Teenage Dream

I am not trying to go all Katie Perry on you here, okay I am totally a terrible liar. So, ya, a little bit of Katie Perry going on in this post. You know that song out by her about the teenage dream. I was once a teenager not that many years ago, and I too had a teenage dream. Think back to that crush you had when you were say, fourteen or fifteen, and the day dreams you would have. I always get a little smile thinking back. Maybe you even dated that crush, like I did. (a little bigger smile going on now) I will always remember the teenage dream that I would have about being able to snuggle up to that crush, all night, and wake up with him by my side the next morning. I know, kind of lame, but I am just being honest and letting you all know a daydream I use to have.

Back to Katie Perry, her song, Teenage Dream, came on the radio the other day and brought me right back to my teenage daydream. That boy that I wished would be by my side the next morning in that daydream. Now this song should not make anyone emotional, but knowing me, of course it did because right then I realized I was living my "teenage dream". I was no longer dreaming about it, but every morning I wake up next to that boy that I had always dreamed about waking up next to. That boy is now my husband.

I realized how easily I take this for granted now that it isn't a dream and is now such an amazing reality. That teenage dream has now turned to dreams of children, making a home, gray hairs, grandchildren (yes I said it, not that I am wishing my life away but I can not wait to have grandchildren), but still and always waking up next to that "boy".

Another bag & a Raggie Lovie

A custom diaper bag for a friend. She picked out the fabric and I sewed it up. The only thing different about this bag is that the strap is adjustable. My brain took awhile to figure this out, and once I did I felt so stupid because it was really easy. For some reason I just was not thinking clearly right away, but once it clicked all was well! I just got done with it and can't wait for her to be able to see and use it! I made a small diaper/wipe clutch from the scrap fabric that should hold 2-3 diapers and a small wipe case. Also, I am just trying something new out and made up a Raggie Lovie. It is like my 'Lil Lovies, in that it is the same size, but instead of minky it is made out of flannel and the edges are left raw. This will create a fraying effect and the more it is washed the cuter it will look! It is about 12"x12" in size, so perfect to just throw in the car seat with your little one!

Cool Weather

I don't know if it is just me, but for some reason when it starts to get colder outside I start to cook a lot more. Probably because we grill so much in the summer, that it seems I am not doing as much for supper. Living in Iowa, the grill is pretty much out of commission for a good 4-5 months depending on how hard and cold winter hits. If you have been following the recipes I have already posted, you probably noticed that we like chicken and eat a lot of it. This week is no exception, last night we had Chicken Enchiladas and tonight we are having Chicken Tuscany. Of course I wouldn't tell you what we are eating without giving you the recipes. The Chicken Enchiladas are something I grew up eating that my mom made and now I am making for our family. They have some ingredients in them that are not so colitis friendly, so I haven't make them in a long time but Ted requested them and I do believe in moderation and to have a little of something that is "off limits" is okay here and there.

Chicken Enchiladas

2Tb Butter (I used olive oil)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used a white onion)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 4oz can green chiles, drained (I did not drain them, and then did not add the milk at the end)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups cooked chicken (I cubed up about 3 large chicken breasts)
1 cup shredded cheese (I didn't measure and just grabbed a handful)
8 tortillas
1/4 cup milk (I didn't use this)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large sauce pan melt butter, add onion and saute about 3 minutes, add garlic and cook another minute or until onion are opaque. Stir in chilies, sour cream, and soup. Set 3/4 cup of this sauce aside. In the remaining sauce, fold in the chicken and 1/2 cup of the cheese (I didn't add this and only did cheese on top). Warm tortillas. Fill tortillas with the chicken mixture, roll up, and place seam side down in a greased 12x8 in pan. Add milk to the sauce that you had set aside, and mix well. Spoon over top of the enchiladas, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes, uncover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
For a side we usually do some type of rice, and then serve with salsa, avocado, sour cream, canned banana peppers (from our garden).

