One year ago today... (a little late)

*** This post was meant for Sunday morning, when Liam actually turned one but we were too busy celebrating and I forgot to post it. We also had our traditional family dinner for his birthday, I'll post pics soon.



One year ago at 6:08 Liam was born and my life changed, again. I transformed into a mother when Caleb was born almost 4 years ago but I didn't know if my heart could hold enough love for another precious human being. It did. I had no idea I was capable of loving two people so much and so similarly and so differently. Liam has changed our house, he has changed each of us.
We all adore him and he knows it. His brother loves him more than we knew would be possible but he also annoys his brother more than we knew possible too. He worships his brother like nothing I have ever seen. Liam lights up when Lee walks through the door every night from work. He loves playing with his daddy and he adores him more that he realizes. He looks at me with a love that I have never seen before. Caleb loves me, but he is as much a daddy's boy as he is a mommy's boy, Liam on the other hand wants to be with me 24/7. He looks at me as if I am his whole world, and I am in awe of him. Caleb loves to play with him and wants him to do everything thing he does, as long as he doesn't have to share his food. My favorite thing though, is watching them play. Caleb loves to grab him and sing to him "Baby Doodles, Baby Doodles, such a cute baby" and Liam cracks up laughing and wraps his arms around Caleb's neck like he never wants to let go.

Of course they fight already too. There may have been a baby, blanket burrito situation where Liam was really annoying Caleb and he may have wrapped him in a quilt and rolled him off the couch, while I was running through the house, in what felt like slow motion doing the whole "Nooooooooooooooooo" slow motion voice thing too. He was fine, in fact he thought it was fun and started trying to roll off the couch and bed himself after that. But when asked why he did that Caleb solemnly looked at me and said "Mommy that was plan B." What, the what? I know Lee and I will be breaking up fights in the future but I know they will be as thick as theives. This boy has made our home so much louder, chaotic and crazy but he has also made it happier, more joyful, and brighter. I would not change a thing and I cannot wait to see who this little sticker becomes. He is such a happy baby and so smart too. I know all Mom's think that but truly my children are the smartest! :) Liam has made our home feel complete.
Happy Birthday Liam Mommy and Daddy love you!

Overnight Iced Coffee

I love love love ordering an iced or frozen coffee. But I could never duplicate it at home. Making a cup, mixing in cream and sugar and then pouring it over ice just isn't the same as what you can buy at a coffee shop. I was stumped until I stumbled upon a couple of different types of iced coffee, some used cream, some used milk, some used half and half but they all used sweetened condensed milk, one even used just sweetened condensed milk. I played around with the idea of what I was wanted until I settled on this recipe. At some point I may purchase a french press so that I can make a cold pressed coffee but for now making a cup with my Keurig the night before works just fine.

Before bed I brew one cup in a mason jar, I don't add anything to it, I just put on a lid and toss it in the fridge. The next morning I stagger to the kitchen take care of the boys breakfast beverages and make my coffee. I open the jar add as much ice as it will hold and pour in however much coffee cream I feel the need for, this stuff is sweeeet so you won't need much. Sometimes I add a bit of milk or creamer if I want it milkier than sweet. Then I give it a stir, grab a straw and start my day. That is it, all done, as Mickey Mouse would say "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!" Now if you don't have a Keurig you could make a small pot or just put some back from some you made earlier the day before, whatever works for you.

Iced Coffee Cream
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
stir together, pour into a container and refrigerate until ready to use.
This makes enough for a full weeks worth of iced coffee for me and the hubs!

Seared Salmon Caesar Salad

Something happened to my husband maybe he shed his old taste buds and they were replace with all new salad loving taste buds or maybe he just gave in a discovered what he's been missing. Either way I am NOT complaining! He has also started taking an interest in helping me cook, which I am loving. When we met he could make quesadillas and scramble eggs, that is it. He was extremely happy to find a girl who knew her way around the kitchen since that meant he no longer had to live on take out.

I made this salad wayyy back on July 4th for lunch and the mister helped and can now make salmon and homemade croutons. He was also surprised how easy homemade Caesar dressing was. He is totally on board with my "make everything homemade" mentality. Now that is easier said than done but salad dressings are some of the easiest and quickest things to swap out for homemade and 9 times out of 10 are much better tasting.   

