10/13/12

Well, another busy Saturday has gone down in the books.

I had a hard time sleeping this morning, so I was up bright and early. I hopped in the shower and started getting ready before the toddler whirlwind took over the house. Christian was off to get his tires realigned. The truck has been pretty shaky since getting his new tires put  on a few weeks ago, so hopefully they just weren’t aligned correctly, and it isn’t something more serious. Of course his warranty LITERALLY just expired, so that would be horrible.

While he was gone, the girls and I finished getting ready for the day and packing our bag. We had a quick breakfast, and as soon as Christian got home, we were off. Today’s events, TWO costume birthday parties!

First up, my cousin’s little girl, Lucy, turned 3. They had her party at a local rec center, with a little carnival themed party in the gym. The girls had a blast playing games and running around. It’s always fun catching up with family you don’t see too often too, so that’s just a wonderful bonus!

Since both parties were in St. Paul, not far from each other, we didn’t want to waste time running home between. So, we wasted some time stopping to get Christian a haircut. I swear, it’s ridiculous how fast that mans hair grows!

Next up, our niece’s birthday party at my sister in law’s apartment. It was just a family party, so fairly low key. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We had a big Mexican dinner, watched some movies, and the girls were sent home with LOTS of goodies! They definitely made a haul today.

We left the party around 6:00, and the girls passed out before we hit the highway. I always worry about how they’ll react to no naps, but they did great.  Amelia went straight to bed when we got home. Olivia woke up when I was bringing her inside, so she watched a couple of videos to wind down, then was off to bed. Christian was off to meet his friend Lorenzo for the UFC fight, so I had the house to myself tonight! I caught up on some shows and my blog, and got plenty of relaxation in. Love my alone time!

Even though our outings are always BEYOND fun, I’m looking forward to a day of no plans tomorrow! I plan on sending the family away for a while so I can get caught up on some much, MUCH needed cleaning around the house. Not exciting, but oh so necessary!

10/12/12 - Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

This morning was my weekly weigh in, and, as I kind of expected, I was up. I gained a pound this week. I decided to take the week off from exercising, so I’ve been pretty lax, just giving myself a little break. I plan on starting back up on Sunday, so hopefully I’ll be back on track next week. Everybody needs a little break here and there!

While not my usual Friday off, my mom is away at a work conference, so I just HAD to take the day off work to stay home with the girls. Oh, darn! I was actually a little nervous about it. The girls have been at each other’s throats lately, worse than usual. I just had no idea how they were going to do.

Olivia woke up whining really early this morning, so I brought her into bed with me. While Christian was getting ready for work, Amelia woke up. He actually convinced her to lay back down and go to sleep. So, we slept in! Like, REALLY slept in. Olivia woke me up around 9:00, and we watched some TV in bed. Amelia finally came out of her room around 10:00. Wow!

We had some breakfast, and were off to do some shopping. We stopped into the dollar store so we could each get a little treat. The girls did great, and I think it started their day off on a happy note. Next up, we stopped into the party store to get their costumes. They were a little creeped out by the spooky décor all over the store, but they were really excited to try on their costumes and bring them home. Another successful stop, and we were on our way home. We picked up some lunch, ate and it was already nap time!

I started dinner as soon as the girls were up from their naps, and they fighting finally started up. It wasn’t as bad as it can get, but they would not leave each other alone, AT ALL. They certainly know how to push each other’s buttons….already. We ate dinner as soon as Christian got home, had some ice cream for dessert and had a little family time before bed.

Once the girls were down, Christian and I settled in for a movie night. Tonight, we watched “American Reunion”. It was definitely what you would expect from the “American Pie” franchise, but we had a lot of laughs. That was the only movie we could make it through, so we were off to bed after that. All in all, a good day!

I snapped this picture of Rico and Chuy today. The animals fight over the "sun spots" in the kitchen all day long, especially when the sun starts going down, and space in it is limited...

Tonight’s dinner was Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (I used 4, and made sure not to cut the pieces too small)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 Cup Cornstarch
• 2 Eggs
• ¼ Cup Canola Oil
• ¾ Cup Sugar
• 4 tbsp Ketchup
• ½ Cup Distilled White Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Garlic Salt

• 3 Cups Cooked White Rice
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas & Carrots
• 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 2 Eggs
• ¼ Cup Soy Sauce

Directions:

Chicken

1.      Sprinkle the cut up pieces of chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the canola oil in a shallow pan.

2.      Put cornstarch in one bowl, (2) beaten eggs in another bowl. Coat the chicken pieces in cornstarch, then in egg, and add it to the shallow pan of oil to cook. Do not cook completely, just until browned all around. (I did have some excess egg cook off of the chicken that I removed.).

3.      Meanwhile, mix the sugar, ketchup, white vinegar, (1 tbsp) soy sauce and garlic salt in a bowl, and whisk until blended. 

4.      Add cooked chicken to a greased 8x8 casserole dish, pour the sauce over the chicken, and bake at 325° for 60 minutes, stirring the mixture every 15 minutes.

Rice

Note: this can be made a day or so ahead of time, I used freshly made though.

1.      I cooked some white rice, according to the package (including some butter and salt for taste). Except, I use Chicken Broth instead of water.

2.      Heat the sesame oil in a pan. Add the peas, carrots and garlic and cook until tender.

3.      Push the veggies to the side, and scramble 2 eggs on the other side of the pan.

4.      Mix together, add the rice and (¼ cup) soy sauce, mix everything together and heat through.

Honestly, I would highly recommend this recipe. It definitely rivals any takeout we’ve had, and even though some steps are tedious, it’s super easy. This is by far our favorite meal so far this month.

10/11/12 - Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Well, this week FLEW by. Today is my Friday at work, and I can honestly say this was one of the best weeks I’ve had at work in a long time. It was stressful and chaotic at times, but I was so busy, I couldn’t believe it was quitting time, every day. I feel like so many issues I’ve been dealing with for so long (actual WORK related) came to a close this week, and that’s always a huge relief. I really made huge strides towards catching up at this week, and I feel like I’ll be starting out next week at a NORMAL pace. We’ll see how long it lasts though!

Christian has been working a TON of overtime. As I mentioned before, it will basically be that way through the holiday’s now. He’s been working at least 7:00-5:30, sometimes 6:00 or so. He COULD start at 6:00AM, but I can’t see him ever consistently getting up early enough to actually do that. That, plus all of his weekend work should definitely help us out financially.

The girls are doing great in school. They had another successful week. Olivia is getting better and better at actually telling me how her day goes and things that she goes. They are working really hard to separate Bella and Olivia a little bit during the day when they’re both there. They certainly still get their play time together, but I think the teachers were starting to notice Olivia didn’t really have much interaction with the other kids, which was actually starting to bother me and I was planning on talking to them about it. It wouldn’t bother me as much if Bella was always there when Olivia is, but 1) she is only part time, 2 days a week, and not always 2 days when Olivia is there, and 2) Bella is actually going to be a year ahead of Olivia in school, so I don’t want them getting TOO dependent on each other, knowing they aren’t going to be together for much longer. I notice Olivia being more friendly with the other kids lately, and talking about them, so hopefully she’s starting to get to know them better. Amelia is doing great. She’s spending a majority of her days in the “older toddler’s” room with Miss Eva, getting ready for pre-school. Miss Eva has been working a lot with her on going potty (like a broken record, I know we need to start working on it at home SOON), so it’s fun reading her update sheet every day and seeing what she’s up to.

After work today, I had to make one last stop into Walmart to pick up a few last ingredients I need for this weekend’s recipes. Then, I picked up the girls and started dinner. We had to start dinner without Christian tonight because he was so late, but he joined us before we were done. The entire house was pretty exhausted tonight, so we all pretty much made our way to bed shortly after dinner time. Our busy schedules are really catching up with us, that's for sure!

