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Bits & Pieces: 10 things to share on a Wednesday

Hi there!  Can you believe January is almost over?  Craziness!  It's been a while since I've done a Bits & Pieces post (post totally about random things).  I have lots of things to share with you.  So here goes!

1.  My three big kids ("big" meaning school aged) are playing basketball.  This means that our Saturdays are full of lots of basketball games.  And the week is pretty busy with six different practices.  They are loving it though, so it's worth it!  Here's my free-throw shooting 9 year old!


2.  I hosted a baby shower (girls night) for my friend that is having baby #4.  My friend is gluten-free, so it was fun to think of gluten free food to have.  I made a few treats and had some cucumber lemon water ready and everyone else brought other yummy food.  I made some churro chex mix and white chocolate popcorn w/chocolate peanuts.  Yum!  

4.  Last week for dinner I tried a new soup recipe, Creamy Chicken Gnocchi, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I served it with our favorite Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread.  It was so good and the soup was super yummy and it didn't even have a bit of butter in it.  I'll be making it again for sure! 

5.  I posted on instagram yesterday a picture of the skinny banana fudge muffins from Our Best Bites.  I made for an afterschool snack for my kiddos.  So yummy!  It was the perfect way to use up the three bananas that were browning on my counter.  I loved that it didn't have any oil/butter in it.  The recipe calls for 2/3 c. sugar, but next time I'm going to use half that amount and they'll still be plenty sweet.  

6.  I've been eyeing this rosemary oil that our local Country Mercantile sells.  I met a few friends there for lunch and bought a bottle.  It smells and tastes divine!  I love rosemary.  I tossed some potatoes and sweet potatoes in it along with salt and pepper and roasted them for dinner last week to eat with our bistro chicken.  

Last night I rubbed some rosemary oil on my spaghetti squash before roasting it and also tossed some broccoli in it and then roasted it.  After roasting I sprinkled all the veggies with a tiny bit of fresh parmesan cheese.  Um, yum!

7.  I bought these Papa Pita flatbreads at Costco a few weeks ago to make quick french dip sandwiches with (instead of stuffing the meat into a pita we just folded the meat, cheese and green chile onto the flatbread.  
Papa Pita 7" Greek Pita Flat Bread, 12 ct
The next night I used the leftover flatbreads to make pizza, BBQ chicken pizza and pepperoni.  It actually made a really yummy crust!  My kids were mad that there weren't more.  I'll be stocking up on these to put in our freezer for easy dinners.  
Recipe for this BBQ chicken pizza coming soon!  

8.  This cat thinks it lives at our house.  It's huge and I swear it's part bobcat.  But it really loves our deck and won't leave.  It creepily stares at me during the day.  Anyone want a cat?  (Not even joking.)

9.  My six year old is loving Monopoly.  He'll play with anyone no matter what time it is.  He stomped me the other day!

And finally, #10....I have a cold.  Thank you to my germ-sharing children.  :)  Hopefully it doesn't last long because I'm sure my family would me not sneezing on them anymore.  

What's new with you?  Have you tried any recipes lately that are so good that you'd love to share?  

Have a great week!  

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