Fresh, Clean Boy!! (WW)

Okay, okay----so it's not wordless today--but close!!

Lucas HATES to wear shoes!!

Here....let Momma help you get that back on!
But Mom, I just got that thing off!!

Oh, wait.....is Daddy taking pictures?!?
Oh----he IS!!
Wait, how'd this get back on??
I'll take care of that.......

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, go here or here!

Blogging family in need....

I ran across this blog just a few days ago. The wife, Tricia, is just over 24 weeks pregnant and has cystic fibrosis. Her CO2 levels are on the rise, she is having difficulty breathing, and difficulty sleeping. They are taking the baby via c-section either today or tomorrow. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.....

Here is link to a post where her husband, Nate, honors her.

Menu Plan Monday...

Last week was a little off. Monday and Tuesday we were out kind of late and ended up just having faster things at home than what I had planned, so I have two carryover meals from last week.  

Here is a picture of the chili relleno casserole. I've made it lots of times and we really like it. Now, it isn't low in fat, but it is low in carbs!! The recipe says to use a 9x13, but I use an 8x8. Also, I use three 4.25 oz. cans of the chilies.

We also managed to try out a few new recipes.  Here is a picture of the veggies ready to be roasted for my Ratatouille Soup. Now, I do like eggplant, but I think next time I make this soup, I'll omit it. Maybe add some yellow squash to it. Perhaps I didn't roast it long enough, but it had a funny texture to it.  But, overall, I think this a very good soup.  I especially like that I can have almost 2 cups of it and it is only 32 grams of carbs!!


Ratatouille Soup (from this cookbook):

1 small eggplant (3/4 pound), cubed (4 cups)

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 T. olive oil

1 t. dried Italian seasoning, crushed

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

1 cup dried cavatelli (I used rotini because I already had some)

1 (15 oz.) can navy beans, rinsed and drained

2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1.  In large, shallow roasting pan combine the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, onion, and garlic.  In small bowl combine the olive oil, Italian seasoning, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/4 t. pepper; drizzle over vegetables, tossing to coat.  Bake in a 425° oven about 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring once.

2.  Meanwhile in a dutch oven combine the broth and 3 cups water.  Bring to boiling; add pasta.  Return to boiling.  Cook about 12 minutes or until tender.  Reduce heat.  Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and roasted vegetables.  Heat through.  

We also tried the spaghetti carbonara.  It was soooo good!!  Both boys loved it, too, so it will be a repeat in this house.  There is a lot leftover, so we can have it for lunch, too!!  

Spaghetti Carbonara (from this cookbook)

1 lb. dry spaghetti (I used one box of this)

1 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled (I love this---less mess and I get an awesome deal on it at Costco!!)

1 cup frozen petite peas

2.5 cups heavy cream

1 c. fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1 T. fresh Italian parsley chopped (I just sprinkled in some dried)

freshly ground black pepper

1.  Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain and set pasta aside.

2.  In large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat bacon pieces until they begin to sizzle.  Add peas and cream.  Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and boil gently for about 8 minutes.  Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese, stirring continuously until blended and sauce is slightly thickened.

3.  Mix pasta and sauce together in large serving bowl.  Garnish with chopped parsley and black pepper to taste.

Now---on to this week's menu:

*=new recipe

Monday--chicken tacos (shredded chicken with green chilies), salad for me, beans and rice for the boys

Tuesday--steak, twice baked cauliflower*, green beans

Wednesday--chicken sandwiches (similar to Marlboro Man's second favorite sandwich), chips (I'll have mine in non-sandwich form with a salad)--I'm using lemon butter chicken that I have in my freezer and microwaveable bacon. I know it won't taste the same, but I'm really trying to use only things I have on hand this week.

Thursday--Beef stroganoff, brown rice, steamed veggies

Friday--Marla's maid-rites (on buns for the boys--whole wheat tortilla for me-->kind of like sloppy joes), tater tots (for the boys), salad

Lunches:

• Ratatouille soup
  
• kale salad
  
• pb and j
  
• leftover spaghetti carbonara
  
• turkey sandwiches
  

Breakfasts:

• cheese toast
  
• oatmeal
  
• toast and jam for boys
  
• toast, eggs, bacon
  
• pancakes for boys
  

For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Own your dream...

