Happy Birthday to Benny, 2008

I found this video in my Drafts, so I'm not sure if it ever made it to the blog or if it ever made it to Benny.  This was in June 2008, for Benny's 4th birthday.

Easter 2008, Revisited

I was just going through my blog and discovered I have several posts that are still in Draft mode, which means they never made it to the blog. 

This is a video from Easter 2008. Addison (9 yrs) and Preston (5 yrs)

The light is not so great on this shot.

A Not-So-Lazy Sunday

Every now and then (and I mean very rarely) I have a day with no plans.  And somehow I'm always able to fill up the day. This was the case yesterday. Coincidentally, I read a funny article about this yesterday that suggested people who fill their time up because they feel the need to be busy may suffer with Control issues.

Eric & I started the day together with a fabulous brunch at Blue Mesa.  I have always heard the raves but never experienced it for myself. We'll be going back for sure. That was the last thing we did together for about 8 hours. He worked on his computer all day. Bo-ring.

So I prepared for a trip to the store.  Do you remember when you used to need to go to the store so you jotted down a few things to fill up the fridge/pantry & were all set to shop?  This isn't the case for me these days. It seems to take me alot of prep time to actually make it to the store.  (something I need to work on).

1. Turn on phone and check schedule for the following 7 days.  Coordinate with hubby as to who will be home to eat, for how many days.

2. Use a technology device to schedule a meal plan.  This can take 15-30 minutes. Often times one of us will be home alone throughout the week so I try to have something on hand that is either (1) leftovers or (2) quick, easy, and a small portion for 1.  Devising the meal plan can include meals from the following resources: my personal List of favorite entrees/sides, the 'Favorites' recipes I have bookmarked, or from Pinterest.  Occasionally I will open an actual cookbook.  But recipes from a cookbook often require prep time.  I can only make a meal that requires prep time (ie: Lasagna) if I can make it on Sunday.  Since Eric & I usually get home from work during the week between 6-7pm, there's not much prep time to be had if we want to cook, eat, and clean up before 9pm. 

I should stop here & disclose that I am not the only one that cooks in our house; this post makes me sound like some sort of kitchen queen, which I am not. But I am a planner (see Control issues above).  Eric is a much better cook than I am. I often rely upon him to handle all grilling and he usually takes a peek if I am cooking some sort of meat. I love grilled food....so his cooking season is quickly approaching!

3. Using the meal plan, take inventory of items needed from the grocery store. And then run through the house to check on cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc.

4. Compile coupons. This is often too time consuming, if I even make the effort to look for coupons.  Since I had plenty of time yesterday, I clipped everything we regularly consume from the Sunday paper. I really try not to add things to my grocery list because I have a coupon; that defeats the purpose. And I never clip a coupon just to try something new. However, if something is a super deal and I know that we will use it I have trouble just letting the coupon go to waste.

I added this stack to my existing coupon supply, and then matched up the coupons I have with the Grocery List.  And then I opened up the iphone app for Tom Thumb, and spent even more time running through the 100+ coupons they have specifically for their store. This REALLY hacks me off that grocery stores make special customer pricing.  I mean, I work in the business world, so I understand the logic behind these loyalty programs and their data collection process. But it's just frustrating that as a consumer I can't walk in the store and they already have everything priced accordingly.

5. After about an hour of planning & coordinating, I can finally grab my recycle bags and head to the store.  

I don't claim to be very savvy in the kitchen, but as the wedded years go by my Susie Homemaker skills are improving. I am much better today than I have been over the last 7 years. I can only imagine what my adult-aged children and grandchildren will be saying 10 years from now:  Let's go to their house for dinner. I love her ________ dish.  Someday....

Back to my day of nothing.  When I returned from the store, I had 4 things to cook which all came from Pinterest.  3 of them were new recipes. 

I started with Italian Chicken in the crockpot.  It's not the healthiest dish, but pair it with a green vegetable and my family will all clean their plates.  I think it has 4 ingredients: chicken, italian dressing mix, cream of chicken soup (I use 1 can), and (light) cream cheese. Mix in or pour over pasta, and wa-la.  We had this with broccoli, which could be mixed in the pasta, but you know how kids get when you mix things. Ahhh!! And I also confused the Italian dressing mix with the Ranch dressing mix, so we actually had Ranch Chicken instead of Italian Chicken. No one knew or seemed to care.



