Life's adventures with Matt, Amanda and the girls... Makenzie and Madison!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Pancakes With Madison

Is there anything better than kids in the kitchen just having fun!?!?  No, I don't think so!!  Miss Madison definitely agrees as she and Daddy helped me whip up some pancakes.  It's definitely messy : -D

My helpers ready to go!

Taste testing!

Still Taste Testing...

She's digging it!

Just have to try a little bit from over here,

and this side of the bowl!

Good thing she's wearing white!!

And that's a wrap!
Thanks Baby Madison!

Clean up time!

Antipasto SUPER Sub!

This is a fun recipe that we have made a couple of times now.  It's fun to make and a MESS to eat and oh so good tasting!  I found this in a Kraft Foods Cookbook and put my twist on it and here it goes....


Antipasto Super Sub

Ingredients

Round Italian Loaf
7 oz Jar of Roasted Red Peppers
15 oz Artichokes
1/3 C Italian Dressing
6 Slices of Provolone Cheese
Deli Sliced:
     Ham, Salami & Turkey
1 Garlic Clove minced

Slice the loaf horizontally twice so it looks like this...

Mix a couple spoonfuls of mayo and the garlic together.  Then smear on bottom piece of loaf.  Layer on ham, salami, turkey and cheese.
..........................................

INTERMISSION!!
While Makenzie and I are cooking Miss Madison and Daddy are playing!



Back to cooking!
...............................................

Put the middle piece on top of the cheese.  Dig out some of the bread from the middle piece making it look like a bread bowl.  (Not all of it, I left a thin layer of bread) Do the same to the top piece!


Chop Artichokes and peppers.

 I used a hand chopper!  Mix together with the Italian dressing and fill in your bread "bowl".


Put the top piece on and wrap the sub in aluminum foil.  Put in oven and bake for an hour at 350!  Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

~Our Menu~

So.... it's been awhile!  Our summer is going great, busy as usual, we have LOTS to catch up on!  We'll get to that in a bit.  For now... here's a menu!

July's Menu

(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

Grilled Chicken Thighs, Glazed Sweet Potatoes & Baked Zucchini Parmesan              Crisps  (click for recipe here... yummy!)

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Antipasto Sub, Fresh Veggies w/ Hummus, Fruit

HUGE!!  Takes up almost the whole plate!

And here's Matt mowing down on it... certainly doesn't look so big in his hands!!

Brats & Cucumber Salad

Grilled Tomato Basil Pizza (recipe here)

Grilled Pork Loin, Grilled Zucchini, Baked Sweet Potatoes

FM  CP Hawaiian Chicken 

I love these bright colors!!
* Grandma's Rice Dish

* CP Buffalo Chicken, Garden Veggie

Stir Fry

Egg Sandwiches

* Fajitas

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Just a Chair

Who knew how fun a chair can be!?!?  Little did I know that when I set Miss Madi on the floor next to her chair that she would pull herself over to it and have loads of fun sliding under it!  It's the simple things in life, I tell ya!

Mommy!!  Look what I have!!

This is SOOO much fun!!

Why haven't I played this game before?? 
Uh oh... uh oh!  Starting to slide!!

Going down!

That was fun!

Let's do it again!

Monday, June 2, 2014

~Our Menu~

Today was a fun little shopping trip!!  We are going camping soon and so we had some "fun" food that I typically don't buy in our shopping cart for our camping trip!!  The hard part: unpacking the food and putting things away and seeing all the goodies at 12:30, our lunch time, and not being able to dig in and splurge :-/

June's First Half Menu
(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

Layered Pasta

*CP, Fajitas (one chix one venison)

Pizza

*Grandma's Spaghetti

Ham, Green Beans, Squash

BLT's, Fries, Veggie from freezer :)

*Thai Peanut Chicken over Spaghetti Noodles  <---- BIG FAVORITE!!

Smoked Beef Roast, Sweet Potato Fries, Grilled Asparagus  <---- Hubby's Bday dinner!

Grilled Chicken, Baked Sweet Potato, Salad

Ham & Spinach Quiche

Burgers, Baked Beans, Asparagus

*CP, Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Tortillas

*CP, Hawaiian Chicken w/ Rice

Tomato Basil Pizza (you can find this recipe here!)

Camping Menu:

Hobo Pizza Pies, Fresh Fruit

Hot dogs, Chips, Fruit Cups

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Memorial Day Weekend

This was seriously one of the funnest weekends I've had.  We had so much fun with the family, got stuff done around the house, visited with friends and lots of play time!!  Not typically what we do on Memorial Day Weekend, but so thankful for the change of plans because it turned out great!

We started the weekend with a trip to Lowes to buy some supplies for a quick project, then headed downtown for some frozen yogurt!

Madison's FIRST taste!!  Instant Lover!!

Saturday morning we met my Grandparents for breakfast!

Someone was super excited to find out syrup was in that cup!

So after a quick lesson from Daddy she drowned her pancake!
Service was a little bit slow and Madison wasn't interested in eating anything there :-(  So Matt dropped me off at home while he headed to my Grandparents.  Since it was after 10 and Madison hadn't ate breakfast yet I decided to try some oatmeal and sure enough she gobbled it up.  Then, it was nap time.  By time I got her out of her high chair and into her room she was sound asleep!!!  That has NEVER happened, neither of my girls ever fall asleep anywhere besides their bed or in the car.  

