Tasty Tuesday ~ Best Ever Mac & Cheese

Mac & Cheese is definate comfort food. I can eat it on a rainy day or a sunny day! Pretty much anyday is fine with me :) Who doesn't love Mac & Cheese ???? I've tried different recipes that I've found just by going to google, but none as good as this one! Enter my very favorite cookbook and one of my fav bloggers! The Pioneer Woman. I'm sure everyone has heard of her - she's a bit famous as a blogger. I love this cookbook and if you go to her blog you can find tons of other recipes.

Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese

Start with cooking 4 cups of macaroni, just until firm. Don't overcook it or it will be mushy. Set the cooked macaroni aside. In a saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of flour, whisk over low heat for 5 min. Pour in 21/2 cups of milk , add 2 tsp of dry mustard, whisk until smooth .In a seperate bowl, beat 1 egg then add 1/4 cuup of the sauce into the beaten egg, whisk until smooth, pour egg mixture into sauce. Add about 3 cups of cheese ( I used sharp cheddar, but you can use whatever you like ). Stir, then add the salt and pepper. 

Pour sauce over the macaroni. Mix well.

Pour the mac & cheese into an oven safe casserole dish.

Add the rest of the cheese - you can never have too much cheese !!!

Cook at 350 until the cheese has melted. 

This is what it looks like just out of the oven ..... yum ...

Add a salad or add nothing at all !! 

To get this delish recipe just click on the link below and ENJOY :)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/

If you get a chance to check out her novel which is a hilarious read and all about their love story. I highly recommend! It's one of those just can't put it down reads :)

Weekends Are For :

Ah.... the weekend ....... what we long for all week ... It was a beautiful weekend here and hubby didn't have to work, so we made the most of it ...........

riding bikes .....

playing ball ...

Maggey's excitment when she discovers her brother's name on the bat .......

I told the kids it was still too cold to swim ..... so they decided to get near that water one way or another ....

Watching out the window, waiting and hoping a tractor will drive by .....

Saying GOODBYE to the dandelions taking over my lawn .....

I realize they look pretty - but not on the lawn ..... :)

Husbands transplanting rosebushes ......

Getting the garden tilled :) Doubling it's size from last year ...

Little Man showing me where he's planting his potatoes and corn ... 

cause he thinks he's a real farmer - remember ???

Meeting new baby cousins ......

Welcome Colton :)

Loving that my feet will look like this for the next 4 months :)

Running in bare feet .......

Our first trip to the ice-cream bar  - cause it had finally stopped raining :)

Older sisters carrying tired little brothers around the Walmart :)

Girlies who still aren't too big to want to go in the kids rides ....

Impromptu games of golf on the lawn ......

Karis having her first walk on the Longest Covered Bridge in the World :) She was super impressed !

A nest the kids found on the bridge. Here's what we intellectuals know... They are not robin eggs, cause those are blue.... and they are too small to be chicken eggs ... Well... that's it, that's all we know ! I'll keep you updated on the eggs :)

Uncles who love to make their sweet nephews smile .....

Throwing rocks in the river ......

The sky that looked like this every single day ......

WELCOME SUMMER ......

Tasty Tuesday ~ Mars Bar Squares

These simple squares seem to be a hit where ever I take them and they only take minutes to make! They are basically rice krispie squares without the marshmallows :)

So it's pretty simple. You will need four of these yummy bars. Chop them up into bite sizes pieces and throw them into a sauce pan with 1/2 cup of butter. Heat on low and stir until the mixture becomes smooth. Then remove it from the stove.

Add 3 cups of Rice Krispies to the yummy butter- chocolate bar mixture! Stir well. Press evenly into a 9x9 inch pan. 

Now .......

Throw 1 Cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a sauce pan along with 1/4 Cup of butter. Stir until melted on low heat. Spread evenly over the squares. Chill in fridge. Should make 36 yummy no calorie squares.... :)

ENJOY :)

Mars Bars Squares

4 Mars Bars

1/2 Cup of butter

3 Cups of Rice Krispies

then :

1 Cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/4 Cup of butter

Feels Like Summer

We had a HOT long weekend here! Ya know, the sunburnin, don't even want to go inside kinda weekends :)
So yesterday we headed to the Army Base to spend sometime with my husbands side of the fam! We have 3 nephews and 2 nieces but only 1 doesn't live what seems like a kajillion miles away! I just can't stay away from  Little Handsome Nephew Dude! I mean just look at this face!

Which brings me to the 8 reasons my newest sister in law rocks ! 

1. Well just look at the pic above .......

2. She lets me hold him for forever !!!!

3. She feeds us - all 5 of us !!!

4. She doesn't even flinch when Little Man leaves trails of chips all over her clean floors .....

6. She got me a cake for my birthday - CHOCOLATE !

and.......

7. It didn't seem to phase her when "Somebody's Little Boy " sprayed the hose through her open living room window :)

8. She actually wants to come visit us this weekend ..... I know !!!

Today was another scorcher for May! I did ALOT of this! Yep that would be me on my back, on a blanket,  with a book - doing NOTHING :)

 The kids wanted to wash the van! Not sure why we keep giving Little Man the hose ! He picks no favorites to whom or what he will spray! 

Why waste money on weights to bench press when you can use daughters?

The kiddos did lots of hanging around in the trees ...

Mostly cause their mother had parked herself under the trees for the entire afternoon ! We didn't even go inside to eat - I brought the food out to them ! So today - the house stayed clean :)

I wonder where she got this idea ???? :)

The beauty of the Hotter weather :)

Happy Mother's Day

I Corinthians 13
For Mothers
Adapted by Jim Fowler
If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love,
I am a housekeeper ­ not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love,
my children learn cleanliness ­ not godliness.
If I scream at my children for every infraction,
and fault them for every mess they make,
but have not love,
my children become people-pleasers ­ not obedient children.
Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present "mommy,"
the taxi-driver to every childhood event,
the counsellor when my children fail or are hurt.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
All the projections I had for my house and my children
have faded away into insignificance,
And what remain are the memories of my kids.
Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture,
dishes with missing place settings,
and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,
But the greatest of all is the Love
that permeates my relationships with my children.