Go ahead...feel good!

Okay, stop what you are doing...

Go outside...

in the middle of your backyard would probably be best...

look up at the sky...

take a minute to listen to everything going on...

smile...

take a deep breath...

NOW YELL, with all your might----

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!


come back inside and resume whatever you were doing before...

AND, smile.

The Boutique Angels want YOU!!!

The Boutique Angels Charity Organization is looking for buyers to join in
a group to help suggest and decide on a children's charity for our next launch in August!
We are a group of over 330 members consisting of custom boutique designers who come together quarterly to launch for a designated CHILDREN'S charity...100% of the proceeds from our Ebay auctions are donated to the specified charity.

If you have ever wondered when we'd launch for your charity...you must join this group and let us know what it is!
Request your invite here!

We've grown zucchini!!!!

Some of you may remember my posts here and here. I was so excited to actually be starting our own vegetable garden...oh the money we would save! Well, I haven't any idea as to what happened to the snap peas...they are nowhere in sight...the cucumbers? Well, the plant is out of control and growing right up our fence...but no cucumbers yet. BUT, today I found a zucchini! A beautifully green zucchini...about 8 inches in length! See her debut here:


I was so excited to see her...and she has a couple of siblings growing as well...look at them!

I'll be honest, I almost wanted to take her inside, dress her up and prop her right by my cook top...she was so darn pretty! But alas, reality set in...and I realized in a few days she would spoil and I do not like to waste food...and so I cast her in a small part in the following dish! She did very well!

As I was perusing some of my favorite blogs (see links over yonder to the left)...I stopped at this post...and almost immediately wanted to join in on the fun...and so here I am: cooking and blogging about it! Thanks Patty! I really haven't had any leisure time lately...but when I saw my zucchini today...I immediately ran inside for my camera...funny how this blog has been making me stop to question myself---"Hmmmm...is this a Kodak moment?" Anyway, I thought I would share a dish that my family enjoys which just so happens to include ZUCCHINI.


Here's what you will need:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts-cooked and cubed
1 zucchini (wink, wink)-=sliced
1 bell pepper--diced (I like to use red and gold peppers as well, but did not have any on hand)
1 medium-sized onion--diced
1 clove of garlic (optional)
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp cumin
1 bunch cilantro---chopped

White corn tortillas--fry them in oil to make taco shells and set aside


In a medium sized pan place all of the above ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the zucchini and bell pepper have softened...for this dish, I do not prefer the vegetables al dente...however, you may cook them to your liking. It will look like this:


How should you plate it, you ask? Well take a slotted spoon and place a generous portion into a taco shell. Serve with homemade Spanish rice and avocado wedges. A nice iced tea goes perfectly with this meal!

SAVE the broth...use it as a first course by adding some tomato paste and top with some freshly shredded Queso Oaxaca for a delicious tortilla soup!

OH...YUM-ILICIOUS this was!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!

If you'd like to be added to the Cook it! Blog It! blog roll, simply leave a comment here and Patty will add you!!!!

There are only 3 short rules:

1. COOK IT.

2. SNAP IT.

3. BLOG IT.

Happy Cooking!!!!

So much time...so little to share....

,..okay, scratch that and turn it around (to paraphrase from a favorite quote). SO much to share, but so little time to actually do it!

First off, I hope everyone had a great time on the day we celebrate our wonderful country's independence! We traveled down to my brother's home for a day full of fun! There was golfing, sack racing, a mini parade with shoe box floats, swimming, swinging, laughing, storytelling, fireworks, deer sightings, BBQ, Birthday cake and making old fashioned ice cream...Oh my goodness that was YUMMILICOUS !!!!


The evening ended with the children sound asleep and the men doing flips into the pool..NOT in the big pool mind you...the kiddie pools...the two feet deep pools-needless to say 4th of July is a big holiday for us...well...okay..MOST holidays are big for us!

Secondly, we have been needing rain in this part of the country...really, really needing rain! AND, of course it would rain on the weekend in which we planned to spend our days outside...it rained all weekend long...intermittently...but all weekend long nonetheless. I didn't complain because, again, we are in dire need of the little drops from heaven. My brother has a river several yards in the back of his house...I took this picture around the same time last year...




...this is what the river now looked like this past weekend...



...rather sad really as we are river rats. During the summer months, that is normally where you will find us...but the last couple of years the rivers just haven't been the same...and neither have we...we find solace in the pool...but its not the river. It is hard to believe that this is the same river in which just a few feet away from where my daughter is standing in the first picture there is a huge rock in which we all sit around because the water is over our heads. The same river that on occasion will swell and break from it's banks and cause flooding. No one wants the flooding, but it would be nice to have the rivers running with fresh clean water. Now I have to mention that not all of the rivers in the area are like this one...there are those that really never dry up...but even they aren't near as high as they once were. People from out of town still come in masses, but as a friend of mine mentioned...I know the difference, and I wouldn't be swimming or floating them right now. Okay...so I really should stop, because it just started raining...perhaps we are moving in modern times and the rain dance is not the only way to get clouds to turn on their sprinklers...have I just done some rain blogging???

Well, this is all for now...so much more to come...

Happy 4th!