Memorial Day Dinner

Happy Memorial Day Everyone

Today is a day to recognize our fallen, MIA, and POWs.  I have a great uncle that died in the Vietnam war.  Today I dedicate to him and the price he paid for our freedom.  I searched online for a picture to represent today.  I found one that speaks louder than words in my opinion.  When I first saw it, it brought tears to my eyes...it made me appreciate how lucky I am to still have my solider by my side.  We should all feel grateful for the life we have and the loved ones we have living.  This is a real picture of a widowed fiance by her lover's grave in the Arlington Cemetery.  I hope this picture touches you just as much as it did myself.

Today I decided to do something special with my husband since he was off.  It's not everyday we get to lay around and be lazy.  Most weekends we have a full schedule of things to do and during the week he works long hours.  So today was a perfect day to be able to spend time with each other and really appreciate the fact that we have each other.  We both loooove food especially Italian (even though we are as Hispanic as they get!)  A few weeks ago I was watching an episode of Kitchen Boss and Buddy made some scrumptious looking meatballs...sooo I looked up the recipe and also found a recipe for Buddy's homemade marinara sauce.  We went off on our mission to the grocery store and once we got all our items on our recipe list we headed back home to complete our Italian cooking mission lol.  Here is how our dish came out in the end.  Feast your eyes and if you feel daring yourself, give it a try!

Kitchen Boss Recipes

MilSpouse Fill-In Friday

Hey Everyone.  Today is MilSpouse Fill-In Friday from Wife of a Sailor's page.  Here are my questions.  Feel free to join in and answer these questions yourself.  :)  Post your answers on Wife of a Sailor. 

1. Do you think civilians, in general, understand the meaning of Memorial Day?
   I think civilians can in they really wanted to understand.  Any one who has studied the history of America and how it came to be would surely appreciate the celebration of Memorial Day as well as other federal holidays like it.  There are also people who have/had family members in the military.  And anyone who has lost someone on 9/11 has the ability to understand as well.  After that day thousand of soldiers made an oath to protect and fight back for their losses.  That counts for something.  :)
2. What are your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend?
   Not sure yet!  Either a trip to Philadelphia to see the in-laws or a rendezvous over to Myrtle Beach just me and the hubs.  :)
3. What skill/talent do you wish you had? submitted by The 3 Turners
   I wish I could play some kind of melodic instrument.  Maybe the flute or piano.
4. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? submitted by I Married Into The Army
   The chicken of course.  :)
5. What is the best thing about your post (base)? The worst? submitted by Randomly, Robyn
   Bragg is definition of Army and the birthplace of Airborne.  I love the military atmosphere here.  Its great for my husband because there isn't a shop you can't find that won't dry clean your uniform, shine your boots, and sew on all your awards in any way better than perfect military standards. lol  The worst thing?  Bragg is wayyyy over crowded...even with two Commissaries we still run out of stuff!  Maybe it's because of the extreme couponers on post.  ;-) 

College To-Do List

I have been procrastinating lately on to-do list UNCP.  I've done the bare minimum lately.  FASFA to UNCP (check).  Application submitted (check).  Valencia Transcripts sent (check).  UCF Transcripts sent........?  Application fee sent.........?  Get UNCP's school schedule..............?

Yep...still a lot of work to do.  This week is done with but starting Monday...my goal is to get all these things turned it so I can sit back and enjoy this summer before I go back to "prison" for the next two years lol.  Oh man...I can't wait until this is over and I can commission already!

On the bright side, I ran a little over 3 miles today!  (Ok I stopped twice lol...but still a 3+ mile workout all the same!)  Getting ready for grueling PT semesters in the Fall. lol

Time to get back to business  ;-)

Down memory lane...wow...back when we actually used BDUs lol

I loooove Alfredo

So tonight I made alfredo pasta again (the husband's wishes lol)...but this time I added shimp to the pasta instead of making fish.  I absolutely love the recipe I found for this quick semi-homemade alfredo.  =)  I highly recommend all you to try this recipe.  Here is my version of this recipe:

 1/2 cup butter
8 oz. Philadelphia Italian and Herbs cooking cream cheese
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic powder

 1.  Melt butter

 2. Add cream cheese and melt with continuous stirring

 3. Add whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.

 4. Stir until it comes to a smooth liquid texture.

For tonight's dinner I added shrimp (which I boiled in water for 3 minutes first).  And add garlic bread of course!  I love garlic bread lol.  (Garlic is good for your body too!)  This was our outcome:

  

