Owen Turned Three

We have been so busy!!  This past Sunday, our sweet (not so) baby boy turned 3.  We drove down to Atlanta and took him to the zoo and spent the weekend with family and friends. I believe it was the best time any of us have had in ages. We made a nice dinner of cuban sandwiches, guacamole, cheese dip, salsa and chips.  It was like a little Mexican fiesta!  Owen has grown so much! Not just physically, but in his words and expressions as well.  He suffers from a minor speech delay and has learned so many new words, numbers, colors, animals, shapes and can even point out all of his letters.  I have no doubt that he will flourish into a chatter-box in the next couple of months.  And when he does, it's safe to say he came by it naturally...

This past weekend also marked his first time in a swimming pool.  He LOVES to take a bath and play in the sprinklers so we thought for sure the pool would be a hit!  It was a hit, but definitely also a miss.  He wouldn't go past the stairs, even with a float!  We tried to get him to swim with us and he would literally scream his little head off.  He was content on the stairs and we were content letting him stay there.  Once it was time to leave he would cry "watttterrrr" the whole way home so I know he enjoyed his time and that's all that mattered to me. 

Eleven Months

Haley is already 11 months! Wow!  In a little over a month we will be celebrating my sweet girl turning one, and I couldn't be more excited.  Adam and I are moving on from being parents of a baby to the parents of two toddlers! It's been so fun watching her grow and flourish.  She loves to eat, play in the cabinets (all of them...) and giggle at Charlie.  I can never trust when she gets too quiet, because she's usually splashing in the dog bowl and making a huge mess!  Pretty soon we will be moving her from the crib into a toddler bed, and our house will become a whole lot crazier!

She is/has...
18 pounds.
wearing 6-12 months clothes.
eating 3 regular meals a day.
riding in a big girl car seat.
walking.

Her favorite food is watermelon! She eats it with almost every meal!

Tuna Casserole

I am a lover of all things tuna! I realize that this may or may not be normal, but I figured it could always be worse. Typically, canned tuna is dumped in a bowl and covered with mayonnaise but that just doesn't do it any justice.  Why not fancy it up?  Especially with it being so economically friendly!  This recipe is my version of one of my favorites from growing up.  My grandma was an exceptional cook and I loved her tuna casserole.  She cooked with love but she also cooked from memory; I had to do my best to come with something I would consider CLOSE to hers.  Although, not as good. I can imagine she's probably not too thrilled with the idea of me topping it with cheese, but I love the creamy texture it adds. Since my mom was one of five kids I'm sure that's how this recipe even came about.  It's fast, easy, cheap and feeds a lot, for a little.

Ingredients:
12 oz box of noodles (I used whole wheat)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans tuna in water, drained
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup milk
salt
pepper
cheese (optional)

Cook noodles according to directions.  Once they are drained, stir in the cream of mushroom, milk, tuna and peas.  Salt and pepper to taste and top with desired amount of cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes! Enjoy!

Sautéed Yellow Squash

Comfort food is just that, comforting, and it brings back memories of a time when you were happiest. I believe that people who love to cook often love it because of their upbringing.  When you are surrounded by good food that is made under good conditions, you crave it more.  Now, I don't mean that your house was clean and the dishes weren't worn; I mean by someone who made cooking inviting and made meals an interactive event with conversation and laughter. Both of my parents are amazing cooks, and I can assure you that their mothers' were amazing cooks as well.

I grew up eating this yellow squash.  It's warm, buttery and the perfect accompany to pork. The first time I made this for Adam, I wasn't sure it would go over well.  This is very much a southern style side dish and well... let's just say he's not exactly southern. It makes me laugh thinking back on the first time I served him butter bread, (bread slathered with butter, most southerners eat bread of some kind with dinner) and he looked at me very seriously and said "did you forget to toast this?".  I will never forget that day and I am almost positive it was the first and only time we had butter bread with a meal. But, he loves this dish!  He asks for it often, and since it was one of my favorites from growing up, I'm more than happy to serve it.

You simply wash a few pounds of yellow squash and slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Add it to a greased pan and generously salt and pepper.  Throw a lid on it and let the squash steam.  Let it cook down until most of the water has cooked off.  Finish it off with butter, and don't be shy with it!  I use 3-4 tbsp for a two person serving.  Once the butter is melted down and absorbed it's ready to serve! We usually have ours with some sort of ham or pork tenderloin! ENJOY!

Mother's Day

I had the best Mother's Day possible! You want to know what we did? Absolutely nothing! It was a perfect, family centered, relaxing day.  My amazing husband got up with the kids, made all of my meals , cleaned the house, and changed every diaper.  We started watching Breaking Bad and enjoyed a two hour nap.  I have to say, he out did himself this year.

"She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along" 

                                                   -Margaret Culkin Banning 

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

Smoothies are my favorite Weight Watchers friendly snack.  I can have a lot for a low amount of points and more importantly they keep me satisfied until my next meal. I've been seriously craving a good cheesecake and I'm just not quite ready to give into temptation.  This smoothie has a full serving of fruit and is absolutely tasty! The secret ingredient is dry pudding mixture.  All the flavor. None of the fat. Cool and satisfying especially on these hot summer days ahead.  This treat was only 3 points plus which makes for a great snack!

Ingredients:
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup frozen strawberries
dash of cinnamon
1 heaping tbsp of fat free sugar free pudding (dry)
1/4 cup water (to thin out the smoothie if it's too thick)

In a high speed blender, pour in all the ingredients except the water.  Blend on high until smooth, adding in the water slowly if the mixture is too thick.  Serve in your favorite glass with fat free cool whip on top! Enjoy!

Owen was more than happy to be my taste tester!

Crock Pot Pepper Steak

I've been searching for more ways to incorporate vegetables into our diets.  Eating fruit has never been an issue, in fact, Owen would finish a pound of strawberries in one sitting if we allowed him.   I love peppers because they have tons of vitamins and are very filling!  I have always loved pepper steak, but I find that the meat always dries out and becomes to tough.  Slow cooking it helps to tenderize it and infuse flavors into the meat.  This recipe was entirely too easy to throw together and I will definitely make it more in the future! It was also a family hit which makes it even better! You can easily double (or triple) this recipe, but ours was enough to feed three people.

Ingredients:
1 pound flank steak
garlic powder
salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 beef buillion cube
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 small onion, sliced
1 small red pepper, sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce

Start by slicing the steak into strips against the grain. In a skillet, heat up the olive oil. Generously season the steak with garlic powder and salt.  Brown both sides of the steak in the warm oil to lock in the flavor.  Place the steak (including the oil), onion, and peppers into the slow cooker.  In a small bowl, stir together the boiling water, bullion, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar.  Pour over the steak mixture and cook on slow for about 6 hours.  Serve over hot rice.  Enjoy!