Menu Plan: 3/ 8 to 3/14

Saturday March 8th:
At The Lake House 

Sunday March 9th:
In town all day for church 

Monday March 10th:
Breakfast:
Egg and avocados
Snack: 
AM: bunny crackers
PM: homemade bread and honey
Lunch:
Boys: buy lunch at school
Baby A: salami, cheese and fruit (Baby A is on another salami kick, asking for it everyday)
Dinner:
Meatball Subs  with fries and a veggie

Tuesday March 11th:
Breakfast: 
Bacon eggs and avocados (Tim and I)
Sausage Cheese Bread
Snack:
AM: Fruit and whip cream
PM: bunny crackers or bread and honey
Lunch:
Boys: buy lunch at school
A: salami, cheese and yogurt
Tim and I: Leftover meatball subs
Dinner: 
Parmesan broiled Tilapia  with sweet potatoes and veggies

Wednesday March 12th:
Breakfast:
bacon, eggs and avocado
sausage cheese bread
Snack:
AM: Homemade Soft Pretzels
PM: fruit and whip cream
Lunch:
Boys; buy lunch at school
A: salami, cheese and yogurt
Tim and I: salad with leftover tilapia on top
Dinner:
Taco Bake with rice and beans (leftover from last week.... we never made it)

Thursday March 13th:
Breakfast:
bacon and eggs
muffins and yogurt
Snack: 
AM: soft pretzels
PM: bunny crackers
Lunch:
boys: buy lunch at school
A: Salami, cheese and olives
Tim and I: Leftovers
Dinner:
Minute Steaks with mashed potatoes, black eyed peas and cornbread

Friday March 14th
Breakfast:
Bacon and eggs
muffins and yogurt
Snack:
AM: string cheese and olives
PM: bread and honey
Lunch: 
Boys: buy lunch at school
A: Salami, cheese and fruit
Tim and I: salad
Dinner:
Chicken Thighs with veggies

Menu Plan: 3/1 to 3/7

I have to have a menu plan each week. Not just dinners but breakfast, lunch dinners and two snacks per day. If it isn't scheduled out each week, I buy useless stuff at the grocery store and it goes bad before we eat it. Basically it makes my life easier. I pretty sure most of you couldn't care less about what we are eating but as with most things.... I need a place to have it all recorded for the week or even for future menu plans. I go to the grocery store on Saturday mornings so menu planning starts Saturdays.  I also don't stick to this 100%. If something didn't thaw in time or if something doesn't sound good that night, then we switch up dinners etc... So now that I have that all prefaced, I will post these on Saturdays. Skip them if you want :) Oh and if the words are italicized then they are linked to the recipe for you guys.

Saturday March 1st:
Breakfast:
eggs, bacon and avocados (Tim and I eat this every morning)
 banana bread and yogurt (For the kids)
Snack:
Am: Annie's Bunny crackers
Pm:  homemade bread and local honey
Lunch: 
Pasta salad and leftover homemade chicken and spinach alfredo pizza
Dinner:
Chicken Lo Mein with Onion Soup and rice

Sunday March 2nd:
In town all day for church 

Monday March 3rd:
Breakfast:
Egg, bacon and avocados (Tim and I)
pancakes (for the kids)
Snack: 
AM: fruit
PM: homemade bread and honey
Lunch:
Homemade Chicken Nuggets (made in advance on Saturday), a cutie orange, and Pirate's Booty (healthy cheetos)
Dinner:
Chicken Avocado Soup with corn bread

Tuesday March 4th:
Breakfast: 
eggs and avocados (Tim and I)
pancakes (the kids)
Snack:
AM: Fruit
PM: String Cheese
Lunch:
Homemade Chicken Nuggets with a cutie orange and Pirate's Booty
Dinner: 
Chicken and Cheese Lasagna 

Wednesday March 5th:
Breakfast:
eggs and coconut banana bread  (Tim and I )
Pancakes (the kids)
Snack:
AM: string cheese and black olives
PM: Annie's bunny crackers
Lunch:
Homemade Chicken Nuggets with applesauce, pretzels and a chocolate chip cookie
Dinner:
Homemade Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese sandwiches

Thursday March 6th:
Breakfast:
eggs, and coconut banana bread (Tim and I)
coconut banana bread and yogurt (the kids)
Snack: 
AM: Pirate's Booty
PM: Homemade Croutons 
Lunch:
Chicken Salad, triscuits, applesauce, string cheese and a chocolate chip cookie
Dinner:
Taco Bake with rice and beans

Friday March 7th
Breakfast:
eggs, muffin and yogurt
Snack:
AM: Annie's bunny crackers
PM: homemade bread and local honey
Lunch: 
Chicken salad, triscuits, a cutie orange and pretzels
Dinner:
Broccoli Chicken and cheese casserole with rice

Random Catch Up

I have been away from this blog this week for good reason. I couldn't figure out how to get my pictures on this new laptop and let's face it one post without pictures is boring but a week without pictures is REALLY boring.
Alas, Tim showed me how to get the pictures transferred and I think I can play catch up today.

