Ever Sprouted Twins?

Tonight Hammie was playing with Ree's little Dora twins. For some reason he decided they would look best coming out of Bill's pant legs. At least they're friendly. All smiley and wavey. HI!!!

Sidenote: Check out the various Polly Pocket/Spiderman/finger puppet figures all over my floor. Bizarre. No wonder Addie looks angry.

Italian Wedding Soup

This soup was very yummy. It's definitely a new go-to recipe for the cold months. I've never used orzo before, it was kinda fun!

New Curtains

The picture of the front window curtains didn't turn out very good. They are darker than they appear and are made to look crinkly. I will try to get a better picture when it isn't dark in the house and outside.

Am I The Only One Who Hates This?

Last Saturday I went to prepare my glass of ice water that I sit on the ledge next to my treadmill. I opened the freezer and this was what I saw. Waaah wahhhhhhhhh.

Early Earth Day Project

I got this idea from Sandra Lee's new magazine. The kids and I planted sweet basil starts that will make their way into outside pots when the weather allows. It gave me an excuse to play in the dirt before spring planting officially starts. We're going to add a couple cans of parsley later this week.

Cake Pops

I found these via www.thepioneerwoman.com who discovered them from www.bakerella.com. These women are both very famous bloggers. I've been following PW for over a year and if you're not familiar.....you need to check her out. Bakerella is amazingly creative. Bakerella has a tutorial on how to do these, as does PW.

Anyway.....I made my first attempt at creating Bakerella's most basic cake pops. Needless to say, they are a huge hit. I already have an order for Easter and will be teaching my Mom to make them for a graduation party she's helping my aunt Patty with this spring.

I packaged them up in a $1 bucket from Target's fabulous dollar section.

Scenes From Beach Day

Hammie's teachers create a beach scene each year. They turn the heat up to 80, fill a couple kiddie pools and the kids swim and make beach themed crafts. It's truly a favorite day and I know Hammie will remember it forever.

Marble

Bill has been charged with putting drops in Hammie's ear for the last several days. To get Hammie through the uncomfortable moment, he tells him he can see the marble rolling around inside his head. It distracts him long enough to get the job done.

Bill picked him up from preschool a couple days ago and Miss Casey told him Hammie informed her that "I am pretty sure the marble Daddy sees in my head finally rolled out." HA! She was cracking up.

Meatballs & Sauce For A Crowd

I offered to make meatballs in spaghetti sauce for my niece and Mother-in-law's birthday party tonight. My sister-in-law is having us all up for dinner, which will be fun!

I created this recipe as I was going along. I figure after watching Food Network all these years, I could wing it with what I've learned from Giada, Sandra and others.


















Meatballs:

4 pounds lean ground beef
1 heaping Tbs. dried, minced onion (fresh has too much moisture)
3 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 egg
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2-3 Tbs. parmesan cheese (yep, I used the can)
1 Tbs. italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper




















Line 2 cookie sheets with foil. Combine all the above ingredients and form into balls, I used my cookie scoop, and place onto the cookie sheets. This is important because if you add them to the hot pan as you go, they will brown unevenly. When you have enough for a pan or two, heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a pan (I did two so I could keep things moving) and when the pan is hot, add the meatballs. I was able to fit a cookie sheet's worth into each pan. Brown on one side, then flip them. There's no need to cook them through because the crock pot will do that for you.

Spaghetti Sauce:

2 1/2 jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp. italian seasoning, divided
1/2 large onion, diced and cooked until soft

Spray your crock pot sleeve with non-stick cooking spray. Pour 2 jars spaghetti sauce, the tomatoes, cooked onion, 1 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning and stir. Add meatballs into sauce as they are finished browning. Ever so gently, fold them into the sauce being careful not to over-stir them. After you have added all of the meatballs, pour 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce and the last 1/2 tsp of seasoning on top. Again, gently stir to settle it into the top meatballs, don't stir to the bottom.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve in hoagies, or over spaghetti noodles.

This makes enough for at least 6 adults, a teenage boy, and 5 kids.

The picture below was taken just after putting into the crock pot. Don't let the pink meat freak you out.

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

I had to wake up Ree for an early doctor's appointment today. She typically sleeps in, so it was a bit hard for her to shake the cobwebs off this morning.

Rare Twinly Moment

Hammie and Ree don't have "twin moments" very often. I got lucky last Saturday and caught this one as I was walking upstairs with my camera.

Burger Recipe

First, I hardly ever make burgers because I'm not a big red meat fan and Hailey really doesn't care for it. Bill, G, and Hammie get very excited when I make them.