This week TheMommyKelly is asking us to own our dream. Here is the challenge:

"Perhaps this Flaunt It Friday each one of us could spend a post reflecting on that one special dream we have for 2008. The one we have been frightened to think of, let alone mention. Certainly it couldn’t hurt that much to hash it out, as identifying the dream is the first step to reaching it. In order to pursue it, we need first to “own” it. So maybe this week’s challenge should be all about owning the dream!"

So--the big one for me this year is finances. We've been a single income family for going on 6 years. I quit work when I was 4 months pregnant with Logan and one month before my husband was to be home from Korea. I had to get things in order for our cross-country move (CA to MD). Once in MD, I was nearing 6 months into my pregnancy and I doubted anyone would want to hire me. Once Logan was born, I truly wanted to stay home with him. As a child, I never thought I would be a stay at home mom. But--becoming a mommy changed me forever!!

When Logan was born, my husband was an E-3 in the Army and we were dirt poor!! All I have to say is good thing for WIC. For months, we only had $60 per month for our food, diapers, gas, and any extra. I got very creative with beans and rice!! My husband even worked a second job for a while as an escort. LOL....he worked at the NSA and when contractors needed to come in and do work, they had to have an escort that had a clearance go along with them. So, the work was easy (hubby just watched them work) and the pay was decent....meaning we could eat more than beans and rice!! Then in 2004, my husband got out of the Army and our income nearly doubled. Well, that made us feel rich, even though we are far from it. We threw another baby into the mix in 2006 and we went all out on him. We simply could not afford all of the fancy things with Logan and with Lucas we got pretty much anything we wanted.

In 2007, we decided to buy a home, and that caused our income to be stretched more. Really, we are only paying $100/month more for our mortgage than we were for our rent, but all the utilities and HOA fees, etc... put us spending a fair amount more than we were in apartment living. On top of that, we did live about 6 miles from hubby's work, but couldn't afford to buy that close to D.C. So, now we live further out and hubby has to spend more on his commute (both time and $$). We are a single car family as well, so hubby takes a combination of the bus and metro to get to work. We are spending close to $200 a month on commuting costs when we were spending maybe $40.

All of this to say, I want to fine tune our budget. It seems we were in two categories. 1. There was no money left to budget after paying bills. 2. There was plenty of money and we just bought what we wanted without a thought about a budget. We don't fall in those categories anymore, so we really need to write out a budget and stick to it!!

Head on over to Taken With a Grain of Salt to join in on the fun!!

New Years Day at Mt. Vernon (WW)

And now for the BIG news of the week!!!!!...........
My little peanut finally weighs 20 pounds (now that he is 22 months old). No more rear facing!
"Hmmm....I think I kind of like this!!"



For more Wordless Wednesday fun, go here or here!

Menu Plan Monday--Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone has a safe holiday and a wonderful new year!!
We finally tried the pumpkin enchiladas that I found on Natalie's website. They sound a bit unusual, but I like to try new things. They are sooooo good!! I didn't use the jalapeno...I used 1/2 can diced green chilies in its place and the other half of the can I mixed in with the chicken. Also, when I went to roll the corn tortillas, they were breaking, so I heated them in a little oil in my skillet first. They rolled easily this way, but it made them soft after being baked--which made it more like a casserole. So, my pictures aren't great since the enchilada just broke when I lifted it out, but the taste was still so good!! We will have these again, for sure!!



Also, my blood sugars are acting up the past few days, so I will mostly be having salad as my side dish. Not too exciting, but I'm okay with that.

*=new recipe

Monday--pecan chicken, brown rice, steamed veggies (Sadly, we didn't get to this last week--but that means we will have it first thing this week!!).

Tuesday--chili rellenos casserole, rice and beans (for the boys), salad

Wednesday--steak, twice baked cauliflower*, green beans

Thursday--Italian chicken, spaghetti carbonara* (this is in a new cookbook my sister got me for Christmas), salad

Friday--Marla's maid-rites (on buns for the boys--whole wheat tortilla for me-->kind of like sloppy joes), tater tots (for the boys), salad

Lunches (I'm making two soups this week to have on hand for lunch):

Ratatouille soup*
Broccoli cheddar soup* (I have broccoli that needs to be used!!)-->I've not decided on a recipe because I have never made this soup. If you have one or know of a good one, please share!!
salad
pb and j




For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Best of 2007...

