It's snowing again. YEAH!!!

What a wild and wacky winter this has been. It is snowing again. It’s hard to believe. It started snowing last night and it has been snowing nonstop ever since. The kids have been quite happy. Well, half the kids anyways. The girls are in a charter school. The boys are in public school. They have different school districts even though their schools are less than 5 miles apart. The girls had their schools cancelled. Actually, the towns to the north AND south of us cancelled school today due to the snow/ice. I was shocked that the boys actually had school. They are in a school district that is very dedicated. Any time there is a storm or something their school is in session. That also means they don’t have make-up days, so there is a silver lining. Haha

The girls and I risked our lives to go to the library. Haha Actually, it was all slush. Not too much ice. Lots of snow, but little ice.

Then Mike was let off work early. I had him go pick up Josh and Jake on his way home. I guess I was feeling sorry for them. I don’t know what I was thinking. Haha So, Mike picked up Josh and went to get Jake. Jake was having too good of a time at school, so he stayed and rode the bus home later. Josh, Emma and Elaina played in the snow. Emma made a huge square. Then she turned it into a snowman. It is really cute. It looks like a snowwoman with huge hips! Haha Josh and Emma made “forts”. Elaina made an “egg” that she carried around the entire yard. They had a good time, needless to say.

When I got them to come inside, they were dripping wet. Elaina talked Mike into making her a slushy with snow. She was happy.

I also tried a recipe. I have wanted to try to make this kettle corn, but have been too chicken. I should have tried it sooner. My kids, who don’t like microwave kettle corn ate this stuff hand over fist! Basically take a pot with a lid. Put 3 Tablespoons oil in the pan. Put the burner on med/high heat. While that is heating up, put 1/3 cup popcorn kernels and 3 Tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Then go watch the oil. I watched for smoke (just like the blog suggests), then poured the corn/sugar into the oil. Stirred it with a spoon for about 10 seconds, and then put the lid on. I put a towel on top and held the lid while I shook it around a bit. Once the popcorn was done, I added a little salt and it was done. I put it in another bowl and the kids attacked it. Actually, I attacked it too. I don’t usually eat too much popcorn, but this stuff was amazing. I’m going to have to make kettle corn more often!

Remember The Bugaloos???

While at the library, I came across The Bugaloos CD. I have been telling Mike and the kids about this show. I remember watching it when I was about Elaina’s age. I used to love this show! I just couldn't help myself. I had to rent it.

I "tortured" Jake, Josh and Emma by making them watch it with me. Then Elaina was able to watch it. She likes it. Can you believe it? I've instilled the Bugaloos on a whole new generation. Haha

I always liked Benita Bizarre the best.  I guess I was pretty messed up even as a small kid.  :)

It's been 100 days already

Yesterday was the 100th day of school for the girls. Of course that meant pizza for lunch and fun 100 day festivities all day. Elaina had to wear a t-shirt that she created in honor of the 100th day of school. Here is what she came up with.

I printed off a“100” to use it as a guide for her pink 100. Then we got 100 sparkly pom pom balls and glued them to the shirt. I was shocked that most of them even made it home ON the shirt! haha
~~~
The other day, I made up the chimichangas using the chicken I bought at Sam’s Club. It was super easy. I use an old weight watchers recipe I found a LONG time ago when I was disciplined enough to follow the weight watchers regimen. Haha


Take the meat and put it in a tortilla with some cheese. You can add salsa or anything else you want at this point. My kids won’t eat too spicy so I kept these pretty plain.

Then spray them with butter spray and pop them in the oven. I bake them at 350’ until they are nice and golden brown. Once they are cooled off, put them in zip-top bags and freeze them or just go ahead and eat them for dinner. Very easy and better for you than traditional chimichangas.

Yeah for Sam's Club

Today I went to Sam’s club. They have boneless skinless chicken breast on sale for $1.77 a pound. I had gotten some earlier and used them to make the Monterey Chicken the other night. Today I picked up two “family Packs” for $16 ($8 a piece).  First, I separated the packs into thirds. 

I cleaned the excess fat off of all the meat. I put the cut-off bits and pieces (along with 1/3 breasts) in the crock pot with some water-downed salsa in it. I plan on using it to make some baked chimichangas to freeze. I also have left-over taco meat to make some with as well for the kids who don’t like chicken. 

I took another third of it and put it in the freezer for a later use. Usually I like to boil it and cut it up and freeze it that way, but I wanted to have some whole breasts in the freezer.

Then I took the last third and marinated them in barbeque sauce to BBQ them for dinner. I’ll be honest. I am disappointed with how few leftovers we have. I will be lucky if it feeds two people. Haha Oh well. Live and learn. Haha  I guess that just means everyone liked it.  :}

Guess what’s wrong with me!

Today, I went and ran a few errands. While out, I discovered something. I realized that I am starting to park close to entrances and while still in the car, plan out the quickest path to take to get to my desired location. (No, I still like to window shop.  I just don't do it as much anymore. ) I also have started realizing that I stay seated for as long as possible whenever possible. The poor kids must feel like my personal servants, because I ask them to help me with everything. Thankfully, they are really sweet about it. :} Anyway, while leaving the local Wal-mart with tears in my eyes, I realized this “little” foot problem of mine is getting out of control. I decided to go ahead and do what Mike has been asking me to do for weeks/months. I called the doctor. Why is it SO much easier to call the doctor for a sick kid instead of for myself? Oh well. I called and they were miraculously able to fit me in this afternoon. I hobbled into the kids schools and got them out a few minutes early so I would be able to leave the girls at home with supervision and go to the doctor appointment alone. Funny thing is, none of them seemed to mind leaving school early. Haha Well, I was able to get a pretty picture of my foot for all of my prosperity to see later. I have been blessed to find out I have a bone spur about 5-7 millimeters deep on most of my heel. Yeah me! I also found out that this doesn’t just ‘go away’ on it’s own. Yeah me again! Haha Oh well. I will try to make the most of it. Maybe I’ll get to use those sexy wheelchair carts in the grocery store. Hey, that might help me buy less, right? Woohoo! Mike and I got to go out tonight and he was very patient with me. We found me a pair of new tennis shoes with great support as well as some super-duper support inserts. And thus my life in orthopedic footwear begins! Haha

When Mike and I returned home, Elaina was all excited to share with me a new game she enjoys on the computer. I was quite impressed. After she showed me how good she can play, I made my way to my place on the couch. She came over and handed me a piece of paper on it with the website of the game she played. She was going to make a paper for Mike as well, but I told her I would share with him. ;} In case you want to know the website, it is coolmath4kids.com. Who knew my child would enjoy math games? I still have a hard time with simple math, let alone playing games with them. haha

I need to quit!

Dang it!  I made dinner again.  It was really good.  I had big hopes of just eating until I was full.  Problem was, I didn't notice I was full until I was about to explode!   Tonight, I made Copy Cat Sesame Chicken from Mommy's Kitchen.  I'll admit I was impressed.  It was pretty easy and tasted really darn good.  haha  You take a bag of frozen popcorn chicken (I used the cheap Banquet brand and it was fine) and fry it up so it is nice and crispy.  Then while that is sitting on a paper towel to absorb the grease, you mix the sauce.  Look at the link above if you want specifics, but basically, you take some honey, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, salt and pepper and let it boil on the stove in a big pan.  Once the sauce thickens, you add the chicken and coat it well. Then garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.  I added the sesame seeds when I mixed in the chicken, so it was all over.  :)   It's as simple as that.  We had it over rice.  We also had some salad and mixed vegetables on the side.  Way simple meal that was tasty!

 

It's all Dana's fault!!!

My dear sister, Dana. She knows what I like, bless her heart. She came across a blog, Owlhaven, and I have had the hardest time getting away from her blog. Then I found out she had written a book~ 'Family Feasts on $75 a week'. Well, who would have thunk it, but they had the book at my Sam's Club. I spent the $10 (which I usually don't do on a book, but I had already checked the library and they didn't have it), and I have been reading/cooking with it ever since. I made some pancakes last night from the book that turned out delicious! I also made some chocolate-chocolate chip cookies that were absolutely delicious! I'm not kidding. I know my chocolate! haha

I also took another look at a blog that I had used for making corn dogs a while back. I absolutely love her blog as well. Check it out if you have a few hours and nothing better to do. haha It is called Mommy's Kitchen. Tonight, I tried her Monterey Chicken. I forgot to take pictures (You can look at hers. I made monterey chicken a link to the actual recipe on her blog). I can't figure out why I didn't. Maybe it was because I was trying to cook, listen to Josh argue at me, have Elaina want me to give her a spelling test, and have a friend come over to see the work done in the bathrooms all within a 30 minute time frame. Anyway, trust me. It is divine! Super easy too. I took my chicken breast out and marinated it in BBQ sauce for about an hour (the amount of time it took to caramelize the onions). To caramelize the onions, you, thinly slice an onion, put a little oil on them with some salt and pepper and put them in a covered dish in the oven. How simple is that? I just had to toss them around a bit every 15 mins until they were golden brown. The sweetness was GREAT! Anyway, back to the chicken recipe. :) Take the chicken out of the fridge and put it in a skillet and sauté it until it is mostly done. Once it is mostly done, put your onions on top. Then sprinkle a little cheese and put a piece or two of bacon on top (I put a couple toothpicks in the bacon to help it not to curl up, it worked really well). Put it in the oven on broil until the bacon is crisp and the chicken is done. I'll be honest. Raw chicken scares me. I cooked the chicken in the pan until it was just barely done then put the stuff on top to broil. I didn't want to take my chances. :) I also made some homemade mashed potatoes, butter beans, and salad to go along with it. My kids were quite impressed. Apparently I was either really hungry or thought it was good as well, because I ate WAY too much! :} For not much effort, it was a great meal. Really worth trying. :)