Please try this recipe of Alfredo sauce and let me know what you think!  Also if you have any other good tips of what to make using the sauce, please do share.  Have a good night ya'll.  =)

Mother's day weekend and Homeowner Responsibilities

I've had a pretty good weekend.  We have a new neighbor down the street from us and he invited us and our neighbors over for the fight Saturday night.  We had a really great time and met a lot of people there.  BUT I was horribly sick the next morning when I woke up so I was a homebody all day on Sunday with my husband lol.  I really miss my mom though and all the rest of my family down in Florida.  I wish I could've been there to celebrate Mother's Day with them.  I sent my mom and my aunt a card which they got Saturday.  I had my aunt in tears and she got me all choked up too.  Ugh...this is definitely one downfall of military life....being far away from loved ones.

On another note...yesterday my husband and I were learning new responsibilities of homeownership. lol I had to fix one of the screens on my back porch.  I was dogsitting for my neighbor and she has gorgeous great dane who at 6 months is at least 5 ft stretched out and weighs just as much as I do.

Bella in my Scion.  I had to put my seats down she's so big! lol <3

As I was taking Bella out to pee, she accidentally ran straight through the screen!  LOL  I wasn't upset though because Bella's face is so innocent and loving.  She really meant no harm and even on her way back, she came back in through the door even though the hole she made was wide open lol. That cracked me up when she did that.

My screen

So on Saturday I set out to see how I could fix the hole.  I went to Lowes because I thought they might have someone there who could come fix it but after talking with one of the employees at Lowes, he explained the tools I needed and that it wouldn't be difficult at for me to do myself.  Sooo $10 worth of material and tools and 30 minutes later...viola!  I fixed my screen all by myself!  I was a very proud lady.  :D

All I needed was a new roll of screen and a screening tool

Screen fixed!  Yay me!

The key was the fact that my screen still had the black cable in the frame (which is something you can replace yourself as well).  I pulled the black cable out and put the piece of screen I cut out under the cable.  Then I used my screening tools to push the cable back into the slot in the frame.  Quite simple.  So FYI...you don't need to pay someone to fix your screen...it's beginning homeowner doable! lol

The next homeowner responsibility we had this weekend was to mow our lawn.  This is something I do miss about having an apartment...no need for lawn care! lol  Well turns out the lawnmower my dad donated to us is having some issues.  It starts but it doesn't stay on...sooo now we have to find someone who knows how to fix lawnmowers since that's way out of my league.  I can put oil and gas but the engine is sooo not my territory haha.  We ended up paying someone to do our lawn for us which I was not sad about at all lol.  But of course, it is cheaper to do it yourself so I still want to fix my mower.  Anybody know a good handyman in Ft Bragg???

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day.  Yesterday my husband gave me the cutest coin ever (see my last blog).  Little things like that make me so proud to be HIS Army wife.  I found these questions on a blog I follow.  Thought it was pretty appropriate for today's "holiday".  I also found a cute poem that another milspouse blogger wrote in honor of today.  Click here to check it out.  I hope all my milspouses out there have a FABULOUS day!  Enjoy!

1. How long have you been a military wife?

2+ years

2. What branch of service is your husband?

Army

3. Active/Reserve?

Active

4. What is his job?

He's in the 82nd Airborne Division (and yes he's actually Airborne!)

5. How many deployments have you gone through?

2 deployments: 1 as committed lovers and 1 married

6. Camo or Dress uniforms on your man?

Either really.  But if I have to choose, his dress blues.  :)

7. What do you like about being a military wife?

The traveling, meeting new people, and the way our love is always evolving.  It's hard to take for granted this kind of love when deployments and field training leave your moments together short lived.

8. Do you live on base?

We live off-post but our subdivision is nearly all active duty military.

9. What is your favorite base so far?

This is our second post.  They each have your pros and cons but I really did enjoy the Bamberg scenery and the easy access to adventurous traveling.

10. What is the hardest part of the military life?

I haven't gotten to the hardest part yet.  To me the hardest part of military life is raising a family on your own.  I know one day I will have to survive a year deployment raising a child or two as both parent roles.  I think that will be a challenge.

11. Do you go to the grocery store or Commissary?

The grocery store.  Commissary is further out for me and the times I do go there, a lot of things are out of stock!  Common things like cheese lol.  Not to mention there are two commissaries on post (one being on Pope AFB side) but Fort Bragg is a huge post so two commissaries really isn't enough for all the families it supports.  But gas prices are always better on post so it's worth the drive!  (off subject I know lol)

12. Do you work or stay at home?

Go to school full-time.  My goal is to commission into the Army after completing my B.S.

