Good Eats

Now that our temps have eased up a bit, I've felt the urge to cook a lil more. With Neeley's help, I made Chicken Spaghetti using whole wheat fettuccine noodles the other night. Delicious!!!!

Whole Wheat Chicken Spaghetti

Boil boneless skinless chicken breasts. I used 3 breasts just for Neeley and I. Shred and set aside. Boil 10 ounces of any whole wheat pasta. I used more - an entire box of whole wheat fettuccine - to have plenty of leftovers. Strain noodles. In a large bowl, mix together pasta, chicken, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of cheddar cheese soup, 1 can of Rotel, salt, pepper, and 1 small onion. Pour mixture in to a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

What is your favorite summer go-to recipe??

Pampered Chef Catalog Show

Hi friends! I am hosting a Pampered Chef Catalog Show here. You can simply place an online order if you are interested, no reason to have to attend a home party. :) Go on over and check out their products. This show closes August 20th so we all have a couple of pay periods to shop! LOL

I LOVE their stoneware, and unfortunately ALL of my Pampered Chef stones broke during this move to Germany. I'm very sad about that. I had the pizza stone and a couple of the casserole dishes and they all got here in crumbled pieces. Let me know what you love most about Pampered Chef products. Happy Shopping!!!

Bloggy Know-How

Does anyone know how to change the text color of past posts? This here bloggy full-o-goodness has undergone so many transformations. And I have some early posts that have changed color so many times and now I can't change them from white text, so they clearly cannot be seen right now. :( Any ideas?

TurboFire Giveaway

Hi friends, don't forget about the TurboFire giveaway I have going on over on my health and fitness blog. You could be the lucky winner of this product that I don't even have. Jealous much?? :)

The TurboFire Giveaway is HERE!

When You Give A Girl A Kitchen....

....she will be ever so happy to use her creativity to make another concoction.

I don't always mind a little creativity in the kitchen, even if it is the masterpiece of the lil girl of the house. Sometimes it makes me want to leave the room and scream, but sometimes she also does a good job.

Today, she was in the mood for something sweet and started pilfering around in the kitchen cabinets. After adding a few ingredients together.....


Pouring it in to a shortbread pie crust........


Making coffee...........


And then warming up the pie in the oven for just a sec while the coffee brewed, we ended up with something pretty tasty.


We sat right down and enjoyed a mug of yummy coffee and a slice of Neeley's "Sugar High Apple Pie."

Neeley Beth's "Sugar High Apple Pie"

1 large can of apple pie filling
A sprinkling of chocolate chips
A dab of honey
A bit of cinnamon and nutmeg

Mix well and pour in to a shortbread pie crust. Put in the oven just for a sec to warm through. Um........delicious!?! :) It was good, but I think next time we'll leave out the honey. Enjoy!

There's An Artist Up In Here

I woke up this morning to find this greeting....


Neeley spends lots of time these days drawing. And she draws on anything she can get her hands on, even if it is my fave plate in all the world. :)

Who knows...that signature may make us rich some day. Haha!!

Morning Feast

Neeley asked for Pop-Up Pancakes for breakfast this morning and that is just what she got.


I'd say she was pretty happy about them.

Pop-Up Pancakes

1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
Dash of salt

Mix well, pour into muffin pan, bake at 400 degrees.

They puff up like big rolls and then flatten out as they cool. Much like a homemade sopaipilla. Yum Yum! We served ours with cinnamon, sugar, a lil honey, fruit, boiled eggs, and greek yogurt.

You should try them too!

Tales Of Ashley & Neeley . . . Is That Kinda Like Thelma & Louise?

Our weather was so-so the other day so Neeley and I just headed to a park close by. If it came a downpour on us, we would be close to our vehicle and close to home. The flowers there are so beautiful this time of year! We had a lil fun playing in the sprinklers too since it turned out to be so hot that day.

See . . . . I told you the flowers there are gorgeous. This is definitely one of our happy places.













And I leave you with this............ a BEAUTIFULLY SPECTACULAR view. This is close to the ice cream shop in the park.

TurboFire Giveaway

I have a lil giveaway going on over on my health & fitness blog. I am giving away a brand spankin' new copy of the new TurboFire workout program by Chalene Johnson, thanks to my Team Beachbody peeps. I cannot rave enough about this program. It is awesome. This is a $90 value all FREE to you. Just enter the drawing and I will pick one lucky winner on the 1st. I just wanted to share the giveaway love with you all too in case any of you are interested. It is the most awesome program ever, I think, and I am very jealous because I don't even have my own copy yet.

Hurry on over and check it out here. Just follow the McLinky love directions. LOL Just leave your comments in the Linky to enter. You won't be sorry! :)

Edward Or Jacob?

Are you an Edward or a Jacob fan? Me, I tend to think Jacob but this last movie...........