Matt came home and I headed out with Grandma & Makenzie for our first trip to Farmer's Market!  Bought some plants for our garden then headed to the local seed store for the rest of what we needed.

Saturday night we had a cookout with some friends!!  How cute are these girls!!  One year apart to the day!


Poor Reid (whose legs you see to the right) was TOALLY outnumbered by all the girls!
Sorry Bud!!

Paige, Makenzie & Zoe

Sunday morning we skipped church and Matt and I went nutty on the trim work in the house; he put the trim up and Makenzie and I putty'd the nail holes and painted.  At the beginning of the weekend he had the three bedrooms to do and Monday morning he put THE LAST PIECE OF TRIM UP!!!  (He started the project beg of April so it took a solid 2 months.)


That afternoon Matt & Makenzie headed out fishing while I laid out in the sun!  Madison was snoozing, I was in bliss.... laying in the sun, with a book in my hands!  I am such a reader and I haven't read a book since before I was pregnant with Madison :-0

My parents came over Sunday night for cook out number two!  They watched the girls for a bit while Matt and I did the trim game again.  Makenzie had fun showing off on her big girl bike and Madison was racing around in the cozy coupe (with a little assistance from Pop!).






Monday morning started with a fun find!


Of course, around her neck it goes!
 Matt & Makenzie headed out for awhile, so Madison and I enjoyed our lunch together!

Little Miss refused to eat the cut up peach on her plate,
instead she yanked my peach off of my plate!

Lunch!!  Burnt hot dog slathered in sauerkraut and mustard!!  DELISH!!

This was Monday's afternoon project!  Ribs in the smoker!!  

What fun neighbors we have!  Little Leah running thru the mist from the power washer!
If the ribs below weren't sitting in front of me ready to be ate I would have run out there too!!

Happy Memorial Day to us!!! :D


Thursday, May 22, 2014

A First Time (Times Three!)

The First First.

Late Tuesday Makenzie woke up with a high fever.  That was about ten. She cat napped on and off until one am when she threw up.  This girl will be 3 1/2 in June and this was the FIRST time she has ever thrown up!!!  Matt and I have officially been inducted to the "We're up all night dealing with a sick kid, doing laundry and cleaning vomit up from all over the place while trying not to throw up ourselves!"  We had a good run going!  Thank you Makenzie for giving us 3 1/2 years!!  XOXO!!

This fever just rocked her.  Tylenol didn't do much.  She sat in the rocker ALL day yesterday totally zoned out.  Thanks to a GREAT neighbor, she brought over some Pedialyte that Makenzie sipped on and I made a few popsicles out of too. Yesterday afternoon she took a 3 1/2 hour nap!!!!!!!!!!

Both girls were sleeping for two hours and I was in pure bliss as they slept!  Two hours not entertaining or parenting!  Score!!

The Second First.

As the girls were sleeping I thought it would be a good idea to quickly make dinner for the night and for the next night (tonight) too.  One problem... my last nights dinner involved grilling.  Gas grill I can do, but we don't have one.  We have a charcoal grill that hates me.  Matt makes it look SO easy to light and everytime I do I have to relight it or add more charcoal... it just doesn't go well.  I end up having to call him about 100 times and my meat sits on the grill for about an hour.

Yesterday I decided I would do it, I would grill.  I started the process and wasn't sure if it was doing what it should be.  I sat and contemplated... do I call Matt?  do I let it go and see what happens?  or do I call Matt's Dad?  (It's slightly embarrassing that Matt has run me thru the process a zillion times, but nothing is retained.  Not only that I get the Ugh... why is she monkeying around with my grill again groan and the you never get it right, when are you going to give up grunt)  I didn't want to bother Matt's dad at work with a silly question so Matt it was.  

Low and behold... I was doing everything right!!  The meat got grilled with out any help for the FIRST time!!  My meat was a little over done (or a LOT), but the job was done!

During their nap time I did the grilling (which took an hour :-/ ), made two meals, and sat in the sun relaxing.

The Third First... a Recipe!

FIRST time we've had this meal!  Concocted a little recipe last night, and here it goes!

Grilled Chicken Queso Pasta

4 Chicken Breast
1/2 C Ranch Dressing (split)
3-4 diced Tomatoes
1-2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped Cilantro
1 1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
16 oz Bowtie Pasta
Red pepper flakes or diced Jalapeno (Optional!)

Brush chicken with about 1/4 Cup of Ranch Dressing and have husband toss on grill.  (Don't ask me for grilling tips!)

Cook Pasta.

In a smaller sauce pan add 1/4 C ranch dressing, cilantro, cheese and tomatoes.  When that turns into a sauce (stir often so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan), dice the grilled chicken and add all to the cooked pasta.  

My stomach is growling as I am typing this!!  Grilling the chicken gave it such a good smokey flavor that spread into the rest of the dish.  Yummm yummmm!!!!  And if you want more sauce just increase the sauce ingredients.

Enjoy!