Thank You Barilla Pasta!!

This is a little bonus post, you all know I had a blast being a part of America Cooks with Chefs back in December and January, right? Well, a few weeks back I got a BIG box in the mail and it was chock full of all kinds of fun pasta stuff. Check it out, a Calphalon pasta pot, lots of Barilla pasta including some of their special collections, a lovely pasta serving bowl, wooden utensils, a pasta tin, a cheese grater and a spoon rest. Oh, and lest I forget, a years supply of Barilla pasta! Yes, 52 free boxes of pasta! That's alotta pasta.

Some of the things I learned through my time with America Cooks and Barilla is that pasta will not make you fat, excess calories will. Pasta is a good complex carb food. When you pair pasta with high fiber vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats, you get a healthy, filling meal.

Pasta is good for you and the planet. Plant-based foods including pasta have a lower environmental impact. Barilla pasta is non-GMO, I know this is important to many people.

As soon as I opened my box, I immediately decided we were having my favorite pasta recipe for dinner, Mason's Funky spaghetti but I make it a little differently than he does. We used the bucatini which is like a thicker spaghetti noodle and it has a hole in the middle, yes, it's hollow!

The recipe is super simple, lots of color cherry tomatoes, olive oil (just a splash), fresh chopped garlic, basil, salt and pepper. In Mason's version, he crushes all of this together with his hands. My preference is to give it a few whirls in my food processor, I don't like it puree'd, but a more fine, consistent chop. I add my hot al dente pasta right from the water into my tomatoes and mix it all up with a bit of the pasta water - it's SO good! I eat it for dinner hot and then I dream about having lunch the next day and eating it cold.

Finally, our little family of three does not need all this wonderful food so we gave some of the coupons for free pasta to our local food bank and we put together a lovely Barilla Pasta basket for Mason's fifth grade class at what else, his schools annual spaghetti feed fundraiser! The basket brought in almost $80! Thank you Barilla and America Cooks with Chefs! I am just 7 lbs away from my weight loss goal with Weight Watchers and I love that I don't have to eliminate pasta to get there, I do however have to keep my portions in check. It's a small price to pay to be able to eat my favorite comfort food.

You can learn more about America Cooks with Chefs and Barilla Pasta by just clicking on the links. What is your favorite pasta recipe, I would love to know!

Happiness, It's a Choice!

Last week I shared that Mason was struggling with a strep infection and some side effects that were not adding up. He's been on antibiotics and feeling so much better! It's tough to see your child sick and this last week I got a taste of what it might be like to have a child who is not well. It was awful! I am not usually one to take for granted the things in my life that are good, things like our health, we have jobs, our family is happy, we love the community we live in, and so much more, but this little scare reaffirmed all that I am thankful for every single day. 

We all have had crap that has made us sad or mad. Life experiences that have in some cases deeply affected who we are, but they are not forever - unless you choose to keep them alive forever. Continuing to focus on that which we don't have, past hurts, and the continual pity party that life is about a shitty job, stupid people, not enough money, blah, blah, blah just breathes new life each day into all those awful things. Be done already! Choose to be happy, and look at all you have that is joyous around you, I assure you, there is SO much to be thankful for if you will just choose to look. Do you struggle with letting go of the negativity in life? 

I made a decision many years ago to not be a victim. I learned what it meant to take full responsibility for my life, and that meant understanding that where I am today is because of something I am doing or not doing. Not because my job sucks. Not because I couldn't catch a break to get my education earlier in life. Not because of any single thing someone else has done. I can recall darn near the exact moment this change happened for me and I was scared, I remember thinking, how can I control what other people do? If someone does this or that to me, it's not my fault. What I discovered is that it just plain does not matter what anyone else does, it only matters what I do - and don't do. I learned to not participate in illegal activity (seriously, that one was a no brainer!), I learned to get clear about what I wanted in life and I took steps to move in that direction. What I really learned is that other people don't really matter at all as long as I am clear about who I am, what I want, and how I want to get there. I found that by taking responsibility I had the power and control to make things happen, stop or start something, and make changes. As long as you live your life saying, "It's not my fault." "I didn't do it." "Not my job." you will never take control of your life, you will always be living your life at the mercy of other's choices. 

