Felt Flash Cards

 I came across this fantastic craft about six Months ago and have wanted to make them ever since. I honestly had so much fun making these! Yes there are a lot of repetitive steps, but it's not an overly difficult craft.

. The best part was seeing it all come together so fast! I made two sets, one for each of the kids. Also with the intent of them being able to play memory with them.

You can find the tutorial I used here

Stained Glass Jello

I recently came across this cute blog called Our Best Bites, which is where I came across this recipe.
This was FUN to make!! Yes it takes TWO days...but it was fun! If you have patient kids that can wait two days to eat this goodness, they would love making this too!

Cranberry-Topped Chicken with Baby Potato Sage Toss

 

Doesn't this look amazing!! ...I thought it was!!

I love trying different recipes! I LOVE the Company's Coming recipe book series! This recipe comes from their book 'Healthy in a Hurry'

Cranberry-Topped Chicken

1 tsp Olive Oil

1/4 cup Finely chopped onion

1 Garlic clove minced (or 1/4 tsp powder)

Cranberry Sauce

1 cup fresh (or frozen) cranberries *(I used craisins)

1/4 cup low-sodium prepared chicken broth

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp parsley flakes

1/8 tsp dried sage

salt, sprinkle

Cayenne pepper, sprinkle

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Seasoned salt, sprinkle

pepper, sprinkle

Preheat gas barbecue to medium. Heat olive oil in small frying pan on medium. Add onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened.

HINT (If it's too cold to barbecue, you can place the chicken on a greased broiling pan and broil on the top rack in the oven for about 5 minutes per side until it is no longer pink inside.)

Cranberry Sauce

Add all 7 ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil. Boil uncovered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cranberries split and sauce is slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Cover to keep warm.

Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt and pepper. Cook on greased grill for about 5 minutes per side until no longer pink inside. Transfer to plate. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serves 4.

Baby Potato Sage Toss

1 lb Baby red potatoes, quartered *(I used the potatoes I had on hand)

2 Tbsp Chopped fresh sage

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Honey Dijon Dressing

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp White Vinegar

2 tsp Liquid honey

1/2 tsp Dijon (or prepared) mustard

4 cups chopped or torn green leaf lettuce, lightly pakced *(I used a mixture of romaine and spinach)

1 cup Sugar snap peas, trimmed in half

1/3 cup Chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Toss Well. Spread in single layer in ungreassed 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes until tender.

Honey Dijon Dressing: Meanwhile, whisk all 4 ingredients in small bowl until combined. Makes about 1/4 cup dressing.

Combine remaining 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add potatoes and dressing. Toss well, serves 4.

ENJOY!! :)

Quinoa Oatmeal Granola Bars - YUM

This weekend I decided I wanted to make some sort of granola bar. A while ago a friend of mine had made some with Quinoa, they sounded good, I thought I would give it a try.

Now before I go ahead and give you the recipe, let me give you a little history on myself and Quinoa. It has taken me a L O N G time to finally get back on the Quinoa 'bandwagon'. You see, growing up it seemed like we ate Quinoa and rice ALL THE TIME, not even joking...because we did, honestly!! When I first moved out to go to College, I didn't eat rice or quinoa...ever! Just the thought of it made my stomach turn! In fact just in the past 2 years or so have I come to the realization that you CAN 'spice up' rice and quinoa so it's not so blah!!

Here is the recipe I used: (also found here)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flaked quinoa *(I used 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa, not flaked)
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips *(I used carob chips instead of chocolate...you know, to keep with the whole healthy thing)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit, such as raisins, dried pineapple, dried mango, etc.

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Line a 9x9 or 9x13 inch pan (depending on how thick you like your granola bars) with foil or parchment paper, letting the paper overhang the sides.
   
3. Spread the oatmeal, quinoa, and chopped nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
   
4. Melt the butter over low heat with the honey and brown sugar until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and the salt.
   
