Tuesday, December 20, 2011

11 Months…


I have been away for too long and just realized that I never posted a 10 month post of my little cutie. We have been busy preparing for the holidays, today was Charlot’s very first Christmas party. It is at her babysitter’s, I can’t wait to pick her up and see all the fun that she had. Back to the business at hand she is now 11 months old, I can’t believe it. She is quite a little lady, we are so close to taking our first steps, and I am hoping that with my extended time home over the holidays that I will get to see the first steps. I know I know I know, don’t rush her into them, but I just want to be there to witness them!  She is eating solid food quite well, she seems to like just about anything, except potatoes. I am hoping that potato thing goes away, or members of my family may disown her. She is quite a talker, I mean nothing real cohesive but she knows what she is saying and what she wants. Bath time is her favorite time of the day, she loves to splash around. And finally her daddy and I are still so in love and amazed everyday with the gift that God blessed us with.
Her and her big sis Gab are quite a pair!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Hubs Holiday…


Daddy and Charlot in her CAMO!
This past weekend was the beginning of a two week state wide holiday, a holiday that I have complete mixed emotions about. I am talking about deer season! My dad always went deer hunting when I was growing up and he still does, but he never really took it too serious. I mean he went out hunting on the weekends and occasionally watched a hunting show on TV. I always knew he enjoyed it and love the time he spent in the woods. Those were the days that I looked forward to seeing my dad’s kill. Then enter my hubs into my life…he takes this stuff completely serious. He loves hunting, LOVES IT! I mean the man took me out on our Anniversary to dinner and the Bass Pro shop to purchase hunting gear J! We have special soap in our shower for him so the deer won’t smell him, special laundry detergent, and special dryer sheets, all of it! I don’t really mind it that much because I see how happy it makes him.  Besides that for two weeks I pretty much don’t see my husband. He is in the woods pretty much all day on the weekends and he is there in the woods as soon as he gets off of work and doesn’t walk out until dark. Also the weeks leading up to deer season are nonstop viewing of the outdoor network at our home.  The funny thing about this is that as seriously as he takes it in the 9 years that we have been together he has maybe killed 3 or 4 deer, he is antler hunting. And as unserious has my dad takes it…well just look at the pic below!
Congrats Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween and 9 Months!

Happy Halloween to everyone I hope you have a super trick or treating day. These are the pictures I took of Charlot at 9 months of age. She is the sweetest little girl with an infectious laugh. She is cruising everywhere pulling up and going all around every piece of furniture. In addition she has four teeth and we are starting solid foods, stay tooned for details on that adventure. I never dreamed how much my life would change when she came into it, I find myself spending the extra 15 minutes playing on the floor with her instead of doing the dishes (I just do them after she is in bed.) I laugh at her all the time, every little thing she accomplishes I applaud. She literally is the light of the hubs and my life and we thank the Lord each and everyday for her. Enjoy these pics of her!


Monday, October 24, 2011

Stuffed Peppers

This dish holds a very special place in my heart, because I made it for the hubs the first weekend after our honeymoon when he moved into my home, so it kind of symbolizes the transfer from my home to our home. I had always heard him talk about how much he loved his grandma’s stuffed peppers, as his new wife I wanted him to feel completely at home, so I decided to make them for him. The only problem was I had never eaten a stuffed pepper in my life, and had not a clue how to make them. I started by calling my mom to ask for help she was zero help since she had never made them either, she sent me to my Aunt Charlene. My aunt told me that some people use a ground beef and rice mix while others make almost a meatloaf type filling. Well I knew for a fact the meatloaf method was not happening here, I have explained before my fear of meatloaf. I consulted a few cookbooks and called the hubs grandma, and sort of got an idea of how I was going to make these. To make a long story shorter he loved them and I have been making them the same way since.


