Running (the house), Recycling (puffy dresses), and a Recipe...

Things are starting to feel a little more calm around here these days. Emphasis on "a little". :) Today the kids and I spent a day just hanging out, running a few easy errands, and having lunch with some friends. It was so nice and so relaxing (other than the CAT 5 hurricane that was going on in NoCo)...some funnies from this week:

Isabel's list. At first she took the term "cross out" literally and drew a cross over each picture as she finished her jobs. Then, she decided to just go whole hog and do some serious scratching out of each item. :)

Yesterday, I wanted the kids to do a number of jobs around the house before we left to help Sage pick out some new (cute!!) glasses. I gave them each a list with the jobs spelled out and a picture representing each job to the right of the word. You would have thought I had given them some sort of magical power! It was so funny to see how excited they were. I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually but it was nice to have them stay so focused through their jobs.

Isabel being a flower girl in her recycled "puffy dress". This is her third "puffy dress". Every time she outgrows one, we hit the thrift stores to find the perfect replacement. This one is the cutest by far--others have had some pretty spectacular flowers/bows/puff factor. Also notice the "veil" secured with one of my elastic headbands.

This week, Isabel has been completely obsessed with flower girls. We've talked and talked and talked about flower girls, the role they play in a wedding, and who--exactly--gets to be a flower girl. There is an episode of Arthur that details D.W.'s desire to be a flower girl and that episode has been acted out over and over in our house (and discussed over and over) this week too. No surprise that Issy put on her "puffy dress" (courtesy of a second-hand store in town) and played "flower girl" for about 2 hours today.

Yummm.....I tried this recipe tonight and it was sooo good. The original recipe was from Runner's World magazine. I doctored it a bit as the proportions seemed off (too much sauce, not enough pasta). Here's my version--next time I will definitely add some red pepper flakes when I add the garlic. This makes 4 good sized adult portions.

Fettuccine Paolo

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz whole wheat fettuccine, cooked according to package directions

1 1/3 cups chicken stock or broth

4 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes*

1/2 cup artichoke hearts, quartered (with liquid--not oil packed ones)

3 Tbsp fresh basil, sliced thin

1 1/2 cups grilled chicken, sliced (about 1/2 lb)

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

*If using dry pack sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrate by putting tomatoes in a bowl with one cup of warm water and soaking for one hour, or until softened. Gently squeeze to remove excess liquid. Cut into thin slices. *If using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil use a packed ½ cup, rinse gently, pat dry and cut into thin slices.

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add pepper and cook three minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, and saute for 30 seconds. Add stock/broth and vinegar, bring to a boil, and simmer until reduced by half. Add sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and liquid, chicken, and basil. Add fettucine. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm and serve with parmesan.