food for thought. more recipes!

grilled cilantro lime shrimp: was a big hit with the shrimp eaters. i'm not a huge shrimp fan. i did try a bite. the flavor was good. i just don't like the consistency of shrimp!

asian flank steak skewers: so good. a bit salty. darn soy sauce. in the future, i'll be buying reduced sodium soy sauce. yes, i'm aware that makes me like 73. whatever. ;) but was a big hit. even with the non steak fans.

crock pot buffalo chicken lettuce wraps: yum. and make her dressing. i didn't go all fat free, just saying!

broccoli cheese and bacon soup: really good. i cheated and used precooked bacon. served it with pretzel rolls. yum.

one pot creamy chicken and noodles: meh. i added more noodles. about 2/3 of the box. still needs more flavor. will up the spices if i make it again. oh and the directions don't mention cubing the chicken first. i did...

thai peanut chicken and ramen soup: phew that's a mouthful.  was yummy. weird ingredients, but i gave it a go. followed the recipe exactly. came out kinda stoupy. maybe only needs three packages of noodles? nick was a huge fan. yay!

crock pot manicotti. no link. can't find it. make as usual and place in greased slow cooker. {some sauce on bottom and on top. cook on high for 2 hours.} was too rubbery for my liking. might as well put in the oven!

salami/pepperoncini wraps: did some whole peppers and some slices. they were tasty! a good addition to our usual ham and pickle wraps.

apple pie fries: mine did not look as cute as they do in the picture! added some cinnamon to the sugar sprinkle on top. got thumbs up from all that ate them, i didn't even try one!

caramel apple pie cocktail: so good.

pineapple upside down cocktail: had these as a shot at a friend's house over the holiday. searched and found this recipe to make a drink so i could sip the deliciousness all night! we used vanilla vodka instead of the cake flavored one.

5 ingredient broccoli cheese soup: would have been better if it didn't curdle. that's what happens when you're trying to cook and take care of the kids! oh and i didn't measure chicken stock. just threw in two cans. and i used kraft finely shredded cheese.

recipes. version 5.0

it's been a while. i just didn't have the motivation in the beginning of my pregnancy. hard to cook when you're nauseated all the time. happy to say i'm back on track! so some of these were made ages ago, like july. and some more recently. 

tropical cucumber salad: pretty tasty. bummer that you can't prep too far in advance. and mangos are a bitch to cut.

grilled lime coconut chicken and coconut rice: total success. nick grilled the chicken to perfection and the rice was yummy too. ben was a fan and so was nick's dad {who has a tendency to be a bit picky... and i mean that in the nicest way possible!}

butterfinger cake: i used two less butterfinger bars. still tasty as heck.

rice krispie roll ups: didn't roll them up. was in a hurry. just poured the chocolate on top and threw it in the freezer for it to set. totally delicious.

patriotic puppy chow: got rave reviews from everyone at the party we went to. i kinda missed the peanut butter. but it was something different! and it looked cool! 

breakfast quesadillas: put my own twist on this. used it as inspiration. nick said it was really good. i did eggs, pickled peppers from my dad, sausage, and cheese.

over night oats: made a few variations. nick took a nutella one and a peanut butter when he was working but i was still on maternity leave. going to make them for me sometime soon and hopefully, i will like them. i have tried an apple version and i really liked it. and it kept me full!

chicken and avocado soup: super tasty and easy. used rotisserie chicken. and served it with bean tostadas. ;)

mediterranean quinoa salad: yum. and filling. two thumbs up!

crock pot salsa verde chicken:  meh. i didn't eat it. nick said it tasted like pot roast on first taste. then he added it to his bean tostada and said it was much better. i did not add the oregano.

parmesan roasted tomatoes:  way good. didn't follow their measurements. would be good on some garlic bread!

ten on tuesday 5.7.13

- i dislike hash tags. i've only purposefully used one once. the other time it was automatically added for me.

- i think i'm officially a coffee snob. i can no longer stomach mc donald's coffee.

- wish i worked longer hours in the winter and shorter ones in the summer. ;)

- asked my patient if she had been experiencing any fever or chills. she replied, 'i had an egg mcmuffin.' what? seriously? thank goodness another coworker over heard. no one would have believed me. and she had to walk away because she was laughing so hard.

- speaking of patients, why must they cough on me? or any of us, for that matter. it's gross and germy. and you know better.

- ever since someone showed me this video, i can no longer listen to the song without laughing. if you're amused by it, there is a whole compilation of popular songs that features that darn goat.

- this peanut butter banana bread was pretty tasty. nick wasn't a fan. but he isn't a fan of bananas. took it to work and it was a hit. i didn't try it with the glaze.

- ben wouldn't try the above mentioned bread. he said he likes peanut butter on his jelly sandwiches and bananas by themselves. sigh.

- so nice to have my little man back to his old self.

- my desire to spring clean is in full effect. or maybe it's nesting. either way, cleaning makes me happy!

ten on tuesday 3.5.13

- saw a mini van with racing stripes. does it make them cooler?

- nick was reading ben a book and they came across the word 'will'. ben asked nick, 'like will.i.am?' ben has asked who else sings when miss spears sings her song. he's big on learning names. he really likes adam levine too.

- was driving to work and saw a lake central student with her hair in pigtails, black and pink sunglasses, and funky neon colored knee high socks. texted bri and asked if it was 80s day? she said it was nerd day!

- had to explain to a coworker why we were concerned that my doctor took a trip to turkey and was debating stopping by home, in syria. told her there has been a civil war there for a few years. she said, 'really? who are they fighting?' oy.

- learned that siamese cats are talkers. who knew? explains a lot about chewbacca.and his high maintenance-ness.

- thought march would be less busy than february. i was wrong and we're only 5 days in!

- our keurig died! trying to figure out our replacement... suggestions?

- uploaded all of the february's pictures to the blog. hope to find time to edit and publish those posts to get back on track with my wip posts. i feel like it's a constant battle! contemplate giving em up often, but then think it's my version of project life, so it's staying!

- took advantage of today's snow storm and hit the sledding 'hill' by our house with the coopers. {the retaining pond was perfect for the kids... and jay and chris and nick!}here's the instagram collage. need to do a whole post on our snow day. ben, braiden, and wynnie had a blast!

- have a new snack addiction: graham cracker, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and strawberry jelly. yummy!

wip 1.19.13

friday:
ben and i had a date at the dentist's office. he was amazing. told me that he was going to go first so that i wasn't scared. he is seriously the sweetest little boy. {he doesn't let me walk down the stairs first either. wants to make sure there are no bad guys and he can keep me safe that way. awwww.}

stopped by and visisted nick at work after the dentist. 

we came home and napped. it was hard work going to the dentist and mcdonalds!

then it was family night. ben was hiding from the visitors. he is so shy at first. still. 

he could play with balloons for hours. 

it was a soup theme. nick wanted to make lobster bisque. i hear it was good. a bit too lemony.  nick is usually mr. anal retentive when it comes to measuring everything out. apparently, he just squeezed the lemon juice in. i believe this was the recipe he used. {not the best pictures. sorry. but he was so proud of his soup! didn't want to leave em out.}

b2. ben and auntie bri. 

someone attacked the birthday cake early. went to cut it and found this! i guess nick's aunt was hungry! and i don't think she likes the ends! 

saturday: {nick's birthday!}
went out for breakfast. ate at jelly. that place is really growing on us.
passed the time working on our letters. ben likes to take our orders. i think we might eat out a bit much, no?

a morning coffee boost and our to do list. was kind of a big list considering we had somewhere to be a bit later in the day. 

yum. nick got the ribeye. he enjoyed it. i got the country skillet? so good. ben enjoyed his chocolate chip pancakes. 

and a gumball because he was a good boy. ;)

nick said he wants one of these for his car! 

