Recipes

I know...2 days in a row, are you shocked?

I love to cook and I'm pretty good at it, I think. My brother and sister-in-law asked me the other day where I got all of my recipes so I thought I would pass on some of my "wisdom" in this forum. Maybe it will help some of you struggling cooks out there or those just wanting to try something new.

My favorite recipe book of all time is my Better Homes and Garden's Cook Book.

The recipes I frequent most are their Roast Beef (I do mine in a crock pot), Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup & the Fresh Herb Vinegarette...but I have done a lot of them.

My next favorite cook book is 101 More Things to Do in a Crock Pot, there is only 1 recipe in there that we just kinda liked, but the rest are great. Our favorite is the Black Bean Sour Cream Chicken, its awesome. We've also done, as of last night, the brownie sundae, and it was yummy too.

So basically when I come up with my month's worth of menus I start with these books. From there I have some other things I like to try. Probably my most frequented web-site is run by some friends of mine: Lugubrious Delights. Here they put recipes that have been tried and succeeded. I admit that some of the recipes are beyond me and I just haven't even given a second thought to trying, although I'm sure I could do it if I just REALLY wanted to. Some of my favorites on this site include: Easy Homemade Salsa, Crock Pot Pulled Pork, & Mean Green Tortilla Soup.

Of course there are always family recipes to pull from too, and my sister has posted several on the site above, just look for "Heather's" recipes. She has also posted a recipe of my inventing that is super easy and delicious: Monterrey Chicken here. Or you can check out her personal blog: here for some other winners.

I do have some other cook books that I look through, but those are my favs. I just got Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman Cook book and I love it. Pioneer Woman has an awesome blog that is just so funny where the pictures are awesome and the food is down-right yummy. I made the Buttermilk biscuits the other night and they were awesome.

Proof.

So there you have it! Happy cooking y'all!

Oh ya, I do have a blog...

Hi friends-

So its really been since October? Sorry about that. For those of you who might have been living under a rock, its been about since the beginning of November that Todd was called as a Bishop of our local congregation. Specificially, the Waco 2nd and the Waco 1st ward were split to make a Hewitt ward- and (see if you can follow this) our Bishop was in the 1st ward boundaries, the 1st ward Bishop was in the new Hewitt ward boundaries, and well, Waco 2 needed a Bishop and I guess no one else was available. ;) Its a big responsibility for him, of course, and it means I see him less- which is a drag- but its a blessing to serve and we are counting our blessings. Besides- he's the greatest, why not share him a bit with other people, right?

I also got moved around a bit. I got to serve in the Primary presidency for a whopping...4 weeks, and 2 of those we didn't have Primary. :) However, I got placed as the Primary Song Leader, and I couldn't be happier. I get to sing, play games, and be with kids- who can beat that? I love it and hope that they leave me in there FOREVER...ok maybe a little dramatic. It has been a lot of fun, though and I sure love those kids.
This year we had Thanksgiving at my parent's home and it was lovely. Infact we said it was the best tasting Thanksgiving we have ever had. I, being the pie maker of the family, made an apple pie, a chocolate chip cookie pie (awesomeness), and of course- Pumpkin Crisp. All of the usual favorites were there as well- fruit salad, tea room rolls, turkey, green bean casserole, praline sweet potatoes, Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes (a new addition), a relish tray with some of my homemade pickles, and dressing...I think, I never really eat the dressing. It was a lot of fun and nice to have the whole gang there. I of course hit the store on Black Friday and did pretty well. My sisters and I were all at Target when it opened at 4am. Yes, we are THAT crazy.

{Dresses purchased at Kohl's on Black Friday}

After that was my birthday...can't think of anything special to say there, but I'm glad to be around still. :) I love December. I love decorating and pulling out my millions of Noel items. I did go buy some new things this year and added some other new favorites that were passed onto us by friends. This year the Blackhursts came to us and so this is the first year in our parenting history that Santa came on time, he ususally comes early. I did a lot of preparing with the food and decorating. I wanted each room to be festive. I even put a tiny Christmas tree in my bathroom, even though I only expected Todd to see it. For the most part, everything went off without a hitch- the food was good, the company was fun, and the girls were well behaved- can't beat that! This year Santa brought Ava one of those video camera Barbies, a pillow pet, a Ken Barbie, and some other heres and theres. Sydnee got the Toy Story cast play set, a Rapunzel Barbie, and a pillow pet. Lucy got a little tiny kitchen, a pillow pet, and some sippy cups- exciting, I know. I was an especially good shopper this year and got Todd a Wii and Rock Band...so we've been jammin' it out. Its been super fun. I got a cool 3-pot crock pot thingie, a jewlery box, & some jewlery. Of course we got awesome gifts from family and friends as well. We are loved.