For tonight I am making Chicken Tuscany and this recipe is out of Favorite Brand Name Country Italian cookbook. If you don't have this cookbook, go buy it! It is one of the best cookbooks I own and everything that I have made out of it has been great and has become family favorites. Plus this was a go to book for me while I was nursing Trevor (he was extremely sensitive to dairy, even hidden dairy would upset his stomach) because so many of the recipes are dairy free. Not only that, but so many of them are not pasta dishes (but of course the pasta dishes in here are amazing!)

Chicken Tuscany

6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/8 inch thick (I am using sweet potatoes tonight because I have some to use up)
12 ounces shitake, cremini, chanterelle and/or button mushrooms (I have a mixture of button and baby portebella)
4 Tb olive oil, divided
4 Tb grated parmesan cheese, divided (parmesan is very very low in lactose and easily digestible which is great for me now, but while nursing Trevor I just omitted this)
3 tsp minced garlic, divided
3 tsp minced fresh rosemary OR 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves, divided
salt and ground pepper
about 3 lbs fresh skinless pick of the chicken (for us, I am doing about 5.5 lbs and just skinless chicken breasts, not boneless)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pat potatoes dry with paper towels. Toss potatoes and mushrooms with 2 1/2 Tb oil, 2 tb cheese, 2 tsp garlic, 2 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. In 13x9 inch baking dish, arrange potatoes in one layer, top with remaining 2 Tb cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned, set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat remaining 1 1/2 Tb oil. Add chicken pieces. Season lightly with salt and pepper, sprinkle with remaining rosemary and garlic. Cook chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until browned (do not crowd pan, if necessary, brown in two batches)

Arrange chicken on top of potato mixture, drizzle with any oil from skillet and return to oven. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. A nice salad is a great side to this meal.

Camera/Diaper Bag

I made this bag for the awesome mommy/photographer that took the pictures of my boys that are in my header and my side bar. I have a post from when she took these picture, in case you didn't get to read it or want to check it out again it is right HERE. Back to the bag, I am hoping that she will take some photos of it and let me use them, but here are some that I took with my back-up junker camera that is no longer a back up and just a junker (Ethan put it in the bathtub, right after he got in fully dressed...give the boy 5 seconds and you have a catastrophe...he is amazing!). Before it met it's last day in the bathtub I took these:

This bag is just like the other bags that I have made, except it is about an inch wider and about 2 inches shorter plus it has padding on all four sides and the bottom, with removable padded dividers. I loved the colors of this bag and really enjoyed sewing it!

Recipes

Like I promised, a few recipes for the month...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pancakes
These pancakes are LOADED with protein, such a great way to start the day!

1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup chocolate PB2 (this is powdered peanut butter, find it at your health food section of your grocery store), can use any peanut butter if you can't find pb2
1 1/4 cup almond milk
2 scoops (or one pouch) chocolate Muscle Gain by AdvoCare (awesome protein powder!)

Mix all ingredients together, pour about 1/4 cup batter into a 350 degree skillet (or about medium heat). Flip once pancakes start forming bubbles. Enjoy! I put all extra pancakes on a cookie sheet and freeze for about an hour, then I put them in a freezer bag to heat up any time the boys want a snack, for future breakfasts, or for school lunches for Landon.


Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole from Weelicious
This dish is so easy and so yummy!

1 Tb plus 1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion diced (we don't love onion, so I always half the amount of onion needed in a recipe)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (great job for the little ones to help with, just give them a butter knife and let them chop!)
1 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 lb chicken breast, boneless/skinless, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup sour cream (I didn't have any so I used plain greek yogurt)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded and a little to sprinkle on top
3 cups cooked wild rice (follow package directions, it takes about an hour to cook wild rice so plan ahead)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Oven medium heat, place one Tb olive oil in a large saute pan. Cook the onion for about 2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and season with 1/2 tsp salt, cook for about 4 more minutes, until mushrooms are tender and onions translucent. Place this mixture in a bowl and set aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil in the pan and cook the chicken with the garlic powder and remaining 1/2 tsp salt until chicken is cooked through.
Combine mushroom mixture with the chicken, wild rice, and cheese and put in a 8x8 dish and sprinkle the top with a little cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!


