Behold the Power of Elmo

With the exception of during football season, our TV, for the most part, remains off until after the kids go to bed.  Occasionally if the kids are having a really rough day we will turn on the TV to provide a little distraction. They've seen a few things on Sprout or Disney Junior, but never more than a couple minutes. They are usually off doing something else before the colorful characters finish singing whatever fun song they're singing.

I remember my nephew falling in love with Elmo around this age. One afternoon when the kids were in an especially fussy mood, I looked up "Elmo's Song" on YouTube.  Boy am I glad I did.  That song is like baby kryptonite.  Tears and bad attitudes immediately disappear as soon as we hear Elmo's voice.

Thank you Elmo and your annoying ass voice for buying me three minutes of silence when I need it. I hope your friends on the CD I just downloaded are as useful as you are.

Tasty Tuesday - Penne Pomodoro

Rob and I met when we worked together at a great little Italian joint called The Blu Tomato.  We used to eat there all the time even though it was completely out if the way for us.  The food was great and it always brought back great memories of us falling in love.

They unfortunately closed their doors a couple years ago.  Fortunately for us, I perfected one of their signature pasta dishes  and make it on a regular basis.  Penne Pomo is a light pasta dish that is so easy to make. It only has 6 ingredients, but it's full of flavor. It was the first pasta the kids tried, and they love it as much as we do.   

They are having seconds after our trip to the splash pad tonight. 

Penne Pomodoro 

8 cloves garlic

1 ounce fresh basil

1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes

12 ounces penne pasta 

Fresh whole milk mozzarella 

Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Peel garlic and thinly slice. Chop or tear basil into small pieces. 

2. Add 2 tbsp EVOO to a hot sauté pan.  Add sliced garlic and cook until lightly brown and fragrant over medium-high heat.   

3. Meanwhile, bring water for pasta to a boil in a large sauce pan.  Make sure to salt your pasta water. Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook fully. Drain pasta. 

4. Reduce heat to medium and add juice from tomatoes to sauté pan. Be careful as the juice and hot oil will pop.  Slice tomatoes into quarters and add to sauté pan.  I recommend doing this over the pan as you want all the juice from the tomatoes.  You could also do it over the cam ahead of time and just dump the juice and tomatoes in all at once. 

5. Add basil and let cook for no more than 5 minutes.  If you cook it too long your sauce will be too thick.  If needed add more EVOO to thin out sauce.  

6. Add pasta and serve hot. Garnish with    fresh mozzarella balls or cut up cubes.  

Notes : it is important to have everything prepped before you start. this dish cooks very quickly. You can use fresh tomatoes, diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes.  I prefer whole peeled because of the juice they have.  I have used more or less garlic or basil than what I put in the recipe.  It turns out well even if the amounts aren't exact.  If you don't have access to fresh basil, Bolthouse Farms makes a great freeze dried basil that can be substituted. The dish is best when the pasta is hot enough to make the cheese gooey.  I occasionally microwave the pasta after garnishing with cheese to get it gooey.  I recommend buying the large ball or log of fresh mozz. The small balls are convenient, but don't melt as well.  I only use them if, like today, the store is out of the larger variety.  

I hope you all love this dish as much as we do.  Everyone who I have made this for, or passed the recipe on to, raves about how great it is.  Happy cooking!!

Fourth of July Weekend

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July.  We had a wonderful couple of days, and thankfully the rain held off, mostly, until today.  The first week of July is usually spent at the lake with all of my siblings. They have big things going on in their lives right now, new house, new city, a trip to Europe, that kept them from being here this year, so it was a little bittersweet.  Thankfully my oldest sister was able to make it up from Nashville with her husband for a few days and we were able to get in some family time in addition to a get together with friends.

We started our 4th as we do most mornings, with berries and their new favorite, french toast. A certain little man was in quite the mood, so we hung out around the house and snuggled all day. They had star shaped broccoli cheese bites for lunch and after that they helped me get the back yard ready.  In other words, they made a mess while I tried to get things set up.

I made this festive mobile for above their highchairs and they were enthralled with it.

In honor of National Hot Dog Month, we decided to set up a hot dog bar.  It was really easy and is a great option if you have vegetarian friends. Grill a few soy dogs too, and viola.  No need to prepare an entire second meal.

A few of the topping selections.  We had Mac and Cheese, chili and baked beans in addition to what's on the table.

The cutest party guest ever?  I think so.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite pic from the night. He was happily enjoying his red, white and blueberry popsicle until he noticed my frito dog. Then is was game over.