Homemade Croutons:

french baguette (preferably slightly stale)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Cut you baguette into cubes. In a large bowl toss your croutons with the garlic and oil. In a medium skillet over med-high heat brown the bread until golden brown. Let cook on a paper towel. Once cooled toss on your salad. You can store these for about a week in an airtight container. If you are making the salmon do not clean skillet! 

Homemade Caesar Dressing:

(I used and immersion blender but you could absolutely use a blender or food processor. I also used a mortar and pestle but you could use a spoon and a bowl.)

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

6 garlic cloves, minced

3 anchovies, minced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

Using the mortar and pestle combine the salt, pepper, garlic, and anchovies and work into a paste. If you are using an immersion blender combine the paste and all ingredients into a bowl or deep cup and and blend until combined and emulsified. If using blender or food processor place everything except olive oil into the blender and combine. Once combine stream in olive oil while running until emulsified. You can also make this by hand with a little extra work. Always taste as you go, you may want to add extra of somethings, sometimes! Should keep in a covered container for about a week. 

Sauteed Salmon:

Oil left in skillet from croutons

salt

2 salmon fillets

Sprinkle salt on either side of salmon and over med-high heat brown salmon (should only take a minute or two on each side)  in same skillet with same oil as the croutons. Once browned on either side, turn down to med-low. Cook until it flakes easily with a fork (usually about 5 min or less depending on the thickness.) Let rest until ready to assemble salad.

For the Salad

(for two)

2 cups loosely packed chopped romaine lettuce

2 tablespoons Caesar dressing

a small handful of croutons

2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan

2 salmon fillets

Toss lettuce in dressing. Place onto two plates top with croutons and cheese. Place salmon on top and enjoy!

Currently.

I can't stop eating this salsa, I have eaten it with a dollop of sour cream and tortilla chips for lunch everyday this week, and once for dinner. I mean, wow, Pioneer Woman, wow!

I have been trying my best to nurse this poor sad little rose bush back to health, I honestly thought all hope was lost. Somehow I didn't kill it and noticed my little bloom when I pulled in the drive way last week. Maybe by next summer it will have a several. In the process though I think my hydrangea my be a goner. I have to dead head it but even the leaves are brown. :( I'm heartbroken about this.

In less than a week my baby will be one! Where has the time gone? No seriously, tell me! Feels like a month ago I was sick with worry, holding back tears while some doctor I didn't know was telling me to trust her and that they were going to induce my labor over 5 weeks early. But now I wake up every morning and realize that I have a totally happy, healthy, fat, silly, laughing, crawling, refusing to walk baby boy. Seriously, he could walk if he wanted to but he would rather be carried or crawl because its faster. He can stand up and even bounce unassisted, without holding onto anything. But take a step, nope, he won't. He leads with his giant head and loses his balance. Its actually pretty funny to watch. He is a total Momma's boy and I am hoping it stays that way for a bit. I'll take all the snuggles I can get. I miss my snuggles from the big one so I' going to take advantage! This Sunday we will have a traditional birthday pancakes and a family dinner and do a smash cake to celebrate my not so itty bitty baby. All of this makes me want to have more, then my husband reminds me that my body always tries to kill me when I'm pregnant and I think remember why we are stopping with two and that feels like enough. 

Somehow on my mission to save money and combine the boys parties we have gone from the boys splitting one big party and having a small family gathering for each on there birthday to actually having a theme on those get together! We are having a mustache themed party for little man and a Minion themed party for not as little man. And their big party is a Mickey Mouse party. I blame my mother! She is a bad influence, we need no excuse to throw a party. I've been working on the menus for the past couple of days. I'm not sure if I'm done or not but this is what I've got for now. 

Chicken Taco Chopped Salad

This summer has been all about salad, tons and tons of salad. This one is amazing!! It is filling and perfect. Truly perfect. Now the hubby hates, hates, hates anything to do with ranch. I on the other hand love a good ranch, but only a good ranch. But because of his hatred he had the salad with salsa and said it was wonderful.

Taco Chicken Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Ranch

Salsa Corn

3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/4 cup salsa

In a small skillet over medium high heat saute corn until warmed through, add in salsa stirring often until warmed. 

