What do you see?

While I was in Utah with my family I was making lots of trips from my sister Joanna's house in Layton (where I was staying) to Salt Lake City and back and also to Provo. This was so that I could try and see all of my family that are spread throughout that part of Utah. Every time we would head to SLC I would try to point out the temple to Eli so that he could see it. If you have ever driven that interstate before though you know that really all you see are the tall building that surround the temple. Well finally I decided that I would take the kids to the temple so they could see it and know of it's importance to me. So after Heather took us to dinner I asked if she would come with us and of course she did! It was so nice to have her there since my kids thought that the temple grounds where like a big flowered, water park to them. After we had walked around and looked at all we could before it got dark I wondered to myself whether or not any thing I was saying about the temple was sinking in for Eli. It was still worth it but I have to say that it became even more worth it when about two weeks later we were sitting at the table eating lunch and Eli holds up his potato chip and says, "Look Mom, my chip looks like the temple!" Silly I know for me to be so proud that my kid thinks his chip looks like the temple but it made me realize he really was listening! Ok so now I'm going to get all sappy but I am so glad that I have the gospel in my life and most of all that Keith and I were married in the temple so that my family will be together forever!

What's for Dinner

When I was in Utah seeing my family a few weeks ago (which I still haven't blogged about due to not remembering to take my camera) my sisters Heather, Joanna and I went and saw the movie Julie & Julia. It was a lot of fun and I was, lets say very inspired to do something a little different with my blog every once in a while. To be exact I will be trying this every week. I love to cook and I find that I make the same things over and over again because either they are easy or easy and good. I feel that I am getting better as a cook but I'm needing to expand my horizons! There are so many good recipes out there and I want to start trying them. So without further ado I will tell you about the first recipe I picked. It is called Garden Fresh Fettuccine. The biggest reason I picked this recipe was out of our garden this year we have lots and lots of zucchini and when I saw that this asked for zucchini I was all about it. The other thing I liked was that it is an all vegetable dish. No meat allowed! I find that there are times that that's all I cook. I did do some changes due to my kids not liking cooked onions so I will be putting my changes in italics just so you know. So here it is courtesy of Taste of Homes...

Garden Fresh Fettuccine

1 package (16oz) fettuccine
1 large zucchini, julienned

2 medium green peppers, cut into strips - 1 1/2 since that was all I had

2 medium onions, chopped - 1 medium onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 T vegetable oil

4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped - 2 large since that is what I bought

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes - I added just a little more since we like it hot

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet saute the zucchini, peppers, onions and garlic in oil until tender. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and crushed pepper flakes; saute 4-5 minutes longer. Drain pasta; add vegetable mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

If any of you are like me and it takes you a long time to cut vegetables you may want to wait a little bit before you start the fettuccine. It took me the longest to peel and seed the tomatoes and in the end my pasta was all done and waiting to be made into a masterpiece! (; It was fine in the end but I think that it would have been better had it been hot pasta!

Now to the ratings. I'm going to rate the recipes I try on a five star rating so that I can tell you in short how I feel about them. If by chance you try the recipes you have to let me know what you think! You wont hurt my feeling if you love what I hate or hate what I love. I want to know! For this dish I give it 4 stars! I hope you like it as much as I did!

ENJOY!

Playing at the Park

My friend Tracey called the other day and invited us to go to the park with her and her cute girls. We had a great time and the kids were loving it but the best part for me was when she started taking pictures. She was taking pictures of my kids as well and that is great since I forget my camera every time! What was even better was when I got the pictures the next day! I am very impressed with that since I generally don't send things to people for months, sorry Heather. (: Then to top it all off when I looked at the pictures I couldn't believe how cute they were! She took some really cute pictures! So I had to post them to show everyone. Thanks Tracey!