Ninja Smoothies

I love this new kitchen toy of mine.  I hope my hubby really means this is mine and he won't play with it!  I don't want him breaking this one like the last one (different brand).  I am in love with the awesome job it does.  I made teriyaki sauce and baked chicken in the oven for dinner.  I made this awesome fruit smoothie for breakfast!

A handful of strawberries (frozen from last year, the last of them), a banana, an orange and a handful of ice. Blend it up!

Here's what it looks like in the blender. Pour to cup.

I can't decide if I like my smoothie or snow cone better!  This was so good and hit the spot!  I hope my Ninja (blender) doesn't get jealous of my mixer because I am going to mix me up some cookie dough for some Easter cookies!

Are you making anything good for Easter this Sunday?

New Kitchen Toy

Yesterday I didn't post because I had parent teacher conferences!  My child in elementary school is very smart!  She's a little hard on herself and refuses to do homework!  Starting after Spring Break she will be loosing recess if she doesn't turn it in! Uh-oh!  Her teacher says she is somewhat of a perfectionist!

Now onto other things!  My husband broke my blender around Thanksgiving time last year.  He told me he would replace it. Months later he finally bought me a Ninja. Okay it's Ninja brand.  I swear, this thing is the bomb!  I saw some consumer report on the news about blenders and this one ranked right up there with the Vita Mixer. Who out there has hundreds of dollars to spend on a kitchen appliance? Not me that's for sure! So I had to test it out to see if it really made ice into snow.

Here's the ice....now let's turn it into snow....

Beautiful.

It actually tasted like you were eating snow! Now to turn it into something delicious!

We lived in Arizona for a year.  Bahama Buck's was introduced to me by my bff from college. She bought this for me when we were traveling thru Arizona from Georgia moving back to Washington State.  That's another story for another time.  Oh my goodness!  YUM!  The kids were in Heaven!

Oh YUM!  This was absolutely a great treat for the kids and myself!  I can't wait for summer!

What kitchen appliance is your favorite?

Funny Things Kids Do & Say

I am so grateful it is Friday!  It's been another long week and I am so ready to spend time with the kids and have them home from school.  Next week will be the week before Spring Break (and Easter). That means parent teacher conferences for elementary kids and half days all week!  Yikes!

I've already started to collect things for Easter.  I'll share some of my ideas for next week.

My youngest heard me tell the older kids we needed to clean the house so we can do fun things this weekend. He went into the laundry room, emptied the dryer to the couch, put the washed laundry into the dryer and then filled the washer with everything in the laundry room floor, all clothes, towels, whites, etc went in.  I had to take everything out and still need to sort it for washing!  He's been a real character lately!  He told me when he starts school in September I can't do grocery shopping without him!

My daughter got her new glasses two weeks ago.  She wears them all the time!  I'm really impressed with her and the glasses.  She will take them off her face to wipe away the sweat on her nose after running home from school and she says everything is all blurry and fuzzy!  I think she has had her glasses on more than her 14 year old brother has worn his glasses all 11 months he has had them!

Well the only big plans we have is to take the oldest shopping for his Suit he wants.  He's been dying for one!  It was on his Christmas list and we just haven't had money for it.  Finally we are going to before we never hear the end of it from him!  Hopefully we BBQ up something good too!

What are you doing this weekend?

Weekend in view!

I'm feeding my kids pizza for dinner.  I needed something quick for dinner tonight as I rush out the door for meetings for next year's high school curriculum. Today's weather has been crazy!  We saw snow a few hours ago, then it changed to blue sky and minutes after my hubby left for work, the dark clouds rolled in.  It's spring let's bring on the sunshine and warm weather please Mother Nature!  Here's a picture of the weather driving down the road after dropping my kids off at their Scouting activity for the week.

Just a glimpse of sun in the evening around 7pm.  Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!  It has been a long week!

What's the weather like for your first day of Spring?

Spring

It's supposed to be the first day of Spring, but it should be Winter still. Here in Washington state it's been a rainy blustery day.  I almost convinced the kids to go out to the garage to start building an ark!  Why not; Noah did?!  Tomorrow is a chance of snow for us!  Please Winter, go away I want and am ready for sunshine and warm weather.  I need the soggy and cold to go away!  BRRRR!!

On another note our school district denied our waiver forms to go to the same high school we are going to now.  I guess next step is get the oldest enrolled into running start so he doesn't have to attend the high school at all.  The other child finishing up middle school will be okay with attending the other high school.  New boundaries were formed for this next school year 2013-2014.  It's going to be drama with the oldest teenager till he feels better.

Catch ya tomorrow!

