Seafood Alfredo Deluxe: An Original Recipe

Hello there! 


I know it has been entirely too long since I have blogged here. A LOT has happened. I gave birth to my wonderful son, Despin Tristen Keith Allen (I am working on a post of his birth story and how hes doing since) And I moved to NC with my husband. Actually I moved first then had the baby. But anyway, there will be a time and place for updates about me, and this is not it. :) 

Right now, I am here to share a wonderful recipe, a favorite in my house. I am blogging this recipe for the wonderful moms in a Facebook group I am a part of. 

Here goes :) pictures included!

Seafood Alfredo Deluxe: An Original Leann Allen Recipe

Ingredients: 

• Angel Hair Pasta
• 1 8oz package cream cheese
• 1 stick of butter salted
• 4-6 oz of shredded Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz half and half 
• smoked sausage, skinless
• your choice of seafood ( I used medium shrimp and imitation crab, in the past I have included lobster and scallops too) 
• your choice of spices, the ones I use will be in a picture below 

1. I start with three pans, on the right a large pan of boiling water. Start boiling the water. I never go above a leval 6 on my nice pans for heat to keep them in good shape. 
The front left pan will be for your sausage and seafood, and the back left pan for your sauce. 

2. Add your cream cheese and butter to the sauce pan. You can cut up the cream cheese first to ensure better melting. I got lazy so I skipped this step. Just takes a little longer to melt. This pan should be on a heat level one or two notches above medium ( a 6 for me ) stir this pot occasionally while you work on the next steps. 

3. My shrimp was frozen, So I am thawing it in hot water. Then I will pull off the tails and add to the meat pan.  

4. Cut up your smoked sausage links into small round pieces ( or really into any kind of pieces you want! ) My sausage is a little messed up in the picture because I accidentally bought it with the skin on instead of skinless. Skinless works much better for this recipe. 

5. Add your sausage, shrimp, and crab meat ( or any other seafood ) to your meat pan. I add a little olive oil to this to help it cook. dont forget to sample a few bites ;) 
Here you can also add veggies if you wish, I like mushrooms on mine but my husband is not a veggie fan, so if I add any I do it separate from the meat.  

By now your butter should be melted and your cream cheese will be starting to melt. I chopped up the cream cheese with my mixing spoon at this point to help it melt better.

6. I then add a lid to my meat pan, and let it simmer to cook. You can pretty much leave it alone the rest of the time. stir every once and a while if you want.  

This is not part of the current recipe, but if you have kids and want to add a fun twist to your recipe, cut the sausage pieces a little bigger, and stick a ton of noodles (more then shown) through the sausage. Then cook them all together in the boiling water. It looks super funky when it comes out, all wrapped in noodles!! so fun!

7. Your cream cheese should be melting soon, mixing will help the process. It can feel like it takes forever. but it should look similar to this soon.  

8. Add your cheese ( warning: do not substitute anything besides shredded Parmesan, unless you like swallowing cheese by the block. Any other cheese makes it wayyyy to thick )

9. Add your half and half, I estimated the amount above, really I don't measure, I just use 3/4th of this container.  You can add more if you like your Alfredo more liquidy. 

10. Alright! here are the wonderful seasonings I use. The first, kicken chicken, I add to the mean pan. All the rest shown in this picture are added to the sauce pan. 

Basil, oregano, herbs de providence, and coriander(warning this is little balls of spicy goodness) 

 

11. Add the greens to the dish! I also add tons of Chives! I just love Chives... so much color to them :)

12. Mix well :) leave sauce to boil, until the noodles are done. this will make it nice and thick and melted!

 

I also add garlic to the meat pan!  

Looking yummy! 

Here is the meat pan, cooking along, with the seasonings (kicken chicken and garlic salt) added in. You can add some chili powder too if you like.  

13. At this point, your sauce should be good and mixed and your meat should be darker in color and hot! go ahead and add your sauce to the meat pan, and let simmer.

