Friday Five-Food Crawl

You know you have a true friend when they will share good with you in the back of a minivan with four small children.

Today Bestie Super Mom (Super for short)  and I introduced our poor children the art of being a foodie. Mind you one child will choose carrots and peas over junk food and cake, another child (mine, ironically) is only really interested in something worthy of being dipped in ranch THEN ketchup.

Here' goes!

1.  ITR (In the Raw) food truck was FAB!  Bestie Super got California Rolls and I ordered NY Rolls.  We concluded the difference was hers were crab, my NY rolls were shrimp.  And something in the NY was almost sweet.  Bestie Super's California Rolls were perfectly savory and just the right amount of 'seafood'.  Could. Not. Get. Enough.  Even Turtle had a few!  (Bee just decided to 'dip' herself in the soy sauce...Sigh...

ITR

Explaining Sushi...they were not thrilled!

2.  The Bone Pile Food Truck.  Oh my word!  Ya'll hold onto your bar stools!  We discovered bacon tacos served with fresh lettuce, pico de gallo, guac and a spicy mayo.  Let me first say this.  I HATE mayo but this stuff was so good and not quite fire burning that it really made the tacos.  Life changing.  Must have more.  I talked to the sweet people in the truck (I practically climbed in myself to eat more bacon....luckily I'm short and those trucks are tall...) and they told me they were in the process of opening a restaurant but for now you can find them on Facebook and their awesome food truck is in Owasso.  Clearly I will be making some road trips in the near future.

Bacon Tacos, Ya'll!

3.  Bestie Super also ordered a cheeseburger which was divine!  The kiddos helped her devour it, I stole a few bites!  And their fries?  Wowza!  They are super crispy yet thick and the spice they put on them hits the spot.  Salty with a kick.

4.  Momma, this will make you smile.  My minivan.  Spring is a tad moody here in these parts, and it was chilly.  Too cold to just plop down on some grass nonchalantly with a bacon taco.  We literally shoved strollers to front seats and blanketed the back of my van and had a lil picnic.  The kids were a tad spastic until we fed them and then we former teachers had quite a feeling of success when they sat quietly.  For three minutes.  HA!

Most angelic, sweet girl!  Miss A!

Mr. Personality!  Gotta love Mr. G!

Sushi?!

G and Bee were a bit more excited about their first food crawl!  (See the soy sauce on her skirt?!)

Thank you sweet stranger who took this.  Bestie Super was getting our food!

Sweet Babes

5.  Good friends.  The past three weeks have been quite challenging for me and Bestie Super really helped me get out of my funk and embrace life's changes.  And she ate bacon with me.  That enhances any relationship as far as I'm concerned.

Love. Her.

Food crawl = Food coma

Happy Weekend, Ya'll!
XOXO Summer

Wordless Wednesday

XOXO Summer

Marinated Grilled Chicken and Tomatoes

Ya'll I am on a cooking roll!!!  And I did some research, last night's recipe and today's are actually from Prevention Magazine.  Who knew?  So, these dishes are also presumed to be healthy!  YAY!

I served the chicken and tomatoes with 'garlic pull apart bread' and corn.  (Another blog about the garlic bread another time, promise!)

The chicken was delish!  Here's how I did it:

Marinated Grilled Chicken and Tomatoes 

3 TB balsamic vinegar (this REALLY made the marinade!  Don't cheat with regular vinegar!)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

3 TB olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic (jarred garlic is always a staple in my fridge)

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

1 onion, sliced

1 1/2 lb chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT tomatoes.  I made the marinade the night before, poured it over the onions and frozen chicken breasts I had, and let it thaw and absorb the juicy goodness overnight.   

You could grill this outside for amazing 'grill' taste, but I used my trusty cast iron skillet grill I could use on my stove top.  Once I was ready to start cooking, I used a med-LOW heat so the chicken would be juicy and cook evenly.  If you get the skillet too hot, it will burn on the outside and be raw grossness on the inside.

I sprayed the grill with non stick spray, poured the chicken and onions and the marinade on top.  I let it cook about 8 minutes on one side, and while I waited on that to cook, I quartered my tomatoes.  I flipped my chicken and added the tomatoes.  The dish took a bit to cook, the chicken was pretty thick.  A meat thermometer should read 165 degrees for optimum 'doneness'.  :)

I hope ya'll try this in the summer time.  It will definitely be a fun grill meal!

How was your Monday?

XOXO Summer

Bow Ties with Bacon and Peas

Ya'll, this dish is SO YUMMY!  Thank you Prevention Magazine!

You will need:

Bow Ties with Bacon and Peas

3 slices of bacon (ya'll know I used three times that......)

3 med. leeks (only white, pale green parts)-- 4 c.

