The Isaacs'

I had a great time with this family.  They were so natural and fun! 

Ten Months

Woah! I can't even believe I'm saying that our little lady is ten months! She's spunky, lovable, sweet and sassy. She's everything we could have hoped for in a daughter.  I tell Adam all the time that if I could have another baby, just like Haley, I wouldn't think twice about it.  Big things are happening for her these next few months.  She has transitioned off the bottle like a dream, but I have a feeling her beloved paci may be more of a challenge.  I love waking up each morning to her giggling from behind the bedroom door and the bright smile she has when she sees us!

She is/has...
18 pounds.
wearing 3-9 months clothes.
drinking her formula exclusively from a cup.
standing on her own.
walking with push toys.

Her favorite food is peanut butter crackers! Although, there isn't much she won't eat...yet.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think it's a miracle! I finally found a cookie recipe that bakes up fluffy, soft, and chewy. And actually stays that way!  It definitely helps that they are quite delicious too.  I love to bake cookies for my family on the weekends and fill up our cookie jar for the week. But, I hate that after they cool off you need a hammer to get through them. The secret is adding in a few teaspoons of cornstarch.  Lucky for us, I always keep cornstarch on hand for the kids.  It is the only thing I use for diaper rash! This will be my new "go to" recipe and I look forward to making many different variations.  I even let my little Haley try a mini one and to say she loved it would be an understatement!

Ingredients:
(Adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction)

3/4 cup butter, softened (I used light)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars.  Add in egg, vanilla, cornstarch and salt.  Once everything is combined, slowly add in the flour.  Fold in chocolate chips and place the mixing bowl in the fridge to chill for an hour.  Drop a tsp size of dough 2 inches apart and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  These cookies will stay pale in color so check the edges for browning.  They will be done when you press the top and it feels firm. Enjoy!

Mini Cheeseburgers

Maggie and her girls came over for lunch today.  My first thought was to make something easy since I like to chit-chat and not be stuck in the kitchen.  My second thought was making something kid friendly.  I wanted to make a good cheeseburger; since it was mostly toddlers consuming the food I knew that a bite sized meal was the way too go.  These little burgers were very mommy friendly too.  I cooked them in the oven, much like a meatloaf, and I could walk away and enjoy my time instead of "babysitting" them.  We served them up on my favorite Hawaiian rolls and added watermelon as the side.  You could customize them with lettuce and tomato but they were a crowd pleaser plain.  You could stretch it easily with two pounds of meat and get about 18 mini burgers.

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
seasoning salt
pepper
garlic powder
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3-4 slices of american cheese (I used 2%)
Hawaiian rolls

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except the cheese and rolls.  Spread evenly into a 9x9 inch pan and bake covered for 20-30 minutes at 400.  Once the burgers have cooked through (they will shrink) pour off the grease left behind.  Top with the cheese and place them back in the oven for 5-8 minutes.  Cut them into 9 pieces to fit inside the Hawaiian rolls. Serve warm.  Enjoy.

Grilled Pineapple

Say hello to my new favorite dessert!  I love fruit! I haven't met one that I don't consider my friend.  My husband thought I was absolutely nuts for throwing some pineapple slices on the grill. Let me tell you, the sweet juice caramelizes, and when you top it with cold ice cream it melts down the side and tastes absolutely delicious. My favorite part is how low in points this is.  I topped mine with some low fat ice cream for two points and two huge pineapple slices.  Even my family enjoyed it, especially because Easter Sunday was hot.

We have this new kitchen tool that carves out the pineapple for you. I love it! My only regret is not buying one sooner.  I love fresh pineapple but it's too expensive to buy pre-cut and way too much work to cut it myself.  Now I can enjoy it anytime I want! When grilling pineapple, it doesn't take very long at all.  Make sure the grill is extremely hot.  Cook on one side for about three minutes then flip it over for another three to five minutes.  Top with some yummy vanilla ice cream and serve immediately!

Spinach Alfredo

This new "light" Alfredo sauce has made me (and my taste buds) very happy! A 1/4 cup serving is only 1 point and I could gobble it up.  I can't believe that I don't really miss the full fat flavor at all.  Of course, like any jar sauce, I feel that it has to be spiced up some (pun intended) but it's definitely worth the extra time.

Tonight we mixed it up with some thawed frozen spinach.  I added in Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  We had it over whole wheat noodles and it was delicious!  I'm trying to keep on track and stay within my points and it has been a little tougher than I imagined.  I've considered going back to the old plan, but I just love having my fruits for free!  I'll keep on trucking (and tracking) and hopefully I'll start meeting some goals!

Easter

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Kentucky! I'm so thankful that we were able to spend Easter together, relaxing and enjoying each others company.  We did some not so exciting stuff, such as, cleaning the grill and moping the kitchen, but we spent time as a family.  Owen ran through his new sprinkler and Haley ate puffs from her new snack cup.  We made a cute bunny cake but Adam ate his ears before I could even snap a picture!

We had an easy dinner of ham, roasted potatoes and asparagus! We're finishing off the evening with some grilled pineapple after Owen's first (outside) egg hunt! We also discovered that our sweet Haley is just not a fan of grass. Way too much candy has been consumed and I believe an early bedtime is in our future! I hope everyone had as much of a fun time with your families as we did!