5. Stir the butter/sugar mixture into the toasted oats and nuts. Stir in the eggs, chocolate chips, and dried fruit.
   
6. Spread mixture into the baking pan and press firmly into pan.
   
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
   
8. Let cool completely, then lift from pan using parchment, and cut into bars. Store granola bars in an airtight container.

And now for the pictures :)

And you know what, they actually taste GOOD! They are soft, moist and just a little bit crumbly. ENJOY! :)

One Lucky Girl

I have always thought how lucky Miss P is to have such a wonderful brother as Big M. He has honestly loved her since the first time he saw her! When he first walked into the hospital room he had a big grin on his face and wanted to hold her instantly, while constantly giving her kisses and squeezes.

 

Over the past 22 months they have become quite good friends. It is so cute to watch them play together. Almost anything Big M does will make Miss P laugh, and anything he does, she has to do too (sometimes that is not such a good thing, haha). Don't get me wrong, they do have their (to be expected) sibling moments, but the issue is usually resolved fairly quickly and they are back playing together.

 Saturday night (actually it was more like EARLY Sunday AM) reinforced my feelings of what a lucky girl Miss P is to have such a WONDERFUL big brother! Before bed (Saturday night) they were both fairly whiny, they were both 'suffering' from runny noses and Big M was getting over a cough, but that was the extent of it. After a somewhat overwhelming "last hour" I finally had some peace and quiet :) I knew they were tired...especially as I didn't hear any talking or laughing after I put them to bed (they share a room and so there is usually a tiny conversation filled with giggles before they actually fall asleep).

Around 3am we hear Miss P crying, not just whimpering but a pretty upset cry. At first I thought maybe she had a nightmare or something. Irish went to investigate, and I knew that as soon as I saw the bathroom light go on something wasn't right.

I get up to go and offer my help, only to find out that poor little P has thrown up all over her bed :( While Irish is taking care of changing P, I change her bedding. We almost had the deed done without Big M waking up...but just as I was finishing he woke up. He asked me what I was doing and I told him that Paisley had thrown up. To which he replied "awww, poor baby!"

So we get them all settled and back into bed, and we ourselves return to bed. Only to be summoned out of bed not even 10 minutes later by the sounds of Paisley throwing up.

As we are walking to their room Paisley is crying and we can hear Marshall saying "Don't worry sweetheart, it's okay, Mommy and Daddy are coming" We walk into their room, Marshall is sitting up in his bed and says to us "awww, maaaan, paisley threwed up again"

SO we change her and her bed, again. Marshall is right by Paisley's side trying to help Irish clean her up and change her PJ's. We give them hugs and kisses and put them back in bed....and the same thing happens (right down to what Marshall said).

I honestly can't remember how many times we changed her bed Saturday night/Sunday morning...I'm sure it was at least four times. At which point we had run out of crib sheets and were on to using our queen sheets...and then a blanket for the last time.

In between the second last time and the last time we decided to give her a bath and some medicine. Marshall wanted to help. So as the bath was running he was talking to her in such a sweet voice telling her that the bath would make her feel better, while helping Irish take off her clothes. I let him give her the medicine as he REALLY REALLY wanted to! He put it in her mouth and said "here you go baby, this will make you better" and stroked her cheek so softly!!

It honestly just melted my heart to see how concerned he was about his little sister!!

I finally went downstairs to sleep with her on the couch, as it seemed every time she layed down, she threw up. So we went to go sit on the couch and try to get some sleep! We did finally both drift off...but boy was I ever tired in the morning!!

Then Sunday morning as Irish and Marshall were heading out the door for Church, Paisley and I are sitting at the table. Marshall runs from the door to the kitchen saying "ohh I forgot to give Mom a kiss"...he gives me a kiss and runs back to the front door, only to turn around again and run back into the kitchen saying "Ohh I forgot to give my Paisley a kiss" SO.CUTE!

So to all you future boys who will be dating my little girl, here is a heads up. You will not only have to go through P's Dad to date her....but you will also have to go through her big brother! At which point, if you have the approval of them both...you must be someone special!

And Marshall, thank you for being such a caring, wonderful brother. It makes me so happy to see that you love your sister so much, and she in return loves you SO much!