ben loves hiding in his hoodie! 

stopped to check out mattresses for the wee man's big boy room. 

of course, ben wants the one with the remote! 

got some more shelves for the basement. i have no idea how we have so much crap. ahem, stuff. 

headed to dinner at pf changs. ben wanted to drive for a little bit. of course, we were parked in the lot, not actually driving. :o)

after dinner we went back to nick's aunt house. ben was excited to play balloons with megan's boyfriend, jerry.

jerry was great with beans. did this little trick where he went to throw the balloon but let it fall behind his back instead. ben found it hysterical. made him do it over and over and over and laughed hysterically every single time.

cake time!

wanted to help daddy blow out the candles. they were trick candles. that was enjoyable to watch. ben loved blowing them out again. and again. and again!

then the grown ups played a game of wits and wagers and ben colored and ate some snackies. aunt michelle always has the best treats at her house.

couldn't believe that we actually had a sequential run in the game.

sunday:
wanted to play with his white board after using the giant one at aunt michelle's.

he wrote it all by himself! however, we cannot get him to write other letters. or practice them. is obsessed with writing his name, mom, and dad. oh well, soon enough.  and the remaining photos are of nick trying to get him to write other letters. he did a great job. but took lots of encouragement. 

my parents stopped by later for an impromptu birthday dinner. my lil bro was stuck at work and couldn't join us. boo. the joys of having grown up jobs, right?

our spread: sweet potato fries, fried pickles, curly fries, burgers, sandwiches, pizza. got a little of everything to try.

helping dad with presents.

some fun flavored jelly beans. because my mom can't buy a present and not include something food related.

was a perfect lazy sunday. loved being able to hang out with no real plans. probably for the best....

{beaner ended up sick that night. we didn't find out til the morning. poor man threw up and went back to bed. said that he felt better and didn't want to wake us. so strange since he'll holler for us if he can't get back into his sleeping bag at night.  he climbed into bed with us early that morning and asked for water. usually his telltale sign that he's got a fever. when we turned the lights on we noticed that he had some not so nice stuff crusted to his shirt. poor guy! called my mom... she was only home because it was a holiday, otherwise, she would have been on her way to work.  so thankful that she was able to come over and spend the day with him.}

and some more recipes. {volume 4?}

i'm thinking this is volume four. might need to actually go back and figure it out. or maybe i should just give them all completely random numbers?

was exciting because we didn't have a lot of disappointments over the past few months. weeee!!!

french bread pizza: yum. i could eat a stouffer's one daily and usually i have a lean cuisine version at work in the freezer for emergency lunches. {i have a thing for pizza. and mexican, but i digress.} this was deeeelicious. quite possible one of my favorite-est pins. super easy. super tasty. love that it was done in less than 30 minutes. that's just a tad longer than a frozen pizza.

crock pot mushrooms: wonky pin. liked these much better than pw's version. gasp. shock. the horror! i know... would change em up a bit next time. the original recipes is as follows:  6 packages baby bella mushrooms 1 packet dry hidden valley ranch 2 sticks butter cook on low. we would use one stick of butter. throw in some red wine. and add some crushed garlic and a few other seasonings.

oven roasted garlic brussel sprouts: thumbs up from all who had them. including those whom had never eaten a sprout before.

buttery thyme bread: pw never fails when it comes to bread. delicious. didn't taste so good the next day though...

gone in a blink nacho dip: fan freaking tastic. so good. i want to make some right now and not share. ;) i didn't use a whole jar of salsa. just what we had leftover and i didn't grate fresh cheese. just used some taco mix i had in a bag. yum.

bacon cheese wreath: good. wasn't impressed with the flavor from the recipe though, so i added a bunch more bacon and chives. and i didn't get fancy and put it in wreath form. {couldn't find time to blog for a few weeks, can't think i have time to get fancy?!}

the best hash brown casserole: not sure if it's been shared here or not. totally deserves to be. it's an old favorite. i could have it for breakfast daily. with a coke.

