Stuffed peppers

Let me first start by saying, I have no picture of these because we ate them so fast there wasn't even time to get a picture first! These were AMAZING!!

I love spicy peppers and have been trying to perfect a stuffed hot peppers recipe for some time. I have tried the ones stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon and although they are good, it was almost a little rich for me with the cream cheese and bacon.  Hence my search for the perfect recipe for us.

Saturday I got some jalapenos and banana peppers from the farmers market and today we got more banana peppers and jalapenos from our co-op. It was the perfect time to try my skills out. This is the recipe that I used and it is my own recipe:

Stuffed Peppers
Filling 
8 oz cream cheese
1 scallion or finely diced onion (this can be to taste)
1 clove of finely chopped fresh garlic
1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (this is to taste as well)
A splash of milk
salt and pepper to taste
a sprinkle of oregano

1/2 cup-1 cup panko bread crumbs
6-8 peppers of your choice (I used mostly banana peppers and a few jalapenos)
olive oil


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray.  (I wear gloves to handle my peppers because I have sensitive skin, but do as you wish) Wash peppers, cut them lengthwise and remove seeds and ribs of pepper.  Place them on the cookie sheet.  Place cream cheese into a bowl (it helps if it is room temp, or if you're like me, I just microwave mine for about 30 seconds until you can stir it and mush it easily).  Add the remaining filling ingredients to the cream cheese.  I use the milk to help thin the cream cheese out just a tad so it's not so thick. Once ingredients are mixed well, stuff each half of the peppers with the mixture.  Then place the filled pepper into the panko crumbs with filling side down. (Think of a jalapeno popper here. You want the panko to cover and stick to the filling.)  Place the pepper panko side up back onto the cookie sheet.  Once all peppers are stuffed and covered with panko, I drizzle some olive oil over the panko crumbs so that they will brown up and get crisp in the oven. 

Bake peppers in the oven at 350 for roughly 20 minutes. You want the filling to be bubbling, the panko to be slightly brown, and the peppers to be soft.

Our banana peppers were not spicy at all, but the jalapenos did have a nice kick to them. These are so amazing and I wish I had taken a picture of them. They kind of look like this though, just so you get the idea.

Please try these, even if you don't like spicy, try the banana peppers. You won't be disappointed! :)

Rockin' Green and swim diapers

We love using Rockin' Green on our cloth diapers and to soak stained items in. It rinses very clean and doesn't irritate sensitive skin. Right now there is a 15% off coupon code: KiwiRocks.

They also have scoops that measure out 1 TBSP of detergent. That is all you really need.  Since we have hard water, I get the Hard Rock version and use 2-3 TBSP and it works great for us.  We even "rock the soak" every once in a while for our diapers and I use the soak alot for stained clothing. Then hang them out to dry to really get the bleaching action of the sun. Its a great natural, earth friendly detergent, if you're in the market for one. :)

 Also, today on babyhalfoff they have iPlay swim diapers for $6.50 which is 50% off the original price. I got the red surfboard one for Bennett. These are a great alternative to disposable swim diapers. I only paid $6.50 and I can use it over and over again. Whereas a package of disposable swim diapers is at least $9 and then when you run out you have to buy more.  These are such a great deal!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Last night I tried out a new recipe from 'Zaar called Mexican Stuffed Shells. I have to say, they were very, very good! I made it in a 9x13 pan and at the end of the meal, the pan was empty. Hubby said "I think this is definitely in my top 10."  The boys loved them and they were super easy to make.  It is a OAMC recipe so you can make it and freeze it if you like. You could also make the filling a day or two ahead of time and then just boil your shells, stuff, and bake and have dinner on the table in about 30 minutes.  I highly recommend this recipe!!

Free Chico bag!

I love my Chico bags and use them all of the time.  They are great because they fold up super small and they all attach to one another. They are very convenient to stick in your purse, the basket of the stroller, or just leave in the car for when you go to the store.  We use ours for when we go to the farmer' market, pick up our veggies from the co-op, pack clothing in for a short trip, pack our groceries in at the store, etc.  They have so many uses and they are machine washable. We have had ours for a couple of years and they still look brand new, no fading, ripping, or tearing. 

I was looking at their website (www.chicobag.com) and found some bags that I wanted.  I searched retailmenot and found a coupon code for a free bag. Simply add the Gorgeously Green Reusable bag to your cart and then use the code GIRL.  All you have to pay is the $1.39 shipping. Pretty cheap if you ask me!! Plus, their original bags are only $4.99 each and a great deal.  I would eventually like to get some of their produce bags to try out.

Vegas Baby!

Hubby and I booked an "adult only" vacation for just the two of us a couple of months ago for this past week. We were very excited to have some time to ourselves and reconnect after being apart for over a year during the deployment.  The boys were well taken care of by their Nana and Nay Nay who graciously split the time between the two of them.  We went for a total of 4 days with travel days included.  The last time we were in Vegas was for our wedding over 3 years ago and I was 14 weeks pregnant with Peytonn at the time and really couldn't partake in some of the typical Vegas stuff (ie, drinking!).  We have talked about going back ever since then.

We left our house Sunday and drove the hour to the airport where we met my sister who was flying out with us. (Her husband is a professional poker player and was playing in the World Series out in Vegas)  No sooner am I attempting to get our suitcase up on the shuttle does it rip my big toe nail straight up in the air on my right foot.  Awesome, awesome way to start off your vacation!! It was pretty painful and bled dark red blood, but luckily my sister has some tissue and another girl on the shuttle had some band aids.  So we doctored it up and went on our way, except it was hard for me to walk on it.  We get on our flight and all is well, we make it there and get settled into our room.  We had a great dinner with my sister and her husband and then did some gambling. (add in some drinking as well to help take my mind off my throbbing toe) 

*My sister Lindsay and her husband Matt*

On Monday, Dennis and I decided to start walking down the strip and check stuff out.  We walked for about 5-6 hours all the way down the strip and stopped along the way to do some shopping and check out the other casinos.  By the time we get back around 3pm to meet up for lunch, my right ankle is double the size it normally is.  I think it swelled up from walking just a bit different so I didn't put too much pressure on my toe.  It is still just a tad swollen now and its been 6 days. 

Vegas was a good time (minus the toe and ankle). We did some shopping, gambling, drinking, and ate some really good food.  It was hot and I wish we would have taken our bathing suits and lounged by the pool one day.  Oh well, maybe next time.  We did see A LOT of families with small children. I'm not quite sure why you would want to make your family vacation destination Vegas with small children?! It just seems odd, but I guess there are other things to do besides gamble and drink. We also saw a show while we were there this time. It was Zumanity by Cirque du Soleil and it was good, a lot of boobs though.

We left Wednesday afternoon to fly out of Vegas but got delayed about 5 hours.  We finally made it home Thursday morning at 5am, only for the boys to wake up at 7:15am.  That was a loooong day!! But now we are well rested and enjoying some family time at home.  Get-a-ways are wonderful, but boy do they wear you out!

Sweet relief

Sorry I have been M.I.A. lately, but things have been kind of crazy around here lately. We got word that Hubby was on his way home and we were then at the mercy of the military from that point forward.  We got word that his unit would be landing in the middle of the night.  The time then proceeded to change 3 times in a matter of 6 hours.  I put the kids to bed around 8pm but was nervous to go to sleep myself in case the time changed again. 

I woke the boys up around 1:50am and we headed to the meeting spot.  We then proceeded to wait until 4:30am for the unit to arrive.  At 5:00am we got to spend an hour with our solider before they were bused off for debriefing.  After driving the hour home and finally getting an hour worth of sleep, I got a call from the hubby that they were being granted an 8 hour pass to spend time with family.  So, after being up from Friday at 5:30am until Saturday at 7:30am, I now had to load the kids back up and drive another 2 hours south to spend the day with hubby.  We had a great day of shopping and eating and just spending some quality time together.  We spent the night at my sister's that night because it was closer than driving the 2 hours home.  Hubby spent another 5 days at camp and then we finally got to pick him up on Thursday.  The boys were very excited to have daddy home and so was I. 

Friday we headed out to Tennessee to spend the weekend at my sister-in-laws for our nieces 4th birthday.  We stayed in a hotel and the boys really enjoyed swimming with daddy and playing with their cousin. The 6 hour drive with two kids was a bit of a different story. :) The kids had a blast though.

We made it safely home on Sunday.  We all needed to catch up on some sleep and I had to return to work on Monday.  The boys have enjoyed having daddy home all day with them and I must admit that I LOVED coming home to dinner on the table yesterday. :)  Its great to have some help with the daily household chores again and just getting the kids taken care of. Its also nice to have some adult company again after the kids go to bed. We are all glad that daddy is home for good now. It truly is a sweet relief for all of us.

Green smoothies

We've been making these green smoothies that I found at Mommy's Kitchen. The ingredients are minimal and the results are very delicious. The ingredients include spinach, almond milk, honey, ice, and bananas.  That's it, plain and simple. 

We have made this several times so far and the kids absolutely adore them! Which is great because I know they are getting good vitamins and minerals and they think they are having a "shake." 

And my little guy enjoying his "shake."