We All Do It

You know we do.

We stand in line at the grocery store, 

we look through the magazine racks,

we ALWAYS pick up the magazine with the 'quick' dinner ideas

RARELY do we buy them. 

Well, I bought one. 

I KNOW. 

I broke the rules. 

But this recipe made the entire purchase worth it. 

As most of you know,

I am expecting baby #2 late in February. 

I don't exactly have a ton of energy to be standing at the stove for hours.

In the Spring issue of the Betty Crocker 

115 Super Simple Recipes 

I found this: 

Looks delish, right?!?

Chicken & Pasta with Creamy Basil Sauce

Start to finish time: 30 minutes 

(MY KINDA RECIPE!)

3 Cups uncooked bowtie (obviously I used Penne) pasta

2 Cups fresh broccoli florets (I actually had this in my fridge!)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, 

cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend 

(of course I don't own this! I used garlic powder, garlic salt, and black pepper)

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

1 small red bell pepper, chopped 

3/4 cup Yoplait All Natural Fat Free plain yogurt 

(this is me rolling my eyes because you KNOW this 

is such a staple in my shopping list... I used low fat sour cream)

3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

(I used about three teaspoons dried basil)

1. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli during last 4 minutes of cooking; drain.

2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. 

Sprinkle chicken with garlic-pepper blend (we discussed this!) 

Cook chicken in oil about 3 minutes stirring occasionally, until no pink in center

 (I cooked much longer giving the chicken a nice caramelized glaze)

3. In small bowl, mix broth, cornstarch and sugar.

 Add broth mixture and bell pepper to skillet. 

Cook about 3 minutes or until sauce is thickened. 

Stir in pasta, broccoli, yogurt (we discussed this!) and basil. 

Heat over low heat until hot - do not boil! 

Seriously this came out amazing. 

Your picky children (my two year old) will eat it. 

Enjoy!!

xo,

Jacqueline

Home

Home. 

So many different images float through my head when I say this word.

The ranch in the valley where I learned to ride my bike, ride a horse, shoot a gun

The house on the hill where I found arrow heads and jack rabbits

The  apartment in the college town where I started to figure life out

The house I shared with four phenomenal women

The mountain top in Montana where I felt free and alive

The beach where I can feel my soul pulsating with the waves

The smiling face that met me when I got home from Houston

Ft Bragg, CA 2011

Of course she was accompanied by her Daddy

Oct 15, 2011

Wherever these two faces (soon to be three!) are is where Home really is. 

Make sure you click over to A Prairie Sunrise and see who else is sharing stories of Home. 

I bet they will warm your heart. 

xo

Jacqui

And The Journey Begins

Well, I've now been up for 24 hours. It is 5:02am and I am sitting next to the gate waiting to board.

Yesterday consisted of work, errands,  work, packing, driving. In roughly that order.

Nate drove me to the airporter and had me there at 10:15pm. (This was Wednesday night AFTER he had class!!)

I got to SFO a little before midnight, right after I got the call that nate made It hone safe.

It is now 5:08am. I am still at SFO. But it is worth it. In a few short hours I will be meeting up with awesome people and experience all the glory of Quilt Market.

October 20th

Today is my Mom's birthday 

I knew what I wanted to make her,

but I kept having 'something else' pop up.

So, today I came home from work and visiting my Gran 

And sewed by the seat of my pants!! 

And when I say 'by the seat of my pants'

I mean it!

I had pattern pieces to cut out and 

NO directions. 

SEAT OF MY PANTS! 

Resulting in this...

(not too shabby, if I do say so myself!)

Nothing like a little Moda & Michael Miller to make things go smooth!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Baby Be Blessed

So, I know Ive talked about the good things that are rockin' over at Baby Be Blessed - 

And on the off chance of sounding redundant, 

I really think that anyone with little ones in their lives needs to go check it out. 

Sssshhhhh! 

Don't tell Adrianne, 

but I'm ordering her a baby for Christmas with 

Hebrews 11:1 on it 

"Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen" 

If you know me, even just a little, you know that I'm big on Faith. 

Go check it out. 

xoxo

Jacqueline

Did I Mention...

That I was a guest blogger?!?!??? 

I didnt?!?? 

Well.

Then you should go take a look. 

I was Tuesday's Guest Blogger
at

And make sure to look around a bit.
Sha is amazingly thoughtful and very creative. 
Such a pleasant hostess!! 
Thanks, Sha, for having me!!
xoJacqueline

M.I.A.

Yep. 

You read that right. MIA. 

Missing In Action.

 Well, actually, Ive been in Action. 

Hence why Ive been missing from my blog.

In June we went to the NASCAR race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. 

I LOVE the rush of the cars swooping by!!!

SO MUCH FUN!! 

And, yes, Kyle Busch is my favorite. 

He is sassy - kinda like me!

The NASCAR Crew

Yes, we all like different drivers. 

Makes it more fun! 

We went to a couple Giants games -

Actually, we went to game two of the opening series in LA against the Dodgers. 

This was Adrianne's first baseball game, 

and she would NOT stop asking for a picture of 

Buster Posey. 

He is her favorite. 

(As any red blooded American Woman can see! 

DAMN! I love baseball!!)

In June Adrianne figured out how to unroll all the TP at once. 

She thought it was the funniest thing EVER. 

We also went to a wedding...

She is wearing her Party Pokie-dottie Dress. 

She asks to wear this dress ALL THE TIME!

And she got herself stuck. 

This brings us through June. 

Be on the lookout for July and August coming soon!

xoxo

Jacqueline