Cilantro Lime Ranch

1/3 cup Greek Yogurt

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon powdered ranch mix

juice and zest of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Stir together yogurt and milk. Stir in remaining ingredients. 

A salad for 2:

mixed lettuce
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped

2 sliced on bacon cooked and chopped

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

1 avocado, cubed

1 cup salsa corn

To plate,  pile a couple of handfuls of lettuce in the center of a bowl. Layer the topping in a line completely covering lettuce. Serve dressing on the side. 

Family Cookout

Well... Ok the title is a bit misleading. We did cookout on the grill that morning but about an hour before there was a huge downpour so we set up inside but luckily it stopped and we could eat out side and the kids could play in the pool. But it was still a bummer because we had a lovely table planned out and anddddd all of decorations clashed with my Mom's hideous wallpaper. (no that is not an insult to her it came with the house she just hasn't gotten it covered up yet) Thenn I went to print out my neon menus and they printed some wacky colors no where near what I designed but they still worked out. It's all good we still had amazing food and so much fun... Until my Granny had to go to the emergency room at the end but that's another story and no worries she is fine. She just gave us a bit of a scare.

You can see more shots on my Instagram feed, 

How about roasted veggie kabobs? Yum!

And I didn't take a good shot but COCONUT RICE y'all!!! 

So goood!

We had several homemade salsas for the chicken, pork tenderloin and sausages.

Pineapple Mango

Creamy Tomatillo

Spicy Red (Restaurant Style Salsa)

and 

Lemon

The "drink bar" had Sweet Tea

with Blackberry Syrup,

Peach Mint Syrup

and

Lemon and Lavendar Syrup

 and

Watermelon Coconut Cooler

For dessert we made S'mores.

We set up a S'mores Bar that had so many options and was a hit with the kids and adults. 

Cookie options were:

Graham Crackers

Chocolate Chip (crispy and soft)

Pecan Sandies

and Butter Cake

Marshmallow options were:

Extra Large Plain

Strawberry

Keylime

Chocolate and Other Goodies options were:

Milk Chocolate

Dark Chocolate

White Chocolate

Mini Candy Bars

Lemon Curd

Toasted Coconut

Strawberries

(We were supposed to have a caramel sauce too but I forgot to get it out, oooppsss. Just pretend its there on the otherside of the lemon curd, okay? Thanks.)

We made a list of suggestions but some of the best ones were one of a kind creations!

My little monkey had Chocolate Chip cookie with milk chocolate, a strawberry marshmallow and fresh strawberries.

This one is chocolate chip cookies (soft batch) a plain marshmallow, a mini 3 Musketeers and toasted coconut.

The one on the right was the same as Caleb's first one but minus the strawberries.

On the left was butter cake, a huge marshmallow, Lemon curd and toasted coconut. No chocolate at all.

It was my favorite!

 My cousin, Keith, created this, it was an open face s'more with butter cake on the bottom, a lime marshmallow, lemon curd and toasted coconut. He may have also added a piece of pork tenderloin to it. Not for everybody but that sounds pretty good to me.

My Momma about to try to stuff all of that in her mouth. Her's was butter cake, plain marshmallow, lemon curd, coconut and strawberries.

I'm pretty sure the cake, lemon curd, coconut, strawberries and lime marshmallows were the surprise favorites among the options. I really think we may have to recreate this idea, sooner than later!

Watermelon Coconut Cooler

Summer feels like its slipping through my fingers. I'm not sure why that's such a big deal to me. My kids aren't school age and we don't usually take a vacation in the summer, so it doesn't affect my day to day routine. Maybe its the thought that I won't be eating watermelon, berries, pineapple, mangoes, kiwis and coconut nearly as often in a couple of months. I love fresh produce. Send me to a farmer's market and I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm just not ready for pumpkins and squash just yet. We are eating fresh and raw like nobodies business around here, well except for the Taco Bell we ate last night but try not to hold that against me. I'm not even sure Taco Bell in real food but every once in a while I can't help but indulge. Judge me, I deserve it...

