Apron

I am thinking I would like to get an apron. I always seem to ruin my shirts by getting something splashed on them while cooking. Perhaps this will help save my shirts. I started looking through Etsy for a nice apron. I've found that there are some aprons that pretty much make me think the purpose of them is to seem as though I'm not wearing anything underneath. I want an apron to save my shirts while I am cooking, not hoping to seduce my husband in the kitchen while my kids play in the other room.  I don't need anything poofy or frilly, just a nice plain apron will do just fine.

Here are some that I found that are possibilities:

I think I may want a full length apron to get the most protection, but I really like the patchwork apron. What do you think?

I want these!

How yummy do these look?

Annie from Annie's Eats just posted these Soft Garlic Knots. They look so good and not to hard to make. Maybe this weekend I will try them with some homemade soup of some kind. Here is the recipe: Soft Garlic Knots

French Onion Soup

All week long its been in the high 80's-90's here. This weekend it dropped to 72 on Saturday and down to the 50's today. Its the perfect day to make a warm pot of soup.  I came across the Pioneer Woman's recipe for French Onion Soup.

It just looks amazing, doesn't it? I am making it right now and it smells amazing!! The recipe is easy and I had all the ingredients, minus the white wine (I am substituting beer instead). Yummy!!!

ETA: This was so yummy!! I kept mine on the stove instead of putting it in the oven for an hour to brown the onions. I made it all in about an hour. I also served mine with fresh from the oven beer bread and shredded some good cheddar on top to melt. It was out of this world!! The boys ate it as well and hubby had 2 bowls. 

New shoes

Today I went shopping for new shoes for Peytonn. He doesn't have any fall/winter shoes for this year, just his Keen sandals.  I've been looking online at different stores (6pm.com has great name brand shoes for really good prices!) for Keen shoes because the boys have loved them so much this summer.  I found these really cute shoes made by Keen, but 6pm didn't have his size.  He is now wearing a size 10 and I wanted to make sure that they lasted most of the winter.  My sister came into town today and we took the boys to the mall.  Trek 'N Trail has an amazing selection of kids Merrell and Keen shoes! I found the shoes I really liked at the store and they were having a 15% off sale as well.

They are called Coronado by Keen.  I love the blue color!! In the past we have stuck to brown because it goes with everything, but this year I wanted something a little more fun. Peytonn can put them on by himself which is important for school when he changes his shoes.

And speaking of shoes, I thought for sure that Peytonn's old brown Merrell's that were a 6.5 would for sure fit Bennett through the winter.  WRONG! I put them on Bennett today to wear and his toes are completely at the end of the shoe. Luckily, I bought P a pair of size 7 slip on shoes last Christmas that he outgrew before Christmas even came, so he never wore them.  They fit Bennett really well. I don't know if they will last the winter or not, but at least he has something to wear at the moment. I may get a pair of the Coronado's for Bennett in the near future. They sure are cute and super comfy for the kids!

Chicken Salad

I adore chicken salad, but I have *never* been able to make it at home and have it taste anywhere near delicious. (Trust me, I've tried!) But then I discovered Pioneer Woman and her great recipes. I swear, *everything* I have ever made using a recipe of hers is absolutely delicious in every sort of way! I saw that she had a recipe for Chicken Salad so I decided to give it a try.

Here you can find a step by step guide on how to make her recipe on her website.  It's pretty easy to make and the result are great.


Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 1 whole Cut Up Fryer Chicken
• 2 stalks (to 3 Stalks) Celery, Chopped
• 3 whole Green Onions, Chopped
• 2 cups (to 3 Cups) Grapes, Halved
• ½ cups Mayonnaise
• ½ cups Plain Yogurt Or Sour Cream
• A Small Handful Of Fresh Dill, Minced
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Lemon Juice
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Brown Sugar
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Rinse chicken thoroughly and place in a large pot of water. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done (about 45 minutes to an hour). When you are ready, remove the chicken from the pot and place on a plate. With your fingers or a fork, pull all of the meat off the bones, chop into bite-sized chunks and set aside.
Chop all of your fruits and veggies and place them in a bowl with the chicken.
In another bowl mix mayonnaise, yogurt (or sour cream), lemon juice, brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

Add fresh herbs (dill, oregano, cilantro…whatever makes your skirt fly up) and if you’re feeling a bit brazen throw in a dash of cayenne pepper!
When the dressing tastes just right (you must taste test for appropriate saltiness especially), pour it over the chicken/veggie/fruit mixture and stir gently until everything is thoroughly mixed. If you are feeling naughty add a sprinkling of bacon bits.

Allow the salad to chill for several hours (or even overnight). Serve on a bed of lettuce or in a sandwich or heck, eat it straight out of the bowl with a serving spoon.
Try it soon – you’ll love it!

*Here are the changes that I made:
--used chicken from a roaster I made earlier in the week
--used dill and chives
--used sour cream and mayo
--added about 1/2 cup of chopped apple instead of the grapes
--omitted the celery b/c I'm not a big fan
--added in one seeded and chopped jalapeno
--added some season salt and other spices to my own taste
--added chopped almonds
--I left out the bacon bits
--made mine at night and let it sit over night to have the flavors mend together

I served mine on croissants and got rave reviews from both hubby and the boys. I will definitely make this recipe again!

Big boys

We made a few big changes this week.  First, we moved Bennett to a twin size bed from his crib. It has gone pretty well so far. He gets out of it now and again when we first put him down to bed, but after we take him back and get him all tucked in again, he is usually good to go and falls asleep.  He will then sleep all night in it. He is the definitely the better sleeper of the two boys.

We've also been using under wear more with him while we are home.  He will go on the potty, but hasn't quite grasped letting us know *prior* to him going potty.  But he will tell us "pee pee" or "poo" if he has to go. I imagine it will be this winter sometime that he will potty train.

Speaking of potty training, Peytonn has been potty trained since last summer but he still wears a diaper at night.  We ran out of diapers last weekend and decided that we would try to train him at night.  He has done awesome and hasn't worn a diaper all week.  I wake him up twice during the night to use the potty and we've had only accident (which was my fault because I only woke him up once).  We officially now only have one in diapers! Yay!!

 

We've been getting out diapers lately from Amazon. (Yes, I'm taking a break from cloth) We get a box of 180 diapers for under $25 shipped to our house. I absolutely LOVE subscribe and save from Amazon. I get 30% off with free 2 day shipping. You can't go wrong!

Sundried tomato pesto stuffed chicken

The name says it all. It was easy to throw together and was pretty tasty. I made my own sun dried tomato pesto because I had sun dried tomatoes on hand, but you can certainly buy some at the store. Here is the recipe I used for the pesto: Sundried Tomato Pesto

The changes I made were:
--used dried tomatoes instead of oil packed
--used only 1/2 cup parmesan cheese instead of the full 1 cup. (This still made it a bit too salty for me, so I would only start with 1/4 and add more from there depending on your tastes)
--used dried basil instead of fresh because it's what I had on hand

After making the pesto, I pounded out some chicken breast to about 1/4" thick. Next, I mixed about 4oz of goat cheese into some of the pesto mixture. (You can certainly leave out the goat cheese if you are not a fan. You could also substitute cream cheese) I spread this mixture onto each chicken breast and then roll of the chicken. Place them into a greased 9x13 pan and baked at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is done. Mine only took the 30 minutes.  I served the chicken with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli.

We all really liked it. Again, the only issue was the pesto was a bit too salty for our tastes, but that is easily adjustable for the future. I saved the remaining pesto (make sure you separate some pesto for your chicken so you don't contaminate the whole bowl) and put it in the fridge for future use on pasta, chicken, etc. The kids gave it a thumbs up!