Apple Sauce
I don't think recipes get much easier than applesauce, and it is sooooo good homemade hot or cold!
'Tis the season for apples, and since we have 5 mature apple trees loaded with apples (and 5 more young trees that the deer won't let grow!) we have been eating a lot of applesauce.
I don't know if this is really a recipe, because I don't know quantities. This is something that I just taste as it cooks.

Apples (the sweeter the apple the better), I have a large tote bag that I just fill up and it makes about 6 pints of applesauce.
Water, I add about 1/2 cup at a time. Add just enough water so the apples won't burn or stick but not too much were it would be soupy
Cinnamon, optional
Agave necture, optional (I used this in one batch, because the apples were very tart apples they have now become sweeter and I did not use it in the last batch I made)

Peel, core, and slice apples. I use the pampered chef one that does all three things at one time, saves so much time when doing a lot of apples but boy is it messy!
Add apples and a little water (you can always add more water so just a little at a time!) to a stock pot and cook on medium low. Also add the cinnamon at this time if you want it. Let the apples simmer until they are mushy, taste it and see if you want more cinnamon or agave. If you want it chunky you are done, if you want it smooth put into a food processor until smooth. Depending on how much you made you can either put the extra in the fridge, freeze it, or can it. If canning put into jars and put jars into a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Refrigerate any jars that do not seal. Yum, enjoy!

Loving you is easy

Ted and I have recently gone through a little bit of emotional stress, I guess is how I will put it. Anyway, we were talking about it all the other day and Ted said something that just struck me so I have to share:)

Ted: "I have come to realize that a lot of things in life are hard, but loving you guys is easy."

Such a simple thing to say, but it was said with so much love and so much truth that it blew me away in a very good way! I thank God in so many ways for letting me share this life with such an amazing person.

Fall Harvest

It is that time of year again. We have had just beautiful weather (although some chilly nights/mornings!), and that means the combine has been running. Ted literally shines this time of year, I have never seen someone love doing something so much like I see him when he is farming. I don't know much about farming, but I do know that he is following his dreams and I am glad I get to be a part of it. You have probably all heard that a happy mom/wife, makes a happy house. Well the same is true for a happy dad/husband! Ted has a lot to balance, with a busy full time job, three busy boys, making some time for me, and finishing up this harvest season. He has done a very good job, always willing to take at least one of the boys with him while he is farming and taking that extra time to do family things. And he always makes that extra effort to show that he cares and appreciates me, which I really appreciate!

I wish I could get some pictures, as I really need to start documenting these moments with photos. I know Ted and I would love looking back at them! Unfortunately I dropped my camera and it is not wanting to focus very well for me. I can't even blame this one on the boys, now I have to figure out how to get it fixed. I am now putting this on the top of my "to-do" list!

Today I made tuna melts and this week will be making chicken and wild rice...look for the recipes soon. Totally a random post today, but just want to get it all down before another "MOOOMMM" and am needed!

New Month...

...means new recipes! With fall hitting hard right now, the oven and crock pot become my best friends! Fall cooking for us includes, soups and chilis, roasts and veggies, squash cooked all different ways, and APPLES! We have soooo many apples this year, and beautiful apples at that. We have two trees that have great baking apples and two that have such yummy eating apples. My goal this month is to come up with some creative ways to use our apples, as I come up with them I will post the recipes (if they are good, that is!).

Ethan can talk!

Yes, he has been saying words for a while, but just recently he finally started really talking and coping words. He is quite a bit behind his brothers in this area (they were talking in sentences by 16 months), but he is also quite advanced in other areas...like being able to scale the rock wall on our Menards playground set, by himself! It is so cute to see his personality come out as his vocabulary expands. Here are a few words I got on video the other night while we were waiting in the car while Ted was combining.

