Super Easy Dinner

I've made this several times and you might all be very surprised to hear that my little baby Johnny, who hates vegetables, LOVES this dish. It's super easy & can be made in less than 20 minutes from start to finish. Now that's MY kinda cookin!

Ravioli with Spinach & Bacon (or Pancetta)

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound ravioli- (Trader Joe's Four Cheese Ravioli's are the absolute best)
6 slices bacon or pancetta (I use pancetta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 bunches fresh spinach, thick stems removed (about 8 cups)
kosher salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

1 Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel–lined plate. Crumble.

2 Wipe out the skillet and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, tossing, until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.

3 Cook the ravioli according to the package directions.

4 Stir the bacon and lemon juice into the spinach.

5 Drain the ravioli and add to the skillet.

VOILA!

Nutrition Per Serving
Calories 479; Calories From Fat 40%; Protein 20g; Carbohydrate 51g; Sugar 4g; Fiber 4g; Fat 22g; Sat Fat 9g; Calcium 202mg; Iron 3mg; Sodium 1082mg; Cholesterol 75mg

SCORE!!!!!!!

Just won 2 free tickets from WEBE108 to go to the Westport Country Playhouse again!

You Know I Love A Deal.....

So I wanted to pass on one way to save some money. Visit www.restaurant.com to get gift certificates to your local restaurants. It's super easy- just type in your zip code & it will give you a list of participating restaurants. You can get $25 GC's for $10. And if you sign up to receive emails about promotions they often give discounts of 1/2 off around holidays...so Father's Day is coming up so sign up now! John & I went out to dinner last night to Mario's with one of our gift certificates.

Baby Bird Update

So Monday afternoon John & I were sitting on the back patio eating lunch & just watching our birdie friends. There was only one baby bird left in the bird house & she was itching to get the hell out of there. She kept poking her little head out further & further, chirping away. Then she started poking her head out & putting her two feet on the bottom rim of the hole. Then she'd go back in the house...then inch out again with her feet on the hole. There was another bird sitting on the perch above her, I think watching...next thing she did was flutter in front of the baby as to say "Come on! You can do it! You can do it!". John says to me "can you imagine if we witnessed her first flight?"...and I swear to God, not even a minute later that little whipper snapper took off! Right in front of our own eyes!!!! We could not believe what we had just witnessed. A little baby miracle.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Holy Moly, talk about a nice long weekend....Thursday night I picked Kaelyn & Maddie up so they could spend the weekend with John & I. We went to the Rolnick Observatory in Westport http://www.was-ct.org/and had a really good time! The girls loved it and both asked questions about the moon & the planets and really listened to the answers!! It was a clear night so with the naked eye we could see the North Star & the Big and Little Dippers and a satellite. Through the telescope we saw a galaxy & Saturn...neat neat neat. Friday us girls were on our own so we did some much needed shopping (had to get the girls their annual bathing suits!) then we headed to the beach. Guess who's the only one who got burned....mmmhmmm...Saturday all four of us did errands & went to a tag sale then hung out in the backyard most of the afternoon- the girls helped plants some flowers & weed the front yard. Later on we all went bowling (forgot my stupid camera), then for pizza and then went to a local coffee shop for hot chocolate. Sunday was another great day to be outside- Mom & Dad came down to bbq with us & we celebrated Dad's birthday. Then on Monday John & I went and played tennis in the morning (once again, forgetting the parade) then relaxed the whole rest of the day outside. Our pool is open but freezzzzzing. All in all, it was one of the best weekends I can remember in a long time!


Rolnick Observatory

Jennings Beach, Fairfield

Planting flowers

Tortilla assuming her sleeping position- she sleeps with the girls every time they sleep over

Dad's Birthday- love the new hat! LOL

What kind of birthday would it be without some Coke?

A Bunch of my Favorite Pics

That's MY MyMy!

Are they the cutest little things ever????

Take a look at the baby birdies that are residing in the bird house in our back yard. They are cute cute cute!!!! You can hear them chirping away like crazy.

Look! See the two babies!!!

This is Grandma Steele at her finest!

Let me first give you a little background about Grandma Steele, just incase you don't know her....

• She is Polish and calls everyone Dolink..sp?... (pronounced Doll Link)
• She LOVES to smoke & will try to get anyone who visits her at the nursing home to take her outside so she can smoke
• She is the Grandma who fell & broke her hip at my wedding reception
• Her memory is going but she remembers certain people & older memories
• She always remembers me but forgets who Robyn is (heeheehee)
• She alway says "and your husband is John..right? oh he's so handsome"
• She is very sweet (but gives attitude to the people at the nursing home)
• She is a Yankee fan
• She is diabetic but drinks Coke & eats desserts like they are going out of style

So the last time Robyn & I went to visit her at the nursing home she persuaded us to take her for a smoke & she told this story...which mind you, she repeats it every time I see her & every time Mom sees her- I can't tell you how many times I've heard this story. I love it.

A Sellin Fool

So I've been super busy buying lots of clothes, shoes and handbags from the Goodwills around Fairfield County and listing the items on Ebay. I even purchased a manequin to put clothes on so they look better to the buyer! I've got two Goodwills that I go to regularly- at the one in Westport they know me by name now since I stop on my way home from work about twice a week. Anyways, I've been making a killing!!!!! My latest sell- a pair of True Religion jeans that I got for $30 at Goodwill- they just sold for $75. Eeeheeheeeeee....What a fun and easy way to make extra cash. If you're interested, here's the listings I have up now: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZczocziQQfrppZ50QQfsopZ32QQfsooZ2QQrdZ0

Mother's Day Part II- 5/16/09

Bobby was in town so we celebrated Mother's Day again! Bobby, John, Howard, and Mom N all went golfing in the morning..then we all met over at their house to help put up a fence (I did the hard work of holding the branches out of Howards face so he could use the screwdriver and I was also in charge of bringing cold frosty beverages to the crew- whew, I was tired!). After that we went to Jennings Beach in Fairfield to go to a small carnival. Jack hated it...lol..he did ok on the train ride but cried the whole time he was on the Merry Go Round. Then we went back to the Nelson household for some pasta dinner & a little Rock Band. Fun Fun!


Oh yeah...you think I wouldn't put this on the blog??

Pennings Beach Carnival

This may be some of the funniest video ever.....

Another round of practice

Friday after work we met Bobby, Big G and Sue at the driving range. Is it possible to get a hairline fracture on your hand from swinging a golf club? Cuz I think I did....
Anyways, look at those Guadagno Boys swinging in unison- who do you think has better form?