mac n cheese

Tonight I made pork roast with BBQ sauce along with peas and one of the mac n cheese bakes I made a few weeks ago for the OAMC. It was pretty good. I added some milk to keep it moist while it baked.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Davin's parents house with his parents and his sister's family. The kids had fun opening presents (who doesn't) and we enjoyed a great meal. Pics below.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread with Almond Slivers

The chocolate chip pumpkin bread with almond slivers was amazing. Pics below

cookbooks

Even though Davin's mom told him that this cooking thing won't last, I went ahead and ordered 3 more OAMC cookbooks from Amazon today. They were pretty cheap so I feel okay about ordering 3. I read the reviews and am pretty excited to see what I am getting. I'm not an online shopper so hopefully I am a happy shopper when they get here.

Food: Christmas, breakfast, dessert

Today I made the fridge mashed potatoes for Christmas day. We are having roast and fixin's. I also made a new breakfast casserole recipe that I am going to serve on Christmas morning. I made two meals worth of it and will serve one on Christmas morning so I'll have another left over for another day. I also made chocolate chip pumpkin bread with almond slivers (2 loaves). Alea helped me make a batch of brownies with a carmel center (a jazzed up recipe for boxed brownies). Finally, I made a chocolate cookie toffee frozen dessert for Christmas day. Davin's parents are going to spend Christmas day at our house watching Alea open gifts so I wanted to have a few different things for the to enjoy because I know Jo is getting tired of the things she makes all the time (she told me this). Oh, I almost forgot, I also made a frozen pineapple salad (dessert type dish) to go with our Christmas day dinner.

I'm tired!

Davin says the freezer (we have a separate stand up freezer in the garage) is about full so I think we will focus on eating for a little while and focus less on cooking. Tonight we are having one of the rigattoni meals with green beans and parmesean knots. Yum!

cooking again

Today I cooked for my sister and her family. I made them a few dishes to put in the feezer and use over the next few weeks. Here is what I made them:

homeade spaghetti and meatballs
parmesan knots
southwestern casserole
South-of-the-border quiche
chicken and green bean casserole
breakfast casserole

Yummy stuff!

Texas

I am visiting my sister in Texas and am enjoying the weather. Of course my sister and her husband think it is freezing here but trust me...it's not. It was 56 when I got here today. Lovely!!!

Mikaela, it was 54 degrees when I went through Richardson, TX. I thought of you!

Dinner Review

Tonight we had the zesty pineapple chicken, broccoli bites, fridge mashed potatoes, with green beans and stove top. The zesty pineapple chicken smelled amazing as it was cooking. It was good but a little bit dry. I think if I cooked it less on the OAMC day then it might not get as dry on cooking day. The broccoli bites could have been cooked longer than the directions said because I would have liked them a littlel warmer. The fridge mashed potatoes were awesome as usual. Overall, a success with a few minor tweaks for the future.

Refridgerator Potatoes

The refridgerator potatoes I made at the first OAMC were for tonights Girl Scout leader meeting. (I thought the meeting was last week but it's okay because the potatoes can stay in the fridge for 2 weeks before baking). Tonight at the meeting I heard from behind me "who made these awesome mashed potatoes". I turned around and pointed at myself (cheesy I know). She wanted to know what made them so awesome. She asked me if I would make them for her family for Christmas. Of course I said no, but her compliments made me feel even better about my OAMC campaign. :)

Salsa Burgers

We had the salsa burgers tonight. They were good. We decided that salsa burgers (with Monterey Jack cheese on top) are for when you want a burger and the pesto burgers are for when you want something different. Davin said he likes the salsa burgers best and I like the pesto burgers best.

OAMC round 2

I know it hasn't been another month (in fact it has only been 8 days) but I decided to do some more cooking this weekend. I had a lot of fun last week and we enjoyed eating at home, especially with the colder weather setting in. The pictures of what I made are below. Davin didn't help today because he was watching the Chiefs game.