On the other side of this are the circumstances of having people in your life who can't let go of all the bad and you simply cannot disconnect from them. Again, I come back to what I know - it is up to me to see the joy, to point it out and revel in it. Ultimately, there is a profound sadness that I feel for those who live like this; heavy, sad, mad, when really there is so much joy and light all around them. Who knows who may be there at the end of their lives, but I suspect they will wish they smiled more, looked to possibilities instead of disappointments, and spent more time with people they love instead of thinking of the things they still don't have and likely never will...not because they can't, but because if they make it happen to have it, they won't have the evidence of the disappointment to fall back on when they need to reference their list of all that's been sucky about their life.

Feeling Under the Weather...

Things are a bit unsettled this week. Mason has been experiencing an odd set of circumstances that we originally thought he was having an allergic reaction to a number of bug bites. We are seeing his doctor again tomorrow and hopefully we can nail this down and get him feeling better.

*That was last Monday and after several more medical visits and blood tests, here is what was determined; It went from the allergic reaction idea to dehydration, to the idea that there was possibly something else going on. He was experiencing headaches, dizziness, joint pain that was moving from one joint to the next with some of them swelling immensely. The long story short is that he had a severe strep infection and his primary care doctor was concerned that #1, the severity of the strep infection showed no other signs, no fever, no lethargy, no pain when swallowing, no loss of appetite, just the high level of infection that his body was having a hard time fighting. #2, an untreated strep infection can lead to rheumatic fever, which I have learned involves joint pain and swelling (his left ankle swelled up so big he couldn't walk for 3 days), headaches, and heart problems. We are following up to be sure all is well, but since he started the antibiotics he is doing so much better. I will be more aware of the signs of arthritis and appreciate what we typically take for granted with healthy kids. 

*Edited with the update 4/12/15

Happy Easter Monday!

Mason delivering some Easter Cheer!

Happy Monday after Easter!

Well, I hope it's happy for you, I woke up feeling a bit under the weather, sort of like I might be getting sick, but not really feeling like I am sick at all. I went back to bed and that was good, but I'm still moving more slowly than normal.   

We had a really lovely Easter, Dave has more holiday food traditions than anyone I know! For Easter he has a traditional breakfast of hard boiled eggs and Polish sausage. For dinner, he makes lamb and ham (Mason and I do not like lamb), asparagus and scalloped potatoes. And for dessert, he makes a lamb cake (pound cake in the 3D shape of a lamb) dusted with powdered sugar and served with strawberries and whipped cream (or Cool Whip). 

Mason woke up to an egg hunt and his Easter basket, which he loved. After breakfast, Mason and I answered a call from an elderly man, Gerry who lives in a senior complex to bring something Eastery to his neighbors, many of whom have no family and do not get out. We popped over to the Dollar Store and picked up 10 chocolate bunnies and 10 little decorative flower pots and headed over to Auburn Villa to pass out some Easter cheer. Mason is so good about stuff like this, he has no qualms about knocking on a door and saying, "Happy Easter, I'm Mason and I thought you might like a little sunshine today." He has delivered lunches to the homeless in our town and that didn't scare him either, that could be good and it could be bad, a little fear is healthy. I'm sure he is not scared as I am with him and I can hear him saying something like, Mom, I'm bringing them food, why would they want to hurt me? Right? He's a good boy, though he still has a lot to learn in that he is living a very privelidged life and has no idea what it feels like to truly want for something or not have his most basic needs met. This is a huge challenge for me as his mom - finding a way to help him see, while not putting him in such a place none of us want our kids to know. In any case, he made some older folks smile and one lady was so touched she cried. We went back to Gerry's place and he asked Mason if he knew how to throw pizza dough and was totally surprised when Mason told him yes. They both put on chef hats and proceeded to show each other what they could do. We took some photos and left Gerry with some homemade cookies, hard boiled eggs and a chocolate Easter bunny but I think that all paled by comparison to Mason just spending some time with him and making him laugh. 

Mason and Gerry - Happy Easter!

I hope your Easter was as lovely and I would love to hear all about it! Have a great week and do something to brighten someone elses day this week, it can be something as simple as sharing a smile with a stranger.

It's Springtime!

Happy Monday and Happy Easter Week, and spring break! It's just happy, happy, happy! 

