2010

I cannot believe how fast this year has passed. Do you feel the same way? 2009 has been a very tough year for a lot of people. For me and my family too. To improve our financial situation in 2010 is one of our New Year's resolutions. And second one is to keep eating healthy in new year..More veggies and less sugar. So, you will find more vegetable recipes here in 2010!

There are more in my mind but after a tough year I am not putting them on the list. Lol, they are my wishes and hopes for me, my family and all of us.

A new year brings the hope of new beginnings. January 1 is always a great time to make a resolution. And we still have 5 days to welcome 2010.

What about yours? Do you have any?

Here are 5 methods for keeping a New Year's resolution I would like to share with you.

-Be realistic while making a list of your resolutions,
-Define them,

-Share them with your friends and family members,

-Celebrate your success with something you would like to do,

-Analyze the results.

:) I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best in 2010!

Zucchini Sticks

Zucchini Sticks

Zucchini Sticks are very easy to make and DELICIOUS! A great appetizer recipe for your holiday table. I just made this recipe and tasted them! YUMMY!

4 zucchini(sliced into sticks)
1 egg(beaten)
1 cup bread crumbs(dry)

1/2 cup parmesan(grated)

1/4 spoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano, salt and pepper

Dip zucchini sticks in beaten egg. Combine rest of the ingredients in a bowl and dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Place the zucchini sticks on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce/ ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Snow+Sunday= Fun

I can't believe it really did happen! Yay for SNOW!

It is only about as big as me(almost!) But we did it!

Say 'cheese' snowman!

We did a good job!

Of course he wasn't the only one that got excited!!!What about daddy?
-Don't ask me! :)

Happy Sunday!!!

YAY! Snow!!!

Its snowing…finally!
He is so excited. He wished for snow and his wish came true.

It started to snow yesterday.

Yes!!!!

And this morning.. Still snowing! He is planning to make a big snowman today! -Mommy do we have big carrots? Oh, hope you didn't get the baby carrots.

-A snowman without a carrot for a nose?

-Mom???

-I have both. I saved the biggest one for snowman!

_Yay! Awesome!

(more pictures are coming up next..)

Smoky Corn and Potato Chowder-Updated

I made this last Sunday! Love easy recipes, especially weekends:D
1 can Del Monte Cream Style Golden Sweet Corn

1 can Del Monte Whole Kernel Golden Sweet Corn(drained)

1 cup smoked sausage(helved lenghtwise and sliced)

1 can Del Monte Whole New Potatoes(drained and coarsley chopped)or 2 potatoes(cubed and boiled)

1/ 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar

Stir milk into cream corn in a large sauce pan. Add sausage, potatoes and kernel corn. Heat through stirring occasioanaly. After removing from heat stir in cheeses until melted.

I garnished with chopped green onion. It was yummy!

Updated- Here is the picture!

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I would love it if you add yourself as a fan of this page :)

Have a great day everyone!

Unilever Products Review and Beauty Tips!

I got a package of Unilever products such as Dove, Pond’s, Vaseline and Q-tips and enjoyed pampering myself:)
I am a morning person, wake up every morning full of energy and after 9-10 pm I'm very very lazy and dont want to wash my face. I always use wet cleansing towelettes. But it was the first time I used PONDS Wet Cleansing Towelette. Smells beautiful, my skin was smooth, soft like a Baby's after cleaning:)It is more effective at removing make-up than others I used before. Love it!
Another product is Vaseline Total Moisture Conditioning which I have been using this product for more than 10 years. I can't imagine my day without Vaseline. It provides %100 of daily hydration.
The other Unilever product I received is Q-tips in a beautiful box which easy to use.
And Dove... I always use Dove soaps but never tried Dove Hair Spray and Dove Deodorant before.
Love the hair spray. It provided strong hold besides natural movement.
I didn't need to use Dove deodorant in the day again. Once a day was enough for all day freshness. Yes, all day!
Do you know what is the best time in the day to use the deodorant? I used to apply it every morning but just learned that applying a deodorant is the best when used at night. Because body tempature is lower at night and allowing to skin become more receptive to absorbing the formula. This wonderful tip is from Unilever Beauty Tips of the Day Widget.

Are you planning to buy a flat iron or curling iron? Choose an iron with ceramic plates. Why? You can read it on this widget(on my side bar) in hair styling tool tips.

You will find more helpful tips and product information from Unilever products, page by page on this widget. Thanks Unilever for these wonderful beautiy tips.

