Colin's Menu: Quesadillas

Colin's 

Colin chose to make quesadillas for his first meal planning adventure. I was very impressed with him. He used a sharp knife for the first time, had to put things on the burners (turn them on) and use a skillet for the tortillas.

This recipe was very simple. All you needed was tortillas, refried beans, cheese and any toppings you wanted. Colin decided to add black beans and corn as well. So we had all of the items that required warming up on the stove going on low, while Colin cut up all of the toppings. We did tomatoes, green peppers, red onions, avocados, and mushrooms. 

Then Colin had to take a tortilla, put refried beans on it, black beans and cheese. Then place it on the skillet with either a little butter on it or spray oil. He added the top tortilla before placing on it on the skillet. I helped him with the flipping. Colin was able to cut the tortillas as well.

Plain Jane - Meli

Mine (Will's was similar)

For dessert, Colin made pudding with a galore of toppings. I told them that they will not always be able to do these type of desserts. Thankfully these are the only two days we will do desserts. Still that adds up for the month!

Sundae pudding

A Simple Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very low-key for us, which was a welcomed change. It was nice to just take it easy. I still spent most of the day cooking, but I love to cook (especially with my mom)...so that was fun in itself. There is so much to be thankful for this year. I am blessed with such a wonderful,supportive husband, two sweet kids, and am surrounded by wonderful friends and family.

I love when the kids help me in the kitchen. Meli was so cute trying on my apron. Life is such a beautiful thing!

I was able to make my own table runner this year for Thanksgiving (and Halloween). It was made even prettier by such a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Perfect for the holiday. 

I think I started a new tradition by making fresh strawberry muffins for breakfast. They turned out so delicious! Here is the recipe. 

I know it is a little late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spent with family and friends! Sending blessings and love for the rest of this holiday season!

Successful Recipes: Grilled Mojito Chicken

I tried a new recipe from my book that my mother (Liz) bought me: George Stella's Still Livin' Low Carb. I like the book quite a bit. Of course, I tend to change a few things and do not go as extreme with the low carb. We have a few days throughout the week that we eat low carb, but not as low as in the book. Also, I am not a fan of using artificial sweetners. I have read up on Truvia and will use that if needed. His books have great ideas that can easily be tweaked if desired.

This time I made Grilled Mojito Chicken. I am not a huge fan of his website, but here is the recipe http://stellastyle.com/site/2012/10/30/grilled-mojito-chicken/.

Excuse the presentation but it was delicious! This is Will's plate. I cannot eat that much meat! 

I will use this Keto Chocolate Mousse recipe on the days where we have low carb, medium protein, and high fat. This helps with Will's chocolate desire. It taste OK, but it is not really my thing. Will likes it though. This is not the actual recipe I used, but it looked basically the same.

~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~

        The B Family

A Crafty Weekend

This weekend the kids and I were able to do quite a few crafts. Yes, yes, they are from Pinterest...I know, I know...I cannot help it I am hooked.  Whoever came up with the idea - I am jealous...Such a good idea.

Colin and I did a firework painting.  We meant to do it before the fourth of July but did not get a chance since I was on a trip.  Here is the blog. It is a really cute idea.  We may try it again next year to send out cards. 

A craft idea that was a big success and very fun for both kids was this mess free painting. We taped them to the floor instead of a table.  Meli had a blast walking all over hers and Colin used his fingers.  He would get mad when Meli would walk on his.  Lesson learned - spread them out more next time so that baby girl could not walk so easily on both. It will give me more time to intervene.

We did not get a chance to do this one yet, but we are going to do it this weekend.  I think this project will be good for time-out.  Colin is doing blue and Meli will have a pink one.  They are going to love them! Another thing I love about Pinterest is that I get to find new blogs to follow.  I am thinking of following the Hippie Housewife...actually probably all three.  I love blogs!!

Oh, I have to add another recipe on this entry. It is a creamy tomato soup.  It was delicious!!  Absolutely delicious.  I actually stayed pretty true to the recipe but used crushed tomatoes with basil and then used fresh cilantro.  I hate wasting ingredients, so anything I could replace the past two weeks with cilantro (since I bought it fresh) I did.  Plus, I love cilantro.  The recipe is here. I love tomato soup. 

Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Mama Loves to Cook

I have been on a roll with the new recipes this week.  My meal planning has improved immensely since school got out and when I am home for a good stretch.  I have also been trying to do more things from scratch.  Will and I both have a desire to get a way from all things boxed.  Inching my way closer to 30, I am also wanting to get serious about getting back in shape. I have lost the baby weight but now have the goal to get back to my high school weight (so 10 lbs to go).  Will and I are motivating each other so we are on a kick of healthy eating and working out. Working full-time and being a full-time mommy, I do not always have time for the gym but I love my 30 Day Shred video with Jillian Michaels.  It is only 20 minutes and a good workout.  I also like pilates. 

The recipes I tried this week are:

Southwestern Chicken Salad - I got this recipe from pinterest, but am actually following her blog now.   This was a delicious salad.  I mostly stayed true to the recipe for once.

Garden Salad w/Cilantro Lime dressing - I loved this recipe but Will and Colin not so much.  That was probably because of the lime and avocado.

Penne Rosa - This was a really good recipe.  I did change it quite a bit though.  I did not use shrimp...I went more for a veggie type pasta.  So, I added asparagus, green pepper, mushrooms, and green onions. This will be a repeat recipe most definitely.

Balsamic Potatoes -  Another really good recipe.  I changed out some of the herbs in order to use what I had in the cupboard.  I am also following this blog now.

~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~

The B Family

Recipe of the Week: Feta Tomato-Basil Fish (Tilapia)

OK, so my plan to continue my weekly new recipe during my last term did not exactly work...but I am back to doing it.  This week I tried Feta Tomato-Basil Fish which was delish!  The hubby actually said it could possibly be his favorite fish dish I have made. Ever. As usual I changed it up a bit, (especially since we had not been grocery shopping and I was scrounging for ingredients) using tilapia rather then walleye and I used plain diced tomatoes rather than the italian.  To make up for that I used a few more herbs (oregano) and used parsley rather than basil.  Both Colin and Meli liked the fish as well.
I definitely recommend this recipe.  Enjoy!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Recipe of the Week - Honey Garlic Pork Chops

I decided to do my new recipe early on in the week to make sure I did not fail this new goal for myself the first week...well the first week I REALLY committed.  The recipe I picked was very simple.  I knew I had pork that I needed to cook so I wanted to pick something I new I would have all of the ingredients for.  Here is what I went with: Honey Garlic Pork Chops.  I pretty much only used the ingredients for an idea.  There was no way I was going to make 6 pork chops.  Will, Colin and I just split one pork chop.  None of us are major meat eaters, so we just make sure we get enough for protein purposes.  Will sometimes wants more...depending on what it is.  So, I basically took some honey, added garlic salt and some soy sauce.  Then I cooked in cut up on a skillet.  Colin and Will both thought that it stunk really badly while it was cooking.  Colin kept saying, "oh it stinks so much".  BUT - they both loved it!!  So first one - success! I served it with veggies and mashed potatoes.  Yummy.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

A dance party with Grandma

Today we had Grandma Liz and Uncle Michael over for dinner. Colin was super excited all day leading up to it and would not stop talking and was jumping all over the place.  I admire his energy but sometimes...it is just too much.  I told my second mom (Liz) that I would send her the recipes I used tonight so why not via the blog. I am starting back up my goal of doing a new recipe at least once a week.  I am guilty of getting so busy that I go for my staple recipes, but I enjoy cooking and should try to be better and making it interesting for me. This evening, I made turkey meatloaf (which is a staple but it is one of Will's faves)  which  is a recipe that I created from taking ingredients from three different recipes that I thought sounded good. It is difficult to write down because I change it every time and do not measure when doing it...but it involves stuffing, onion soup mix, green peppers and a lot more. My new recipes that I tried were Spicy Creamed Corn and Lemon zest Asparagus.  They both took less than 10 minutes and I really liked them. As usual I changed them up a bit.  I swapped green peppers for sweet red peppers and used a low-fat cream cheese. Both yummy!

Grandma Liz, Colin and Meli had a little dance party. They were rocking out to the toddler station on Pandora. It was so cute to watch.  Colin was all over the place and Meli was in the middle bouncing around.  Grandma taught Colin how to do the hokey pokey.  Very precious.

I think blue is one of my favorite colors to put on her.  It just makes her eyes pop.

Showing off one of her favorite toys to Grandma and Uncle Michael

Colin had to put his new pajamas on right away and his St. Patrick's Day socks.  He is crazy good at playing games on the iPad. I do not understand how he does it.  

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~ 

 The B Family