Do you ever meet someone and KNOW from the instant that you connect that you are going to LOVE that person???  Well, that is how it was for me and Krista!!  We have never met in person but I ADORE her!!  She is AMAZING!!  How can a mind work like hers, I will NEVER know but she is a computer genius!!!!  ;)  She is offering some FREE advertising so PLEASE stop by and take a look at her blog!!!!

KRISTA

I'm so glad I'm getting a chance to be featured in your blog, Randee! Thank you for having me :)
A little about me.. I'm an 18 year old second-semester Forensics student, CRAZY about web design and creating new things every chance I get! I'm SOOO fortunate to have someone like Randee in my life; we met thru a mutual friend as she needed my help with this website & we've been close ever since!! She is so crazy and just always so fun to talk to & I absolutely LOVE her recipes and posts!! If you get a chance, please check out my blog HERE; and come be colorful with me!! I would love to have ANYONE featured that would like to be !! Which BY THE WAY... I'm currently pretty much a blank slate website, so I'm giving you all the chance at some FREE {yes I said FREE!} ADVERTISING on my site!! All you have to do is start following me, that's ALL you have to do to be eligible ! I will have a drawing every night for a week straight - which means there are SEVEN chances at a FREE 180 x 120 spot on my site !! If you don't have a picture that will fit that size, don't worry - I will make one for you! So please head on over, you won't be disappointed!

Okay, so enough blabber... here's the recipe ;)


Baked Zucchini Sticks & Sweet Onion Dip!!!

Find out the full recipe HERE; if you don't want to read mine, haha.

For this recipe, I used two zucchinis - about medium size. (8" or so long) Cut each zucchini into 3″ sticks about the diameter, give or take, of your finger. Doesn't really matter how you cut them, because I just made sure I cut them each about two/three inches in length haha! Place the zucchini sticks in a bowl & sprinkle with salt, let sit while you're making the rest of the recipe.

FOR THE DIP:

First, melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan over medium heat, & add 1 medium sweet onion (about 1/2 pound), sliced & diced. Stir them occasionally until the onions soften & change in color. It took about 10 minutes for them to change light brown like I wanted them to. The lower the heat, the longer it takes, but the less likely you are to burn the onions. While waiting, preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil.When the onions are finished, remove them from the heat - and combine with the following in a small food processor or blender:

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp dijon mustard

Blend until fairly smooth; remove from blender/processor and stir in 1 cup mayonnaise. When that is done, I set mine in the fridge to kinda thicken up some more and keep cold while the zucchini are cooking.

For the coating of the sticks, you will need:

1 C Panko bread crumbs

1/2 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Just blend it together with your hands - that's what I did.

Next step - beat 2 large eggs in a bowl. After you're done, dip each zucchini stick in the egg, and roll in the mixture of bread crumbs.

Place the sticks on the baking sheet & bake them for about 12 min, until they’re starting to brown. Remove from the oven, and turn them over; bake an extra 12 to 15 minutes or so, until they're a crispy golden brown color.

AND ENJOY!!!! :) Healthy, and wonderful!

RANT

Today I am RANTING!!!  If you are not up for it, I totally understand!!!  But I just need to get it off of my chest!!!

ONE....I HATE for people to not answer a text!!!  It takes all of 2 seconds to type out a response and press send!  Don't tell me that you just got tied up and didn't have time!!!  Get rid of your text package if you can not bother to pick up the phone and return a text!!!  COMMON COURTESY PEOPLE!!!!!  I am pretty sure I am not texting you for my health!!!

TWO....I was a nurse in my PRIOR life but for the LOVE OF GOODNESS.....GIVE the child an antibiotic!!!  He has been sick for 10 days and has a history of asthma that lands him in the hospital!!  But WHATEVER....let chance it!!  It is not like we ABUSE the antibiotic privilege....but since some HIGHER BEING has deemed it BAD to prescribe antibiotics, my child has to suffer!!