Ava & Sydnee got a trampoline from Todd's parents as well- which is perfect 'cuz I REALLY want them to play outside more.

{My parents got Ava & Sydnee their own pair of Cowgirl boots and hat...truly Texan here}

So ya, its Janurary now and that's all there is to it. I hope we can make some realistic goals and have some fun. One goal of mine is to blog more- so here I am. Beginning it with a bang, right? Might as well make it a marathon post. I'm not sure anyone wants to read this stuff anyways- but who cares, right? Its my blog and I can post when I want to...sounds like a catchy song.

Happy living, people- I'll blog again soon...and when I say soon what I really mean is whenever I feel like it again...which will hopefully BE soon.

Still awake?

xoxo,

Linz

Nacho Cheese Chicken Chowder

Nacho Cheese Chicken Chowder

Picture Day

Our Weekend Adventure

So we went to Ava's Fall Festival at her school on Friday night. It was fun, they had a good turn-out and the kids had a blast. If any of y'all are able to come next year, they had bounce houses and slides and games, and all sorts of fun- plus it all goes to a good cause, our school! We finished much later than we had wanted, and ended up in Dallas at 10:30pm. We put the girls in their beds and chatted with the Blackhursts for a bit then went to bed. That's when I realized that I had not double-checked with Todd on the tickets. As you may or may not know, I lose things...but only important things like tickets, keys, wallets, social security cards, you name it. However if it is insignificant or unimportant, I can often locate it in seconds. So, yes, Todd was in charge of the tickets and when I asked him to make sure he brought them, in horror he responded he didn't think he had. Panic. I didn't sleep most of that night, which has been a bit of a theme lately, and in the morning Todd drove to Richardson to see if he TicketMaster that opened at 8am could help. They couldn't. He would have to wait until 9am and talk to the 1-800 number. So he waited at the ticketmaster. The people on the phone were able to void the tickets and have them reprinted at will call, but we would need ID and the credit card we purchased them with...problem. That card expired in September and I just got a new one in the mail and hadn't put it in my wallet yet, but I did take the old one out. AND? It was in Waco...with our tickets. So I printed up our proof of purchase, and our credit card account info. As soon as Todd would arrive back home we were going to get out the door to get there as soon as possible. Mark (my father-in-law) had run an errand and he was going to drive us up to Dart. So Chris (my mother-in-law) got in to drive, and we loaded up everyone and were about to leave when Mark pulled up. So Chris got out, took Lucy and the diaper bag back into the house and we got moving. Anyone catching on to the theme? Any guesses on the next problem? My wallet was in the diaper bag. So I'm about to have a nervous breakdown at this point. We get to fairpark and luckily they accept our paper receipt and let us into the park- b/c that would have been an over $30 to get fair tickets. We get to DSM, show them the same receipt, and they start working on figuring out why we need tickets and such. Then my Mom calls. Through this whole ordeal I can hear my mother's voice, "Don't forget your tickets!" I felt so disappointed in myself and I had feared we had lost all this money- which Mom & Dad had given us as our Christmas present...and I started to cry when Mom started talking. It had all piled up on me and I had to let it go! Poor Mom. While we were talking, though, Todd brought over the tickets and all was well. Sigh.

So- onto the better parts! The fair was ridiculously crowded with people. Longhorns and Sooners EVERYWHERE. It was just too many people and I didn't really like that, but oh well. We thought it would be fun to eat fair food, so we got nachos and fajitas, which were yummy and just short of a million dollars. In retrospect, we should have eaten at the DSM (Dallas Summer Musical) Hall, but oh well, we thought it would be fun...but it turns out sitting on the grass trying not to get dirty and eat nachos, one of the messiest foods on the planet isn't a barrel of monkeys!

We decide to head on over to the hall once we have seen Big Tex, which was a little creepy to the girls. :) We have awesome seats. The girls get to sit on these little pillow booster seats so they could see everything well. The show was........amazing. So funny. They have a whole song/segment on burping and tooting. Needless to say, our family was laughing HARD. The character of the dragon was actually a bunch of puppeteers, and that was AMAZING. She was my favorite character. Lord Farquire is a grown man on his knees, so that was really funny as well. However, the ending was the absolute best. It is just like the credits in the movie, and they shot confetti into the crowd. The girls loved it and I felt so fortunate to share the experience with them, and SO blessed it all worked out. I guess you could say it was worth it, but I'd like to not do it that way again. :)

Conference was very good, although I didn't like missing all of Saturdays sessions. Thats what I get when I book tickets like 8 months in advance, I don't remember things like Conference. Anyhow, it always fills me up and makes me feel better about life in general. So my goal is to remain SANE this week because on Friday I have Time Out for Women, and that should do the trick. Wish me luck.

