Tasty Tuesday - Omelet

This "recipe" isn't really earth-shattering or anything. Just thought I would switch it up a little...this is some stuff I had in the frig and threw together to make a REALLY YUMMY omelet.

One thing I'm learning with motherhood is...eating is a thing of the past. I kind of have to grab something when I can and keep moving most of the time. And I don't always have time to throw something like this together, but I will say...I've learned to multi-task and lots of times I'm cooking an egg while I'm washing dishes or fixing a bottle...I might have to eat it later when it's cold, but isn't that what microwaves are for :)


So all I did was throw some mushrooms, spinach, grape tomatoes, salt/pepper to taste and a little cheese on an egg. I was actually loading the dishwasher while I was making this. I just dumped everything on the egg in the skillet and after a few minutes, flipped it over. Very yummy! I know it might take longer than opening a granola bar package, but if you cook it while you're accomplishing something else, it doesn't feel like it takes quite as long. And you're being productive at the same time. I mean...I had to load the dishwasher anyway, so why not have an omelet as a reward when I'm finished :)

Do It Yourself - Pottery Painting

My friend Amy (pictured below) has a tradition she started when her little boy, Brayden (also below) was a baby. She started going to this fun place...Do It Yourself Crafts, in Homewood, AL. Its a place that has tons of different plates, bowls, cannisters, ornaments...you name it, they've got it. You pick out whatever you want to paint on and the rest goes as follows:

Once you have picked the item(s) you want to paint, then you have to decide on your design. There are books with examples of past projects or there are finished pieces of pottery sitting out that can help inspire your creative side. Amy and I opted for doing Christmas plates and a few other items for me that will remain disclosed until a later date...Christmas presents for family members...who read this blog :)

I will say...at first I wasn't a fan of doing a Christmas plate. I went in thinking I wanted to do something not so specific to a holiday...but the lady who works there swayed me otherwise. She said she does a Christmas plate with her little boy every year and she loves getting them out to serve things on at the holidays. So anyway...here is how our day went.

There wasn't anybody else there so we pretty much got one-on-one attention. Here is Brayden getting his little foot painted.



Brayden using his fingers to do the Christmas lights around the edge of his plate...couldn't get a smile b/c he was concentrating :)


Brayden's finished product...


And now it's Briggs turn. First she painted his foot...(and I just gotta say...look at those rolls on that fat little leg...MMM...LOVE IT!)


And we just smooshed (is that a word?) it on the plate...it was a joint effort to get it exactly in the right spot without him wiggling too much...


Here he is working on something with his hands...I promise to show the finished product later..like after Christmas...b/c it is TOO CUTE! :)

I will say...Brayden is two and Briggs is 5 1/2 months....so it was interesting to see how we got to the end product. They had different techniques for the different ages, and the ladies working there were very helpful.



Here is Briggs final product. We opted for a reindeer with just his feet since he is so little...

Overall...it was a really fun experience and hopefully a place we can continue to go and make keepsakes and memories for years to come. Thanks for inviting us Amy and Brayden!

Tasty Tuesday - Two Bean Minestrone

1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained
1 can (15-16 oz) garbanzo beans, drained
1 bag (1 lb) frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
1 large vegetarian vegetable bouillon cube
1 can (11.5 oz) vegetable juice
1 C water
1/2 C uncooked elbow macaroni
6 tsp refrigerated basil pesto

Spray 3 to 4 quart slow cooker with cooker spray. In cooker, mix all ingredients except macaroni and pesto. Cover, cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours. Stir in macaroni. Cover, cook on low setting about 15 minutes longer or until macaroni is tender. Top each serving with tsp of pesto.

This is a great winter dish. I haven't ever been able to fine the vegetable bouillon cube, so I just leave it out and I have found it takes a little more water. So when I add the pasta (which I just use what I have...like this last time I had some penne pasta and it was yummy in this dish), I often add a little more water to help cook the noodles. And I usually add more like half a bag of pasta...helps stretch the recipe further. Enjoy!

E-Mealz

Don't know if this meal looks appetizing...but it sure was yummy when Justin and I had it last week. On top of that, it was VERY easy to make. All I had to do was cut up potatoes, onion, sausage and open a can of green beans, then cook in the crock pot all day. Easy...right?

Well this is an example of a meal that is provided by one of my new favorite websites...E-Mealz. It costs $15 every 3 months. You choose the store where you shop and the size of your family. The website does the work and creates meals and a shopping list for you based on sale items for that week.


Every week, the website publishes a menu with 5 meals paired with a shopping list that is arranged in the layout of the store you pick. I write all over my list b/c it only has what you need for the meals and I shop for other things at Publix. As I said before, the website uses the sales for your store to create the menu and shopping list which is also cost efficient. It's definitely worth a try, at least for 3 months ($15). Now...you do have to actually use it to get the bang for your buck. It does help you eat at home as a family more and brings variety to your diet.


I might only use two or three meals out of the list b/c even though we have picked the plan for 2, we can usually get 2 nights out of whatever I cook. Which I like b/c that means I don't have to cook every single night. Sometimes to save a little more, I might substitute a few ingredients with something I already have stocked up from sales.

Date Night

Can anybody guess why we might all be dressed in LSU clothes? That would be because Justin and I left our baby for a whole night...went to Tuscaloosa...and watched the Tigers barely pull out a win against Bama! It was a hard thing for me to leave Briggs for that long...but we left him in very capable hands. So, here we all are dressed in our LSU clothes...ready for the game (couldn't get my little buddy to smile b/c he had just woken up).


