sweets and eats and shopping fun...

I bet Maddox has picked me a half million flowers in his tiny little lifetime.
Always weeds.
Beautiful nonetheless.
He was super excited to wander upon these yesterday.
He is so sweet.

As for eats...
Here's what's been on our menu this week

lettuce wraps
my version.
[it's really the cucumber salad and the spicy dipping sauce that make these so delicious!]

loaded baked potato soup
I have shared it before.  Again, super easy and fast.
And perfect for these chillier days.

Genn's Nana's chicken
I was terrified of the Capers [because I have never had them] but this recipe was super simple and sooo soo so good.
I can tell it will be a new favorite around here.

tacos
I finally bought the refrigerated flour tortillas that you heat in a skillet and flip once they puff... my mom always makes that kind and good grief they are so much better!!
[have I told you before that me and my family eat ketchup on our home made tacos?  --weird, right?]
...and I skip the meat, so technically, mine may be more a burrito?!

Chicken pot pie
I had to call Wendy, because I had never made a pot pie but Marie Callendar doesn't have nothing on me!!  It was a-mazing!
I used the left over chicken from Genn's chicken [I pulled it off of the bones and saved all the juices,  and celery-onion-caper business], 1 can of cream of mushroom, and a large can of Allen's home style vegetables bumped into a pie shell and covered with a 2nd shell and baked.  Delish.

Today, we did a little shopping for the boys.
[Lance's dad brought over some cash and asked us to get the boys some winter clothes from him-- super sweet, right?!]
And we had to get my nephew, Dane something for his birthday.  His party is Saturday!!  Maddox wanted to buy him everything!! 


Lance and I had such an awesome day together.
He is so funny sometimes.  
[honestly:: he is always funny-- sometimes I laugh-- other times it annoys me.  Today I laughed.  A lot.]

The boys were awesome too, right up until Maddox had an accident while napping in his car seat.  
[reason #645 not to let him have Sprite at the restaurant]
He wasn't too happy about having to go commando [he woke up during the tinkle-task, so it wasn't a total failure] 
He was worried that someone would know if he wasn't wearing underwear.  He said, "what if they think I am 5?  Please just tell them, {and he changes his voice into his best mommy voice} he is 3 and accidents happen."
No one asked... but I totally would have told them that if they had!  ;)


I am bummed that I missed 10 on 10 today, but hopefully I can finish my Thankful list soon and post it.

a few recipes worth sharing

I have been attempting to cook more...
and try a few new things so our dinners aren't always grilled chicken or spaghetti!
(that's a lie... Maddox and I eat spaghetti for lunch a lot-- but Lance hates it, so I rarely make it for dinner!)

Trying to use more of this organic, good-- T&C meat::

We do tend to eat chicken more than anything else  (since I do not eat ground beef) but I did make Lance some sloppy joes one night (probably only my 2nd time to make them in 9 years!)  And we eat Pork chops often too.
My chops are either grilled or BBQ'd-- (or in the crock pot with a can of golden mushroom) so there is no need to tell you how to do that!!

Here are a few things we have eaten in the past week or two.

Remember I am not the healthiest eater...
nor am I anywhere near gourmet.
But as I have said before...
I cook cheap.
And most importantly...
I cook easy!

 [Lance wanted me to make these twice in the same week... I didn't!]

 [check out Nicolle for the real recipe... I just realized, as I looked back at her blog, that I bought the wrong sauce.  

Mine was hot chili sauce rather than garlic chili sauce...  they had the same rooster on the bottle and I was just going off of visual memory! Oops!]

 [we eat this a lot, but I thought I would share any way]

[I drive an hour to eat this at the Golden Moon... who knew it was so simple?!]

[I am sure there are real recipes out there that would taste more authentic... but these were easy-- I had everything on hand, and so yum!]

[another thanks to Nicolle]

 [the picture gives this no justice.  We ate it tonight... and it was soooo good!]

[There are probably a million calories in it... but worth it!]

 [my favorite soup.  Thanks to my FIL for the recipe... If Lance would eat it, we would have it weekly]

keep 'em come'n

Beckham went down at like 9:00 last night and was up to feed by 11:00. Maddox was crying by midnight that he needed to potty and I was anticipating a long night.

But hold on to your hats... my hunch was wrong!!