Mommy Push-ups

In case you were all wondering what a "mommy" push up looks like, here is some video of me just hanging out with the boys, doing some random pushups. When I went to save the video Landon said, "call the video Mommy Push-ups." Not sure how well you can actually see my push ups, but you get some good view of the boys (and fighting, hahaha)!

Thanks you Weelicious!

I don't think I have mentioned Weelicious on my blog yet? It is one of my favorite websites to find quick, easy, and healthy meals and snacks for the entire family.
This morning I made the Berry Delicious Oatmeal, which is always a hit with the entire family. This afternoon I will be trying out the recipe for today, Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies look so easy and so healthy to make. Weelicious is also on facebook and has this awesome program where she takes a picture of her son's packed school lunch daily, awesome ideas for healthy easy school lunches!

I had fresh raspberries from Aunt Lori for todays oatmeal and used Almond Milk, and then I added a few frozen blueberries to the boys' bowls to help cool it down. I also double this recipe and it is very tasty reheated!

Berry Delicious Oatmeal (Serves 2)
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Milk (almond, rice, soy or cow’s milk)
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (Five Minute Oats)
1 Tbsp Honey, Maple Syrup or Agave Syrup
1/2 Cup Blueberries, Blackberries and/or Raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Bring the water and milk to a boil.
2. Add the oats, reduce to a simmer over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, and cook for 5-7 minutes or until thick and creamy.
3. Add the honey, maple syrup or agave and berries, cook an additional minute or until the berries are warmed-through and start to pop (I like to add frozen berries so the oatmeal cools faster for kids to eat).
4. Serve.

*If serving to a baby under 1 years old, don’t use honey

What's Done

I have been busy sewing, but not busy updating. So, this is going to be quite a bit in one post. Bear with me!

A small quilt, perfect for the stroller/carseat. It is super soft and cuddly velour on the back!

Ethan's Pants, flannel PJ pants

Trevor's Pants, he didn't want to be left out

Crayon Keepers

I only had markers near by when I took these pictures, obviously crayons would not go past the fabric!

Baby Leg Warmers (not just for babies, both Landon and Trevor love these on their legs and/or arms!)

I have also been busy canning all of our produce from our garden and fruit trees...pictures and more of that soon!

Recipe Sharing

So last week I was using up some stuff before it went bad on me, this week it has gotten a bit chilly outside and makes me want to cook nice hearty suppers. I can't take credit for either of these recipes (I got them both from friends), but I can share them for you all to enjoy. Chicken Tacos and Spaghetti Pie, both a huge hit with my kiddos!


EASY Chicken Tacos
How much easier can chicken tacos get, you ask? With this recipe you will have yummy, juicy chicken taco meat in about 5 minutes flat! Seriously, that's all the time it takes to prepare, just remember to put these in the crock pot late morning/early afternoon and you will be all set for supper that evening!
For a family of 5, and to have some leftovers (we are big fans of leftovers for lunch!) this is what I do, modify it to fit your needs/quantity.

• 6 Boneless skinless chicken breast, I usually use fozen
• Chicken Stock (I keep the boxes of Kitchen Basics chicken stock, it has honey instead of sugar and is all natural), I use about 3/4 of a box. **If you don't use it all and are not going to be using chicken stock during the rest of the week, freeze it in ice cube trays and then pop them into a freezer bag for future use!
• Taco Seasoning, I estimate this and for me it is probably about 4 Tb. maybe a tad more.

Place chicken into a crock pot, pour stock over chicken until it is almost covered, sprinkle taco seasoning over top to cover the chicken. Set your crock pot to low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours, put the lid on and forget about it!
Once the chicken is done take it out and it should just shred apart into small pieces. Put it into a bowl to serve and drizzle some of the left over juices to keep it moist (I like to pour more juices over any leftovers to keep it from drying out in to fridge).
Now you can use the taco meat for tacos, burritos, wraps, quesadillas, salads, etc.
***This is what we are having for supper tonight!***


Spaghetti Pie
Think spaghetti meets lasagna here, so good, especially on these soon to be fall evenings and then even better heated up for lunch!