Tonight, as I cuddled into bed to relax, I was surrounded by these furry creatures...

Tonight’s dinner was Chicken Parmesan Burgers and Tater Tots.

Ingredients:

• Ciabatta Rolls (I just used regular hamburger buns because we had some on hand)
• 2lbs Ground Chicken
• 2 Cups Marinara Sauce (split)
• 1 tsp Dried Thyme
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Side:

• Frozen Tater Tots (cooked according to the package)

Directions:

1. Mix the ground chicken, ½ the marinara sauce, thyme, red pepper, salt and pepper in a bowl, and form into burger patties.
2. Heat a pan with non-stick oil, and heat each patty through until no longer pink.
3. Heat the rolls/buns, and add a cooked patty to each, topped, with the remaining marinara sauce and cheese, and serve.

10/10/12 - Cheese Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

Today was a pretty typical day. Work went well, and I ended up leaving a little early today. I had to stop at the store on my way home, and tonight’s dinner was going to take a little longer than I originally thought, so I had to get that started.

After getting dinner prepared and started, I was off to pick the girls up from school. We arrived home just as Christian was (SUPER early compared to his recent schedule). I finished up dinner; we ate and had plenty of family time. We colored and played for a while, and tried to keep the girls from driving each other crazy. After baths and the usual bedtime ritual, Christian and I weren’t far behind. We’ve been beyond tired this week; we need some R&R!

Tonight’s dinner was Cheese Stuffed Turley Meatloaf, with Potatoes & Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• 1 Egg
• ¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Parlsey
• ¾ Cup Dried Bread Crumbs
• ½ tsp Adobo Seasoning
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper
• ½ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• ¼ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Side:

• Bag of Green Giant Potatoes and Green Beans Steamer (cooked according to the package)

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients (except the cheese) in a bowl.
2. Add ½ of the mixture into a loaf pan, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the ½ cup cheese in a mound down the center of the pan, and the top with the remaining mixture.
3. Bake at 350° until browned and cooked through, about one hour. If desired, sprinkle the optional ¼ cup cheese during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
4. Let loaf stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I've never been a big meatloaf person (one reason I chose a Turkey loaf), but this one was REALLY good. The girls at it up, no problem. I would definitely make it again.

10/9/12 - Bowtie Pasta with Italian Sausage

Work was super busy today. The day actually flew by…it was quitting time before I knew it, and that rarely happens. Christian is basically working until 5:30 or 6:00 now, so he doesn’t get home until pretty late. Then, we had a pretty rough evening.

The girls were doing really well when we first got home…they played downstairs for a while, no audible fighting or major issues. But, at dinnertime, everything fell apart. Amelia wouldn’t eat, Olivia was just instigating fight after fight with her, and then the injuries began. First, both girls have this horrible habit of putting their feet on the side of the table, and rocking their chairs. We have the argument daily with both of them to stop, or their going to get hurt. Sure enough, while I was washing our dinner dishes, Amelia finally bit the dust and her chair went crashing backwards to the ground. She hit her head on the top of the chair and was pretty scared. We of course had that mixture of anger for her not listening, fear that she was REALLY hurt and pain seeing our baby girl hurt. She sat on the couch with me, nice and calm for a little while, and seemed to be doing well. Then, she and Olivia started getting into it over everything and fighting non-stop, even after several timeouts. Finally, Olivia was chasing Amelia around the house, giving her little pushes as they went along. I warned her to stop pushing Amelia, of course she did not listen, and she ended up pushing Amelia too hard. Amelia lost her balance and fell right into the coffee table (rounded, thank God), and she took it right in the eye. Olivia was immediately sent to bed at that point. I got Amelia ready for bed and sat with her on the couch for a while to make sure she was OK.