Once the kids were in bed we enjoyed some ice cream sandwiches, fired up the chiminea and played Cards Against Humanity.  While we couldn't see the city's fireworks from our back yard, we still got to see a few pretty decent displays. All in all, it was a pretty great day.

The next day we headed to the lake to spend time with family.  The kids and I went for a dip and the water was chilly. We had fun, but after 5 or 10 minutes they were shivering.  I'm hoping the water will warm up a little bit more before we're up there next week.

This is the face of a super tired girl.  We've been back and forth between one nap and two, and Friday was a one nap day. She was ready for it.

After naps Harrison got to go for his first Sea Doo ride. He just relaxed and took it in.  I consider that a success. It of course started raining before I got to take Brooke, so her ride will have to wait till another day. We took the kids to their first fish fry at Hamilton Fish and Game before heading back home.  Coleslaw, baked beans, apple sauce, fried fish, french fries. They were all about it.

I tried my first attempt at tie dyeing onesies, and while they turned out well, they didn't turn out as planned. Our red and blue onesies wound up much more pink and turquoise. Very cute, but not really festive.

We had a great couple of days and enjoyed just relaxing at home today.  Tomorrow is a crazy day for us and I'm hoping they hold up through it all.  A birthday party, pictures, assuming the weather holds out, and a cook out all on one nap.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Tasty Tuesday - Homemade Popsicles

I love having something cold and sweet at the end of a long hot day. While I often grab the Ben and Jerry's, I may be eating some while writing this post, I'm not ready to introduce the kids to that gloriousness. They occasionally get a bite of ice cream if we go out to Zestos, but that's not very often. Enter homemade popsicles.

I purchased Tovolo ice pop molds and we got to work.  Our first go round was a cherry vanilla popsicle. Really easy to make and super tasty.

Cherry Vanilla Popsicles

1 cup diced pitted cherries

1/2 cup greek vanilla yogurt

2 tbsp honey

Mix in a blender until smooth.  Pour into molds and freeze for at least 5 hours.

Next I wanted to try an incorporate veggies into a popsicle.  Spinach seems to be the best option as it's mild in flavor.  The kids enjoy these as much as the cherry vanilla ones.

Pinapple, Spinach, Blueberry Popsicles

6 oz blueberries

1 cup spinach, fresh or frozen

8 pineapple quarters

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth.  If needed add pineapple juice for consistency.  Pour into molds and freeze at least 5 hours.

For the Fourth of July I wanted to make a healthy version of a bomb pop.  Obviously this will taste nothing like a bomb pop, but it has the same nostalgic look.  I ordered the Tovolo star ice pop molds just for these popsicles.

Red, White and Blueberry Popsicles

10oz strawberries

1 cup greek vanilla yogurt

6oz blueberries

Blend strawberries in blender.  Pour into molds filling 1/3 of the way full and freeze until solid. Spoon yogurt into molds filling another third.  Freeze for approximately 30 minutes.  Blend blueberries in blender and the pour into molds filling the remaining portion until full. Notes: Be careful when pouring mixes into mold.  You want to make sure you aren't getting mix on the side of the mold as you're pouring it in.  You want nice clean layers.  Make sure not to let the yogurt layer get too solid otherwise the sticks won't go in the molds properly.

I'm excited for the kids to get to try their festive popsicles of the 4th.  I may have to have one too.  Although, I may be too busy eating smores, hot dogs and drinking cold beers.  The adults really do get to have all the fun.  

Sunday is Daddy Day

Rob works crazy hours every week.  On average he works 70 hours a week, so we take advantage of every minute we get with him. Sundays around here are referred to as Daddy Day. We started off Daddy Day with some berries and french toast.  This was the kids first encounter with french toast, and they were big fans.  

The majority of the day was rainy out, so we were inside until the evening hours.  We took advantage and started working on some of our Fourth of July treats.

Once the rain clouds cleared, we were greeted by the sun and perfect temperatures.  While we grilled some kabobs on the grill, the kids played with their water table.  Daddy was great at helping them with the squirt guns and wheels.

After dinner they got to run around naked in the back yard and enjoy a blueberry, pineapple, spinach popsicle.

Of course this happened. Typical little boy.

Once the popsicles were finished, a meltdown occured.  Bath time involved screaming, crying and more screaming. "Elmo's Song" got things settled down enough for us to finish baths and get them to bed.  We're now enjoying R rated comedies and adult beverages while the kids snooze.

