Cupcake Calendar: March and April 2012

I'm trying to keep myself busy while I make my way through the TiVo.

March

April

I sort of cheated on the April page by using a pre-made 5x7 "brag book" page and then "matting" it on background paper, but I'll have to work at things a LONG time to design something as nice as what the professionals come up with. When I try it, I always think my pages look busy and fussy, but of course when they do it, I think they look fantastic.

(Oh and also: those pictures on the April page are not from her birthday party, or even her birthday, but how perfect are they?)

Now if only I could get somewhere on the Cousins Calendar ... eesh.

12W12S11: Greek Stir-Fry

It's not really "Greek" and it's not exactly a stir-fry, but I didn't know what else to call this concoction besides "delicious." Possible substitutions are marked with asterisks.

Greek Stir-Fry
Makes 2 servings, about 550 calories each

• 3 ounces broad egg noodles
• chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons lemon vinaigrette*
• 1½ teaspoon olive oil
• 4 links (or about 12 ounces) chicken sausage with feta and spinach*
• 1 medium zucchini*
• 1 large yellow bell pepper*
• ¼ Vidalia onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary*

1. Cook egg noodles according to package directions, adding bouillon cubes to cooking water if desired. When done, drain and toss with vinaigrette. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Slice sausage into thin rounds. Add sausage slices to skillet and cook 1-2 minutes or until meat starts to brown slightly. Stir.
3. Slice zucchini into rings. Cut pepper and onion into strips. Season with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook 1-2 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir.
4. Add rosemary and continue cooking until desired level of doneness, making sure meat is fully cooked, stirring often. If necessary, reduce heat partway through cooking to prevent burning.
5. Divide noodle mixture between two bowls. Top with cooked sausage and vegetables. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

*Possible substitutions: Instead of "Greek" stir fry (which, BTW, is because of the feata-and-spinach sausage and the lemon vinaigrette), you can make this "Italian" by using Italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette instead of lemon, and sweet or hot Italian sausage. If you want, you can swap out oregano for the rosemary, but I like rosemary and it will work fine. Also, I used zucchini and a yellow bell pepper (mostly for color), but you can use a yellow summer squash and any color peppers you want. You could also add a can of diced tomatoes if you wanted to and cook the liquid down by at least half (I often do that when I serve this with a heartier pasta instead of egg noodles), or serve Italian-style stewed tomatoes on the side.

Let me know if you like it!

Cupcake Calendar: August 2012

Sometimes, you see some pictures, and you KNOW.

(Dedicated especially to my sister who likes to look ahead in my Flickr photostream.)

Cupcake Calendar: July 2012

I have to rebuild my entire digital scrapbooking library because the Apple Geniuses are really not as smart as advertised and they couldn't "find" my all my scrapbooking stuff to bring it over to the new computer, and I have to re-learn how to use Gimp because some of the buttons and shortcuts work differently on the Mac vs. the old PC, but you know what?

When you have a great picture to start with, you're pretty much set.