Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Carrots, Crate & Flowers

My mom visited me a few weeks ago, whenever she comes to visit I always try to take her to a little beach town called Carpinteria. It is the cutest little town with little antique shops, boutiques and a restaurant my mom loves called The Worker Bee

Monday, March 26, 2012

Italian Sausage Rigatoni

 
My grandmother always said I was thrifty...I hate that word, thrifty. I find it smart to save some money when possible, especially on groceries because it is so easy to do so! Let's just say I am saving all this extra money for fabric, not quite thrifty...just smart.

By no means am I one of those coupon ladies that you see on television (the ones with the giant folders with pockets to organize, I see those ladies at Target all the time and they save LOTS of money) but I do tend to use them on items that we purchase at Vons because they double your coupon value and you can save so much money. 

Which leads to recipes that they have with the coupons. I have tried a few and seem to be lucky with the outcome. This one caught my eye and thought it would be great for dinner and was surprised at how delicious it really was.  

Italian Sausage Rigatoni

Ingredients:
-1 package of Johnsonville Italian Mild Sausage Links
-1 jar (24 oz.) Classico Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
-1 package of Rigatoni Pasta
-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
-2 cloves of Minced Garlic (I used two teaspoons)
-1 large sweet Red Pepper, chopped (I used both red and yellow)
-I tablespoon of Italian Parsley (I omitted this)
-*I added fresh grated Mozzarella Cheese as a garnish

Preparation: (1) Cook sausage links according to package directions. 
(2) Meanwhile, cook rigatoni according to package directions; drain and set aside. 
(3) In a large skillet, heat olive oil until hot. Add garlic; saute for 30 seconds or until golden. Add red peppers; saute for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch coin slices; add to skillet. Stir in pasta sauce; heat through. Add pasta; toss to combine. 
(4) Sprinkle with parsley or mozzarella cheese. 


This was a hit with Mr. KofColors. He said that it paired nicely with his Ramon Bilbao. 


This is going to go into our rotation of regular meals because it was so easy and fast to make. 


Interested in some savings I did find some coupons for you:


Classico Pasta Sauce $1.00 off a jar of sauce


Johnsonville Sausage
$.55 off of a package of sausage


Enjoy! ~ Amanda

Friday, March 23, 2012

Pinned #6: Baby Bibs and Tag Blanket

My Pinterest Stats for Week 6
27 Boards
1325 Pins
 173 Likes
I am really falling behind on my New Year's Resolution. But, alas, it isn't the end of the year yet and I still have plenty of time for redemption and lots of weeks of "Pinned" projects. 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sleep Over Pillow Tutorial for Sidney's 8th Birthday

Sidney is turning 8!

My best friend Amy 's son, Sidney, was having his 8th Birthday at the bowling alley. He is part of the local kids bowling league and he just loves to bowl. 

His birthday party was on St. Patrick's Day!
 What do get a boy who seems to have everything?


So venturing out of my girl bubble, and sticking with a bowling theme, I came up with a Sleep Over Pillow as a gift for Sidney. 

Monday, March 19, 2012

Coffee Bean's White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies


From: lacelebutard.blogspot.com
What better than a nice hot cup of coffee, preferably a Vanilla Latte from my favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Bean. What better accompanies this warm deliciousness than a cookie. My favorite is the White Chocolate and Cranberry. Here is my knock-off recipe to make there delicious cookies. 


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of white chocolate chips
1 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of sugar for rolling


1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Grease cookie sheets.


2. In a large bowl or mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. 
3.Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in a white chocolate chips and cranberries. 


4. Make small 1 inch balls of cookie dough and roll in sugar then place on greased cookie sheets. 


5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown. Allow to cool on sheets before placing on wire racks to completely cool. 


Let me know if you liked the recipe? Did you do a different variation? What coffee drink do you like to accompany your cookies? I would love to hear from you!!
~Amanda

Sunday, March 11, 2012

I'm Back!! And Mr.KofColors is FAMOUS!!

Oh Boy!! It has been awhile....But I am back and ready to start blogging again. My sincere apologies, after being away it made me realize how much I enjoy doing this. 

Why the absence? Well some medical issues came up and I spent two long weeks finding a decent doctor. Upon finding one that was helpful, sincere and informative I had to have emergency surgery. Sheesh!! Two weeks of recovery and now I am back. (Starting to run again tomorrow) 
We took Mom to Paradise Cove in Malibu, CA before she went back home to Dad. 
 My MOM came and took care of me just in time.  Mr. KofColors was working out of town and it was such a blessing to have her here. Nothing like her support, love, and cooking *especially the never ending chocolate chip cookies.
Lance (Mr.KofColors) taking my Mom out for a ride in the boat. 
Other fantastic news while I was absent. Mr. KofColors story of "Lineman Santa" was published in Powerlineman Magazine this last month. Such a proud moment for me to have my husband's great story published in such a great magazine. Another online Lineman website has emailed him to have his story published in their newsletter. SO COOL!
Front cover of the magazine. 
Story is below...He wrote the story himself.  Please enjoy!
~Amanda