I have heard stories of when first time moms leave their babies...I tried not to be "that" mom...but there were a few things I couldn't help but do. To make it easier for our babysitters and then to give me piece of mind... so here was my prep work...


Dinner for Celeste and David (babysitters). Since they were going to be here all night, they had to eat...right?

All of Briggs food set out so all they had to do was mix it up and feed him...


Everything written down just in case they had any questions...which was a good thing I did b/c I DIDN'T HAVE CELL RECEPTION DURING THE WHOLE GAME!!!!!...stupid AT&T!


Entertainment for the night...what else...movie and popcorn


And original plan was for them to spend the night b/c it was going to be such a late one...so I had their bed all ready and a gift bag of goodies b/c they insisted we don't pay them...(they did get to go home though b/c we got home at 12:15, which was 11:15 since the clocks got turned back)


Here are Briggs' awesome babysitters. I can't even express how wonderful these precious friends are to us..."Uncle" David and "Aunt" Celeste. I wouldn't have left Briggs with just anybody and I honestly wasn't worried about him. I just hated leaving him for so long...but we did have a good time and it looks like Briggs did too. When I realized I wasn't going to get cell reception, I had a little FREAK OUT moment. But the fact that I knew Briggs was with these two smiling faces, and the friends we were with, were able to call out with their cells. I did call and check on him a few times...only 3 which I think was pretty good considering... :)

But when we got back to the car and my phone was able to receive messages...I had 21 waiting for me and Briggs' whole night documented. I didn't include all of them but here is a little glimpse of how much fun Briggs had while mommy and daddy were gone...

He had just gotten finished eating...and was just hanging out with Aunt Celeste and Uncle David.

Doing a little work with Uncle David...


Went for a walk around the neighborhood..his favorite thing to do. It was his naptime...so he fell asleep at the end and they laid him down for a little snooze.


Playing in his exersaucer...notice the cushion under him so he can touch the ground...GENIOUS!


And now I'm sure you can all see the sleepy eyes...he was ready for bed and all snuggly in his pj's.


And here are mommy and daddy at the football game. It was a fun night...I will say...the Alabama fans were, for the most part, really nice to us. Good thing...since we were surrounded by them for the whole game! We only had one guy get upset we were shaking our pom-poms and started yelling at us, and one thing got thrown at us when we won...but most of the fans genuinely congratulated us as we were walking out. We had good seats and got to do a few cheers and dances with the LSU band since we were sitting close to them.


And here we are...Ben and Jennifer...our friends we went to the game with (notice THEIR thumbs up and OUR thumbs down). It was funny...b/c the crowds were insane there...so there were many times we were all holding hands. Ben was leading (b/c he knew the way), Jennifer was holding onto him, we (me and Jennifer) were holding hands, and Justin was holding onto me. One Alabama fan asked me and Jennifer..."Are yall still going to be friends when this is over". OF COURSE!...IT'S JUST A GAME PEOPLE! But I am glad we won :)


And to finish off a fun weekend...Justin and I woke up and made a celebratory breakfast...chocolate chip pancakes and eggs...YUM!

Picture Project

Since Briggs has been here...it's gotten me motivated to get some pictures on the walls. I was in search of a cute mixture of frames that would look good in our living room. So after a few months I wound up with the frames pictured below. I didn't like the colors on all of them, but I knew I could change that.

And just a quick tip...I found these frames at lots of different places (antique malls, thrift stores and yard sales) and paid a total of $30 for all of them. I thought that was pretty good b/c most people would probably pay $30 for just one at a normal store. Just shows that being patient can pay off :)


To change the color of the frames, all you need is some newspaper, a brush and some paint as pictured below. It only takes a small amount of paint and these colors I already had from another project I had worked on. So I didn't have to pay anything for supplies (but just FYI...the paint is about $1 a bottle and brushes aren't much either)


Here are the final colors of the collage of frames. All I did was take the glass out of the frames, lay them on some newspaper and paint them with a dry brush. I left two of them the color they were originally and painted one blue and one green.


While I was painting the frames (above), I decided to update my other frames so thought I would give a quick little glimpse of all the progress I have made in the past week.


and more...
and a few more...


Finally...here is a pic of my finished project hanging on the walls...


For all of you overly observant readers out there...I am aware that the bottom picture is turned upside down...that's only because I put the pic in wrong and had company coming so had to get it on the wall. I'll get to it one day (but the backing I had to take off and put on with pliers, so not top priority on my to do list today). Oh well..it looks cute...even upside down :)


I am really pleased with the outcome and it was a relatively easy project. It's always good to remember...if you have a vision for a particular frame, piece of furniture, lamp, etc....you can always change the color, but it's much harder to change the shape of the actual object.

Tasty Tuesday - Hershey's Chocolate Cake

This is a cake that got named a few years ago..."crack cake" because my friend said it's so good, it's like crack...she couldn't stop eating it. So it kind of stuck and now when I have a request for "crack cake"...we all know which one it is.

Crack Cake

1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 Jello (chocolate) instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 C warm water
1/2 C cooking oil
1 C sour cream
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips
Note: I substituted caramel chips for chocolate chips and it turned out great. I have also used peanut butter morsels which are good too.

Cook 45-50 min on 350. Make sure to grease the pan really good so the cake will come out when it cools.