I love oatmeal!

Here was my breakfast this morning.

Maple Apple Almond Oatmeal Ingredients (this is for 1 serving)

1 cup water

1/2 cup old fashioned oats (I used Gluten Free, Organic)

1/2 cup almond milk (use amount desired)

1/2 granny smith apple, diced

1 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup

3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Directions

Bring the water to a rolling boil.

Stir in oats, reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Add diced apples to oatmeal about halfway through cooking time.

Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 2-3 minutes.

Serve with almond milk, sliced almonds and maple syrup.

YUM!

Enjoy!

So right around Thanksgiving my husband and I decided we wanted to start the Elf on the Shelf tradition. I hurriedly purchased one from a bookstore. When I got home I realized there were different skin and eye colors for these little guys. I accidentally grabbed the dark skinned, dark eyes, dark haired one. Not quite what my children look like. I also had no idea you could get a skirt to make your Elf a girl. Total MOM FAIL! I decided this year we will just have one little boy elf and next year I will get a girl elf for Kenley. I figured in a year Cohen will understand it better and can have one of his own.

Well, my wonderful mother-in-law just couldn’t stand that happening. Heaven forbid we only have one elf, and a boy one that doesn’t even resemble ourfamily! So Grandma went out and got Kenley a girl Elf (light skinned, blue eyes, light hair). Grandma SAVES THE DAY

Kenley named them LIMEY and LOLLY! (Super cute and pretty clever for a 4 year old.)

I knew from other mom’s that you can get pretty creative with these little guys and your kiddos will just LOVE IT!

I started out by just doing simple things around the house: putting them on a shelf (I know, way original), having them playing cards, getting into some food. But as the days went on I got more and more creative. Some of these ideas I thought of myself (yes, yes…thank you…thank you very much) Others I stole from Pinterest and some very creative moms (I am all about borrowing ideas, I mean that is what Pinterest was created for, right?)

But I will say I had two things in mind while being “creative” 1) I didn’t want it to cost me any $$ or take up any more of my time (sewing little elf scarfs and mittens? ummm NO!) 2) I didn’t want to have to clean up huge messes (feather pillow fight? marshmallows all over the living room…NO THANKS!)

So here are my

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

(Kenley absolutely loved #18, #5 and #2)

24. The Norm - Just your typical Elf on a Shelf

23. Snotty - Someone got into the Kleenex Box

22. A Spot of Tea (#1) - Tea Party anyone?

21. A Spot of Tea (#2) - Mommy is not the only one who needs some tea in the morning

20. Chocoholic - Every Elf needs a sugar fix sometimes

19. Game Time - A rousing game of Hungry Hungry Hippo with Clarice & Bigsby

18. Pink Milk - One morning Kenley couldn’t find him anywhere, then she opened up the fridge for breakfast. (She absolutely cracked up!)

17. Words with Friends – Playing Scrabble the old school way.

16. Gambling Problem? - Lolly won big $$ that night

15. Bookworm – Reading a favorite Christmas book.

14. Wrapping Elf – Mommy was behind on wrapping gifts so they were just helping out.

13. Gamers - Up too late playing Play Station

12. Spa Day - A relaxing bubble bath after all that hard work watching my rowdy kiddos.

11. Fireside – They spent one night roasting marshmallows

10. Welcome Committee - Limey & Lolly greeting friends at the door.

9. Sledding - Who knew shoes would bring so much enjoyment to these little guys?

8. Dental hygiene – Lolly & Limey practicing good habits.

7. Toy Story - Limey & Lolly made friends with the Pixar Gang. (Woody took a liking to Lolly)

6. Under the Weather - Limey caught a cold, good thing Lolly was there to nurse him back to health

5. T.P. Bandits - Limey & Lolly got together one night to T.P. the living room a bit.

4. Couch Potatoes - Staying up late eating junk food and watching Christmas movies

3. Trapeze Artist - Hooks can be used for swinging

2. True Meaning of Christmas – Limey and Lolly reading the Christmas Story to…the Christmas Story

1. Elfish Cookies - Santa may bring the gifts, but Limey & Lolly watch over my Naughty or Nice kids every day for a whole month! They deserve a treat on Christmas Eve too! (Read about how we made these here)

Ingredients

2 packages crescent rolls

Melted unsalted butter OR olive oil

Your choice of protein (ham, chicken, pepperoni, sausage)

Your choice of cheese (swiss, mozzarella, cheddar)

Your choice of sauce (homemade ranch dressing, pizza sauce, or marinara)

Your choice of seasoning (original blend or italian)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F

Break open each package of crescent rolls. I use these all natural ones from Immaculate Baking Co.