At 5:00am I woke up to silence... surely as a mother, you know that anxious feeling I had in my gut. 
I crept into their room, holding my breath, waiting for that moment I felt Mr-typically-likes-to-munch-every-36-minutes-at-night's back rise and fall. 
After realizing that my baby was still alive, that both boys were still out,  I did a little happy dance and went back to sleep.

The next thing I know, the clock says 8:30 and my house is still silent.
[My chest was about to explode, but both boys were still out!!]

I quietly pumped 8 ounces from one side--
and then broke the golden rule,
I woke a sleeping baby.

He happily relieved the pain from my left side and then his big brother woke up shortly thereafter.

Remember yesterday I said that I needed groceries?
I went for it.

Hey!  I was feeling lucky!

I do believe this was my first time to take both boys shopping alone.
Honestly, I rarely do anything without Lance.
Or at least my mom.

I tucked Beckham into the Baby k'tan, bribed Maddox with a 'wolwy pop'...
and off we went.

Isle after isle, we shopped...
Maddox asked approximately 479 questions... but stayed beside the buggy.
No running off... no asking if we could buy everything in site... no surprise purchases at check out.
Beckham nursed.  (in the k'tan-- hands free-- no nipplage for the strangers)... smiled... and flirted with old women.
No one cried...
Not even me.

Bottom line... we kicked WalMart's butt today.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I realized that I was smiling from ear to ear...
proud.
Accomplished.
Like a rockstar!

We came home un-loaded groceries and I made this mac and cheese.
Kind of.
I didn't have nutmeg... and I thought it tasted chalky so I did add some Velveeta.
Then I covered it in bread crumbs [actually, they were out of date so I used shake and bake-- don't judge] and I cooked and crumbed bacon on top and baked it.
Lance liked it.
I thought it was okay-- and more work than it was worth.

While I am sharing recipes...

I have to share these nuggets.

Not quite chickfila... but close.

And really good

Anywho... back to my day.

Dinner ready-- 

I had to head out to work.

I love my job.

I love my partner.

I love my unorthodox schedule.

Most of the time.

Tonight, I hated it.

I missed Maddox's first parade.

My high school's parade with my family.

[And we all know I live for that kind of stuff.]

Thankfully Lance took the boys so they didn't have to miss out

And I sent my camera.

Together, we can enjoy the happiness via photos.

And I can tell you how excited my sweet baby was when he called me at work and told me all about it.
[sometimes I could just eat his sweet little face off!!]

Finally, I have to share this picture:

I layed Beckham in his crib, turned Maddox's tv on, tucked him in, read the same flipping story we read every night his Cars book and said our prayers, and Beckham was silent. [asleep I thought]

I left the room and came back about 10 minutes later to check on everyone, and B was attentively watching some Nick Jr.

My word!!

I love that sweet face.

And I loved this great day.

Another one down.

Keep'em come'n!!

So I got behind.... I knew I would.

Thanksgiving is over.
And it was goooooood.

I took my camera to both places with hopes of blogging about our day, but I completely forgot to take any!!

This year, Lance's granny did her's the weekend before, and Lance's mom was unable to make it down since she is spending he every moment with her husband... So we did not have a dinner with that side this year.
This was the 2nd year without my step-dad's mom, 
leaving me with just 2 places to go this Thanksgiving day.
I can not tell you how pleasant it was.
I got to visit more...
and sit and eat, and chat afterwards.
And Maddox thought the food was "delicious" and "delightful"!!
And was great all day, despite no nap.

He threw out all the stops at Nana's, being the only kiddo there, he had the attention of everyone.
He probably told his knock knock joke 30 times, and cracked everyone up with his 4 year old personality!
My favorite thing:
My Nana said, "I'm serious, I have never seen a 2 year old with a vocabulary like his"... Maddox replies, "Yes, It's incredible!"

Thanksgiving was nice.
Maddox and I had a great day.
The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Lance home. He had to work.  :(

I went to my mom's that morning to help cook... and here are the only pictures that were taken that day.

As for shopping...
I skipped the Black Friday thing this year...
Well, kind of!
My sister went to WalMart at 11:00 at night and bought $200 worth of stuff...
(I didn't have the heart to tell her that most everything she bought was still on sale Saturday when I went for groceries!)
My mom and I ventured out about 3:00 and got some pretty good deals...
The mall was not that crowded considering...
I think everyone had gone to bed already!

