thai pasta salad

This pasta is sooo good. My friend Hillery served this as part of the "Mommy Food" at the awesome Halloween party that she hosted and was kind enough to pass the recipe on to me too! She added chicken and spinach to it when she served it and had even made a special batch just for me that did not have chicken in it (due to my allergy). How thoughtful is that???

Thai Pasta Salad

2 cups uncooked pasta
1/4 c. cider vinegar
2 TB. sugar
3 TB. creamy peanut butter
2 TB. soy sauce
1 TB. fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small cucumber, seeded and chopped
2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded (1 cup)
4 green onions, sliced
1 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook, drain, and rinse pasta. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine vinegar, sugar peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Beat with whisk until well blended. In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, cucumber, carrots, and green onions. Mix gently. Pour dressing over pasta mixture and toss gently to coat.

** I added about 3 cooked chicken breasts, doubled the pasta (actually, I think I just used the whole box) and added 2 cups of fresh baby spinach and doubled the amount of dressing.

My hubby preferred it warm and it reheated great the next day. You may need to add just a bit of water if the pasta seems a little dry.

Loved it and can't wait to make it again!

in disguise....

Xavier had a homework assignment to disguise his turkey like a family member so that they turkey would make it "safely" through Thanksgiving Day. Here is the Turkey before the disguise...



and after much deliberation, here is what we came up with...

  

Dr. Turkey!!!! A Surgeon Turkey to be exact. One that looks suspiciously like someone else we know and love:)

We mentioned doing a superhero turkey (which really would have been cute too) but in the end, decided that a Dr. Turkey would be more fun. Xavier had some help but he was definitely the idea man on this. His turkey had to have scrubs on with a pocket, string ties at the waist and glasses. He also wanted things in the pocket. We had Dad bring home some real stuff from the OR that we used. The mask was from a large mask, the hair bonnet from a large bonnet, the gloves from big gloves, etc.

We had a very funny discussion on the way home from school as Xavier excitedly told me about his project. After we decided to to a Surgeon Turkey the conversation went like this.

Me: Alright, let's talk about what we want this Dr. Turkey to look like.
Xavier: He should have scrubs on and maybe a jacket that opens up and you can see all his tools.
Me: It would be cool if we had some tools in the turkey's hands!
Xavier: Yes!
Me: What besides a knife could we put in his hands?
Xavier:  Uhhh, what does he need a knife for?
Me: For operating.

Silence.....from both boys.  

Me: You know... for cutting. (sometimes I forget who my audience is!)
Dax: What??? Daddy cuts people in HALF?
Me: NO, of course not!!!You know what Daddy does. What kind of Dr. is Daddy?
Xavier: A surgeon.
Me: And what does he do at work?
Xavier: Operations.
Dax: And scopes!
(At this point, I realize that even though they have the terminology down..they have ZERO clue what this all means! I hope that I have not scarred them for life!)

Me: In order for Daddy to fix people, sometimes he has to make a small cut on them to get inside their body to be able to help fix them.
Xavier: Is there blood?
Me: Maybe a little....but as soon as Daddy is done fixing the patient he stitches the small cut back up.
Xavier: Can we put some blood on the turkey?
Me: No. But we can call Daddy right now and tell him our plans and ask him what kind of tools he uses.
Xavier: OK, let's do that right now!

Yikes!!! That was a tricky conversation!! For the record...we put forcepts in his hands...but it really looked much more like tongs to me:) 

another "super" Halloween

The much anticipated Halloween was another fun event at the Noe house again this year. We had all sorts of activities going on for the week or so prior and Dax and I attended a fabulous Halloween party thrown by my very pregnant friend Hillery. The party was awesome and so much fun. It was blogged here by another friend. (No relation even though we have the name last name...she pronounces it NO:)

We carved some pumpkins in early afternoon of the actual day. Xavier was really into cleaning out the pumpkin and separating the seeds so that we could roast them.


Dax wasn't quite as enthusiastic!



He did not like the feeling. So he thought is was better if he helped Daddy like this...


Anyway, Daddy and I carved the pumpkins while the boys ran around doing other things. Iron Man for Xavier and Incredible Hulk for Dax....with the help of a tracing kit of course!

Some friends joined us for Trick or Treating and the kids had a blast.
 

Fun times!

The baby was even dressed in costume! I saw the shirt online and just had to make one. I drew it out and then had some anatomical corrections from the hubby, traced it onto fabric that had iron on adhesive on it and then just ironed it on. Sounds simple enough but took HOURS!!! Anyway, I was pleased:)

We had a ton of Tick or Treaters and went through 13 bags of candy...that was mostly just giving one piece to each! I wonder if we will have more super heros again next year??

4 and fabulous

My youngest is 4! I can hardly believe that 4 years have passed since Daxton Robert came into this world (right on his due date) and made our little family of 3 into 4. Dax is one of the funniest kids I know, has a will of steel and is so full of life and energy. He has such a quick wit and you never know what he is going to come up with next. He loves to give me kisses and will do just about anything for something out of the candy bowl. I love you sweet baby cakes and am so happy that you are mine!