I don't remember if I posted this here or not. My sweet Lucy and I making pumpkin bread. :)At the Fall Festival, Ava and her first taste of Cotton Candy!
"Howdy Folks, Welcome to the State Fair of Texas"
Too. Many. Longhorns.
Shrek the Musical and 2 goofy girls :)

our awesome view...This was perfect for their first time. Not too close, but not too far.



I've been trying to post pictures of the weekend as promised, but Blogger has been uncooperative, so thankfully it worked this time!

The weekend

We had a fun weekend. Our friends had a small birthday party gathering for her boys, co-workers, and friends. The theme was college football, so each family was to represent their team. Beside that MOST of my family live in Aggieland, the girls had no Aggie gear! So Todd got them some shirts at Academy, Lucy had a darling outfit from her Aunt Heather at least, and of course Todd and I could wear Aggie gear for probably over a week with all the shirts we own. Anyhow, it was a fun idea for a party, and it was fun to see the friendly rivals eat together.

I also got to see one of my childhood friends, Jenny (as she is to me) Vest Hatch. Love that girl. Just like old times.

Saturday I went to the stake RS meeting, which was AWESOME. And then I really enjoyed the General Conference. President Monson was HILARIOUS. If you missed it, you should check it out on-line at www.lds.org I'm sure it will be up in a few days. He was just so funny and spiritual all at the same time, it was perfect.

Yesterday at church as....eventful? Getting a hold on how to run Primary is a SLOW process (but I am SO glad that I am NOT the president!!!), and I got to conduct, do sharing time, have the program ready to be passed out, pass out General Conference booklets, and OF COURSE I *had* to make bookmarks for the junior primary. :) So it was a little rough, especially when our song leader didn't show because his whole family was s-i-c-k. It was a learning experience and it can only get better, right?

Today Todd and I are running for Parents of the Year by volunteering at a Spirit Night at a local restaurant for our PTA, we have different time slots. This weekend we will get to attend Shrek, which is way exciting. Friday night we have the school's Fall Festival, which should be a lot of fun. There sure are a ton of school things.

No pictures of Jenny, but here are a few others....


Aren't they adorable? Sorry Todd about cutting off your head...I made him look totally bald. Yikes. he might kill me for this...





This is one of my favorite shirts Lucy owns. It says, "This is my little black dress"...with faux pearls. Soooooo sweet.

Homecoming!

Waiting for the surprise... Excited girls and their crafty Mama...and no I did not slick my hair down like a man, it just looks that way in this picture.

Very excited girls. Could not get Ava to wear something mores sturdy. Oh well.

Proud Daddy & his dates...and Lucy- because I can't play photographer and Mommy at the same time.

Todd and his dates are off to the football game. I hope they have fun. Its the first Homecoming for all of them. Todd said he never went to homecoming when he was in high school- what a nerd! ;) I went to every one of them! Maybe his team was lousy? Dunno, but my HS football team was the 5-A State Champs my Senior year year- Go Mustangs! Lucky for us, our Midway colors are Blue, Red, and White- like GHS. However, at MISD we are the Panthers, which is ironic since the big rivals to GHS Mustangs are the CHHS Panthers. Guess they'll be cheering on the Panthers tonight!

Crazy Clothes Day

Riley's version of crazy isn't as crazy as Sydnee's...must be my mental health background providing plenty of insight. :)

Today at Sydnee's preschool they were having Crazy Clothes Day to celebrate the letter /c/. And if you know Sydnee, this was right up her alley. I let her kinda have free reign over what she wore, although I vetoed the bathing suit b/c I thought she would get cold. :) SOMEHOW the "crazy" got ahold of her face too. :)

Tea Party for Two?

Tea part for two?

Freedom? Yes, please. I think..?

