all the time a few years ago and then they stopped carrying it.

You can always serve up tortellini with a marinara or some other type of sauce, but I have some other recipes for tortellini that our family enjoys.

Very Veggie Tortellini Soup

 

Chicken-Tortellini Soup

  

Tortellini-Chicken Salad

  

And I'm going to share a casserole recipe for tortellini - sorry I don't have a pic as I haven't made it recently.

Tortellini Casserole

2 containers (10 oz each) refrigerated alfredo sauce (or make your own with my friend Kathy's recipe)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 pkg (20 oz) refrigerated green and white mixed cheese tortellini

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, drained

1/2 cup garlic and herb-flavored or Parmesan-flavored bread crumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.  In medium-sized bowl, stir together Alfredo sauce, 2 cups water, and pepper.  Pour 1 cup sauce mixture into bottom of 2 1/2-quart shallow casserole (I just use a 9x13 pan).  Arrange half the tortellini (uncooked) in a single layer over sauce; sprinkle with chopped broccoli.  Pour 1 1/2 cups sauce over top.  Repeat layering remaining tortellini and remaining sauce.  Cover with foil.

3.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Heat broiler.

4.  In small bowl, stir together bread crumbs and olive oil until evenly coated.  Sprinkle crumbs on top.

5.  Place casserole under broiler about 4 inches from heat until crumbs are golden, 1-2 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

serves 8

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I hope you found a new dinner recipe to try!  Be sure to stop over at My Cup 2 Yours for a delicious burger recipe and more dinner recipe links!

For dessert today, you may want to stop over at Muthering Heights!  I'm over there today sharing a snack cookie recipe you can make with your kiddos (of course it includes chocolate!) and showing pics of my sweet son helping me!

I'm linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - so many great recipes there!

Have a terrific day friends!

Talkin' About Thursday ~ I Laughed So Hard When...

We are always laughing in our family!  It's hard to tell you about specific times that I laughed so hard because it's a regular occurrence here.  Our son makes us laugh so often (he has our goofy sense of humor)!  I was looking through pics and found a time where he made us laugh!

 

A few years ago, this is what he looked like in the morning when I went to wake him up.  Hmmm...looking a little puffy.

Yes, something is definitely not right here!

 

Aaahhhh...mystery solved!  He stuffed a pillow and blanket inside his pajamas and fell asleep that way! LOL!  So silly!  And he really is still asleep in that pic!

He's still making us laugh, though as he's getting older he's making us roll our eyes and shake our heads a lot too!  :)

Oh WAIT - I just thought of something that made our whole family laugh!  And I'm laughing about it right now!  I even got hubs' permission to tell you.  :)

A few years back, we were shopping in Dollar Tree.  As we were looking around, hubs wandered off with an item.  He came back with a sheepish look on his face.  He had tried to find an employee that wasn't busy and finally found one so he could ask her, "How much are these??"  *ahem*  :)  I think you can guess the price - the price of every single item in a store called DOLLAR Tree!  LOLOL!!!  

What's making you laugh?  Hop on over to Talkin' About Thursday at My Cup 2 Yours to see what's making everybody else laugh!

Have a joyful day!

Talkin' About Thursdays ~ 5 Things About Yourself

I'm joining up today with Genny from My Cup 2 Yours for Talkin' About Thursdays.  She's so sweet and you'll like hanging out at her blog!  Today's topic is 5 Things About Yourself.

I decided there was no need to share the silly randomness as I've done that before and you can always go look at my 100 Things to read many random things about me!  Instead I'll share 5 things that most of you do not know and may surprise you about me!

1.  When I was in elementary school, I was in a community theater production of The King and I.  I was one of the many school children.  My Mom had to make my costume and help get me ready for performances by spraying my hair black!  I loved being in the play and singing the songs!

2.  When I was in my early 20's and working for a bank, I wrote a rap about checking accounts (just for fun) and gave it to the managers.  With their help, I put on a disguise and surprised everyone in a staff meeting performing the rap as MC Lisa!  Oh the laughs!!!  Later on all the employees learned the rap and "performed" with me in a video that we sent to the regional office.  I still have that tape.  SO funny!  We knew how to have fun!  Peace out...

3.  About 10 years ago, I had an opportunity to be in a marathon back in my home state (Montana) to raise money for the Leukemia Society.  3 of my California coworkers decided to do it with me and we trained for a few months to be able to walk the whole thing.  I didn't train as much as I should have so it was brutal!  But I did walk and finish the whole 26.2 miles!!!  I wanted to give up by mile 21.  The last 5 miles involved thinking about cancer patients, praying, crying, and just moving one foot in front of the other - felt SO good to cross that finish line!

4.  Before I became a Mom, I worked in banking for several years - all the way from teller to manager.  By the end I was a typical career woman working 50+ hours a week.  I did.not.cook.  My husband cooked dinner after getting home from his job.  I barely baked anything.  If I needed to take a treat somewhere I would usually buy something.  I only had a couple of desserts that I made well.  After I had my son and God pulled me to be a stay-at-home mom, I gradually took over the cooking.  People are always surprised by that now as I cook all the time and you KNOW I like to bake and make desserts!

5.  About 5-6 years ago, I first joined Weight Watchers as I needed to lose weight that I had put on over the years.  I loved it and was very successful!  I lost 30 pounds and became a lifetime member.  Unfortunately, I stopped going and through the years I have put the weight (and more) back on.  I struggle greatly in this area but keep working on it because I did it once and can do it again!  I am back at WW and working to eat healthier and exercise.  I'm determined to get the weight off no matter how long it takes me!  I have a second blog where I talk about weight struggles and share healthy recipes.  Making connections with other women who have the same struggles helps motivate me to stay on track.

Now you know a little more about me!  Hope I didn't scare you - LOL!  I look forward to getting to know you better!  What is something surprising about you?

Be sure to stop over at My Cup 2 Yours to read 5 things about Genny and link up your own 5 things post!  I'm also linking this up to Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life - link up your fave post!

Have a lovely day and be sure to come back tomorrow for Chocolate Friday!