Makes 6 peppers (note this picture was taken prior to baking I was running out of daylight)

1 lb lean Ground Beef

1 cup onion finely diced

5 or 6 button mushrooms finely diced

6 bell peppers

1 cans petite diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

Beef Broth

1 box Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice

2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

Salt and Pepper to taste

¼ tsp red pepper

½ tsp cumin

Cut very top off of the peppers, don’t throw this away, I mean throw away the stem but not the pepper part and dice the tops of 3 peppers up to add to the stuffing. Remove the seeds and the white inside the peppers, cut a small amount off the bottom of each pepper, for stability, be careful not to take too much or you will have a leaky pepper. Blanch the peppers in salted boiling water for five minutes, remove and cool.

In a large heavy bottom skillet heat some EVOO and a pat of butter, add diced veggies (diced peppers, onions, and mushrooms). Sauté for a few minutes to soften add ground beef. Brown thoroughly and drain. Return meat and veggies to skillet, add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add rice and seasoning packet to the skillet plus 1 cup of beef broth. Simmer for the 20 minutes the rice takes to cook. Keep broth handy you may need to add more as the rice cooks. A few minutes prior to stuffing the pepper add 1 cup of the cheese to the meat and rice mix, combine well.

Fill each pepper to the top with meat and rice mixture; pack it down a bit so the pepper is really stable and full. Top each pepper with a bit of cheese. Bake pepper for 30 minutes at 350. ENJOY!!! By the way these freeze amazingly well. If you are going to freeze them, don’t bake them; just wrap them tightly with foil or plastic wrap and place in a Ziploc freezer bag.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Frozen Banana Split Dessert

This pic shows just how yummy this simple dessert is.
In honor of the momma-to-be in my office big birthday, I decided to indulge her ice cream cravings a bit more. Actually she found the recipe, printed off, handed it to me and said “I want this for my birthday treat.” I obliged, who am I to argue with a pregnant woman and her wants??? I will say this dessert is super easy to make and quite delicious. I think this would be the perfect dish to make for family dinners or picnics, kids I’m sure would love it! I used vanilla ice cream (the momma’s request), but the next time I make it I think I will try chocolate chip, or maybe cookies and cream. Yummy! For this recipe click Here.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Her First Trip to the ZOU!!!

No I am not talking about Zoo with all the animals I am talking about the Z-O-U! We took Charlot to the 100th celebration of the University of Missouri’s homecoming on Saturday. We strapped on our black and gold through and through and headed out early Saturday morning to begin the celebration. We opted to just attend the parade this year for fear that Charlot might not make it through an entire game. She did enjoy the parade though (ok maybe I enjoyed it more), she smiled and waved and even got some candy sent her way. I was so glad to have to take my little one to my alma mater. I am so proud to be a Tiger.  
 Everyone came to celebrate with the tigers!
 Charlot found plenty of people to hold her where she could see the action!
 She even attracted some candy, for her paps afternoon snack!
Auntie Rach stopped by to say hi
It was a great parade and a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Play date!!!

On Friday my cousin Melisa so graciously agreed to watch Charlot for me, Charlot’s regular sitter had to be out of town. Well Melisa happens to be momma to one of Charlot’s favorite play mates, Mia. Mia is just eight months older than Charlot, they are quite a pair. I thought about Melisa’s sanity all day, but she seemed to handle the two of them with the greatest of ease. And by the looks of the pictures that Melisa took they appeared to have a total blast!



Thank you again to Melisa for watching my little girl.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Updates and Education...

So it has been a busy few weeks in our home. Between work and pigs we are staying quite busy. I have been super busy with work; this time of year is simply put crazy. I do a lot of work with Pioneer’s recruitment team, meaning I go to some career fairs, speak to some groups on campus, and travel to some conferences to speak for the company. I love it! Because I do love my job and I am passionate about the work that the company does I truly love recruiting others to join the Pioneer family. The thing about this is that it isn’t actually my full job this time of year; it is kind of a side thing I do. So it runs into some evenings and weekends. This past weekend I was asked to speak at a conference in Washington D.C. This was my first overnight away from Charlot oh so hard. I mean crazy hard. I seriously am an eternal optimist, but I am pretty sure having a child has changed that in me. I thought of every horrible situation possible prior to leaving, I am pretty sure I was boarding the plane with tears streaming down my face. I did not want to leave her! She didn’t seem to mind it too much, her and Daddy spent some quality time.