I swear, I’m going to go crazy with these two one day! I don’t understand why they can’t EVER listen. I know they’re toddlers, so those natural toddler tendencies are going to be there. And, I know they are siblings, so that sibling rivalry is always going to be there. But it just seems SO extreme, and I have no idea what to do about it. It’s BEYOND frustrating!

After they were both down for the night, Christian passed out (I think those long hours at work are starting to take a toll). I watched a few shows, edited some pictures and took it easy. I’m taking the week off from my video and getting some much needed rest! Hoping for a better day tomorrow!!

Tonight’s meal was just a standard pasta dish with sides.

Ingredients:

• Box of Bowtie Pasta
• Salt for Boiling
• Jar of Spaghetti Sauce (I just use Market Pantry Traditional)
• Seasonings to Jazz It Up (I just use whatever I have on hand, tonight Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary and Chili Powder)
• Italian Sausage (I use the whole package; we like our pasta meaty)

Sides:

1. Green Giant Mixed Vegetables Steamer Bag; cooked according to the package (I use the Baby Bullet to grind some up and mix it in the girls sauce)
2. Texas Toast; cooked according to the package

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salt water to a boil, and boil pasta according to package.
2. Cook Italian sausage in medium saucepan. Once cooked through, add the pasta sauce and seasonings, stir, cover and let simmer until ready to serve. 

10/8/12 - Breaded Pork Chops & Lemon/Garlic Green Beans

Monday, back to reality. Still SUPER exhausted from our chaotic weekend.

My mother in law came to our house to watch the girls today, so that saved me some time in the morning, which was nice. Too bad our house is a DISASTER right now (well, just the basement really, but still). I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough to clean it up though (and, when was I going to do that anyway?!).

Work went well. I was pretty busy catching up from being off on Friday. I actually had a ton of work that was just sitting around waiting for something else to come in, or some issue to be cleared up, or just being held up for some random reason, and most of it seemed to come back in today and Friday so I was able to do a lot of “inbox clearing” which felt good.

The weather is still pretty cold. I’m guessing we’ve seen the last of our warm days, and I’m pretty sad about it. I used to welcome winter with open arms, but with kids, we can experience so much more life in the warmer weather, so it’s kind of a bummer now. Hopefully we’ll actually get some snow this year so I can take the girls sledding and stuff, and really experience winter.

I left early, of course, to do our weekly shopping. I’m finding that my grocery bills seem to actually be a little cheaper the last couple of weeks…less expensive processed stuff, a lot of the seasonings and stuff needed to “cook from scratch” I already have, or now have and will be set for a while. So, that’s going well. I had to buy birthday gifts for a couple of parties this upcoming weekend, so that was fun…I love shopping for presents! Then, I made my way home. The girls had just woken up from their naps, so they were a little tired/crabby still. My mother in law left right away, I unloaded the groceries and started dinner. Once the girls were a little cheerier, the evening went pretty smoothly. After dinner, Christian vacuumed out the heating vents, got the girls ready for bed and put them down while I got to work folding the MOUNDS of laundry I washed yesterday. It seriously took me forever. Laundry, ugh. It was most definitely bedtime by the time I finished! I was able to watch my Sunday shows while I did it though…my now favorite overall night of TV…Once Upon a Time, Revenge and 666 Park Avenue. Good times!

I did get our CD from our family pics this summer this weekend, so I can finally share more of those with you. LOVE THEM!

Tonight’s meal was Breaded Pork Chops, Stuffing and Lemon/Garlic Green Beans.

