margita cupcakes

"50 and Fabulous"...the next chapter: ITS BEEN OVER A YEAR ALEADY...

"50 and Fabulous"...the next chapter: ITS BEEN OVER A YEAR ALEADY...: Wow, its hard to believe it has been 14 months  since Tommy and I started the journey to a healthy way of eating.  Our anniversary date for ...

MY FAVORITE COACHES

COACH ALEX, COACH TOM  AND COACH THOMAS

You know we do a lot with West Covina Youth Basketball League, right?
And did I mention that my family all coach a team? or two?

They each have their own regular teams they returned this year to coach.  Tommy and Alex both took on a second team, since we had so many kids and not enough coaches. Alex coaches the JUNIOR LAKERS, a team that has been together for the past % years.  They were coached by Thomas last year while she was in Korea.  So this year Alex has returned to take on the duties of head coach, and Thomas has stepped down to assistant coach.  So it was going to be a fun year watching my two kids coach together in the JUNIOR DIVISION.

Well my devoted hubby stepped and took a team in the JUNIOR DIVISION, who had no coach.  He couldn't even find a parent to step and become the coach.  Not don't get me wrong, I FULLY support Tommy in his coaching and helping of the youth sports...but you see he took the JUNIOR CLIPPERS!

Oh now you get my dilemma...since at east once in the season the JUNIOR LAKERS will take on the JUNIOR CLIPPERS...who will I cheer for???

So actually on Saturday night Feb 2nd, that's exactly what happened.  They played against each other.  Some family and friends came out to the see the younger Fraijos coaches go against the older Fraijo coach.  Even the friends and the board members all got into the game.

When I walked by people would top me and ask me who I was cheering for...my answer was answered with confidence.."Coach Fraijo of course!"

It was a good game to say the least, back and forth in the score...with the CLIPPERS win by one point at the buzzer.

I must say the game was good, their were no loser there that night. A full 40 minutes of some good, hard playing basketball by some great kids coached by my favorite coaches...THE FRAIJOS!

We even went to pizza with kids from both teams...and had a great time.

Garlic SHrimp & Pasta

WHO'S READY FOR DINNER?

One of my family's favorite dishes I make is Garlic Shrimp with Wheat Pasta.  It seems they can't get enough of this one.  Its a pretty easy dinner to whip up and you can add a salad to it and garlic bread if you'd like.  We don't do much bread around here any more (too many points)

I start this dinner for us with about 2 pounds of raw divined shrimp, a pound of wheat linguini  and two cans of diced Italian tomatoes.

I boil the pasta as instructed by the box.  We have switched to using wheat pasta...you cant really tell the different, and if you have had a pasta dish at our house recently...you have probably had wheat pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, I start peeling the shrimp.  Now I must say this is the most time consuming part of this recipe.  Now you are probably thinking 2POUNDS of shrimp...that's a lot for our family, but you see we LOVE shrimp and we LOVE leftovers for lunch.  And how many times have you gone out to dinner,ordered a shrimp dish and you get 6, maybe 8 pieces of shrimp.  Not here...shrimp in every bite.

PEELED RAW SHRIMP

Cooking the shrimp doesn't take to long.  I put a bit of olive oil just to barely cover the bottom of the pan, I usually use about two cloves of garlic minced in each pan full of shrimp I cook.  I add some lemon pepper seasoning.  It only takes about 2 minutes to cook the shrimp to a nice orange'ish color, as it finishes, I add some of the can of tomatoes to the shrimp, for about a minutes and then put it into a bowl, as I cook the remaining shrimp just as I have done to the first batch.

IN the meantime the pasts has finished and i drain the water out and rinse in warm water and set aside til I finish cooking the shrimp.

COOKED WHEAT PASTA

Now since I cook for an army  (OK not really I just cook BIG portions) I add the pasta back to the big pot and add all the cooked shrimp into the pot too.  If there is any tomatoes left in the can, I add them at this time too.

SHRIMP ADDED TO PASTA

 I basically cook all of it together just to heat them up together.  And there you have it....

THE FINISHED MEAL...SMELLS SOOO GOOD!

I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does.

WHATS FOR DINNER????

ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Tonight is a basketball practice night and that when i quick dinnercomes in handy.

Tonigt I made hot TURKEY Italian Sauage Sandwches with peppers and onions.  Thia is a super easy recipe and can be done in a jiffy.

You can use the rope sausages and cut into inch size bits, chop up some green bell peppers and some white onions, add a small amount of olive oil to simmer the meat and peppers and onions.  After a bit it will look like this and smell yummy... I usually use rolls, prepare them the way each person likes, add the sausages and put mozzarella cheese on top...and enjoy a delicious sandwich.  Your side dish can be so many different things, we went for baled beans.

Hope you enjoy it...my family did

We Are Blessed

Pauline, Megan,Laraine Thomas,Alexandra and the kiddies Jailene and Lil Alex

So this is just a preview of the start of our visit from Laraine and Megan here in Cali' for the next 5 days...

It has been over 2 1/2 years that all our kids have been under the same roof.....we are truly blessed by our amazing kids and the adults they have become and all they have accomplished thus far in their lives.

If you know me I will be taking a lots of photos of them together.....

Bowling for Freedom...with the fam

In case you didn't know I LOVE coupons and specials...so when I received an email from Brunswick Bowl for a night of bowl called BOWLING FOR FREEDOM.  I of course thought what a perfect way to spend some time with our family and have some fun.  So I RSVP'd and set it up a fun filled night for my family.  All the money raised on this night would go to the American Vets; something that my grandma use to help organize thru out her bowling career.  The kiddies had a great time....they love hanging out with each others and it ad been awhile since they had gotten a chance to do something like this (busy summer schedules)

Here are just a few pictures of the night

The Fraijo Men with their Loves

Pau Pau with her special kiddies

Tommy with his two special girls