Ahh Valentine's Day.  It's here!  And my two older kids actually finished their Valentine's this past weekend, so it won't be a battle tonight to have them sign a million cards.  And good thing because my husband and I are having our Valentine Date Night tonight (thanks MOM!) !!

 

And I must say, I love you Pillsbury.  You make cookies so easy.  Aren't they pretty?  I am sure Aidan's classmates will appreciate that at their party tomorrow as they devour them and a million other sugary snacks :)

 

 

And my favorite part of the holiday is the homemade cards, like the one Aidan made his Daddy below.  (Note that it says "DAD" - he told me that he cannot call him Daddy at school because that's "embarrassing"....he's only in first grade!!)  Anyway, it was really sweet and made me smile.

 

So happy Valentine's...off to get ready for a rare date night!

Get this House SOLD!

Did I mention my husband and I are the least handy-people I know?  I wish I could be one of those bloggers that gave out amazing-how-to-replace-a-fan-in-one-step-in-an-hour-for-five-dollars, but unfortunately that's not me.  We are more like here's how we fix things, it turned out all wrong, and now we have to hire a professional to fix it.  This is kind of like a "what not to do" blog.

For example, our sink was leaking the other day and my husband decided to "fix" it.  He worked on it for a while then came to tell me we just needed a new sink.   When I went to check out the situation, the sink was in quite a few pieces. I then realized he had no idea how to put it back together and decided that he would just go buy a new one and have someone install it.  Typical.

Anyway, we are in our starter house we bought a little over 5 years ago.  I have loved it because it's where I have brought home and am raising my three babies.  It's got a great backyard and it's in a great school district.  But it's feeling slightly (majorly) cramped with the five of us and it is TIME TO GO!  I am on a mission.

That being said, there are still quite a few things that need to be fixed.  Such as the fans, as you see are that lovely bronze that people on House Hunters scoff at (and if you look closely you will see the popcorn ceilings too....) and have missing parts.  Some of our door handles are gold, some are missing (don't even remember how that happened.  I think our then 2 year old locked herself in there and couldn't get out so we took everything apart).

 

Not to mention we need to power-wash our exterior, basically gut an entire bathroom, paint, clean, replace the dishwasher (and yes the sink too), among many other things such as clean out our one car garage that has become our very unorganized storage room.  We've never been able to park a car in there!!!

On a good note, we have built a deck, replaced the oven, water heater, and roof, replaced the floor in the master, and taken down the popcorn ceilings in two rooms (an adventure my husband embarked on that was the worst several weeks in history, we don't even bring it up at all ever).  So while we have a lot of work to go, at least we have accomplished some major fixes along the way!

My whole idea here is to put it on paper.  Make it real.  Inspire us to get all these small projects that seem so daunting DONE so we can put this baby on the market.

First up:  The Sink.  Which is this weekend's goal.  Will let you know how it goes!

Chicken Teriyaki

I don't eat a ton of meat (yes mother, I know I need more protein).  However,  I do like it and make for my family all of the time, I just don't find myself eating it.  However, this chicken teriyaki melts in your mouth - it is so good.  And of course simple.

Just dice up several breasts of chicken and a large onion.

Season to taste.

Marinate in Lawry's teriyaki dressing for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Throw in a sizzling pan for however many minutes it takes.  (I know, great instructions, huh)  It was around 10 minutes.

Make some rice to go along with it and YUM - everyone loved it.

Except maybe my baby, but she was just excited to be sitting at the table with her big brother and sister!

Recipe:

-3 - 4 chicken breasts, diced

-1 large onion

-Lawry's teriyaki sauce

-salt & pepper to taste

Marinate chicken & onions for 30 min in fridge.

Saute the chicken & onions over medium high heat for 8 - 10 minutes or until done.  Onions will be caramelized, chicken tender....yum!

Serve with rice and a salad...or whatever suits your fancy.

Easy weeknight meal!

Until later, take care!

CHOCOLATE CRACK!

Well it's been quite a while since my last post and I couldn't think of a better way to start back than with this recipe.  This most deliciously evil goodness I have had in a long time.  A nice neighbor (or possibly evil for introducing this to me) gave me these sweet, crunchy treats and then the recipe after I couldn't stop talking about it.   How did I not know about these?!?  How have they not appeared on my Pinterest wall??

Anyway, I had a good reason to make them...it's my dad's birthday.  So I made a batch of them, sent him a bunch, and kept some for me.  Ok more than some.  More than I gave him :).  