Ingredients:

• 4 Boneless Pork Loins, 4ozs Each (I used 3 larger, boneless pork chops, the total package was 15ozs)
• 2 Cups Orange Juice (really, I think 1 Cup would do)
• 1 ½ Cups Bread Crumbs (again, I think 1 Cup, or even ¾ Cup would do)
• 2 tsp Seasoned Salt
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 lb of Fresh Green Beans
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
• 1 tbsp of Lemon Juice
• ¼ tsp of Pepper
• 1/8 tsp of Salt

Side:

• Stovetop Stuffing (cooked according to the package)

Directions:

Pork Chops

1. Fill a small bowl with the orange juice. Mix together the seasoned salt and bread crumbs in another small bowl.
2. Soak each chop in the orange juice. Then, coat each chop with the bread crumb mixture.
3. Heat the Olive Oil in a shallow pan. Once warm, cook the chops, 9 minutes each side.

Green Beans

1. Heat the Olive Oil in a pan, add the garlic until browned.
2. Add your washed and clipped green beans, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Mix in your Lemon Juice, Salt and Pepper, and keep on low until ready to dish.

This was actually REALLY good. The girls devoured it too. I would recommend this one.

10/7/12 - Crockpot Orange Chicken over Brown Rice

Today was one of those days I look forward to all year long. Sever’s Corn Maze day!

I was up bright and early getting ready for the day. Much easier, might I add, without the girls running circles around me! I left the house at 9:30, stopped at the cash machine and picked the girls up from my mom’s. Of course, they had lots of stories to share about their night over at Grandma Mary’s house, and I can’t get enough of how excited they get to see me when I pick them up. It’s so heartwarming. We loaded up into the car, picked up Christian and were on our way.

We met the Altenbach’s at Sever’s and had our family fun day. Spent some time in the corn pool (my favorite activity there), played on the jumping pillow for a while (hilarious fun), hung out in “Parakeet Island” (a new feature this year, and I LOVED it), fed some animals in the petting zoo (Olivia loves feeding them, and always makes sure all the animals get some!), ate some lunch, ACTUALLY did the corn maze (our first time, and it was really fun), Olivia took a ride down the giant slide (which, she would do ALL DAY LONG if we let her) and they played on the giant tires for a while (DIRTY). They were finally exhausted, filthy and it was time to head out. Sad to think it’ll be another year until we visit again, such a great place!

Here is proof of our festivities...

Christian gave the girls a quick bath when we got home and put them down for a late nap. I washed some dishes, started laundry and got dinner going. We settled in to watch the Vikings game and relax (ANOTHER WIN, YAY!!). Dinner was ready when the girls woke up, so we ate, played for a while, watched some videos and relaxed. They were up a little later than usual, but they didn’t get up from their naps until pretty late, so it was expected. Luckily, no school tomorrow!

Tonight’s dinner was Crockpot Orange Chicken over Brown Rice. I have to say, we weren’t fans of this one. There are some things I would do differently, that would probably make it take better, but I don’t know that I’ll try this one again.

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs Chicken (I used 3 frozen chicken breasts, I would definitely use more than that, at least 4 or 5, for this recipe, and make sure not to cut the pieces too small)
• ½ Cup Flour
• Olive Oil
• Dash of Salt
• ½ Can of Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate (make sure you don’t use too much)
• 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 3tbsp Ketchup

• 2 Cups Dry Brown Rice
• 4 Cups of Chicken Broth (basic Rule is 2 cups liquid to 1 cup rice)

Directions:

Chicken

1. Cut chicken into pieces (like I mentioned, don’t do them too small), and coat in the four (I put the chicken pieces and flour into a ziplock bag and mixed them together).
2. Heat some oil in a shallow pan, and place the coated chicken into the oil. The chicken doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through, just browned all around.
3. Mix the salt, thawed orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar and ketchup in a bowl. Taste the mix and play with the ingredients if you want to adjust the taste of the sauce.
4. Add the cooked chicken to your crockpot, and pour the sauce mixture over it. Mix lightly. Cook for 6 hours low, or 3 hours high (I would NOT recommend cooking this on high. I would definitely do it on low, and make sure to on a regular basis for readiness.).

Brown Rice

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil.
2. Add the dry rice, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Do not uncover, stir, etc. during the cooking process – this will make the rice sticky and negatively affect the cooking progress.