fettuccine alfredo:  had a huge taste for alfredo and nick was sweet and made me dinner to alleviate that craving. he said he made adjustments. only used 1 1/3c milk. used 1 tsp minced garlic. 4 oz. parm. cheese. and 1/4 pepper. needed salt. and a bit more pepper.

broccoli quinoa casserole:  yum. trying to use more quinoa. have a few breakfast recipes i'm anxious to try as well. really enjoyed this. not too labor or time intensive. tasty and filling. and both of the boys enjoyed it. :)

chicken and noodle casserole: added twice the noodles. and i doubted myself and didn't just add it in the beginning. so i added it as it cooked. just looked too soupy. i wanted it to be more noodle-y. was really good. and nick liked it. which is hard to do when it comes to these kind of dishes. will find it's way into our regular meals for sure. 

wip 11.24.12

eek.
two months behind. no bueno.
gonna try. i'm sure that this will just be the bare minimum until i can get back on track.

a holiday weekend, i guess i'll start with wednesday. maybe the first one won't be so short.

wednesday:
black wednesday party at frank's house. was beginning to feel under the weather. so not fun for a house party!
stopped a bw3 with jay and chris before meeting everyone. we were hungry bears and only knew that liquor was being supplied. ;)

an oh so appealing shot of our meal.

we made it. nick was a little uncertain of which house. i guess he's always carpooled or been in daylight.

love jay's manly purple basket. i forget the exact story. but it made all of us laugh.

there was lots of beer pong. and 'gorge ball'. nick was a wee bit drunk by the time the night was over. good thing i wasn't drinking! 

the boys. so good to see them. love that yogert has moved closer. hoping to see him more often but i guess our trip to seattle is out. and love that doug is in dc. hoping we can make it out there one of these years.

really? who brings their own trashy magazine to parties? and reads them while there? strange. 

shirt change. i have no clue what possessed them to do so. i wish i had a non blurry picture. oh well, at least the memory isn't that blurry!

late night. we left around 2? and they headed to the bars. i am so not that young any more!

thursday:
turkey day.
i slept in even though nick was the one with a hang over. yay for amazing husbands. boo for colds.

first stop. glenwood oaks as usual with my family. my aunt and uncle recently moved so the table was a bit smaller this year. ;(

ben was entertained by tic tacs my mom had found spilled in the bottom of her purse. 

a maybe not so appropriate thanksgiving picture? 

then we headed to nick's moms for secondsies. ala hobbit... get it?

the kids always have a great time together. not sure what's going on here. but i love that noah is in a wife beater, ben is in pajamas, and gabby is still in her dress!

miss megan entertaining the little ones with a game of trouble. thinking we might need to add that our of list of games to get for the wee man.

friday:
nick went shopping. early. his plan was to go at midnight but he fell asleep. he came home with what he went out for and a bonus buy for himself. boys. and it took him like three trips. at one point, i remember texting him from upstairs asking if it was him that kept coming in and out of the front door or if we were being robbed.

beaner had some fun chilling under the dining room table. 

and asked me to put his swords in his jams. not sure how he remembered that from the turtles. but it was a big thing for a few days.

saturday:
the lone picture. taken from my reclined position on the couch. i hate colds.

sunday:
nick decided he wanted some breakfast burritos that i had pinned. he took on the daunting task of prepping them. 

 

i have to say they were pretty tasty. and they go really well with left over taco bell packets!

batman and daddy played some games. 

 

not sure why ben was inside the hula hoop?

then it was time to decorate. however, our tree stand wasn't cooperating. nick decided to be manly and build something to fix it...

he made some hella wood contraption. was pretty sturdy. we didn't actually decorate the tree that night. the project took a little longer than expected. ;) so that was done monday. and ben loved it. he had a little cluster of his ornaments in the corner. so cute.

and because why not? ben wanted to sleep in a tent bed. so, i made one. i think my mom's mad fort building skills have been passed down to me. yay!