14. Cook noodles. I cook for about 10 minutes. I use about half a box of noodles. you can use more or less without changing the sauce amount. I like my pasta super soft and tender for this recipe. 

15. Dont forget to add some salt (any kind) to your noodles, to keep them from sticking to the pan! be generous here. 

 My baby Despin decided to wake up and help me out with the rest of dinner. He thought he was helping... but really he just wanted to stare at the ceiling lol :) 

16. Drain noodles, do not rinse. put back in pan.

17. Mix the sauce meat pan mixture with the noodles, mix well!  

And there you have it! A Delicious Alfredo Recipe! I bet you will be wanting seconds!!!

Despin Can't wait to try some himself! He watched me eat the whole meal!

Hope you enjoy :) feel free to comment with any questions!

Merry christmas!!!

Its too nice to be blogging

Today the weather outside is BEAUTIFUL. So I am going to go enjoy it ;) its just too nice to be blogging. see you all next Friday :)

Peace and Love and Sunshine
-Leann Allen

Creativity

Today, my mind has been on the subject of creativity. 
Now this subject is deep and wide, and I literally have a million directions I could take this post. 
I'm going to try to focus on two main things, but really its one main topic. You should find one that relates to you.

1.The "creative person" 

2.The "non-creative person"


These are titles. They are given to us either by others or by ourselves. If given by others, we can embrace or reject the meaning. We all have an opinion of ourselves that we keep close to our hearts. Do you believe you are a creative person? Do you believe that you are not a creative person?

I am going to explain to you, why I do not believe either person exists. 

Lets start by learning a little about what creativity is. I found a few definitions that I love:

Creativity- 

1. The state of being creative. 
2. The ability to transcend or change traditional rules, patterns, ideas, relationships into new interpretations, ideas, patterns, relationships. 
3. The process of using creative ability. 

I love these three descriptions, more then any other ones I have found. 

Starting with number one. The state of being creative. The reason I love this so much, is because it does not say "being creative" or "someone who is being creative" It uses the word state.

To be in a state, means total focus and feeling, a state is usually based around our emotions. 

Think of someone who does yoga or meditation. They train their minds and bodies into a state of peace and tranquility to improve their own quality of life or find peace. Peace; This is a trained state, not one we usually enter into on accident.

Think now, of someone who has become extremely angry, maybe they have road rage or maybe they were just cheated out of something owed to them. Anger is a powerful emotion, because its one we are not always able to control. People with anger, fall into a state that takes them by surprise, and often they can not reverse it without incredible effort. This state can cause damage and fear, and can be dangerous. 

Creativity is and can be like both of these situations. 

When I enter the state of creativity, sometimes it takes me by great surprise. It engulfs me, fills my mind, and nothing can interrupt what I feel at that moment. Until I give into this state, it feels I will never be satisfied, much like the emotion of anger. 

Other times, I have to coax myself into this state. I become lazy and procrastinate, or maybe I can not find proper inspiration. So I train myself, which takes focus and dedication, to enter the state. Its very similar to entering a state of peace or tranquility. Once there, I can move forward and find inspiration within.

Using the word state in this way, suggests that creativity is not a unique quality that a certain type of person possesses. Some people may be more prone to entering this state then others (just like some people are more prone to becoming angry), however the description suggests anyone may enter it. Anyone may enter the state of creativity, of being creative. 

If I had a goal in my creative life, it would be to convince everyone in the world, that ANYONE can be creative. I do not believe there is a type of person that is more creative then another. I do not believe that there are people who "can" and "cannot draw, or paint, or cook, or create art. 

I believe that anyone can be an artist. Anyone can be a poet. Anyone can be a cook. I believe that EVERYONE is creative. 

When you look at someone the world would call a "creative person" and look at someone the world would deem a "non-creative person" You will notice several differences. 

1. the "creative person" would be good at something artsy. Weather its cooking, or singing, or drawing, or gardening. Like wise, the "non-creative person" would not show any talent for any of these things, and would seem to be less interesting. 