Three....I am tired of hearing about animal cruelty!!  It is not that I want it to continue and I know that showing it raises awareness BUT it breaks my heart and I go to bed and can not get the images out of my mind!!!  It seems that our society has lost its morals and we will never be able to out think cruelty!!  And the other thing.....where are the parents to the kids that are committing these acts of cruelty??  What are they teaching their kids!!  IT all STARTS in the home!  TEACH your kids compassion and respect for animals and LIFE!!!

On an HAPPY NOTE....I am working on a project that is going to

KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!!!  ;)

SLEEPY SUNDAY Linky Party

Welcome to SLEEPY SUNDAY!!!  I hope that everyone is having an AWESOME weekend!!!  I can't wait to see what CHAOS you guys have been up to this week!!!

I wanted to give you guys a "heads up!"  Starting next week, I will be co-hosting the

SLEEPY SUNDAY party with Leanne from Because I Think I Can and Jennifer from Don't Mess With My Tutus! We will be having GIVEAWAYS!!!  I am SUPER DUPER excited about this so be sure and link up next week!!

Ok...here are my "RULES" this week!!  Have FUN!!!  ;)  This is a BLOG HOP so please psot the link on your page!!!  This will allow you and all of your readers to see the AWESOME projects you are linking up!!  ;)

School House Scraps Feature

Good morning!!  It is FRIDAY, so I hope that everyone is having a GREAT day so far!!  Today I want to introduce you to an AWESOME lady....AMANDA!!  She is new to blogging, like most of us, and has a real knack for creating with the things she has laying around in her house!!!  So grab a cup of coffee and hop on over to her blog and take a look!!

School House Scraps

Hi! I'm Amanda and I am the creator of School House Scraps

A little about me... I am a school teacher with little free time, (like most of
us!) who loves do it yourself projects, scrapbooking, cooking and creating just
about anything! My blog is the collaboration of all those things and some other
life experiences!

So, grab my button and stop on over to check out some of my projects to do
yourself!

Some of the exciting new things going on at School House Scraps are the projects
on the DIY page! 

In honor of the upcoming Holiday, you can find the steps to creating your very
own Valentine's
Day Wreath. 

Or, if you are into home decor like I am, you can find a couple of crafts to
spruce up the interior! 

(Like these monogrammed
burlap letters) These are super easy and would be cute on the wall,
standing, or as gifts for others! We have given them for Christmas, as well as
house warming gifts!

And finally, one of my favorite things to do... SCRAPBOOKING!

I absolutely LOVE to scrapbook. I have been scrapping for for a looooong time,

but really started getting serious about it a few years ago. Since then, I have

made several books for clients, and would LOVE to scrap for you too! If you are

interested, check out my "Scrapbook
Pages" page, and get in touch with me. I would so enjoy working with you!!

I have also recently started digital scrapbooking, so if that is something that

you enjoy, I am able to create those for you as well!

I am so excited for you to hop on over to School House Scraps and check it out!

Grab a button, become a follower, and leave your comments! I am looking for ways

to improve all the time!

Can't wait to meet you and begin working with you!

Blessings!

-Amanda

THANKS Amanda for showing us some REALLY cute projects!!  ;)

A Week of CHAOS!!

Do you ever wonder just WHAT THE HECK I DO all of the time.....TODD does!!  ;)

Here is just a SMALL taste of what goes on in the Hallmark HOME!! 

I made MY favorite chicken spaghetti that Todd
HATES!!!  :o 
I REALLY don't understand how you can actually HATE chicken spaghetti!!

Read "Tickle Monster" 168 times in 3 days!!  NO LIE!! and pretty sure I have carpal tunnel syndrome now!!  WHERE IS DADDY?????

OH WAIT.....he came home only to feed the kids REDI WHIP straight from the can!!

Here is my "hippy" that has developed an attitude that could rival any 16 year old!! 

 WHERE IS THE WINE????

