Tempting you again......

I just updated the food blog with dinner and dessert from last night and my lunch from today. Enjoy!

CROCKPOT CHICKEN CACCIATORE

COOKIE CARAMEL PUDDING

TUNA AND BEAN SALAD

Show and Tell Friday!

The wonderful Kelli over at "There's no place like home" has started this friday feature, here's what she had to say:

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, a new antique find, an old love letter. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better!

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My husband and I are avid sky watchers and we absolutely LOVE astrophotography. We're not great at it, but we have managed to catch some really good shots.

Saturn and you can see the rings on the left side

Jupiter and it's moons

Moon

Sun spot I caught on camera

Night sky

There is nothing like taking the telescopes out on a clear night and watching the sky for hours....we just love it and it's a great family hobby, the kids each have their own little telescope and they enjoy looking for the planets and stars.

I Am From....

When I first started blogging I had come across this meme, it's sort of a meme but not really. And I vividly remember reading some of the entries and thinking WOW, they're amazing. I've always wanted to do it and completely forgot about it until today, for some reason as I lay in bed with my two little sick ones, it came rushing back and I knew I had to blog about it.

I would love to see yours too, so if you're one of my blog readers and want to join in, just let me know in the comments so I can come read yours.

The exercise is based on a poem by George Ella Lyons called Where I'm From. Fred's post includes a guide to help those who might need it, which of course would be me.

My grandmother's hands....I LOVE this photo

I AM FROM.....

I am from aprons and greatgrandmothers cooking in the kitchen, from tea with milk in the morning and wholesome homemade food for dinner.

I am from a seaside town, from fresh seafood and big family gatherings. From the smell of the ocean and the sound of the seagulls, from the narrow roads and the sound of kids playing outside until after sunset, from cashew nuts and warm afternoons on white sandy beaches.

I am from palm trees, from dense scrub-brush and impressive palm groves, from waves washing onto the beach and tourists sun tanning.

I am from big family dinners, talking and singing, from a loving family, from Ema and Eduardo and Odete and Julio, from Jacinta and Antonio. I am from skillful hands, and loving hearts. From talented singers and painters.

I am from Christian family loving people, from dinner tables set for twenty, from beer bottles and wine, from talking too loud and laughing too much. From survivors of the Independence War in Mozambique, from fighters and courageous souls. From Portuguese, Brazilian and French.

I am from "wear a coat or you'll get sick" and from "don't go swimming right after you eat, wait at least 3 hours".

I am from Mozambique and from Portugal, from big plates of prawns and curry, from steaks and fries and from sweet rice pudding.

From the men who went to war during the independence and fought with all their hearts, from the greatgrandmother and grandmother who bought me little toy pots and pans to practice cooking, from grandfather Julio who loved life and loved to laugh, from grandfather Antonio who was a brilliant guitar player and accompanied one of Portugal's famous Fado singers.

I am from old photographs kept in boxes in the closet, from photo albums stained from age barely holding together the memories of years gone by, from crocheted pot holders created by loving hands and big family trips by car.

Babbling Post!

You know those days where you sit in front of the computer and you have so much to say but yet you can't come up with a title for it? Then you read some blogs and they have all these fancy shmancy titles and you wonder where they get the creativity from and want some for yourself but don't even have the energy to try and figure that out? Today I just couldn't care less......because I'm exhausted, I'm *trying to keep my eyes open* tired.

It's been 3 nights since I've had decent sleep. Nicholas needs a new mattress on his bed, the springs are all messed up and it's very uncomfortable and stiff, so he's been sleeping in with me and Curt, which believe me I'm not against the co-sleeping thing but when you have a Queen size bed and two adults PLUS a 5 year old, things get squishy. We're getting him a new mattress on Saturday but until then we either squash together or play musical beds all night long, every available bed in the house has seen me or Curt or the kids.....Nicholas has also been getting sick for the past 3 days, he started sniffling and getting restless and that's always a sign for me, I know that within a day or two he will be running a high fever, congested and just not feeling well, which brings us to today. Both kids home sick from school with fevers, sore throats, headaches and congested noses.

It's the joy of school age children right? There's some sort of summer cold going around the school and it seems they're all taking turns passing it to each other and staying home, I just hope it ends soon.

So I'm tired, I'm beyond that actually, I'm at the point where I am bordering on delirious, I just want to cry and beg for my kids to put me to bed and tuck me in LOL

But moving on....it's thursday which means crockpot day and right now I have a Chicken Cacciatore cooking for tonight, I'll have the recipe up on the food blog later. In the meantime if you go over there you'll see Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf, Crockpot French Dip, Creamy White Chili and all sorts of other drool worthy recipes.

I don't plan on doing much today, hopefully I can round up the kids for a nap after lunch. They stopped taking them around 2 years old unless they're sick and even then it's quite a struggle to get them to lay down. I don't get it, when I'm sick I just want to lay down and be left alone, kids bounce and jump around with fevers and downright yucky feelings.

Thank you all for the comments on my grocery post, it was so interesting reading all you had to say and seeing how you do your groceries and the shortcuts you take etc. As for the green bags and forgetting to take them to the store, I've done that before, but now as soon as I am done unloading the groceries, I fold them neatly and take them back into the car, when grocery day comes around again, I actually write on my grocery list *TAKE GREEN BAGS* in capital letters and make sure to put them on the passenger seat with my purse, that way I never forget them.

And yes, it's a little weird walking into the store with a stack of green bags but I don't care, I love them.

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This was our sunset last night, I had just stepped out back to turn off the water sprinkler when the colors in the sky caught my attention. It's just beautiful!

Well I would love to stay and chat but

1. I can't stay awake
2. I need more coffee to try and stay awake
3. I need more coffee just because
4. I have sick kids
5. I have sick kids
6. Well, I really do have sick kids.....

If you're a mother you know why that list makes sense LOL

Have a wonderful day everyone, I'll see you all back tomorrow, hopefully fully rested.

Slow Cooking Thursday!

All my slow cooking recipes are now online and starting today, I will add all the recipes shared weekly to my online del.icio.us site too. So if you're wanting to find ALL the slow cooked recipes that have been shared since the first SLOW COOKING THURSDAY, here is the link for you.

Don't forget to add your name to Mr Linky and a link back to your SCT post so others can come by and see your recipe too.

As always, share your slow cooking recipes but if you REALLY REALLY don't have one and still want to participate, then you can share any kind of recipe.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
1 cup "real" mayonnaise
1 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat for 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Pour into greased and floured bake pan and cover. Bake in a covered slow cooker on high for 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.