aaaahhhh....

aaahhh, a morning to myself with time to blog! Finally!! These mornings have been far and few between lately. So I've got my coffee and I'm ready to type. 


First I wanted to share this recipe with you guys. It's pretty easy and really yummy! 

Cajun Chicken Pasta on the Lighter Side
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 5 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 323.8 • Fat: 6.2 g • Protein: 25.9 g • Carb: 44.1 g • Fiber: 6.3 g • Sugar: 3.2 g
Sodium: 126.5 mg (without salt) 


Ingredients:

• 8 ounces uncooked linguine (I used spaghetti pasta and half wheat have the plain white stuff)
• 1 pound chicken breast strips
• 1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or to taste, I made my own seasoning! :))
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (I did not use mushrooms, yuck)
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp light cream cheese
• fresh cracked pepper
• 2 scallions, chopped
• salt to taste
• Smart Balance cooking spray

Directions:
Prep all your vegetables. In a small blender make a slurry by combining milk, flour and cream cheese. Set aside. Season chicken generously with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt.
Prepare pasta in salted water according to package directions.
Heat a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; spray with cooking spray and add half of the chicken. Sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until done, set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set aside.
Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce to medium; add bell peppers, onions, and garlic to skillet, sauté 3-4 minutes.
Add mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté 3-4 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with 1/4 tsp salt, garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  
Reduce heat to medium-low; add chicken broth and pour in slurry stirring about 2 minutes.
Return chicken to skillet; adjust salt and Cajun seasoning to taste, cook another minute or two until hot, then add linguine; toss well to coat. Top with chopped scallions and enjoy! 

So yummy, and matt really liked it too. Tyler is another story. He doesn't like anything right now. 


Speaking of Tyler, wow is he growing up. You'll notice from the pictures. Every couple of weeks I feel like I just look at him and notice how much he has changed. I love/hate this stage he is at right now. He is discovering so much right now and it's fun to see his face light up when he does. Yet, the hate part of pushing my buttons and not being able to communicate leads to tantrums on the floor. Trying to figure out ways to be consistent when I still work full time and he's three different places during the week. And the food issues right now. He won't eat any veggies. I feel like I need to put him back on baby food just so I can get him to eat it. That kid knows when there is veggies in it. I try to mash it up in his food and nope comes right back out. If this doesn't change soon I almost feel like if he doesn't eat what's prepared for him he doesn't eat at all. I think if he's hungry enough he will learn to eat it and enjoy it. Ugh, I know it's probably just a stage and we'll get through it eventually. I'm scared he's taking after his mommy though. :) 


Life has been good. Busy of course. Basketball is almost done. Matt's last conference game is Friday and then their first playoff game is Tuesday. If they win they will continue through next week. I feel kinda bad saying it but I'm ready for him to be done.  It's been a fun year watching his games. Well, I'll be honest, not much watching goes on. Most of the time I am trying to keep tyler sitting still or we are running around outside of the gym. Either way Tyler loves being there and I enjoy watching Matt do what he loves and he's a great coach. This past Monday Matt's sister watched Tyler for me and I was actually able to sit and watch his game and half of the varsity game. Usually by the end of Matt's JV game Tyler is done and ready to go home so I haven't been able to even attempt to watch Varsity. It was probably the highlight of my week so far.  I have three cousins that play right now, and it's always fun to watch them as well.


With basketball season ending so begins Matt being home for six weeks. Yup, six weeks. He's finally having surgery on is poor hip. Be praying cause we aren't really sure what to expect with the surgery. It's actually just a microscopic surgery but they are scrapping away bone and I'm assuming that isn't going to feel very good afterwards. March 8th is the date for this surgery then in July he's going to have surgery on the other side. For those of you who don't know. Matt was born with a sort of deformed bone. It formed weird where the bone goes into the hip. The left side is really bad right now and very painful for him. The last time Matt went and met with the doctor, the doctor said that it's so bad they would be happy if they get 5 years out of his hip after the procedure they are doing. Needless to say, in maybe 5 years he could be getting a completely new hip and that isn't good either. He's only 32!!  Just keep Matt in your prayers. I know the unknown makes him nervous even though he may not say it, but the worst is knowing that he won't be able to play ball with Tyler. Yeah, he'll be able to play a little bit but not the hard one on one that I know he was looking forward to so much. Breaks my heart a little bit when I think about it.  So we are trying to be positive and be happy that he hopefully won't have anymore pain after this summer. I know it's not as big of a deal as having surgery but please pray for me as well. Matt isn't going to be very mobile for awhile and I'm not sure how it will be for me taking care of him and Tyler. I know I will survive because I have lots of great family around but it's a little overwhelming to me too. 


I'm looking forward to summer though. We plan on doing lots of fishing and just laying low. Matt's skipping on the golf membership this year because of the surgery.  Golfing was the thing that made it worse last summer. Hoping that changes after this summer and he can get back next summer. Also, hoping that our house sells soon! We would so love to be living closer to town, not to mention the amount of money we would save on gas! We live about 11 miles out of town right now and it's just too far with how much we are in town. Two cars going into town at least once sometimes twice a day get's old. I'm enjoying looking at other houses on the market right now. There is a cute little house right across from the golf course where Matt gets his membership. It would be perfect for us and it's in our price range. We'll see though, not getting my hopes up and trusting that the Lord knows what's best for us. 


Picture time!!  

Tyler watching a movie with his Grandpa!

My smiley boy!

Dare Devil!

Looking for Deer out the window! Hayward now has an L&M store. They have these cute little animal toys! I wish I could buy Tyler all of them! They are so cute! 

The other day is was so nice outside! We bundled up and went for a little walk with Tyler! 

Tyler will now eat snow! I'm just hoping that it's clean snow! And I'm thinking he learned this from his Nana!

Papa with his boys at the wedding!  

The Bride & Groom and Ashley & Caleb!

Love them so much! What a fun day celebrating!!

Getting the little man ready for pictures. 

The ring bearers and flower girl! Most of them made it all the way up the isle.

My sisters!!

Sorry this was a long post! :)


Have a great day!


Amber