Proud moment????  Sitting in the chest that holds the CLEAN towels eating cookies (don't judge about the cookie snacks!)....can you say

CRUMBS!!!

Feeling like POOP and still baking 100 mini muffins and a cake to make

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

for

100 Days of School Snack!

Trying for OVER an hour to make these pictures ROTATE and they will NOT....no matter what I try, do, say, hit, beg....WHERE IS THE WINE????

But on another note....this is "buddy's" sad face that daddy says makes mommy M E L T!!!

This is how our child eats.....no kidding!!  His rear-end is NOT touching the table!  The rest of the family sits in a chair, you know like HUMANS normally do, but not this MONKEY!!!

And yet, ANOTHER pic that I can not rotate!!

I found the wine....and somehow rotated this pic!!!  This is my German Chocolate cake that my AWESOME husband made me from scratch for my 21st birthday......I am guessing he could not find a "2" so he used the candle I had for Nathaniel's 4th birthday!!!????

 This is what I woke up to on Sunday morning!!  My "bubbies" cooking my cake....something SEXY about a man using a KitchenAid!!!  IJS!!!  :)

And then I had to make "buddy's" class snacks and he wanted MONKEYS so he got MONKEYS!!! 

WHEW....r u exhausted yet???  LOL!!  What did you do this week???  I would LOVE to hear about it!!!  :)

Amazing Apps

As the new year gets off to a GREAT start, I find myself once AGAIN talking to myself about my last 10lbs of "baby fat" that I need to lose from Nathaniel (who will be 4 in 2 weeks!!)  I just ALWAYS find an excuse to put that donut in my mouth!!  I have a sweet tooth like nothing you have ever seen before!!  I will eat candy instead of a meal!!  ;)

A friend of mine was looking through a magazine and came across these 2 AWESOME apps for your smart phone!!  She forwarded them to me and I immediately downloaded them and headed to my pantry!!  ;)

The first one is
FOODUCATE!!

The first PLUS is the fact that it is FREE!!  ;)  You scan the bar code of the food with your phone and it immediately gives you a readout that includes a

GRADE from A-F
CALORIES
% of people who like the product
PRODUCT DETAILS
FOODPOINTS Value

It tells you whether or not it contains trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, and fake ingredients, etc!!  It gives you a list of good and bad for each product!!  NOW...here is the AWESOME part!!  It gives you a FOODPOINT Value that is equivalent to Weight Watchers points!  Now they do not say this anywhere but when you compare with the WW app, the points are the same!!!  ALL in ALL, it is an app I will be using in the upcoming days!!  ;)

The second one is called
My Fitness Pal! 

It is an online food diary that makes you accountable for what you put into your mouth!!  I will admit that this app will be a struggle for me!!  I have downloaded it but not sure how much I will actually use it!!

I also have started a "new" thing where I do not eat before 9:00am and after 6:00pm!!  It has been hard and I will tell you by 10:00, I am DYING!!  ;)

I will be updating about my weight loss but by no means is this a dieting blog!!  I would LOVE for you to tell me what you are doing to lose weight??  Leave me a comment and share so we all can benefit!!!

HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

Mary-Catherine's teacher came to me and asked me if I would be willing to a "cute" snack for the 100th day of school!!  Of course, I said YES!!  I went home and started looking around on the web and even went to Pinterest but I just couldn't find anything that I LOVED!!  I found that most people brought different items in 10's such as M&M's, cheerios, pretzels and then combined them to make a hundred!!  Ok...that was all FINE and DANDY but just not me!!  So my little mind went to working when it dawned on me that I had the PERFECT idea!!

One of MC's favorite books of all times is

ERIC CARL'S

The Very Hungry Caterpillar! 

 I remembered where I had made a birthday cake once in the shape of a caterpillar so how could I make the HUNGRY CATERPILLAR for the 100th day!!  Well here is how....

YES....there are 100 MINI CUPCAKES!!!!  ;)

The kids AND teachers loved it!!  ;)