Friday, October 1, 2010

{11}

Only 1 more month before our little girl is a YEAR old.
Do not remind me. I am so sad to see my baby now enter the "toddler" era.

Here are Brinley's 11 NEW things she has done this past month.

1. Brinley loves to rub her belly in the bathtub. This is a recent thing. I still have YET to view her doing this because Ryan is mostly in charge of bath time every night since he is gone for most of the day. He says it is absolutely hilarious! I believe him.

2. I'm not sure why since she is a great crawler and has been since 7 months, but she does this "bum scoot." I find her sitting on her bum in the kitchen, or bathroom, or front entry way doing this scoot with her feet while moving backwards. I'm trying to figure out if she does it because she has things in her hands. Who knows.

3. The famous box pushing. AND box climbing. Which explains the many bruises on her poor head. Climbing also means falling. Poor girl.

4. Genius mommy moment, Frozen Gogurt! She loves it.

5. When I see Ryan drive up, I ask Brinley, "Is Daddy home?" and she will look at the door until he opens the door and walks in. Most days, she will let out this wild high pitch scream at Ryan, which then is followed by screaming back and forth for minutes. Bonding I suppose...

6. She always stands up now. Last month, it was pretty rocky, but now instead of putting her down on the ground on her bum, I just put Brinley right on her feet. She loves it.

7. Drinking the bath water. No, this isn't a new thing, but it has definitely turned into a favorite.

8. She LOVES to pick up things and throw them over her shoulder. Typical items, dvds, food, toys, books, binky's...very talented. She will grab it, look at every inch, and then toss. Pretty funny to watch.

9. Brinley is such a good eater. I'm really lucky. She still tolerates baby food 3-4 times a day and loves any little table food we give her. Some of her favorites are quesadillas, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rice, broccoli, animal crackers, and blueberry waffles.

10. Brin's hair has definitely transformed into realllll girl hair. It is getting so thick and curly. I have semi wavy hair, but I wouldn't label it curly. Brinley's is curly. I love it.

AND most importantly,

11. On Thurs, Sept 16, Brinley took her first step towards Ryan. We stopped. Looked at each other. And didn't say anything. I'm not surprised she has tried walking before her first birthday. She has been such a strong and fearless baby. We are SO proud of her. Since the first step, she has taken a couple here and there, but definitely prefers her bear crawl. Bless her heart.

We love you, Boo Boo!



(taken today)

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Look at me!

Hey guys!

I wanted to let you know that I am a new contributor to this blog:

Belly Mamas

I did this Halloween post!! I'm so excited to be apart of it!


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Monday, September 27, 2010

Recipes

I've had a few requests of some of my recipes that I use frequently.

Granted, I am NOT a good cook, I can just follow recipes really well! I stick to what works for our family and our taste buds.

Russian Chicken
6-8 chicken breasts
8 oz Russian dressing
8 oz apricot preservs
1 pkg. onion soup mix
20 oz can pinapple chunks with juice

Mix Russian dressing, apricot preserves, onion soup mix, and pinapple chuncks in a 9x13 inch pan. Add chicken and make sure sauce coats each piece of chicken. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 1-1/2 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.
(For my husband and I and left overs for lunch the next day, I would half the recipe).

Chicken and Rice
6 chicken breasts*
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. rice
3 c. water

Combine in bowl. Put in 9x13in pan. Cook at 375 for 1 hour (or until chicken is done).
*I put in 3 chicken breasts and only put in 1/2 pack of onion soup mix.
(Ryan was licking the pan)

Easy Crock Pot Italian Chicken
4 or more chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom Soup
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
3/4 c. sour cream

Put everything except sour cream in crock pot and cook for 5-7 hours. Frozen chicken breasts is okay. Add sour cream at the end. Serve over rice or noodles.

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. ketchup
3 Tbs Worcestershire
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 c. milk
3/4 finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 envelope onion soup mix
garlic for taste
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mix brown sugar, ketchup, and 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce in a separate, small mixing bowl. Pour half of the brown sugar and ketchup mix into the bottom of the loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, mix remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the brown sugar/ketchup mixture. Pour the remaining brown sugar and ketchup mix on top of the loaf. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.
(haven't tried this one, but I am SO excited to make my first meatloaf this week!)

Cream Cheese Chicken (crock pot)
4-6 chicken breasts (still frozen is fine)
2 Tbs butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg. Dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz cream cheese
1 Tbs minced onion

Place chicken, butter, salt and pepper in crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with dry italian dressing mix. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or 4-5 on high. About 45 minutes before done, mix soup, cream cheese, and onion until blended. Pour over the chicken and cook for remaining 45 minutes. Serve over rice or potatoes. Lay flat to freeze in ziplock bag.
(Ryan was in HEAVEN). Next time, I would only put in 5-6 oz of cream cheese. It was pretttty creamy.

Crispy Herb Chicken
1 1/4 c. crushed Rice Crispies
1 pkg Good Seasons Dry Italian mix
1 Tbs parsley flakes
4 boneless chicken breasts (or tenders)
1/4 C. melted butter

Combine cereal, dressing, and parsley. Brush chicken with butter. Roll chicken is cereal mixture. Place chicken on ungreased cookie sheet (or foil! easy clean up!). Bake at 375 for 30 minutes (or until chicken is done). We love it served with mashed potatoes.
(This is a family staple!) So good!

White Bean Chili (crock pot)
*this recipe really depends on size. I am putting down what 4 servings contains.
3 15oz cans white beans (drained)
4 12oz cans of chicken stock
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup diced onion
1 C. canned green chilis (depends on how hot you want it, maybe do a small can of chilis and one small can of jalapenos)
4 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
1/2 Tbs cumin
1/2 Tbs dried oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
*1/4 bunch of cilantro leaves chopped if you want

Put frozen chicken breasts in crock pot with 1/2 cup of water. Let cook for 2-3 hours on high. This makes shredding the chicken super easy. Or boil and shred. I love using my crock pot because it keeps my kitchen cool. Drain the water out of the crock pot. Leave chicken in crock pot. Drain the cans of beans, put in crock pot. Put cans of chicken stock in crock pot as well. In a saucepan, heat butter. Add garlic, onion, and chilies and saute for 5 minutes. Add chili mixture to crock pot with beans. Add cumin, oregano, pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro (if you want). Turn crock pot back on to high and let it simmer for 45-60 minutes. I love to have it on as long as possible because the spices really blend well together. Serve with cornbread, or mix it up mexican style with sour cream and tortilla chips!

Linguini with Zucchini
12 oz linguine (3/4 of a box)
2 Tbs olive oil
3 small zucchini, cut into thin half-moons
Kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmeasan cheese (2 oz)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 C. of pasta water. Meanwhile, heat the oil in large skillet. Add zucchini and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook, tossing often, until just tender, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes. Toss the pasta with the reserved pasta water and 1/4 C. of the Parmeasan. Divide pasta into bowls and top with the zucchini mixture and remaining 1/4 C. Parmeasan cheese.
(if you don't have zucchini, broccoli is just as tasty!)

In conclusion, you may have noticed that I love:
crock pots
Italian seasoning packets
Onion soup packets
Onions
Garlic
Rice
frozen chicken breasts
canned foods
and sour cream!

These items are cheap and I almost always have them in the pantry. That makes for quick meals. and I have never met someone who doesn't love using a crock pot. Throw it in, set it and forget it! If you have any that you want to share, email me meaganbriggs3@gmail.com

Bachelor Brad


What are your thoughts on the new seasons Bachelor?

Brad was already on the Bachelor. He didn't pick anyone.

I guess it's better than pulling a Jake and verbally abusing your fiance on national television. Much better.