Summer Food, Summer Fun

It's summer time, and in my house, that means all the boy birds have come home to roost in Mama's nest. And there's something you should know about boy birds...they're hungry! These days, we don't have a lot of leftovers. I cook it, they eat it, and it's gone, end of story.

I try to get creative with what I have on hand, stretching the family food dollar any way I can. When the local Giant Eagle ran a sale on Barilla pasta ($1/box), I stocked up on a month's worth of pasta!

This recipe came together with what I had on hand.

Chicken Fajita Pasta

1 box Barilla rotini (w/ extra fiber)
2 c. grilled chicken strips, cubed
2 small green peppers, sliced and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
fajita seasoning packet

Boil pasta according to directions. In two or three tablespoons of olive oil, saute chicken strips, green peppers, onion, and garlic until tender. Add canned diced tomatoes. Add fajita seasoning mix. Drain pasta and place in large bowl. Add ingredients from skillet to pasta and toss.

Serve with shredded Mexican cheese, salsa, a dollop of sour cream, chopped avocado...whatever you like! Enjoy!

Easy food leaves more time for summer fun, like piano playing!

Okay, maybe that's not what comes to mind for most people when  they think of summer fun. But here at our new house, we are thoroughly enjoying the new piano that was left to us by the previous home owners.

Sam plays it all day, every day. He's learning various renditions of chopsticks, and he's getting pretty good at the theme from Psycho. Yeah, we're a pretty strange family.

I've been practicing scales, notes, and chords while teaching myself to play the theme from Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley addition) by Jean Yves Thibaudet. It is a beautiful, simple medley. if you've never heard it, you need to go listen to it right now.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co1-GiL-pJA&feature=player_embedded