Family Time

Although I haven't lived there for a good decade, I'm from California.  Having spent the first 20 years of my life there, I'm pretty sure it will always feel like home. 

I don't get out there nearly enough.

Thankfully, my little sister got married and gave me a reason to haul my family out there last week!  I've had some unpleasant experiences travelling cross-country with my daughter in the past so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that 

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ROCKS.

Wow.  Talk about blowing their competition out of the water!  Their customer service was outstanding, the bags are free, and they kept my kids plied with drinks and free snacks.  I will forevermore drive 4 hours to the nearest airport that Southwest flies out of just to fly with them.  No joke, both flights with them were that amazing!  In fact, after I finish this blog post the next thing on my list is to write them and thank them.  When was the last time you felt that way after flying coach with two kids?

Color me impressed :-)

Aneeways, we had a great time and I discovered that BOTH of my children are party animals on the dance floor.

While I was at my parents' house I decided to stay on top of my Allrecipes Allstars challenges for the month and made a couple of different dishes using al fresco sausages (one of their brand partners for the month).

In addition to following recipes using the al fresco products from the Allrecipes.com site, we were tasked with creating a recipe of our own- which I gladly did.

I picked up a package of the Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage and created a sweet/savory breakfast hash to go along with my dad's pancakes (which he made into our intials just like when we were kids!!)

Sweet Breakfast Hash

It turned out very well!  There was some leftover that I even dumped into a quiche with some sauteed red bell pepper for lunch later that day and it was pretty great too.

Well, I'm home (TN home) again and I have so much to catch up on from my time away so I'll be running now, but I'll leave you with  some eye candy of some of the other great al fresco dishes I've made!

Italian Chicken Sausage Stuffed Portabellas

Italian Chicken Sausage Risotto

Basmati and Snow Pea Stir Fry with Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage Quiche

Linguine with Roasted Vegetables and Tomato Basil Chicken Meatballs

 
I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador(a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertisers are only used for experienced-based reviews on my blog. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are solely my own.