I'd like to give a shout out...

to my husband. He is officially an old man today... 29! Just kidding. He'll be an old man next year. Anyway, Happy Birthday to Nate! I made this cake for him today and it was THE BOMB.COM. (who says that?) I wish I would have taken a picture! Not to toot my own horn, but it looked awesome and it was delicious. This photo doesn't do it justice. You can find the recipe here. Its really quite easy to make.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne

I made this today, and it was really delicious! And its quite healthy too! I would highly recommend it.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water for the last 1 min.
COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel cheese.
DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. or 8-inch square baking dish.
BAKE 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min.
Now eat it. Yum.

This must be said

If you've been watching the Bachelor this season, I'm sure you've noticed that Jason is lacking a personality. Sure, he is a cute, sweet guy and all, but come on... he never adds anything to any conversation. Ever.

So what is his solution to the "no personality" problem?

If all else fails, JUST MAKE OUT!

Whenever he can't think of a single thing to say, Jason leans in for a kiss.

Whenever things just get awkward, Jason leans in for a kiss.

Whenever one of the girls pours her heart out to him, Jason says nothing, and LEANS IN FOR A KISS!!!

Hello!! Kissing is not the solution. Say something! Anything!

P.S. You gave Jillian the boot?! What were you thinking? She was the best by far. But I guess it was a good decision because she deserves a fun, interesting guy.

All About Paige

Paige loves her baby doll. She carries it everywhere, and she has to take it with her to bed every night. She says, "Baby! Baby!" all day long.

She also likes to climb into her shopping cart.

She loves popcorn too. She goes to the pantry and says, "Pah-cun" all the time.

She likes to watch Baby Einstein videos, and YouTube clips of babies laughing and stuff like that. She calls movies "mee-ees."

I'm realizing that Paige is very "girly." She loves to put headbands on by herself, and she thinks everything is a bracelet. And she tries to put our clothes on when she finds them laying around. She loves dressing up.

Last week I made cookies and let her eat the dough. We're wild and crazy around here.

Happy Valentines Day

For a Valentine's gift, I'm buying tickets for Nate and I to see Coldplay in a couple months. I am really excited, and so is Nate. I just found out today that they are coming here. We went to their concert together almost 4 years ago in Seattle, and we LOVED it. It was so much fun. I wanted it to be a surprise this time, but I am such a wuss because I'm always afraid of doing the wrong thing for Nate. What if he bought the tickets too? Or what if he thought it was a bad idea for some reason? Ya know? But he was really excited when I told him about it, so now I definitely wish I would have made it a fun surprise for tomorrow. Shoot! Anyway, Happy Valentines Day!

Have you seen this?

OR SEE IT HERE.

I thought it was really touching and sweet. I would love to have an opportunity to help starving children in some way. I saw this entire segment on TV, and Salma was actually trying to teach the women of Africa that it is good and healthy to breastfeed your children as long as they need it.

In Africa, the doctors encourage women to nurse for the first 2 years of their child's life, at least. However, African men try to limit breastfeeding because for some crazy reason, they do not believe in having sex with a woman who is still breastfeeding. So they want their wives to breastfeed for just a short time, which is ridiculous because there is not enough food for these children. I think breastfeeding is awesome. Plus, its FREE!! I think it was great that Salma made that point, and is trying to help these women and children.

New song

I just recently discovered this song, Capri, by Colbie Caillat. Its the first song on my playlist. Give it a listen. I love it. I just think its really sweet. These are the lyrics:

CAPRI

She’s got a baby inside

And holds her belly tight

All through the night

Just so she knows

She’s sleeping so safely

To keep her growing

Oh when she'll open her eyes

There'll be no surprise

That she'll grow to be

So beautifully

Just like her mother

That’s carrying

Oh Capri, she’s a beauty

Baby inside she’s loving

Oh Capri, she’s a beauty

There is an angel growin’ peacefully

Oh Capri, sweet baby

Things will be hard at times

But I've learned to try

Just listening patiently

Oh Capri, sweet baby

Oh Capri, she’s a beauty

Baby inside she’s loving

Oh Capri, your beauty

Just like your mother

That’s carrying

Thank you, Matti!

For years I have had little success with baking yeast breads. I've tried quite a few different rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc. Somehow, nothing ever turned out very good, so I gave up. But my good old Hawaii friend, Matti, posted a recipe for "Homemade Wheat Bread" a couple days ago, and I decided to give it one last shot.
So, I made the attempt today, and it turned out great! I was shocked that I actually did everything right! I'm so glad that I finally know how to make bread. Here is the recipe if you want to try it. I think my problem has always been in the fact that I dont have a big mixer for the kneading. But this time I just kneaded the dough FOREVER, and I guess that's what made the difference. So is that what everyone without a bread machine or mixer does? Just knead it until your arms and wrists cramp up, and you feel carpal tunnel coming on? Whatever it takes to get some yummy bread I guess. It was worth it of course.

Another video

Raise your hand if watching this video makes you want to be in Hawaii. Bad.

This is cute!