It's springtime for sure with flowers and trees in full bloom, it's super pretty but on the flip side, could be making you suffer if you have allergies. I know I had a few sneezy days. It's crazy that we are suffering our 4th year of a horrible drought and the east coast is still getting crazy rain and snow. With all the intelligence and technology we have, how come we can share our sunshine and flowers and they can't water all of our agriculture with their over-abundance of the wet stuff? 

Speaking of the east coast and springtime, one of these days I will get to Washington DC to see the cherry blossom trees. The first Japanese cherry blossom trees in Washington, DC were planted on March 27, 1912. They were planted by First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda the wife of the Japanese ambassador. Over 3,000 trees were delivered the day before as a gift from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki  with the intent of symbolizing

and honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. 

The delivery was a very coordinated effort several years in the making, and this was actually the second and only successful delivery. The first go-around happened in 1910, but the shipment of trees was unfortunately diseased and infested with bugs. Thankfully the 1912 shipment was perfect, and those cherry blossom trees still remain today. Friends of mine who have been while they are in bloom say it is a sight to behold, it's on my bucket list for sure.

What are your favorite springtime and Easter memories? Do you make Easter like Christmas with lots of gifts or is it more traditional with coloring eggs, a basket with some candy and a chocolate bunny and Easter dinner? We love to color eggs and Mason lives for an egg hunt. We also do an Easter basket with some candy and a small toy or two (fits in basket) but Dave lives for Easter dinner - rack of lam (that only he likes), ham (because only Dave likes lamb), a vegetable and the traditional lamb cake. I have several Easter memories through the years, Easter dresses and black patent leather shoes when I was little, then "Easter in the Woods" with a longtime boyfriends family - lots of fun for both kids and adults, and then the fun I've created for my family, but through all the years, Easter has never been about lots of material gifts.

Have a lovely spring break and Easter, I know we will!

It Rained!

Happy Monday!

It's officially springtime and last night we got rain, just a little but hopefully enough to wash away some of the pollen that has been plaguing me and so many others I know. This is going to be a busy, busy, busy week. Not only is it the last week before spring break, but Mason and I have a number of irons in the fire that seem to all need our (read "my") attention at the same time. It's interesting how these life tides ebb and flow, and how something that didn't pan out last year has a different meaning this year. I can't say it's less exciting or important, just that after a big disappointment and the passing of another year, I think one comes to realize that no matter what, it's all going to be okay regardless how it plays out so let's just enjoy the ride. I know this is true for me, and it seems like it may be so for Mason, too. 

Dave is back in school and not liking this class or the time it is taking to make school happen with work and family. I can honestly say it's so much easier to make it happen when you love the curriculum of your classes. I spent 5 1/2 hours editing video Saturday night and when I realized it was 1:30 AM, it seemed as if I had just sat down to get started. 

As we all head out the door this morning to work and school, remember to be kind, smile at people you don't know and hug those you do - just because! Have a great week.

Your Taste

Happy Monday, mother nature has been sure that she did not want to give us a real winter here in California, but she's not all the way sure she's ready for spring either. Our weather has been fickle, overcast with cool breezes one day, and then the next day it'll be bright and sunny 80°. Doesn't feel much like early March. I'm not really complaining, however we really need the rain. The rivers and lakes are going to be nothing but puddles this summer.

On other fronts, we have lots of exciting opportunities on the horizon. We can't share the details yet, but as soon as we can, we will! Mason is cooking like crazy and we are having a blast coming up with video ideas since I am loving my video classes so much. I edited my first video all the way through and though it's still very basic, I am getting more and more comfortable using the program and tools. I want to do so much more, I'm sure you all understand when you have an idea or a vision in your head of something you want to create, yet when you take action the end result is not even a fraction of what you imagined. Right? In one of my classes, my professor shared this little tidbit with us and did it ever speak to me! Maybe it will speak to you, too. Monday's are rarely our favorite day of the week, but if you can think with something that keeps you engaged and doing what you love, even if you are not as good at it as you would like to be, then I will have done my job! Really, take the minuscule amount of time it will take to watch this and enjoy a little spot of inspiration. Taste

Happy Monday and keep on moving forward, one step at a time and even if you don't get "there" the journey will be worth it.