Day with My Loves

Valentine's Day was so nice this year. I love that it fell on a Sunday. Even sweeter is that it fell on a Sunday before a Monday holiday! Score!

It was such a relaxing day. We hung out at home~ reading Devin's new Manners books, playing cars, and looking at Devin's baby pictures (awww memory lane!). We made a short trip over to my parents for a little visit. I even got in a quick shopping trip with my Mom while Devin and Erick hung out with Papa. We scored some great deals too! Once we were back home it was nap time and Erick and I relaxed with some tv time. I made a delicious ham dinner complete with pineapple, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.

After dinner, though, was when the real party started. We put on some music and Devin danced around the house while I made a chocolate fondue and cut up bananas and angel food cake. We also had marshmallows with this smooth chocolately goodness!

Sugar Cookies

Since I was feeling a bit better after my root canal this afternoon, Erick and I decided to make sugar cookies with Devin (ha, that's kind of ironic now that I think about it!). It was an interesting occasion and one too many times Devin dumped almost all of the peppermint sprinkles and then the chocolate sprinkles on the cookie sheet. Ooops! We had fun though and they managed to come out pretty nice. We are bringing a plate of cookies in for Devin's teachers tomorrow. (Erick made the batch of brownies for his work.)


(*Devin is spelling out NOEL in this picture.)

Fun Photo Friday

Brownie Batter Hand Prints!

Dirt

Devin and I went grocery shopping the other day. While we were perusing the store I said to him, "Let's make some dirt tonight!" He was quite shocked at my statement. I got excited and said, "Yes, we can even put worms in it!"

Devin just looked at me. "I'm not eating worms Mommy!" he declared. So I went over to the candy isle and grabbed a bag of gummy worms. He quickly changed his mind.

Once we got home I set Devin to work crushing the cookies. He was very good at this task. (and so serious about his work!)
He also helped me mix the pudding and put the worms in to the "Dirt."
Finally it was time to try our creation. What kid wouldn't like to eat this dirt?

Another Recipe

Sorry for all the recipe posts lately, but this one is definitely worth acknowledging! I came across this recipe on Babycenter's "Cooking for Your Family" board.

This Apple Chicken is so sweet smelling, just like an apple pie! I wish you could smell it cooking right now, through my laptop! Anyway, here is the recipe:

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts or you can use tenders if you like smaller portions
1 can frozen apple juice concentrate or about 1 to 1 1/4 cup 100% apple juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 425 deg f
Place the chicken in a glass baking dish in a single layer.
In a small saucepan bring the apple juice, honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with about 1/2 cup of water; add to the apple juice mixture to thicken. Pour the apple juice mixture over the chicken to coat well. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

You can also peel, core, and slice some tarts apples and add them to the pan just before baking.

Oh you are in for a serious treat if you make this one, plus the kiddos love this one too!!!!

That was a Hit!

Tonight I decided to try a recipe that I saw Rachael Ray make on my last snow day. I knew this one was going to be a hit with both of my boys, and man was I right! I definitely recommend this one for families with little ones at home. EVERYONE will love it!

Its an easy recipe to follow. For the most part, I followed the recipe (I am notorious for changing up recipes). I used all ingredients that I had on hand, so that meant ground turkey instead of sirloin, and all sharp cheddar cheese with pizza cheese blend on top instead of swiss.

Here is what the final product looked like:
Devin told me, "Good Job Mommy! You a good cook!" He ate it right up.
Final Note * I am not a fan of mustard and found the mustard in the meatballs a bit overpowering (although no one else noticed) so next time I will use 2 Tablespoons of mustard instead of 1/4 cup.

~

A Word to the Wise

If you are going to take the time to prepare a crock pot meal before work....remember to plug in the crock pot and not just assume it will cook when you turn it on!


I was really looking forward to having this meal tonight. Its easy and delicious. I will share it with you, even though I can not eat it tonight (talk about a WASTE of $!) UGH!

Crock Pot Beef and Carrots

Ingredients:
1 pound of cubed stewing beef
1 bag of baby carrots
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
spices as desired

Directions:
1. Brown the beef in pan using whatever spices you like (I use my garlic pepper combo)
2. Layer the bottom of the crock pot with baby carrots.
3. Place browned beef cubes over the carrots.
4. Dump a can of cream of mushroom soup on top.
5. Cook for approx. 8 hours. on low (BE SURE TO PLUG IT IN!)

This meal is so tender and yummy! If you are able to mix it at some point during the day that is good, if not it will still come out tastey just be sure to spread the soup around when you put it together.