Menu 7/31-8/4

 

Here’s this week’s plan (for now!)

• Sunday Grilled Haddock with zucchini and corn
• Monday Shrimp and zucchini
• Tuesday Steak
• Wednesday Chicken and bowties
• Thursday Quesada's

Yogi’s Egg!

I know, I know you are all waiting for vacation photos.  Sorry they will come soon!

I have to tell you about our egg!  When we got the chickens back at the end of march Tyler thought we would have eggs the next day!  Even though they were this big!

So we read up on chickens and how long till they started to produce eggs.  We figured out that they would be of age around the week we came home from vacation (aka Yogi Bear park).  So since then, Tyler has been telling everyone that we would have eggs when we go back.  We keep telling him “Maybe we will start having eggs then”

Well since then we noticed we had too many rosters.  In fact, David and the kids returned 12 rosters to the guy and brought home 6 hens a few weeks back.  We kept 3 rosters, Shorty, “Gloria” and big red.  A photo of Shorty can be found here.  “Gloria” we thought was a hen, she was so bossy we called her big bertha. Then one day she started saying “cock'-a-doodle=do” so tyler changed her name to “gloria” why I don’t know?!!! lol  Big Red is for sale!  He was suppose to go to a farm but they backed out this week. Now we need to find him a home! He is so beautiful!

Here our photos from tonight!  Gloria is right here in front.  Shorty is the little guy in the middle alone. Big Red (with his deep voice) is just coming into the photo on the left!

Here is a photo of Big Red and you can see Whitey in the back. (More about whitey later!)

Two of the Hens that David and the kids brought home were these below!

They are so pretty! the rosters did not like them.  They would peck at them so badly.  They stay up in the coop, I don’t even know if they have ever come outside…we have not seen them out.  They are starting to stand with the other girls without being scared to death!

The night the new Hens arrived we noticed that the rosters were trying to, umm how do I put this on a family site?  They were trying to “Brown Chicken Brown Cow” get it!??!  Anyway we were thinking maybe our math would be right!! 

This week Tyler was still saying when he gets home we are going to have eggs!  We considered calling my in laws and have them stage an egg! Once we got home we checked the chickens.  And wouldn’t you know…

in one of the hen boxes was…

an egg!!  So Tyler has been right all along, after Yogi Bear Park we would have eggs!!  Boy did we luck out!  He is sure it was whitey that laid the egg!  Hopefully we start getting more eggs!

So to answer the age old question, what came first the chicken or the egg??  To the szarek’s it was:

A chicken, Yogi bear and then an EGG!!!

Saying goodbye to an old friend.

This friend has been by my side for it all; dating, engagement, marriage, pregnancies, unemployment, deaths, sadness, and all the everyday events.  My friend never judged me, he was always there when I needed him.  Always ready to open up and help with the emotions that were going on. 

I will miss my friend. Its hard to just walk away, its not like he did anything wrong.  It was me, I just couldn’t control myself around him.  So I have decided to say goodbye and walk away…

Peanut butter you have always been there for me. But I have taken advantage of you . so for now I am saying goodbye, I hope one day I will be in control of my life where I can allow you back into my home.  Until then…Goodbye!

80 pounds and 4 inches lighter

 

My before from Feb 2010:

My before Today hair!…Notice its it’s the same color cut and style.  In fact other then minor changes in color and or highlights not much has changed since Hootie and the blowfish ruled the world……..that is…..

until today!

I love it!!

yogurt chipotle sauce (southwest seasoning)

I love spicy food..hot sauce of ketchup or BBQ sauce any day!  I also have a love affair with pretzels and dip.  I have found the perfect thing!

All you need is:

• 6oz plain greek yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon low fat mayo
• 1/2 tsp horseradish sauce
• 1/4 tsp of minced garlic or you could use garlic powder (for a milder taste)
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon of chopped onion
• Hot sauce and chipotle seasoning – add a tsp at a time till you get the heat you like

basically you mix it all together, and put it in the fridge a few hours ahead of time. Its great on burgers and chicken.  I also dipped pretzel in it!  Now I just mixed this while standing in my kitchen.  I am going to try to do it again and pay close attention to what I added.  I have a few ideas to kick this up a bit so stand by!!

Hello kitty Cake Balls (Oreo balls)

When I started planning Emma’s 2nd birthday I originally planned a Strawberry shortcake and ice cream party.  I totally could pull I off with some great summer cupcakes.  But in May I realized she had no clue who strawberry shortcake was and she loved “kitty-kats”.  Enter the hello kitty theme!

The plan was a typical picnic lunch with a full on ice cream social.  All of the kids in attendance love ice cream, and most of the adults!  I knew cupcakes would be a waste, the kids would only eat the frosting and I would have more left over then eaten.  Enter the idea of cake balls…they were little bites and so easy to eat and walk around with.  That’s when I found these:

 

The website is here with full instructions.  I decided to make just the hello kitty but I love the ice cream cone ones! 

Because Emma is a huge Oreo fan instead of using cake I made them with Oreos and cream cheese. this could have been mistake #1!   I chopped the Oreos in my food processor and then added the cream cheese. I rolled them into the shape as stated in the instructions.  I melted some choc and dipped the sticks in before inserting into the hello kitty heads.  I then place them in the freeze to set.

The instructions said to use white choc. chips to make the ears but I had dark choc and figured they would be fine (mistake #2).  after attaching the ears I started dipping them in the hot melted chocolate.  The chocolate started melting the ears and I had brown streaks in my hello kitty! This  was not as noticeable when I switched to the pink chocolate.

It was hot and humid here, so I had to work in batches rotating them in and out of the freeze other wise the Oreo ball would split in half when I dipped it in the chocolate.  I should of melted my chocolate in batches too.  The last few it was starting to set (mistake #3).

