{More} Recipes to Share

So my meal planning has become a biweekly routine and I feel lost if I haven't done it.  I suppose that is a good thing, but it can also be very stressful.  Self-inflicted of course.   This time I thought I would share some more recipes with you...from my menu this week.  Some I have tried, some I will be trying.  

Recipes I've Tried, and Love....

Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Chowder- from Taste and Tell
This is my friend Deborah's very successful recipe blog...and this chowder is by far one of my favorite recipes of hers.  We tried it by chance, and it has quickly become a staple in our home (in fact, Andy is eating some for lunch as I type this).


BBQ Chicken Pizza - from Cooking Light
I shared this recipe before on my blog, and still make it on occasion.  We LOVE homemade pizza! 
The only difference with this recipe is that I usually use a homemade crust...you can find it here.


Sweet Potato Fries - from Our Best Bites
Not only are sweet potatoes good for you, but these are baked...so I pretty much consider them guilt free (aside from the Fry sauce I make to dip them in, hehe)  We love these! 


Cobb Salad - from MyKitchenCafe
Minus the blue cheese, I love Cobb salad!  I keep it pretty simple with chicken, avocado, turkey bacon, egg, tomato and maybe even a little black bean.  Top with homemade ranch and you have a YUMMY dinner.  Serve with these breadsticks and your life will be complete, for a moment at least! 


Recipes I Can't Wait to Try...


Mini Cheese Meat loafs- from Taste and Tell
I am NOT a fan of meatloaf.  I put this on my 2 week menu with a little bit of skepticism...but I figured I probably haven't had it in 15 years, so I might as well give it a shot.   Another reason I decided to try it is because Deborah said her husband hated meatloaf, and he ate every last bite of these...that gives me a little motivation to give it a shot!  


Turkey and Spinach Lasagna - from Tasty Kitchen
This may sound a little presumptuous, but if I could...I may just replace all ground beef with ground turkey.  Ok, maybe not ALL...but I am really excited to try this recipe.  For some reason it just sounds delish! 


Fiesta Chicken Tacos with Mango and Jicama Salad- from Taste and Tell
I've already decided that if I can't find the Jicama, I am going to make this mango salsa...and maybe just serve it with this cilantro lime rice.  mmmmm. 


I  have discovered that the dinner possibilities are endless!  Now if I could just figure out what to make for lunches I would be set!  Enjoy! 

Help Yourself

This is what happens when mom just can't make dinner quick enough....

Noah has been known to help himself to the pantry.  Usually he goes for the bread, but this time I guess he decided to switch it up a little and enjoy some Baked Lays.  Trust me, by the time he was finished a good 1/4 of the bag was gone.  I'd say that's pretty substantial for such a small belly.  


I do feed him.  Really.  In fact, here is a little recipe for what we ACTUALLY had for dinner tonight.   I love anything that is a) chicken and b) cooked in the crockpot!  This checks both of those boxes, so of course it was a winner to me :) 


Pulled Chicken Slider Sandwiches
from Or So She Says

{Picture from Or So She Says}

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 3 Tbsp prepared mustard
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 12 slider sized rolls

1. Place 3 chicken breasts in the base of the slow cooker.
2. In small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste plus 2 cans worth of water, the cider vinegar, mustard, and brown sugar. Add a little salt and pepper is you wish. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic to the sauce.
3. Pour sauce over chicken breasts. Set slow cooker to high and cook for 4-6 hours.
4. When chicken is finished in the slow cooker, scoop it out into a bowl and using 2 forks, “pull it” apart.
5. Scoop some sauce from the slow cooker and add until reaches your desired ‘sauciness.'  Serve on slider sized rolls and enjoy!

There is also a recipe for pineapple coleslaw on the link above, but I made my own variation.  

Coleslaw

1 bag coleslaw mix (found with prepackaged lettuce)
Sliced almonds
Dried cranberries
1 apple (cut and cubed)
Brianna's poppy seed dressing.

Mix all together (use your own desired amounts of almonds, cranberries and apple). Enjoy!

Help, I'm Stuck!

The other day I was in the laundry room switching out a load when I heard Noah whining.  I came out into the kitchen and found him in this little pickle....

I have no idea how he got under the chair like this, but he was sure uncomfortable.

I ended up just having to lift up the chair so he could crawl out! It's amazing to me the positions little kids can get themselves into, and what possess them to want to try it in the first place?? haha

Pictures From The Past....

So my girlfriend (and sister in law) Allice recently did a post where she put a bunch of oldies but goodies on her blog.  I totally warned her that I was going to copy, and here is my shameless post.  Enjoy!

Emotion Bowl

New Years Eve: Times Square

The Belmont: Chels and Meliss

West Point:  Andy and his Pops

Las Vegas Bowl:  Greg, Corey, Andy and Gary

New York Subway

Las Vegas M&M Store: Bob and Andy

Cammie, Allice and Melissa

West Point Graduation Day

The Asian Star:  Chels and Meliss (showing off our bling)

Pei Wei: Cory, Andy and Meliss

(first night we met) 

I love walking down memory lane! 

