Hide and Seek, Moroccan Fish, and Mango-Lime Couscous.

M has been in a good mood today.  She's currently in transition to a new room (Toddler I) at daycare.  Last time she transitioned, the actual transition went smoothly...it was the week after that was pure hell. This time, I requested that they take two weeks to transition her in an attempt to ease her into it a little bit more.

She came home tonight and refused to eat dinner, rather she insisted on eating BUNNY!  BUNNY!  BUNNY!  Which means either her cheddar bunnies or her bunny fruit snacks.  Damn you Annie for making such yummy snacks.  It was totally her loss tho because dinner was great!

Afterward, we played a bit of hide and seek.

And look at these beautiful blue eyes!  I can't get enough of them.  And I sure hope they stay this color later in life and don't change like mine!

Some new things Miss M has been doing lately....saying no.  "Maddie can I have a hug?"  "NO!"  "Have a good day today Maddie!"  "NOOOO!"  It was mildly entertaining at first...

She also has this new screech she does when she doesn't get what she wants instantaneously.  It's awesome.  Or the exact opposite.  We're working on getting her to communicate what she wants a little better to ease some of the frustration levels she's experiencing.

Other than that, she's her happy-go-lucky self.  She's such a great kid she makes me almost want to have another one ;)

For dinner tonight I tried another new recipe.  Moroccan Fish with Mango-Lime Couscous!  It was simple, easy, quick, and I absolutely LOVED all of the flavors.

Ryan was not a big fan of the texture of the couscous.  And I'm pretty sure I've never had pearl couscous before...it was different.  We'll definitely make this again because the mango, lime, cilantro flavor mix along with the fish rub was just spectacular.  However, next time it will probably be made with rice to appease my husband.

I didn't change this recipe a whole lot.  I used cod instead of white fish because it was fresher at the store.  I added a bit more cumin to the rub (about 50%).  I didn't measure the lime at all, just squeezes a whole lime into the bowl.  And I held off on any additional salt.  We also ate this with a side salad to get some veggies in there.

Mini Breakfast Casseroles.

If you haven't made these, you're missing out.

Go make them.

Now.

For real.


I made these breakfast casseroles for the first time tonight with sausage.  Ryan and I couldn't help but try one as soon as it came out of the oven and it was DELICIOUS.

I plan to freeze them for easy breakfasts.  Hopefully they taste just as amazing reheated as they do fresh.  Ryan told me I need to make them for breakfast every.single.day.  I told him we'd need stents in like 3 months if I did that.

Update:  Reheated them from being refrigerated this morning and they were just as good as right out of the oven.  M devoured two of them this morning.

Reminisce & Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs! (Oh, and some Beer Cheese Bread too)

So, today I was going through my iPhoto library and ran into the picture folder from the very first time I met Trina.  It seems like so very long ago, and I suppose it was.  It's been over 6 years.  This is one of my very favorite photos I've taken of Trina and Ryan and it was from this trip:

And on to our homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs.  I'd post the recipe here, but I've been sworn to secrecy.  So, I suppose the only way you'll get to try it is by coming over to my house for dinner!!

We mixed all the ingredients together in a pot and then used the immersion blender to break it all up:

Then, we mixed up all the ingredients for some meatballs, and made them into ball form.  I prefer to bake meatballs, and the recipe calls for it, so baking it was!

The sauce has to simmer all day.  And while that happens you can cook the balls.

Then fold them into the sauce and keep cooking for a while:

OM NOM NOM NOM.

Ryan also decided to make a loaf of Beer Cheese Bread.  Super simple.  And here it is:

And here's our meal all finished.  It was delicious.

Next time I think I'll add some basil.  The recipe I used easily made a double batch.  We used half tonight which fed the 3 of us and will supply all three of us with lunch.  And I froze the other half to use at a later time.  All I'll have to do is cook some noodles and heat up the sauce/meatballs!

Banana Bread!

Tonight I decided to attempt a banana bread recipe since I had 3 ripe bananas I needed to use before they went bad.  I liked that the recipe used yogurt & honey instead of sugar.  I also used coconut oil since Maddie loves it.

My loaf had to cook for about 10 minutes longer than suggested...which made the crust a little darker and harder than I care for, especially on the bottom.

It tasted delish tho.  I might add a bit more banana next time...or maybe wait until mine are a bit more ripe because I feel like the banana taste could have been a bit stronger.  But, in the end it was delish.

Rainboots, Chicken Noodle Soup & MOD Shirts!

After scouring the internet for what seems like ages, I *finally* found a company that makes rainboots small enough for my peanut's feet.  So, I ordered them.  The were stupidly expensive.  Oh well.

But they're super cute.  Maddie is in love with them.  She hasn't stopped playing with them since we put them on her feet.  I wish I would have video taped when we first put them on.  She was walking around 1 millimeter at a time.  It was hilarious.

Next up, chicken noodle soup.  We finally got around to making the chicken noodle soup recipe I posted last week with our leftover chicken and stock.

