Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Pasta with Cucumber and Onion

I know what you must be thinking.... YUCK! How could that even taste good at all?! Let me tell you... My husband is one of the pickiest eaters of ALL time and is never afraid tell me if something doesn't taste good!

This recipe is picky husband APPROVED... not only approved, but he loved it!!

1 box angel hair or thin spaghetti Barilla whole wheat pasta noodles

2-4 Sweet Apple Sausage All Natural Sausages (Fully cooked) 

1 small onion

2 Tbsp EVOO

1 Cucumber

1 1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning

Dash of red pepper flakes

Sea Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Boil pasta as directed on package adding a little sea salt to the water like normal. Slice sausages length wise and across in many small pieces. Add 1 Tbsp EVOO to saute pan and heat to Medium High heat. Add Sausages to saute pan along with chopped onion in length wise pieces along with chopped cucumber. Saute until onion is carmelized, cucumber is soft, and sausages have a nice slight char. Take pasta off the boil, drain, and add the other tbsp of EVOO, italian seasoning, and small dash of red pepper flakes.

Place pasta in bowl, top with sausage mixture, and Enjoy!!!

Tostada Salad

If you love Tostada's... You're going to LOVE this Tostada salad!

We had tostada's for dinner one night, so the next night I still had everything for Tostada's, but was ready to mix it up a bit! Here's a much healthier version with all the flavor!

1 Bunch of Romaine lettuce washed and chopped

Queso Fresco crumbled

1 can refried beans

 Tostado shells

1 Avocado

Dollop of Mayonnaise

Add washed, chopped romaine to large bowl

Break Tostada shells in to smaller pieces; add to salad

Slice avocado and add

Crumble queso fresco into salad

For each bowl add a dollop of refried beans and mayo on top

Enjoy!!

I will remember you... And smile...

After reading Heaven is for Real I decided I wanted to find a way of giving a happy memory to such a terrible loss. When we lost Buddy after having him for 13 years we planted a beautiful dogwood in the front yard of our new home in memory of him and every time the tree buds or the leaves are so healthy and green it brings me a happy memory of my sweet Buddy.

The more I thought about it, I realized how much I love plants, especially flowering ones. There were these two terribly ugly plants right beneath a window in the front landscaping of our home. I've been wanting to rip them out forever, but never had anything good in mind to replace them with so just left it be. After our sweet baby went to heaven I felt it would be fitting to replace those two plants with one large beautiful plant. Especially fitting because, those two plants were directly beneath the window of what would have been our second child's bedroom.

I went to Linton's who happen to have a huge sale this time of year and found a Red Heart Rose of Sharon. The garden associate informed me that these plants require lots of sunlight(perfect for the front of our home) and bloom each year at the end of summer/ early fall. What's special about that you're wondering? Late summer/early fall is when our second child went to be with Jesus in heaven.

I consider it a great honor to know that we have a beautiful baby in heaven looking down on us...

Each year when your plant blooms, I will remember you, and smile...