Bite Your Tongue

We had a crazy time at our house a couple of weeks ago. Do you remember this post about Avery? Well Parker wasn't about to be outdone by his little sister! And boy did he top her black eye injury with a big whopper!

Parker had his last dentist appointment Wed April 10th to get his 3 other cavities filled on the left side. If you remember, he previously had the right side done. I was going to be going out of town for my cousin's wedding the next day and I had already re-scheduled the appointment a couple of times and early morning appointments book months in advance so I had to keep this appointment. Thankfully, my mom was already in town b/c we were flying to NC together the next day. I figured I'd stay with Parker and my mom until they took him to the back. So we hung out in the small room while we waited for the anesthesia to kick in. About 45 minutes later, the called Parker to the back, I said goodbye, and dropped Avery off at daycare. Kevin picked my mom and Parker up about 45 min later. Everything had gone well according to the nurse who called me after the procedure was finished.

My mom called me around 11:30 asking if we had cotton balls. When I asked why, she said for Parker to bite down on. I didn't think much of it since he had a hard time keeping the gauze in his mouth the last time and I figured the gauze probably fell on the floor. She also mentioned that Parker was acting a bit crazy and running around. I told her to try and keep him still and to put a movie on. Then I get a somewhat frantic call from Kevin around 12:30 saying that Parker had basically torn his tongue apart. I heard hysterical crying in the background. I frantically gathered my stuff, drove home, called and left a couple messages for the dentist to call back. When I got home, I saw Parker's practically mutilated tongue and waited anxiously for the dentist to get back from lunch. I didn't wait for them to call back...at exactly 1:30, I called the office. After explaining what happened, they agreed to see us right away. Dr. W said there wasn't much to be done and to continue giving him Motrin for pain and they would prescribe antibiotics to ward off any possible infection. He also advised that his tongue would swell and look a lot worse than it actually was. I was a little relieved when we left the office, but felt so horrible for Parker.

He was pretty clingy and didn't want to let me out of his sight. I decided to take him to McDonald's to get a frozen yogurt to help with his tongue and since the only thing he had eaten/drank since dinner the night before was the drinkable yogurt I told my mom to give him. He gobbled up his ice cream and said he was still hungry. I'm a selfish Mommy and decided to get myself some fries, which I hid behind my purse, but of course Parker saw them and wanted some. I was deathly afraid to give him any...or rather afraid of his reaction when the salty fries hit his tongue so convinced him that the fries would hurt his tongue. Thankfully he accepted my reason and I ended up throwing away half my fries. I deserved to starve after eating them in front of my starving child! I convinced him to not eat when we got home and finally got him to nap.

Parker ended up running a fever after his nap...just 101 degrees, which according to the paperwork the dentist sent home with my mom, this was normal. If it didn't respond to fever reducing meds or went above 101 then we were to call the dentist. Thankfully his fever went down
He went back to school the next day (I figured the fevers weren't due to an illness and the dentist said it was normal after having aprocedure). My mom and I left for NC and Kevin was left to fend for himself. Umm...yeah if I had known how this would have all gone down I would have cancelled my flight!!! Parker was miserable the whole weekend and threw tantrums left and right. Poor Kevin had to do everything by himself.

It took Parker's tongue about a week to heal. During that time he barely ate. I'm already a bit very OCD about making sure the kids eat enough healthy foods so this was a really tough time for me. Kevin made Parker tons of smoothies (made w/ strawberries, bananas, kale, quinoa, protein powder, yogurt, and milk), which he thinks of as special treats and LOVES them. But after having it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a couple of days he was over them. Kevin switched to chocolate milk just to get some calories in him. Weird thing was on Thursday Kevin got a call to pick Parker up from preschool b/c he has a 101.5 temp. Parker asked for chips...umm salt + HUGE sores on tongue = not a good idea. Kevin delayed this but getting him to take a nap, but the first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was chips. Kevin said he ate a huge helping of sour cream and onion chips without any complaints. Yet on Sunday he couldn't even eat cake at his cousin's bday party! Hmm...

Anyway, when I got home from my trip on Sunday we switched him to PediaSure to make sure he gets calories. At $10 per 6 small bottles, they weren't cheap, but that was pretty much all he was "eating". I also mixed his nasty tasting antibiotics in with the PediaSure to help mask the taste. It had been a fight to get Parker to take his meds every morning and night, but this way Parker just thought yucky medicine was all gone. Sneaky, sneaky! It was a tough week, but we all made it alive...barely!

WARNING!!! Graphic pics below...you've been warned...they are quite gross looking pics of Parker's tongue! If you look and end up throwing up don't blame me...you've been warned!!!

Parker's tongue the day it happened...see the chocolate milk mustache?

This was on Friday...Dr. W warned us that lots of white stuff would be on his tongue and that it would look a lot worse than it actually was, but I was not prepared to get this text from Kevin!

On Saturday...looked much better

On Sunday...looked a whole lot better.

It's been 2 weeks and Parker's tongue is healed for the most part. There are still a couple of small spots that have tiny sores, but he hasn't complained about them and he is eating normal.

cookie...COOOKIES!!!!

Both Parker and Avery typically have very healthy appetites. Here's what each kid eats on a typical day:

7:30 am: 1-2 waffles (usually blueberry, no butter or syrup)
              1 spoonful of peanut butter (either eaten from the spoon or spread on waffle)
              1 whole banana
              milk (whole for Avery and 2% for Parker)

9:30/10 am: strawberries
                   string cheese
                   water

12:00 pm: peanut butter sandwich (on 2 slices of honey wheat bread)
               fresh carrots
               apple slices (half of an apple)
               milk

4:00 pm: 1 slice cinnamon raisin bread
              half of a Chobani yogurt (love Greek yogurt b/c it has more protein than regular yogurt)
              water

5:30/6:00: baked chicken
                  rice or mashed potatoes
                  steamed broccoli
                  grapes
                  milk

It's a lot of food, right? I mean, I can't even eat that much and they usually finish everything. Avery is a lot pickier when it comes to veggies - even as a baby she turned her nose up to a lot of veggies. She ate them, but she would make faces. She LOVED fruit and could eat it all day long. Parker on the other hand LOVED veggies. His favorite was peas! When he was about 11 months old we would give him little bits of steamed cauliflower and broccoli and he would go to town. But fruit, was a little more of a challenge. I don't have any issues with Parker eating fruit now - he loves it all! He still likes veggies too. I have to hide Avery's veggies now and then so that means I'm feeding her a few bites here and there...stuffing a little broccoli underneath her macaroni and cheese. It doesn't always work...if she really doesn't want to eat it and she feels/tastes it, she'll spit everything out! Both kids are usually pretty good with meat, but they have their moments where they go through spurts of not eating meat and I swear they've turned into vegetarians. Then they chow down on some filet like they didn't just turn their noses up at it the week before.

Anyway, the past couple weeks or so, both kids have been coming up to me in between meals and snacks saying "hungry" or in Avery's case she signs "hungry" and says "hurry". I think they are going through growth spurts right now. I try to give them nutritious snacks: nuts, applesauce, fruit, yogurt, cheese, carrots...and never have I given them a cookie or chips for a snack! Soooo, why is it that I find my 20 month old after we just had our morning snack with her hand stuck in my pantry (we have a child lock on top), crying for, get this: a COOKIE!!!!

this is how I found her, she was softly asking for a cookie...no cookies down there!

What?!? Kid, I hope you're joking! I don't know that she was actually asking for a cookie cookie. We don't have cookies in the pantry. During the rare times that we do have cookies, Kevin and I usually hide them on the very top shelf and only pull them out after the kids go to bed (hehehe). The other day I gave her ONE mini semi-sweet chocolate chip as a reward for listening and helping clean up her toys, but that came out of the fridge and she said signed "more" and said "more peas. cookie?". So I think she thinks all special treats are cookies. Regardless there aren't really any special treats in our pantry. Hmph! Crazy kid!

When I told her "no cookie" she started to cry and threw a mini tantrum.

she's peristent...I'll give her that much. She's cute when she thinks she's been wronged, she'll start calling out: "Mommy, Daddy, Bubba" over and over again. As if one of us will come and help her and she doesn't eliminate the person who has "wronged" her. Then the shrieking continues and it's not so cute so we ignore her and she usually stops after a few minutes. 

Avery and I have one thing in common: when we're hungry our mean side comes out. Kevin laughed when he realized Avery started showing this "angry" side of her. Laugh b/c he saw it first hand a mere couple of months after we started dating and McDonald's gave me a chicken sandwich when I ordered chicken nuggets, we had already pulled out of the parking lot and stuck in horrendous traffic and driving up to a Seminole football game. He laughed b/c he knew I'd finally get a taste of my own medicine. Sigh! 

Saturday Morning Fresh Market

Kevin and I were talking sometime last week about our weekend plans. I mentioned that I wanted to go to the market we used to go to and let the kids run around in the nearby park afterwards. He then suggested going to a smaller one that is closer to us. We decided to give it a try. It's def smaller, but the fruit/veggies I bought were so much cheaper! For $5.50 I bought 5 yellow apples, large container of strawberries, 1 mango, and 1 large head of cabbage. Parker was in fruit heaven! He ogled the strawberries before his eyes finally landed on the mangoes. He asked for a mango and who am I to refuse my sweet boy...especially since he's asking for yummy fruit instead of a cookie?!? I wish I had gotten a picture of all my produce - they all looked so good! But I already felt foolish taking the pics I took below. Kevin did criticize my cabbage and asked if I could have gotten an uglier looking cabbage. Umm, cabbage is supposed to be pretty?!? I rolled my eyes and told him to peel off the outer layers...that's all Publix does to make them look "pretty".

no these aren't the size containers of strawberries I got - mine were bigger, but these just looked so much prettier. lol

Lot of lettuce to choose from. I would have bought some b/c they just looked so fresh and vibrant, but I was getting tired of salads. lol 

so annoyed...I took this pic of the tomatoes and then realized I took a pic of PINK tomatoes and the brighter red/orange ones would look nicer...I had a great pic...until I accidentally deleted it when going through my pics at home. UGH!!!

Parker wanted to hold the bag with his mango

The market also had a few food trucks. We tried these soba noodles and soup. Both were delicious...and expensive! Kevin wished they had a taco truck and walked away with Avery who was starting to have a meltdown as I finished the yummy soba noodles. Then I glanced at a truck I had seen when we had first walked through the market. The sign indicated BBQ, but in smaller letters, I saw "fish tacos". I pointed it out to Kevin and he actually saw that they had gumbo. He tried it with the taco guy's homemade hot sauce. I wasn't too impressed with the gumbo and it was way too spicy for me, but Kevin loved it all.

It's like Lo-Mein, but with soba noodles

the kids watching a performer who was not that good. Both markets tie when it comes to performers who just aren't that good! lol

pretty girl was all smiles here, but she was being crazy and for some reason kept tripping - her knees look terrible!

So my impression: I'll go back to buy produce b/c it's cheaper and not as crowded, but I liked my old market even though it's grown quite big and is very crowded. There are a lot more options as far as food trucks, vendors, and goods go.

happy birthday

One of my best friends, Lauren, turned 30 on January 6th and one of our other friends, Liz, had her birthday back in December. Cammie decided to throw them a little birthday party this past Sunday...only it wasn't so little b/c there were 5 families there and each of us have 2 kids. So here's the breakdown of who was there: 5 women, 5 men, (1) 7 yr old, (5) 3 yr olds, (2) 20 month olds, a 4 month old, and a 5 week old...plus 2 dogs! It was a houseful and it was loud. There was laughter and there were tears. It got crazy at times, but most importantly we all had a lot of fun.

Here are most of the kids minus Josh (the oldest) and the 2 little babies. From left to right: Avery, Emma, Owen, Parker, Julia, Caleigh. In the front: Beckett. Aren't they all so adorable?!? 

By the time all the families got there, the pizza had arrived and tiny little feet pounded the stairs to get to the pizza! The mom's fixed plates (why is it always the moms???) for the littles, the men...well what were they doing?!? lol jk I'm sure they were taking care of the kids?!? Anyway, the kids settled out on the porch to eat the deliciousness that was Papa John's. The womenfolk sat outside with the kids while the men ate inside...plus Beckett who had settled nicely into his booster. It was fairly quiet as everyone ate.

Confession: I dipped my pizza in the calorie/fat laden garlic butter sauce that Papa John's is well known for. Ok, ok, ok. I had 2 slices of pizza. I also had 2 helpings of salad...Cesar salad with delicious Cesar dressing. I'm not on a diet or anything like that, but I try (try is the key word) not to eat too unhealthily and I heard that sauce is artery clogging. I haven't exactly looked up how bad it is and I don't want to know the exact specifics. But it was just soooo GOOD!!!  In fact, as I finished my dinner I was already thinking about having the same exact dinner soon! Is it wrong that I'm slightly drooling

After dinner the kids dispersed between the playroom upstairs, the backyard, and riding scooters on the porch. The men sat inside and talked football (I think since that was on TV) and the women discussed babies and labor. Typical! lol Eventually we all headed back into the kitchen...it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat the ginormous cookie cake Cammie got. the cookie cake...I may or may not have bribed Parker into taking an early nap and being extra good in the car by promising him some pizza (which is his favorite food) and a big cookie cake. Hey, don't judge!

Cammie was very generous with the slices she gave out and Parker was in cookie cake heaven!

My kids love to sing Happy Birthday! Parker went through a phase last year where he would make pretend cakes and stack toys and sing to me. He still does it today. Avery has picked up on this and holds her hands out (sometimes her hands are empty and sometimes she has a book or a train) like she's holding a cake in front of her and she'd sings: "Hah, bih-day to you!" and then blows a pretend candle out. Once in a while she will add "Rrreee" (Avery) It's so darn cute!

I grabbed a smaller piece to split with Avery and was in the process of scraping the icing off (I'm not a fan of icing and tend to scrape it off when giving the kids cake/cupcake). But when I went to give Avery a small piece of my slice, she already had her own piece with icing all over it. Andy gave her a big piece b/c she was the only one who didn't have any yet and she was probably trying to reach over and grab Beckett's.

look at that face!!! it's as if she's mocking me b/c she got a large piece with icing on it! 

look at that hot pink icing stuck on her teeth! lol I know I get a little lot OCD about the sugar intake, but I admit the big smiles on my kiddos was worth it!

After cake the women tried to talk...I say tried b/c the kids were running around yelling and playing. The men were downstairs watching football. When it was time to leave, my kids decided they were hungry. They are such stealers!

Avery said she was hungry so I gave her the other half of her slice that I saved earlier. I knew she'd want it! Here's Beckett, trying to make the moves on Avery and her pizza???.

Trying to hold hands...but it looks like Beckett's eyeing that pizza! I love Avery's expression! It's as if she's thinking: "this boy is really cute and I want to hold his hand, but I'm embarrassed b/c everyone's looking at me and my crazy mom is taking a gazillion pics!"

LOVE these two! Bummed I did not get a clear shot! 

Parker, Owen, and Emma squeezing in a little more play time and playing ring a round a rosie...a favorite!

all the ladies: Me, Lauren, Stephanie, Cammie, and Liz

Finally, we were leaving. I figured this would be a difficult drive. It's 1 hour long, during a time when Avery is usually going to bed for the night, she's teething and I forgot the Orajel at home, we were on day 5 of no binkie (she almost always has her binkie at some point during car trips). I came fortified with "owl" - Avery's lovey. Avery whined for the first half of the trip and threw her owl down a few times. With about 20 minutes left til we got home, Avery, Parker and I (yep, me!) fell asleep! It's almost guaranteed that I will fall asleep in the car if both my kids are asleep. I'm like a baby in a car - it just lulls me to sleep. My best friend from high school and her mom used to laugh at me b/c Mrs. O would drop me off (this was before we got our licenses obviously) from a trip at the mall, which was less than 15 min from my house and I would be in the back seat conked out! Anyway, Parker must have been really tired b/c he slept until 9 am - RARE!!! He is my early riser. It would have been great if Avery would have woken up at her usual 8:15-8:30, but nope, she woke up around 7:50. She just knew her brother was sleeping in and Mommy wanted to sleep in just a little bit! lol

Fried Rice

I'm Asian (duh!)...Filipino to be exact and rice runs through my veins. I can eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I LOVE fried rice. I think the first time my mom made fried rice for breakfast using up left over rice and meat, Kevin was like: "Where's the pancakes?". lol But now, he doesn't bat an eyelash when my mom whips it up and eats it up. My mother in law also makes fried rice but with Rice A Roni - it was a very popular meal for the Sunday dinners we used to have. Both are delicious and I've combined both moms' fried rice technique with a little bit of my own. I tend to use left over rice and meat - it's a good way to eat up the left overs!

FYI this makes a large batch, but we like plenty for leftovers. I've adjusted it to make a smaller batch before. It's a very forgiving recipe - just go easy on the soy sauce - you can always add more after you've plated your serving. My husband has made this fried rice before and has added scrambled eggs - my MIL's fried rice includes scrambled eggs. I'm not a fan of eggs in my rice (I mean I'll eat it if someone else cooks it, but I prefer not to add it when I'm cooking), but Kevin and the kids LOVE scrambled eggs. I truly forget to add it - I don't omit it on purpose! Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 cups of cooked rice
- 1.5-2 cups of cooked bite sized pieces of meat (hubby likes a lot of meat - I used left over Adobo Chicken that my mom made)
- half of a large white onion, diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- frozen veggies (I typically use frozen carrots, corn, and peas, but I was all out of peas and only had a little bit of carrots. I tend to use a lot of veggies to up our veggie intake so put as much or as little as you want.)
- dried parsley
- freshly ground pepper (to taste - I didn't use much since the Adobo had a lot of pepper in it already)
- soy sauce, to taste (I don't measure this, but I don't use much since the kids are eating it too. I probably use about 4 Tbsp. I also didn't add any extra this time around since Adobo is cooked in soy sauce.)
- about 1.5 Tbsp oil (I used coconut)
- about 2-3 Tbsp butter (optional, this is my mother in law's contribution - her fried rice is so good b/c she puts butter in it....like 1 whole stick!)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a wok or a large skillet under medium/high heat. Saute onion until slightly softened. Add garlic - do not let it brown.

2. Add rice and toss it in oil, onion, and garlic. Add butter. Let it "fry" for about 5 minutes - stirring every now and then to evenly fry the rice.

3. Add frozen veggies and meat and let it warm through. Also add parsley, pepper, and soy sauce. Stir everything together.

Avery ate a big bowl...

she was literally scraping her bowl and asked for more

Parker scarfed his big bowl down before I thought about taking a picture. Hope you enjoy!!!

Shepherd's Pie

Years ago, after Kevin and I got married (I make it sound like we've been married for ages and it hasn't even been 5 years!), I decided I was craving shepherd's pie even though I had never had it before (weird I know - I craved Indian food too without ever tasting it). I googled a recipe (this was obviously prior to Pinterest!) and found some crazy complex recipes. I don't do crazy complex recipes so I decided to just wing it. Sometimes my "wing it" recipes flop and sometimes they turn out to be yummy. This turned out to be the latter and super easy - my requirements when cooking! Best of all everyone gobbled it up - well except for Parker, but that's b/c he wasn't feeling well. He normally eats a huge serving when I make it though!

Here's a pic of Avery scraping up her bowl!! Side note: she did pretty good using her spoon, but did ask me a few times to help her scoop up some food. Her sweet little please for "heh" (help) were so cute! If I didn't move fast enough, her left hand just scooped it up - she def fished those carrots out fast with her chubby little fingers! The carrots were the first thing she ate!

Ingredients:
coconut oil (or olive oil - we've been out of olive oil for a while so I've been using coconut for everything - it smells so yummy when it's heating up!)
1 lb lean ground turkey
onions, diced (I used 2 small white onions b/c those were the only ones I had)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 packet of brown gravy mix
frozen peas, corn, carrots (whatever veggies you like; I've thrown spinach in there too)
shredded cheese (for topping - I grabbed a couple handfuls)
boxed mashed potatoes (you can make your own mashed potatoes, but I actually like "fake" potatoes and it's super easy - I made 4 servings)
butter (I don't measure this, but use the box of mashed potatoes as a guide)
milk (use box of mashed potatoes as a guide)
water (use box of mashed potatoes as a guide)
parsley
black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat coconut oil under medium/high heat. Add ground turkey once oil is heated. FYI, the oil is not required, but sometimes the turkey sticks to the pan since it is so lean - I just use a small amount to coat the bottom of the pan).

3. Add onions and frozen veggies (turkey does not need to be fully browned). Stir until veggies are heated through.

4. Add mashed potatoes, butter, milk, and water in a bowl (prepare as indicated on the box since it varies from brand to brand) - I made 4 servings. Microwave for 2 minutes.

5. Add gravy packet to turkey mixture with about 3/4 cup of cold water. My gravy packet called for 1 cup of water, but the frozen veggies released some water and the turkey was still slightly frozen in the middle when I started to cook it so I omitted some of the water. Mix gravy and turkey mixture together and allow it to bubble for a few minutes so gravy will thicken.

6. Scoop mashed potatoes on top of turkey mixture and spread in an even layer (or somewhat even).

7. Top with shredded cheese and place in oven for about 10 minutes until cheese melts.

FYI your gravy may bubble up to the top of the mashed potatoes and cheese - it's ok, you won't have a big soggy mess. The gravy will go back down once you pull the pan out of the oven and let it rest for a few minutes.

Enjoy!!!

shoo bugs shoo!

I'm sick...again...as in I have a fever, runny nose, achy bones, and splitting headache. Parker started occasionally coughing on Friday and he coughed his germs on me a couple of times and I started to have a really scratchy throat and runny nose on Sunday after I got home from work. Yesterday I thought I was going to die. I didn't...I survived...barely. I actually took a 30 min nap while the kids napped yesterday then took another one after dinner. My wonderful husband made me a smoothie packed with vitamin C after my nap then made me ginger tea with honey before bed. He's def a keeper!

Then, today I woke Parker up to go to school and he had a fever. I should have known he would b/c I rarely have to wake him up. He's my early riser, but he also woke up at least 6x last night, either to pee, b/c he was coughing too much, he was cold, he was hot, he wanted to play with his truck...the list went on. Even though he didn't have a high fever (99.8 and 100 when I took his temp), I went ahead and kept him home today. I called his school to let them know he wouldn't be coming in. The teacher said she hoped he'd be back for Thursday's Christmas program - us too!!! So we've just been lounging around watching cartoons, playing with cars, and reading books.

When I finally could stand without feeling like I was going to pass out, I made the kids lunch and grabbed some Clorox wipes and wiped everything down. My ever curious child and I had the following conversation:
Parker: "Mommy, what you doing?"
Me: "I'm wiping down everything b/c we're sick and coughing germs everywhere."
Parker: "Germs?" What germs mean?"
Me: "Umm, it's like bugs...we don't want them in our house so I have to use special wipes to make them go away."
Parker: "Shoo bugs shoo!"

This kid cracks me up with some of the things he says!

Avery has also started to cough. I'm not sure whether it's for real or not b/c she usually only coughs after Parker and I cough, but it sounds pretty real. Speaking of Avery...she's still doing the whole spitting food out deal. It's driving me nuts! Parker did it too, but I don't remember it being this bad! I don't know what to do!

see the spit up carrots?!? She'll half chew them and spit them out. It's not she can't chew them b/c they're hard...she does them with blueberries, cereal...everything!

this was the grin she gave me after I asked her why she spit her carrots out. 

Poor sick kiddo gave me a half hearted smile - not feeling good, but that doesn't excuse the bad behavior: he decided to copy Avery and spit his carrots out...on top of his peanut butter sandwich. I gave him my Mommy look and he ate the bits and pieces of carrots - gross, but whatever! 

fish stick tacos

I've never been a fan of fish sticks, but my cousin used to eat them all the time. When trying to get Parker to try new things and eat more fish as a toddler, I remembered my cousin eating fish sticks so I decided to give him some. He LOVED them! Parker has a pronunciation issue and calls them "sh!t d!cks". I died laughing when I first heard it. Anyway, for dinner last night I decided to make fish sticks for the kids (they don't like tortillas) and fish stick tacos for Kevin and me. Don't say "Eww!". Try it! It was super easy and yummy!

Taco ingredients:
fish sticks
tortillas
tomatoes, diced
red onion, diced
cilantro
shredded cheese
lime wedges

Directions:
1. Cook fish sticks according to instructions on box.
2. Once fish is done cooking, warm tortillas in microwave (cover with damp paper towel and nuke for ~1 min)
3. Pile fish sticks, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and cheese into tortilla and squeeze lime juice on top.

Kevin and I LOVE cilantro so I used almost half a bunch! I'm also a big tomato fan so I diced a whole tomato.

We had white rice and black beans too. We also love grilled fish, shrimp, and steak tacos, but those take a little longer and I wanted something super easy. Kevin and I def love us some tacos! We usually have it about once a week, but we haven't had it in a few weeks. I think it's gonna come back in the dinner rotation!

sorry for the bad pic...our dining room light gives my pics a yellow tint! 

Oh and in case you are wondering what that sauce is on my taco...it's the sauce from our favorite Cuban restaurant. For years Kevin tried to figure out how to make it and he finally figured it out a few months ago...or at least it tastes very similar. I'd give you the recipe, but I've never made it myself and Kevin doesn't measure anything either. I know it has mayo, mojo, lime juice, and cayenne pepper or hot sauce. I know it'll be hard to make not knowing how it tastes, but you should try. It totally makes the difference between a boring taco and a delicious taco. I've tried Google to find the recipe, but nothing! The consistency should be somewhat runny so alternate between adding more mayo or mojo if needed - Kevin and I do a few taste tests to get the right taste and those are the 2 things he usually adds. You should be able to taste the mayo, but it shouldn't be overwhelming. The lime juice is just a small wedge and the hot sauce or cayenne is however hot you want the sauce to be. Sorry I wasn't very helpful. Good luck! Let me know if it works out for you! 

baked chicken leg quarters

I love oven baked chicken leg quarters! The crispy skin (weirdly enough I used to hate eating the skin, now I love it) and the juicy meat inside. Bonus is that it's cheap (I paid less than $8 for 6 leg quarters) and it's fairly easy to make. No, this recipe wasn't pinned (surprising I know), but it's my own "creation".

Ingredients:
6 chicken leg quarters, cleaned and trimmed of extra fat (don't trim it all away b/c fat = juicy chicken)
~ 2 Tbsp of sea salt
~ 1/2 Tbsp of freshly cracked black pepper
~ 1 Tbsp of dried parsley (optional, but I like the dark green flecks on the chicken)

*** FYI: I don't measure the salt, pepper, and parsley. I eyeball about how much I will need, but I think I use about this much. ***

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix together salt, pepper, and parsley in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Get a cookie sheet ready (line with heavy duty foil to help with cleanup - I ran out though) and place a cookie rack on top (this is the only rack I have - it's not required, but it helps keep the chicken develop crispy skin instead of getting soggy from the fat that will drip down to the cookie sheet, plus it eliminates the extra fat). Set aside.

4. Sprinkle the spice mixture all over the chicken (including the back) and rub it in. If you can open up the skin of the thigh without ripping it, then put some of the mixture under the skin too. Just be careful to not over-season. I did this last time and I made it a little too salty. Place on top of rack.

5. Bake for about 1 hour until cooked through.

Enjoy this easy, yummy meal! By the way, my iPhone made the chicken look a little pink...I assure you it was fully cooked and not pink at all! To see the recipe for the stuffing, click here.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

I stumbled upon this recipe on where else but Pinterest. Anyway, I've never been a fan of chicken and dumplings, but Kevin likes it so when I saw how easy this recipe was, I decided to give it a try and that was almost a year ago. It was a big hit with my family! I even shared it with my best friend, Lauren's, sister and now it's one of her family's favorite recipes. Lauren's mom also loves this recipe and has shared it with her co-workers. It's that yummy! And the big bonus is that it's super easy!

I decided to make it tonight even though it's not chilly outside since I never made it a few weeks ago as planned when it was cold out and I still had all the ingredients. Kevin even requested I make this in the middle of the summer! He likes it that much! As always, I made changes to the original recipe - nothing big, but just added a few things. Here's my version:

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
- 1 (14 oz) can of chicken broth (I use low sodium, fat free)
- 2 small white onions (diced)
- dried parsley (the kids like to help "cook" and shake the container over the pot)
- Italian herbs
- black pepper
- frozen peas and carrots (I just eyeball how much to put in, but I do tend to go heavy on veggies. I usually add celery too, but Kevin made boneless buffalo chicken for dinner last night and we ate the last bit of the celery with it)
- 1 can of refrigerator biscuit like Pillsbury (the original recipe only calls for 4, but the first time I made it I used 6 since the Publix brand was smaller and Kevin requested I add more next time. So now I use the whole can, which has 10 biscuits)

Directions:
1. Mix diced onions, both cans of soup, broth, black pepper, parsley and Italian herbs (I don't measure my herbs - I eyeball it, depends on how much you like) in crock pot.
2. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours or on low for 8 hours.
3. About 35 minutes before it is about done, take biscuits out of the fridge and cut each biscuit into 6 pieces and set aside.
4. Take a pair of tongs and shred the chicken while in crockpot. It should fall apart easily, but I like to leave a few chunky pieces.
5. Add veggies and biscuit pieces into crock pot. Stir.
6. Cover and let the biscuits cook and the veggies warm up for about 30 min.

