hamburger helper

(i'm writing this post at almost 2 AM... we had a 4.5 aftershock about 30 minutes ago...shook the bed and scared me a bit...woke K, Hannah woke about 5 minutes before...Ry continued to snore...(sigh) while i'm not "scared", it's still scary to feel your house shake...especially when you know your house wasn't built for an earthquake ridden area... so, i'm posting...gotta get my mind off of the aftershock and hopefully back to sleep soon! :))

i had a hankerin' (hehe) for hamburger helper the other day... but, let's face it, i know it's not the healthiest of meals... while i'm not really worried about K eating something bad for her (she won't eat hamburger at all, so i knew she wouldn't have clogged arteries :)), i want to make foods that are good/healthier for my family... i know hamburger helper is full of processed "stuff," fake cheese, colors, preservatives....ick...
so i searched for a homemade hamburger helper recipe...
this was YUMMY!!! :) i couldn't wait for dinner... :)
so, next time you're going to grab a box of that "quick" meal off the grocery shelf, make this instead...it's cheaper and soooooooooo much better for you!!! :) and, i really think it tasted a lot better, as well!

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Make your "sauce packet" first (read below)
Brown up your ground beef. (I used about 1 lb. of lean beef. :)) Drain any grease/fat.
Then, to your skillet, add:
1 cup of hot water
2 cups milk (i didn't have enough milk, so i used 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of half and half and water (about 1/2 cup of each to make a cup).
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni (i added a little more and used medium shells)
prepare a "sauce packet" including 1 tablespoon corn starch, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar.
place all of these ingredients in your frying pan over high heat until the water/milk boils. Cover and let simmer for about 12 minutes, or until your pasta is done. Stir the mixture occassionally.
At the end, stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded. (i used about 1/2 cup of pizza blend shredded cheese and 5 slices of velveeta cheese.) Cover and let the cheese melt through the hamburger helper. After it's finished cooking, remove from heat, uncover, and let sit for a short time so the "sauce" can thicken a bit...
You can toss a 1/2 cup shredded cheese on top at the end, too, if you want.
YUMMY! :)

The great thing about this is you can "premake" most of this meal... You can bag up some dry pasta and make a "sauce" packet in a little resealable baggie and then store it for later :) Seriously smart... :)

meals for the weeks 8.15.11-8.28.11

no more traveling...gotta get back into the saddle...school has started (just professional days), so that means no more "loose" plans with dinner...the kids will grace Ry's room on Wednesday, so we'll call that the "official" beginning :)
but, i'm still not calling summer "done" until September when "Fall" is declared :) and quite frankly, i feel like summers get shorter and shorter with school demands...maybe it's just me?
here's our meal plan for the week :) and last week's plan, too, just for my records :) or for your inspiration/idea base :)

8.15 through 8.21
Monday: Chinese frozen meals (lo mein and orange chicken)
Tuesday: grilled chicken and potatoes
Wednesday: sandwiches and chips
Thursday: omelets and toast
Friday: homemade hamburger helper (fabulous! recipe to be posted later :))
Saturday: out to eat - TGIFridays
Sunday: scrounge :)

8.22 through 8.28
Monday: Open House 1-8 PM for Ry - dinner provided / whatever you want for K and me :)
Tuesday: Meg's meatballs, mashed, and corn
Wednesday: cook out (probably hot dogs :)), mac n cheese, veggie
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: spaghetti or skillet lasagna & garlic toast
Saturday: Yankee's Game in Baltimore/out to eat :)
Sunday: grilled chicken & cornbread casserole

hope your week is a great one! :) enjoy yourselves :)

a momma's serenity prayer...

Oh give me patience when wee hands,
Tug at me with their small demands.
And give me gentle and smiling eyes,
Keep my lips from hasty replies.
And let not weariness, confusion, or noise,
Obscure my vision of life's fleeting joys.
So when, in years to come,
my house is still -
No bitter memories its rooms be filled.

sometimes, you just need some chocolate... :)

today was one of those days where i wish we could have ALL gone back to bed, only to wake up a few minutes later in a WHOLE new attitude :)
it was a weepy day... a day of whining... a day of tantrums at frustrations... a day where play keys found their way into the toilet... it was dreary... we couldn't play outside because it was raining...
so i decided it would be fun to make brownies... after all, K's constant reply when you ask her, "what do you want for lunch?" or "what do you want for dinner?" is always, "ummmmm, brownies and mac and cheese!"