This week's Flaunt it Friday is the "Best of 2007". There are lots of things that I am thankful for. Here is a list of a few of them:

• 1. We became homeowners. After years of moving from apartment to apartment, we decided it was time to buy!!

Logan in the U-haul!

• 2. We have hardwood floors in our new house, so I got to hear the pitter patter of my youngest as he learned to walk, then run!!

• 3. I learned that even if you get your baby's hair cut, he'll still be cute!!

Before:

After:

• 4. I was able to nurse my youngest until he decided he was done....which was when he was 19 months old.

The night he decided he was done...

• 5. When he did wean, I was able to quit the shots I was supposed to be taking 4 times a day (and had been on since finding out I was pregnant July 2005) and move to oral meds and one shot a day!! Of course, that means I am better about taking them...which means my blood sugars are doing great!!
  
• 6. My oldest finally learned to pee in the potty without peeing on various other things in the process!!
• 7. That means I finally don't have to clean toilets (walls, shower curtains, floors....you get the idea!!) 10+ times a day!!
• 8. Wood floors are great for playing cars---and I have the privilege of being momma to two boys to watch them play cars (which is exactly what they are doing this very moment).

• 9. The sound of laughter of two little boys is better than one!!
• 10. I'm thankful that Logan missed the cut off for Kindergarten so that I get one more year with him at home!!

Making sugar cookies.....(WW)

You can find the recipe here. They are super yummy!!

Meet my sous chef, Logan!!









For more Wordless Wednesday fun, go here or here!

Tackle it Tuesday--Christmas edition!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Our day was pretty relaxing. We had all our presents wrapped, so it was actually a pretty relaxing Christmas Eve, too!! We don't put any gifts under our tree until Christmas Eve once the boys are in bed, so we tucked them in and off we went. We moved the Christmas tree (don't worry--it wasn't hard...we stuck to a 4 foot tree this year to keep Lucas out of it:-)!!!) to the playroom and piled the gifts around it. Logan usually wakes up and heads straight to the playroom, so we made sure we were up before him to keep him from seeing his surprise until the cameras were ready...LOL!! Okay----I'm ready......


We truly enjoyed watching the boys open their gifts!! The boys played and played and Logan insisted he didn't need to eat today....he "isn't even hungry, anyway"!! It was a great day!!

Menu Plan Monday--Christmas Edition

We have finished all of our wrapping and stocking stuffing, so we won't be rushing around to get that done!! YAY!! Bad parents that we are, we've never done the whole Santa thing with our boys. This year Logan is just starting to catch on. He knows that Santa is a guy who gives gifts to everyone (said he saw that on Polar Express). Recently while we were out and someone asked him what he asked Santa for, he told them Santa never brings him anything...LOL!! So, here is my dilemma....do I start the Santa thing with him now...at 5 years old, or do I just let it slide?? I thought about doing it this year with the gifts I hadn't wrapped yet, but then I realized that Logan was with me when I bought Lucas the Pat Pat Rocket. So, I guess if I want to do Santa next year I will have to think ahead. Gee....I never realized this whole Santa thing took so much planning ahead!!

• Monday--leftovers---->making sugar cookies and other various goodies today!!

• Tuesday--Merry Christmas!!--Italian cheese balls, green bean casserole, turkey breast*, cranberry sauce, salad, rolls, and we might just have to try this pie!!
  

*-- I use a boneless turkey breast roast. Ball up some foil and place in bottom of cooker. Pour one cup chicken broth in. Rub turkey breast with olive oil, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and place on top of foil. Cook on high for 3 hours or until 170° F. I used my meat thermometer to make sure I didn't overcook it.

• Wednesday--leftovers

• Thursday--pecan chicken, brown rice, steamed veggies

• Friday--turkey sandwiches, tater tots, salad

Breakfasts:

• cold cereal
• oatmeal
• breakfast sandwiches
• toast with jam

Lunches:

• pb and j sandwiches
• kale salad
• pasta
• chicken salad on whole wheat tortilla
• hot dog

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!! Here are the pictures of my boys that I included with my Christmas cards....





For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!