Anyway... Back to real food. My Mom had a cookout last weekend and the food was amazing a usual. Not to brag or anything but my family can cook! This summery deliciousness was one of the drinks we served. The other was sweet tea with flavored syrups but more on that at a later date. This is a simple naturally sweet and refreshing drink that you can serve instead of punch and not worry about any extra funky business that you can't pronounce being in it. I love this stuff!!! It tastes like summer. Better yet while I was sipping on it I thought I heard waves. Maybe I just really need to go to the beach! Hint, hint husband!

Watermelon Coconut Cooler:
Juice of 1/2 a watermelon
36 oz coconut water (we used the kind with pulp)
1 lime, juiced

To juice the watermelon, cut you melon in chunks and either run through a  juicer or pop in a blender and blend until liquid and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Combine watermelon juice, coconut water, and lime juice. Refrigerate and serve cold!


*To make sparkling add a 2 liter of Sprite of Club Soda.
**Cut the remaining watermelon into chinks and freeze and stir in to keep it cold without watering it down.

Currently.

This Saturday my Mom is having another epic family cookout. I may have made a tropical menu compilation.  I'm headed to the store tonight to get the ingredients for the flavored syrups and salsas and maybe a few things for that s'mores bar! Oh yeah! To be continued...

Jesse and The Ripper's on Jimmy Fallon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My inner 10 year old is doing cartwheels in my mind! You should know that my cousin and I both used Forever in our weddings. She used their version, cause she's hardcore Full House FOREVER! I used an acoustic mash-up original arrangement of their's and Beach Boys' version. Luckily, even at 11 my little cousin was a musical genius and worked it out like a pro. 

I am obsessed with Olio Board. I have re designed half my house already. When I run out of rooms I may start redesigning other people's homes! Family and friends you have been warned!

A couple of years ago the hubby and I decided to cancel our cable to save  money since I was cutting back hours at work. Luckily we have every newish gaming system so we can stream Netflix and Hulu through them. Its actually been a great way of monitoring how much tv we watch since we have to seek out what shows we see instead of mindlessly flipping channels. But the down side, other than not having all of our favorite shows available on the tv,  is that I have the tendency to watch that show and only that show until I have watched everything possible. I did that recently with Fringe, Drop Dead Diva and CSI NY. But, my newest obsession is Sherlock! I watched all three episodes from season two while Lee was at work in one day! That was nine hours in his 10.5 hour work day. I feel ashamed of my weakness, but I neeeeeeeeeeed season three to be available! I am SHERLOCKED! If you don't get the reference you should watch it. Seriously!

Rememeber the sneak of the Mickey Mouse party signs I was working on. I have now gone one step farther into crazy and bought me, the hubby and both boys matching Mickey shirts. I have crossed the line into THAT Mom.

My Caleb has been OBSESSED with the song Thrift Shop by Macklemore since it came out. (Don't worry he's only heard the edited versions) He has been running around singing "I got tenty in my pockets, come on, come, yeah, yeah" for months! It is adorable! He has recently moved on to Mirrors  by Justin Timberlake, which I'm totally ok with. That is my jam! Everyday he will randomly steal my phone and I will hear the song blaring from another room and when I walk in he will be doing a "white boy" dance to it. He cracks me up when choosing his music prefrences. He's never really been one for "children's songs" he has always liked regular music. I think that is why he loved Imagination Movers. When he was 18 months to 2 he always asking for the "magi eeee me" song (Magic by B.o.B. featuring Rivers Cuomo.) Liam's music choices seem to be more of a normal baby. He likes "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Skidamarick." He also really likes the Spider-Man song too. Maybe he isn't really that typical.

I've been on a crazy salad kick lately. I think it may have to do with that hunk I am married to learning to love lettuce. Be prepared for my next few posts to include several salads. I'll even try to keep them healthy too, but I don't make promises. 

I am on a crazy organizing, sorting and tossing out of crap kick too. It is to the point I'm barely interested in anything else. My brain is sort, sort, toss, Mickey Mouse, Cookout, sort, sort, toss, oh maybe I should eat, sort, etc... You get the point. Be prepared for more on that too.

And last but not least, actually the best part, my Mother in law called me today to tell me we are down to 75 days. 75 days until my Brother in law is back in the states for good!!! No more of this deployment crap!!! We are all very excited but I can tell you no one more than my Sister in law. I haven't told Caleb yet but I'm sure there will be much rejoicing.

So, what is new with you?