Verdict is that it was good.  Not awesome, but good.  It could use some onions and maybe some more pepper.  And definitely less noodles.  We put in too many noodles, lol.  We'll definitely try this one again, but dress it up a bit more.  Also, we boiled the veggies for longer because 5 minutes wasn't going to make them soft enough for M.  Instead, we put it in with the stock, brought it all to a boil, boiled for 10 minutes, THEN added the noodles.  It worked out well.

And finally, our March for Babies shirts arrived in the mail and I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM!!!

My mom informed me today that she thinks she's going to come walk with us, so I put in an emergency order for a shirt for her.  The wonderful Julie at It's a Preemie Thing told me she would be able to get it made for us!  YAY!  I love her!  I also placed an order for one for grandpa and Trina.  My plan is to take a pictures of us wearing them at our family photo shoot in July!

Our walk is on May 5th.  I hope it's a little warmer this year, since it was 26 degrees when we left the house last year!  :X  Also, we're SOOO close to our goal!  Only $83 dollars to get there...and 13 days!  So, if you feel inclined to donated to a wonderful cause, you can do so here:  http://www.marchforbabies.org/mramsayer

I also want to give some props to my BIG GIRL!  I don't know if I can call her a baby anymore.  She *finally* was able to get her 15 month shots.  She didn't cry at ALL when they gave her the first one.  And it contained the tetanus booster which I know first hand HURTS!  And she cried for like 30 seconds when she got her 2nd one.  I think it might have stung a little bit.  But she was such a big girl for her shots!  I couldn't believe how well she did!!!!

Swimming and Bread and Stock, OH MY!

As always, Maddie goes first.

On Saturday we had her first swim lesson.  I will call it a giant fail.  We went in the pool in the shallow end for her to play for a few minutes before class started and after five minutes she was already pretty cold.

Class started out in the shallow end and the kids were given cups to get themselves wet.  Maddie already was, lol.  They practiced kicking with their legs and scooping with their hands.

Then it was time to head to the deep end.  We made it through swimming for frogs and the popcorn song (where you dunk them under water) before she was just too cold, too blue (yes, her arms and legs were blue, along with her lips), and shaking too hard to continue.

I was pretty bummed that we didn't even get to stay for the whole class because it was too cold.  I plan to call the aquatics manager on Monday to see if that's the normal temperature of the pool.  If it is, I'm going to have to get a refund and find somewhere else to take her because she can't stay in that pool.  So, in the end....giant fail, lol.  She did seem to be having a lot of fun while we were playing in the shallow end in the beginning, but then I think she got too cold to enjoy anything.

After swim class, we came home to warm up and take showers, then we went to eat lunch and grocery shop.  Afterward, Ryan and I started two dueling chickens in the Crockpots.  One was 5lb (for dinner that night) and one was 11lb (for leftovers to freeze).  We managed to get an amazing chicken dinner last night with mashed potatoes, gravy and beans!  And we got all our diced chicken to make chicken noodle soup, all of our shredded chicken to make enchiladas, and plenty of extra to make chicken salad and other things for lunch.  Then we started two Crockpots simmering to make some delicious chicken stock.

I also decided I wanted to make some bread.  I came across a yummy recipe for 1.5lb cinnamon raisin bread and wanted to try it.  

• 3 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• ½ cup oil (I used coconut oil)
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup raisins

Then you just follow the instructions for your breadmaker.  We have breadmaker, so it was like destiny ;)  I mixed all the ingredients into the breadmaker, set it on whole wheat loaf, and started it.  And nothing happened.  We messed around with it and couldn't get it to work.  So, we decided to go buy one....but on one, I mean NO ONE sells breadmakers in-store anymore.  We came home sad.  And Ryan started tinkering with the machine and somehow got it to work.  So, this morning we had this for breakfast:

Maddie gobbled hers up with some coconut oil spread on the top.  I figure this is a great way to help get some healthy fat and calories into her.

The stock was also finished this morning, so I portioned it all out...9 cups for chicken noodle soup, 1 quart, 2 cups, 2 cups, and 1 cup.  All in all we ended up with just over a gallon of chicken stock!!!

The bonus of all this was that the chickens were on sale!!!  So, we paid $16 for chicken and another $10 for organic veggies.  We already had all of the spices.  So, all of the chicken and stock only cost us $26!

Art.

From Maddie to us for Parent Appreciation Day:

 Adorable right?  I love the lady bugs at the bottom of the page.

So, I have over a years worth of art from Maddie.  It's become a pretty substantial pile.  At this rate, if I save all of M's artwork for the rest of her life, I'll need another house just to store it all.  I know I need to start weeding through it.  But, I can't bring myself to throw any of it away.  So, I need to come up with a way to save it all.

I was thinking of maybe taking pictures of everything so I have a digital copy of it?  But I don't know if that's "enough."  I looked into making art books, but they're crazy expensive.  Maybe I'll do a mix of all of it.  Maybe I'll take pictures of all of it, make a couple books of the great stuff, and save some of the really special pieces.

What do you guys do?