And so it begins.......

Recipe Challenge #1:  Broccoli Ham & Rice Casserole

My best friends Mom was diagnosed with cancer last week and I have been wanting to do something for her cause she is such a sweet kind hearted woman.  
I decided to make her something that she can freeze or eat now, so I searched threw my FAT CHICK FOODS on Pinterest and found a Cheesy Ham Broccoli Rice Bake.  
I did have to tweak it a bit cause I didn't have some of the things that it called for.  

Here's what I made!  :P  

So I didn't have can of cheese soup it called for so I sub shreeded cheese.  It was wonderfully easy to make and something that can really be stretched out for more people.  

I think this was the best HBC casserole that I have ever made.  

Well one down.....

Starting to spread my wings....or just learning how to cook better....whatever

Soooo I have decided, I have tons of recipes on Pinterest that I find yummy and intriguing.  I am challenging myself to try at least ONE recipe a week....more when I can.  I am going to post them on here and tell y'all how it was, if I tweaked it, how hard it was to really do & how realist it for a busy single Mom to do.

I hope you take this journey with me, join me in cooking and share a few laughs along the way.  Hopefully no fire alarms will go off on the way.

Stay tuned......the first one is coming soon :P

Follow Charlene Westbrook's board Fat Chick Foods on Pinterest.

WOW....its been a while.  I looked back at the last time I posted anything on here and it was almost a YEAR AGO!!!

OMG, it was a rough semester!!!  A dear dear friend of mine passes away suddenly and very unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 38.  Incredibly sad, he affected many people and still does to this day, I will see something or remember something and start crying.  He was very loved! 

Ok so after all the hell of burying a friend and grieving lets just say the semester was HARD!  I didn't do near as well as I had hoped and was "asked" to leave for the year.  C'est la vie! 

So NOW, the job world that hate so much is where I have to be again.  I've done the resumes, the grapevine search for jobs and everything else I can think of but no luck so far. 

GOOD NEWS:  I am starting a new phase in my life!!!  I have join WW (as much as I hate to pay someone ELSE for ME to lose weight) and a GYM!!!  Those are 2 things I never EVER thought I would do!  EVER!!!  I am not trying to lose a ton of weight even though I probably should, but I just want to get healthier.  Trying to stay away from the sugars and processed foods.  So with that, this blogger is thinking about butting a twist on this blog and making it "Getting Healthy" spot.  Just a thought. 

20th Class Reunion

So this weekend was my 20th class reunion.  Reluctanly I went. 

Some of these people I see all the time here in town, others I hadn't seen in years or even since graduation.  And the few people that I really wanted to see, cause I had't seen them in years, didn't make it. 

It brough back many memories .... some good .... some not so good.  Amazed at how I felt about being there.  Why is it that people that you hadn't associated with in years, that you have grown away from or never had anything to do with can still make you feel just like you were high school all over again?  Everyone hung out with their "Click" and the ones that were buttholes then are still buttholes even today.  Don't get me wrong, I had a really good time, just astonished by the ones that hadn't changed in 20 years.  Somethings will never change I guess.

I was glad to see my marching band friends.....and where our lives have taken us.  Surprised by most of them, not so by others and interested where we will all be when the 30th rolls around.

Summer Ideas for Friends, Family and Kids!

We are in the last days of finals at school and then I have 2-3 weeks till Garrett is out for the summer.  There are so many things that I need to do such as, clean the apartment from top to bottom, throw away old school papers and organize ... organize..... ORGANIZE MY HOME!!!  And as much fun as that sounds like it would be, I need to do something creative, inspiring and memorable with my son.  I've done some mild googling and found some links that had some interesting ideas.  So I thought I would pass them on to YOU!! 

http://www.funattic.com/game_summer.htm

http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/seasons/summer/

http://mailjust4me.com/play/summer1.htm

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/summer/summerfun.htm


Let me know what ya make or do!!  I want see too!!!

The Joy of the Holidays....

Its that time of year with friends and family are all in our thought and usually our homes.  The smell of cinnamon, cookies and cakes are filling our thoughts of childhood memories and diet plans for spring.  I love to bake and make things for my friends at this time of year and usually I'm a head of the game but this year I'm slower than molasses in January. 

Our family wishes you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Year! 

What will the summer hold....

Camping in the back yard, bon fires & s'mores, fishing in the neighbors pond, yard sales, swimming partys and lemonade.  These are the things that summertime is made of.