For Valentine's Day this year I made us the kids a homemade cookie cake. This is one of those things that the kids always see at the bakery and beg for but it has always been off limits to us due to Rascal's nut allergy (they are always made in the same facility as nuts.....always!). So I found a good recipe and tackled making one myself. We all agreed it was WAY better than any store bought cookie cake we had ever had. I rarely brag on things that I make but oh good heaven's this was superb! I'll have the recipe on my recipe blog soon. 

I told Baby A to go clean up her room and she put her blinders on to the mess in her floor and decided organizing her closet hangers was much more important. HA! Take a look at those hangers though. She organized them by type (pants hangers and shirt hangers) and by color (white and pink). She apparently has watched her mommy do chores around the house. 

Sweet Scooter is growing up so fast. He will be 11 this year and in middle school next year. I am not sure how this could possible be?!?!?! 

I caught Rascal asking the his granny's neighbor's grandkids (got all that???) if they could play. Most Sundays when we are hanging at Tim's parents' house their neighbors have their grandkids and they all play really great together. 

These are sideways and I can't seem to get them the right way, sorry! 

One of the many things the public schools are lacking lately is cursive handwriting. I am not going into my huge rant on how I feel about this but I think it is super important for my kids to learn how to at least sign their name in cursive writing. So I took it upon myself to teach them. When the kids were off of school one day we sat down and learned. The boys caught on really fast and both can now spell their names in cursive writing. Here are pictures of a little bit of their work 

Scooter got Tolerance award at his school. (this is him on picture day... handsome guy!) 

If you can't read it it says: 

Daniel shows tolerance in his classes everyday. He is tolerant of others views without being judgmental. 

We are so proud of him. He shines for Christ at school and it is very evident. 

I have a few more posts to post. We have soaked up some fun days in the few nice days of spring like weather we had and we also had a trip to the circus. Look for those posts soon. 

Picture Post

The other day I made up a batch of homemade croutons from my homemade whole wheat bread. The kids and Tim LOVED them! It was so easy and so yummy that we now have them around for snacks each week. I'll have the recipe on my recipe blog soon. 

If you think about it, keep Tim in your prayers. Bless his heart, he has struggled with ear trouble since October. He has lost hearing in one ear and we thought it was due to ear infections and mrsa but once that was all cleared up and his hearing wasn't back we knew it was something else. We found out from a CT scan last week that he has a cyst behind his ear drum that will need to be surgically removed. We go today to meet with the surgeon and schedule the surgery. We are hoping to get it done soon so we can get it all behind us and he can regain his hearing again

Sweet sweet cousins 

Can you tell Baby A is a tiny bit mothering?? 

Just A Note

This is a CRAZY busy week for me so blogging here is going to be to a minimum. I promise to post daily again next week. 

Just wanted to drop in and let you know I have posted a few new recipes on my recipe blog. Several are desserts that were very yummy so head over there and check them out!! 

Random Post

Well I had a video of Scooter fishing uploading and once it was done it disappeared. So you get a random post that may have a picture thrown in.

** We got faster internet last week and with that came a lot of changes. Instead of having SLOW internet through the phone line we now how internet through the cable (with no cable tv though). We love the faster internet and can now watch videos on Amazon Prime which we are all LOVING. SO we moved the main computer downstairs. Of course once ANY piece of furniture gets moved my crazy rearranging habit kicks in. We rearranged the boys beds and furniture and then I have to clean out the downstairs play room closet to make room for a filing cabinet and computer things. I have since run out of motivation and doubt the closet will get cleaned out this week.

** Baby A and I start bible study this week. She has had a few changes in classes at church and done fantastic. I thought there may be a few tears shed but there was not a one.  She is a social butterfly and loves playing with new friends. I hope that this will be the same when we go to bible study this week at a new place with a lot of new faces. Here are a few pictures from her first day at Awanas.

All ready to go to Awanas and she was SO excited!!

(that's Rascal in the blue playing a game) 

(and that blue blur is Tim. He got talked into playing the game too) 

You can barely see Scooter across the circle in the gray shirt and black shorts. 

Baby A loved being in with her brothers. She was a little clueless on the games but she sure had fun trying. 

** This past weekend I felt rather ambitious and shopped, prepped, cooked and froze about 20 meals. Add that to the meats I already had in the freezer and I have enough food frozen to give us at least 27 meals. I posted several of the freezer meal recipes on my recipe blog in case you want to see. I started making my own stock again (easiest thing in the world to make) and I'm getting my freezer stocked with it so I am ready for the yummy soups this fall and winter.

** I have been on the search for some sunscreen that is safe for Rascal. Once again we have found another unsual product that can contain nuts. Last year Rascal had a reaction to a sunscreen face stick. I read the ingredients and could not find what it was that he could be allergic to. Well that is because sunscreens will not say "peanut or tree nut" they list the botanical name which is Arachis hypogaea, arachidyl glucoside and arachidyl alcohol. I have found a few that are safe for him and from now on I will  be checking out the labels on ALL sunscreens and lotions for these 3 words.  Want to hear a few other WEIRD things that could contain nuts?? 
* Minute Maid Heart Wise orange juice
* Mortadella italian sausage 
* Some teas
* Lip gloss
* Lotions (shea butter comes from a shea nut so it's a NO NO) 
* Fluoride (contains pine nuts) 
* Toothpaste including the popular one Sensodyne 
* Spray tans
* Door mats
* Toyos Tires
And the list could go on and on because we find new things to steer clear of all the time. 

