Tasty Tuesday: Jambalaya Pasta

I really like this pasta recipe. Very easy, yummy, healthy, and more than your average marinara sauce.

Jambalaya Pasta

Serves 6
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound low fat smoked turkey sausage -- cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic --pressed
1 27 1/2-ounce jar spaghetti sauce -- your favorite
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
cayenne pepper -- to taste
12 ounces linguine -- uncooked

In a skillet over medium high heat, heat the olive oil. Add sausage; cook over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
Add the chopped peppers, onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until tender.
Stir in pasta sauce and remaining ingredients except pasta. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cook 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Spoon sauce over hot pasta.

I've also done this recipe with sauteed mushrooms and zucchini in place of the sausage. Enjoy!

Recipe credit here. Photo credit here. (I know, this picture isn't exactly the recipe above, but looks close enough, right?)

Handbag Contest

There's a contest here to win a free handbag in case anyone'se interested! Just don't choose the silver one for hour 19 of the giveway--you'll ruin my chances :)

Tech Savvy

Well, I think maybe a couple of weeks ago I had typed "nog" into the address bar on the Internet and found noggin on the drop down menu, and I'm supposing this is how he figured this out...

The Socialite

Dallin is a socialite. He is only truly happy when he has someone to play with. Adam will do sometimes, but mostly he wants someone old enough to really interact with in a more verbal way. Once we went to our neighborhood park and happily noticed, "How nice, no one else is here." Dallin noticed too: "There are no friends here today!"

It's easy enough to be Dallin's friend--if you are alive and you'll play with and/or talk with him then you're in. We have seen him many times following after another kid at the playground as Dallin asked over and over again, "Hey, do you want to play with me?" And sadly, more often than not the other kid is just not as interested in making a quick friend.

Today we went to the park and I restrained myself from interfering as I watched this scene:

Dallin was found trailing after a group of little girls. They were playing princesses and Dallin was determined to convince them that what they really needed to make their game complete was a hero:

"I'm Flash! I'm going to rescue you!"

What Dallin might not have realized is that these were independent princesses and they didn't need rescuing. They weren't too interested in including a boy in their game. Eventually an older sister or friend--maybe 8 or 9 years old-- gathered the girls together and tried to help Dallin out:

"Girls. He is the prince. He is prince Eric for you--motioning to one girl--and he's well, whatever prince is in your movie for you."

She gave it a noble effort but still the princesses were apparently not looking for a hero in any form, be it Flash or be it Prince Eric.

Still, I hope the older girl's parents know what a sweet girl they have because I was tempted to search them out right then and there and let them know that I was touched that another child had cared about my little boy.

Marriage. It's Simple.

Here is a cute video supporting the marriage amendment. Enjoy it. Share it.


To get the code to embed this in your blog click where it says YouTube on the screen. This will take you to the You Tube page where you will find the code on the right side. You can paste this into your "Edit Html" box when you're creating a new post.

I Heart Mesa

I found this great new blog called I Heart Mesa. If you live in Mesa go check it out--it's a great spot for sharing local events and other ideas meant for AZ folks. Plus, you can enter their contest to win $25.

What We've Been Doing

I didn't think there was anything to write about until I uploaded some pictures from this last week. Maybe life's not as boring as I thought. Afterall,

Dallin made this:

Need a hint? It's a puzzle. On Monday he scribbled a picture and cut it into pieces and stored his surprise in a cereal box until Family Home Evening. It pretty much took the whole family the whole evening to put that thing together. Maybe that's why we took pictures, not just because we were proud of Dallin, but we were also proud of ourselves for finally completing it. And no I don't wear that sticker all the time, we'd just gotten back from passing out brochures at a Constitution Week event. Have you done anything to support marriage lately?

We hosted Joy School. I suppose I never posted about what we decided for Dallin's preschool. Well, we decided not to do preschool but then we ended up grouping up with a few other moms to rotate doing Joy School. I really love the program because it's based on the idea that children don't necessarily need to "get ahead" in academics in the preschool years--instead we spend our time in joy school teaching values: social skills, discipline, making goals, respecting our bodies, etc. Love, love, love it. Here they are "painting" with pudding--we were using our five senses....especially taste.

We went to the zoo.

Three little boys and two sisters--one of them pregnant (that would be Bethany)--braved the crowds at the zoo. We had a great time. I think the boys enjoyed it too.

Overall, a successful week. Mark might call any week successful if it includes a Sunday nap on the couch. Precious.

Oh, could you do me a favor and not tell Mark that I posted a picture of him with his stuffed duck Snuggles? Thanks.