2. the "creative person" would seem to be more open minded, free spirited, a non-conformist and the "non-creative person" would seem to go more by the rules, be less adventurous, or have less crazy thoughts in their head. 

These are things that describe two types of people. What the world gets wrong, is that these are not descriptions or qualities of "creative" and "non-creative" people. They are simply personality types. Maybe you are good with your hands, maybe you have a beautiful voice. Those are qualities about you, it is what you do with those qualities that brings you to creation. A person may be more drawn to one thing or the other, but creativity is not limited to certain qualities. It can be used by anyone.

I believe there are people who are open to the wonders of the world, and people who are closed to them. This does not make you "creative" or "non-creative" 

Someone who is open is more likely to become creative, or to learn creative traits. They are more likely to be inspired, and more likely to want to do something about that inspiration. 

People who are more closed to possibilities, or stuck in a day to day routine with little variations, are less likely to pick up creative habits, and less likely to create. 

The point I want to get across: Creativity is something you learn not something you just have. It is something that anyone can access. I have spent years and years practicing "an open mind" and because I have done that, I have been able to access all kinds of creative elements in this world. Drawing, writing, singing, music. It's all out there. Anyone can grab it. 

It took me years to develop any kind of artistic skill. When I was a child, I was not good at drawing. But I was determined become an artist. People said I had talent, but that was not true. I had the quality of having good hand eye coordination, and the learned skill of controlling a pencil. I trained myself, I studied the beauty of this world, and I practiced every chance I got. Practice makes talent. Now I am proud of the drawings I produce, and am able to say that I am an artist. 

And that goes for anything, anyone can look at someone and be jealous. Anyone can wish they knew how to do something. Anyone can be creative, and anyone can become talented. 

If you have enough desire, and an open mind, you can be creative. You should never let yourself or anyone else tell you otherwise. 

For one last point, creativity is not simply art. It is not just drawing, painting, writing, cooking, singing, acting. Creativity is much much wider then that. 

I know people who are incredibly creative, who would never say so about themselves. My husband for example. No he can't draw or paint or write or cook well. No, he does not get excited by a bag of sharpies and glitter. 

His creativity is in people. He has an amazing talent, that he has developed and practiced, in the way he treats people. He can make people really listen to him, he can make them smile, he can make them laugh. People feel easy around him, they feel good. That is a creative process. To be able to relate to others shows great creativity and thought. Most people do not realize this. 

Another way I have seen creativity is in numbers. People who are great at math or science, are extremely creative. They use their brains in a way many of us have not figured out how to do. They come up with new ideas and solutions, without being called "creative"

People can be creative in amazing ways that we take for granted. So please don't ever again, tell yourself that you are not creative. I guarantee you that you are in some shape or form. If you are sure you are not, its not because of a quality you are missing. It may be that your mind is not open to the possibility of being creative. 

I am an extremely happy person, because my life is focused and revolved around creativity. I practice using it, and seeing it every day. Anyone can be creative. Anyone can learn a talent if they are dedicated enough. Anyone can have or learn to have an open mind. 

God gave us the ability over all other animals on this earth, to be creative. We are able to create, and live, and love. We should celebrate that every day. So here's to our God, and our amazing minds, let us not underestimate or take for granted any of it.

All my love, 

-Leann Allen

God's Blessings

How wonderful, how beautiful, how crazy and mysterious... God's blessings. They hold so much, speak so much, they are so deep and full of meaning. 

God's blessings are something I am pondering on today. I am in awe, and wonder. I am peaceful and happy as I think about each blessing he has ever shown me.

I feel as if I could write a million pages on this subject. 

I think all of us can admit we take the blessings of this life for granted. The sun, the sky, the rain, the air we breathe. The beauty around us, each leaf on each tree, alone amazing but together creating a beautiful picture and the world we live in. How many things do we pass by each day that we forget improves our quality of life? 

How about our bodies? Our hands and fingers, the ability to speak and understand one another. The ability to work and fight and live. The ability to walk and run and love. The ability to think and create.

