crack is whack...

this stuff should be called crack...literally it is so good that it's all consuming... even the boys love it to the point of asking "hey momma can we have a little scoop of that brown stuff in the pantry..."  REALLY?  little scoop of the brown stuff... hilarious... this stuff is so good...i'm so glad i paid the $3.78 for it at wal-mart...totally worth it.

Does it make it less un-healthy if i scoop it out with a slice of apple?  makes sense in my head anyway...

follow up and a slumber party!

Well last week was great on the dinner front... made everything I wanted to except for the potato soup, it's been so stinkin' warm who wants to eat soup... so we'll save it for another time.  I have a feeling February and March are going to bumpy... Also tried something cool - monster green smoothie...see pictures for proof... Mark loved it - got mad when we took it away from him...Curt said it was okay (of course he did...such a good husband, but i doubt i'll get him to try it again) and Noah liked it but not as well as Mark...ahh good ol' Mark, he'll try anything for momma!

On a fun note Noah got to have his first non-family sleep over last weekend with his dear friend Wyatt.  One word for this super fun party --> VOLUME!  the volume of three boys in this house was incredible in every sense of that word...squealing, screaming, yelling, sound effects and of course some crying...  It was so fun to watch them play non-stop...coming up with new games, different ways of playing with the same ol' toys we've had forever...and to watch Mark just take it all in an follow as one of the group was just awesome!  Curt told me a story on Sunday after they had all left and it was quiet...I guess when I went to get the pizza on Saturday night he heard all of the boys playing in Noah's room...then it got quiet (which is never good) and then he heard Mark sort of whining...he walked back there and saw Mark trapped underneath a clear tote bin (used for clothes or toys in the basement) and Noah and Wyatt were sitting on top... it took Curt all his strength not to laugh (because I guess he had done this with his brother TO his sister all the time while they were growing up...), but he said "UH NO" to them and made them let Mark out...thank goodness...hopefully there was no permanent damage done...i don't think there was...all in the name of being one of the 'big' boys right Mark....poor kid!  I wish Curt would've taken a picture of it...ah well :)

Here's a pic of them playing in the basement - glad we got to do the slumber party...it was fun, for all of us...ready to do it again and let him be the visitor:)

oh and please disregard the tv in the background...they weren't watching anything horrific..just Arthur Christmas :)

mid-week score card!

Sooo let's see how I've been doing this week on dinners!




Sunday we had the Chicken Caesar Sandwiches, yogurt parfaits (w/ strawberries & blueberries) --> these were so awesome i think i said "these are so awesome" approximately 10 times at the dinner table...possible 5 more times after i was done cleaning up (and with that another positive to this meal, not much clean up!)  Everyone loved them - even Curt who is my toughest critic :)

Monday we had Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos --> these were really great too...the 1lb of pork made A LOT of meat so we have left overs to use on quesadillas!  They were a bit spicy, but not hot spicy, more of a smoky, back of the throat spice...the boys could eat them without problem so that's a good sign of un-spicy-ness (if that's a word or not who cares!)

Tuesday we had the Panera Mac N' Cheese, hotdogs and green beans --> THIS WAS SO STINKIN' AWESOME!  can i say awesome one more time?!  I made this just as the recipe suggested, but each person's serving into a little white ramekin so we each had our helping...just like Panera!  + still had enough left over to fill a loaf pan and pop in the freezer for another time (LOVE LEFTOVERS IN THE FREEZER!!!).  It really did taste very much like Panera's - i added a buttered bread crumb topping and heated in the oven for 10min to get the crumbs crispy (Panera does not do this and Noah was sure to remind me of this as he didn't "care for the crumbs Mom!"), but i thought they added a nice twist, my twist...and so i told Noah the crumbs were my "twist" to this recipe...he said "oh momma i like your twists" and rubbed my arm...funny kid!