13. Do you have a lot of military wife friends?

Yes I do.  Almost everyone I know is connected to the military in one way or another.

14. Do you prefer Walmart or the BX/PX/NEX/MCX?

Walmart is convenient since I have one less than 5 minutes from where I live, but I always keep a lookout for sales at the PX since everything is tax-free. 

15. How did your husband propose?

We went to a little Carnival spot in Orlando.  He proposed to me on a ride called the Paratrooper.  The funny thing is that the ride's name was total coincidence! lol

16. Did you marry him after he joined or before?

We married after he joined.

17. How long have you been together?

3+ years

18. Any kids?

Not yet. The in-laws keep asking though! lol

19. Any kids yet to come?

Hopefully in the near future.  =)

20. Is your husband one of those "I am Marine, hear me OORAH" kind of guys?

For the Marines, no but for the Army yes lol.  He loves the Army and everything it's done for him.  He will tell you a million times over that he wouldn't be where he's at now if it wasn't for the Army.  I swear he tries to recruit everyone he meets. LOL

21. Have you ever done combatives with your husband?

No I haven't lol.  But the occasional wrestle isn't uncommon.  ;)

.22. How many bases have you lived at?

5 with my dad.  2 with my husband.

23. If you could change one thing about the military?

Longer dwell time and change deployments to 9 months! 

24. Do you like military balls?

Never been to one with my husband but I went to 2 in JROTC and 4 in College ROTC. They are exciting and fun.  Just don't get sent to the grog!

25. Where does your family live?

Florida

26. What do you do for a job?

Past jobs have been IT related: data processing for financial institutions.

27. Have you ever gotten in a fight with an NCO's wife?

No. And no one has tried to fight me.  I'm an NCO's wife ;)

28. Name one thing you do when your husband is gone.

Stay busy!  Work, school, volunteer, anything to make the time go by fast.

29. Do you think other wives do that too?

Yes, I think that would be most military wives advice.

And she does it again!!! Good eatin and heart felt grattitude. =)

And she does it again!  Another successful night of Italian cooking!  I guess I cook better when I'm inventing a dish of my own.  My original plan was to just grill some Italian sausages for dinner and call it a night with some buns and sauerkraut.  BUT my husband asked me if I could make some kind of pasta instead buns to go with our sausages.  He really does inspire me when I cook.  Every time he suggests something for dinner, I come up with an amazing concoction lol.   Soooo  my mind began to turn and I decided I would cut up the sausages and make some spaghetti in a red sauce to go with it.
When I get to the grocery store to buy the sauce, the pastas were in the same aisle and I thought "Man, penne pasta would go sooo much better with these sausages"  So I picked up a box of multigrain penne.  As I'm walking to the checkout I stop by the frozen section and (Light Bulb!) "Some garlic bread would be a great kick too!"  *Picked up a box of cibatta garlic bread*  This really is the everyday story of a woman at Wal-Mart. You go in for one thing and always leave with a few more items lol.
So my journey in the kitchen begins with boiling the penne for about 12-15 minutes.  As my penne was boiling I started on browning my sausages.  I cut the sausages in pieces diagonally and added them to my pan with a couple tablespoons of oil. (You can use water instead.) I also cut up a quarter of a green pepper and added that to give the sausages a little more flavor.  Once my sausages were browned, I added my pasta sauce.  You can use whatever red sauce you prefer.  I used a tomato garlic sauce.  I let this simmer for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.  As my sauce simmered I preheated the oven to 425 for the garlic bread.  Before putting the bread in the oven a added a touch of shredded Italian cheeses on top.  I baked them until the edges were lightly browned.  Everything took about an hour prep time and cooking.  It came out amazing and it was quite simple to make! Here's the finished product:

Ingredients you need:

- 1/2 box of Penne pasta

- 1 jar of red pasta sauce

- 1 package of sausages (5 links)

- 1/4 green peppers (chopped)

- 2 tablespoons of oil

- 1 box of Garlic Bread

My husband absolutely enjoyed it.  He said he was speechless lol.

After dinner my husband thanked me for everything. Not just being an amazing cook but for being a great wife.  He told me to come to attention.  (Military lingo lol)  Then he handed me a coin and saluted me.  I saluted back thinking we were just playing Army since I'll be starting ROTC again this fall.  BUT when I looked at the coin in my hand I just about melted right there.

