Collage Post

Tonight I was going through our photos trying to come up with a cute collage of the kids throughout the  years. Only to find out that it seems we started our family in 2008... This is the year that things seem to have fallen into place or shall I say the year I decided to document our gorgeous creatures in all their glory! I tend to sit back and freak out a bit over the fact that I do not have the four them all together before then... 

I mean what kind of mother am I too not have photographed them all together since the beginning! This must mean I fail at motherhood right!? Of course not, it just means that at some point I decided this was important to me and I wanted to make it a point to get it done! If nothing else decide what is most important to you and then do it! No excuses! Make it happen!

PS This is an old post back from 2013, that I never published. Not sure why, but enjoy!

Mexican Cornbread

This is one of my families favorite recipes! We made it for the first time for Jeremy's birthday last year. This was after he asked me to make something similar that had not turned out so well. Imagine that happening at my house! lol So I was really excited about how well this turned out after that mishap. 

I have doubled the original recipe (link at bottom) and tweaked it to fit my family best. This casserole does come out with a bit of a "wet" consistency, but it is still wonderful imo! Let me know what you think! :)

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef
2 cups cornmeal
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 onion
2 jalapenos
1 can Rotel
1 can cream style corn
2 cups cheese (divided)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350'. Coat 9x13 glass baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Cook ground beef in skillet until done.

In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, baking soda, salt and stir well. Then add the eggs, milk, onion, jalapenos, rotel, corn and 1 cup of the cheese to the cornmeal mixture. Stir in the ground beef. Pour into the greased 9x13 dish.

Bake approx 1 hour. Remove from oven and top with remaining cheese. Place back in oven to melt cheese. Serve with sour cream or salsa!

Changed up the recipe a bit, but original credit goes to Mom's Mexican Cornbread!

"Frito Salad"

Ingredients:
Frito's
Cheese
Tomato
Lettuce
1 tsp Cumin
1 cup Beef Broth
1 medium Onion
2 shredded Zucchini  
1/4 cup Chili Powder
15 oz can of Kidney Beans
28 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
Garlic powder, Salt and Pepper to taste.
1.5 lbs Ground beef or Turkey which ever you like best.

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onions together until meat is cooked all the way through. While the meat is cooking add the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Once the meat and onion mixture is done, mix in the broth, shredded zucchini and diced tomatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat.

Mash up 1 cup of the beans and add to the mixture along with the rest of the can. Cook for about 10 more minutes until it is heated all the way through. Cut up your lettuce and tomato for use as garnish.

We layered all these ingredients together kind of like a Frito pie/Taco salad type of dish! I loved this dish because my whole family enjoyed it and I was able to sneak in some Zucchini with out anyone noticing! We doubled this recipe since we have a teenage boy and wanted to have some leftovers. The original recipe as is should feed a family of five for one dinner.

Chicken Pot Pie Muffins

Ingredients:
Oregano 
Garlic powder
Canned biscuits
Salt and Pepper
Shredded cheese
1.5 lbs shredded chicken
10.5oz can Cream of Chicken soup
3 cups frozen or canned mixed veges

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400'. Pour the mixed vegetables, cream of chicken soup and shredded chicken into a mixing bowl. Season with oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly!

Lightly grease your muffin pan and place one biscuit into each cup, pressing around the sides until it rises up to the top.

Then fill with the chicken mixture and place in the oven for 15mins.

I would check it at about 12 minutes. This would also be the perfect time to add a little cheese to the top! We made some of ours with and some without cheese.

I did not come up with this idea myself, although I did tweak it a bit for our family. I have to give credit to BevCooks at Tablespoon.com!

Colorful Eggshell Crystals

Things you will need for this experiment! Table Salt, Water, Eggshells, Small Pan, Food Coloring and a Disposable cup or any cup that you clean thoroughly!

Save used eggshells, making sure that at least half the shell is intact for each. Place the eggs shells into an egg carton, they will stay in this carton for several weeks. Boil water and add salt until no more salt will dissolve into the water. Pour a small amount of the salt water into a cup, preferably one you can throw away. Then add food coloring to make whatever color you want. Pour the colored/salted water into the shells and fill about halfway up.

 Put the egg carton up somewhere safe, that it will not get bumped or knocked down. This experiment will take several weeks to complete so put them up somewhere high and forget about them.

Dreams Can Be Scary

Lately Spunky has been having a lot of bad dreams and every morning she spends at least 10 minutes telling me about them. I find if we let her talk it out she has an easier time letting go of the fear. Today after being stuck in the house for days, due to rain (which never happens in June in Texas) we decided to break out all the craft stuff. 

While trying to think of something to make, Princess looked over at Spunky and said "I know how to make a dream catcher! Let's make one so it will help keep your bad dreams away!" It was so sweet and Spunky was very excited! It was really neat for me as well, to see them get along and try to help each other. Lately it seems like these moments are few and far between!

 

Spunky's Dream Catcher!

She loves it!

Princesses Dream Catcher!

Very proud of her design!

Black and White Wednesday #10

 

 

To participate in Black & White Wednesday, please visit these awesome blogs Like Christmas Everyday and Me As A Mother.

Wordless Wednesday

Using Lola as a headrest!

For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out these wonderful ladies: For The Love of Baby, Frugality Is Free, Clairejustineoxox, Living At The Whitehead's Zoo and 5 Minutes for Mom!

Saturday PhotoHunt: Creative

Everybody loves pipe cleaners, even the big kids! lol This is one of the "crafts" we did over Spring Break, anything to keep them occupied! ;)

For more photos and this weeks PhotoHunt check out The Saturday PhotoHunt.

Friday Fill-Ins

Hi all, another week is almost over and it is time for yet another weekly installment of Friday Fill-Ins! Janet asks the questions and my answers are underlined. 

1. These three words describe my significant other: adorable, funny and brave!

2. The feeling you get when you are done with laundry is a delight!

3. Oh, how I adore my time alone (whenever I get it)!

4. One can never know what can happen if one takes time to be friendly.

5. Inevitably, it is you and no one else who is responsible for your words and actions!

6. My mother is someone who never ceased to encourage me.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching movies and making homemade pizzas with the kiddos, tomorrow my plans include picking up T-man for is weekend and taking all the kids on a hike and Sunday, I want to relax and maybe read some of my book! :)

For more Friday Fill-Ins participants click here!