Easy Peasy Spaghetti

I love this spaghetti recipe. Quick. Easy. Makes for even better leftovers the next day. Can easily feed an army. Well, not an army, but quite a few.

I am not a big fan of the typical spaghetti recipes, because I am not a huge fan of the tomatoe-y sauces. This recipe is how my Mom has always made spaghetti and I think she adopted it from my Gramma Mac (my Dad's mom). It makes a creamy kind of tomato sauce.

Here's what you will need:

You can use ground beef or ground turkey. Lately I have been loving the Jennie-O ground turkey for things instead of beef. This time I used whole wheat noodles, but you can use whatever kind you want. You also need:

1 onion chopped

garlic

2 cans Healthy Request Tomato Soup

2 cans Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

While the water is coming to a boil for your noodles, saute the onion and garlic in a little EVOO. I also add some salt, pepper, and Italian Seasonings.

Then add your meat and cook until browned. Then add the 4 cans of soup and mix together. I add more salt and pepper at this point too.

Next is the secret ingredient. A couple of drops of Tabasco. Or a lot of drops depending on how you like it. I've also used red pepper flakes if I don't have Tabasco.

You can let the sauce simmer for a while and then throw your noodles in the pot. DONE! Easy huh? I usually sprinkle a little parmesan on top and serve with a green salad and french bread.

And just because... some beautiful roses that Hannah helped me pick from our yard.

Splash Park Fun

About 2 weeks ago, I took the girls and met up with Kelly, Derek, and one of her twins, James, at the Splash Park by us. It was Hannah's first time this year and she seemed to love it as much as last year. It was a nice warm day, and the kids had a lot of fun. Claire had a ball just watching from her stroller.



Last Friday I met my friend Sara and her kids at the Splash Park. Her daughter Cassidy is Hannah's friend from swimming lessons. They are one week apart. Sara's youngest baby Gavin, is exactly one month younger than Claire. The babies were angels as they watched from their strollers. I actually had Claire's suit on her so she could partake in all the fun, but it was a bit chilly that day. Next time.

I am sure we will spend many more days at the Splash Park this summer.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Paninis

I have been in a cooking rut. I haven't cooked hardly at all lately. Life has just been so busy, and I have been lacking the motivation. Right now, dinner seems like such a chore because Hannah doesn't always eat what Jake and I want, and Claire has baby food, so it just feels like too much going on at dinnertime some nights. But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I bought the new Weight Watcher cooking magazine and every recipe looks not only good, but quick and fairly easy.

Last night I made the grilled chicken caesar paninis. They were SO easy, and SO good. We also had fresh homeade salsa and chips too.
(Thanks for the salsa recipe Mom. It was so good.)

If you want to make these paninis, here's how:

Preheat grill or panini pan.

Spread a couple Tbsp. of lite Caesar dressing on all bread slices.

Add shredded rotisserie chicken to the bread.

Add fresh baby spinach or arugula to bread.

Add some cracked pepper to sandwhich.

Add slice of provolone cheese to sandwhich.

Spray both outer sides of bread with olive oil flavor cooking spray.

Cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until grill marks appear.

Yum. Yum. Yum. Enjoy! Easy, easy, easy.

6 Months

Claire turned 6 months old on the 17th. I really enjoy this age. I kind of wish I could freeze her at this age for a little while longer. She is so happy, and starting to really interact with Hannah and the rest of us. It is so fun to watch her change.

Here are a few new things that have been happening in Claire's 6th month of life:

5/12- Began riding in the Britax Roundabout carseat instead of the infant carrier. She was getting too heavy for me to tote that thing around. My back is killing me.

5/18- Went to pediatrician for her 6 month well baby check up. Doc says she is perfect. She weighed 19 lbs. 6 oz. and was 28 inches long. Off the charts for both. At this age Hannah weighed 18 lbs. and was 28 inches long too. Claire woke up at 11pm with a fever of 100.6 that night. I am assuming from the shots. Poor girl. I gave her tylenol throughout the night and she was okay. A little fussy is all. She also had two HUGE knots/welts on each thigh where her shots were. Hannah never had a fever, or swelling from shots.

5/19- Rode in the clean shopper in the cart at Target for the first time. She loved it. Smiles the whole time, and boy oh boy did she get some attention. I think it's because people can't see a baby really well when they are still being toted in the infant carrier, but sitting in the cart like a big girl she was a show stopper.

5/21- Becoming more and more steady sitting up on her own. I will not leave her unattended in the sitting position, but she is starting to sit without toppling over for much longer now.