Beef Fried Steak

It seems this last week I am posting in the afternoon or evening hours.  I had an allergic reaction to Watermelon seeds.  They are cooked just like any other nut you find out there.  Our grocery store here on the west coast in the bulk section sells them.  My mother in law introduced me to them this past Saturday.  On Sunday I ate a few pretzels and cheese it crackers from the bags they were in along with some other nuts.  My tongue started to swell and itch.  By ten at night I was not feeling good and had some bug bites too.  I had the hubby go get me some Benadryl.  Yesterday the swelling finally went down and the throat doesn't hurt anymore.  I still have to take it for the bug bites but not as often today.

So for dinner tonight I just wanted to share what I made.  I read online a few recipes for chicken fried steak.  We had beef patties to make into beef fried steak.  A request my husband made last week.

Here's my recipe I came up with to bread the meat.

1/2 cup of cornmeal
1 full cup of flour
Onion powder, few dashes
Garlic powder, few dashes
pepper, just a dash
salt, a few dashes to your liking

Mix all of this together and get a seperate bowl of milk. About a cup will do.  Dip the meat into the milk and then into the dry mix of ingredients, coating both sides.  Fry in a pan with oil, a few tablespoons will do.  Cook two or three at a time depending on size of pan.  I cooked two and did a total of 8.  Make gravy from the drippings in the pan you fried the meat in.  You will not be disappointed! Make with some mashed potatoes and green beans; definitely a hit with the kids!

When it's all cooked up this is what it looks like!

What's on your dinner plate tonight?

Bugs & BBQ

I'm so excited Spring will officially be here Wednesday!  My hubby was up late last night BBQing chicken.  He was craving chicken.  I don't know why but it wasn't raining and he BBQ'D chicken.  He grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner.  I guess it's a guy thing, something to do when you have time off from work.  He needs to grill up something besides chicken!  Chicken seems to be the choice of meat to be BBQ'D these days!

Tonight for dinner my 6 year old daughter ate more than her brothers, just turned 5, 14 and 16.5.  She must've been craving chicken for dinner.

I haven't been feeling well this weekend.  Something bit me multiple times, mostly on my arms and stomach. I guess we can say I've been itchy.  I'm not sure if it is spiders or fleas.  I washed all the bedding, vacuumed and still got eaten alive. My awesome hubby drove to the store last night to buy me some much needed Benadryl.  Relief.  The only thing I've been using that gets rid of the itch.  I did take a good nap and been really tired still.

What do you use for bug bites that works??

Oranges Juiced

This morning my buddy woke up with a cough. It's sounding kinda croupy.  I gave him some toast and yogurt for breakfast. Gave him some cough medicine. Then handed him an orange to peel & eat. He just played with it. What a boy!  I told him lets make orange juice!

He squeezed the juice out of it. Then....

He squeezed the heck out of it! (Yes, his wording!)

Now he's drinking it!

We don't have a juicer, but this lime squeezer (He calls it the squeezer) does the job the rest the way.  Use whatever you have on hand to make some fresh orange juice!

And don't forget to squeeze the heck out of it!!  I guess you just had to have been there for it to be funny.

Have an awesome weekend!

What are you doing this weekend?

Pie Day!!

Hi there!  Today is PIE day!  Math, blah, yuck. That's what comes to mind, but homemade pie yum!  I'm in the process of making this apple crumble cheesecake pie today in honor of pi day!  The recipe comes from Pintrest of course.  I printed it out around Thanksgiving to give family options besides pumpkin, but I made other desserts too and never got to this apple pie!

I can't wait to post pictures of it!

Birthday Cake Cookies

Okay, it's kinda late in the day to be posting, but I have been working on these cookies all morning.  Then I tried to take a nap. That didn't turn out well!  The kids came home from school before I could get to sleep!  I used a chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chips if you like or whatever favorite one you have.  I made the recipe as directed, except for when it comes to the flour.  Use approximately 1/2 cup of white or yellow cake mix instead of flour. Dip the cookie dough into sprinkles and then bake according to the recipe directions.

Oh holy deliciousness!!  These turned out so tasty!  Yum, yum YUM!  Save the cake mix for other things like birthday cake rice krispy treats or use it in popcorn.

What are your favorite kind of cookies?

Hawaiian Chicken

My oldest BBQ'D this chicken last week.  It turned out pretty tasty. The recipe comes from Pintrest. Come pin it here from me and find the recipe here.  This does a lot of chicken.  I cut the liquid in half. Half the water, half the soy sauce.  I did use half soy sauce and half teriyaki soy sauce.  It was delicious!  Oh my mouthwatering fabulous!  LOVE!

Grilled on the BBQ. Yum!  The picture looks a little bit dry. Nope. The grill marks added the perfect flavor.  This is definitely a recipe for the grill and not for the oven. I would totally make this again!

What have you made from Pintrest lately?

Orange Ice Cream

Okay, so everyone has one of those Monday's that aren't so great every once in a while, or all the time!  My kids and I finished this ice cream last night and were wondering if this is a type-o or not!?

Does ice cream really scream?  Or is it supposed to say cream??  What did you say, I can't hear you because my ice cream is screaming!!