Italian Ranch Chicken Pasta



Once the chicken was in the crockpot, I started working on my weekly breakfast dish.  I've been trying to prepare a protein-rich breakfast for the last few weeks so I can be sure to keep my blood-sugar levels in check and not have any dizzy episodes that have happened as a side effect of my pregnancy.  Addison also had some health issues a few weeks ago and we determined that she is not starting her day with the nutrition she needs.  Breakfast is always a challenge with Preston because he doesn't like breakfast to begin with, but he also doesn't like eggs.  Anywho, this Sunday I decided to try Egg Cups, a new recipe for me from Pinterest.  These were also super easy. I cooked some sausage in a skillet. Then in a 12 cup muffin tin, I added a little sausage, some shredded cheese, a little bit of green onion, and then filled 3/4 with beaten eggs. This recipe has endless opportunities. You can add all kinds of ingredients and use egg whites to make it healthier.  While I think the cups I made are delicious, they are a little bland. I will be using some pepper when reheating throughout the week. 

Egg Cups with Egg, Sausage, Cheese, Green Onion

Next up on the list was a Snack.  I found this recipe on Pinterest for Dried Strawberries. The description included words like 'gummy' and 'twizzler'.  So I was thinking they would be a good gummy snack for the week. Two ingredients: sliced strawberries with Salt and Pepper to taste.  I obviously did some thing(s) wrong with this recipe, because it turned out to be a 'Pinterest Fail' (a new term for Pinterest projects gone bad).

Failed Dried Strawberries

At this point in the day, I took a break on the couch.  And then Lucky and I worked in a 2 mile walk. We returned home with about an hour left until dinner, so he jumped in the bathtub.  Have I ever mentioned how great my dog is?

A quick drink before soaping up.

And 1 final project before dinner: Frozen Yogurt Covered Fruit.  I picked this recipe because we are trying to be healthier at our house (minus the Pasta dish).  With my pregnancy, I have had no problem refusing desserts.  And I make them more often too so my hubby is often forced to indulge with me. But we need to stop this and get back on our normal track. So this is a dessert-alternative.

This recipe calls for a chunk of fruit (I used bananas and strawberries), greek yogurt, and toppings. I wanted to try this recipe on my own first before getting the kids to help me. I hate greek yogurt but I realize it is so much better than regular yogurt. The yogurt I used for this recipe has 18 grams of protein per serving - that's huge compared to the flavored Yoplait I eat everyday.  But I just can't stand the taste of the Greek stuff and I know that my kids will not like it either.  However, this recipe calls for honey to be mixed into the yogurt, which cuts out alot of sour grossness. If I make them again, I will actually add more honey to mask the Greek grossness.  But if you like Greek yogurt, you will like this little treat.  I wish I had some nuts to use as a topping, but all I had on hand was cookie sprinkles.  So the verdict: 1 thumb up. 

At this point in the day, Eric turned off the computer, we had dinner, got 4 loads of laundry put away, and tasted the yogurt pops.  9pm had rolled around and my day of nothing had officially worn me out.

On the agenda for this week:  Slow cooker salsa chicken, taxes, and another track meet. And I almost forgot it's a 4 day work week!

Track Season

Addison is competing in track this year for the first time. I'm glad that she's joined the team because it's exposed her to some new skills she never knew she had.  So far she has competed in the Long Jump, 4x100 Sprint Relay, 100m Dash, and the Hurdles.  She's done really well with all of them! 

Here's a little clip of her running a 300 meter hurdle race at the first practice meet of the year. (She's on the right side of the track in the Pink shirt).  At last night's meet, she beat the Frank Seale 7th grade girls' record for 300m hurdles by 2 seconds. Her 4x100 relay team also broke the school record last night.

And here's a little video I captured of her long jump last night.  She broke the Frank Seale 7th grade girls' record at a track meet: 15'. Three broken records in 1 meet;  I wonder if they'll give her a star on the sidewalk or something?

Unfortunately, Preston's baseball opening ceremonies were cancelled this weekend due to rain. I was hoping to have some striking photos in his new uniform prior to the season, but that will be delayed now by another 2 weeks due to Easter.

Ryan Bingham Concert

Eric and I took a quick trip down to Gruene TX last week to see our favorite singer, Ryan Bingham, in concert at Gruene Hall.  We were only in town for about 24 hours, but it was a great trip and an awesome show!  I can't wait to get back to Gruene.  Hopefully next time we can take the kids and work in a rafting/tubing trip on the river.

We bought one of these autographed posters that were made for the Gruene Hall show.  It will look great in our next home.  Did I mention that our house is For Sale, officially?? Yea!!