The biggest changes I see from Claire's picture last month to now is the chubbiness in her face. And all over really. Her legs are like little baby tree trunks. She has really filled out. I just love her and all her chub too.



A couple of weeks ago we had to lower the matress in Claire's crib because she is becoming more mobile. It makes me a little bit sad, because now I can not bend over and kiss the top of her head as easily when she is sleeping.


5/22-I set Claire down in the middle of this blanket, and walked out of the room for just a minute, and when I came back she was way over there by the barstools at the island. She's a scootin rolly polly these days.


With this age, also comes the time period where you are constantly cleaning your floors so that whatever was on them is not getting all over your baby's hands, face, and mouth. Ugh. I hate the constantly cleaning the floors thing.


Claire is also getting up on all fours now and starting to rock a bit. I think she is going to be getting around pretty good before we know it.

Two Sweets or Too Sweet

Two little somebodies had some fun playing with my gift boxes from Nordstrom this morning. Both kids looking and smiling at the camera at the same time? How lucky was that? This was the first picture I took too.

28 is my new Number

Well, it happened. I turned 28. Only two years of my twenties left. Although, in truth I have no problem getting older. Sometimes it is a bit weird to me that it seems like only yesterday I was a kid following my parents rules, and now I have two kids, and I make the rules. I even find myself saying the same things to Hannah that I know my Mom said to me. Soon I'm sure I'll find myself saying "Because I said so" all the time. Yikes. I'm a grown up. There's no getting around it.

I had a great birthday. I took the day off so I could hang out hang out with Jake and our girls all day. But then I got an ad in the mail for the Nordstrom sale that began yesterday. On my birthday. How lucky is that? Happy Birthday to me. So, sorry Jake, but it was calling my name. He understands. I actually was quite lucky and received gifts cards to Nordie's from my Grandma and my Mom, and Jake's mom and his Grandma sent me some money. So I had a ball all by myself cruising around the happiest place on earth. Oh wait, I think it might just be my happiest place on earth. No Disneyland for me, Nordie's is my happy place. Clothes, shoes, bags, iced tea, iced mocha storm, Nordstrom cafe...how can you go wrong there? (No, I did not get paid for that advertisement by the way)

So, for those who were wondering what my "pwes" was from Jake and the girls that was hidden in the garage...

It is a Michael Kors watch that just came out that I am in love with.

I was also right that they went to Nordstrom AND Target. I am a little embarrassed to admit what the other gift was because you might not know this about me.

I am a closet Eminem fan. That's right, the rapper. Love him. Think he's clever and funny, and songs are catchy. You might not agree. You might judge me for liking him, but there it is. I'm a closet fan, and I just came out.

And here is the rest of my loot. I know, I'm spoiled rotten. I know this. I really do.

Thank you to all of my family and friends for your nice calls, and birthday songs, and warm wishes. It really made me feel loved and made my day. Last night we had Subway in the park for my birthday dinner. Nothing fancy, just hanging out barefoot on blankets with my fam. Check out my Mom's blog for pictures from that.

Cute Story

Tomorrow is my birthday. This morning I went in to work for a while and Jake was home with the girls. When I came home Hannah said to me, "HI Bobee (Mommy), got pwes." I said, What? And again, she said, "Got pwesss Boobbeee." And again, I said, WHAT?

Hannah: Boobbeee, got pwes!

Me: Ooooh, you got me a present?

Hannah: Yea! Got pwes!

I looked at Jake who was feeding Claire her lunch at the island, and he just laughed and said, "I can't tell her anything anymore."

Then Hannah said,

"It's in the garage Boobeee!"

Me: It is Hannah!? What is it? What store did you go to?

That's when I was hushed, and shooed out of the room.

Wonder what it is? Wonder what store it was? My guess is Nordstrom or Target. Maybe both. We will see. Hannah cracks me up.

Product Junkie

I have a problem. Well, who doesn't. But this one problem in particular involves hair products.

Lots of hair products.

I am a product junkie. Partially due to the fact that I am a hairdresser I suppose. Although even if I wasn't, I think I would still be like this. I feel like I NEED to try all new products so that I know what is good and what is not. So that I can help other people choose the right products for their hair. And so that I can try to always make my hair shiny and sparkly too. In the hair industry, companies are coming out with a new hair product every time you turn around. Recently I've come across a couple new ones that I love so much, I thought they were worth sharing.

Fekkai. Frederic Fekkai.

I LOVE, love, love this shampoo and conditioner.

