Happy Birthday Dad!

We are fortunate to still live close to mom and dad and get to celebrate everything with them! I love that we are able to do this.

Sunday, mom made a delicious dinner for Dad's birthday - stuffed shells, salad, (Jen's) applesauce, and bread. His cake - the infamous Miami Beach Birthday Cake! It is always nice to spend dinner with mom and dad and grandma too on Sundays - no matter the occasion! We had a wonderful afternoon with everyone!

Here's dad being silly of course - with his birthday cake:



Dad - we hope you have a wonderful birthday! I couldn't ask for a better father and role model! God has blessed our family in many ways as we have you as our father and "head of the family." It's always so wonderful to spend time with you (and mom):) no matter the occasion. I can't put into words or express how much we love you and appreciate all you have done for us. I hope we have expressed it though over the many years. I am VERY proud to call you DAD and look forward to each time we get to spend with you guys! Thanks for everything and may God bless you (and our family) with another wonderful year together! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! We love you! :)

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice and Orange & Banana Smoothies...

Tonight, Ron was home so he cooked...as I chopped the ingredients. I had cooked 3 chicken breasts - without salt/pepper - on Saturday and only ate one on my salad that night. So we used the 2 cooked pieces of chicken and made the following...with, of course, a few changes:



Velveeta Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1/2 lb (8 oz) Velveeta cheese, cut up
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

Cook chicken until no longer pink.
Stir in broth, bring to boil.
Add rice, Velveeta, and broccoli, and cover.
Remove from heat. Let stand 10 min. Stir until Velveeta is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

OUR changes...
2 cooked chicken breasts - chopped - added to the broth and brought to a boil. We used a whole container of chicken broth (32 oz) and about 1 cup of water BECAUSE we didn't have instant rice and the liquid disappeared...Ron looked over the "instant" in the recipe - oops! Cooked until the rice was soft then added FRESH broccoli - let cook/simmer for a few minutes (5 maybe) and then added/stirred in Velveeta cheese.

OH MY was this yummy! We're guessing liquid from the FROZEN broccoli and instant rice made the difference with the liquid but it all depends on what you prefer.

THEN...I made Orange and Banana Smoothies. I made Ron one the other night and split it for us tonight. Here's the recipe:



Orange & Banana Smoothie:

1 cup cold milk
2 oranges, peeled
1 banana, peeled
1/4 c sugar
pinch of salt
8 oz yogurt
4 cubes of ice

Mix all in blender and serve.

I used 3 oranges tonight because the banana over powered the orange flavor. I used my Activia yogurt too (plain/vanilla). I didn't use the salt but Ron stated it could use some tonight.

We both don't like the pulp of the orange in it - Ron suggest straining it before putting in the ice. Since we're fortunate and have a ice dispenser on our fridge - I used the crushed ice to be nicer to my blender. Previously, I've put ice cubes in a plastic bag and crushed it with a hammer or throwing on the floor before putting in the blender.

That was our healthy meal for tonight! The chicken dish was nice and easy clean up too because it all goes into ONE PAN! YAY! :)

Let me know if you try either of these...fresh veggies and fresh fruits! YUM!!!

SURPRISE....?

Last weekend we ventured to KY to visit with friends and Ron's best friend since elementary school's 30th birthday. Ruthann had a surprise party that, surprisingly, he didn't find out about until right before the party when HE didn't follow the plans! We drove down thursday and arrived around dinnertime. We played games and visited with everyone (REALLY nice visit) all weekend. Saturday, the plan was that everyone do whatever during the day then meet at a friend's, Dan, house at 5 (for the guys) as they were going to take Don out for his birthday. Don didn't listen and showed up at Dave's...which is where the party was. He felt bad but it was still a WONDERFUL night. At that point, Ruthann didn't care a whole lot as she had been planning this with Ron and I since before Christmas!!!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

(Some are of the party at Dave's (where we stayed) - some are us gaming at Dave's - the cake Mary made from scratch (well...all but the cake mix) - and the little guy is Don and Ruthann's baby, Donald Lee Richardson IV, he'll be 1 in April and is such a cute and fun little guy!)
















Oh and all the candy little Donnie is playing with, was Don's gifts from his crazy friends...Ruthann wanted something that had to do with "30" so we all got him 30 oz of candy or 30 things of candy...so much for his diet he's on! :)