We worry so much about so many little things. If we step back and look at all of these HUGE things that we are forgetting about, we will see how small our problems really are. I have never had to worry about having enough air to breathe, or worry about my legs not being able to carry me to work tomorrow. These are big things that we do not think about. 

But God doesn't just bless us in big ways that we don't think about. God blesses us in big ways we DO think about too. He blesses us with children, the beautiful miracle of life that most people do not take for granted. How precious of a moment; when you see a child just born looking into the loving face of his parents. God blesses us with friendship; brings us together and gives us opportunities and wisdom through one another. God blesses us with family, and with love. Everyone in this life will experience love in some shape or form. Our God is the creator of love, He IS love. How amazing is that to think about? 

And the biggest moment, when God gave his only son to die in our place, to cover the depth and disgust of all of our sins. To make us clean! This blessing is one of the most adored blessings in our lives. The biggest and the most amazing, and most undeserved. 

I love this. 

God blesses us in ways we take for granted
God blesses us in ways we don't think about
God blesses us in ways we do think about and appreciate. 

It doesn't stop there. There is more!

Gods blessings don't stop at the big things in life, creation and the world. They don't stop at the adored things in life, children and family and love. They keep going. Gods blessings reach down to the smallest and tiniest parts of our lives. They touch every worry, every fear, and every silly thought inside us. 

God cares for the birds of the air and the creatures of the sea. How much more will he care for us? God listens to our prayers, we cry out to him in times of need, and smile up at him in times of peace. God hears us, sees us, keeps his hand near. He changes little things here and there to keep us on a straight path. He protects us from things we don't see as dangers. He shows us the way, leads us by light. He takes our every thought to his heart, and He never gets bored or annoyed at our silly childish worries and lives. He truly is the best father, giving and giving, guiding, and never forsaking us or growing impatient. 

God is so good. 

These last few years, I have seen and touched and felt so many wonderful blessed moments. Looking back on my life, I see so many moments when God led me out of something dangerous, and put me on the right path. In those moments, I was blind and did not see the danger or the fear. God did. He found me.

Then I was ready to move on on my own, a single young adult, I had dedicated my life to the Lord after He found me lost and confused. He helped me find who I was, and helped me love myself, and become confident in myself and in Him. 

When I stepped forward in faith ready to be on my own, He sent Justin to me. I walked through that relationship with open hands, ready for God to take it away or lead me in a new direction at any moment. But God knew the desires of my heart for he had put them there. I prayed every day that I could keep him. And God let me keep him. Justin fulfilled one of the greatest desires any of us have, to be loved. Our relationship led to marriage, now we are best friends serving God together. We feel so much stronger as one then we did as two separately.

Now we are expecting a child, there is nothing in the world I desire more then to be a mother, and God has again been faithful to the desires he placed on my heart. 

We keep walking forward, and though blind, we see his greatness and trust in his guide. Every step we take brings us closer to the next blessing, the next promise, the next mission. 

Today I found great joy and blessing in a box of donated maternity clothes. It was an unspoken need, and I didn't know how I would fill it. God did. God knows what we need before we need it. When we put our faith in him to provide for us, we will never be disappointed. 

When we have our priorities in order, with God and his love always at the top, we will never be forgotten. 

When we are ready to appreciate the small things, when we find joy in the little moments of life, we will never go long without smiling. 

Because, when we are open to the blessings God has for us they will come. They will always come. 

Because I know this, I can smile today. My life is not perfect, and there is plenty to worry about, but I will not worry today. I will walk in these amazing maternity jeans that feel so good to wear. I will soak up the sunshine, and kiss my husband goodnight. 

I will walk in God's blessings with open hands lifted high. I will praise him, be ready to move when he moves, I will surrender and give everything I have each day. In God's hands, I will fear nothing. In God's hands, my life is good. So today, while I remember this, I will smile. 

God's blessings are all around, they are too deep and glorious for us to understand. We will never see them all, we will never be grateful enough. They will never end.