They will be perforated right in the center, so break it in half. Use a small rolling pin to roll them out. (So two packages make four HUGE hot pockets. We usually just share two between the four of us and put the other two in the fridge for leftovers. We never eat a whole one especially if we are having other sides like fruit, veggies or a salad).

Spoon your sauce on first and then place your protein and cheese on top. (I made ranch, ham, and swiss this time…but you can use the other ingredients mentioned above to create a “Pizza Pocket”)

Place one side of the crescent roll over top of the other and connect the edges together by pinching. Use a knife to cut slits on the top of the hot pocket.

Spread melted butter or olive oil on top of the hot pocket and sprinkle on your seasoning.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until crust begins to brown. (Note: Usually I just do whatever time it says on the back of the crescent rolls)

Again, these make four huge hot pockets. So they serve 4 or 8, depending on how hungry you are

Yum, look at that cheesy, gooey center. ENJOY!

BEFORE

AFTER

What are the chances that four cousins all get pregnant at the same time (within 6 weeks to be exact) and all of them have boys?

I think our entire family was pretty shocked when one after the other we all announced we were pregnant last year.

It was sooo much fun sharing the pregnancy with my cousins. Something we will always remember.

We finally got all the little boys together last week for Easter. We had a blast

Our Four Big Bellies

Our Four Little Guys

This is what happens when you take too many pics

All the Great Grandkids

Nevaeh - 7 1/2 years

Bryton - 7 months

Ty - 8 months

Kenley - 3 1/2 years

Cohen - 6 1/2 months

Johnathan - 4 years

Jaxton - 7 1/2 months

Me and the kids for Easter (Daddy had to stay back and work )

I am a LUCKY mom!

Crispy Chicken

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast (we use the hormone free

cups Rice Krispies, crushed (we use the organic cereal)

1 stick butter, melted

1 package dry Italian dressing

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Place crushed Rice Krispies in a bowl and stir in dry Italian dressing.

Dip one chicken breast in melted butter and then dip in Rice Krispies mixture. Coat all over both sides. Repeat for all chicken breasts.

Place chicken in greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165º F. I always watch for the sides to start to bubble.

Recipe Modifications

So here are some ways that I have adjusted this recipe over the years.

* Instead of dry Italian Dressing use dry Ranch Dressing.

* If I have any kind of shredded cheese in the fridge sometimes I will sprinkle that on top in the last 10 minutes of baking.

* In the pictures below I used our favorite Buffalo Wild Wings sauce. Instead of dipping the chicken in butter I dipped it in the BWW Parmesan Garlic sauce and then dipped it in the crushed Rice Krispies mixed with dry Ranch Dressing.

* If we are at a farmer’s market or at a specialty kitchen store I usually pick up a homemade BBQ sauce or other meat sauce. I will do the same thing and coat the chicken in the sauce (instead of butter) and then coat it with the Rice Krispies.

*Sometimes when my husband wants it spicy we will use his favorite Famous Dave’s Rich & Sassy BBQ sauce.

This recipe is so quick and easy to throw together. I always keep the ingredients in my pantry because this is such a great back-up plan for a quick meal.

The night that we had the Crispy Chicken I also made some super healthy warm cheesy bread.

Just mix together 1 cup of light mayo with a small package of each of the following shredded cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella, colby-jack.

Spread the cheese mixture on the bread and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

ENJOY!

Ingredients

1.5 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

2 egg

2/3 cup milk

1 onion, chopped

3/4 to 1 can pizza sauce

1 block mozzarella cheese

Italian or Pizza Seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Saute chopped onion on skillet (without oil) for a few minutes until tender.

