Dear Mother Nature,

In case you lost your calendar I thought I would remind you that 1) it is officially Spring and 2) it is March 28! Stop it with the snow already. I DO NOT want to shovel the driveway again.

Thanks
Heather

Pumpkin Roll Craziness

I baked 6 pumpkin rolls tonight for hubby to take to work on Saturday. I will have to fill them tomorrow, but they are at least baked. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually isn't because I do them assembly line style. The guys love them and it gives me an excuse to bake without worrying about having it around the house. The recipe is super simple too. It is a great recipe to make for a lot of people because you can slice it pretty thin.


Pumpkin Roll
Ingredients:
Cake:
2/3 C pumpkin
3 eggs
1 C sugar
¾ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Directions:
* Beat pumpkin, eggs, and sugar together on medium speed until well combined
* Add flour, baking soda, salt , and cinnamon
* Line cookie sheet with waxed paper and spray with Pam
* Spread mixture evenly over waxed paper making sure there are no thick spots
* Bake at 350₀ for 15 minutes
* Roll up (along with waxed paper) from long side, cool
* Mix cream cheese and sugar together until well combined, add vanilla and mix
* Once roll is completely cool, unroll and spread filling evenly over the middle
* Reroll tightly, removing waxed paper as you go. Cut into slices and keep refrigerated

Other than that not too much going on here. Cody is off for a few days because of Easter. He is not happy about that. We have to take Jeremy's car to the garage tomorrow to finally get the door panel replaced that was ordered about 2 months ago.

I am also happy to report that the snow is slowly starting to melt. There is still a lot out there, but at least we can see the grass around the edge of the driveway.

Breaking News Breaking News

It's going to snow again tomorrow.

Shocking I know.

Sadly that is all I have today. It was a pretty boring day. One good note is I got another car seat cover done. I'm half way there!

Snowy pics and a recipe

We got about a foot of snow last night. It is still snowing today, but luckily it is just light snow so hopefully it won't add up. The boys and I went out this morning to play, but they had a hard time walking around because it was so deep.


Cooper is on day 7 without his binky. I am hoping that we have finally turned a corner. I love seeing him without that thing in his mouth. Of course he talks non stop now, but that's ok. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth!


Cody's face says it all about how we feel about winter. We are ready for it to be other with. Cody doesn't like having to wonder if they will have school and I don't like having to deal with all the crap that comes with snow. I had so much snow on my car last night when I came home that it leaked from the garage into the utility room. I guess we have to add fixing that to the list of projects for this spring.


Here is the view from the road towards our house. As you can see most of the bushes are buried under all this snow.

Someone came and snowblowed our driveway today and I don't have any idea who it was. I wish I could find out because I would like to take something to them. That is not an easy task.

As promised, here is the recipe from our dinner last night. It is adapted from a recipe in the You on a Diet book. That one called for eggplant, stewed tomatoes, and no spices. It is really yummy and really healthy for you.


Pasta Provencale
Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat rigatoni
1 zucchini, chopped
1 squash, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes
¼ C parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:
* Cook pasta according to directions
* In meantime, sauté zucchini, squash, and pepper in 1 Tbsp olive oil
* Once softened, add tomatoes and Italian seasoning
* Simmer until warmed through
* Drain pasta and add to tomato mixture
* Mix in parmesan cheese and serve

I HATE WINTER!

I swear this has been the longest winter ever. It is crazy how many times it has snowed. Of course it only seems to snow on days Cody has school. I hate debating all morning whether or not I should take him. Like today. It started snowing around 8, but it wasn't too bad. The roads were still clear and nothing was really sticking. I got to school just fine and decided I would just wait around there. School usually gets done around 3, but about 2 I decided that we needed to get moving. By the time we left it was crazy. The roads were an icy mess and of course I had to get behind a school bus. It was not a fun drive. Now I am sitting waiting for my husband to get home. His car is crap in the snow and we are working on saving up the money for a 4 wheel drive. It won't be this winter, but definitely by next winter.

Other than that I am working on some little projects. I went to a fabric store around here, but there wasn't anything that was really my taste. There are a few other ones around that I want to go to, but have to find the time and deal with the weather.

Well off to make dinner. I will post the recipe later. It is really yummy and super healthy.

Talk about a non productive weekend. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to.

We did take the boys bowling Sunday morning and they had a blast. Sadly until the 6th frame they were beating both Jeremy and I. I guess all that WII bowling really doesn't translate!

We also spent a couple of hours chipping the 3 inch layer of ice out of the driveway. We didn't get it all done, but it's better than it was. I am so ready for winter to be over with.

I made a couple of really yummy recipes this weekend.

For breakfast I made Jam and Cheese loaf. It is really good and I love it because you make it the night before and all you have to do it bake it in the morning.


Jam & Cheese Loaf
Ingredients:
½ C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 ½ C Bisquick
1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ C jam (or more)

Directions:
* Dissolve yeast in water. Mix Bisquick, egg, yeast mixture and Tbsp sugar. Knead for 20 strokes. Place in center of greased baking sheet. Roll to 14” X 9”
* Combine cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice
* Spread cream cheese mixture down center of dough. Make 3” long cuts approximately 1” apart down both sides. Fold strips over filling. Cover and chill overnight. Bake at 350₀ for 20 mins. Spoon jam down center of mixture and bake another 5 minutes.


Then for dinner I made Rachael Ray's Turkey and Stuffing Stromboli. I normally don't like her stuff, but this is really good.


Turkey & Stuffing Stromboli
Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated pizza crust
¼ C Strawberry jelly or cranberry sauce
3 C shredded turkey breast
2 C stuffing
2 C cheddar cheese

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 400₀
* Unroll pizza crust onto floured surface
* Cut into four equal pieces
* Spread jelly along the diagonal of each piece of dough
* Place turkey and stuffing on top of jelly
* Sprinkle with cheese making sure not to overstuff
* Roll opposite edges over so you have stuffing down the middle and sticking out each end
* Place on baking sheet making sure they don’t touch
* Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

The only thing I did different was make one big stromboli. It is a really good use of leftovers. I don't recommend using deli turkey meat because it won't shred or have the same texture as regular turkey breast. You can buy precut turkey breasts that you can bake or grill and they work great.

Hopefully this week is more productive than the wekeend!

How many more days till spring?!?!

I hate winter. We have been stuck inside for days and I am running out of things to keep these two crazy boys entertained. We can't even go out and play in the new snow because it is so cold and Cody has a little cold.

I plan on making Valentines for our family and package the ones for his class, but other than that I am out of ideas. We've read a thousand books, played games, played cars, did paint with water, and played lots of wrestling.

Hopefully the weather will be all right tomorrow and we can go to swim day at Cody's school tomorrow!