Resolution Update: March

Can you believe it’s almost April? Me either! Where has the time gone? Well honestly for me it’s great that the year is going by quickly. This means we are that much closer to the Hubster coming home from Afghanistan! We are now 2 months into our 9 month deployment and every day down is a day closer! Are you still keeping up with your resolutions? I am trying!

Here’s how it’s been going for me:

Getting Healthy: I’ve really noticed that I’ve cut back on how much I eat. I've been trying to use our smaller salad plates to eat on instead of our big dinner plates. I am noticing I am satisfied with less which is a big batch of AWESOMESAUCE! Since the beginning of the year I have lost 14lbs. YAY! So this month got a little off track with the exercise routine, but the last 2 weeks I’ve been at the YMCA or working out at home at least 3 days a week! YAY again!

Getting Organized: I saw on another blog, and now I forget which one but the idea was to get rid of a 100 things in a weekend! So I did! Whew… some of it was easy, some of it not so much! Like throwing away the proof sheet from the school pictures. Why is that so hard? Over half of the stuff came from my bedroom! I was thinking I probally could do a get rid of 100 things from every room in the house! But for now 100 things from the house will have to do. I even got Man-Child in on it; I had him get rid of 50 things!  So that’s actually 150 things out of my house! YAY! Check out the pile of stuff I got rid of!

Spending Quality Time: We went on an unplanned road trip this month when my Grandmother passed away. When you lose someone you realize the important things, and I am grateful for all the great memories that I made over the years with her. Sometimes the best memories are from the littlest events in our lives. Did you see my post about 15 Mother Son date ideas? Check it out, and create memories to last a lifetime.

So I feel like I am doing ok with the resolutions this year so far! How are you doing with yours?

Easter Care Package

Do you do Easter baskets for the grown-ups in your house? We do and when the Hubster is deployed I try to send a little Easter to him. I also still get myself a little something for my Easter basket too. I think it’s important for Kiddo’s to see that everything isn’t all about them.

I like the Easter Care Package to look like an Easter Basket when he opens it. Now I know he is a Big Strong Army Man but really he’s a little boy at heart. So I included everything that should be in an Easter Basket, the fake grass, Candy, and Plastic Eggs and of course the piece de resistance a Chocolate Easter Bunny. We always include a few little gifts in our baskets as well! Those are hidden just in case the Hubster happens to check out the blog before he gets his box!

 

 

 

ENJOY!

 

 

 

Easter Trail Mix

I make this super yummy trail mix around Halloween keep aneye out for it this fall, and I thought why not make one for Easter too. It’s agreat thing to have out on the table for the kiddos to snack on while they arewaiting for Easter Dinner to be ready! Just be careful of the “pickers” youknow the ones who just pick out the chocolate eggs!

Here’s what you’ll need:

 1 bag Chex Mix

1 bag Microwave Pop Corn (or fresh popped)

1 bag Cadbury Mini Eggs

You could add in any of your favorite Easter candy!

Here’s how you make it:

Add everything into a large bowl, put a lid over it and giveit a few good shakes, or use a spoon or your hands and mix the trail mix!

ENJOY!

Easter Bunny Cake

I bought these cute Easter Bunny cake pans several years ago and I’ve yet to use them! So I figured I would put them to good use now. I needed to bring a dessert to a ladies group and thought they would be the perfect thing to bring, since it’s so close to Easter. I decided to just go with a cake mix for this one, but I spruced it up a little.

 

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the Cake:

Yellow Cake Mix

1 stick Butter, melted

1 1/3 cups Milk

4 egg whites

For the Glaze:

Powdered Sugar

Milk

Food Coloring

 

 

Here’s how you make it:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the Cake Mix, butter, milk and eggs together in the medium bowl. Spray your pan and then pour the batter into the pan, fill about ½ to ¾ full. Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool completely. I didn't measure the powdered sugar or the milk, I just poured some of each into the bowl and mixed it until I got the consistency that I was looking for kind of between a thick and thin? I know that's really vague! Stir together the powdered sugar and milk adding in your choice of food coloring. I like to use a pastry brush to apply the glaze. You could also spoon it on or even dunk the cakes into the glaze. Let set up and Serve.

ENJOY!

15 Mother Son Date Ideas

Mother/Son Date Ideas

As Man-Child gets older I keep looking for ways for us to stay connected. He is growing up so fast and in just 5 short years he’ll be leaving the nest. GULP! So I want to make these moments count. It’s getting harder as he gets older to find things that he likes to do with his Mom! Part of my New Years Resolution was to be more connected. So these ideas are ones we have tried and ones that we are going to try! I’m looking forward to doing the ones we haven’t tried yet! And to redoing some of our Fav’s!

