Artichokes with Lemon-Butter Sauce

Artichokes are a favorite at my house and recently they have been on sale for 10 for 10! It never fails when I am at the store picking some out, somebody will ask me how I cook them. Such a great deal and I have been having them for lunch. We all fight for the heart of the artichoke. Actually when I was pregnant with Mia I craved them more than normal (which is alot) and the kids were home for Christmas Break. I opened the fridge and saw I only had one artichoke. I thought to myself, "HMMMM. How can I sneak this past Logan and BayLee." They take 45 minutes to cook so I had it cooking and trying to keep them busy so they don't notice. YES I was having a selfish moment. So it was finally done! I snuk past them and went into my room (FOOD IN THE ROOM MAJOR NO NO!) and quietly shut my door and locked it. I was successful UNTIL BayLee went into the kitchen and looked into the pan that was sitting on the stove and all of a sudden I hear "LOGAN MOM HAD AN ARTICHOKE!! I SEE GREEN WATER". Sure enough it was just in time for the heart so I ended up sharing the best part of the dang thing!!!!! I just had to share that story. We love artichokes.

Fill pan with water. Cut stem off of Artichoke right up to the base of it. Place in pan with water. Bring to boil. Boil for 30-40 minutes until leaves can easily be pulled off.
Melt 1/4 margarine for each artichoke and add 1/2 lemon juice for each artichoke.
Once Artichoke is finished pull leaf off one by one,dip into sauce, and scrape the "meat" with your teeth. Once the leaves get way to small (you will know what I mean) cut below the leaves right on top of the base. This is the heart. Make sure you get the fuzzy part off too (forget to tell people that and they end up eating it).
BEST PART!!!! Cut up heart in bitesize pieces and dip them in the butter sauce and SAVOR the moment. Good stuff.

Frog Eye Salad

I will warn you all now I love to cook and LOVE to try new recipes. I finally got up the nerve to make a Frog Eye Salad. I found this salad at http://www.justmade.blogspot.com/. A great site-check it out. Next time I make it I will eliminate the pineapple chunks. My kids would have eaten the salad if they wouldn't have been in it. BayLee had fun helping me make this and loved licking the mixing bowl when we were done. I know this is popular in Utah so I thought I would share it with people that may not have heard of it before. Enjoy. Perfect for a barbeque. Even better the next day!!!!! Enjoy.

1 cup ronzoni acini pepe, uncooked
2 -11 0z cans of mandarin oranges,drained
20 oz pineapple chunks, in juice, divided
1 3/4 cup milk
2 cups cool whip, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 small box vanilla pudding
8oz pineapple, crushed
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water to cool quickly/drain well. Drain juice from pineapple chunks, reserving 1/4 cup. In large bowl, add reserved juice, milk, sugar, and pudding mix; beat with wisk or electric mixer until well blended, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add pasta to pudding mixture; stir gently. Let stand 10 minutes. Add crushed pineapple and chunks, oranges, 2 cups whipped topping, marshmallows, and coconut;mix gently and thoroughly. Cover; refrigerate until cold. 12 servings (about 1 cup each)