Caitlyn's Chocolate Chip Splash

My six-year-old is back in the kitchen.  It won't surprise me if she has a smoothie restaurant by the time she's 10 - she loves inventing new recipes!  She made this one up this morning and asked me to share it with you.  I told her that with that much chocolate, it will definitely be a once in a while treat!

Caitlyn's Chocolate Chip Splash

1 cup chocolate chips
2 pinches salt
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup milk
Lots and lots of love (this can be accomplished by blowing kisses into the blender)
cinnamon sugar, for topping

Put all ingredients except cinnamon sugar in the blender.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into glasses and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  Enjoy!

Edit 9/20/15:  We make this one for breakfast at least twice a week now.  We've revised it to only use 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, and add 1 cup plain yogurt for extra protein.  Still delicious!

Tuna Casserole

A friend of mine is looking for a good tuna casserole recipe.  I don't know that mine is any better than anyone else's, but we like it. 

Tuna Casserole

8 oz. egg noodles
1/2 medium onion, diced (OR 2 T. dried minced onion)
1 clove garlic, minced (OR 1 t. garlic powder)
2 7-oz. cans tuna fish
1 2-oz.  jar diced pimentos
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I use the boxed soup from Pacific Natural Foods, or you could use three cups of homemade white sauce and 1 cup diced mushrooms)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Boil the noodles in salted water according to package directions; drain and set aside.

If using fresh onion and garlic, saute onions (and mushrooms if adding fresh to homemade white sauce) over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil until soft.  Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more. 

In a large bowl, mix tuna, soup or white sauce, onions and garlic (sauteed or dried), and pimentos until well mixed.  Stir in noodles until combined.

Spread evenly in baking dish.  Sprinkle cheese over the top.  Bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until bubbly throughout. 

Helloooooooooo 2015!

And helloooooooooo sadly neglected blog!

All day today I've been thinking about resolutions.  What have I done in the past?  How quickly did I crash and burn?  What's the point?  Am I just setting myself up for failure by setting some lofty goal that I can't follow through with?

Truth is, I am a creature of habit who lives squarely in my comfort zone.  Resolutions tend to mess with that. 

So here I sit, thinking of all the resolutions I could possibly make.  Things like...

Lose 30 pounds
Save money
Clean the kitchen every night
Keep the house clean
Make a weekly menu plan and stick with it
Eat all the leftovers
Step away from the electronics on occasion
Read a book a week
Blog every week or more
Make more time for my friends
Have more patience.  With everyone.

Truth is, I'm tired.  2014 was an exhausting year.  New routines at home.  Stuff happened at work.  Stuff happened with friends.  The fact of the matter is that I've been doing life pretty half-assed lately because I'm so tired I just want to crawl in a hole.  So in truth, I need to do less, not more.  Figure out whats most important and do that.  Let the rest take care of itself.

So there you have it.  My resolution for 2015, or total lack thereof.