Hi people-

Well it is Day 2 for Ava & Day 1 for Sydnee. Sydnee was very excited and ready. She looked at me at one point when I was dropping her off and it was a "Oh- you're still here?" look. She was dressed in "Baby Jaguar" attire and looking quite pleased with herself. She woke up at 6am this morning- sooner than I wanted her up- and was ready to get ready for the day. Yesterday when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast on her first day she said biscuits and honey. So when I was at the store yesterday I picked up some turkey sausage so we could have biscuits and gravy- but Todd over slept a bit and Sydnee woke up early- so we didn't have gravy. Like you needed to know that. ANYWAYS! Sydnee got super upset with Todd saying she said she wanted cereal and cried for 20 minutes about it. Happy morning, everyone! :) We got her going and then she said she remembered she did want biscuits. Thanks, babe. Anyhow, we dropped Ava off at school- looking so cute in all her peace sign coordination. Today we dropped her off at the AV room, instead of her classroom and she looked a little nervous about that. She let me leave but she looked worried. I'm sure once she got in there and saw Preston (the Moores have a tendency to arrive places at the same time we do) she would be fine. I bet her friend Andrew was in there too, and her new friend whats-her-name.

Enjoy Sydnee's "tolerating these pictures" face!

Look at the shoes...and I wish you could see her hair, its so cute!

After I dropped off Sydnee- then Todd (because he wanted to drop Sydnee off for her first day too) I went to Zumba and dropped Lucy off for Kids Watch at the YMCA. I was kid-less! I did Zumba- which kicked my butt- and then went to get her. I missed that little baby! I smoothered her in kisses and by the time we got home she was zonked out. I love her shirt today -it says, "This is my little black dress" and it has little pearls printed on it too. :)

So once I'm done here I may have myself some lunch and do a little reading, or work on the computer, or who knows what! The possibilities are endless, and that's a little WEIRD!

xoxo

New Beginnings

We did it. We did it without crying...in front of Ava! :)

This morning Lucy woke up at 4:30am, so I tucked her in a little and went back to "sleep". She woke up again at 5:30am, so I gave her a bottle and laid down for a few minutes. Then I handed her to a "sleeping" Todd and got myself ready for the day.

At 6:30am while Lucy slept, and Todd was getting himself ready- I started Ava's bath water and she came in all smiles & being silly. I helped her wash her hair and finish her bath. She got dressed in the outfit she had picked out and we did her hair. I woke up Sydnee and got her started and Todd began making breakfast. Ava wanted her hair curly today- so we took extra special care to make it look nice. Sydnee wanted her hair exactly like Ava's. No doubt today will be a little sentimental to all of us, but particularly Sydnee- so I'm glad Todd will be working from home today to make her feel special.

Last night we began a new tradition. We'll call it 'Twas the day before school starts... We made chocolate chip cookies, drank milk/chocolate milk and played Uno. Lucy slept. :) Afterwards the girls both got their "First Day of School Book". We've been doing this for my niece Samantha since she was in Kindergarten, so it was especially fun to buy Ava & Sydnee their first books. Ava got "It's Hard To be Five" by Jamie Lee Curtis- who has a fabulous line of children's books. Sydnee got, "The Kissing Hand" which is a really tender little book about the first day of school. Usually we would also have the girls get a Father's Blessing, but we did that last week while Mark (PopPop) was here. We said our goodnights and our prayers and sent the little ones to sleep. Then Todd and I proceeded to clean the entire house to releave some of my anxiety. :)

So this morning we ate our pancakes, made by Daddy of course, took a few pictures, and then piled in the car. Ava fixed her lunch yesterday- Peanut Butter + strawberry jam sandwich cut in the shape of a tulip (Ava's choice), baked cheetos, madarin oranges, strawberry yogurt, Strawberry- Kiwi Kool Aid, and M&M cookies. For her snack she is bring Smart Popcorn.

When we got to the parking lot of the school, it was a REALLY pleasant suprise to see Preston's family drive up at the same time. We took a few pictures of them together and then headed to class. Ava was excited. Sydnee showing a few signs of confusion, and parents keeping it together. We got to the class, gave Mr. Forbis his cookie that we made him last night, and dropped off the supplies we had forgotten on Meet the Teacher night. We hung up her backpack, put her lunch on the shelf, and she sat in her spot. 2 of her new friends were sitting there already. Their job was to color while the other friends arrived- good idea, Ava loves coloring. We took one last picture and then left. I glanced a look at Todd and he was a little moist in the eyes, and so was I- but we kept walking to make sure Ava didn't see us. We are home now and Ava has been at school almost 1 hour. *Sigh*

I've been trying to prepare Ava (and myself) for months so this morning would go smoothly, and it has. Ava, being the nurturer she is, decided that she will have lots of friends and will be looking out for the kids who might be missing their mommies and daddies. She'll be terrific and I can't wait to hear all about it.

Happy first day, my sweet Ava.