I tried to draw the face with the edible pens they sell at the craft stores but they do not write on melt chocolate (mistake #4).  So I ran out and picked up some gel writers to make the face!

You could see the Oreo thru some of the faces but if I had used the cake instead I think it wouldn’t of showed up (the pink looked better).  But they were a hit and tasted good (I ate a few too many )  I would certainly make them again especially for a kids party.

I still have some summer cupcake ideas..so if you are having a party let me know!!

Hello Kitty Ice Cream Social Birthday Party

There is nothing more fun then to throw a party.  A party out side on a beautiful summer day with ice cream is even better!  On Sunday we held Emma’s 2nd birthday party – this years theme was Hello kitty ice cream social!

I spend my free time surfing the internet and find inspiration for things I would like to do or cook.  Thank god for my newest addiction pinterest that lets me keep it all organized.  Basically I want to throw a party that looks like the ones you can find here.

Now last year when I blogged about Emma’s 1st b-day party I told you that Tori Spelling had given her daughter a lady bug party too. Well wouldn’t you know Stella’s b-day party this year was Hello Kitty too?  I was excited and frustrated its not like I can throw a better party then Tori!!  But I did get inspired and stole and idea or two!

We started the party off with hello kitty tattoos for everyone!  The bubble machine and ice cream bubbles on the table gave the kids some fun before we served our picnic lunch of Hamburg's, hot dogs, chicks, salads, fruit, veggies cups and chips. We had a topping bar for the burgers that included Pickles made from our garden harvest last year, this years banana pickles, lettuce from pappys garden, and more.  I even made a southwest sauce that I will post later this week.

Here is and idea I stole from Tori:

I didn’t take a photo of mine so now I have also borrowed this photo! but what a great idea these are!

Emma of course was very fashionable!  She had her Hello kitty shirt from aunt Stephanie, here matching hair bow and skirt and of course her Purple farm boots (see bottom left photo below).  Later in the party she sported and animal print bathing suit with pink ruffle.  During her presents she accessorized it with a purple tutu from grandma and grandpa!  Everyone's favorite accessory was the dirty face from the ice cream (see the top left photo below)

While we cleaned up the picnic and were getting ready for the Ice cream social the kids had a blast with the kiddy pool and slip and slide!

Then it was the Ice Cream time!!! ohhh yeah!  Full ice cream toppings bar: Hot fudge, Carmel, strawberry, marshmallows, bananas, sprinkles, nuts, mini peanut butter cups, cherries, brownies and more!  We even had a tray of cookies (custom made to look like hello kitty) from J cookies.  You can find her at the Westmoreland Farmers market.  We also had root beer for anyone that wanted a root beer float!  Instead of cupcakes I made Oreo balls decorated to look like hello kitty! (photo bottom row 2nd one in from the right below).  I was going to make cake balls ( and probably should of – more to come on that later this week), but Oreos are Emma's favorite so I had to do Oreos!

The kids loved every moment of it!  Check out the photo of carter (middle top) below, I love that his mouth is open as wide as possible!  Emma smiled as we sang happy birthday to her!  Then she blew out her candle on her sundae!

As you can see the adults too were all about the ice cream!  we had just under 30 people (counting kids) and we went threw almost 2 gallons of ice cream.  Aunt Brenda was kind enough to dish out all the ice cream!  Thanks B!! She is one bad ass kitty sporting her hello kitty tattoo (Photo bottom middle) don’t you think? 

After their ice cream the kids all had a sugar spike!  They were running around having a great time!

That was the perfect time to breakout the silly string!  It was a way better idea then the apple war the kids wanted!  Silly string was a mess but so worth it!  The kids loved it and So did the adults – seriously next year we need to budget for more cans! 

Here a recap of someone of my favorite things from the party!  I love my favors!  I found the idea here!  Inside was a token for an ice cream at the local ice cream shop, a small snack bag of M&M, another hello kitty tattoo and a balloon!  How cute are they?  it’s a wash cloth, felt and shredded paper!

On Emma's real birthday (the 8th), I took the kids to build a Bear.  Emma made a pink Hello Kitty and tyler found a new outfit for Toby (the bear he made last mothers day).  It was a good thing Tyler was along for the ride because Emma was afraid.  Tyler had to help stuff her and bath her.  Emma named her new kitty “My Kitty”

Later that night when David was home, we let Emma open her gift from us.  It was a mud pie table.  It was a big hit…check out the bottom left photo.

What do you think was it Tori Spelling worthy?

So now to plan Tyler's 6th birthday (he wants a pirate theme), and to start thinking about Emma’s 3rd bday….What? its only 360 days away!  I have already pin items!  Can you guess what the theme will be? hint hint

Happy birthday Emma

 

Two years ago today our family was complete with the addition of a 7pound 9 ounce baby girl!

here is what I blogged back then

She was sugar and Spice and everything nice!  tyler was so excited to have a baby sister!

Two years later we have learned about

• sassy fresh little girls
• little girls that want to be 1 going on 13
• how to put the finest hair in a pony tail
• learned the meaning of fearless
• watched the makings of a daddy’s little girl
• Seen someone grow into the “I do it” personality
• how dirty a little girl can get

At this point in her life I know Emma will be a leader, she is afraid of nothing and stands out in crowd!!  Some days I think it will be the captain of a roller derby team or the broad street bullies!!

While at times she makes me pull my hair out and drive her father to the point of insanity we love her silly ways!  That belly giggle she does because she is so ticklish!!  the fact that she will eat almost everything and call it all chicken!  She loves to give kiss and pats your back when she hugs you!

She is our lady bug, she is our love bug, she is our little July firework!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!  ENJOY BEING 2!!