Isn't he a cutie, he was 4 in this picture!

Here are 15 of my ideas!

1. Go see a Movie, this is always a favorite of ours, afterwards we always discus the movie, what our favorite part was, what the funniest part was etc.

2. Take a Hike. There are so many great trails around here and being in nature is just awesome. It also gives us a great chance to talk as we walk.

3. Painting Pottery This is one I’m looking forward to. The Hubster and I did this for date night once and LOVED it! So I’m thinking my artistic son will as well!

4. Go to a Museum. We had a lot of fun last year we got to see the King Tut exhibit!

5. Lunch Date: I usually let him pick where we go as long as it’s not fast food! We actually had “The Talk” at one of our lunch dates!

6. Coffee Date, He loves to go to Starbucks not for coffee yet but for a double chocolaty chip! We can sip our coffees and have meaningful discussions about the life and times of a 7^th grader!

7. Go for a swim. We both love the pool and luckily he doesn’t mind going with his Mom!

8. Attempt to play a Video game! I am terrible at video games but since it’s something he enjoys I figure I can give it a go!

9. Low tech it and play a board game! This I can do! My favorite is Sorry!

10. Teach him to play a classic card game like hearts or spades!

11. Cook a meal together. I believe that every man should know how to cook at least a few different things, and I like to teach him how to fix his favorite foods.

12. Play a round of Mini Golf. We’ve done this quite a bit as a family but never just the two of us!

13. Bowling, because who doesn’t love wearing shoes that other people have worn and eating greasy gut busting chili fries or nachos from the snack bar!

14. Explore the Book Store, We both love to read and looking for new books which leads into the last idea…

15. Read the same book. It’s like a mini book club! I like this because it lets me know what he’s reading and it’s fun to be able to talk about something I know he is interested in. Plus it’s reading and honestly any excuse to read is a good excuse!

 Pick one of these ideas and take your Son out! Make some memories!

Any other ideas? Add them in the Comments!

 

ENJOY!

Easy Nutella Ice Cream

Who doesn’t like ice cream? And if you like ice cream, than the best ice cream (in my opinion) is homemade ice cream. There is just something about fresh yummy homemade ice cream that makes me smile. It brings back all kinds of great memories as a kid. Making homemade ice cream at my Granny’s house in South Eastern Oklahoma, she would make the best ice cream, with fresh peaches oh yum that’s the best! This ice cream didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to. The Nutella didnt mix in the way I thought it would, It kind of ended up as a Nutella chunck ice cream, with surprise little ice cream covered chuncks of Nutella. Which was yummy! But still not quite what I was trying for. Next time I think I would probally try to heat the nutella up first.

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

½ cup Nutella

8oz cool whip

Ice Cream maker

 

 

Here’s how you make it:

Fill the freezer section of the ice cream maker with all the ingredients. Turn on the machine and let combine and until it’s thick and frozen! I had to place mine in the freezer to get it a little more set up! Spoon into a cup and drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with whipped cream if you like, or just have it by itself!

ENJOY!

St. Patrick's Day: Colcannon

Most everyone has Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t really like it though and we usually have Hamburger Gravy that I add green food coloring to! It is what my Mom always made us too! It’s good and simple. And honestly doesn’t feel like St. Patrick’s Day if we don’t have it! However, I wanted to try a different recipe this year. I stumbled upon this recipe for Colcannon. It’s really easy to make, basically its mashed potatoes with Cabbage! And it is super Yummy! Honestly I was a little leery at first but it's soo good!

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup milk, whole preferably

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

½ cup (4 pieces) bacon, cooked and chopped

4-6 green onions, finely chopped (I forgot to buy them! Oops)

1TBSP + 1tsp (divided) Salt

Pepper to taste

 

Here’s how you make it:

In a large saucepan, place the potatoes, 1 Tbsp of salt, and enough water to just cover the tops of the potatoes. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer until just fork tender, about 20 minute’s .In another saucepan, place shredded cabbage and 1 tsp salt. Add 1TBSP water, and lightly saute. You don't want to brown the cabbage just cook it for a little bit, I like to saute it instead of steam it. You want to soften it, but not enough that it becomes too soft. It should still have a little crunch. Once the cabbage is tender, add the milk and ½ stick of butter. Add several cranks of black pepper. Bring temperature up just until milk is hot and butter is melted. Do Not Boil. Stir in green onions and the bacon. When potatoes are tender, drain, reserving a cup of the potato cooking liquid, and return them to the pot. Mash potatoes, stirring in the hot milk/cabbage mixture. If you need a little more liquid, add some of the potato cooking water. But be careful the cooking liquid is very salty, as is the bacon. Use all of the milk first. To serve, mound potatoes in a serving bowl. Make a well in the center and place the remaining half stick of butter, melted.