1 1/2 c frozen peas (I used what I had-- 1 CAN canned petite green peas)

1 box bow tie pasta

2 lg eggs

1/2 c finely grated Parmesan (I normally use freshly grated but I had a ton of that powdery 'fake' parm just sitting there....I hate that stuff but it worked for this!)

• Boil pasta in water-- you will be saving some pasta water!

• Cook bacon in a large skillet, make it crispy.  Drain on paper towel, save grease and cook chopped leeks in it for about 7 minutes until golden.  Add peas, cook another 3 minutes.  Reserve in skillet off heat.

• When pasta is done, reserve 1 cup pasta water.  You are going to whisk (in a separate bowl) 1/4 c of the cheese, 1 tsp pepper, 2 eggs, and pasta water.  SLOWLY add water, you don't want to cook the eggs in the hot water and get weird eggy lumps (GROSS).

• Add egg mixture and pasta to skillet of vegetables on a medium heat.  Stir constantly, the eggs will cook fast.  The cheese and egg mixture make this amazing coating on the pasta.  It's yummy!  This process only takes about 3 minutes-- the mixture should coat all of the pasta.  Top with bacon and remaining cheese.  YUMMO!

 

**Ya'll should know, I couldn't find leeks at Aldi's or Target, my primary grocery stores and I never had time to scope out Whole Foods...So I used 1/2 a chopped green pepper and I cooked it the same time as the recipes calls for the leeks.  It still turned out great!  But leeks are a super food, I encourage you to try it as is!**

What did you cook up Sunday?
XOXO Summer

Wordless Wednesday

(Husband man-child)

Xoxo Summer

Wisdom in a Tooth

This past week has been one of the most stressful OF MY LIFE. I have had to take sleeping pills at night and anxiety meds during the day. 'Functioning' barely describes my clawing around on my furniture trying not to have a panic attack and writhing in pain because I have needed a root canal for ..... well..... a while now. 

Wednesday.  7 am.  In a sleep stupor, I manage to get ahold of my guardian angel, my MIL. I somewhat successfully tell her I am dying and I need her to take the kids to Mama Jessi's.  

She floats in the house and effortlessly cares for my poor children. Once we establish that I need immediate medical assistance for my MOUTH, she uses her magical phone contacts and as I projectile vomit (pain can do that to a person) for the fourth time that morning, she whisks us off to the babysitters. 

I have two sleeping pills and one anxiety pill into system. No sleep. No food.  I look like a homeless, jumbo sized toddler, with swear pants, Uggs, and a blankie in the front seat of her car. 

Dentist office number one is in Sapulpa.  Not quite down the street. They poke and prod my mouth. I moan and suppress vomit. No one will give me a root canal because they are afraid I won't be numb enough. No one can get a gold it an oral surgeon to do it 'til next Wednesday- maybe'. I lie there, half asleep, half calm. And I wait to die. Luckily my MIL is a sound, smart woman who took excellent care of me.  Toodles dentist office number one. 

Off to Broken Arrow.  I nap. I think. Somehow I acquired a bottle of water.  And a lisp. I feel like I'm going on a car ride. Like a dog. Just happy to be out of the house. But I can't comprehend much more. 

Specialist in Broken Arrow. Their office is much more relaxing and mommy of the day can sit in a nice chair next to me as I drool into my little bib and nod off. They numb me. Gas me. Root canal me. And discuss the absurdist oral surgeon of Tulsa who also does  'boob jobs'. EEEEK! Amidst my my drooling mumbles Dr. Miracle Worker knows I don't believe him. He actually pages his front desk girl to google it. 

In my not so logical brain I want to work for this man all the time alway. I love to google. And he is ridiculous on every cool level. That's what my happy brain on laughing gas thinks.  

The lovely girl prints off this guys website and I almost choke on the abundant mouth scrapers and drills in my face. It's. Real. 

Shortest root canal ever- 45 minutes, and MIL helps me sit up. 

 So dang numb I cannot feel my right eye blink. My logic self panics but my high on life and lorazepam self sits back and laughs with half a functioning face. This is going to be a fun afternoon. 

I all but float out the door. We head to sonic because I have decided I need a root beer float before we head to the pharmacy. 

Apparently laughing gas. Ambien, and lorazepam are quite a fun mix. We take an extensive tour of the lawn and garden area of Walmart where I believe I personally 'sample' each and every one of their lawn chairs and chaise lounges. Whilst 'gracefully' slurping down a float. Giving detailed reviews of most chairs. Life is good. 

MIL helps me fill my pain RX, let's make another pill cocktail (JOKING)!

I didn't even make it out of the parking lot  before I was out again. MIL picks ups kids and we head back home. We have literally driven like 45 miles today. And I notice the freckles I get on my face when I blow capillaries from vomiting. Good day. 

Husby medicates me and whisks me off to bed. Elmo senses my need of him all up in my face and he snuggles. And I sleep a wonderful, uninterrupted sleep. 