As tradition dictates, the birthday person gets to pick what they want for dinner and dessert on their actual birthday. As we talked about it earlier in the week, Dax wanted pizza. A day or so later he saw a commercial on tv for this


and said "Mom! You have to take me there"! He saw in the commercial that the kids meals come in car boxes and he was sold!

This was his face when we saw it from the highway


He ordered a hotdog and root beer and he was thrilled with his birthday dinner.




After dinner we went home to open presents and eat brownie sundaes with a cherry and candles on top!

Here are some pics from the day.



We had a family birthday celebration for Dax too that included his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from Cincinnati too. He picked the theme



and it was a blast.


Thanks to all of our family for the gifts and well wishes for our 4 year old. They were much appreciated. Thanks also to my SIL Mary for taking pics so that I didn't have to:)

fall break

Xavier had a fall break and we wanted to do some fun things. Steve was able to take that Friday off so planned a few things. We decided to do a day trip to Louisville on that Friday and then some local things Sat. and Sunday. First we hit Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast. They have been on the Food Network and in the Food Network Magazine and many of my friends recommended it so off we went. It was really different and unusual .... not your typical restaurant! Xavier and I split the Bourbon Ball French Toast which is one of their specialties.

   


And an order of fried green tomotoes. They were both delish! Steve ordered the chirozo frittata.


Dax got a pancake
 

and managed to eat almost all of it!

We really had a fun time!
 

Then we were off to the Science Center.


This fun mirror at the entrance was cool!


The Science Center had a lot of interactive activities for the kids. Their favorites were the water play area and the Sesame Street Body Exhibit. This was so fascinating for Dax. You pressed the button and well, you heard the toilet flushing...


you get the idea:)

We also saw an imax movie about Dinosaurs. It was a fun day and a fun trip!

The next day we went to Keeneland (a horse track here in Lexington) and watched the morning workout. We stopped for some bagels and brought hot chocolate and had breakfast right there at the track. The boys loved watching the horses warm up and I couldn't believe how close they came to us. It was beautiful to watch. We got there early around 7:45 and it was cold. Only 38 degrees. The cold didn't stop the fun though:)



On Sunday, we went to a birthday party at the pumpkin patch so it was a full long weekend filled with activities and good family fun! So much fun that it took us all a couple of days to recover:)

spookin' it up

We spent some time last weekend making the house "scary" and the boys were so excited! We did a couple of craft projects to help us along. I saw this and was inspired to make one of our own. My helpers and I



created this for our front door.





We used glitter glue on the spiders to help make them show up better. We just used spider rings to put in the wreath. We love it!

I also saw this and Dax and I made these while Xavier had a play date at a friend's house.





I found an old medical dictionary to use and thought that it added to the Halloween factor....and it is just funny:)

We then proceeded to decorate the mantel.








We found the crows at the Dollar Tree and also the skulls. They were kind of bright so we tossed them in a bag with some brown paint mixed with a little water to age them and it worked great. The boys are all about scary this year and it has been kind of fun!

I also made some homemade tomato soup. This was from a recipe I saw in the Food Network Magazine that a friend gave me a subscription to. The magazine has a ton of great recipes and food related articles in it. Love it:)




Tomato Soup

1/4 c. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
2 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1/2 t. sugar
1 t. salt

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until vegetable are tender, about 25 mins. Puree until smooth with immersion blender, or process in batches in blender or food processor. Season with pepper and keep warm; add water to thin soup if desired. Serves 4.

It was fast and easy and healthy. I will be making this again soon!

Here's to a spooky, scary and fun filled month! 

sweet treats

I have been wanting to post this recipe for some time now. Look at these!



They are so good! Trust me...I'm pregnant!
I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

•2 cups Butter, Divided
•¾ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
•2-¾ cups Granulated White Sugar, Divided
•1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
•3-¼ cups All-purpose Flour, Divided
•3 whole Eggs
•½ teaspoons Salt
•½ teaspoons Baking Powder
•4 Tablespoons Milk
•3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, Divided
•2-½ cups Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips, Divided
•1 Tablespoon Shortening, Such As Crisco

For Brownies:

1 c. butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare 13X13 baking pan by laying a piece of foil in the bottom and up the sides. Spray with cooking spray or butter the foil.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla; beat with a spoon until combined. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (I always remove my brownies from the oven when a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the side of the pan comes out clean or almost clean.) Allow brownies to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

For Cookie Dough Filling:

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of cooled brownies. Chill before adding chocolate glaze.

For Chocolate Glaze:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. Crisco shortening

Melt chocolate with shortening and stir until smooth. Spread over chilled cookie dough layer.

When I made these the second time, I skipped the foil part and just buttered the baking dish with perfect results. I made these as written, but did the chocolate glaze layer a little differently. I made a ganache by meting the chocolate chips with enough cream to get it to spreading/pouring consistency. Anyway, they really rich but good!

A couple of weeks ago we stopped to get donuts after church.



We really wanted donuts from Spaldings...a fantastic hole in the wall, non-chain donut shop, but the line was out the door when we drove past. Instead we got Krispy Kreme and their "HOT" sign was on and they sucked us into getting a dozen instead of just 6.

Grubby little hands were all over them!


Warm donuts....yum!


Apparently, they were close your eyes good!