Tuesday, April 28, 2009

It ain't Food Network, but they eat it...Tuesday!

Brayden picked my recipe for today. The entire family eats this really well. It is great for weekends with company, early mornings for ball games, busy church mornings, and sometimes I have made it for supper. I usually serve it with fruit. It makes a 9x13 pan, but recently I have been dividing it up between 2 8x8 baking dishes, cooking one and freezing the other. We were having just a little bit left over and it wasn't enough for everyone, or it would be enough for me and Stephen to take in our lunch and then still throw a little away. I hate to waste so that is when I started freezing half. If you decide to freeze one, be sure you wrap it up good so it doesn't get freezer burn. I always cover it with plastic wrap and then wrap the entire thing with foil. Be sure you write what it is and the date on it too! Things look really different after they are frozen. Sharpies are great for that. You can write it straight onto the foil!

Breakfast Casserole
serves 8-12

8 eggs slightly beaten
6 slices of bread cubed, including crust
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, mild of sharp
2 cups milk
1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 tsp. salt

Mix all of the above together and put it in a greased, 9x13 pan (or 2 small ones). Refrigerate 8-12 hours. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 35 minutes.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Black Mustang GT

When I was younger my momma always told me when I left the house, "Someone is always watching you. If it's not Sarge Marge, it's God. Behave yourself." She had this way of cutting her eyes at me when she said it and I knew she meant business.

On my way home yesterday I passed a guy in a black Mustang GT. This saying of my momma is all I could think of when I saw what he did while he was driving. Yes he was driving, so he was old enough to know better. This guy, who looked like he was in his twenties, sneezed real big three times. After each sneeze, he wiped his nose from his wrist ALL THE WAY TO HIS ELBOW! No joke. I thought I was gonna hurl. His windows weren't tinted. Maybe they were and he just forgot that he had rolled them down. Maybe he just doesn't care. Maybe he wants to stay single the rest of his life.

To the dude in the black Mustang GT:

If you should just happen to be reading my blog, which I am sure you are not doing, I saw you yesterday. And it was gross. I hope you took a shower when you got home. A long, hot shower.

Sara

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It Ain't Food Network, but they eat it....Tuesday!

This is the recipe that Blaine picked for me to post. The entire family likes this one. We even have some friends that have been asking me to get it to them and every time I think about it I am at work and don't have it. I don't know it well enough from memory to just jot it down like that. But I am copying this from my recipe card so it is correct!

White Chicken Chili
Serves 6

1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2- 15 1/2 oz. cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed under cold water
1-14 1/2 oz. can low fat chicken broth
2-4 oz. can mild green chilies, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 c. light sour cream
1/2 c. whipping cream

Heat oil over high heat in the bottom of a stock pot. Add onion and garlic powder and saute until onion is clear, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium. Add beans, broth, chilies, salt, cumin, oregano and peppers. Stir to blend. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove chili from heat and stir in sour cream and whipping cream.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Where I Am

I am sitting on my patio at my new patio furniture that we bought a couple of weekends ago and enjoying some (finally) nice, sunny weather. It is cool but nice. I am also getting shot at by two little boys, but that is okay. I am just glad the sun is shining! We just finished a 45 minute walk that felt really good. The big boys rode their bikes and Bryson rode in the stroller. I had to make Brayden ride his bike. I politely explained that when he does this it makes baseball a whole lot easier. He didn't like my reasoning but came along anyway. Not that he had a choice.

We have had two busy weeks! We had Lads to Leaders over Easter weekend in Nashville. It is a convention for the kids and there is always a lot of people. They can participate in a number of activities that will help them become leaders in the church. Brayden did speech for the first time this year and puppets for the third year. He did a great job at both. The book this year was the book of Joshua and the theme came from Joshua 1:16 that talked about "what you tell us we will follow and where you send us we will go". And yes, that is paraphrased. Of course, Brayden incorporated playing baseball and how you have to watch for signals so things turn out like they are supposed to. When you don't follow your coaches directions things don't turn out as good. Blaine participated in Bible Bowl. I wish I could say he did a good job but what I should really say is he did a really good job getting by, seeing how getting him to study was like pulling teeth. They answered 40 questions, 2 sets of twenty. After the first twenty they took a break and he came running to me and said, "Mom! I only missed 14!" He is so much like me that is scares me. Luckily the rest of his team did study and they came in third place!

This past weekend we had a small class reunion. And when I say small, I mean 8 people and their families came. It was planned somewhat short notice, which was fine, and seeing how I had not seen some of these people since graduation, it was a lot of fun! We kinda skipped the 10 year reunion simply because the people that we chose to be the class" whatevers" (I just drew a blank on their titles) didn't get one together. The only guy that came stayed with us for the weekend and brought his wife and two little ones. We had a great time together! Brayden and Blaine were at their dad's for the weekend so it was good for Bryson to have someone to play with. Except all Bryson wanted to do was aggravate Alex who is as big as him, but younger. Bryson is so used to playing with his brothers and ended up hitting him and spitting at him more than playing with him. But little Alex held his ground. He would shake and his eyes would bug out and Bryson would laugh at him. And then push him. He needs to learn to play with kids his age a little better, but we are working on that. We had a fun weekend but I am worn out. I have stayed up late every night. After the reunion a couple of my girlfriends from school came over and we grilled out. One I haven't seen since my wedding (the first one) and the other I don't see as much as I would like either. It was good to catch up with them. We have promised to do better and get together more often. I hope we do!