Tonight we had Ranch House Pork Chops and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes and corn on the cob -->  this was also a winner, winner chicken dinner (oops! i mean pork!)!!!  Everyone liked it...the boys ate two helpings of the mashed potatoes, i got dubbed a great cook tonight and once again Curt gave his two thumbs up.  For the potatoes i added sour cream and no garlic (as i didn't have it) and i thought they turned out divine...

I think three days of kick butt meals is a great feat!  I can remember as a kid my mom saying it was difficult coming up with different, healthy, EASY to prepare meals every day/week.  I owe this entire week (more recipes coming) to Pinterest....ahhh Pinterest...silly me couldn't even figure out what the heck to do with this website...well give me a few days and I've turned into a Pinterest fool/queen!


Still on the menu: Pepperoni Puffs, Panera's Potato Soup & Spinach & Sausage Pinwheels...stay tuned!

recipes for the week

This is for this weekend!

1. Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
2. Spinach & Sausage Pinwheels
3. Panera's Potato Soup w/ bread bowls


This is for the week!

1. Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
2. Ranch Crock Pot Pork Chops & Parmesean Garlic Mashed Potatoes
3. Panera's Mac N' Cheese
4. Slow Cooker Mexican Pork for Tacos

new friend...

so we tried something different this morning...the morning that we all slept til 8:45am...um we haven't done that for so long i forgot how it felt to wake up rested and wanting to get up, not dragging myself out of bed and being grouchy for the first few minutes...

anyways back to what we did... i usually try to have one of the weekend days (if not both) with a big breakfast, pancakes, french toast, b's & g's, etc...no not all at once, but add some eggs, sausage links or bacon and some fruit and we'll call it a great start to our day!

so today i had the idea from somewhere (tv, pinterest, facebook...somewhere) to make french toast and make it on a waffle maker!  it was suuuurreee good!  Everyone (even Curt) liked it!

here's the recipe i used:

for 8-9 pcs of whatever bread you have - i had white whole wheat from costco

5 eggs
1c. milk
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Soak the bread like you would and place a piece on the waffle maker.  I had pre-heated it to a tick mark between medium and high (there are dots on mine, 3 dots = high and 1 dot = low and i was in between the 2 dot = medium and 3 dot = high so medium high i guess??)

and of course pics to prove my success!

xmas gift

totally getting use out of this!  LOVE IT!

had pineapple & PW's Enchiladas in it...

no point in even posting

there really is no point...i chopped, i diced, i boiled, i scooped, i arranged... i even took pictures of all these adverbs...but to no avail... no one liked it but me so i might as well just tell you to go look here for what i thought was a fabulous dinner... oh well...sorry PW - i still love you!

my new addition!

omg stop! i know you were thinking baby, dog, purse...ha!

not even close...
make this - you will love me and IT forever...it is delicious, lip smackin' wonderful!

Chipotle Mayo

2 chipotle peppers chopped
1 Tbsp of the sauce the peppers were packed inside
1/2 cup miracle whip (I used the one made with olive oil)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp of lemon juice

Whirrled around in a small food processor to combine the peppers more...

I've had two sandwiches with it - one right after I made it and one the next day - the next day was better as the ingredients melded together...Enjoy!

burgers...Wilson style

OH YEAH! WILSON RANCH BURGERS! Ever heard of 'em, no? That's right I just invented them! (forgive the nod to Despicable Me...just love that movie!)

That's right everyone - knocked the burgers out of the park tonight - added myself a secret recipe...Wilson verrrryyyy seeekwet wecipe....take a look for yourself...

This one was mine...nice toasted bun, onions, bacon and mushrooms...ooh la la!

This one was Curt's - once again didn't trust the "experiment" part of the meal and wanted to add that himself...whatev!

<--- This cutie-pie ate every bit of his burger... where's my thumb's up!?

And this cutie-pie was happy just to be invited to the party! --->

and the next night's dinner...

can you believe it? post after post this week! i know it's only two, but that's a lot for me in a week...

another fabulous dinner tonight... i don't have any pictures to prove it.... wah wah wahhhhh... but Pioneer Woman does... can you just go to her blog and ooo ahhh over the pictures and the recipe?.... it totally turned out and was delicious! and yes even Curt agreed with this one (of course he always would nix any and all veggies, but he ate two helpings that included the peppers...so high five to him right?)

on a roll...

tonight's dinner was awesome - simple as that - A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
It wasn't anything fancy. Nothing that a normal, smart person who can read a recipe couldn't accomplish, but man alive it was so fantastic I am still thinking about it at 8:30pm tonight!

We had cube steak... with homemade gravy... and baked sweet potato fries...

see told ya it wasn't anything fancy, but is your mouth watering? mine still is..it totally tasted like my parents used to make us!

The kitchen was an absolute tornado, no doubt about that, flour everywhere, oil/butter splattered all over the counter-top, just about every spoon, cutting board, tong I own used or waiting to be used.

I gobbled my steak and gravy and sweet potato fries up - I swear I think I sat down and it was gone in less than 2 minutes... Noah LOVED it - gave me my usual thumbs up and high five, letting me know he approved of the dish. Curt didn't hesitate either, said 'uh we could have this again babe, really' - :) Mark even tried the sweet potatoes - and kind of liked 'em... who wouldn't really? (Curt, that's who - no worries though, the steak was the star tonight!)

So without further ado, pictures to prove my victory:

do you see that delicious gravy!
How can you not love that adorable smile! Dinner could've been a flop and I'd still kiss that cutie!


Good Lord isn't that the most delicious thing you've ever seen?!

What a cutie huh? We're still working on teeth, I don't think he was as enthusiastic as I was about the dinner... oh well!

dinner # 2

can you believe it? post after post this week! i know it's only two, but that's a lot for me in a week...

another fabulous dinner tonight... i don't have any pictures to prove it.... wah wah wahhhhh... but Pioneer Woman does... can you just go to her blog and ooo ahhh over the pictures.... it totally turned out and was delicious! and yes even Curt agreed with this one (of course he always would nix any and all veggies, but he ate two helpings that included the peppers...so high five to him right?)

another one done well... well sort of

ok another post about how well i am doing feeding/creating/enticing my family with food...

tonight's menu - chicken lo mien*... done pretty healthfully (if that's a word?) if i do say so myself... low sodium soy sauce, broccoli, green peppers, onion, linguine fini (skinnier linguine noodles) and of course chicken...and wouldn't you know it the camera didn't work when i took a picture of the food, but of course it worked when Noah posed for his shot (btw the kid ate every bite i gave him! shoot he was picking at the broccoli and peppers before i even through them in the skillet! not too surprised by this though:)) And Curt actually liked it as well...i believe the exact comment was..."this is hundreds, no thousands better than that other stuff you made...the stuff with the peanut butter..."

*it should be noted that i used a seasoning packet to make the sauce this time instead of going it alone! i don't think i have the talent to "go it alone" again :(

another...homerun, er triple?

ok keeping with my baseball theme of food related successes we enjoyed another homerun, er' ok maybe it was a triple with my 'sticky bun crescent rolls' for breakfast... now you may say "Kate, really you put any kind of dough with the "sticky bun" gooey-ness of pecans, brown sugar and butter and its a no brainer"... but seriously with no recipe i am a fool when cooking - i just don't 'throw' things together and they turn out...i can't tell you how many times i've had to call my parents or sister and ask them 'how long do i cook -xyz' or 'what temp is best when roasting -abc?', it is literally at least once a week! so for me to just bust these out and have them turn out and be DeLiCiOus from everyone's point of view is no less than a miracle. And because this rant/rave means nothing without a few pics...

knocked it out of the park!

this little dinner was a knock out (Wilson style Deep Dish Pizza)- everyone thought so - even my pickiest of eaters (Curt!) Here's some pictures of the finished product... imagine me here (since i was the photographer) giving myself a huge high-five...because i was!