Well....I'm just not quite sure what to think of it. For those of you who have seen it, what are your thoughts? Maybe it's because my brain was caught in the tangled web of my school work, and cleaning, and putting a meal on the table somewhere in there and we watched it on our fave site, Ch131, so perhaps I just didn't see the good parts. Nonetheless, I was left feeling like it was a bore, like I missed something. So I watched it again and nope. I totally saw it all the first time. I just wasn't in to it.

So let me hear from you. What do you think??

Fun Mom Friday: Goodies From The Kitchen & A TV Show Or Two

I have been reading a lot of your fun posts lately and you all have some GREAT ideas!

Summers are all about fun, or are supposed to be anyway. :) I have worked during every previous summer break Neeley has had so it has been VERY nice to have a break this year for us to sit back, relax, and just have some spontaneous fun times together. A simple thing can bring such joy to your kiddos and yourself in return.

I surprised Neeley with Painted Toast for breakfast on this morning.


Thank you, Meredith, for the idea! Like I've said before, you're awesome and all have such great ideas for your kiddos to enjoy.

We also went to see Despicable Me in the theater one evening. And then we came home and did more of this.........


We have found lots of internet sites that allow us to watch our fave US tv shows from the internet. I usually hook up the computer to the tv so we can watch them on the big screen but I've had such computer issues lately that for now we just watch them from the computer. We love to snuggle up on the couch in the evenings and watch. See those jeans and hoodies? Yep, we've had a cold front come through and our temps are now in the 60's. Won't last long though.

What kind of fun have you had this week??

Homeschool Ideas

Ok, all you homeschooling peeps, let me hear from you. What are your likes and dislikes? What curriculum do you use? What do you recommend? Do you like a certain brand, company, etc.? Please give me a sample of your school day. How do you stay sane? Any advice, recommendations, pointers, etc.?? Do's? Don'ts? Please, please, please share!! Any and all information will be VERY helpful. Will share more on this story in the next couple of days, but just wanted to send out this quick post so I can get started right away on doing my research.

Hurry, Offer Ends Soon! And Something New...

Hey guys, don't forget to check out the giveaway in the post below. Unbelievable!

Also, have you heard of the Giveaway Scout? We'll see if this works...and you should see the widget on the side there. Go check them out! It's an AWESOME way to promote your giveaways and to also see what giveaways are out there.

Let me know what you think!!

Beautiful Hands Making Beautiful Things - A SUMMER GIVEAWAY!!

A girl loves a good product and a good giveaway, right? And I have just that something for you!

I know many of you are familiar with Etsy. And you know I LOVE to support Etsy business owners, and I LOVE to promote a good product. My friend, Nicole, has an AMAZING business on Etsy and has graciously agreed to participate in a summer giveaway here at The Bowden Brigade. Let me give you some information on Nicole's products.

INTRODUCING........


Nicole's store features organic soaps that differ from almost all other hand made soap because she uses the French Milled Method. According to Nicole, "This means that after I make my Cold Press Soap (where most soap makers stop), I wait for it to cure a week or so, and then I grate it up and melt it down again. For practical purposes, this makes the soap harder and more compact and lasts much longer than regular Cold Pressed Soaps." BRILLIANT IDEA, don't you agree? Way to go, Nicole!!

In addition to this process, when Nicole French Mills the soaps, she adds in additional ingredients that come directly from nature. I don't know about you, but this is VERY important to someone like me who has a daughter with eczema and other skin irritations. Many ingredients are harvested directly from her sea side cabin - seaweed [which dissolves and is destroyed in regular Cold Pressed soaps], stinging nettles, cranberries, rose petals and rose hips - whereas others are purchased directly from two Middle Eastern/African import shops that are in Bergen. There, she is able to talk to the owners about where the spices come from, how they are harvested and how organic they are. She does as much research as she can and purchases the best spices/ingredients that are available to her.

Nicole also has two women in Europe (on in Latvia and one in Sardinia) who are growing organic herbs and flowers for her. Talk about networking! These will be shipped to Nicole in a couple of weeks and I know she is very excited about using them. Because Nicole can guarantee that these ingredients are completely organic and are harvested by the women she speaks to, she will be using much more of these herbs in the year to come.

With the exception of Nicole's honey soaps, all of her soaps are vegan and all are palm oil free. Her use of olive oils and sunflower oils contain huge amounts of vitamin A and E, and considering the skin can absorb up to 70% of nutrients placed upon it, this is good to know. The use of coconut oil produces a hard bar and the use of rapeseed oil produces a very creamy texture.

I am eager for you to try her soaps and let us know what you think. Nicole is offering a one-time BOGO-Buy One Get One Free- opportunity for her bars of soap. Buy one bar of soap, and get one free. Wow! What a great summer pampering opportunity!! Visit her shop HERE and mention that you read about this opportunity from The Bowden Brigade in order to receive this promotion. In addition, let us hear from you! What did you order? What fragrance do you think you will favor most? Gosh, I can't decide! I can't wait to hear what you think of her products. I am betting that the Jasmine and Oatmeal blend is WONDERFUL for the skin.