K helped me stir the brownies...
only after she bumped her head on the counter...
yep, more tears... :) and more declarations of, "i need a good nap" through the tears...
and the only thing that stopped her crying was a little chocolate syrup on her finger that quickly ended up in her mouth... :) instant smile... :)

this summer, i went through one of my mom's recipe boxes and found a recipe for brownies that my grandma used to make... today, i didn't make our brownies from scratch, but the recipe i found and copied has a thin icing that you can make to put on top of your brownies... it also calls for some chopped nuts, but no one here is a fan of nuts.

at one point this summer, i made the icing and poured it onto the brownies...they were literally the finest and yummiest thing i had tasted in a long, long, time....
and it was soooo easy :)

so the next time you make brownies, whip up some of this icing and pour it over your brownies...i promise, it will take you to a new place... :)
and on a day like today, chocolate was just what the doctor ordered.... :)
(unfortunately, Miss K did NOT partake in brownies this evening b/c she refused to try/eat her mac n cheese for dinner... :) how ironic!)

Brownie Icing

heat 2 T of water, 1 T magarine or butter so that it's melted. Add 1/4 t. of vanilla. add 1 square of melted baking chocolate until the liquid is smooth and combined.... add 1 C. of confectioners sugar to your mixture and stir, stir stir... i turn off the burner but keep the pan on the burner so that the icing gets nice and shiny and pretty :)
pour the icing on your warm brownies...

:)
devine :)

slap in the face

i follow a blog called *320 Sycamore
i don't know the writer...although she does live in Virginia :)
and i don't know why i started following her blog...but i do...
every Sunday, she posts "courage for the week." a quote...a video...something that usually moves you...
while i don't share the writer's religious beliefs as my own, i do find her posts on Sunday to be fabulous... they always make me think... and, for the most part, they always hit a chord with a topic that i need at that given time... parenting, frustration...everything...
i love when that happens...
it's like a slap in the face..."snap out of it, Robin"
this week, i needed to read what she posted....
maybe you do, too :)

“I see women who are doing their absolute best in every way – but they keep track only of their mistakes. They make lists of things they haven’t done instead of the phenomenal amount of things they’ve accomplished. No matter what mountain of achievement they’ve just climbed, they stumble over molehills, saying things like, “But it’s not enough,” or, “I didn’t do it well enough.” The good news of the gospel is that who we are is okay. Our best is good enough. The Savior came for us –just as we are.

…perfect people don't need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief.”

~Chieko Okazaki

hello again! :)

well, i've greatly neglected this blog...but i have good reason...
we spent 19 days traveling and spending time with family...
we traveled 2600 miles...yes...two thousand six hundred...
to my parents in Pennsylvania...
to my grandma's house in Illinois...
to my parent's house again...
to NJ to see my husband's side of the family for a short time...
and then to Delaware to see Ry's parents...
it was great to see everyone...
but i am so happy to be at home...i just miss it...the smells...the comforts...and that's not meaning that we weren't comfortable in our family's homes...but i just mean the simple comforts of home...
for my girls to sleep in their own beds...
for me to sleep in my own bed.... :)

i have a lot of catching up to do....
and ry goes back to school in a week.... *sniff*
i need to get our spare bedroom switched over so that Hannah can have her own room with the crib that Katherine is in...and Katherine needs to move to a regular bed... and that's not an easy task...moving beds, putting beds in our already full basement for storage...packing up books...
lots of changes...
i probably won't get it all done before ry goes back to school...but hopefully i can make huge headway so that it can be MOSTLY done... :) then i can finish it during naps...or at night...or when i have a free moment :)
i am making September my goal...so translated, that might mean by Christmas :) just kidding... it has to be done before Christmas....

soon, our normal schedule will begin... and we'll have to say goodbye to our summer...
i hate that........
you get so used to a new routine that it becomes normal...and now, it's time to change it up again...
but routine is good...
:)

hello again :)

strawberry fields

over Memorial Day weekend (yes, i'm slow at posting), Ry, K, H, and i went strawberry picking with our fabulous friends (and neighbors), the Weigles. :) it was a beautiful day...a little warm, but still gorgeous. and, after a fabulous month plus of illness for the family, it was a very needed day of fresh air and fun! :)
K was NOT a fan of picking berries initially... she was overwhelmed, i think... the fields are pretty big, and while it wasn't busy with people, she had never seen such rows of plants, etc. :) after she watched us pick for a few minutes, she was ready to jump in. :) i gave her careful instructions about picking berries that were red, which she was good to follow. she picked an occasional not so ripe berry, but for a 2 1/2 year old, she did beautifully... :)
and, with every berry she picked, she would ask me if it was a good one :) it was so cute...even for the hour we were there...
"this one, mommy...."
"this is red, mommy...."
"mommy, yuuuk...a staw-berry...."
"i yike staw-berries today..."
"this is fun..."
"this one, mommy...put it in the box?"
yes, this was my sweet music for picking :)
we picked over 7 pounds of berries on this outing. the price was decent (i think we paid around $25)... :)
here are some pics of our adventure... :)
Katherine and i waving at the camera :) (notice the beaded Mardi Gras necklace that she's wearing...the necklace phase lasted for over a month... this was her favorite - a heart necklace :))

my little strawberry farmer :) busy pickin' berries :)