I couldn't be a happier wife.  I know in the near future he will be saluting me for real when I commission but I can honestly say that the best awards always come from my husband.  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.  Tomorrow is Friday!!! Military Spouse Appreciation Day!!!  =)

Secondo attempt at cuisine Italiano

I am a wonderful amazing chef when it comes to cooking food of my own Puerto Rican culture.  I've even freestyled some Colombian cuisine to show off for my husband.  But when it comes to Italian food, my cooking thumb is VERY sore lol.  Last week I attempted to make Chicken Parmesan and it was a FAIL.  My pasta was great but I've made spaghetti a million times over so that was the easy part.  But I thought I could just grab some fancy spaghetti sauce, bread some chicken and throw some mozzarella cheese on top, bake it and BAM...chicken parmesan right?  Well no no no....first off my chicken came out dry because i baked it separately from the sauce.  (Trying to feel my inner Italian chef here lol)  My sauce was too acidic because I decided to add a whole can of tomato sauce to make it more tomatoey?  Yeah I know some of you are snickering by now lol.  I didn't even bother to add any extra seasoning (Dunno what was going through my mind really).  Needless to say...that story ended with the trash can and we ate KFC instead lol.  Next time I will look up a recipe to follow before venturing out that far!  If anyone has a quick and easy recipe for Chicken Parmesan please send it my way!  Thanks!  =)

Ok so tonight I will make another attempt at an Italian-like dish.  Tonight I will be making Parmesan Tilapia with a homemade alfredo sauce (I'm using a recipe for this!) on top of pasta.  I got my alfredo sauce recipe from cooks.com.  Here's a link to the recipe I'm using in case you want to try it out.  It a simple and easy recipe and you don't need a ton of ingredients to make it.  I'm using heavy whipping cream instead of half and half and I'm trying out the Philadelphia Italian cheese and herbs Cooking cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese.  Wish me luck!  I will post pics of the dish after I'm done. =)

UPDATE

My dinner for tonight came out amazing!  The hubby was extremely satisfied lol.  We enjoyed our meal with a chilled bottle of Moscato D'Asti.  Moscato goes great with seafoods and light sauces so it was a perfect match. D'Asti is the area of where these grapes come from which is in Italy.  You will not get a better Moscato then the Moscato from Italy especially from this well known place called D'Asti.  I highly recommend!  Its a light and sweet sparkling wine.  The brand we drank is called Cupcake.  They have several other wines red and white as well.  A good brand to drink.  Enjoy this pics!

A Day at the Zoo

Yesterday we celebrated two very bright young girls birthdays.  Two of our neighbors' daughters had birthdays this weekend so the whole band of us took off in a caravan you could say of four cars and headed off to the North Carolina Zoo.

My neighbors enjoying the zoo!

It was a perfect day to visit the zoo.  I haven't been to a zoo in yearsss.  Well I guess you could say Busch Gardens is sort of a zoo because of all the animals but a genuine zoo...I have not been to and I don't know how long.  So it was a nice adventure.  =)  The funny thing is, my husband and I were the only ones childless.  I didn't really mind though...Arianna and Janiya stuck by me during a majority of our trip.  I love those little girls so much!  And of course I get forget little Aiden.  When he sees me he yells out "Hi Senia!"  My heart just melts for the kid lol.  Baby fever?  Ahhh maybe but right now I have to focus on finishing my degree before kids. lol  Ok back to the zoo.....

Aiden walking ahead

I would have to give this zoo a rating of 3 stars.  It was a huge zoo which was nice.  It had two sections, North America and Africa.  The North American side didn't have very many animals...and the animals it had were either sleeping and couldn't been seen at all.  The African side though had lots of cool animals including several beautiful giraffes.  I thought the giraffes were the most gorgeous of them all.  This zoo actually has a time frame where you can even feed them.  I thought that was very cool.

We saw an extremely fierce "show" by the baboons.  Apparently there was another male baboons trying to take dominance of all the others and the "king" baboon shut him down real quick lol.  Pretty exciting to see in person.  We also saw some very cute lemurs that reminded me of madagascar.  All in all it was a good day at the zoo but we were VERY exhausted by the time we left on our trip back home.  When we got home, we sang happy birthday and cut cakes for both the girls.  Our day was absolutely great!

Entering Africa

Now maybe you're waiting to hear my thoughts on our most recent world news.  Osama Bin Laden is dead.  Well I will leave everyone to their own personal thoughts and opinions.  The only thing I have to say is that we need to continue praying...for our president....our country...and the entire world.  God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.