mommyapolis

One of our favorite meals, my kids call it “butterfly pasta” because of the shape of the noodles… It’s great because you can use any fresh vegetables you have in your refrigerator and it’s pretty quick to make!  You can also use chicken, shrimp, or NO MEAT at all…

Ingredients I often use include:

Butterfly Pasta (AKA. Farfalle/bowties) but you can use any noodle you like

Cooked Shrimp OR Cooked Chicken

Red Peppers

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Green Onion

Peas (frozen)-add last

1/2 -1 cup Heavy whipping Cream

Butter and/or Olive Oil

Garlic

2 cups Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Directions:  I LOVE garlic so I often use 4-5 cloves of fresh, chopped or pressed garlic, but you can do this to your taste..

**  Boil water and cook pasta ( I use about 1/2 box-1 box for my family of 4 and one box gives us leftovers).

**  Saute the shrimp or chicken in butter or olive oil and garlic, add salt and pepper to taste.  When finished, put it in a separate bowl.  Saute Veggies in butter or olive oil and garlic , add salt and pepper to taste.  Add this to the meat bowl from above.  Take about 3 T of butter (or more depending on your liking) and MORE garlic and saute that until lightly brown.  Add 1/2 cup-1 cup of heavy cream.  Simmer until it begins to thicken.  Add fresh parmesan until it melts.  Add the veggies and shrimp or chicken, I also add the frozen peas at this time…  Add the cooked pasta and toss together… Serve warm and enjoy!

I happen to live in a state where baseball is still going strong!  Here is a QUICK craft for those of you who are not afraid of glitter and want to decorate for the home team!

Materials:

*  White paper or card stock

*  White Glue

*  Red Glitter

**  Cut a circle out of white paper or card stock.  Draw the seams of the baseball with white glue… Sprinkle this with red glitter, let dry and you’ve got yourself a home run ball!

*** Other ideas with for baseball season:

1.  Cut a circle out of white paper.  Where the seams would go punch little holes about an inch apart.  Using red yarn have your children “thread” the ball…

2.  Have your child make a pennant for the home team… Use construction paper, felt, etc..

When I was in college sponge painting was “in”…  My girlfriends and I actually even sponge painted our lofts, my how times have changed, There is no sponge painting on any walls or beds in my house…  Except maybe for these cute apples the boys and I made!

Materials:  small or large paper plates, construction paper, red paint, old sponges…

I used the smallest paper plates I could find and the oldest sponge I had… I cut the sponges up into small squares and let the boys dip the red paint into the squares and paint their plate to look like an apple.  I tried to get one of them to make a green apple, but no luck!  Either way, I think the texture of the sponge makes the apple look good enough to eat!  HA HA

OK, so one of my very favorite places to visit is http://www.bakerella.com  Have you been there?  If not, you just MUST…  ENJOY!  

It has been raining a lot here lately and it’s hard to find new and exciting things to do indoors…  We love to “paint the floor” at our house… We just take some big roll paper, cover the floor and paint away.  Sometimes we use brushes, sometimes fingers, sometimes even toes…  

Savage Farmer's Market

The Farmer’s Market is one of my favorite places to take the boys.  I love to teach them about the different vegetables and even learn a bit about a few myself.  We have frequented the Minneapolis Farmers Market, but have found a few closer to home, as well.  The Prior Lake Farmer’s Market is one of our favorite Saturday morning stops. It is open on Saturday’s from 8-12.   They don’t have a ton of stands, but they have lots of “eat me now” items that we just just love.  We always make sure to stop by Edelweiss Bakery for a little something sweet…. We don’t leave the PLFM hungry, that is for sure.  Today we ventured to the Savage Farmer’s Market and it was a mini version of your big city Farmer’s Market, which is just what I was looking for.  The vegetables and flowers were spectacular and the prices were right!  If you live South or just want a smaller version of a great thing, make sure to stop by the Savage Farmer’s Market, a branch of the St. Paul Farmer’s Market!  It is located at 123rd Street and Hwy 13, right near The Depot Coffee Shop, it is open on Sunday’s from 8-1, although today they stayed open a little later!

Savage Farmer's Market

Fall is so bitter sweet for me.  It is so sweet because I love the changing of the leaves, the beauty of the colors, and the crispness in the air.  I can’t wait to taste  fresh apples, cider, chili, and hot chocolate!  I anticipate the start of school, football, and fall festivals!  It is bitter because I live in Minnesota where I know winter is fast approaching.  And although I love the beauty of freshly fallen snow, I am not such a fan of the bone chilling air that often accompanies it!   This fall, the boys have been especially interested in the leaves and the colors.  Here is a project we worked on to foster their excitement!