What's (was) Cookin?

I saw this recipe pinned on quite a few fellow Pinterest-ers (my made up name for all you fellow obsessed pinners like myself)  Taco Pasta Bake and thought I'd give it a try.  Wow, super easy, really good, had most ingredients already at home (wouldn't you know I had NO ground beef though!) and it took little time.  It went over good with both Addi and Reid and Josh of course liked it because, you guessed it, it was either Italian or Mexican flavored and you can't go wrong there with him.  And it was actually good the next afternoon for my lunch.  And even though I have no pics to prove it (I am going to try and get better at that) it looked just like the pictures on the actual pin.  So go ahead, make it and have a nice dinner at home!

Now for a post on something I tried and it DID NOT go over well.  I was really pumped when I saw this and thought it would be something easy to make and a good, healthy snack too.  Nope, no go on this one  Frozen yogurt drops  I used Yoplait light Strawberry yogurt and followed the directions exactly.  Luckily I only used 1 container to try and didn't end up wasting anymore.  Addi didn't like them, Josh wouldn't try them and even Reid didn't like them.  I "thought" I did but after eating 3 or 4 I decided my mind was just trying to tell taste buds I did but in all actuality they tasted rubbery.  And before you ask, no I didn't leave them in the freezer too long.  Seriously just long enough for them to harden.  So much for that thought on a healthy snack...

Any potato lovers out there?  Cause I'm married to one, but a picky one.  Josh is picky on his sides.  He loves potatoes but isn't a fan of mashed potatoes...WHAT???  So I get tired of making french fries, baked potatoes and our family's famous cheesy potatoes.  So I found this recipe and tried it  Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds.  And they were good!  I left off the green onions and added extra cheese and sour cream after they were done.  I'm thinking I need to make these again. 

So get out your apron, dust off the stove and get to cookin!  (I say this as I'm going out to eat tonight! haha) 

Till next time....

Woohoo! It's FRIDAY!

In a weird way this week flew by but yet creeped by at the same time.  Does that make any sense?  It seems like Monday thru Thursday just went by kinda fast but yet last weekend seems like eons ago.  But anyway, it's FRIDAY (insert fist pump)!

1.  Tonight starts the Olympics and my household (well Addilyn and I) are too excited.  We've been on the countdown for weeks, have it marked on the calendar, the DVR is already set (it's going to go waaayyy past her bedtime) and little does she know but later on we will be making our first Olympic inspired craft.  Stay tuned for that fun post!

2.  We just finished a fun week at VBS at church.  I somehow managed to sweet talk, bribe, harass (call it what you want) my awesome hubby into playing the lead role of Daniel.  And might I say he did a fine, fine job.  And somehow I got the part of playing a king (we switched a few things up in the bible this week by making said king into a queen!) and we had a really good time with it.  It was a lot of fun to see what answers the preschoolers would give us and to see who was really paying attention.  It was nice to know that we acted the story out well enough for everyone to understand.  And it's always fun getting to teach young ones about the bible and how our God is always watching over us!

3.  We got a good ol hard rain and nice show of lightning last night.  But our grass was soooo dry it soaked it up and is still lacking that bright color of green!  But I did enjoy the sound of the rain last night and the sky being lit up like the 4th of July!

it looks like our poor yard is nothing but dirt. 

it's not.  it's just brown, crunchy grass

4.  Addilyn is having a sleepover tonight with her best bud Briley!  They are both very excited and we'll see what the night has in store for us! I'm sure there will be lots of laughs and giggles and a lot of memories made!

5.  I found this quote on (where else?!) Pinterest and it really hit the nail on the head for me!

being a stay at home mommy to my 2 special kiddos

is a lot of fun (most days) but also challenging. 

I feel like I need to hang this somewhere where I

will see it everday! And multiple times a day!

Happy Friday y'all!  Have a great and blessed weekend!

Under Construction

Please please please bear with me as I try to revamp my blog!  What I thought would be fairly simple has turned out to be me pulling my hair out, drinking too much (just kidding!), neglecting my house and staying up way too late and bugging the crap out of a fellow blogger trying to figure out how to change things.  Thank the heavens that said fellow blogger has offered to give me a blogging 101 lesson next week after VBS.  And I couldn't be happier!  So while my blog may look ugly right now, I promise I am trying to fix that!  I'll be back soon!

Christmas in July!!

Are you sitting down as you read this?  Two blog posts in one day?  What is the blogging world coming to??  I guess it's because this last post is due to the hubby still out golfing, both kiddos are sound asleep and I'm drinking glass number 2 of my favorite wine!  Aaaaghhh what a night!

So I got to thinking while looking through different pins while the kids played at Chick-fil-A tonight.  I've done a few creative things with Addi and Reid before and I've even got pictures to prove it.  So I thought about doing some posts of my own things and pinning them on my board that I've so smartly titled "My Pins".  So I'll do some posts and then pin it on my boards for fellow obsessors, er I mean fellow people who casually spend their time surfing the pinning world :)

So right now I'm gonna do a Christmas in July post!  My mother in law, also known as Nai Nai to 4 special little ones got Addilyn An Elf on the Shelf several years ago.  I felt that last year was the first year she would really get involved in it and boy did she ever!  Josh and I read the book to her and she immediately named our newest family member.  He became Hurley.  No clue where the name came from but every morning she would get up looking to see where she would find him hiding.  If you've never heard of this awesome Christmas "tradition" then read Here and shame on you--it's such a huge hit to anyone I know who does this!
We introduced him on the first day of December.  That meant we only had 24 days to be creative with Hurley.  (he flies back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve)  Boy oh boy did I not have any idea how hard it became to come up with different idea after different idea on where to hide him.  I remember googling a few things and other than that Josh and I came up with our own.  I'm sure some of them have been done, but since we didn't research it too much, I'm taking credit! Josh and I switched every other night on who was on "Hurley Duty".
Here are some that I have pictures to show!

