Tasty Tuesday

Artichoke Chicken

1 (15oz) can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

3/4 c Parmesan

3/4 c mayo

1 pinch garlic pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In medium bowl, mix together artichoke hearts, cheese, mayo & pepper. Place chicken in greased baking dish, cover evenly with artichoke mixture.

3. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink in center & juices run clear

this extra picture is just to show off this amazing dish!  Don't you just love it!?

I serve this with any sort of pasta, normally wheat or multi grain since we're on a health kick at my house....

Sorry I don't have any dietary info on this one.... all I can say is, d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.


Review: kids and husband approved!  This is one of my favorite meals!

capitols

last week I had to rush to get my Missouri RN license, so I got to see 2 state capitols in 3 days....

Topeka, KS (under construction)

Jefferson City, MO (as close as I could get ya!)

I know, not the most exciting post but a bit of education for ya! Well sorta, if a picture counts as me teaching you something! lol

ABC's of me

ABC's about me!!!!

come and join in the fun! :)

A: Age: 29
B: Bed size: King, and I doubt we'll ever go back to a Queen now!
C. Chore you hate: sweeping the floors... such an easy task but I'd rather clean bathrooms then sleep floors!
D. Dogs: 4, and sadly trying to find new homes for 2 of them....   
E. Essential start to your day: shower... seriously, I can't function unless I shower 
F. Favorite color: green
G. Gold or silver: white gold for jewelry.... house hold accessories: brushed nickel
H: Height: 5’6"
I: Instruments that you can play: clarinet and bass clarinet.... well at least I could 12 years ago!
J: Job title: RN - woo hoo! Love saying that!
K: Kids: 2 awesome boys, 1 horse, 4 dogs, 2 cats - yes, it's a zoo in my house
L: Live: the heart of the USA, Kansas
M: Mom’s name: Karen
N: Nicknames: mom, Kris, I used to be a Doodlebug but it's been years since I've heard that one
O: Overnight hospital stays: when I was 16 I got in a nasty horse riding accident which resulted in a life flight trip and 2 nights stay at a childrens hospital.  I've had to 2 kids so I've stayed overnight with them when they were born, and a few overnight stays due to Riley when he's been sick.
P: Pet peeve: do not pull out in front of me at the last minute, and then drive super slow.  Oh, and freaking text me back please!!!!
Q: Quote from a movie: the only one I can think of right now is cause I just watched Date Night, but, "shut your vagina", "I think we're gonna get whacked off"   I know, juvenile but still funny!
R: Righty or lefty: righty
S: Sibling: there are 4 of us, I have an older sister, and younger sister, and a younger brother
T: Time you wake up: depends on the day.... if Logan has school I'm up at 6:45am, if it's the weekend then I'm up whenever Riley decides it's time!
U: Underwear: definitely... I'm grossed out just thinking that people DON'T wear it! EW!
V: Vegetables you dislike: squash. yuck.
W: What makes you run late: my kids.  Seriously, sometimes I only give myself time to get ready and then I think I'm doing awesome, until I realize that I still have 2 little people to get ready and a million dogs to get out to pee & back inside
X: X-rays: lots.... remember above mentioned life flight... 
Y: Yummy food you make: I can't even begin to list this out... I'm gonna brag on myself, I rock in the kitchen! :)
Z: Zoo favorite animal: bears? lions? elephants? man that's tough to narrow it down to just ONE favorite!

(woah, sorry for the close up! lol)

Tasty Tuesday

Baked Fish with Shrimp

3 TBSP of butter (I used 4, per recommendations)

2 TBSP all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 c milk

2 pounds red snapper fillets (I used tilapia, any white fish will do)

1/2 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used nearly a pound)

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat.  Whisk in flour and salt to make a paste.  Gradually whisk in milk.  Stirring constantly, cook until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  ***I also added 1/2tsp lemon juice and sprinkled a little garlic & onion salt in the paste, per recommendations***

3. Select a pan large enough to accommodate all the fillets in one layer.  Coat with cooking spray.  Arrange fish in pan, and cover with shrimp.  Pour white sauce over shrimp.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  ***I also lightly sprinkled garlic & onion salt on the fillets, per recommendations***

4. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes.

Nutritional Info:

Servings: 5

Calories: 323

Total fat: 10.8g

Cholesterol: 177mg

Sodium: 484mg

Total Carbs: 4.7g

Dietary Fiber: 0.1g

Protein: 48.8g

The Review:

Absolutely wonderful, my husband and 7 year old LOVED it!  I figure I'm not gonna even include my 2 year old in these reviews anymore, seriously, if it isn't peanut butter and jelly he pretty much isn't eating it!  Anyway, food was fantastic, the sauce was amazing!  Beware, this one is hard to walk away from with just one serving!  Recipe says it's 5 servings, we probably got more like 7 out of it.  How is it as a leftover?  Honestly I think it's even better a couple of days later!  Fantastic, definitely a keeper!

Happy St Patty's Day

So yes, this is a few days late.... sometimes I'm just not able to upload pics quick enough!  We had a fantastic day!  It was 79 degrees, the parade was at noon so my husband could come watch it with us before he went to work.  It was Logan's spring break this week so we just enjoyed the day together!  I got some great pics, so enjoy!

Riley when he first woke up.... he was ready to get the party started!

Not to worry, we dressed him a little more appropriately....

