Parade fun

Ok, so I'm a little slow with another yearly tradition. Here are the photos of the 4th of July parade.

Claire has danced her way down the street in the HOT sun with her dance team for the past few years.

She looks forward to it and she's always smiling! Except for the first photo where she is sucking on an ice cube.



There's that smile we love:)

1st PLACE

What's the best way to finish a season?? With a 1ST PLACE TROPHY!!

Tuna Salad

Another repost, only this time it's one of my favorites. Tuna salad always reminds me of summer.

You are going to need
1 lb Box of your favorite shaped pasta~I like skinny elbow, mini bow ties or small shells
2 cans Tuna drained~I prefer to use packed in oil because it has more tuna taste but typically have packed in water in the house
1 small onion minced
1 C Frozen Peas
2 stalks Celery chopped
Ranch Dressing
Miracle Whip
Pepper

Cook your pasta according to directions in salted water. You want to make sure it is fully cooked, al dente has it's place and it's not in tuna salad. Put your frozen peas in the bottom of your strainer and when you drain your noodles, you will defrost the peas. Put both into a bowl. Add tuna, onions, celery and pepper. Give it a good stir. Cover and put in the fridge until just before serving or leaving. If you are going to serve right away, that works too. I personally like a tuna salad that is a bit warm.

The dressing...you are going to use 3/4 Miracle Whip to 1/4 Ranch dressing. Start out with a total of a cup and add more Miracle Whip and a tiny bit more Ranch. Taste. I usually end up using more Miracle Whip because you don't want it to be too "ranchy" tasting but the Ranch adds a nice touch. Experiment, you'll get the flavor you like. Be careful NOT to put too much Miracle Whip, a wet salad can be a real day wrecker. You can always add more if it dries out, but you can't take it away.

An Observation

Today Max and I went to a funeral for a man who has been Max's soccer coach and his son is also the classmate of Max's at Learning Works. It was a crowded mass and Max and I had to stand for most of it because so many people came to support the family.

While I was standing and watching the crowd, I couldn't help but notice a few things unrelated to the reason why we were there.

Two children playing with electronics during the service. These kids were around 4 years old, so old enough to be taught how to behave at a funeral. Playing baseball on an iPod, in my opinion, is not what we do.

Another little girl, when it was time to stand for a prayer, hopped up and down until her Dad stood her on the back of the pew so she could see. See what is my first question but my second, why do you think it's ok to teach your children that we stand on the back of a pew?

Two other kids who obviously didn't feel like standing during the prayers and when their parent told them to, they still didn't. The parent just shrugged and allowed them to sit. Really??

Lastly, when the service ended. People just started filing out with no order, no respect for the family that I have always been taught leaves the church first. Max even said, "What are they doing? The family hasn't left yet".

When did we lose touch with manners and common courtesy? When did we stop teaching our children how we respectfully behave? When did people disconnect and think that's it ok to allow electronics in a place of worship? It drives me crazy to see it at restaurants, but at a funeral??

Have people just given up on teaching their children proper etiquette because it's just easier to hand them something "fun"?

Well, I'm not that girl. I have passed on what my parents taught me. I have taught from the beginning how to behave at social events. If their behavior was unacceptable and they became restless, we left.

I've taught them, that you wear your best and you TUCK your shirt in. I've taught them to take their hats off at the dinner table and when the flag is raised. And, I've taught them how to show respect and I'm thankful that my parents took the time to instill that in me.

I am sad for our future generations. If everyone just gives up and checks out, if they take the easy route, where are we going to end up?

Lunch

My friend Julie lives in Dallas so I don't get to see her very often. We've been friends since 7th grade and although we don't talk as often as we'd like, when she comes back, we don't miss a beat.

Alanna and I met her for lunch and a little shopping. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Enchilada Pie

I was craving Mexican food today. So, Claire had tacos and I made a version of this for me. I used the leftover taco meat instead of Mexican beef and altered just a bit but the final answer is the same, so I left the photos for assembly purposes. It was YUMMY and just what I wanted...how often can you say that??

What you'll need:

Can of HOT Enchilada Sauce
1 1/2 C Taco meat ~ I used ground turkey today but beef works too
2 large Tortillas ~ I used some healthy high fiber ones I found
1/2 can Black Beans rinsed ~ you could also use pinto or refried..whatever makes you happy:)
3/4 C frozen Corn
1 C cooked Brown Rice
1/2 Green Pepper chopped
1 C Salsa
3/4 C Cheese ~ I used Monterey Jack

Spray your pan with cooking spray. Put about 1/4 C of enchilada sauce in the bottom.

Place Tortilla on top of that.

Sprinkle with half of taco meat.

Half of the beans next.

Half of the corn.

Half of the rice.

Half of the pepper.

1/3 of the cheese.

about 1/2 Cup of Salsa

Tortilla. Press down a little bit.

1/4 of what's left of the red sauce

Repeat process one more time.

Add rest of enchilada sauce and top with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Top with sour cream and/or guacamole and serve.





You don't have to rip the tortilla. Just make sure it covers as much of the bottom of the pan as possible. This particular tortilla I felt was riding up too far.


You aren't going to see rice in the photos because I made one of these to "taste" it, serving rice on the side. Dylan felt it was a missing component so I added it in the next pan I made and yes, good idea D!




YUMMY!

Mocha Frappachino

Decided to repost one of Max's summertime favorites in case you missed it the first time around.

What you'll need
2/3 C Milk
3 Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream ~ We like Breyers at our house, Natural Vanilla
2 T Instant General Foods Suisse Mocha Cafe

Put it all in a blender and give it a whirl. Top with whipped cream and chocolate syrup and serve.

I did make it with 1 1/2 C Milk, Ice and 2 T Mocha..Max didn't hate it but liked the ice cream version much better.

Three rounded scoops of ice cream
Here is the Suisse Mocha
The Magic Bullet I received as a Birthday present came in handy for this but you could use your blender.