Tuesday TRUEism

Menu Monday...ALL THE GOOD STUFF Linguine

First off, where did this artic blast come from?

We were picnicking on our patio yesterday in barefeet enjoying

the glorious sun and today

I sent Cade off to school in long sleeves & a hooded coat!?!?

What's the scoop with the little groundhog?

I need the 411 from some of my readers who actually watch the news.

Okay...on to cooking.

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite pasta recipes.

This is not your typical "Italian" pasta recipe however, it's a twist on

Greek Pasta

{photo credit}

complete with artichoke hearts, feta and black olives!

I call it,

"All the GOOD STUFF linguine"

because it has all the "good stuff"

I love to splurge on in the recipe.

ALL THE GOOD STUFF LINGUINE

1 lb. Linguine, cooked according to pkg.

1/4 C. Butter {1/2 stick + 1 T.}

1 bunch Green Onions, chopped

1 C. White Wine {please use something that you'd actually drink!}

1-14.5 oz. Can Low Sodium Chicken Broth

4 boneless Chicken Breasts, sliced into 1/2 " strips

1-14 oz. can Quartered Artichoke hearts, drained well

1-4 oz. can Black Olives, drained

1/4 C. Olive Oil

2 t. Minced Garlic

2 t. Oregano

8 oz. fresh Mushrooms, sliced

8 oz. crumbled Feta Cheese

While pasta boils in salted water, melt 1/4 C. butter in olive oil in large skillet. Add garlic, oregano, and half of the green onions, saute until garlic is slightly golden. Add wine and chicken broth to skillet and boil rapidly to reduce the liquid by one-third.

In another large skillet, melt 1 T. butter and add fresh mushrooms and saute on medium heat until slightly browned, place on plate and add chicken and remaining green onions season well with salt and pepper and cook chicken throughly. Add mushrooms, chicken, artichoke hearts, olives to reduced liquid and simmer to heat through. Pour over drained linguine noodles and sprinkle feta on top!

mmm, mmm, mmm,

I've already got my pasta pot out & ready to roll at 9 A.M.

Dreaming of walking down these steps to the Aegean Sea,

one day.Santorini, Greece

Laughing my way into the weekend

Needing some humor to make it through your Friday afternoon?

Go visit Lynn over at

For Love or Funny

Her post on "Help for Baffled Spouses" had me in stitches!!!!

Signing off as Lynn likes to say...

"For love or funny, here's to friends who speak the same language."

Conversations with a 5 year old

There is no doubt about it,

Number

has some MAD

on the

court.

Just check out the scoreboard.

He of course plays for the MAVS with one hand and makes shots for Texas with the other.

How industrious is that I ask you?!??!

According to my son the future NBA'er, guess who sponsored the half time break....

and I quote,

Mommy...it's Target whose sponsoring half time today!!!

The kid knows how to get me hooked :)

Fun Fridays....My Favorite Things

While holiday shopping

{well...we'll call it "shopping", truth be told I actually just

roamed the store, listened to the piano player and drooled over all the

uber-trendy, ultra expensive clothes that I would never actually purchase for myself}

at Nordstrom, I found myself in the hat department.

Not that I was actually in the market for a hat, but it was close to the area that had scarves

and I was in the market for a new scarf!

While browsing the hat department I actually tried on this little

Juicy Couture number,

I thought it might be my one purchase for the day {because I refuse to pay 40 bucks for a scarf}until I saw the $48.00 price tag...

Seriously...for a basic black knit cap?

Liked it, but kept walkin' girlfriends.

And, is it just me or is anyone else not interested in a cap that actually

says "Juicy" in bold black letters on the back. Anyhoo...

Fast forward 2 months.

We here in the heart of Texas have had A LOT of rainy days in the past month.

With all the damp weather lately, I'm sick

of wearing ball caps to hide this

hot mess

I call my HAIR.

Lucky for Target, I was perusing their aisles shopping for Valentines

goodies for my little darlings when I happened upon this little guy...

Hello CUTIE...

What's that, you cost $9.99.

Love IS in the air!

{photo credit}

She was the last one in black so I guess I'm not the only girl needing

another way to hide NOT fixing my hair in the mornings, but ACTUALLY look like

I just want to roll with my super trendy military cap!

I just love finding a good deal.

What's been your bargain FIND of the month?

Valentine Decorating, on a budget of ZILCH

Take one vase you already own,

Some ruffle paper that you have stored in your gift wrapping tub,

A few branches from that leafless tree in the back yard,

And some words that describe the people in your house,

how you feel,

and hints about what you'd like to receive for Valentines from your

kid folk,

and VOILA...

YOU HAVE A perfectly precious VALENTINE TREE centerpiece!!!

And just think,

all you'll have to do at Easter is change up the ribbon, delete the paper and add

moss instead and spread around your ribbon Easter Eggs to the branches and you'll be ready for

Spring!

Simple, Sweet & Home Spun

Tuesday TRUEism

A Baby Shower

This past Saturday, we held a family-close friends

baby shower for my sister, Amanda!

Her sweet baby boy, whose name is to be

Kelton Marshall McCain

is due on February 19th

and we decided to shower him

in a special way!

My friend Jennifer, provided the genius and the helping hands

behind these delicious

Southern Pecan Cupcakes

with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting!
{these babies deserve their own post!}

Baby Jordyn came to celebrate the "upcoming arrival" of her
new cousin





Family and Friends


We served quiche, spinach salad with bleu cheese and strawberries,

fresh pineapple fruit salad, almond poppy seed bread, and the Southern Pecan cupcakes!

We received several requests for the quiche recipe and I don't like to disappoint...

It's from one of my favorite sources...Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman!

Prep Time: 45 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

3/4 pound Bacon
1 stick Butter
1 whole Large (or 2 Medium) Onions, Very Thinly Sliced
2 boxes (5 Oz. Each) White Mushrooms, Washed And Sliced
1 can (14 Oz.) Quartered Artichoke Hearts
1 whole Pie Crust, deep dish
7 whole Eggs
1-½ cup Heavy Cream
2 cups Grated Swiss Cheese
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Optional: Fresh Parsley, Fresh Chives

Preparation Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out pie crust and press into deep dish pie pan.

Pre-bake pie crust in pan for 10 minutes.

In a skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside.

Pour out excess grease but don’t clean the pan.
Melt butter in the same skillet. Add onions and cook for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and artichokes and cook for a few more minutes. Salt mixture to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat eggs with cream. Add grated cheese, salt and pepper, and set aside. (Add cayenne pepper if you’d like a little kick.)
With a slotted spoon, add mushroom mixture into egg/cream mixture. Stir together. Add bacon and stir. Add parsley or chives, if desired.
Pour into pie crust and press to submerge ingredients. Place on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Bake for slightly longer if quiche is overly jiggly.
Remove from oven and allow to set for ten minutes before serving. Remove quiche from pan and slice into wedges

It was a beautiful afternoon filled with love and well wishes!

I think the sheer number of people who attended shows how much each person has been impacted by Amanda's life.

We cannot wait to kiss your sweet face Kelton Marshall,

come see us soon!

Much love to my beautiful baby sister, who will soon welcome her own baby...