It is for dry and damaged, color treated hair. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Smells fabulous.

(Here's the fine print on this product though...you can only buy this in Nordstrom, or Bath & Body Works, and these babies are not cheap. $50 for the two, but to me, worth every penny.)

Next New Favorite Product:

TIGI's Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo

I have been trying to get my hands on this stuff for some time now, and every time I went to the beauty supply it was sold out. Then I saw it on a friend's blog, and she said she had a dirty little secret, and she loves it. So I had to get me some. Went back to the store, and they had 3 left. I bought all 3. You just spray onto your roots to absorb oils in your hair when your hair is on it's second (or perhaps 3rd day) of dirty, and it refreshens it AND it smells super good. It is my new best friend. I might marry it.

So there you have it. My newest favorite products. I am trying to keep my product addiction under control. A couple weeks ago Jake came downstairs one night after showering, and he said to me, "Do you know that you have 16 shampoo and conditioner bottles in our shower?"

No I don't.

Yes you do.

No I don't have 16 products in there. Let me count...

Okay, yes I did.

But in my defense, 2 were small samples of something, 2 were almost gone, and the rest I NEED.

That's all of the confessions from this junkie for today.

A Day at The Dunes

Yesterday I got to spend the whole day with this handsome man.

We found these cute happy campers in our car, so we decided to take them too...

and we spent the day at Newport Dunes.

My parents camped out at the RV park at the Dunes on Friday and Saturday night with my sister's boyfriend and his parents and a camping group that they are part of.

I have so many memories from camping as a kid down there. Back when my Grandma and Papa would rent out four beach front spots right next to each other, and my whole family would camp out for days. My cousins and I had so much fun, riding our bikes to and from the camp site and the boat, swimming out to the whale, climbing trees, swimming in the pool, playing in the sand. We always had a ball. There is a general store at the Dunes and I remember my Papa would give all of us grandkids some money to ride our bikes down to the store and buy an ice cream. We thought we were so cool doing that. It's so fun for me to take my kids to this same place and watch them creating the same kind of memories. Although, it is a little bit strange now because instead of it being my grandparents down there camping, now my parents are the grandparents. And instead of me being the kid having fun, now I am the parent bringing my kids. Weird.

Hannie going for a little cruise on the boardwalk. Actually, I think she saw that there was a park on the beach, and she booked it as fast as she could to get there.

They even have a teeter totter. I used to love these things.

The exersaucer is more fun when you are at the beach.

Back at camp, Mom was glued to the window with her binos. There was some police activity going on across the way, and Mom was certain that there were dead bodies in that RV. I think she was wrong.

You're not really having fun until you get this much dirt on your face.

Claire was an angel the whole day. She hardly cried at all, and when she did it was because she was tired. I took her for a short walk and then she went right to sleep on the bed in the motorhome.

While Claire slept, Hannah was not even going to think about slowing down. So she climbed some trees...

and spent some time relaxing on the beach.

When Claire woke up, she was a happy camper. I was happy too because I even got to relax a bit while she napped. I read a magazine, a bit of the paper (alright, just the ads), and enjoyed a wonerful lunch that my Mom & Dad prepared.

Before we headed home, we tried to get a few good pictures.

Thanks for everything Mom & Dad. We all had such a great day. Jake and I both were so pleasantly suprised at how relaxing the day was. You just never know. It started out a little shaky before we left the house. Claire needed her diaper changed about 50 million times, Hannah was put in time out about a bajillion times, I was having a bad hair day, Hannah spilled apple juice all over herself (after I got her all ready) and the floor, Jake had to mop and vacuum a mess in the kitchen, we had to stop to get more caffeine before hitting the freeway, but somehow we made it there by 10am, and still had a most pleasant and enjoyable day.

Weekend at the Hass House

Another weekend has flown by. Friday night I went out to dinner with a couple friends and we went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It was fun. Saturday I worked and Jake and the girls did their usual trip to the park, and went for a walk near our house to go visit the horses that Hannah loves to see. Saturday night after Claire had gone to sleep, I was upstairs and heard Jake and Hannah having a very serious conversation. When I came downstairs they were doing this...




Watching the basketball game together. Jake was telling her to say "GO RED TEAM", every time that the Bulls made a basket. Then she would say, "NO CELTICS". I think he was even showing her a few of the signs that the refs use too. She was loving it.

Yesterday we had a really fun day down at Newport Dunes with my parents. They camped there last weekend and we went down for the day. We got a lot of fun pictures which I will try to post later tonight.

Hope you all had a great weekend!