SO EXCITED!!!

I was so excited when I was shopping at Trader Joe's today and found this new product!

I have been craving mac and cheese for some reason and even thought about trying to make my own gluten free version... but how convenient is this? I tried it out today and I was very pleased with the taste, given I haven't had the regular stuff in a while. I still want to make some homemade kind... anyone have a good recipe???
By the way... this is even better with TJ's organic ketchup. It's the best!

September baby girls

I am finally getting these pictures up of the two beautiful baby girls who entered the world in September. They both decided to come a little later than expected, we are so glad they are finally here!

Kelly was due Sept 10th. On September 13th (which is my mom's birthday too!) my dear friend Kelly and her husband Stan had their baby girl. They named her Teagan Grace and she was 7lbs, 9oz. and 20 inches. She is adorable! Thanks to needing to be born via c-sections, she has a beautifully shaped head :)

Kelly, don't kill me for putting this picture up, it was the only one I had of the 3 of you. Kelly is going to be such a great mom and Stan is such a happy father. You can tell Teagan has really stolen his heart.

I love holding newborns, they are so content. Even in my arms.

Then my friends and coworkers, Rebecca and Paul, welcomed their baby girl, Isabella Raine on September 21rst. Rebecca was due Sept 9th and did not find out what she was having, so there was a lot of anticipation leading up to the birth. They also had the baby at home, all natural! We are so happy everything went so well. Isabella was 8lbs, 9.5oz and 22 inches. She is a cutie and mom and dad are in love.

CAN SOMEOME PLEASE TELL ME....

What is this fruit??? We were walking in my parents neighborhood and came across two trees bearing this fruit. I picked one (don't tell) because I wanted to take it home to try it. Now I am afraid it is some kind of forbidden fruit and it will poison me! Anyone know what this is???

Mediterranean Chicken

I made this crockpot meal for the Nelson's who just welcomed a new baby girl into their family. There have been a couple of births this months and I will post some pictures of the families soon.
I got this recipe from Woman's Day magazine and then made a few tweeks of my own. :)
It is easy and delicious!

Mediterranean Chicken
serves 6-8

4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 lbs chicken breasts, fat trimmed, cut into chunks
2 red bell peppers
3 cans (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 tsp each cumin, minced garlic and salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 can (15oz) chickpeas

Serve with Brown Rice


1.Mix all ingredients except for chickpeas into a 3 qt or larger crock pot.
2.Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 7-9 hours, until chicken and vegetables are tender
3. Stir in chickpeas and serve over brown rice


Per serving:
234 cal
4g fat (1g sat fat)
31g carbs
5g fiber
63mg cholesterol
19g protein

G.E.T. Turns 100!

My dad's dealership is celebrating it's 100 years of business this year. There was a great article in the Long Beach Press Telegram and I wanted to share it with you. The actual article had a really good picture of my dad in the show room... if you get the paper, check out this past Sunday's and you can see it. I am so proud of the legacy of the dealership and the intergrity that my grandpa and dad have had in running the business.

I have been a "dodge girl" since I was born and feel like Glenn E Thomas Dodge is a huge part of my life. Here's to another 100 years!

http://www.presstelegram.com/columnists/ci_13379321

Gluten Free Coconut Chip Coffee Cake

This is the recipe for the gluten free cake I made for Haws' birthday. If you don't need to eat gluten free, just use all-purpose flour in place of the GF baking mix.

Coconut Chip Coffee Cake

1/4c butter

1/3c apple sauce

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups gluten free baking mix (I use arrowhead mills)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1c light sour cream

Filling/topping:

1/2c sugar

1/2c flaked unsweetened coconut

1/2c semisweet chocolate chips

1/3c chopped walnuts

In mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and then adds in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Combine baking mix (flour), baking powder, baking soda and salt in separate bowl. Add dry mix and sour cream alternately to creamed mixture.

Spoon in layers, half topping/filling into greased bundt pan, followed by half of mixture, the rest of filling and the rest of the mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Cool for 10 min before removing from pan.

makes 12-16 servings

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAWS!

Today my wonderful husband turned 33. I am not going to go on and on about how great he is, cause if you know him, I don't have to convince you of anything :)

I love this man!

I always say he has a hard time multi-tasking, but look at him go! Talking on the phone and still controlling the remote!

We went out to dinner last night to The Clay Oven in Irvine for Indian food (one of Haws' favorites). This place was soooo good! We highly recommend it. Then we went to the district in Tustin and saw a movie, came home and had the cake I made. It was really good and gluten free! It was my first try converting a normal cake recipe into a gluten free recipe and it turned out good. I will post the recipe once I get it back from my mom :)