Mix beef, breadcrumbs, egg milk, onion, and seasoning in a large bowl.

Cut the mozzarella cheese into 1 inch cubes.

Form the beef mixture into meatballs. If we make these to use with spaghetti then we make them smaller. But since is the extent of our main course we make them big, about 2 to 3 inches round.

Place 1 cube of cheese into the center of each meatball. (You will have cubes leftover, that comes later).

Grill each meatball partially on a skillet. I make sure that each side is brown and starting to get crispy.

Place in a 9 x 13 baking pan. Pour pizza sauce over all. Then add the rest of the mozzarella cheese cubes in between the meatballs. I also usually sprinkle some more Italian cheeses on top.

Cook for one hour or until meatballs have an internal temperature of 160º F.

We had roasted broccoli (find that recipe here) and a salad for side.

In the salad I put Romain and spinach lettuce, chopped up. cauliflower, red onions, Julienned carrots, dried raspberries, walnuts and croutons. Then topped it with our favorite fruity salad dressing: Lemon Poppyseed.

ENJOY!

We Don’t Skinny Dip…We Chunky Dunk

Ok lets back up a bit….. (P.S. there are lots of great appetizer/side dish recipes in this post!)

Minnesota Swimming

Last weekend we went up to Minnesota to visit some family. MaryJo & Jerry are on my mom’s side. MaryJo is technically my mom’s Aunt but they are the same age so more like cousins

Most of the time we make it up to Minnesota to see them it is in the dead of winter. They have had their AWESOME pool for 7 years now and this is the first time we got to take advantage of it. Don’t know what we were thinking all these years not going up to visit them during the summer! We already decided this will have to be a yearly weekend getaway.

Check out the GORGEOUS pool.

Jerry just built the pergola in June.

I drove up with my Aunt Wendy on Thursday. It was nice to have a day away from the kids. On the way up we stopped at the Outlet Mall. Once we arrived we stayed up late chatting with MaryJo and Jerry.

On Friday morning Wendy, MaryJo and I went to the grocery store and planned all the meals for the weekend.

Friday afternoon as soon as my kids, my mom and sister arrived we jumped in the pool for a quick dip.

Cohen liked playing with the pool toys while we prepared the food for dinner.

Wendy picked out all the recipes to try this weekend. She gets a lot of her recipes from AllRecipes.com. She has a few requirements when picking recipes to try.

1) The recipes should have around 10 (or less) ingredients.

2) The directions must have less than 5 steps.

3) The recipe must have a 4 or 5 star rating

4) The recipe must be reviewed by more than 15 people.

So the first night we tried a pasta salad. BEST PASTA SALAD EVER! Seriously. We were all raving about it. It was gone in a matter of minutes. Trust me. You want to make this ASAP.

Tortellini Pesto Salad

Ingredients

1 9oz pkg cheese tortellini

1 small red bell pepper, julienned

3/4 cup fresh broccoli florets

1/3 cup shredded carrots

1/3 cup pitted green olives (I would have these be optional because I am not a fan)

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 cup light mayo

1/4 cup prepared basil pesto

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 bunch fresh spinach leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place tortellini in the pot and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until al dente. Drain, and cool.

In a large bowl mix the cooked tortellini, red bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, olives and garlic.

In a separate bowl, stir together the mayo, pesto, milk, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and vinegar. Pour over the tortellini and vegetables, and gently toss to coat.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour, until chilled.

Once you are ready to serve stir in the spinach leaves.

******************************************************************************************

After we finished eating two things happened. We made fun of Jerry for his outrageous shirt…and the fact that he matched Cohen. They did some male bonding (as much as you can with a 10 month old). Jerry was outnumbered 6 girls to 2 guys. He couldn’t wait for the other men to arrive late that night.