Okay everyone I hope you have a great Monday!  I'll post a chicken recipe we tried this last week from Pintrest...

Have you found any professional type-o's lately?

Rainbows

Wait, what happened to the week?  I can't believe it is already Friday!  I haven't been feeling very good the last few days, but I wanted to share with you guys some pictures I took yesterday as the weather was changing from day to night with rain, hail, wind and even a beautiful rainbow!

This was taken from my backyard standing on the porch.

Now here is the front yard and other side of the rainbow!

Double rainbow!!  I love the way the clouds are under the rainbow and the water drop on the lens above the house on the far right side.  Taken from the front porch.

All this earthly beauty makes me grateful for all my Heavenly Father has done and given me.

Next week I'll share a recipe we tried this last week before the sick set in.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Growing Up

It's going to be my 2nd baby's birthday today!  He's not much of a baby anymore he's turning 14!!  It was the joke at church, if I'm not there I'm probably at the hospital having my baby.  Sure enough I had my baby Sunday morning, about the same time Sacrament service was ending. Now he's taller than me but still the loving sweet boy.  I'm off to find him the most awesome teen birthday present a kid could ask for!  Still no clue, but hope to find inspiration walking around the stores here in town!  He thinks he is getting a hair cut and thats it!  After his hair is done I am going to suprise him with presents!!  AND Cake!!

How do you celebrate birthdays in your family??

Crafty Bag

Awesome!  I finished it!  Yay! I love how it turned out!  I love the fabric, the colors, the print, style. This was part of a Pintrest bag but as I said yesterday I got part way done and started to do my own thing on it.  It's kinda fancy and girly!  LOVE IT!  Now hopefully my daughter wont claim it as hers!  I hope my fellow craft swap group person loves it too!  I really hope so!

Here's a view from the inside!

I love how fancy it turned out!  A lot of work went into this. Here's another view of the bag.

I hope you like it.  Go here to find the link to the pattern. Go here for the Pintrest link to repin & like.  I think you will see the differences in the size, particularly the bottom.

Have you made anything from Pintrest lately? Successful projects or flops? Tell me about them.

Sewing Project - Bag/Purse

Hi There!  I've been working on one of my craft swap projects.  One of my ladies loves paisley. I fell in love with this remnant with a paisley pattern. Here's a sneak peak on how the project is turning out!  I hope she loves it!

I installed these grommets yesterday!  Never used them before!  I followed the directions, was kinda nervous!  It turned out awesome!  (Sorry no picture yet of them installed!)

The pattern I followed didn't have a pocket on the inside.  I made my own.

I have two of these handles to make.  It's quite time consuming. I have one left to finish.  Hopefully it will be done soon so I can sew the handles onto the bag! (The white fabric has paisley print too!)

Here's a peek at what the outside of the bag looks like!  This is about where I stopped following the pattern and did my own thing.  I really hope my craft receiver loves it!

I'm going to finish this up today and post pictures of it tomorrow!  I was just so excited to share it with you, I had to post!!

See you tomorrow with pictures of completion of the bag!!

Pretzel Bites

Have you ever looked at a recipe and wondered should I really do that part of it?  Well I made these pretzel bites to go with dinner this past weekend.  The recipe had you boil the dough in water mixed with baking soda for 30 seconds or so.  I thought that was very interesting.  Having never made pretzels before I thought I would give it a try!  Okay the only pretzels I have made are the ones from the bag found in the chip isle, melt chocolate, dip, sprinkle sprinkles on, you get the idea or the ones found down the frozen section, until I found this recipe.

This recipe I found online thru Pintrest.  Click here for the link to the recipe! Follow the recipe exactly how it says.  Yes even boil the dough in the baking soda water!  When baking them make sure you keep an eye on them in the oven so they don't over bake.  I think this weekend I will make these again and the cheese sauce from the recipe too.

Here's my Pintrest link to where I pinned from a friend!  These are my pictures showing how my pretzel bites turned out.  I made the pieces from the dough bigger than the recipe says to. Hope you try them soon! My kids loved them! YUM!

Have you made pretzels before? Made anything successful from Pintrest lately you would like to share?

Silly girl!

My daughter hasn't felt good lately.  She is catching the cold/flu bug that is going around.  She came to me the other night between sniffles right before bed and asked, "Mommy can we call the Xfinity guys to ask them when My Little Pony shows come on their cable channels".

If you knew her she is into puppies! Or she was!  Christmas she picked out a horse in a purse.  I don't know why but I think she wanted the purse but the horse came with it.  Then about a month ago we were shopping and she found a tan stuffed animal horse and went crazy for it.  Of course daddy bought it for her and a TMNT puzzle for her little brother.  On payday he had me go back for the white hores with black mane and tail.

She's still determined to call and make the Xfinity guys play the show she wants.  We did watch the show on ON Demand.

This weekend we are picking up her new glasses that just came in. Have a great weekend!