Attempting to be a Super Mom

I was tagged by the lovely Sandra, at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom , for this wonderful Homemaking meme and I thought, Why not?  It looks like fun.   I'm tagging  Felicia ,  Megan,  and  Sarah .  How it works is you copy and paste this onto your blog, answer the questions, tag some friends, and then let me know if you do it, so I can come and read.  Aprons - Y/N If Y what does your favorite look like? Yes I do.  I have one that I made out of fun brightly colored argyle and some pink and brown houndstooth printed fabrics.  I also made one for Sydney out of fabric with pretty birds on it, and Ben's has rocket ships and astronauts. Baking - Favorite thing to bake? Unfortunately my baking ends at bread, muffins, or cookies.  I just wasn't blessed with a baking gene. My sister on the other hand is a great cupcake baker.  One time for Thanksgiving I thought I would make rolls or biscuits, I can't remember which.  Well, they...

Today, I start the last year of my 20s.  In honor of today I'm going to post a couple of fun pictures of me growing up. Here's to the big 29!

First of all, if you haven't been to Sandra's food blog, Full Bellies Happy Kids , you should.  It's full with mouth watering goodness.  Great recipes and beautiful pictures.  When she posted this Banana Jam , my sweet tooth demanded I make it. Banana Jam 4 cups mashed up bananas 4 cups sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (If you go to her blog, she gives you directions for canning this recipe as well which were helpful since I have never actually canned before.  You may not need to can this though, because it's so delicious it may not last that long anyway.) In a large pot, mix together the bananas, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to a low medium.  Cook until it is nice and thick stirring occasionally.  You can tell it's done if you put a spoonful on a saucer and run your spoon through it.  It shouldn't run back together.

I don't know about you, but I am a cherry tomato-aholic.  I will sit down and eat a half a container for lunch and come back to eat the second half for a snack.  That said, I'm always looking for new ways of eating foods I love, and during the summer, when it's hot, this light Cherry Tomato Salad, from Taste of Home Complete Guide to Country Cooking, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Cherry Tomato Salad 1 QT cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 cup veggie oil 3 tbsp vinegar 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley 1-2 tsp minced fresh basil 1-2 tsp minced fresh oregano 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar Place tomatoes in a shallow bowl.  In a small jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, and sugar; shake well.  Pour over the tomatoes.  Cover and refrigerate.

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned creamy pasta salad with barbecue?  To me, it's not summer without a healthy dose of the mayonnaise covered macaroni and I found a great recipe at All Recipes . With a couple of alterations I made, it's wonderful and the perfect summer time barbecue side dish. Amish Macaroni Recipe 1 box elbow macaroni (1lb), cooked and drained 1 onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 3 stalks of celery, chopped 7 eggs, hard boiled and chopped 2 heaping tbsp dill pickle relish 2 cups mayonnaise 3 tbsp yellow mustard 3/4 cup sugar 2 1/2 tsp vinegar 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 tsp celery seed cheese cubes In a very large bowl (this feeds an army and is perfect to take to a potluck) stir together your cooked macaroni, onion, bell pepper, celery, and eggs.  In a medium sized bowl whisk together relish, mayo, mustard, sugar, vinegar, salt and celery seed.  Pour the sauce over the pasta/veggie mix a little at a time, stirring in between pours u...

When my husband is at work, sometimes he goes out to eat with coworkers to some of the restaurants I don't get to because I always have the kids...  Like Nordstrom Cafe (inside the Nordstrom store) among many others.  While we visit the nicer restaurants every now and then when we get a date night.  While he was enjoying a salad, and by enjoying I mean that he came home bragging about how good it was, he thought of me and bought me the Nordstrom Family Table Cookbook.  This is the first recipe we tried from the cookbook but because it was so hot we didn't want to heat up the house so we changed the recipe from roasting to grilling.  Hey it's summer time. Grilled Herb Chicken Breasts 4 chicken breast, boneless and skinless 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper Lemon Pound the chick...

Breakfast time....what is on the plate this morning:::: My kids had breakfast bars and cheese sticks while I'm enjoying a nice cold mocha and some strawberries. On today's to do list:::: Laundry Finish getting the kitchen in order Unpack the rest of the playroom Hang some more pictures Currently reading:::: I just picked up Nicholas Sparks' book The Longest Ride.  It had boots on the cover and part of it is about a rodeo rider so I had to give it a try. On the TV today:::: Maybe some season 6 of Heartland Return to Amish Sister Wives A couple of documentaries I recorded: Kidnapped for Christ, and David Beckham into the Unknown Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever The weather outside is:::: It's about 80 degrees although supposedly this is about as hot as it's supposed to get today.  It's also supposed to rain off and on.  Who knows. On the menu this week:::: Monday  - Grilled Herb Chicken with Amish Macaroni Salad Tuesday  -  Wednesday  - In KC Thurs...

Oh boy, this past week has been a whirlwind.  I feel like I'm just now starting to catch my breath. Thursday evening we got our keys to our new house.  We were excited and started moving some already packed boxes and bags. Cleaning out packed boxes makes plenty more room for more boxes.  Lots and lots of packing has been going on. Friday was Independence Day.  Good ole 4th of July.  We all got decked out in our red, white, blue, and headed out for a nice fun day. We stopped at my in-laws to pick up Kelly, my sister-in-law and head out to our good friend Buck's house. At Buck's house, we had good food, good company, and fun setting off fireworks. One of my old friend's parents were there also, and the Dad played the guitar and sang for the girls while they danced. After a few hours, it was time for us to go.  Off we went to our friend Terry's house, where the rest of my in-laws were.  Even Shawn's Aunt Karen and Uncle Iggi...