Now I will try  and get caught up on my 30 day challenge...

Day 4:
These are my parents.
They're pretty great.

They love my kid as much as I do... and they are the first people (behind Lance) that I call when Maddox does something new, fun, exciting, bad, etc...
And my child loves them back.
Sometimes I wonder if he loves them more than me...  :) 

[Honestly put, that's the quickest way to move to my top of my list.
As an adult, sometimes it is easy to see why people may not like you, or act unfair towards you... but when it comes down to my kid;
You love him and treat him fair,
Or you go to the bottom of my list.
Simple.]

I love my parents.

Day 5:
I was suppose to share my favorite recipes....
If I make it, you can guarantee it is one of 3 things-
*easy  *cheap  *made without ground hamburger meat.
Here's a few of my absolute favorites:
(I am not promising that any of them are healthy-- but they are all good enough to share!)

Smothered pork chops:
1 package of boneless chops
1 can of Golden mushroom soup (you can not substitute with cream of mushroom)
1/2 can of water
1/2 small onion chopped
throw it in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours... and enjoy with mashed potatoes and a veggie!
(Sometimes I throw raw carrots and chunk up potatoes in it so it is a complete meal when it is done)

Cheese enchiladas:
1 can cream of mushroom
1 large can (or 2 small) of mild enchilada sauce
Heat in a sauce pan until smooth
(heat corn tortillas in microwave so they roll without crumbling)
spoon mixture into tortillas and add shredded cheese.  (I add onion to mine-- you could add HB meat too)
fill a 9X12 with as many as will fit and pour the rest of the mixture on top.
Cover with cheese and bake until the cheese is melted.
I always open a can of refried beans and make a package of Spanish rice.

Velvet chicken pasta:
1 pkg cream cheese
1 can Golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup white cooking wine
4 or so chicken breasts
1/4 stick butter
2 tbsp oil
cook in the crock pot on low  for 6 hours
Serve on angel hair pasta.
I always make green beans and garlic toast with it.

Easy Loaded baked potato soup:
I will only make this on a day that I already made bacon for breakfast!!
Peel and dice about 8 potatoes (small chunks), throw in a glass bow, cover with saran wrap and microwave 8-10 minutes. (until all the potatoes are soft)
while those are cooking, melt 1/2 cup butter in pot and whisk in 1/2 cup flour
Once smooth, pour in EIGHT cups of milk.
bring to a boil and then reduce heat but keep stirring until it thickens.
dump in cooked potatoes
add 8 oz container sour cream
and 1/2 cup shredded cheese
crumble in 5 or 6 slices of cooked bacon
and chives if you want them.
(it makes quite a lot so you could 1/2 this recipe)

Chicken tacos:
4 or so chicken breasts
1 can rotell
salt/ pepper/ ground cumin
shred chicken after 6 hours on low in the crock pot
saute onion and garlic in butter
serve chicken, onions, monterey jack cheese on corn tortillas with sliced avocado.

Tony's tortilla soup:
(save the chicken leftover from the recipe above and you can skip this part.)
chop up 1/2 onion in pot with a couple tbsp oil
add 3 or 4 raw chicken breasts (diced)
pour in large container of chicken broth
add 1 can of corn
1 can of carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
dice up 1 zucchini
and 1 yellow squash
add equal parts cumin/ ground coriander/ cilantro to taste (maybe a tbsp each?!)
add more broth if needed to cover veggies
bring to a slow boil
grate in 1/4 cup or so montery jack cheese into pot, stir until melted. serve.

top with crumbled tortilla chips, sliced avocado and more monterrey jack cheese.

My version of beef tips and rice:
I made this by accident once and it was so good that I remake it now!
Throw stew meat and a package of stew seasoning in crock pot with about 2 cups of water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worstersire sauce
salt/ pepper/ garlic powder
cook 6 hours on low.
while cooking white rice (or noodles to serve with) make a package of brown gravy by the instructions on the package and stir into meat mixture.
Dump on your rice and enjoy!

Day 6:
A picture of something that makes me happy.

I took these the other day...
Of course it makes me happy because its is my baby biscuit, but more than that-  it makes me happy to have a child who is full of so much bliss.
I think his favorite thing is to be outside... on the tractor... on all this land... 
He is such a happy boy.
I can't wait to meet his brother.