Praise God for root canals. And MILs. And root beer floats. 

What do pills make you do?

XOXO Summer

Productive Pictures

I follow a sweet blog, Dixie Delights. This southern gal sure has a knack for decorating and crafting and I am obsessed!

That being said, I enjoyed showing my Sweet Mommy some ideas that inspired me from her house! 

My Mommy had already framed three sweet pictures of the Littles.

 I decided we needed something more!

I google imaged 'vintage Oklahoma map' and printed it off at Mommy's house in black and white and on high gloss photo paper. (8X10). 

The picture frames are Mainstays frames (matte frame included!) from WalMart. 

This

is the exact latitude and longitude of our house!

I downloaded a fun font and made a PowerPoint slide. I made the background fill black and font white. To do the degrees sign, you go to 'symbol, insert'. Easy peasy!

Hanging them was also super easy. 1.  I'm a woman. Who is impatient. 2.  Nail holes are forever, 3m hook adhesive isn't. 

So I slapped some 3m hook tape on them, assumed I spaced them out properly, and hung them up!  Isn't it lovely??

I'm quite proud of myself!!

Wondering what else I can hang with 3m tape....

XOXO Summer

I am...

Cooking friends!  I have stumbled across a life changing blog!  This woman is amazing!  Her website is iambaker.net.  GO!  READ! BAKE!

You're welcome.  :)

XOXO Summer

Friday of...Fun?

My 1 1/2 year old can be a tad....sensitive...  Saying that, let me enlighten you with this Friday evening's events.  And why he will need therapy for the REST of his life.

We live about 1 hour away from Stillwater, my hometown.  We packed up and drove 'home' today and needless to say, Turtle was excited.  We have been snowed in, sick, and not out and about as we normally have been.  Also, Turtle is obsessed with busses.  I say that.  Every time the boy sees one in the road, he screams so loud it's painful.  And you swerve your car because you think you have hit a dog.  It's that loud.  And he is that excited.

So.  We are on the turnpike to Stillwater.  Schools are dismissed for the weekend.  And the highway is unusually full of busses.  So we almost ran off the road 743984 times.  In ten minutes.  Lord help us, I was extremely hard of hearing by the time we took the Stillwater exit.  I have never really gotten into the song "Jesus Take the Wheel" until today at 3:30 pm.

No nap.  Hyped up on busses.  We head to Chick Fil A for dinner.  After heartily stuffing his precious, chubby face with waffle fries, my parents and I head for the children's jungle gym equipment for the littles to play.  Turtle climbs all the way to the top, then realizes Mommy is no where to be seen.  And panics.  Friends, I wore a SKIRT to work today and I never stopped to change into appropriate Mommy Yoga Pants attire.  There was not a chance in the world that I was climbing up there to rescue the sobbing mess that is my toddler.  Luckily, Bee was on hyper drive (a.k.a. normal mode) so I convinced her to go 'fetch Bubba' and help him down.  We promptly went to Grandmother and Grandpa's house.

I feel the need to pre-cursor you with this tidbit:  my parents are the sweetest, most over zealous people ever.  So when they realized they had a whirlpool bathtub with fancy jets, they jumped on the opportunity to let my children try it out.  Turtle was stripped and dumped in a tub of hot, foamy bubbles and was completely out of his comfort zone.  Normally he waits to see sissy's reaction to new things before he decides to freak out.  NOT TODAY!

Before he even has a chance to drop his bottom into the water, my father excitedly pushes the jet ON button and away we go!  I have never seen two children scream so loudly and panic so fast.  And I had to literally cross my legs so I wouldn't pee all over myself.  It. Was. Amazing.

After figuring out how to turn the jet OFF button, we were all soaked and I was still laughing.  Turtle crawled out of the tub faster than a lobster in a pot, waiting for warm jammies and bed.  But Granddaddy was not done with his day of disaster fun.

He found this balloon helicopter toy at WalMart...



You blow up the balloon and attach it to the propellers for it to fly away.  Hysterical fun.  Unless you are Turtle.

Pre-cursor #2:  We recently discovered he is absolutely terrified of gum chewing and bubble blowing (I still have no idea why??)

Sooo, when Grandaddy began to blow up the 'bubble' he all but messed his new clean jammies.  Then Granddaddy let the toy go to fly.  And it was catastrophic.  Screaming.  Flailing.  Pathetic giving up on everything and heading for the hills.

I scooped him up, I had been laughing so hard my sides hurt, and we tried to read a few books to calm down before attempting sleep.  He seemed alright.

We headed off to our sleep over beds!  You would think I was trying to pierce his ears!  Even playing Enya didn't soothe the poor babe.  I finally grabbed Bee's baby doll....and he held on for dear life and fell right to sleep.....

How was your Friday evening?
XOXO Summer