I tried a new recipe last night. I made it up, it's an original. No picutre, because we all know what a burger looks like.

1.5 pounds lean ground beef
1 packet ranch dressing mix (dry)
1 1/2 tsp. Worchesteshire sauce
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 Tbs. minced dry onion flakes
3 Tbs. milk (I would've used 2-3 Tbs. light sour cream if I'd had it.)

Mix and make into patties. Cook in a hot pan until required doneness is achieved. I made my patties kinda small, but this recipe would easily feed 4 people, more if one weren't a voracious teen carnivore.

Tip: When slicing tomatoes for the top, don't cut a divot out of your pointer finger with your razor-sharp Wuesthoff knife.

Yay!!!

Here's our new wall all finished.

P.S. - See that 13 year old entertainment center? It's as good as gone. The shopping expedition to replace it starts this weekend. Holy smokes, what an eyesore!

Wall color contrast

Check out the difference! I didn't realize how washed out the old color (middle) was until the new one was on the walls. Joseph is finishing up my 2 accent color walls today and the painting is done. Yay! Well, I mean it's done until after the new kitchen is finished. Then there's some painting to do in there.

I will show you the accent color tonight or tomorrow.

Grievous Injury

G was riding his bike after school today and went to jump "something" and landed on his face. He says it doesn't really hurt, it just feels weird because it's swollen. He looks as though he's been in a prize fight. I hope he gets out of this jumping things phase soon, because my nerves can't take much more.

Kindergarten Registration

Bill went to sign Hammie up for preschool this morning. We went to a meeting last week to collect all the forms (no lie, there were 8 to fill out and about as many to explain how to complete them). I diligently completed them and double checked to make sure my i's were dotted and t's were crossed. I gave him specific instructions last night to watch the secretary date and time our forms to ensure that our precious boy would get into full-day kindergarten. There is only one full-day class, so it's quite competetive. Then I filed everything into a folder (the folder had a huge picture of Zac Efron on it HA!!) by order of importance and told him to that his child's kindergarten future rested solely on his shoulders. So don't screw it up.

Bill called me when he got home from registration and dropping the littles at preschool. He said he was there right on time (yes there were time rules) and some people had somehow already signed up. Dirty pool!!! He nervously asked the secretary if she thought we would be okay and she said she didn't know why not. I hope she's right!

Ree is already pretty good to go. I have a few loose ends to tie up, but we're just about there. I'm making it seem easier than it really was/is. We had a formal meeting to figure her kindergarten life out, plus we talked to the principal at her new school last week at the kindergarten info meeting. She will be getting some speech and occupational therapy a few times a week next year, so she is going to a school quite a distance from our house so she can get what she needs. It's a really good thing she likes the bus since it looks like she will be bussing a lot.

I'm pretty sure it's easier to sign up for the military than kindergarten these days! I can't wait for first grade because both kids will be in the same school, all day. That will be a blessing.

Next up......G has to start the WASL in a week or two. Which means going to bed on time and eating right so his brain functions at peak performance. That's easier said than done with a teenage boy who is a night owl, non-breakfast eater.

Philly Cheesesteak Pockets

So I tried a couple of new recipes this week. Monday night I made Philly Cheesesteak pockets that were featured in Sandra Lee's new magazine. They were a big hit, but the pie crust was a bit rich for me. I will make them again, but put the filling into a pizza dough instead.

I've been asked to post pictures of the cooking process for the recipes I post. Here goes.
























Here's the recipe (with a few adjustments):

1 pound sliced deli roast beef, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup reduced sodium beef broth
red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 cup shredded pizza cheese
1 package (two crusts) refrigerated pie crusts
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Saute' peppers, onion, and garlic in 1 tsp. olive oil until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the chopped meat, broth, and pepper flakes and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the mixture in a collander.

Lay each pie crust out on the cookie sheet, one at a time, fill with 1/2 of the meat mixture, and cover with cheese. Fold over one side and seal with fork tines. Brush with olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes, until brown.

Dipping sauce (again, slightly adjusted):

2/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 Tbs. prepared horseradish
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 small clove garlic, chopped fine

Combine all and keep in the fridge 'til ready to serve.

My adjustments centered around using fresh garlic instead of garlic salt because deli meats are so salty. I also cut the mayo down by 1/3 cup and used a light version to save on calories. Using the pie crusts called for in the recipe, these easily feed 4 people. The crust is very rich, as you would imagine.

Singing At The Mall

The kids' school district was featured at our local mall this week. As part of the festivities, Ree's class sang at the mall. Bill and Grandma Donna went to watch. She wasn't quite sure why she was there with her school mates, singing, and not shopping like normal.

Sunday Morning Snuggles