I have been invited by a blogging buddy to list a family favorite recipe every Tuesday. I will try to do my best, but as you can see, lately it has been hard for me to get time to blog. I asked the kids what their favorite things are that I make. Brayden's response was muffins. I informed him that you all probably knew how to make those. It's called Martha White.

Time to go start supper. I mean...heat up the left overs!

Sara

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

They Liked it!

Thanks to everyone for the advice on cooking asparagus. I decided to broil it like Vikki. The white sauce sounds pretty good but I am counting those lovely WW points and I decided I would rather have that somewhere else. And let me tell you...it was a hit! And when I say a hit, I mean you would have thought it was dipped in chocolate and then rolled in sprinkles kind of hit. No joke. I finally had to tell them to back off after I refilled all three kids and I hadn't even sat down yet. I reminded them fake daddy wasn't home yet and that we needed to save some for him. But it was a little more difficult to make than what I thought it would be. Let me explain myself.

I planned on meatloaf and macaroni and cheese with our asparagus. That way if none of us liked it we wouldn't starve to death. So I got the meatloaf in the oven, which all of us really like, and got to doing some laundry and stuff. Then when I had about twenty minutes left on the meatloaf, I put on the water for the mac-n-cheese.

At this point Bryson decides he would like to start potty training, "cause Mee mo (that would be Elmo) pees in the potty".

By all means, if Elmo can do it so can we. But does he do this when his mom his trying a new recipe. I don't think so.

Anyway...so we go to the bathroom and he starts getting undressed and gets on the potty. He does his business, we clean up and get redressed and I head back to the kitchen just in time to put in the pasta. Everything is going good so far. So I start washing the asparagus and bending it so it will break off (thanks Vikki....didn't know that!)

Then I hear, "I go pee 'gin mommy. I go pee. I do it." I turn around to find my child naked as a jaybird sitting in the kitchen floor on a potty seat that attaches to the regular toilet. Keep in mind, if he goes there is nothing there to catch it. Except for me and I am busy bending asparagus.
I tell him, "NO BRYSON! You can't use that potty in the kitchen floor! Don't you pee in the floor!"
"Tay mommy!" And he takes off running. Normally when I tell him no about something and he runs like that he heads straight for my closet and hides. So now I am thinking naked jaybird kid hiding in my closet that has to go pee pee! Not good.
By this point I am getting the asparagus into the oven but I am not sure how long it will take to cook. I am thinking it will cook quickly since I was broiling (and I was correct). I turn around to hear Bryson hollar at me, "UH OH MOMMY!

"Bryson...did you go potty in mommy's floor?"

"NO."

"Show mommy what you have done."

He takes off running down the hall all naked and goes straight to the bathroom. There was water everywhere. The water in the sink was running, the cabinets were wet, the stool was wet and the rug underneath it all was wet. Then I looked up and see his potty sitting on the bathroom counter.

"Bryson, did you pee in the potty?"

"YEP!"

"Why is the potty on the counter?"

"I wash it!"

He had done his business and flushed it in the toilet. Then took it to the sink, moved the stool and proceeded to wash it. Of course, I wouldn't have done it in the sink where they brush their teeth, but I told him he did a good job and re cleaned everything with Clorox wipes. He sure was proud of himself!

Back to the asparagus...Blaine thought it was the best thing he had ever eaten. He is my picky eater. I usually have a hard time finding something that all 5 of us like. But this is it! So I guess we will be cooking asparagus from now on! Bryson was stuffing it in his face as fast as he could and telling me, "YUMMMM!" Brayden is not my picky eater. His favorite vegetable is cabbage so I knew I had a chance with this one!

Oh! And it was zero W points! Yay for asparagus!


Sara

Monday, April 6, 2009

I am Here to Brag!

I know...I already posted today but I am here for a quick post to let you all know that I just went to the grocery store and got all of my things put away. I have beat my all time high in coupon and store savings.

Drum roll please.....
I saved a whopping $83.84!!! So if you saw a woman at the grocery store getting into a van squealing at the top of her lungs that would be me.
Just kidding.
I didn't do that but I came pretty stinkin' close to turning around to the people behind me and screaming, "I ROCK!!!!" right in their faces. They were huffing and puffing while the cashier was scanning my coupons. She was probably thinking, "That poor woman! She is so broke she has to use all those coupons to survive!" Little does she know I get so excited to go to the grocery store and see if I can beat my last visit. I know...that is sad. I'm such a mom.
Let me put it to ya like this. That is approximately 20 tall cinnamon dolce lattes. And for Blaine...that is a little over 76 small Sonic slushies. So see you guys, it does pay to plan ahead at the grocery store because more than likely this is money that would have gone unnoticed. Now I can maybe add it to my car payment because I really can't drink that many lattes! All I can think of is how much money people waste with purchasing alcohol or cigarettes. I am too cheap for that aren't I?

Oh yeah! And the asparagus was on sale too! I ROCK! I'll let you all know how it turns out. And Joy...thanks for the recipe! haha!

Sara

Looking for....

My oldest came to me a few weeks ago and told me he had heard asparagus was good. He asked me if I could fix him some so he could try it. I can vaguely remember being around canned asparagus as a child and almost barfing at the smell of it. I have had it in a few dishes at restaurants and really liked it. I know this is hard to believe but I have never fixed asparagus and wouldn't know where to start. I have searched a few places on line but haven't found anything that really jumped out at me.
If anyone has a good recipe for asparagus would you please pass it along to me? I am willing to try to make it. Just nothing with seafood. Gross. And I really don't care much for cheesy stuff either. Other than that...I am willing to try. Thanks!

Sara

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