another picture of the mommy/daughter team :) i love this pic of the two of us... :)

and....here's poor Hannah's perspective of strawberry picking...stuck in a stroller in the super warm temperatures... :) she was so good...but i still felt bad that she couldn't take part in the fun... :) yet... :)

here is K and her strawberry loot :) she did a great job! :)

the challenge after the strawberry picking was what to do with the 7 pounds of berries we picked.... and since i don't have a lot of spare time, it took me 3 or 4 days to get through all the berries... and, fresh berries don't keep long, either... so i washed berries one night and in the morning of the next day (i actually sat on the floor in the living room during Hannah's morning nap so that i could hang out with K while she played and i could also cut the stems off of the berries and slice them)...

i made over a gallon of strawberry freezer jam... :) somethin' about the taste of this jam takes me back to my childhood at my grandma's :) and, we have shared several jars and still have enough in the freezer to take us through the cold winter months :)

and when i taste the jam (K will not eat it :( ), my mind will take me back to our fun afternoon the strawberry fields... :)

bathing beauties :)

in late May, we broke out the 2 year old kiddie pool... :) yes, it was way too small for K, but as most of you know, having something "FUN" and active to do during the day is necessary with a 2 1/2 year old... :) desperate times call for desperate measures :)
anyway, over a weekend, when Ry was home, we took advantage of some serious pool time :)
since this kiddie pool is so small, we could keep it on our deck :) (we've since gotten a bigger kiddie pool; more on that later :))
i hadn't even gotten K a new "bathing soup" yet (that's what K calls a bathing suit :)), and i needed to dig Hannah's hand-me-down "soup" out of the closet ... so, in keeping with the theme of the desperate times quote, K and Hannah were in their bathing soup onesies :)

here are some pics of our "kewl" day :) (yep, that's what K calls a pool, too :))
my bathin' beauties :)

here's my sweet Hannah and my hubby :) love this pic of the two of them...would love to know what the both of them were thinking at that moment :) love Hannah's sunglasses (around her neck at this point) and her little hat :) so cute... :)

Katherine is demonstrating just how small this kiddie pool is... :) in attempt to "get wet," she's trying to lay down :)

more shots :) hangin' out in the "kewl" :)

i could eat her up :) so serious...so cute... :) love those cheeks :)

K sportin' her sunglasses in the pool :)

we love summertime swimming... :) while Hannah is still a little too young to be playing in the water yet, Katherine is enjoying hours in the water... :)

fabulous chicken ranch nachos *that don't stick on your hips*

one of our favorite mom and pop pizza places (End Zone Pizza) got us turned on to what they call "chix ranch nachos." i'm not a ranch sort of girl, honestly, but these nachos are fabulously yummy...

a few weeks ago, i really had a taste for these nachos... but we didn't want to pay almost $8 for a Styrofoam container of mouth-watering nachos...
but i thought to myself, "really how hard can it be to make the nachos??? i could come up with the ingredients and put them together, i think..." so we stopped at the store and picked up some ingredients...

the nachos are FABULOUS... seriously...you will not be able to stop eating them... :) we slow down at the last bit, but they are so, so good...

and i'm gonna show you how to make them for YOU! :)


you will need: tortilla chips, ranch dressing, some kind of breaded chicken (i got Tyson chicken breast fillets), chopped onions (vidallia for us), and some shredded cheese (mozzarella/italian blend and mexican blend works perfectly)...

before you start making these nachos, cook your breaded chicken breast... after it's finished cooking, after it cools a bit, cut it into pieces/squares that are about the size of a medium/large crouton. also, while you're cutting, chop up some onion (we love our vidallia's here....they're perfect for this dish). i used a quarter of a pretty good sized onion. set the onions and chicken aside for a step in the future :)

as for preheating your oven, i just keep the temp set at what temperature i cooked the chicken...i think it was around 400*

i line a cookie sheet (large sized in the pic) with foil (makes for an easy clean up) and then pour your chips on to the cookie sheet... it's ok for the chips to overlap...but make sure you don't ignore the "under" chips :) then, squirt your ranch dressing all over your chips... this is a little too much ranch...but they were still good :)

next, place your chopped onions and cubed breaded chicken on top of the chips and ranch dressing... no rhyme or reason...just scatter them :)

next, put your shredded cheese all over the chips... we like A LOT of cheese, so we probably put around 1 1/2 or 2 cups on...

pop this finished masterpiece into the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to your liking :) we like ours a little browned :)

here they are :) yummy, yummy goodness :) ENJOY them with a napkin nearby :) they are so, so good :) and yes, really, they don't stick to your hips :) maybe somewhere else, but not on your hips :) *giggle* but really, it's worth it :)

(End Zone puts jalapeno peppers on their recipe....not our cup of tea, but it may be for you :))

235 isn't old, is it?

happy birthday, america

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy