Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
• 1 cup chopped red and/or green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sweet onion slivers
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (or more to taste)

Directions

1. Blend pineapple, bell pepper, onion, lemon juice, cilantro and jalapeno pepper in medium bowl.
2. Refrigerate, covered for 4 to 24 hours, if desired, stirring occasionally.
3. Serve with grilled chicken or seafood or as an appetizer with chips.

I just threw the items together. I didn't measure anything. I did tweak a few items. I used canned crushed pineapple rather than fresh and two jalapenos instead of one and put more cilantro in it. 

If you try this recipe, let me know if you tweaked it and how you liked it. 

It's going to be a busy week!

This past Friday I had the privilege to out to dinner and a movie with some fabulous ladies. We started off at Ruby Tuesdays. I did not know any of these ladies going into the dinner. This is something very out of my norm for me. I was nervous going into this because I am such a shy person until you get to know me. I met seven ladies and are fabulous. It was so easy to talk to them and we all had so much in common since we are all mothers of youngin's and all have at least some sort of military experience if not married to a military man. After dinner, we went to the movie theater and saw "The Help". If you have not seen that movie, I highly recommend you go see it. It was such a good movie. Some of the ladies told me that the movie did the book justice. I want to get the book just so I can compare now. I had so much fun. They were all very kind and invited me to join another play group and events that they attend.

Saturday was another long day. We got up pretty early and immediately got ready. If you know us, you know that we don't get ready right away on weekends unless we have to. I needed to head back to Walgreens to get the items that they were out of earlier in the week and then to CVS and Walmart. Jeff wanted to go to the gun show with a few other marines. I met up with them for lunch and then finally home to get Maddie a nap before we had to go to a friends BBQ. Jeff and I made some Pineapple salsa which every one enjoyed. We kept getting compliments. We had a lot of fun at the BBQ, but didn't get to stay long. Maddie was really worn out from the day and only getting an hour nap in when she is used to a three hour nap. Got her home, a bath, and finally in bed about an hour and a half then she should have been.

Today, we got up and went to church. It was a good service. Maddie had a lot of fun. One of the ladies in charge told us that she is very talkative now and more open than she was last time. After church, we went to Harbor Freight really quick and then to lunch. Old Navy was our next-and last- stop for the day. We got Maddie a few outfits for Christmas.


Finally, we are home. What a long, but fun weekend. This weekend is going to be just as busy. Play dates, birthday parties, speech therapy, and more play dates. This entire week has something to do each day. Maddie will have a lot of fun because it is all for her. She will have plenty of time to play with other kids her age.

I'll post the pineapple salsa in a minute. Hope every one is having a good weekend.

Until next time, have fun but be safe!

Ipad Case :)

Our Military Home is having an Ipad cover giveaway that is super cute! You should check it out and enter yourself! If you don't have one, it could be a great gift to someone who has one. : )

http://www.ourmilitaryhome.com/?p=1547

Just what I needed

I have been feeling a little off lately and I didn't know what to do about it. I had all of these plans and they are a little harder to achieve than I previously thought. I thought maybe I made a mistake choosing that path and got pretty down with the start of my new career as an independent consultant for Thirty-one. I was starting to doubt myself. There are some other things in life that wasn't going according to plan, but, hey, that's life right? I decided that I wanted to attempt church again. I always knew that once I had children that I wanted church to be a part of our lives. We went to church in Texas and I really loved the place. I felt so comfortable there and looked forward to going. We tried church here, but it just wasn't the same. Last night, I looked up that church and decided to give it another chance. I found that the church had another location with a younger Pastor and thought I would give it a try. It was a 30 minute drive, but if I liked it then I didn't care. Maddie and I went and tried it out. Jeff had other plans already set in place, so he didn't go this time. I am so glad that we went. It was exactly what I needed. I had a new outlook on things and I walked out with a ton of weight lifted off my shoulders. I was so relieved that after listening to the Pastor talk that I knew that this was the church for me. It felt as if they were talking right to me. I look forward to next Sunday.

Maddie has been sick lately. She is getting her two year molars and this round has been a doozy.. She has had diarrhea for a week, moody, tired, not really eating, extremely sensitive and so much more. I felt bad for her. I tried to help her as much as I could. She was so cuddly. She has been feeling good the past two days for the most part. Her appetite has been coming back and she is not as temperamental. We have her cardiology appt tomorrow. I am not looking forward to seeing her doctor again. He's not the nicest guy on Earth.