 *Tip: I had plenty of milk and didn't even use all of it, add a little at a time!

ENJOY!

St. Patricks Day: Irish Brambrack

I wanted to make a traditional Irish recipe, but a dessert instead of the traditional savory things that we eat for St. Patricks Day. And boy oh boy did I find a sweet recipe. This is sometimes refered to as a bread, but in my opinion this is a cake, a really really sweet cake. It's kind of spicy(not hot but the cinnamony spicy flavor)  This recipe is traditionally made during Halloween. And it would be so good in the fall! But well it’s gonna be good anytime!

 Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups raisens, chopped (you could use any kind of dried fruit really)
1-1/2 cups hot black tea
1 egg, beaten
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon marmalade (I used lemon curd)
1 tsp freshly-grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 

 

Here’s how you make it:

Add the raisens to a bowl, then pour the black tea over them and let them soak for 3 hours, or overnight is best. Afterwards, drain the raisens of any excess liquid.

Add the egg, sugar, lemon marmalade, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a large bowl and beat until well mixed, then carefully fold in the fruit and stir until everything is thoroughly combined. Gently fold in the flour and baking soda until just combined, pour dough into a well-greased cake pan, or Bundt pan.
The trick in making a good Barmbrack is to not over-mix the dough or the fruit will break apart and lose its yummy plumpness.
Place in an oven preheated to 350°F and bake for about 50 minutes. When done, the top of the cake is a light golden brown and springs back when pressed. Remove cake from the oven and let cool at least 60 minutes in the pan before placing onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before serving.

If you want to, when done, glaze the top of your barmbrack with 1 tablespoon honey dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water, pouring it evenly over the top, then returning the cake to the oven for 2 or 3 minutes to set the glaze. We choose not to because well we are "sweet enough already!" We decided to add a little whipped cream a few fresh grapes just to jazz it up! Serve with a hot cup of tea or nice big glass of milk!

ENJOY!

Easy Button Chili Mac

Ok so I am pushing the proverbial easy button today. I had all this great Irish food planned for this week, and I will get to it I promise. But for today’s post I was running out of time and needed something to blog. I’m in California visiting Family and for dinner tonight we are having Chili Mac. I know a lot of people probably already make their own version of this but I thought I would share mine with you. It’s simple it’s easy and it tastes good! It’s a good go to meal when you are tired and just having an easy button kind of day!

Here’s what you need:

2 cans of Chili

Elbow Macaroni Noodles

Shredded Cheese (I used Cheddar, and the amount is really just a guess use what looks good to you)

Here’s how you make it:

Fill a large sauce pan with water and bring it to a boil. Add in the Macaroni and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain, return to the pot, and add in the Chili and the Cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Add in salt and pepper to taste. You can serve it topped with a little sour cream or some extra cheese, avocado would be nice too if you had it! We had some tomatoes and lettuce so we added that! That counts as a salad right?

ENJOY!

French Toast Balboa

Do you like French Toast? If you do than you are going to LOVE French Toast Balboa! It’s basically stuffed French Toast but it sounds all fancy schmancy if you call if French Toast Balboa! Whenever we go to visit my Mom in Pennsylvania, we go to this great hometown restaurant called the Brownstone. And they have this on their menu but you have to ask for the strawberries (it comes with blueberries which is good but strawberries are so yummy) since we don’t get back as often as I would like I had to come up with this recipe so I could have it whenever I wanted! I also added chocolate chips because well chocolate makes everything better J

 

Here's what you'll need:

Fresh Bread sliced (I used my artisan bread)

3-4 eggs, stirred

8 0z Cream Cheese

1tsp Vanilla

½ cup Sugar

Strawberries, sliced

Here’s how you make it:

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and Vanilla until combined. Heat a medium sized skillet on medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Take the bread and dip both sides in the eggs, place them in the skillet and cook until golden brown.  With one slice turn it over and while the other side is cooking spread about 2TBSP of the Cream Cheese mixture over the toast, add the strawberries and chocolate chips. Cook one slice until golden brown on both sides. When both slices are golden brown place the plain French toast slice on top of the one with cream cheese and strawberries. Repeat these steps for each serving of French Toast!

ENJOY!