Easter Eggs

What an eventful few days it has been!  Sunday night Owen came down with the stomach bug. Since I didn't want to contaminate anyone else or risk getting sick while I was on vacation, I left Monday morning for Atlanta to stay with my mom.  The sickness quickly moved through everyone but we still made time to dye some eggs!

It seems to be an Easter tradition for everyone in this country.  Holidays are definitely more fun once you have kids of your own and I really enjoyed spending the hour it took to color the eggs. Watching Owen smile as he splashed food coloring everywhere made all the clean up worth it.

We put Owen's eggs in a whisk! Much more "user-friendly" and we didn't have to spend hours cleaning dye off his hands.

Mermaids

The kids and I made the long drive from Kentucky to visit my hometown.  I'm from a beautiful town just north of Charleston named Summerville.  This city has to be one of my favorite places in the world and I'm so excited to finally be able to bring our kids for a visit.

Today we enjoyed a wonderful outing at the South Carolina Aquarium.  It's right on the waterfront and beautiful!  This week they had mermaids swimming in their tanks.  What a cool experience watching them swim around with sharks to fun summertime music.  My Aunt Tammy and her boys have been so much fun to hang out with.  We went for a yummy dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, which stands to be my favorite eatery downtown Charleston.

My friend Crystal and her family have been the best host.  Owen loves her youngest daughter, Kenzie, and Haley's new cuddle buddy is her oldest, Mikayla.

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli

Broccoli was on sale this past week at our local grocery store.  I was able to get a huge head for $1.50, but I really didn't know what to make with it.  I made my way to the meat department and found some stir-fry steak for really cheap and thought why not?  I'm not usually one to make Chinese dishes at home, but the flavors really are easy to replicate.  I was worried about the steak turning out too tough so I made it in the crock pot.  We served it over rice that was flavored with beef bouillon, garlic powder and pepper.

Ingredients:
1 pound flank steak, cut on the grain
2 cups fresh cut broccoli
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup water
1 tsp garlic powder
salt
1 cup cooked rice

In a crock pot, add the steak, broccoli, water and generously salt.  In a small bowl, mix together the teriyaki, sesame oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and garlic powder.  Pour over the beef and broccoli and stir everything together.  Let cook on high for about 3 hours.  Stir it all together, coating the broccoli and beef, and pull it all to one side of the slow cooker.  Add the cornstarch on the other side and stir it into the sauce. Mix everything up one more time and turn down to low.  Cook for one more hour for the sauce to thicken.  Serve over rice.  Enjoy!

This recipe serves two and was 6 points plus.  With the seasoned rice, it was 10 points total.

Pizza Stuffed Shells

This was my first time making stuffed shells.  I love all things pasta, and truthfully, all things baked with gooey cheese is a winner in my book.  I couldn't believe how easy and filling these were.  I would say the most time consuming part was filling the shells themselves, but it was definitely worth it.  If I had a pot luck to attend anytime soon this would be my dish of choice!  They were enjoyed by everyone and my little sister, who is picky, ate three!

Ingredients:
1 box jumbo shells
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
8 oz mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
1 small can diced black olives
1 tbsp garlic
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 jar marinara sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Cook the shells in salted water until soft, about 10 minutes. In a large skillet, brown the sausage, once cooked through drain and return to pan.  Add in everything but the sauce and cheese.  Once the veggies become translucent, stir in half the jar of marinara.  Fill each shell with the mixture.  When finished, top with remaining marinara and cheese.  Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

This makes enough to fill a 13x9 pan so I split mine into two portions and froze one for a later date. You could easily change this up with different toppings, using ground beef instead of sausage or even using pepperoni.

Cupcake Brownies

For me portion control has become everything.  Counting points can make a person a little obsessed but in a good way, a weight loss way.  Nothing, and I really mean nothing, can come between me and a brownie.  If I bake up the whole pan, then I will eat them all.  I had to control this somehow.  I bought a box of low fat brownie mix to take to a playdate the kids and I are going on tomorrow.  I had all intentions of making the box, setting them aside and TRYING not to eat them all.  Then it accrued to me.  Why not make them into portions?  Individuals are always easier to control because they can be frozen or stored or hidden.  So, I made my brownies into cupcakes.

We even decorated them to take on the playdate.  I am thrilled with the outcome!

Foil Packet Shrimp

It has been absolutely gorgeous here!  We've spent the last three days with the windows wide open! It's about time that we are able to use our grill.  Tonight we enjoyed some nice steak and shrimp.  I foolishly left the grocery store thinking I had skewers at home but they were nowhere to be found, and I didn't want to turn the oven on if I didn't have too.  This was definitely an easy way to make shrimp! You throw them in a foil packet with some lemon and seasonings and set it on the grill while you cook up the rest of your food!

There are really so many ways to make these.  All I did was take 1/2 pound of peeled and de-veined shrimp, and after washing them, I placed them on top of a few fresh lemon slices in a piece of foil. I sprinkled them with garlic salt and Old Bay seasoning. I closed up the foil really tight and set on the top of my hot grill (you want to leave them out of direct heat).  Mine took about 15 minutes to cook up, so I started them just before my steaks.  Next time, I'm going to use fresh garlic and lime juice and serve it over rice! Enjoy!