This giveaway begins today, July 18th and expires on Thursday, the 22nd. So HURRY on over and get yours now. And tell all your friends about this AMAZING product. I know I am! :)

No Longer Ours

Remember this little girl? Well, it turns out she is really a he. And with she being a he, comes stinky boy disgustingness like no other I've ever experienced before. No one really paid Kimmy/Kimo/whatever his or her name is today much attention here in our house no thanks to our crazy year-long schedules, so now Kimmy/Kimo/whatever his or her name is today belongs to a new family. Yep, a family with 2 girls ages 6 and under. Way to go, L! You get Mommy of the Decade in your girls' eyes I'm sure. Enjoy!

Many Thanks

Do you like the new look? Many thanks to The Design Girl for the assistance. AMAZING! I have learned so much. Go visit her site now! You will be very pleased!!

You will notice the "Recommended Reading & Products" and the "Prayer Requests" tab at the top. Yes, for now, they are empty. When I have an extra few minutes, I will be able to go in and tag all previous posts that fit those categories, and will add to those in the future. So send any recommendations, prayer requests, giveaways, etc. here and I'll add them to the lists.

Enjoy!

Definitely A Scorcher...But Fun Nonetheless

Y'all, seriously...I can't decide when I will ever like the weather here in Germany. No reprieve EVER! I tried to take a pic of the temp posted in my car (it said 102 F today) but the pic didn't look good. Oh my! Yes, 102 degrees out today. And like I've said a hundred and two times myself, we have no A/C and with us possibly moving again in a few short months, I refuse to buy any of the portable A/C units that are usually around $400 or so. Yikes!

We have still been finding fun ways to beat the heat though. We've been doing lots of swimming and playing in the water at home. And we've visited a few amusement parks.

Our end of the year Girl Scout par-tay took place at Europa Park here on Tuesday. And it was fun!! The girls really enjoyed themselves as you can tell from looking at the pictures below.

















Now, let's see what else we can get ourselves in to before the summer is over. Speaking of summer being over, how many of you feel like summer is just about over by the time you hit the middle of July? We haven't even been out of school here a month, and already I feel like we are about to start back up again. And, right now, I can't tell you which makes me more miserable-the 102 F temps of summer or the temp of winter that feels like -102 F. :)

Enjoy the rest of your summer! I'm off to finish up some of my school work. I've had a VERY productive day so far but still have about 5 large assignments to finish in the next month.

On Which I Have No Comment...

We spend a great amount of time outdoors these days. That is, because it is miserably hot inside due to the no A/C issue here in Germany.

No A/C in Germany due to them being a crazy amount of money and we have no idea how long we will even be here to use one...no comment!

You can go here to see our current forecast. Temps upwards of 100 degrees...no comment!

We have only a lil over a month left in our summer. Where does the time go? My gosh...the kiddos just got out of school. And in the next month, I have to write 2 HUGE papers for my class, finish numerous other projects for the class, try to hopefully complete several household projects I have been putting off, and mark a million and one other things off my list...no comment!

Trying to clean and be productive in this heat...no comment.

Can you sense a trend? I know it was not this hot here last year. It was pretty hot some days but nothing like this. Many have said this is the harshest year so far weatherwise, and I say it can't get much worse than this. Cold showers before bed, cold showers after getting up in the mornings...yuck!!

We have made some time to have some fun in all this yuckiness. We've been to a few water parks, played outside with our hoses, pools, slip n slides, and water balloons. We've had some fun cookouts with good friends. The night of the 10th was the yearly light and fireworks fest and we are fortunate to live on a post where we can see everything all right here from the comforts of our closest playground. I bought glow sticks and glow in the dark tattoos for the neighborhood kiddos for that night and they were a huge hit. I also made homemade sno cones for everyone and they were delicious!! We've tried to make as many memories as possible during this most miserable time. We're doing the best we can but momma needs a break from the heat. Even the dog spends her days panting away from the heat.

What are you doing to beat the heat this summer? Hopefully you can go inside and cool off with your A/C after a long day outside. I really do try to appreciate the time we have here, but I am now counting down the days until we leave. Momma is spoiled with the A/C.

There is so much to tell you about and so much to write about, but I will sign off for now and share that for later. Life is pretty unbearable here even on a good day right now. Have heard that today is supposed to be our hottest day so far...and all I want to do is lay here and not move for sweating to death. Eeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

A Home Is A Work In Progress

Oh my word! Where have the past few weeks gone? Can you believe it is already July?? Gosh!

I am FINALLY making progress on decorating our place. Yes, after almost a year, I am still working on it. I have been so anxious to get all of our new pictures framed and put up. They have been sitting out and about and really driving me crazy. So I had a little fun the past couple of days getting them put where I want them. I added these 3 black and white photos to my red/white/black bathroom and I LOVE them. What do you think?


This shelf is over our mirror. I tried to get more of the room but there was a huge glare on the mirror from the camera flash that it would just about blind you.

I have another large display going up in our hallway and will be sure to share as soon as I put on the finishing touches. :)