Smile friends. They are all around us. <3

- Leann Allen

Random Life Update

Hello Friends! 

I am checking in on a regular Friday night. Currently I am sitting in a Mcdonalds, sipping my caffeine free drink, eating my McNuggets, and staring at the toy I have to finish eating to get....
Just kidding, I didn't get a happy meal...
This time...

I am here, and plan to be for several hours because my husband is working. He works a couple weeks a night at Domino's. Great to have the extra cash, but not so great to be home alone for hours after work. (he has this weekend off and I am sooo excited!)

I used to love being alone, as a teenager I would walk the streets at night, going to parks and listening to my music. I could never sleep, and spent at least 50% of my time alone and I loved it. I had friends and family to hang out with the rest of the time, and I felt like an introvert that charged in my me time. 
Now a days its like everything is backwards. I thrive on others energy and I can not stand being alone. Maybe its because I live in a basement apartment. Or because I don't really have people to go and hang with anymore. Maybe the lack of high school drama leaves me too bored!

Whatever it is, I have had to become very creative the past year. Because when you work part time, and your alone a lot there are generally two options. 

Option one, become a couch potato and get really fat on ice cream. Waking up with a sore neck and a Netflix hangover. 

Option two, get creative and make good use of your time. Do not under any circumstances bring out the ice cream bucket, or login to your Netflix account. 

I am doing everything I can to be "option two" as many days of the week as possible :) 

I have started a lot of projects this way! 

Now that I am pregnant, its even more vital to keep myself entertained, to keep my mind off of the awful pregnancy symptoms. My pregnancy is not a super easy one, but we expected that. There are a lot of health issues that interfere with the flow. We are doing good so far though! Baby is healthy and growing strong. 

So that is part of the reason I started this blog. To give my mind a place to wander and my heart a place to thrive. I love writing, and needed to make time for it in my life. 

So what have I been up to? what have I been doing to fill up all that extra time? 
hint: if you guessed working, you would be wrong!

I am teaching myself to sew! I am in love with it. My husband bought me a brand new fancy sewing machine for Christmas this last year. 
Sadly I let it sit in the box until last month. 

But now that I'v started I never want to stop. I have made a pillow, out of an old coke fabric my husband had. This project only took about ten minutes. It was super simple. The only thing I have not figured out is how "inside out" sew that last seem... hmmm. 


I Also made two completely random little purse's out of scrap fabric. Maybe Ill turn them into coin purses and monogram them. Or maybe they will stay random little squares. (this was the first project I tried on the machine so give me a break!) 

And this here, is probably what I am most proud of so far. I took a suuuuuper weird polo shirt. 
This shirt was not just any polo. It was white, a super soft baby blanket feeling fabric. It had huge bulky white collars. It had EMBROIDERED zoo animals on the front... they all had pretty creepy faces. And... wait for it.... it had shoulder pads. 
I just died when I found it. It was in a free clothes give away at a church. I rescued it from being thrown out. I mostly saved it for the soft material. I am so glad I did! 
With super little previous sewing experience, and just my imagination for a guide, I made this super adorable baby crawler outfit. If I find out I am having a girl, I will definitely add a bow of some sort. 
Its not perfect, but its sturdy! I added the collar myself, and made it completely out of the bottom edges of the weird shirt. 

Proud mama moment. Made with Love for my baby bear!

That is all I have made so far, but I plan on tackling much more. I am going to make a diaper bag, and a million baby outfits/bibs/booties/blankets. My mom has had to drag me away from the craft section in the store a few times. Its not my fault I gravitate towards the baby girl outfit patterns! 
Only a few more weeks till we find out our baby's gender. 
as you can tell, I think its a girl. I just have a feeling. 

They say moms have super senses right?

I can not wait to find out. So many people have asked me if we would wait for the surprise. No way I say! I have too many adorable outfits to make. Lets face it, as much as we pretend its so much harder to stay gender neutral then they say it is. 