 If only you could see ALL the others we have.  

'A Friend Loveth at All Times' - Proverbs 17:17

I have been thinking a lot about the value of a good friend.  When I was younger I was blessed with wonderful friends.  People who uplifted me, included me and brought a lot of happiness to my life.  As I have grown older I have continued to be blessed with wonderful friends...women whom I admire and who posses qualities that I hope to develop in my own life.   Even still, I feel like my closest of friends are few in number.  Some I have had for a very long time, and others the time has been shorter.

I was writing in my journal last night about the qualities of a good friend.  Qualities that some of my friends growing up had, and qualities that I think are just as important as I continue to make friends during this stage of my life.  Here is a brief list of some of the most important qualities I see in my closest of friends....

1) Makes you feel good about yourself.
A friend who sincerely compliments and encourages you.  Someone who sees your great successes, even amid your failures.

2) Reliable.
Day or night, near or far.  Someone you know, who would drop anything to be there when you need them most.

3) Wants what's best for you. 
A friend who is genuinely happy for you when things go right, and lifts you up when they don't.

4) Trustworthy.
A friend who is honest with you and who you know has your best interest at heart.

5) Loves you for who you are.


6) Makes you want to be a better person. 


7) Someone you can learn from. 


I hope that I too, possess some of these qualities!  I truly am so grateful for the relationships that the Lord has blessed me with.  Being surrounded by good friends can drastically change who you are, for the better; and I know that has certainly been the case in my life.

 What are some of the qualities you admire most about your friends?  

:Click here to read about the importance of good friendship:

Birthday Boy is Bounding with Joy...

Like my title?  Yeah, I just came up with that...

Yesterday we celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday!  Two years old. Really?  Where has the time gone?  I can't believe what a big boy he is.  The changes in the last year have been unreal.  I am amazed how quickly little kids change in such a short amount of time.  But I love it, and I love him.

We didn't plan anything huge for Noah's birthday.  We are pretty laid back when it comes to birthdays.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE celebrating them and making the birthday boy feel special...but until he is old enough to actually understand what his birthday is (instead of just a random day where he gets a lot of new presents) we probably won't be having any big shin-digs.    The little gathering we did have was perfect though and are so grateful to have friends who would come celebrate with us....

Gifts, gifts and more gifts!  We had originally planned on getting Noah a train table, but decided to put it off until Christmas.   He was none the wiser though, and received some wonderful gifts from family and friends.  THANK you to everyone who sent him something, we can't tell you how much we appreciate your generosity!

He was super focused opening his presents, but it didn't last long.  When he realized all the things he got he didn't even want to eat cake....

I decided this year I would make him a little lion cake.  After searching all over the internet for ideas this is the SIMPLEST variation I came up with.  I am not a cake decorator (nor do I have the patience to be!)  But I was happy with the finished product, and Noah certainly LOVED the lion.  So that's what matters most. 

He did a great job of blowing out his candles, he got the first one out all by himself and then had a little help from daddy on the second one.  

Here are some things we love about Noah... 

He is so sweet and curious

He loves music- singing in church and dancing to it

He loves to play with his cars and will do it for hours

He loves to read

He LOVES animals.  Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my!)

He has the most adorable facial expressions

He loves to tell us stories (just like his daddy)

He loves his friends, and gets so excited when they come to play

He LOVES nursery at church

He has the greatest personality and makes us smile 100 times+ a day. 

Happy birthday buddy.  Your daddy and I are so grateful and blessed to have you as a part of our family.  You make us so happy and we can't imagine our lives without you in it.  We love you. 

"It is our solemn duty, our precious privilege—even our sacred opportunity—to welcome to our homes and to our hearts the children who grace our lives."

President Thomas S. Monson

Baby Girl...

I can't believe how quickly time is going and how Unprepared I am for this little lady to come.  Part of it is the fact that we will be moving right after she is born...but the other part (probably the bigger part) is that I have been especially lazy!   Just because I haven't put my ideas in to action yet, doesn't mean I don't have ideas.  I am SO excited to actually be able to decorate a nursery... so far this is what I've got!

First, I want to make her crib bedding...at least the bumper and skirt!  I have been searching aimlessly for the right fabric and I think I just may have found a place to start.....

Uh, hello Moda Sugar Pop!!  I love this line and already plan on purchasing a many yardage of it!  I think the colors are perfect.  Not too bright, but not too mellow (and not too traditional either).  

Paired with this beautiful piece by Maria Carluccio.  

I think I am in love....(now if I can only find a print for LESS than $100 I will be happy).

And since my little brother does vinyl...maybe one of these too....

No, I am not announcing her name...but isn't this perfect?  I love it! 

Lastly, I saw the idea for this mobile on this website and fell in love!  I will definitely include one of these too (in the correct color scheme, of course). 

I can't wait to actually put all my ideas to action.  Wish me luck, and give me suggestions if you have them....this could be dangerous! 

Goin To The PNW!

