What's For Dinner?

Nothing new on the menu this week, but we did actually decide what to make so we knew what to buy groceries for last night. It still didn't seem to save us any money. :( Without further ado...here's what for dinner.

• Cranberry Roast (I threw a bag of prewashed baby carrots in with it this morning, so we'll see)
• Pasta w/Meat Sauce (I think Doug picked up shells)
• Chicken & Dumplings
• Chicken Stuffing Casserole
• Chili
• Hot Ham & Cheese on Croissants

Now, looking over my menu, is it any wonder that I'm not losing my baby weight. Hmmm...guess I better start exercising.

Cuteness!

Grandma Laurie got Katie some new stuff for the holidays.

For Valentine's Day I must say, this is a miracle worker. Katie goes right to sleep when I lay her down at night with this in her crib. Doesn't work so well for naps though. Running the vacuum works better then. :)

For St. Patrick's Day hat and shirt

For Easter

Big Day!

Let's just remember this for the year, we're not turning 30, we're celebrating the 17th birthday that we've known each other. We're not even adults! :) Hope you are having a great day!

Hubby Rocks!

This is what Josh got me for my birthday. That boy knows me well! Just had to share because I love it so much!

Bye-Bye Baby Clothes

So yesterday, I decided I was tired of looking at the overflowing pile of baby stuff that we didn't use or didn't fit anymore and braved the baby clothes. I filled up 2 decent sized boxes with baby girl stuff NB to 6 months to get rid of and I probably could have done more. I had to save a few things for the possibility that I have another girl one of these days though! So here was my criteria, it had to be multi-season, or pajamas, or so cute I couldn't bear to give it away. :) There were some exceptions, I got rid of a few sleepers that were annoying to deal with. Snaps in the back, who does that? And a few sleeveless things I kept because they were just too sweet. Mostly it ended up being alot of onesies and little pants. That's what Katie has been in day in and day out for these first 6 months. All in all, I probably kept too much. Katie definitely had way too many clothes, and I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing about the next one, even if we don't buy her anything else (like that is possible!). Now, if she's born this time of year, it'll be like starting from square one. Well, okay, she'll have pajamas and white onesies and that's about it. Same goes for if we have a boy. He won't even hardly have pajamas, since just about everything Katie has is very girly. It felt good to organize that and now I'm ready to tackle some more stuff in her room. Time to store the bouncy seat, the swing, the boppy and all that other stuff. Katie needs her room back!

Kitchen Revamp

I finally feel like we're settling in as a family of four. Not to say it's still not challenging - because Oh, Lord, it definitely is - but I'm finally being inspired to do something other than sleep, eat, and diaper babies.

I had a million and one projects I want to complete and it's overwhelming, not to mention expensive. One of the sore spots for me is my kitchen. It's not bad, but our new floors make everything else look a little generic.

Problem is, kitchens are expensive to redo. I was thinking subway tiles for the back splash, new granite countertop, crown molding for over the countertops, maybe a new sink...

Like I said, expensive.

Then I found this post on one of my favorite blogs.

I don't love everything about this kitchen...as in, I'd probably paint the cabinets white instead of black, and I'm not touching my new floors, but I love, love, love this backsplash.



Bead board! It's genius!

Then, I found this post.

Can you believe this countertops are painted?



So inspired!

No Cooking for Me!

My darling hubby is taking me to Chipotle tonight...yum! I really like having the tacos there, so much more manageable than a burrito. :)

I forgot to report back in about the brown sugar chicken, it was so good! 4 large chicken breasts took about 4 1/2 hours on low in my 6 qt. crock pot. Seriously, the chicken stayed moist, even the next day when I had it for dinner.

Taco Dip recipe posted on the crock pot blog today. Looks yummy!

I'm Sure it's not Cracker Barrel

Chicken & Dumplings

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Bake Recipe

2-3 large sweet potatoes
1 small onion, diced (optional)
1 lime (optional)
1 can black beans
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can chopped black olives (optional)
1 jar salsa (16 oz. jar)
1 pkg shreaded Mexican blend cheese
1 pkg burrito seasoning mix
1 Pkg flour tortillas (we use low carb whole wheat ones)

Directions:
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Boil until tender. Drain and mash.

While your potatoes are cooking, saute your onions. I use a non-stick pan, so I don't bother adding any cooking oil or anything. If you use a regular pan, you could use vegi-oil or cooking spray.

Once the onions are nice and brown-yummy-goodness, add your black beans (drain and rinse them first), can of green chilies, your mashed sweet potatoes, a cup of water and the burrito seasoning. Stir all together and cook until most of the liquid is gone. Add in the juice from one lime (not necessary, but so tasty!)

In a 9x13 pan (I find glass casserole dishes work best for this) Put down a couple tablespoons of salsa. This will help keep the tortillas from sticking.

Put down one layer each of tortillas, sweet Potato mixture, chopped black olives, salsa, then cheese. Repeat until your ingredients are gone, or until you reach the top of your dish. (Leftovers freeze well, believe it or not, so the extra filling and tortillas can be made into homemade, heathy frozen burritos.)

In the oven it goes! 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so.

I've made this with chicken, too. I just added it to the mix with the sweet potatoes and black beans. This is one of Josh's favorites, and mine, too!

Let me know if you make it and how it turns out.