I made:

parmesan knots...I can't wait to eat these. 3 meals worth (bread)
honey lime chicken marinade 1 meal
rigatoni bake 2 meals
broccoli bites 3 meals (side dish)
sweet potato bake 2 meals (side dish)
cheesy vegetable soup 2 meals
watergate salad (not a freezer recipe...I just had some things I needed to use up)

A review of pesto burgers

Tonight we had pesto burgers...one of the OAMC dishes I made last weekend. The burgers were very tender. I think it was because I used my mixer to mix in the ingredients into the hamburger and therefore mixed the hamburger well and made it very tender. The pesto and other ingredients made the burger taste a little bit like the meatballs from my mom's homemade spaghetti and meatball recipe. It kind of made me think of Italian sausage because of the spices. It was a huge hit and I loved them. Davin said he liked them too so it's okay we have two more meals worth of this dish in the freezer.

Homeade spaghetti and meatballs on a week night!

Tonight we had homeade spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. It was delicious and a nice treat! I am loving the rewards of OAMC so far.

food pics

Check out the food pics below...read the post below this one first.

Prepare to be amazed...make that....prepare to be SHOCKED!

I COOKED FOR MY FAMILY!

Some of you (the two of you who I know follow this blog) may know that I don't cook for my family very often. Well, at school we are having a book fair (this is the long version of the story by the way) and I saw a cookbook for 9 x 13 recipes, i.e., recipes that are all for 9 x 13 pans. I thought the cookbook was interesting but instead of buying it I decided to Google 9 x 13 recipes. I found a recipe that said it was good for "Once a Month Cooking". I wondered what that meant. Was that for people who cooked for their families about once a month like me?! I Googled "Once a Month Cooking" and found out it is when people (okay, women) spend a weekend day or weekend cooking several meals for their family and then freeze them to eat over the next month and beyond. I have been to Pass Your Plate before where you do the same thing but they have the ingredients and dishes for you to use. I enjoyed that experience and having dishes in the freezer to have for dinner. I started Googling (I love Google) OAMC recipes and came up with several that I wanted to try. I also read some blogs and got tips for OAMC also known as freezer recipes. I went shopping after work on Friday and made a plan for cooking on Saturday. Davin was excited about the idea when I told him (I made grilled cheese for dinner one day last week and he was SO excited). He even said he wanted to help. That actual made me pretty nervous because I thought we might kill each other. It turned out to be wonderful that he helped!

I have been craving my mom's homeade spaghetti sauce and meatballs but it takes at least 4 hours to make and it has to be in the fridge at least one day to thicken before you eat it anyway so that was immediately added to the recipe list.

Here is what we made:
homeade meatballs and spaghetti sauce (2 to 3 meals worth...the sauce is still cooking as I write so I'm not sure how many meals I'll get out of it)
mac and cheese bake--main dish or side dish (2 meals worth)
twice baked potatoes--side dish (3 meals worth)
pesto hamburgers (3 meals worth)
salsa burgers (2 meals worth)
veggie quiche (1 meal--I halfed the recipe because one quiche meal is already pushing it with Davin)
chicken-biscuit casserole (1 meal---probably could have been divided into 2 meals)
zesty pineapple chicken (1 meal)
refridgerator mashed potatoes (1 meal...this is for a Girl Scout leader dinner I am going to on Monday that had to be made this weekend anyway...there maybe left overs for us on Tuesday...although I doubt it)

The idea isn't to eat hamburgers 3 times in one month, although we could. The idea is that next month I'll make other recipes and mix them in with the ones I already have frozen that we haven't eaten yet and eventually we will have quite the stock of meals. I know this isn't enough food to get us through the month but it sure is a lot more eating at home that we usually do. I'll even admit...it was fun. The part of cooking that I hate is the clean up and how you work on something for over an hour and then it is eaten in 10 minutes (or less if you are Davin). This way I can have a nice meal at home during the week and the prep time is very little...just side dishes and baking in the oven.

I have already Googled recipes for next month. I'll let you know what I make next time. Let me know if you want any recipes. I don't mind sharing.

I'll probably have a OAMC day over Christmas break. Can't wait until next time.

A new family record

This week we set a new family record with sickness. On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I has home sick with strep throat. On Wednesday Davin was home sick with a cold. Thursday and Friday Alea was home sick with strep. I used three sick days this week and Davin used two. Someone in our house was home sick everyday. WOW! Bring on the lysol!!

strep

I've got strep throat. YUCK! It started yesterday morning and I kept hoping it was allergies. Today and I went to the doctor and she confirmed it is strep. Yucky. I'll be home again from work again tomorrow.

Black Friday

We had a good Thanksmas and did a little Black Friday shopping. Bec and I went out about 9Am so most of the crazy people were already back home in bed. I already have all of my Christmas shopping done so I actual bought a few pieces of clothes for Alea for NEXT year. Davin and Pat went to WalMart at 4AM. Apparently it wasn't too bad.

Alea is running a bit of a fever tonight. I hope she isn't getting the 24 hour bug that Bec had the day before she got here. I would hate for Alea to be sick again so soon. Poor girl.

Thanksmas

My parents and sister's family will be here on Thanksgiving. We has started celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas on the same day. It is actually a nice tradition. It works well for the kids because they get presents now and have a month to play with them before Christmas gets here. It works well for us since everyone lives so far away.

This weekend we've managed to get the tree up and decorated and I've wrapped almost all of the gifts for both Thanksmas and Christmas with Davin's family. Tomorrow I am going to finish the rest of the wrapping that I can't do when little eyes are around. Alea has two days of school this week but because of my school calendar I am off all week and I am VERY excited about it!!

All I want for Christmas...

One of Alea's top front teeth is loose. I don't think she will lose it before Thanksgiving but probably by Christmas. I was just looking at the family pictures I had just posted and realized that they are probably some of the last pictures of Alea with both of her two front teeth. She lost the bottom front two last year in kindergarten. We were lucky that the other teeth came in quickly. We are getting ready to enter into that awkward tooth time when she will get grown up teeth in a little kid body. Up next, pimples?

NYC

In October a co-worker/friend and I took a trip for fun to New York City. We left on Wednesday and returned on Sunday. It was an amazing trip!!! We did a lot of the normal touristy things and had a great time. I have a huge scrapbook full of our adventures but here are a few pictures of our adventures. (see below)

sick

Last week Thursday Alea got sent home sick from school with a fever. She ran a fever Thursday (and probably Wednesday night but I thought she was just cranky and tired), Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday morning the fever finally went away. It never actually seemed to brake it just fadded away. Her only ailments were the fever and an occasional headache. She slept each day and even after she went back to school she fell asleep each evening before bedtime. She seems to be back to herself. Hopefully we can have a healthy Thanksgiving.

First Grade

First grade seems to be going well for Alea. Her best friend is in another classroom but that doesn't seem to be too big of an issue for which I am grateful.

1st Grade

Alea's first two days of first grade seem to have gone well. I say "seem" because she will tell me she likes it and her day was "good" but other than that I can't seem to get much out of her. I think she likes that she can control what we know about her day. I didn't think she would figure this out so soon. Of course I should have known, she is so smart!

Fun pics

Papa Tim took fun pics of Alea this week. (see below)

Austin

Alea and I made the road trip to Austin to visit my sister, brother in law, and nephew. Bec, Alea, Reed, and I also took a mini vacation to San Antonio to see the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and visit Sea World. We had a nice time.

Swimming Lessons

Alea is taking swimming lessons this week. This is her first year to take swimming lessons. We should have started sooner but she is doing well.

Nephew/Cousin Time

This weekend we were blessed to get to spend some quality time with my nephew Reed while his mommy and daddy went on their annual canoe trip with their college friends. We had a good time hanging out and loving on our sweet Reeder. Reed was a wonderful little boy and couldn't be better well behaved. Love you Reed!!

Mt. Magazine

This weekend we stayed in a nice cabin at Mt. Magazine. Mt. Magazine is the highest point in Arkansas. The views were AMAZING!! We had a great time and enjoyed relaxing.

New AP

My assistant principal resigned on Monday. This should be a wild year!

Ballet Recital Pictures

Alea had her pictures taken today at Penney's in her "Take Me to Mardi Gras" ballet recital outfit. She also had her picture taken with Davin for father's day.

Camera

Another camera is MIA at our house. I need to buy a camera with a locating device. This is getting annoying and expensive! ugh!

New Principal

My principal let us know last month that she was not coming back next year. Changing principals and staying in the same building is just as stressful as changing buildings altogether. We had a surprise going away party for her after school today. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. She is a hard worker and I have learned a lot from her. She is going to take time off to relax and rejuvinate (sp). I wish her my best.

June 6th

Davin and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary yesterday. We have been together half of Davin's life and half of my life plus one year. Happy 12 Davin!

End of Kindergarten

Alea had her last day of kindergarten today. My big girl is going to first grade. I am so proud of her and love her so much.

Two Teeth

Alea lost her second tooth today. She lost the first one on her birthday week this month. I'll post pics later.

Chuck E Cheese

Alea had her friend birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on Saturday. It was a huge hit! It was so nice not to have it at our house. Yea for Chuck E. See pictures below.

First Day of Spring

On the first day of spring we received a foot of snow.

Alea and Reed

Alea and Reed had a joint birthday party in March. Reed's birthday is in February and Alea's is in April so we had a joint bday party for them and invited the grandparents (my parents) for their party. We had a pink and blue party. See pics

Shortest week of the year!

Why oh why is spring break always the shortest week of the year? Alea had a bday party tonight at Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast! She is going to have her party there this year for her friend birthday. I think spring break should be at least two weeks long.

Spring Break

Alea and I enjoyed our first official day of spring break by shopping, eating lunch at Panera, and taking Sparky to the groomers. More fun awaits!

Hip Hop Performance

Tonight was Alea's hip hop performance. When the curtain opened she was in the center of the front row. I asked Davin if he thought that was because she was short or because she is so good at shaking her bootie. We couldn't decide. When it was time for the hip hop dance Alea was AMAZING!!! I wish we would have taken the video camera. You can't believe how well my 5 year old can dance! Pray for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hip-hop

Alea is taking a hip-hop dance class that some of the teachers put on every year. Monday night was the first night of the week long class and she won the hip-hop award for the day. Each day they give an award to one boy and one girl and Alea got the girl award. I asked the teacher if this was for shakin' it the most. She said yes and for trying everything and for having a good attitude. Alea smiling and shakin' her booty...no surprise she won the award then! :) She is totally her Aunt Becky's girl!

Sick and Happy

When Alea is sick she is still such a good girl. I love her. She has strep throat. Her throat is the most swollen I have ever seen! I stayed home with Alea today and will be home with her again tomorrow.

Baby #3

Davin's sister and her husband had their third child today. They had a girl, Dempsey Jewell. Dempsey joins siblings Dylan (4 1/2) and Delaney (2 1/2).

Eight

Eight snow days so far THIS year...2010. We should be back at work/school tomorrow.

Fallin'

The snow is falling very quickly. I wonder if another snow day is in our future.

Kindergarten Vocabulary

Alea has been coming home with some new words and phrases lately. Two I can remember are "lame" or "that's lame" and "no offense". I'm sure the "vocabulary" will only continue to "improve".

No School

No school for the girls tomorrow due to icy roads. A snow plow would do wonders around here.

Raining Ice

No school for Alea and I tomorrow due to the rain, ice, and snow we are currently getting. I actually have plans to cook a roast tomorrow if the power stays on.

153

Alea sold 153 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. That is much better than I ever did. She even loved selling them. I think her favorite part was going door to door with me in tow. (Not my favorite part.) The goal for each girl was to sell 50 boxes so I think she did pretty well!

Girl Scout Cookies

Alea is selling Girl Scout cookies if you are interested.

Just us girls

Alea is out of school tomorrow too.

5

Make that day 5 for me without work because of snow/ice. Still waiting to hear about school for Alea.

pictures of my cutie

Check out the pictures below.

Day 4

No school or work today for Alea and I. Ice with snow. Back to bed for me!

Update

Alea will be out of school tomorrow too. There are a couple of schools on the outskirts of town that must have bad roads. We have a playdate scheduled tomorrow so the other Girl Scout leader and I can get some work done.

Another snow day!

No school for me tomorrow. I guess the roads are worse in Rogers than here in Springdale. Alea will have school tomorrow though. It is suppose to snow again Wednesday night so we might be out all week in Rogers. What am I going to do without my girl tomorrow? Sleep, treadmil, cook dinner (third day in a row), see a movie??

Stay safe!

To my Wisconsin friends

I took a picture out my front door of the 'snow' so you can see what an Arkansas snow day looks like. I had a snow day today and they just called school off for tomorrow.

Snow day...really?

Davin and I are always surprised when they call a snow day here in Arkansas. I guess we still have Wisconsin snow in our minds.