Cinnamon Stars

Cookie dough;
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing with cinnamon;
1 large egg whites
1 teaspoons milk
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

(Beat the ingredients with a mixer)

************************

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder and put aside.

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Refrigerate for about one hour(Don't forget to wrap it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch on a floured surface. Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes (It helps cookies keep their shape while baking)

Bake cookies for about 10 min. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet. Frost with icing. Also you can decorate with pecan/crushed pecan.

Aria cut them and we frosted them together :)

I call them Cinnamon Stars. We all love cinnamon in our house... hmmmm love at first bite. Anything with cinnamon gets me straight away!

Tags, awards and me :)

I love this award. It means a lot to me and I am so honored to receive this award one more time. 2009 Friendly Blogger Awards is coming from Tami at Hearts Make Family She is honest, she is funny and I love her topics. Visit her lovely blog and enjoy reading!

Another award I received one more time is Lemonade Stand Award. I'd like to thank Betty at Cut and Dry and Sophia's Mom at The Wannabe WAHM Don't forget to visit these two wonderful blogs.

Thank you ladies for this beautiful award. Hugs! I'm passing on these awards to all of you as usual:)

And yesterday I was tagged by Molly at I'm a Sleep Baker for this Christmas meme. Questions and answers! Here they are;

*Have you started your Christmas shopping? Yes, only one thing left for my son.

*Tell me about one of your special traditions. Making cookies.

*Are you a Black Friday Shopper? Online shopper:)

*When do you put up your Tree? After Thanksgiving.

*Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home? Home home sweet home! But maybe next time we can make a different plan.

*What is your funniest Christmas memory?
Last year my hubby was wearing a Santa hat when walked in saying 'ho ho ho' and that moment I decided not to make too much cookies. Lol, he is getting fat!

*What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time? Polar Express, Family Man, Noel.

*Do you do your own Christmas Baking. Sugar cookies! We decorate them together with my son. I'll post the recipe soon.

*Fake or Real Tree? Fake

*What day (as a mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done? No, it's fun.

*Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? I wrap every presents just after I buy and put aside.

*What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas? Watching movies.

*What Christmas craft do you like the best? Wreath. Love it.
*Christmas music. Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song? Oh yes, Let it Snow by Michael Buble, Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano, White Christmas by Elvis Presley.

*When do you plan to finish all your shopping? Next week.

You all are tagged now:) Love y'all!

cauliflower..cauliflower..(updated post)

My hubby didn't use to eat cauliflower. It has become one of his favorite veggies:)

Baked&Broiled Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower (separated into florets )
4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

juice of one lemon

2 cloves garlic(minced)

4 tbsp olive oil.

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 F.
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice garlic and cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Pour into the large casserole dish. Cover it. Bake ~30 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil a few minutes until golden brown.

UPDATED...after it's broiled..

Have a great week everyone!

6th's!

In Good Days and Bad Days ...

My hubby and I got married in the local radio station we ran together 11 years ago today in Turkey, on the air! Even it is not ours anymore will be in our memories forever..
Our invitation

This number is very special for me. My birthday is April 6th. My hubby's birthday is January 6th. And our anniversary is December 6th :) Every big things in my life happend to me in 6th.

Sometimes good, sometimes bad things.. Life! It is full of surprises!

We have been together for 16 years and married for 11 years.

This picture is from a newspaper which they made a post about our wedding.

Mehmet used to play especially one song for me in his night show. Whitney Houston/I Will Always Love You... Still?Will he?? Hope so:)

We were much crazier ..Who am I kidding? We still are:) But sometimes life is crazier then us!!!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Do you like home made mushroom soup? I am making mushroom soup today! Let's get started. Shall we?? ;)

8 onces mushroom

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup half in half

1 medium sweet onion(chopped)

juice of 1 lemon

black pepper, paprika,tyme,salt

In a large saucepan, cook mushrooms with onion in 2 cups of broth until tender. In blender or food processor, puree the mixture with lemon juice. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly about 2 minutes, until smooth. Slowly add half in half and mixture while stirring and add remaining chicken broth. Add spicy and salt. Stirring constantly, bring soup to a boil and cook until thickened.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Let it snow!

2009, January-There wasn't too much snow but it was enough to make him happy:)

Last year with Snow Queen:) Tanger Outlet, Ice Skating Ring (Deer Park)

2005, December.

Doesn't he look so funny in this snowsuit with that shovel which is bigger than him?

Aria missed snow! But it is 49 degrees in Long Island today! He is planning to make a biggest snowman this winter:)