While we waited for the guys to get there the coolest thing happened. After MaryJo’s mom passed away we all put in some money to buy a magnolia tree for their back yard. Jerry said it will always bloom in the spring. That night as we were sitting on the deck chatting Jerry looked over and saw that the tree had bloomed! We couldn’t believe it. We know that Grandma was looking down on us and glad we were all together having a wonderful time. Here is a pic of the tree that decided to bloom for us on a hot summer night!

On Saturday morning the boys got up early to golf, while the ladies went to the Farmer’s Market.

We were back by 11 a.m. and had a quick lunch before we swam the rest of the day.

Some had deli sandwiches, the rest of us had an open-faced tuna salad sandwiches (recipe below) AND while lounging by the pool we had some UV Cake and Coke. Never had it before but thought it sounded like a good poolside drink.

UV Cake tastes like vanilla cake. YUM! Mixed with Coke we all decided it tasted like a cream soda. Another option we thought of was to make a Rootbeer Float type drink. We will have to do that next time

Here is the recipe for the yummy open-faced tuna salad sandwiches we had. I don’t think I will ever make a tuna salad sandwich with just mayo again. This was so easy to make and way better!

Basil Pesto Tuna Salad

Ingredients

1 6 oz can canned tuna in water

1/4 cup prepared basil pesto

8 oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced

2 tablespoons mayo

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Directions

Note: I think we tripled this recipe. We also added more sun-dried tomatoes then it called for.

In a bowl mix all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. We served it on some great wheat bread from the bakery. EASY PEASY!

YUM!! SUN-DRIED TOMATOES!

We also had some of

Aunt Wendy’s Salsa

Ingredients

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pkg dry Zesty Italian Dressing Mix

Vegetable Oil

White Vinegar

1 pkg shredded Mexican style cheese

Directions

Place first 8 ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Then in a small bowl mix the dry Italian dressing with some vegetable oil and vinegar. Pour the liquid over salsa mixture. Sprinkle however much cheese you want into bowl.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Again, sooo good. I have a favorite homemade salsa recipe (find that here)… but Wendy’s was just as good! It had a different taste to is with the cheese and the white vinegar/Italian dressing. But none of us could stop snacking on it all afternoon. Well that is until a little mishap with Cohen grabbing the bowl and throwing it all over the garage floor. We were all disappointed the salsa was gone so fast…little stinker!

Fun in the pool

My guys

Ok this next picture is too funny. Cohen has been making this weird face lately. His “Chuckie Face” He makes it all the time when he smiles. What a nut

Oops almost forgot…one more appetizer recipe.

Greek Feta Spread

Ingredients

1 6 0z package feta cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly pressed

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 oz sun-dried tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon black olives, drained and finely chopped

Directions

In a food processor, place the feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, tomatoes, and oregano. Using the pulse setting, blend the mixture until smooth

Transfer to a medium bowl and blend in the olives with a spoon.

Refrigerate until serving. Serve with pita chips.

Go.

Right now.

(I’ll wait)

Lots of yummy food.

Here is one of her recipes I made recently.

Baked Potato Soup & Corny Cornbread

(It has bacon in it. Of course….it is AWESOME)

YUM!!

I am sorry if this offends anyone but it really offends *me* when people say

“Happy Holidays”

Over the last few years we have tried to become such a politically correct society that we are forgetting that a majority of us celebrate Christmas for the real reason. We celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25. He was sent to us as a PERFECT GIFT!

Jesus was born just like you and I were. He grew up teaching us amazing lessons about how to follow God’s simple rules and we will live a great and prosperous life. Yes, we will endure heartache and trials, but God will be there to comfort us along the way and bring us through those hard times. Then Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and died on a cross for OUR SINS. Not for his, because he was sinless. He died for US because we have no chance of going to heaven on our own! All we have to do is accept this gift and we can spend eternity in heaven! How simple and amazing is that?

I am totally guilty of following along in the “commercialization” of Christmas. But I really think it is fine to have both as long as we know which one should take priority. Because I have little ones around the house we definitely still do the Santa thing! We love going to Bass Pro Shop each year to (NOT wait in line, yup it’s awesome, they have time cards) visit Santa. This year we also started doing Elf on the Shelf (which they LOVE).