Life in the Army, as some of you know, can be very unpredictable!  Our experience has been as such.....

Right after we got married in 2007 we moved to Fort Leonard Wood and stayed until April of 2008.  After Fort Leonard Wood was Fort Knox from April of 2008 until April of 2009.  Between May of 2009 and May of  2010 Andy was deployed and I lived with my sweet parents.  In May of 2010 we moved back to Fort Leonard wood and will be here until April of 2011.  Whoo!  So basically that means, that during our married life, we have never been in one place for more that a year.  It's exhausting, but exciting at the same time.

Right now Andy is in a course that teaches him how to be a Company Commander.   During the course we meet with an Engineer Branch Manager who gives us options of where our next station could be.   Of course, like always, there are no guarantees in the Army...so Andy and I thought we would do our best to go where we actually wanted!  There were several choices but our top two were Fort Lewis, Washington or staying here at Fort Leonard Wood.   Trust me, this decision was a great matter of prayer - so you can imagine our excitement when we found out where we will be heading next....

The drive to Fort Lewis will be a mere 2 1/2 hours for Andy's parents (who live in Portland) and only about 13 hours for my parents (who are in Idaho).  13 hours may sound dreadful, but compared to the current 23 hours - it feels like a hop, skip and a jump.  Plus, who wouldn't want to come visit Washington?  

All in all we are really excited.  We still have several months before the move, but of course first things first....the arrival of our little lady is a only 2 months away (say what?!).   It's definitely going to be a crazy few months, but we couldn't be happier! 

PS. If you did catch it before...in my title, PNW stands for Pacific North West.  Can I get a WHOOP from all my Westerners?!?! 

I Never Met A Chocolate I Didn't Like...

OH today.  Today has been a crazy day.  I had a Doctors appointment at 12:00 this afternoon and decided I would be brave and actually take Noah with me.  The drive is about 25 minutes, so of course he fell asleep in the car.  I was hoping that he would sleep a little bit more in the stroller, but that didn't happen.  So, after a 20 minute nap he was up for good.  Usually, in those cases, I can lay him down again in the afternoon and he will nap twice - but that didn't work either.   So we were both cranky.  

After Andy got finished with class he sent me a text and Noah and I headed out to pick him up (remember, one of our cars is having issues).  We stopped at the commissary to pick up a few things and I decided to pick up some healthy choice chocolate bars.   Noah was begging to have one (by begging I mean whining) and I figured, why not!?  So on the drive home he enjoyed a chocolate ice cream bar.  I had honestly forgotten about it until we got home and found him like this....

Looks like his lack of sleep finally caught up to him.  The best part about the whole thing??  As he dozed in and out of sleep he continued to try and finish the ice cream.  Then when we finally got him out of the car, he started asking for more!   I don't think Andy and I have ever laughed so hard....it was pretty hilarious.

Needless to say, my cranky mood turned a lot lighter after seeing this.  Even though being a mom can be frustrating at times, there are moments that make you realize just how much you love it.  This was one of those moments for me.  I sure love this little guy, even when he is cranky.

Cabin Fever!

OHHHH man do we have cabin fever.  Noah and I haven't even been anywhere since Monday and probably won't be heading out today either.  Not only because it is supposed to be freezing outside, but also because one of our cars won't start (if only you could hear my groaning).  Anyway,  that means Andy had to take our Honda to work today.  Which is totally fine, except it leaves Noah and I here to hang out another day.   I am running out of ways to entertain him, and at 30 weeks pregnant there isn't much I can do anyway!

Yesterday I put on this video that I had seen a couple of times.  For some reason Noah just loves to watch the hippo and dog as they sing and dance to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.  He watched it four times in a row.   We were laughing at how into it he was....

He didn't even look away as I snapped pictures of him...it was hilarious.  Or I thought so anyway.  I said to Andy yesterday how I couldn't believe how much Noah has grown!  Time is going to quickly and he keeps me on my toes.  I just get the biggest kick out of his expressions and the things he says.  Next Monday he will turn 2 years old and I can not believe it!   He really is a little boy, and not my chubby little baby.

(Another) Snow Day!

It seems that snow day's here in the Midwest are becoming the next trend.  I mean seriously, we have them ALL the time.  I always tease that if we were in Idaho (where I grew up) people wouldn't even blink at the amount of snow we have been getting.  I won't complain though, Andy had no work today and already found out he doesn't have it tomorrow either!  We will take all the free days we can get!

Today, since the weather was nasty (and so were the roads), we spent all of our time at home. We have enjoyed some nap time, a little movie time, soup time, hot cocoa time and even some play in the snow time!   Noah loves being outside, he would have walked out in his socks if we would have let him, so Andy took him out to play for a little while.   I still can't get over how cute he looks all bundled up in his snow gear.  It cracks me up and melts my heart all at the same time....

BURR.  All I can say is I am so grateful that we still have power, heat and water.  I remember the storm back in KY, when I was pregnant with Noah...we had no power or water for almost a week.  It sure makes you grateful for the simple things, and trust me...I am!