And that's all I got but looky there you guys got pictures and a video today :) 

This and That on Non-Processed Foods

Well we are now mostly out of ALL processed foods in our home. I got rid of a lot of it and then some I held on to because I knew we would eat it and since we had I just went ahead and used it all up.
I have been off coffee (which I put 1/4 cup of sugar in EACH cup and had 2 cups a day) and sweet tea for almost 2 weeks. I have had water, milk and unsweetened hot green tea and that is it. That is HUGE for me, I LIVED off coffee every morning.

I have also taken my kids off sweet tea and artificial drinks (like capri suns, juice and kool-aid) It was filled with all sorts of things that were just unnatural.They drink mostly water and milk and haven't asked for sweet tea or juice since (it's been almost 2 weeks now).

So far the switch has been fairly easy. My kids are troopers and have not complained but really there is nothing to complain about. They get freshly made things that taste fresh and GREAT instead of premade things that taste fake and sugary.

Eating real food without chemicals, artificial dyes and ingredients and preservatives means that I have to make most of my stuff from scratch. Some night this means dinner takes a little longer but really now that I have the hang of it, dinner takes me just as long as it use to. Here are a few of our favorite meals that are non processed and EASY to make:

Baked Parsnip Fries   Just in case you have NO clue what a parsnip is, they are related to the carrot and look like big white/ tan carrots. You peel them just like you would a carrot and then I cut mine into shoe string fry type pieces to bake them. My KIDS LOVE these and beg for me to make them!

Moroccan Fish  This is something we make nearly every week with Tilapia.. My kids LOVE fish and eat it like it's going out of style. Be careful I have overspiced this before  (I tried to triple the recipe)  and it is not as good.

Breakfast Cups   These are great to make and you can leave the extras in the fridge for the next day. You can also freeze these but you MUST either use foil muffin liners or grease your muffin pan really good . We cut out all pork so I make these now with spinach, mushrooms, onion and even leftover chicken. They don't last long in this house.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes  These are like eating banana bread with maple syrup poured over the top. SO GOOD! If you don't like bananas then just add a different fruit (pureed) or leave the fruit out all together. These can be frozen also for quick easy breakfast in the morning.

Crock Pot Whole Chicken  This is probably my most favorite "real food" recipe I have ever tried. It takes very little time and it is so YUMMY! Just put it in your crock pot season however you like and then let it cook. After it's done I shred mine and then divide all the chicken into separate freezer bags for at least 2 or 3 different meals. Then when I want to make a recipe with shredded chicken I just pull a freezer bag out let it thaw and cook with it. EASY! Not only do you get the chicken though, save the bones and skin and such and you can make fresh chicken stock with it. (recipe for stock in the same link above).

Crock Pot refried beans  This recipe is so easy and is SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying the refried beans in a can. Plus they are so much better tasting. You can use these in burritos or as a side dish and they can also be frozen.

You can find these and SO MANY other recipes on my recipe blog. If it's real food your looking for just click on the NON-PROCESSED FOOD label to the right.

Recipe: Crock Pot Quinoa Chicken Chili

I know it's rare I post recipes on my family blog. I typically save all those for my recipe blog but this one was so good that it deserves to have a place on the family blog too. If you try it out let me know what you think!
Ok first let me back up... I have seen a few recipes on Pintrest that had Quinoa in it. That is said like KEEN-WHA, not Quin-oa. Trust me.. my brother-in-law laughed at me when I missed pronounced it (blonde moment). Anyways so I bought some (it's found at my Kroger in the organic/ health food section) and have had in in my cabinet for a few months just trying to figure out what to do with it. Well then I saw this crock pot recipe and well I can't pass up a crock pot recipe so I tried it. And like I said before this recipe was AWESOME. In fact regular chili may have just gone out the door in this house.

So what is the big deal about Quinoa? Here is what wikipedia says:
It's gluten free and easy to digest, high in protein (just 3.5 ounces of  uncooked Quinoa has 14 grams of protein in it), iron magnesium , good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus and calcium. It is a great alternative to couscous or rice.

So enough chit chat here is the recipe:
Recipe Source: Sweet Treats and More

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)

2 (16 oz) can black bean

1 (15 oz) corn, drained

2 1/2-3 cup chicken stock

2 large chicken breasts

1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tsp minced onion

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp chili powder (taco seasoning is good too)

Instructions

Season with salt and pepper

Place everything in a 6 qt slow cooker and cook for 5-7 hours on low.  Remove chicken, shred it and return to slow cooker.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  Garnish with cheese or sour cream.

 

Ok so here's I what I did. I had almost everything in my pantry and what I didn't have I just left out. I misread the "2" cans of black beans and only used one. It was still very yummy and I am not sure I will use 2 the next time either.  I only had one rather big chicken breast in the freezer so I just used the one. I also did not thaw it. I just stuck it in there frozen and it cooked beautifully and shredded great. I didn't add the bell pepper since I didn't have it and I rarely use the prepacked seasonings (like taco seasoning) so I just used the seasonings listed. 

TRY IT!!

Random for now

~ I am back from a weekend at my parents' lake house and I am worn out. We have such an awesome time but it is A LOT of work getting three kids ready and loaded up on the boat. All of it very much well worth it. But I say all that to let you know..... this is a very random post. I promise to get the lake pictures edited and up very soon but for now this will have to do and then I am off for an afternoon nap :)!

~ Baby A is doing remarkably well with her potty training! I hesitate to say it but I think she has it down! She hasn't had an accident since last Thursday (I think.... maybe longer) and that includes our trip to the lake. Now with that being said I am still putting her in pull ups for naps and at night. I have only gotten brave once and ran a quick (maybe an hour) long errand. She can hold it for a good hour and a half so I think we could even make a grocery trip without any accidents but I am still hesitant about it. Soon enough though, soon enough!!

~ Rascal is doing SO GREAT at school now. If you have been praying for him THANK YOU, THANK YOU,  THANK YOU!!! Those prayers have been answered. He has not had any anixety any more and he has been in great spirits going to school. This is a HUGE relief to me!! We aren't over the battle though (and won't be for many years to come) but we are adjusting to all of the "news" (new teacher, new class, new allergies etc...). We are reading labels like crazy and if it is made in the same facility as other nuts then that product is out. This means that ALL Little Debbie products aren't safe (including honey buns, donut stix and so on) and numerous others. We are finding that most Kroger brand products are safe for him to have. Off brand may not always taste the best but they are safe so we will get used to them. I am making tons of stuff myself. I always like baking breads and cookies and now I feel 100% better knowing that what I make is from a peanut / tree nut free home and is 100% safe for Rascal. (LOTS of recipes are posted on my recipe blog)  It's a full time job baking, reading labels, making sure eveyone understands how serious this is but I would do it 100 times over if it meant my son was in a "safe zone".

~ Scooter has a crush on a girl in the 4th grade with him. I won't go into all the details (although they are so sweet) because I don't ever want to embarass him but I will say that I am washing specific clothes, cutting his hair a certain way and much more just for him when he asks. I LOVE this!!!! It's just one of the ways that I can show my love for him. The smile on his face is the best feeling I could ever get in return!! I am not so sure about this crush however.... why is he growing up SO FAST ?!?!?!?! I am not ready!!!

~ Speaking of growing up too fast.... Baby A is doing a lot of that lately too. Not only is she pretty much potty trained, she'll carry on full conversations with you, help you clean (knows where everything goes in the kitchen), plays so well (love their imaginations at this age), eats at the table with us, sleeping in her big girl bed GREAT, and the next battle (and it will be a BIG one) will be getting rid of her paci. We may hold off on this one until the first of next year.

~ I have slacked BIG time on working out. Let's face it.... I have zero time to do it and I am worn out by the end of the day. For now it makes me feel better to spend my extra time making things from scratch and eating "real food" without all the added chemicals and perservatives in it. One day I will have time to work out like I used to but for now I am not gonna beat myself up over not fitting it in my schedule. I have more important things to do. At least I gave it a try.... that counts right???

I'll be back soon with pictures of our fun weekend at the lake.

New Recipes

I have some new recipes up on my recipe blog.

You can find anything from Pico de Gallo, Chicken Fried Rice, Meatball Subs, Shrimp Gumbo Bake and lots lots more.

Head on over there if your wondering what to make for your dinner :)

Random with some pictures

~ May is incredibly busy! Like so busy, I am ready for it to be June so I can breathe again. Just looking at my packed schedule makes me overwhelmed and needing a break.

~ Remember when I wrote about Rascal being over the top wild? We thought it was his Singulair but he has been off it a week now and there is some improvement but not enough. Now, Rascal has been complaining about not hearing good. I took him to the doctor last week and he had an ear infection. I thought the antibiotic would clear up the problem and help with his hearing but nope. A week later he is still complaining of not hearing good. So now I am thinking he needs to go to the E.N.T. and that maybe just maybe this could explain his behaviour lately. Fingers crossed for an answer soon.

~ Scooter's 9th birthday falls on Memorial day this year. We are having his friends party this week and I have a TON to get ready before Saturday gets here. He wanted a Mario theme and I am going to have to try and some how be an artist for some of the decorations. I suck at drawing so I hope this goes over well. Can you believe that I went to several party stores and there were NO Mario decorations. Sure they had Mario party favors but no decorations. It wasn't that they were out of them, they just didn't sell them. What is with that??

~ Friday night was a Family Night and we had a blast. We decided it had been too long since our last family night and that maybe some one on one attention with the kids would help with some behaviour issues. We had homemade pizza for dinner in the living room (eating in the living room is a treat), while watching Tooth Fairy 2 and then we had banana splits for dessert. I let the boys spray the whip cream and they thought that was the best.

(Baby A made it more challenging for the boys by rolling around on the twister mat.)

After the movie was over we played a few rounds of Twister and Guess Who. You should know..... I rock at Guess Who. Both boys fight over who gets to be on my team because I ALWAYS win. Tim might hate playing this game because of that!

~ We dog-sitted this past weekend. Sadie is getting so old and I kinda worried that the kids might hurt her since they are a bit rough and she is sooo old and moody. However the kids paid very little attention to her and Sadie just laid in the floor watching them most of the weekend. Most of the time we forgot she was even here. I told the boys that if they cleaned their room to "mom's liking" that they could have Sadie sleep with them that night. I don't think they have ever cleaned their room so good and so fast ever before. So we let Sadie sleep in their room and she found their bean bag was her favorite spot.