 We always have this huge plate in our kitchen.  It's where I write out the week's menu, catchy phrases or just doodle.  Hurley left Addilyn (and then wee little Reid) their very own personalized message.  Little did I know I was gonna have to remember "Hurley's penmanship" for future surprises!  Notice Hurley is even holding the marker!

 Addi was sooooo excited to wake up and find Hurley had moved her Barbie hot tub into the dining room and invited her newest Barbie to join him.  Wow, didn't realize how provocative that was until I just typed it.  Oh well! 

Remember me saying how I needed to remember how Hurley wrote?  Yep! Well, Hurley flew back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve so on the 23rd he left Addilyn her own little present!  This was his note to her!  She was so stinkin' excited!

Hurley left a mess when he finished wrapping his gift to Addi (which was a Taylor Swift cd) and it was just the icing on the cake!  It was a nice way to end the Christmas tradition and now that I've looked at all the pictures and revisited everything I'm ready to start looking for new ideas for this year!

Happy Christmas in July!!

Make your own Edible Arrangement

So back in May I knew what I wanted to give my sister for her birthday.  Something she could enjoy at work and something edible.  I wanted to send her an Edible Arrangement.  Holy Sheesh! Those things are expensive.  Not that I don't love my sister, but I've got 4 sisters and didn't want them all to expect this as a gift.  And they definitely weren't on the "stay at home mommy" budget list.  So I searched Pinterest and found step by step directions on how to make my own.  I found it HERE.  And this is what mine turned out looking like

I was actually pretty impressed.  Found my pot at the Dollar Store and went shopping for my fruit. 

*Tips*

I couldn't find the kale leaves it called for.  Mine were much smaller and more difficult to keep in place but I managed.

I already had the cookie cutters but mine were plastic.  Metal ones would definitely work easier and faster, but I didn't see the point in spending the money when I already had some.  The pineapple was by far the hardest and my counter tops, hands and clothes were covered in juice!

Because all the fruit was so juicy, the arrangement kept dripping everywhere.  I put it in the freezer until I was ready to leave. (just about an hour) This worked until I made it to Aimee and then it was dripping again.  Oh well!  Nothing wrong with juicy fruit!

Aimee was surprised when we showed up at her work with her gift.  She said her and her coworkers enjoyed the fruit! 

So the next time you are looking for a unique gift and you've got a little time to spare (I think this small one took about an hour-that's while dealing with 2 kids too) then I suggest looking into making your own fruit bouquet! 

Playing a little catch-up!

My appologies for my ever so slow posting of "my attempted pins". It's naptime right now and with each stroke of the key I'm holding my breath that Reid doesn't wake up and I can at least get this post done. So here goes....

What is it about pizza? Between pizza/Italian and Mexican food we rarely (or at least that's what it feels like) have any variety in our menu planning. But there are no complaints from the table so who am I to complain?

I posted a little bit ago about the Grilled Pizza Cheese sandwiches. My next pizza inspired pin was this PEPPERONI ROLLS and I even took pictures to document. Am I showing you them because they actually turned out looking good? Maybe, but who cares?!

They were really easy to make and were a hit all around the dinner table. Even great as leftovers and warmed up the next afternoon for lunch.













You're impressed aren't ya? :)

Josh's only request was not to use Buttermilk biscuits next time. Okay no problem but when did he become such the biscuit connoisseur? Just kidding! No problem!




**Tips**

For our family of 4 (although Addi and Reid could sometimes be combined and only count as 1 when preparing food) one roll of biscuits would have been enough. But I didn't want to be short on any and like I said, they warmed up just fine.
Enjoy!



Yesterday Addi had her softball swim party at the local pool. It had been a little over a month since they had all seen eachother so Addi was really excited to hang out, swim and eat some cake. While Daddy was busy "working" in the basement and The BossMan was sleeping we decided to make a little softball treat to take with us. How easy are Rice Krispie Treats? VERY! So that's what we did and added a little flair to them. Sometimes when I see something on Pinterest I think "why didn't I think of that?" I mean a lot of them are so easy and take little thinking to come up with. But I'll give credit due to this neat pin

Softball Treats!

Addi had fun helping and then to match her teams colors (The Heartbreakers) we used blue frosting!



They were a hit with the girls!
*Tips*

the instructions call to use parchment (I used wax, maybe it's the same thing, I don't know lol) about the size of your hand to press out onto cookie sheet. I just sprayed my spatula and it worked easier. And I just used one of the kids' plastic cups without paper underneath to cut out my circles. Super easy. The icing I bought came out to thick to make lines so I squeezed it all into a plastic bag and snipped the end.
We hit this one out of the park! Soooo easy!



So I've pinned and pinned about some food. How about a drink? I made this GROWN UP PINK LEMONADE a while back and it was a huge hit! I made sure to put a note on the pitcher that it was NOT FOR KIDS and now anytime Addi sees pink lemonade she asks if it's for grown ups only! 

Great beverage for a girls night or even at the pool! 

Well, can you believe it? Reid is still asleep and I'm done-for now.  Stay tuned and I'll have some craft pins I'll post.  Till then, keep pinning and keep blogging!