Oh - did I mention this is the easiest dessert EVER?  Take a look below...you almost don't even need a recipe.  I of course eyeballed everything and they turned out perfect.  Here's my take on chocolate crack:

Layer a cookie sheet with regular ole' honey graham crackers.  I used wax paper for lining.

Boil up some butter (ok lots of butter) and brown sugar for 5 minutes.  The recipe called for 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar.  However I only had one stick of butter so I made do and it turned out great.  I dumped some brown sugar in there, boiled 5 minutes, and tada, caramel toffee brown goodness..

Pour the mixture over the graham crackers and put in a preheated 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Straight out of the oven I poured almost one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips over the graham crackers.  Let it sit a moment then spread even.

Throw it in the fridge for a little while to cool and harden (I put mine in the freezer to speed up the process.  What can I say it's that good).

Since it's almost Valentine's Day I brought out the pretty heart plate a good college friend gave my husband and I for our wedding.  Not that I plan on sharing with him :)

So it's good to be back.  I hope to share many more recipes, stories, ideas, and hear yours too.  As we are trying to get our house in order to put on the market I am sure there will be lots of good stuff to post.  Seeing as how we don't know a single thing about fixing anything...and I mean that.  Just wait and you will see :)

Here's the recipe for chocolate crack:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Ingredients:

- As many graham crackers as you can fit on a cookie sheet

- 1 stick of butter

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 16 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place the graham crackers on the cookie sheet.  Boil the butter & brown sugar for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Pour the mixture over the crackers.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Pour the chocolate chips over the crackers as soon as you take it out of the oven.  Spread evenly.  Refrigerate.

Until later take care!

1-2-3 Shape Puzzle Craft

My three year old asked Santa for a shape puzzle this past Christmas.  For months, all she could talk about was a shape puzzle.  No Barbies, no dolls, no stuffed animals - nope, just a shape puzzle.  And that's great, it shows how intelligent she is at age three (and I am saying that not only as her Mother....ok maybe I am)  But to add a little variety and hopefully teach her some basic letters, numbers, etc, I came up with the 1-2-3 Shape Puzzle you see below.  It's colorful, fun, educational, and she loves it.  Oh, and basically free.

 We start with the basics - shapes!

 Add some shapes labeled one, two, and three...

 Mix them all up for good measure.

Time to name the shapes & numbers (& color!)

 Add them onto the puzzle in order 1-2-3

 And voila!  Our proud moment of completion.

Simple, but I believe it to be effective.  And there are so many variations you could use with the alphabet, numbers, letters, shapes, sizes, etc.  Watch out for more ideas!

In the Christmas Spirit...

It's Christmas Break.  No school, no gymnastics, no commitments.  Shopping is done (WOW I know).  House is decorated. We are ready.  So what to do with two highly active, talkative, inquisitive kids?  Keep them busy.  So far this week we have made it to two Bounce Houses, the Park, Grandma's House, kept several friends, saw Alvin and the Chipmunks, been to a basketball game-and it's only Wednesday....BUT my most favorite was decorating Christmas cookies.  A tradition I have somewhat overlooked.  As much as I don't want to admit it, back in my working days I don't remember ever doing this.  Have I been missing out or what!!!  We had a great time, it even inspired our Elf, Newton.  My cookies are actually homemade, which is a first, and they were really good!  Most importantly - my kids had a BLAST.  It really is the little things in life that matter.

Layered Tacos

Anybody else wonder what in the heck to do with ground beef?  After so many spaghetti dinners I had to create something not out of the norm, but at least slightly different and not hard at all.  My husband as well as the kids love it, so it's become one of my what-can-I-pull-out-of-the-pantry-that's-easy dinners.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 pack of taco seasoning
1 can black beans (or kidney...or whatever you like)
1 can corn (or frozen corn) and ps I had none tonight...
1 can diced tomatoes
tortillas
Cheese. (I never know the amount because I just pile it on)

**EXTRAS: Sour Cream (you can never have enough sour cream), salsa, red pepper flakes, whatever else you like on a taco.

Preheat the oven to 350.
Brown your beef.
Add taco seasoning and simmer according to directions on packet.
Add beans, corn, and tomatoes.
Simmer for a bit.
In whatever dish your tortillas fit in, layer the tortillas, beef concoction, cheese, and repeat.
Put in oven until cheese is melted.
SERVE UP!

I am no Pioneer Woman, but here are a few pics....