Creamy Italian Dressing I - All Recipes

Creamy Italian Dressing I - All Recipes

I wanted to share my favorite salad dressing recipe. I was just getting ready to make it and thought I would post it before I forget. I leave out the whole onion and substitute onion powder that is the only change that I make. This is super easy and makes several salads for our family.... It is really good if you use romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, black olives, croutons, Parmesan and tomatoes.

Our Ninth Anniversary

We celebrated our 9th anniversary on Saturday May 15th, 2010. We had a really wonderful time.... We went to Sullivan's for dinner and then to a movie. Sullivan's was pretty good, I think the service was actually better than the food. We told them it was our anniversary when we made the reservation and they made it really special. The manager actually came out and told us Happy Anniversary and then gave us a free chocolate souffle with a cream anglaise sauce. It was really good! Not as good as the chocolates that my sweet husband brought to me on the night before our anniversary. You can see the pictures above, my favorite was the strawberries.
We went to see the movie "Letters to Juliet". It was one of the best movies I have ever seen. It was romantic but really funny too. It was kind of a chick flick but there were actually other guys in the movie other than Chris. There has been a few times that we have been to a movie where he was the only guy! It is just another reason I know he loves me!!!

Madison's New Shoes

Here are the shoes that go with Madison's new dress. We went to TJ Maxx on Saturday and actually had a good time! She picked these out on her own and I must say I think she did a great job!!

Madison in a Dress!!!

Okay... so while I was typing my last post about the dress shopping Madison actually put the dress on. Nobody even held a gun to her head!! She looks so beautiful ..... and she has extremely long legs as her brother had to point out. It makes me a little sad to see her so grown up looking. It seems like it was yesterday that she was wearing cute little ruffle dresses, black shiny shoes and big bows in her hair. Where does the time go?

Dress Shopping

Madison and I went dress shopping today. I told her that she needed to wear a dress to Spencer's graduation, she of course said "I would rather die" Elizabeth made a deal with her that if she gets to come she will wear a dress if Madison will. I am still not sure if Elizabeth is going to be able to come but we are praying about it and hopefully her grandmother will let her. Well, anyway Madison has a dress now and it is really cute. She knew exactly what she wanted but we did not find it until she had tried on every other extra small dress in the store. It was quite an experience I hope that some day when she gets married and we go dress shopping it will be just as much fun :) Madison's dress is the one on the bottom. The picture does not really do it justice. It has little tiny black polka dots on it a some black lace that comes out of the bottom. It is actually very pretty. Madison did inform me that when she is done with it she is going to get a mannequin and put it in her room to wear the dress. I am hoping that she will decide she likes it and want to wear it again.... wishful thinking I guess.

The dress in the top picture is a dress I found at the Goodwill. I was so excited it is from one of my favorite stores "White House Black Market". I know it probably had to have cost at least $150 new but I got it for $4.99..... I love the Goodwill!!!!!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry French Toast

Just wanted to share the pictures of our breakfast. After having the stuffed french toast for Mother's day I wanted to make it myself. I guess to try and see if I could do it better. It seems like everything always tastes better at home. But I will have to say that "Toast" was pretty close. I used french bread instead of Texas toast which I think makes a big difference. I also cut a slit in the french bread and stuffed it with a mixture of cream cheese, strawberry preserves and mini chocolate chips. I then topped it with fresh strawberries and a little bit of whipped cream.
Toast puts a layer between two pieces of bread and did not use fresh strawberries. I also added chocolate chips to it for a little bonus! Plus I think the name sounds a little more inviting...... Stuffed Strawberry French Toast versus Chocolate Covered Strawberry French Toast or maybe I should call it Strawberries and Cream French Toast hmmmmm............

Mothers Day

My Mothers day was so great! Chris got me Strawberry Cream Cheese stuffed french toast from my favorite restaurant in Davidson. It is a little place called toast and they have awesome breakfasts. Madison and Jordan both gave me really nice cards that they made. Madisons said that she could not afford to buy me anything but she would do anything that I wanted to help out. She put in parenthesis "restrictions may apply" She is quite the comedian! We had an amazing Mothers day service at church, the message was great as usual and they gave out hand painted chocolates to all of the moms. That was a sure sign that God was in the house yesterday!!! I included pictures of the chocolates, they not only looked gorgeous but they tasted better than any chocolate I have ever had. They were also giving free massages to all of the moms but I chose to pass that one up. I am really not in to letting strangers touch me, I think it is some sort of phobia.... I was just good with the chocolates.
We had lunch at "Nothing But Noodles" and then went home to relax. Chris got me a new outfit for running so I decided I would go use that after about 10 minutes of relaxing. We went to the track and raced, I came so close to running as fast as Chris but no such luck. I don't think that he would ever let that happen, not good for the ego! We are both really sore today though.

It was my first Mother's day that Spencer was not here. It was kind of strange but I am looking forward to seeing him at graduation in just a few weeks.

I really wish that my mom could have been here too. We are going to celebrate on June 2nd! It is going to be so nice to have a 4 day vacation with the whole family. I am still praying that Elizabeth will be able to come, her grandparents do not want her to. I keep praying that their eyes will be opened and they will see how much damage they are doing by not letting Elizabeth know the rest of her family. It is hard at times to not give up but we just keep finding strength in knowing that God will provide. I think the devil can see that Elizabeth and Chris are so close to having a good relationship that he will step in and mess it all up. I am so glad that we serve a God that is so good. As my favorite song says" If our God is for us than who can ever stop us and if our God is with us than who can stand against? I think that pretty much says it all.....

Madison took this picture of Miller checking on the zucchini plants. They are getting so big, I can't wait for zucchini! Our tomato plants are looking kind of sad, I am not a gardening expert but when the leaves start turning yellow and the plant is all wilted I think it is probably not a good sign. The weather has gotten so warm here and we had quite a bit of rain so the humidity is pretty high. I am not complaining though it sure beats the snow!!!

Where Are They Now?, Part 4: When God Crossed His Arms (Guest Speaker: Pastor Judah Smith)

Where Are They Now?, Part 4: When God Crossed His Arms (Guest Speaker: Pastor Judah Smith)

I wanted to share the message from Elevation yesterday. I have never heard the story of Joseph told like this and I don't think I ever will again. It was amazing and so funny!!!! The best part is I left church feeling like I understood everything I just heard.

Jordans First Place Finish

Jordan had another great weekend at the track!! He placed first in the 1500 with a time of 4:27 and placed second in the 800 with a time 0f 2:10. I am going to try and video record next week so I can post that.