Jeff's class is about to graduate, so his work schedule might be a little less stressful and strenuous. He is currently taking two online classes, so he is always busy with that. He actually got to go to the shooting range today with a guy from work. He hasn't been able to do that in a while.  I think he had a good time out there. I wish there were more people out here that enjoyed doing the things he likes to do.

We took Maddie to the pool Saturday. She had so much fun. The pool that we went to has a kiddie side where it is just over a foot. She could walk up and down all by her self. She was just big enough that she could pick up a toy at the bottom and not be all of the way under water. Jeff occasionally took her to the deep end and would throw her up and down. She had so much fun doing that. Overall, it was a pretty good day.

Until next time, have fun and be safe.

Oreo cupcakes- "Death by Oreos"

These things hold true to their name. Oreo cupcakes are delicious. Imagine an oreo on the bottom, chocolate cupcakes with oreo pieces mixed in and a cream cheese frosting with oreo crumbs included. Some of you may think that is too much and some of you may think that sounds delicious! I made these for another BBQ that we went to and they went very vast. Some of my friends went for seconds. They are really easy to make and such a hit. They are not overly sweet, unless you taste them when they are still warm!

Here's the Recipe:

Cook time:	15 Min		Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	20 Min		Serves:	24 cupcakes

Ingredients

- 1 pkg oreos, regular size - 1 pkg mini oreos, for decoration - 1 pkg chocolate cake mix/ mix according to directions on box - 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 8 Tbsp butter, room temperature - 3 3/4 c powdered sugar - 1 tsp vanilla extract - cupcake liners

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions. (Do not bake.)
2.   Line cupcake tins with liner, place an regular size oreo cookie in the bottom of each one
3.   Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 min (or according to box directions). While cupcakes are baking make the frosting.
4.   Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well.
5.   Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine. Add to frosting.
6.   After cupcakes are cool put frosting on and decorate with a few mini oreos on top

If you try this recipe, comment and let me know what you think and if you tweaked it a little bit. Enjoy!!

Oreo Ball Recipe

YUMMMY ! These are delicious! I got this recipe from my aunt and they were a big hit! I made them for a BBQ that my family and I attended and everyone there asked for the recipe! These are so good that if you don't pay attention to how many you have eaten you could have eaten half the batch. If you want something easy and delicious and sure to be a hit, this is it. Now, there are a few things that I would that would change to this recipe. The recipe says to let the dough chill for 15 minutes. I would definitely let it chill longer. It needs to be a little harder in order to be able to dip it in the melted chocolate and not break apart. Also, I don't use the white chocolate. I use milk chocolate. An idea that you could do to make it look a little prettier is to dip it in either the white or milk chocolate and drizzle the opposite chocolate over it.  If you try it, comment and let me know what you think and if you did anything different. I appreciate it. 

Cook time:			Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	1 Hr		Serves:	24-36

Ingredients

- 1-18oz. pkg oreo cookies (regular size, 3 rows of cookies) - 1-8oz. pkg cream cheese-block

- 4 oz white chocolate almond bark

Directions

1.   Add oreos to food processor and blend until fine.

2.   Add cream cheese to oreo crumbs and blend until dough-like.

3.   Chill mixture for 15 minutes then roll into bite-size balls. Chill balls for 15 minutes.

4.   Melt almond bark in microwave according to package directions. Dip chilled oreo balls in melted chocolate using fork so chocolate can "drip off". Set covered cookie balls onto waxed paper and let set aprox. 30 minutes. If using sprinkles or decorative sugars do so before chocolate sets. I usually do a dozen at a time sprinkling after each dozen

Enjoy

Amish White Bread Recipe

I am always trying new recipes and sometimes people ask me for the recipes, so I decided that I would start sharing the recipes on here. The first one I am posting is a bread recipe that I found yesterday and decided to try yesterday. As you can see from the post name, it's Amish White Bread. 

I have never made bread before and I don't have a bread machine, so I did this by hand and my handy dandy mixer that has a bread hook as an attachment. ( I was excited to see that my mixer had some attachments that I didn't think I would get to use, but did.) 

Jeff really likes homemade bread, so I thought  I would try my hand at it and see where it goes. I bought yeast packets a few months ago and finally had enough time to try something new. I have to say I think I might have found a new obsession. It was pretty fun making it and it is something that Maddie and I could do together. At least parts of it. 