• 1 pd ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 jar (15 1/2 ounces) spaghetti sauce ( a spicy sauce is better!)
• 8 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350, Cook beef, onion and green pepper in large skillet over medium-high heat until meat is browned. Drain fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Combine spaghetti, Parmesan cheese, eggs and butter in large bowl; mix well. Place on bottom of 13x9 ince baking pan. Spread cottage cheese over top; cover with sauce mixture. Sprinke with mozzarella cheese. Bake until mixture is thoroughly heated and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.
** I doubled this recipe (but did not double the onion of green pepper) and put it in a deep dish lasagna pan, also so easy to double this recipe and put one in the freezer for when you just don't feel like trying to figure out what to make for supper. Also, because of my pan size and nervous about over flowing while I was cooking the meat I didn't add the sauce to the meat and instead assembled it like this: spray your pan, layer the spaghetti mix, then the cottage cheese, followed by the meat mix, then the sauce, and finally sprinkle the top with cheese. I think I baked it for 40 minutes, just kept an eye on it to make sure the cheese didn't burn.

Restoring Honor

I have not had a chance (or have not taken the chance) to blog about my trip to Washington D.C. I went with my mom (thanks Mom!) and had a great time exploring a city that I had never been to before. We pretty much stayed on the National Mall, but with so much to learn, explore, and see there was really no need to go anywhere else! I had an amazing time, and wished my boys could have been with me to see some of the sites. The history is overwhelmingly incredible, just the monuments can take your breath away. Then the Smithsonian Museums, can't even begin to explain how fun these were to explore. These are a must see for my boys. If you noticed my quote this week, both Landon and Trevor told me to never go to that museum again without them. I was telling them all about it and showing them pictures and they so wanted to go right then and there!

I also got to go to a very inspirational rally. It was put on by Glenn Beck, and was titled "Restoring Honor". If you were not there, please, please, please do not believe what the media had to say about this or lack of coverage it got. It was a HUGE rally, I would say at least 600,000 people were in attendance starting at the Lincoln Memorial, completely filled shoulder to shoulder back to the start of the Washington Monument. That is a lot of people! So you read Glenn Beck, and then probably thought this was some huge political thing, right? Not at all true, no politics were ever brought up threw the entire four hour rally. It was all about RESTORING HONOR.

What does that mean, you ask? It was all about looking to God and restoring honor within yourself through God and going out from there. Then restoring honor in your family, in your community, so on and so forth. It was a very religious rally, lots of tears and real life stories, trial, and tribulations. God is the answer! How will we find the next GREAT leader if we do not have honor and God present in our children's lives? We won't! Let your children see you pray, pray with your children and be so very thankful for the many, many blessings God has bestowed on us all! Take the time to restore honor within  yourself, within your marriage, within your children. You might just raise the next GREAT leader of this wonderful country The United States of America!

I am in the process of editing/uploading some video clips of the rally and will post them as soon as I get a chance.

On the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream..." speech, here is his niece.

Inspirational Music
Sorry, all morning and the video was still not loaded:(

Breakfast and/or After School Snacks

I was in major need of using up zucchini, blueberries, and two over ripe bananas (think fruit fly invasion!). I thought about a few recipes that we like; Blueberry Muffins, Chocolate Zucchini Bread, but that still left my bananas that were starting to attract fruit flies. Rethought my plans and put the blueberries in zucchini bread and the bananas and chocolate in the muffins. This afternoon my house smelled so good with the aroma of sweet bread and muffins. Here are the recipes (original, along with my "healthy" tips/changes).

Zucchini Blueberry Bread

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 cup vegetable oil (*I did 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of applesauce)

• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 1/4 cups white sugar (*I only did 2 cups of sugar, could substitute with honey)

• 2 cups shredded zucchini

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (*I did 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 all purpose)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (*I did 1 cup all purpose and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour)

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (*I did 1/2 applesauce instead of oil)

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (*I didn't measure, I had two bananas so that's what I used)

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

**These are a favorite of my boys, we like to make them in mini muffin tins!