Enjoy the yummy goodness of this dish!

my lovies

Between working tonight and still being sick (I think I actually got worse), I've got nothing, but just wanted to post these videos of my little lovies!

This was Avery eating drinking her chili. Ok so she had eaten most of the turkey, veggies, and beans and was trying to get to the cheesy "soup" at the bottom of her bowl. I was really surprised when she grabbed her bowl and tipped it back! She apparently has been watching when Parker and Daddy drink the milk from their cereal bowl.

Parker and I were having our cuddle time after reading books and before going to sleep. He occasionally requests to be tickled. It reminds me of when I was little and I would ask my dad to tickle me. Parker's laugh and that dimply smile just melts my heart! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Not our best pic, but it's the only one we got of the 4 of us. Yes our tree is already up. Kevin put the actual tree and lights up last Sunday and we decorated on Monday. We normally put it up the day after Thanksgiving, but I knew I would have such a crazy schedule at work and may not have time to. I like to put it up right after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy it for a long time. If I could get away with it, I'd keep it up all year - I love all the lights and it's so festive and cheery!

Anyway, today was a rough day for me. I got home last night not feeling well. I was sneezing like crazy at work, but I wasn't sure if it was from the dust or getting sick. By the end of the night my throat felt all scratchy. I went to bed feeling like somebody had beaten me with a bat. Parker woke up around 2:30 am to pee and he came to my side of the bed to tell me he had to go potty. I could NOT get out of bed. I asked him if Daddy could take him (he typically prefers I take him - good thing for him b/c Daddy could probably sleep through a hurricane!) and thankfully he said yes, so I may or may not have smacked Kevin awake after he didn't respond to me asking him to take Parker to the bathroom. I passed out after I felt Kevin get up.

Kevin and Parker woke up early and did the turkey trot with my sister in law and her family. I would have gone (maybe...possibly) if I wasn't feeling so crummy and if I didn't have to WORK!!! Yep, Old Navy was open on Thanksgiving day! Apparently last year they were busy. Well...not today. I spent the 5 hours I was there eating (we had our own mini Thanksgiving dinner), playing Mario on the Wii, getting to know some of my co-workers, following guests around and folding stuff they just discarded and helped a handful of them out.

When I got home I made my desserts and loaded mashed potatoes, cuddled my little who just wanted her "mah-may", and trying nto to keel over and die. Then we (including my mom who came down to visit) loaded up in the truck and headed over to my sister in law's house for dinner. Let's say that we had PLENTY of food including a big table full of dessert. Everything was delicious and I ate A LOT!!!

Although, I'm sick (Parker has an occasional runny nose and cough too), I have a lot to be thankful for. My family is generally in good health, I have a husband whom I adore, 2 precious kids, and family and friends that are just amazing. Life is good!

Oh and here's some pics from Parker's Thanksgiving program at school last Thursday...he is of course sitting right next to Mrs. B. He adores her! Or he could be sitting next to her b/c he's a big troublemaker! lol We talked to Mrs. B after the program for a bit. Parker ran right up to her and gave her a hug and she picked him up and gave him a cuddle - I love that! She told me that Parker was so sweet and his first words when he got to school was to ask her if she was feeling better and if she threw up. I explained to her that the first thing he told me when I picked him up through the car line on Tuesday was to tell me that you weren't at school (which I already knew b/c she wasn't in the car line). I told him that you may not be feeling good and he interprets being sick with throwing up. Poor kiddo was so concerned about Mrs. B. that he kept asking about her on Wednesday (no school) and on the way to school on Thursday.

singing...glad he participated!

and then he was done...no more hat...and yawning...

waving hi to me...the boy in the green shirt kept saying "Hi Mommy" so anytime he said that Parker felt like he had to one up him and also say hi to me. Of course the other 3 year olds also felt like they had to say hi to their mom's so there was quite a few choruses of "Hi Mommy" throughout the program. lol

"Hi Mommy, I see you!"

the kids didn't get a snack at school and apparently all Parker could talk about that morning was having popcorn for snack. lol