But Marcus and I definitely try to show the kids what this season is all about. This year Kenley had to memorize, for Awanas, Luke 2:11 “Today…a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” I make sure we have lots of coloring books or crafts about Jesus’ birth. We watch movies about the Nativity. We read Luke Chapter 2 before our Christmas Dinner. We also started a tradition a few years ago baking a Birthday Cake for Jesus and singing “Happy Birthday” to him on Christmas Day.

This has just really been on my heart lately, and I hope all of you take the time this season to remember and accept this amazing gift God gave to us!

Next Contest Give-Away

I will be taking the next two weeks off from blogging to spend time with my family BUT when I come back to help us celebrate the New Year I will be giving away the Pampered Chef Stoneware Bar Pan! So make sure you check back in a few weeks for the Contest Rules.

Christmas Dinner Idea #2

Now on to the yummy dinner!

This salad is so great. It is one my mom has made many times over the years and it is our FAVE! It has bacon in it…enough said.

Mom’s Famous Salad

Ingredients

1 head lettuce

8-10 slices bacon

2 cups cooked peas

2 cups chopped cauliflower

4 hard-boiled eggs

1 pkg mild cheddar cheese

1 cup sunflower kernels

1 pkg dry Buttermilk Ranch

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup light mayo

Directions

Cook about 1/2 bag of frozen peas according to package instructions.

Begin cooking the slices of bacon on a skillet over medium to medium high heat. We prefer the bacon to be crispy.

While bacon is cooking clean lettuce, chop, and place in a large serving bowl. Do the same thing for the cauliflower.

Once all the slices of bacon are cooked dry the grease off with a paper towel and chop them up into small pieces. I put the bacon pieces into a small bowl and place in the fridge. If you put them in with the salad right away they will get soggy. So I don’t throw them in the salad until right before we are ready to serve. Since I make the bacon extra crispy this also keeps them crisp even while they are sitting in the fridge for a few hours.

Strain the water from the peas, let them cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then place the peas in the salad.

Slice the hard-boiled eggs using an egg slicer. Then turn the egg and slice the other way. This will make them the perfect size for the salad.

Now time to make the ranch dressing! Pour buttermilk, light mayo and dry ranch dressing into a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Once you are ready to serve the salad top with cheese, bacon and seed kernels.

Yum, I could just eat this for every meal of every day and be satisfied

Sweet Onion Potatoes Au Gratin

(AKA: Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe I Have Ever Had, We Love You Rachel Ray)

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

Freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf

2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes

2/3 cup half and half

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated (or Parmesan but I would, of course, recommend the fancy stuff)

1/2 pound brick Gruyere cheese, grated (or Swiss but again do yourself a favor and use the fancy stuff )

Directions

We actually doubled this recipe because we were feeding so many people.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Clean the potatoes. I actually leave the skins on and just scrape off some of the gross parts. If the potatoes aren’t a uniform size I cut the bigger ones so they are about the same size as the smallest.

My wittle peanut….Cohen.

He is growing up so fast! I can’t believe he is 8 months already.

After 4 weeks of army crawling he now can crawl the correct way ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE! Bring on the baby gates. And he can go from the laying down position to sitting up, which I thought for sure would take him forever to learn how to do. I guess there are advantages to being tiny. Cohen’s sister was a chunk (we called her Chubba Chubba) she wasn’t even crawling at this point.

He still loves clapping and waving to people.

And Grandma has taught him how to do “SOOOO BIG!”

We have gone to the pool every day because it has been so stinking hot!

Cohen had fun with his cousin Jaxton.

Look at these two and their crazy hats!

Kenley is playing Blast Ball this summer. What a fun game for kids her age!

It is a one-base game. And the base makes a squeeky noise when the kids jump on it.

Cohen enjoying the game.

Here is her team in the “outfield.”

THey all stand in a line basically where the pitcher’s mound would be.

They have to run and get the ball and yell “BLAST”

Here is Daddy explaining to her that she has to stay with the orange team. She can’t keep running back and forth between us (the fans) and her team in the dug out

Up to bat

Going

Going

SCORE!

Kenley and her teammates and coaches.