I tried it once it cooled down and it was delicious. As soon as Jeff walked in the door, I told him that he couldn't have any. HEHE! I finally gave him a piece and he asked for more. I will definitely do more and maybe switch it up a bit! 

Here's the recipe. Enjoy! 

Amish White Bread! 

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 168 | Total Fat: 2.9g | Cholesterol: 0mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Maddie's Two Year and Family Pictures

This past weekend we went up to Mom's and had a high school friend do our new pictures. She does amazing work and I knew she would capture us perfectly! We set the time to do it in the evening, so that Maddie would be okay and we could hopefully get some good pictures. BOY!! It seemed as if every thing was going against us at the time. Maddie had been in the pool with at least one person throughout the entire day. We got her in, ate dinner, and got ready. We had planned on leaving 45 minutes early because it would have taken 30 minutes to get there. We didn't leave until 25 minutes before, still had to stop at a bank to get the money (my fault. I take full responsibility on not getting it earlier), and right before we actually left Maddie had diarrhea and it ran down since she was in regular panties. Needless to say, she needed a bath. She was getting cranky and I could see where this was going. We stopped at the bank and was out of order. So, we had to stop at an actual store and go buy some gum. Gosh! We get there. I feel horrible by this point for wasting her time. We finally start doing pictures and Maddie's patience runs out. She clings to Jeff the rest of the night. I was so worried that we didn't get any good ones, especially since Maddie wasn't smiling. My friend offered to do some more photos the next morning in town. I agreed very quickly! That night she posted some sneak peeks and I was so relieved that we actually got some pretty cute pictures. :) Whew!! I was so excited and worked up from seeing these amazing pictures that I couldn't sleep. Today, we woke up and got ready and it went a lot smoother than yesterday. Mimi and PopPop came this time and made it a lot better. She posted a few sneak peeks of today's session and all I have to say is that I can not wait a month to see these pictures and finally get to print some out!!! When I get a CD, I will post some on here for you all to see! If you can't wait that long, you can go check my Facebook. She tagged me in them.

This was a pretty good weekend. Maddie got to spend some quality time with Mimi and PopPop and got to swim in the pool with everyone. Probably the two things she loves to do the most! :) This week came too fast. We have a busy week, too! So, I am going to get off and go to bed. I am so tired! It's been a very busy few days.. Until next time, have fun and be safe!!!

Potty training, attitudes, and independence OH MY!!

This week has been very interesting so far. We have decided to try and start Maddie with potty training. I got an email about potty training with working moms. I read the tips and decided that even though I am not a working mom, I would still try the tips out and see if they work for me. Yesterday morning, we got her out of bed, got her out of her diaper, took her to the potty, and put regular panties on her. I was expecting several potty accidents and a few little break downs from her since she freaks out when that happens. I was pleasantly surprised. She did have one accident, but it was because she went to go, but her seat wasn't on the potty and she came back to get me. As soon as she got back to the bathroom, it was just a little too late. Other than that, she did amazing. I was so proud of her. She whined when I put a diaper on her for nap time and was very excited to get it back off. Today, we went to a playgroup date, so she had a diaper on for a few hours. She had no accidents today. We even made a step up in progress today. We used her little potty chair ( which she refuses to use) as a step stool so she can get on her toilet seat by herself.

That is where her independence comes in. She is so determined to do everything herself. As of today, she has to get her bottoms and underwear off, get up on the stool and get onto her seat all by her self. She will slap my hands and yell 'NO'. When did she decide to be so independent already?? Also, she doesn't want help to get her up in her chair for dinner. So sad...

When I say attitudes, I mean attitudes. Maddie and I were out yesterday running some errands and Maddie was asking for a snack. While I was at the commissary, I grabbed her some cheese nips. While I was driving home I asked her if I could have one as I held my hand back. She says to me in a stern voice with a little bit of attitude "Please?!". I laughed so hard. Where were my manners. "Maddie may I please have one?". I asked for another and once again I forgot to mention the please and I once again got the "please?!"  She is so much like me it's unreal.

This weekend we are driving up to mom and dad's house. We are getting our new family photos done and Maddie's two year pictures done, as well. I am very excited. The girl who is the photographer is a friend of mine from high school. Her pictures are amazing and I am beyond excited to see how well they come out. We will get a little pool time in and a bit of Mimi and PopPop time in. It will be really short trip, but well worth it I believe!

I think that is all of the information I have to share for now. Until next time, have fun and be safe!