 I checked on her after the boys fell asleep and they had gotten out of bed and covered her up with one of their blankets.... it was so cute! Oh and Sadie and Henry weren't friends at all, here's proof:

~ I am cooking steaks in the crock pot today. This may seem very odd but I had to get them cooked today, it is pouring rain today so I couldn't grill them (not that I would have any clue how to grill them), and I have a lot of other things to make today so I didn't want to add to my list of things to cook. In the crock pot I could just put them in there in forget about them. It may seem weird but I may also end up with the best steaks ever (we are making steak fajitas tomorrow night). We will see......

~ Look at our garden!!!!!

   (3 weeks ago, tomatoes on right... pepper and squash on left)

(this weekend...this was taken on the other side of the garden so the pictures are flipped. Tomatoes on left....pepper and squash on right)

Our okra (it's in the very top right corner in the pic above...you can't see it, it's too small and dying)  isn't going to make it but everything else is growing by leaps and bounds. We have blooms on the peppers and tomatoes and the squash is doing awesome as well.

(this isn't a good picture of the whole thing since there are so many weeds around it, it's hard to tell what is actually the pumpkin plant)

I think I posted about throwing our 3 rotten Halloween pumpkins back in the woods and now we have a MASSIVE pumpkins plant. In all seriousness the plant is at least 3 feet in diameter at the base.  It started blooming this week so we may have pumpkins soon. I have not done any research on them so it may be that they need more sun but since it is doing so awesome we are leaving it. Who knows if we will have pumpkins at the right time of the year but it is fun to watch it grow.

Here are a few random pictures from my phone this week:

~I told you it has been scrapbook central around here.....

~We helped my friend out by taking her son to school last week and as a thank you she made us cupcakes. Baby A loves cupcakes!She wanted one for dinner and I told her to eat everything on her plate and then she could have one. She ate it all, then yelled "Momma Cupcake!"

~That same friend was recently given a Chinese Water Dragon. She told me about it while we were scrap booking but I had no clue how big this thing actually was (my rough guesstimate is he is at least 2 feet long!). His name is Lenny......

They feed him frozen mice and it's safe to safe my boys (and hers too of course) think this is the coolest pet ever. Now Scooter wants one for his birthday. I have to admit.... I love giving my kids things that they really would love for their birthdays but if something like this took residence at our house, I think I would move out. I just can't do it!

~ Henry loves to lay in the new sod we laid back in March. It is filled with crickets (not sure why) and he lays there relaxing and torturing the crickets. :)

He can be just as bad as our kids at stealing our seat when we get up.

~Baby A is SO GIRLY! She requested that she take her purse with her to get the boys from school the other day. While searching for her purse she found her sunglasses. This is how she walked out the door to go get the boys.....

I LOVE IT!!!

~She has discovered that she can stick her play cups in the blinds and then yells "TA DA"! She is so proud of herself :)

~My sweet little girl is growing up so fast. We tried out a headband the other day. She looked so cute but so grown up too. Thanks goodness they don't stay in her hair long because I am not sure I can handle her looking so grown up.

~She loves loves loves ice cream and licks the bowl clean after she eats it all. Too darn cute!

~Scooter helped me grate cheese the other day for our pizza. I hate grating cheese. It never fails I will always grate my finger or my fingernail so this is one task I gladly let the boys help out on.

 ~ Baby A found the rocking horse this week. She spotted it upstairs and had to have it downstairs. We didn't think this horse would make it through the days of Rascal dragging it around the sidewalk by a leash. Baby A is a lot more gentle with it so maybe it will make it through her days of rocking on it.

 ~ I realize my pictures are mostly of Baby A. Since it is just me and her most of the day together it's easy to get pictures of her. Hopefully once summer break gets here in 2 weeks, I will have posts filled with pictures of all three of my cuties!

OK enough randomness for today. I am off to bake bread and hopefully get some birthday decorations made.


There are a few new posts up on my recipe blog. Head on over there to see them.



A Poem

I waited for what seemed like forever while a video loaded for me to post. For whatever reason it never loaded fully so instead of a cute video of Baby A I posted lots of recipes on my Recipe Blog. You can head over there to see them although they aren't as cute as the video would have been.

I am retrying to post the video so check back later. Until then I leave you with this funny poem Tim wrote. Our cow/steer headed to be slaughtered today (kinda sad) and Tim made this up just to be silly:
Now I lay me steer to sleep
I pray the Lord to send me beef
And if he dies before his time
May he not carry e-co-li

I thought it was pretty funny and thought I would share it. Tim has an incredible talent to write poems of all kinds.

I bet you didn't know that!

Random

I had good intentions of posting a cute video of Baby A playing in a mud puddle but I am lazy today and don't feel like uploading it to the computer. Instead you get a bunch of randomness that I am posting for my own benefit, so I don't forget it.

~ Baby A is finally watching tv some. When I say that I actually only mean she watches it for maybe 5 minutes at a time. I am not one who sits their kids down in front of the tv all the time but I would like to have Baby A entertained in the highchair for a quick 15 minutes while I jump in the shower. Up until now that hasn't happened (without her screaming for me). She currently loves Elmo. What is it with that high pitched red monster that gets every child obsessed with him?!?!

