Tuesday catch up

Hello all!

So, it's been over a week since I've talked to you. Oops. Sorry about that. Steve had spring break and there was Easter and we celebrated Ellie's first birthday. It's been a crazy fun week off from the blog.

Here's a quick recap in just a flow of thoughts. Hope you can keep up!

1. I ran 7. 3 miles on Sunday and wish you could have been with me. Sometimes miles get lonely, and other times, I am so glad for a little bit of silence. It's nice to not hear every Fisher-Price/Baby Einstein/Playskool toy song for an hour or so. Granted, I found out that my stride matches "Intergalactic" from the Beastie Boys and "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes". Who knew?!
2. Easter morning with a baby who is actually old enough to enjoy it is a wonderful thing. Ellie loved her dress and basically every fun holiday food. Yay!

Ellie in 2015 (almost a year) and Ellie in 2014 (5 days old)
What a difference a year makes!

3. Ellie managed a perfectly timed "all done" during Pastor S's Good Friday sermon. Of course she did.
4. Steve and I took turns pushing Ellie in her first 5K. Thankfully, Steve did the up hill part!

First family 5K

4.5. I discovered have a really weird race face thanks to the photographer from the 5K we did. I look like I'm grimacing, but trying to concentrate, but not trying to hard. Weird.
5. I have a half marathon on May 2. HOLY MOLEY.
6. I made a semi-awful pasta dish for Easter brunch. You won't see that recipe on here.
7. I made a fantastic tuna wrap for lunch yesterday and a really good chicken alfredo last night for dinner. Those are two recipes you will see on here.
8. Today's e-mail devotion really hit home about friendships and what amazing ladies I have in my life. Makes me all gushy.
9. Handbell festival is this weekend. So. Many. Bells.
10. I had way more thoughts to type, but then I thought I heard Ellie waking up from her nap, and just now, I was holding very still as if she could hear me thinking. Ugh, lost my train of thought.
11. I just thought of another - we had Ellie's 1st birthday party on Saturday and my party theme skillz were awesome. More on that tomorrow.

Here is the recipe for the chicken alfredo I made:

Spicy Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients:
1 pound chicken, cubed
1 Tbsp-ish Wildtree Natural Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1 tsp Wildtree Rancher Steak Rub
1 tsp Wildtree Herb Grilling Seasoning
1 box linguine, prepared as directed
1/2 onion, sliced
1 8 oz package mushrooms, diced (broccoli would be a nice addition too)
4-ish Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk (any %)
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 package Chicken Alfredo Extraordinaire
1 huge handful of spinach, chopped roughly

Directions:
Start your pasta water boiling in a large pot while you heat your garlic grapeseed oil in a large pan. Cook the chicken in the pan with the Rancher Steak Rub and Herb Grilling Seasoning blend. This takes about 4 minutes on each side if your heat is at medium high. Toss in the mushrooms and onions until the onions get translucent. Once this timing is achieved, take the chicken and veggies out of the pan and set on a plate for a bit. Hopefully, some of the juices have stayed in the pan.

By now, your pasta is done. Drain and set aside.

In your pan with the yummy chicken, onion, grapeseed oil and mushroom juices, add the butter. When that has just about melted, add the milk and stir to incorporate. Wisk in the Chicken Alfredo Extraordinaire so that there aren't any clumps. Add the chili pepper flakes now if you want it to be a really bright, biting flavor. Add them to the chicken a few steps ago if you want it more infused through the whole dish. We added them back with the chicken.

I'm mentioning this now in case you're all like, "Why? Why would I ruin Alfredo with red pepper flakes?" I'm telling you BECAUSE.

OK, so you've whisked the sauce. Add the chicken and veggies back to the pan and turn the heat to low. Add the pasta to the pan. See why I said you needed a large pan? Toss the sauce, chicken mix and pasta all together. Looking good, right? Wait, it's kind of all the same color...

ENTER THE SPINACH!

Put the rough chopped spinach on top and briefly cover with a lid for about 2 minutes. This causes the spinach to wilt a bit so it all fits in your pan better. Take the lid off and toss, so the spinach is everywhere. It's gorgeous now. I wish I had taken pictures for you!

Your husband, guests, babies (chopped into appropriate sized pieces), kids, parents, anyone will love this dish. Enjoy with a nice white wine or glass of milk. Whatever strikes your fancy!