Hi Everyone,

I would like to start out by introducing myself.  My name is Susan Pazera and I have lived on Long Island since 2000 and in the East Quogue area since 2002.  I have four wonderful children whose ages range from 3 to 14 years. I'll be sharing more about them in upcoming newsletters. I am so excited to be taking over Macaroni Kid for the Hampton Bays, East Quogue, Quogue, and Westhampton area. There is so much to see and do here!  I am thrilled to be able to share information about upcoming events and activities as well as interacting with other Moms with tips and suggestions. We're all in this together and this newsletter will be a fun place to visit each week!

My days are filled with housework, homework, and car pooling, as I am sure most of you can relate to, and I am always on the go. I am hoping to make this newsletter a "one stop shopping" forum as they say.  A place that you can go to and see what is going on within our community and find other interesting and useful information as well.  Your input and suggestions are most appreciated so, please send me your ideas along with any happenings around town or information you would like to see posted. You can email me at susanp@macaronikid.com with any topic you'd like to see covered or anything else you would like to share with other Moms. As I go forward with this and make myself more visible within the community, look for lots more information on entertaining activities and events, teen scene info, healthy tips, book and movie reviews, contests, and giveaways. Please help me spread the word and have your friends and family sign up to receive this newsletter. I look forward to this wonderful new venture with all of you!

Very Best,

Susan

This Week's Picks:

This Week's Calendar:

Plan Ahead:

Ingredients:

1. 1 pound ground turkey
2. 1/2 cup bread crumbs
3. 1/2 cup onion chopped ( optional)
4. 1/2 cup of skim milk
5. 1 egg beaten
6. 2 cups cooked spaghetti
7. 1 1/2 cups Spaghetti sauce
8. 1 cup shredded mozarella cheese
9. Salt and pepper to taste

Combine turkey, bread crumbs, onion salt, pepper, and milk in a mixing bowl

Press mixture into bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. Place plate on baking sheet

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes..drain off any fat..leave oven on.

Mix spaghetti with beaten egg until noodles are covered. Pour into baking shell.

Top with sauce and cheese. Return to baking sheet

Bake again for 10 minutes at 350.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Cut pie into wedges with spatula to serve.!!

Serve with a salad !

** I played around with this recipe and used all organic ingredients...it was delicious and no one could tell the difference***

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it...If you can dream it, you can become it..."

The Magical Legend Of The Leprechauns (DVD) (1999)   A man rents a cottage on the magical Emerald Isle which happens to be inhabited by leprechauns and fairies. There is a forbidden romance that starts a war between the mythical communities. The man  is chosen to help bring peace to the island which tosses him into a fantastic adventure. NR  

A Very Unlucky Leprechaun (DVD) (1998)  A girl and her father have inherited a house in Ireland nicknamed "Misfortune Manor". Soon she finds a leprechaun living in the house, and she befriends him. The leprechaun has no luck because he hasn't eaten a four-leaf clover in over a hundred years. Soon his bad luck begins to rub off on her and she gets in all types of trouble.  They go on an adventure looking for the clover so the leprechaun can use his magic. Rated G.  

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)  This Disney Classic is a story of Darby O'Gill, a man with the Irish gift of gab who finds himself face-to-face with the magical little people. Unexpectedly, one of the old storyteller's tall tales comes true when he captures the King of the Leprechauns, who must grant him three wishes. All the wishes backfire in amusing, and sometimes frightening, ways.

 

We all know the green food coloring tricks On St. Patrick's Day, green milk, green egg salad, green oatmeal...but what about the naturally green foods and snacks?  This year try something different and let your children taste the green!  Here are some suggestions:

Green Apples

Pickles

Green grapes

Celery

Green beans

Snap peas

Kiwi

Broccoli

Honeydew melon

If you must use food cloring, try just a bit in lip gloss or chapstick and send your littles ones to school with a big green kiss!

Household Tip:                                                                                                                        This week I had the "fun" task of figuring out how to remove glued on paper from the top of my dining room table thanks to my very "creative" three year old. I wet a dish rag with hot water and laid it over the pieces of paper for 5 minutes. It came right off, no problem!!!

Birthday party suggestion:

I hosted a sleepover party for my 9 year old daughter last week.  There were 15 little very well behaved 9 year old girls here but I have to say, keeping them busy was not an easy task.  One of the party activities that I had them do was to decorate and stuff their own goodie bags.  This is always one chore of birthday parties that I find to be a bit stressful beforehand. I purchased plain white paper bags and had them decorate them with stickers ( letters for their names and other fun pieces)and then handed them the goodies to put in them. We all had a lot of fun doing this and it took part of the work of the party away from Mom. Gotta love it!