Rewind to Friday.  We got some extra daddy time on Friday afternoon at my cousin's wedding.  Thanks to stacking cups, blocks and a few snacks, the kids made it through the wedding with barely a peep.

My gorgeous cousin Rachel.

The beautiful bride and her dad.

With Grandma and Grandpa after the ceremony. I love this picture.

After the ceremony was an adults only reception.  Thank you to the kids' Godmother for watching them for the night. They had cow's milk for the for the first time before bed, and went down without a fight. 

We got to go out and enjoy a delicious breakfast for dinner buffet, dancing, a few cocktails and most importantly, wedding cake. Being the huge party animals we are, we broke curfew and didn't get home until 10:10.  It's crazy to think that in years past we would just be pregaming at that time of night.  Oh how things have changed.

I'm looking forward to this week and the Fourth.  I'm hosting a small cookout for some friends and my daycare girls. More on that later.  

I hope everyone's weekend was as fun as ours.  

Mommy's New Toy

High school photography class = easy A, blow off class to me.  I had fun in class and really enjoyed working in the dark room, but when it came to shutter speeds, apertures and photo composition, I tuned out.  I knew enough to get by, but I really should have listened to more of what Mrs. Hopper had to say.  I've used either my iPhone or a point and click, Power Shot and Cool Pix, since my days in P101. 

Once the kids were born the amount of pictures taken on a daily basis went into overdrive.  In the beginning I probably took 20 pictures a day.  When you're looking at that many pictures each day, you start to notice that the iPhone camera you always thought was so great, really isn't that wonderful. Enter the Nikon D3200. 

After doing a little research, I settled on this bad boy, in red.  I've had it for about a week now, and I'm in love. The automatic settings make for wonderful pictures.  I haven't had the time to sit down and really get acquainted with it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.  I'm excited to get back into photography and learn everything I should have learned 15 years ago. Has it really been that long since I was a junior in high school?

Having a couple really cute subjects to shoot makes it super easy.

Brooke has taken to hugging, tackling, wresting, Harrison.  Sometimes it results in giggles, other times tears.

 Brooke is kind enough to share the water table with the dogs.

He even looks cute when he's crying, which is often. I love my sensitive little man.

I seriously love these two, and I love that I'll have these pictures to look back on to remind me of all the fun times we have together.

Tasty Tuesday - Muffin Tin Quiches

For this weeks recipe I thought I'd go with a breakfast dish. Our breakfasts usually consist of fruit, more fruit and some Cheerios.  Occasionally we mix it up with some toast, pancakes or a scramble.  

I originally made this recipe when the babies were 7 months old.  It was the first muffin tray dish I made, and it was a hit.  They liked it, and I caught the hubs stealing some muffins for a quick breakfast on the go. While it's not technically a quiche, that how we always wind up referring to them in our house.  

This recipe is another one that is really easy to change up the ingredients in depending on what you have on hand.  I had bacon and green peppers that needed to get used, so that's what I incorporated.  

Muffin Tin Quiches

Yields 24 muffins or 48 mini muffins

4 cups frozen shredded hash browns 

2 tbsp butter

1 green pepper

6 slices bacon

1 cup cheddar cheese

10 eggs

1 tsp pepper (optional)

1. Preheat over to 375*. Grease muffins tins using cooking spray. 

2. Defrost 4 cups hash browns in microwave.  Pour 2 tbsp melted butter over hash browns. Stir. 

3. Spoon has browns into muffin tins.  Press hash browns into muffin tins creating a hash brown cup.  Bake at 375* for 15 minutes.  

4. While the hash browns are baking, cook the bacon in a frying pan.  Dice the bacon and green pepper. 

5. Whisk the eggs, and optional pepper, together and set aside.

6. When the hash browns are lightly browned around the edges, pull out of the oven.  Fill each hash town cup with a small amount of bacon, green pepper and cheese.  

7. Pour eggs on top of hash brown cups and filling.  Fill 3/4 of the way full.  

8. Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean when they are fully cooked.  

Notes: The first time I made these I used ham and no peppers.  They were really good.   If egg spills over the side of the hash brown cup, it's ok.  I've made them both as regular and mini muffins.  I think I prefer the regular size muffin for this recipe.  You can melt the cheese on top of the quiches instead of putting it on the inside.   Both ways taste good.  

Both kids are enjoying them for breakfast this morning. Brooke insisted on holding all of hers at once.