~ Rascal was dancing around the house singing "I am a hairy Santa" the other day. I haven't the slightest clue why but this is just a taste of the funnies that happen at our house.

~ Both boys invited a friend to come to church with us this past Wednesday night. On the way  to church I over heard Scooter talking to his friend and this is what he was saying:
 Scooter: Do you like Abercrombie?
C: What is Abercrombie?
S: Abercrombie is a store in the mall. I used to call it Aber-c-a-rom-bie but it is really called Aber-crom-bie and Fitch (he is stressing the right pronunciation like he is an expert) or you can call it just Abercrombie or A&F. What I like most about their clothes is the way they smell! They smell so good when you first buy them!
C: Oh ok (and then C changes the subject!)

I was trying so hard not to laugh. Where did this "clothing expert" come from and maybe I could come off cheaper just buying Abercrombie (or should I say A&F) cologne and spraying it on Target clothes??

~ I have laid off all the cooking this week. I really loving making everything from scratch but the cool rainy weather just made it more fun to sit under a blanket with the laptop. =) I have posted some of the recent things I have made on my recipe blog.  Some of the things I have made are........crescent rolls, pizza rolls, cheese-its, cinnamon rolls, oven fried potato chips, and maybe a few other things that I can't think of.

~ Baby A is ready for dinner every night around 5:30. If it isn't ready she starts pushing her highchair around the entire kitchen saying EAT! Once we get dinner on the table and her in the highchair she immediately bows her head and shouts AMEN and then starts eating! She knows that we pray first so I guess she thinks that by doing this she can go ahead and eat....or hurry us up at least! If we dare pray too long in her opinion she yells ALL DONE over and over again to try and get us to stop. She is so funny!

~Scooter had his first project of the year. I was so good and let him do almost every bit of it. I am one who wants to bust out all the scrapbook paper, embellishments and arrange it all in just a perfect way. Well this time the only thing I did was find some pictures to print off on the computer and I let Scooter do the rest. I must admit, I was more proud of this project because of all the hard work Scooter put in to it! I can't wait to see what grade he got!

~ Rascal's birthday is fast approaching and he has decided he wants a Grizzlies basketball party. I have a few ideas on ways to decorate but I am still searching for a few more ideas. What did we ever do before Pintrest?? I think we are going to have two parties this year. Both boys want friends to come to their parties and well both boys have birthdays at horrible times of the year (Rascal's falls on spring break and Scooter's fall Memorial Day weekend) so we are going to have both boys parties earlier in the month and then have family over on their birthdays for cake and ice cream. This means I have right at a month to get Rascal's party together!! Must get started!!

~ In an effort to cut back on the grocery budget (which we have reduced GREATLY since cutting out processed foods) we are going to change our weekly menus up a bit. This is what we plan to do now....1-2 meals a week will be meatless (most likely a soup or meal with beans since they have lots of protein), 1-2 meals will be leftovers and the rest will be whatever we feel like that week. We have never been ones to eat leftovers but we have always made processed or premade meals. Those leftover aren't that yummy. Now that we are eating "real food" leftovers are a real treat! So I am going to try to divide 1-2 meals each week into two meals. Some of those may have to have rice added to it to make it stretch further. Overall I think these two changes will be easy to incorporate and can help us reduce our grocery spending lots!

~ I attended my new bible study for the first time this week. I really can't describe the experience but I will just say that I am going to stick it out (it ends in May) and try to grasp what the Lord wants me to learn. Depending on how this goes I might be searching for another bible study in the fall. I know their is another church locally that has some Beth Moore studies so I may look into those.

~ I am contemplating changing pediatricians. This is big....I mean HUGE! I LOVE our pediatrician so much but I don't love the hour drive to his office and taking half my day up once you factor in a drive to and from, nap, lunch and all this before getting the boys from school. My friend down the street highly recommends hers (which is 10 minutes down the street) but I just don't know if I can switch. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

~ Our celery plant is still alive and kicking. It is about 4 inches above the soil and looks nice and bright green. I really don't know if it will ever be big enough to actually eat but it sure has been a great science experiment!

~ I forgot to mention in Baby A's update the other day but she can sing a few songs now. She loves to sing A B C D and then wants me to finish it, she sings GO GO GO GO (which is the Cat in the Hat song) and she loves for me to sing "this little pig went to market" while tickling her little toes.

OK I think that is it but I must say none of that is what I intended to post. It seems as soon as I sat down to write it all just left me. Oh well Random it was!

What we are up too

Sorry for the total inconsistent blogging lately. I am spending alot of time cooking things up in the kitchen lately. I never liked cooking before but something about being able to make everything for my family with out all the unnecessary ingredients like the processed foods have, it makes me feel so great and in return makes cooking so much fun!
It is crazy to see our pantry, fridge and freezer now compared to just a few weeks ago. Before it was filled with 90% of processed, convenient meals and almost every single one had High Fructose Corn Syrup in them. Not good at all! Now we have a fridge full of produce, organic plain yogurt, water (instead of juice boxes) and many other healthier foods. Our freezer is stocked with precooked meats, homemade stock, frozen fruit and whole wheat flour (so it stays fresh longer). Our pantry is filled with dry rice, beans, spices like I have never seen before in our house (it looks like the spice aisle at the store, in my cabinet now) and is pretty bare compared to what it used to look like. Most stuff around here is made from scratch and kept in the fridge or freezer so there is no need for the pantry very much.

I was a bit hesitant on how my children would react to this change but they have done AWESOME! Not once have they asked for juice over water, they love tasting all the new things I am making and they are eating better than they have ever eaten. Just when I think they are going to cave and want the old junk food instead of the healthier dinner I made, they surprise me and clean their plates and ask for more. That is HUGE for me!

Yesterday was report card day and both boys brought home EXCELLENT report cards. Scooter made nothing lower than a B and had even raised his math grade. That is HUGE, since we know how he struggles in math. So to reward them, we took them out to dinner at a close by Mexican place. We didn't give them any limitations after all this was a special treat. They both ordered what they wanted and asked for a coke to drink. We let them have it but we certainly were paying for it later. Both boys couldn't sit still the rest of the night. How have I never noticed that it did this to them before? They were on a sugar high and it was impossible to get them to sleep. It opened our eyes nonetheless and we won't be doing that again.

I made some Kale chips yesterday as an alternative to regular chips. I myself had never tried Kale and I wasn't real sure about Kale chips. I made them anyways and we all LOVE them. WOW these things are so good and it makes me feel even better since Kale is so good for you. Both boys wanted to take them as their snack today but I talked them out of it. The kale chips crumble easily and I knew they would be a crumbly mess if they even made it in one piece to snack time. They took grapes instead on the condition that they could have some when they got home.

I often feel like I need to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming.....could it really be this easy to get my kids on board with healthier eating??? I am thanking God for such unpicky eaters. I know that has alot to do with it.

I am constantly posting our new recipes on my recipe blog so you can check it out often or even subscribe to it so new posts are emailed to you.

It really is alot easier (and cheaper) to eat healthier than I expected.

My Kitchen Helpers

Last Week I mentioned that we were going to have homemade pizza for dinner and that the boys were excited to help. I also mentioned if all goes as planned and wouldn't you know......nothing went as planned. I have this bad habit of reading through a recipe all the way before starting it. This time it came back to bite me. I had already started making the crust when I saw that i had to rise in the fridge overnight. Total bummer. My boys were sad and I wanted to rush out and pick up fast food. I quickly snapped back to reality and realized I had a freezer full of frozen cooked meat. So I thought for a moment and quickly changed our menu item to chicken tacos.

There were a few problems though.... 1). Tim had a deacon's metting that night so I was solo with all three kids. 2). It was 5:45 when I STARTED cooking the second dinner for the night 3). since Tim was gone I had no help tp get this meal prepared quickly.......or did I??

I am always in such a rush to get whatever I am making done that I neglect to let he kids join in and help out. My OCD and perfectionist mind set makes me want to scream when something gets accidentally split or they are wiggle worms while cooking around the stove etc..

Tonight was different, I genuinely needed their help and they were super excited to get to save mom from the lack of planning I did on my own part.

Rascal helped me shred the cheese:

Scooter helped me cook the corn tortillas on the skillet:



 Since Scooter had a job that required him to stay by the stove and watch the tortillas carefully, rascal got to help me out with the sides too. Check out that tongue! He always sticks it out when he is concentrating hard. In this case when he is trying to use my scissors not intended for left handed people.

 Then because I was totally caught up in the moment and loved standing back to watch my sweet babies cook... I decided to make fresh salsa too. The boys got to help chop up the onion, tomatoes and I did the jalepeno so they didn't end up with burning eyes. You can see were Baby A ended up while we were hands on in the kitchen....her highchair watching the whole thing. One day she can join in too.

Our meal was one of the best I have ever eaten and we sat arounf the table talking about all the other things we could coke together. I do believe God showed me a valuable lesson that night. It's ok if something spills or it isn't chopped the way I would have done it. I saw how great it was to let go of my perfectionist side and let the kids be with me inthe kitchen. Now with that said I am not quie ready to let the kids free with the paint. I am still a bit OCD with that but I am learning to relax and enjoy this time.

So since we had already made the pizza crust and had it rising inthe fridge dinner the next night was a breeze.

I rolled out the crust and heated up the homemade pizza sauce (which I had made the night before too). Scooter shredded the mozzerella cheese for me.

And while Scooter shredded the cheese, Rascal spred the sauce on the pizza. I will admit I wanted to do that part myself. It took alot forme to let him do it and I did go back and make it more even. I didn't want all the sauce on one side, none on the other and a huge glob in the middle. That wouldn't be a bite you would want to eat.

They both helped spred the cheese on the pizza and then put the peperoni on it.

Here is our finished pizza and I promise you it was the best pizza you have ever put in your mouth! It makes all the difference in the world making it from scratch!!

You can find all the recipes I have posted about on my recipe blog. You can check there often because I am always adding new recipes we have tried. Some new ones..... soft pretzel bites, tomatillo salsa, tortilla soup and a few others.

My next recipe I am excited to try is a seafood gumbo. Man it looks so yummy and I can't wait to try making it.

Just Some Thoughts

~ Well as I mentioned in my last post, Pizza for dinner Tuesday night didn't go as planned I neglected to read the entire recipe through (a very bad habit of mine) and the crust had to rise overnight in the fridge. So we changed the plans last min and had a wonderful time preparing chicken tacos. I will post more about it later with pictures too.

~ I am on the search for a good cookie recipe without lots (if any) sugar. Any suggestions? We are doing excellent on making our own things but I am finding that the kids still want something sweet to eat with their lunches or after dinner. I love the idea of making the no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies (we called them haystacks growing up) but with the peanut allergy that Rascal has that crosses those off the list. So I am searching for the perfect cookie recipe.

~ I needed to do an update on Baby A soon. She is talking more and more and you can even understand a few more words from her now. She is going to a different allergist on the 30th to have her food allergies tested again. hopefully this will shed more light on the matter than the last allergist did. I am debating on getting Rascal retested to see what they say about his allergy. Our previous allergist gave us way too much contradicting information. Wouldn't it be great to get him retested and know his allergy isn't nearly as bad as we thought ?!?!?! I would do it in a heartbeat but Rascal is so very scared of the allergy doctor and he gets major anxiety about his allergy so I will just see how things go.

~ On the same note as allergies....I am going to try out something this year. I have heard that if you eat local honey that your allergies will get tons better. Not sure if it is true but Rascal loves honey on his pancakes so I thought I would switch to local honey, start feeding it to him now and see if his springtime allergies get nearly as bad as they usually do.

~ Speaking of Rascal...He is a bucket of laughs. He loves life to the fullest and could careless what anyone thinks. Case in point:

 (Baby A's tutu as a beard + Baby A's Dora sunglasses = goober!!)

He is constantly cracking us up daily!

Baby A had her very first (of many I am sure) time out the other day. Look how pitiful:

 Rascal had his Ds and she wanted to play with it (which isn't allowed) and so since he wouldn't give it to her, she leaned over and bit him hard on his arm. It drew a little bit of blood. She has been biting the boys for a few weeks now but has never tried to bit anyone else. I think she is trying to get her frustrations across to them. So I had to punish her and I stuck her in time out. Believe or not she stayed in the chair facing the wall crying so I think she got the point. She has yet to bite again. And yes that picture about breaks my heart. Those sweet pigtails are deceiving though.

~ Scooter had to study for 4 tests last night and this morning. In fact we were late to school due to cramming a few more minutes of studying in. He has to label all the continents and oceans in the world, a Reading vocab test with words like: schema and commutative property of addition, a glossary test with words like: superlative and compendium and a timed multiplication test. I only wish I were kidding. It is crazy what they expect kids to learn these days. Just for the record I had no idea what any of the words I just listed meant. Scooter did great studying though, he flew through labeling the continents and oceans, flew through most of his definitions and went faster than he usually does on his math. That is still his weakest subject and I am going to try really hard to find fun ways for him to learn it all. Now I am so anxous to get him from school and see how well he did on all his tests.


~ Did you know that if you buy a bunch (I don't mean a lot I mean.....the kind where the stalks are all attached at the bottom and not separated, not sure what the technical term is) of celery you can cut the bottoms off about 3 to 4 inches up, place it on a saucer of luke warm water overnight and then plant it the next day and you will regrow your own celery! It works we did the experiment ourselves and the boys are loving watching it grow so much and so fast! No lie... I planted it in a pot on Monday and this is what it looked like on Tuesday :

If you look closely you can barely see it just peeking through the crack in the soil.

This is what it looked like on Wednesday:

Crazy huh?

and Today it looks like this:

WOW huh!!! In just 5 days we have seen crazy growth and I am so excited to see how it turns out. The boys are super excited to watch it grow and love taking turns every other day to water it. This not only helps cut back on buying celery but it has made for an EXCELLENT science experiment for the boys.

Now what are you waiting for ......... go grow your own celery (it is super easy and takes water every other day in our experience.)

~ Speaking of homemade......we made our own applesauce in the crock pot (see recipe here) and it was so yummy. To give you an idea...me and Baby A both hated store bought applesauce, didn't matter the brand or the flavor it was just gross. Well we both LOVE this homemade applesauce . We warm it up a little and man it is GREAT!! Here is a picture:

It is a tad chunkier than I wanted it to be (although that was really no big deal) but the food processor I have doesn't work so I had to smash the apples with the back of a spoon. SO YUMMY!!!!

You can check out all our new recipes we have tried, on my recipe blog.

~ I am stepping out of my comfort zone and starting a bible study next Wednesday. I will know absolutely no one there and will be leaving Baby A in a nursery were she has never been before. I have been wanting to get back into a bible study for a while now but didn't want to drive back and forth to town to attend one. Well I called around to some nearby churches and found that one really close by has a bible study every Wednesday morning. It is SO SIMILAR to my old bible study and that brings me some comfort. It is also at a friend's church that lives down the street so that helps too (she won't be there though). I will be coming in half way through the study but they said it shouldn't matter. It is a study about Isaiah so it might be a bit intense. No matter what I am really looking forward to digging into the word of God and learning about it more. I also hope to find some moms that live close by that have some of my same interests.

~ That's it for now. I will be back later to post about my fun afternoon in the kitchen with two special helpers!