These guys are ready to go get some candy!

we're one good looking family!  btw, I've lost some weight, can you tell? :)

my dad with the grand-boys, he was pulling a float in the parade

I have no clue who this is, but isn't this little baby adorable in her little lady bug carrier?!

Riley & daddy, that's Riley's "fake" cheese, he was worried about the sirens on the fire trucks!

my sis Emi & her hubs Lonnie... and my niece Sadie

isn't she glowing? Emi, not Sadie

We'll get to find out in a couple of weeks if they're having a boy or a girl... I vote boy... and I also vote that they have a gender reveal party, I think it would be so much fun!

that afternoon I took the kids to see Mars Needs Moms.... my official review: awful

Riley could just about fold up in the chairs!

Not sure why Logan's eyes look so creepy!  Or why he felt it necessary to sit 4 chairs away from me!  Not to worry, he came back before the movie started...

And that's it folks, our St Patty's Day adventure! 

craftiness

remember this post, the embarrassing moment that led me to be the proud new owner of this

which turned into this

but I was left with this

well finally over the summer we traveled to see my in-laws where I was able to get a photo of all of my boys which I thought would be perfect for my new frame.  Here is the finished product

I love it... this is a bad photo but it looks great.  It hangs up in the bathroom.... love it! :)

wordless wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

Pineapple Chicken

5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 1/2 (1oz) packages dry onion soup mix

2 c water

1 (15oz) can pineapple, drained

1 large orange, sliced in rounds (I did not use this)

1 TBSP vegetable oil

1 TBSP soy sauce (I used this per recommendations)

1TBSP brown sugar (I used this per recommendations)

1. Spray large frying pan or electric skillet with vegetable spray.  Brown chicken breasts in pan, meat side down.

2. Turn chicken over; add pineapple chunks, onion soup, and water

3. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes. Garnish with cooked pineapple chunks and fresh orange slices.

(I served with white rice, went great together!)


The Review: oh my, so delicious! Kids and husband approved!

Makes 5 servings

Per Serving:

Calories: 245

Total Fat: 5.8g

Cholesterol: 67mg

Sodium: 804mg

Total Carbs: 22.8g

Dietary Fiber: 2.1g

Protein: 25.8g

more of our life in photos...

I got a lot of riding time in.... even though there's snow on the ground it was in the 50's and 60's quite often! 

we went bowling.... 

I went out to take care of horses one night during a blizzard (literally, a blizzard) 

it's possible that I should have paid more attention when backing out.... I found the biggest drift on the place.  Thank goodness for tractors & chains! 

Riley became obsessed with finding Logan's clothing and wearing them any way that he could figure out how! 

remember the puppy that was given to Logan? Well here she is! 

Riley being silly 

on one of my rides, this is what my horse did to himself.  All we did was "walk", he pranced.... dork 

Riley made sure to let me know what he thought about eating broccoli and rice! 

we hosted a Super Bowl party 

the puppy has adapted to our family well....

Kaleidoscope

this week I joined Logan for his 1st grade field trip, it was fun but man I had a headache afterwards! That was a lot of kids and I realized how much I do NOT enjoy buses!  Honestly I think about starting a petition to make it a law to have seat belts on buses. 

On the way home from the event we got delayed by about 20 minutes because one of the buses wouldn't start...

then once we're on the highway we had to pull over because one of the kids kept messing with the emergency window handle so the alarm kept going off...

ok, we got that taken care of, on the road again...

until the door flew open...

once again on the side of the road...

back on the highway, moving van pulls out infront of us, driver slams on breaks, few kids slide to the floor...

once again, I'm reminded of my petition...

We get back to the school, Logan is sad with me because I'm not staying to eat lunch with him.  I know, I suck, but really I had to help some family members with things so it just wasn't a good time.  I walk to the car, and n.o.t.h.i.n.g.  won't start.  Husband comes, we finally get it jump started - after we looked super cool trying to push it out of the parking spot -

we get to the part store, retarded husband shuts the car off, seriously? who would have done that?

Battery is fine, alternator fine, it appears to be the starter itself.  

ok, we pay for the part... stupid car won't restart... we charge it for 30 minutes, stupid junker still won't start!  

So, we have the new piece, but the car is hanging out at the part store until later this weekend so hubs can get over there and fix it. 

Jeez!

HOWEVER!

The field trip was super fun, check out some pics!

(sorry for the poor quality, I used my phone)

Each station was a place for the kids to do amazing crafts, the kids loved it!

I worked at the station where we helped the kids be creative with hats, the parents had to make their hats first, so this was what I came up with.  The back of it is my veil... beautiful right?!   :-)

photos of what we've been up to....

over the last few months I've lacked in posts.... we've been busy so I'll use that as my excuse! :)  Here are some shots of what we've been up to....

we got hit with a huge snow storm..... the boys had fun in it, for about 5 minutes

Riley found my high school graduation cap and insisted on wearing it everywhere for a good week! 

Riley had to undergo some tests which required blood work, so we entertained ourselves....

Logan turned 7 

him and his bestfriend Adam 

who cares if there was snow on the ground, I went with my sisters and we got pedi's 

we attempted potty training Riley, so far the cat has gotten more use out of the potty then Riley! 

spent a fun afternoon at a bounce house  

Logan started playing basketball, and scored baskets at every single game!

More to come another day......