Amanda's Blog

With these 3 ingredients and a Tbsp oil you can have Beef Tips and rice on the table within 10 minutes!!

Put 1Tbsp oil in pan and heat
Add 2 cups minute rice
Stir together, then
Add 1 can Roast Beef with Gravy and
1 can Beef Consommé

Bring to a boil, put a lid on pan. Stir occasionally. Done in 5-7 minutes.

I remember having this at one of my favorite places to eat after church on Sundays, The Andrews' Home. I'm not certain if this is Mrs. Kathy's exact recipe, but she's definitely the inspiration and I think of her every time I make it! Thanks Kathy Darlin'!

Over 15 years ago I met my husband Bubba. When we got married he had a beautiful 3 year old daughter named Paige. Now we are a family of 5, with one on the way Paige is now 18 and we have Twins named Carlee and Carson who are 3. We waited MANY years, failed adoptions, TONS of prayers and In Vitro finally got the twins here. Now after all that we were surprised to find out that we are expecting once again! Due in October '13.

I've seen and heard about lots of cute ways to reveal the baby's gender. So when I found out we were expecting I started thinking of how we could tell our friends and family. Paige is a Senior this year and I knew every one would be here around then, but thought that time should be focused on her. My dilema was my sister lives in Dallas, TX. One of my best friends Sabrina lives in New Orleans. Lives are just busy for everyone these days!!
I searched Pinterest, Etsy, the Internet, everywhere I knew to look! So many good ideas, none that fit the needs I had for each special person. Here are the stories of several of the different ways we told friends and family! Hope you enjoy... I had A BLAST with this!!

This is my Sister, Brittany. She lives in Dallas, TX and works in Grand Prairie. I sent her on a mission... wrote out these elaborate directions of where to go and when. I had researched the Best of Dallas bakeries, conspired with her Roomie came up with a plan. Called Barbara at Barbara's Bakery Boutique in Grand Prairie and got her help. She fixed 6 cupcakes with blue icing with decorations that say, "it's a boy!" She had them ready and was expecting Brit. I hear that those are THE BEST CUPCAKES EVER! One day I will see for myself! Thanks to Gabby and Barbara for your help!!

This is my friend Sabrina who lives in New Orleans. I got help from her boyfriend Jordan to find the BEST bakery near her job. I also sent her this cryptic message, she only knew an address and a time and that there was a package waiting for her! This was SO much fun for me!

This is my friend Racquell...AKA Boobie, Raq Mac, Ebony.... Lol we met briefly and I have her a Hershey bar with the HE blued out. I made her close her eyes and hold our her hand. She later told me she thought I was gonna punch her. Lol

This is my friend and SIster In Law. She works at a busy medical clinic and I had Paige deliver her Hershey bar, there's no WAY this busy lady had time for a mission!

This is my friend Amanda's cupcake. I had Albrittons Cake house in West Monroe put blue icing in them for me. Amanda is a RN and those fellow nurses know sometimes nurses are lucky to get a bathroom break, do a mission was out if the question for her too. I delivered hers to her floor. Her husband Casey helped me get organized... He scored a petit for put of the deal too!

These are My InLaws Brenda and Mike. my husband took them and his brother Chris to lunch, they had the cupcakes from Albrittons and Ultrasound pics to see. Obviously by this pic... My husband does not have the Mamarazzi skills that I do... At least he got a pic!

This lady is my FAVORITE PERSON ON THE PLANET!! My Grandma Lettie... She lives a couple of hours from me, my mom and I went to her house to visit and took her a candy bar! She said she really wanted to eat it, but would mess with people using the candy bar then eat it later!! Lol

These are my parents, Gary and Joyce. My mom actually passed me up on Thomas Road when I was on the way to the local bakery after work. I called her to see if I could stop by after work. She told me she had just passed me up, I told her to meet me at Albrittons. She took a cupcake in a box home with instructions not to open it until the instructed time... She made the mistake of telling my Dad, he was SO antsy to open. We called via FaceTime to see them find out!

This is our sweet Big girl Paige!! We told her by giving her a pink and blue balloon, the making her close her eyes for the reveal! My phone died right before she opened her eyes!!

This is Carlee, Carson and Bubba. The backstory here is since day 1, Carlee has said she wants a Sister, named Allie. Carson from day 1 has wanted...A NUFFIN! He finally conceded to a Cousin, but that's not My department! Lol

There is a hilarious video where Carlee is spinning around screaming NO BROTHER! Carson's crying, wont even hold a balloon! Made me take his back to the car!!

This is our beautiful cousin Jenn! She's a WHNP and is taking great care of us! We love and appreciate you!

I hope you enjoyed our reveal to some if our family and closest friends. We were unable to deliver to everyone we had planned due to a family emergency, but had fun sharing the way we did... I had WAY too much FUN! Truly blessed for all of these people!!

We (Paige and I) are trying to eat healthier. We have cut out grains. So tonight when my husband wanted Spaghetti, so I had to find a healthier option for us.... SPAGHETTI SQUASH! Scared? Don't be....

This is what it looked like in the grocery store.

I cut it in half. (Which requires a very good knife) put it face down on a baking pan, added water to bottom of pan, covered with foil and baked at 350 degrees for an hour.

You can take the seeds and pulp out and the just run a fork through it and it strings up and looks just like angel hair pasta!

I put it in a pan, sautéed with real butter and coconut oil. Added salt, pepper and garlic salt to flavor. Served meat sauce over it. I loved it. My husband was SO intrigued he tried it (he rarely tries new things!) he tried it and said it was, "Pretty good."

And YES! If you MUST slurp your noodles you can still do it this way!! ��

As A busy mom to a Senior in High School and twins that are 2 1/2 I often do not have much prep time for meals that I once had. I look at lots of recipes but rarely follow them. I will use this blog to share recipes that have short cuts to help other busy moms! Enjoy.

1 stick of butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 green onions
1 small bag of seasoning blend (already cut up onions, bell peppers and celery) find this in frozen food section
Sauté all ingredients above in pan until a soft and light golden brown (see above)

Then add:
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 12oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp worsteshire sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp sugar
Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic salt and Tony Chachere's seasoning
Add all ingredients to sautéed veggies. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

Add:
1 pound of shrimp
Let cook 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Hint: you may serve over spaghetti squash. For those who don't eat grains.

Hint: my husband does NOT like the texture of tomatoes, so I use crushed tomatoes. For a more chunky texture use diced tomatoes.

I'm a working mother of 3 who has a busy life, just like the rest of the world. I like to share my experiences, stories and recipes.