Until then I will be avoiding my sewing machine. Unless I find something not baby to sew between now and then. Seriously, I just love sewing. Its so relaxing. 

I have also have some super cool news as far as creating things goes. I have been working on creating an all ages coloring book, with detailed black and white design pictures. My sketch book is lacking color these days but it is full of hope! I really hope I can follow through with this, because it would just be so cool to see my artwork become a coloring book. Its like the art would never stop growing and changing, and I love that! Plus there are just not enough coloring books for grown ups out there! 

I really hope you guys will support me in this! Please send me comments and ideas for new coloring pages to add! I am also having trouble coming up with a good theme for the book, so I'd love some comments on that! 

To close, I will show you the coolest drawing ever. This is when me and my husband visited Pride Rock. Yes I know, we look so touristy, But give us a break it was PRIDE ROCK! 
Disney forever<3

Peace and Marshmallows Y'all!

Yours Truly, 

-Leann Allen xoxo

50 things to do with kids this summer!

Hello! Welcome to my blog!
This blog will be full of all kinds of posts. From kid activities, to pregnancy moments, to inspiring thoughts, and even art projects. 

First post: Kid post!

 Most of you that are reading this right now are probably friends and family. So you already know, that I do not have kids of my own ( yet ) 
I am expecting a baby on November 3rd, and I am beyond excited. 
If you know me you know how much I love kids, And that working with them is my full time job. Iv been a teacher in daycare, and worked as a nanny (along with countless other child care situations). 

This summer I am nanny-ing for a new family. They have two sweet little children, a four year old boy and a two year old girl. 
While I was trying to figure out what to write about in my first blog post, I was also trying to figure out what I am going to do this summer to keep them (and me) from getting bored. So I thought hey, why not combine the two! 

I have not yet nannied for a family during the summer with kids old enough to play. So I am super excited! I read a bunch of internet lists, and did some Pintrest searching, and then picked out all of my favorite ideas. 

Hopefully We will get to do them all this summer! 

So here you go, our summer bucket list:

 50 things to do with kids this summer!

• Trip to the zoo (or several dozens)
• River picnic
• Park picnic (anywhere picnic!)
• Frozen yogurt trip 
• Making home made ice cream
• Writing our own story, illustrating it and making it into a hardcover book
• Roasting hot dogs and s'mores in fire pit
• Making our own mini pizzas
• Making homemade kids snacks (yogurt dots, Graham crackers, rice krispies, see Pintrest!)
• Nature walk/scavenger hunt (making an art collage of what we find) 
• Water balloon fight!
• Bird watching with binoculars
• Library trip
• Planting flowers or tomatoes in posts
• Pirate day (dressing up, talking like, and exploring like pirates. Treasure hunt included) 
• Museum Trip
• Home made chalk and chalk murals
• Paper boat racing 
• Making bird houses out of Popsicle sticks
• Pool trip
• Painting rocks
• Painting sidewalk with water
• Home made popsicle's 
• Mall trip
• Bubble day, home made (giant, touchable, colored)
• Painting/designing white shoes
• Painting our own canvas
• Tea party
• Movie pajama day
• Charades
• Trip to movies
• Decorating cupcakes
• DIY tie pillows
• Paper mache 
• Home made play dough
• Tie dye shirts
• Potato sack race -race day
• Nature hunt with magnifying glasses
• Go fish day - cards, snacks, and finding Nemo movie
• Jump rope
• Disposable camera walk
• Career day - find out what they want to be and learn about it
• Face painting
• Learning our sign language A B C's
• Lemonade stand at park
• Learning the 50 states
• Eye spy
• Water Blob!!! (see Pintrest, best idea on this list!)
• Balloon making (baking soda and vinegar) 
• Pine cone or TP roll bird feeders

There is my list! Hopefully you can take something from it. If you have any questions on the items, or have any cool ideas of your own leave a comment! I love feedback! Also feel free to message me directly. 

Now all that's left to do is wait for this weather to warm up! 

Happy Summer planning!

- Leann Allen