Insert: The following subject maybe odd for some readers, but it is a part of my everyday life, and it is a part of the great industry of agriculture. Plus a cute pic of Charlot prior too.


The hubs has been busy trying to ensure that all the sows are bred for litters this winter. In our operation, as with many operations, it is more feasible for us to use artificial insemination to breed our sows than to have several different boars. This entails, logging the sows heat cycle, selecting the boar from a stud company (catalog/online), ordering the semen, receiving the semen from the UPS man and doing the deed(hahaha I couldn’t be completely serious about this subject). It is actually quite an interesting process if you would like to learn more click HERE, for a full tutorial. So I bring all this up because a couple weeks ago my cousin was here from Florida, complete city girl, and she was very interested and humored by the process. So I thought I would share with all of you! The hubs will be so proud!

Here are some more pics from our visit to the orchard and one with Charlot and my cousin.



I hope you learned a little something, and I hope you have a great day!

Friday, September 30, 2011

8 months…

My baby who was so tiny so little time ago is now 8 months old. And I wouldn’t trade her for anything she is so funny. She babbles all the time, I really wish I could sneak into her head and see what she is thinking. With the babbles she throws in a Bye-bye and waves, it is pretty amazing. She is crawling everywhere, and pulling up and letting go and falling. But that is ok she is trying her hardest and I am there to scoop her up when she falls. Oh I love this little girl she is such a special delight in my life, one I couldn’t have imagined even if I tried.


I have wanted to take some pictures of her outside for quite some time. But this summer was not conducive to that, the heat was crazy. Now it is officially FALL, and I am in love with the weather. So the little miss and I trotted outside the other night with Gabby for some pics. I can’t say that Gabby was exactly the most cooperative though.




Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Weekend Recap…

Good golly Miss Molly we had a fun filled weekend, and I could seriously use a nap to recover. This time of year is my favorite time of the year but it does seem to be one of my busier times. The fall festival was raging in our hometown over the weekend, and I out of tradition entered my baby girl in the baby contest (I was in it as a little one). Let’s get some things straight don’t think Toddler’s and Tiaras’, the attire for each baby was a white onesie. I was excited to show my precious little one off to the whole town. I wanted them to see how cute and happy she is.  Instead of her normal whole face shining smile she did more of a face like this…

Let's just say she didn’t win, I think she enjoyed herself though. But you know what I still believe my sweetie is the most precious little girl around. The lose did take a toll on the family, I think it broke the Hubs heart.

On Saturday I hosted a Pink and Brown themed baby shower for my friend/co-worker Cheri. Her little angle MacKenzi is scheduled to arrive around Thanksgiving. This was the first baby shower I had ever hosted and let me tell you I was SUPER excited to be doing so. I didn’t get a ton of pictures, because well honestly I am a dodo brain at times and I just forgot. I made most of the decorations and I made all the food. The menu consisted of a cheese and cracker platter, assorted veggies with a creamy dill dip, shrimp and bacon bruschetta, fruit and cream filled phylo cups, strawberry and chocolate fudge cupcakes. It all turned out wonderfully, the Momma-to-be enjoyed herself, all the guests seemed happy. Thus I deem it as a successful day! I can hardly wait to have the chance to host another! Here are a few pictures from the big day.

Drinking glass mason jars for favors
 Messy Shrimp and Bacon Bruschetta (I'll post the recipe later)

 Momma-to-be enjoying her cupcake.

The shower was just too much excitement for Charlot.

Hope all of you have a wonderful day!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Fresh Apple Cake...

Yesterday was my bosses’ birthday and as usual I made a special treat to celebrate. Typically he is a cherry pie guy, but this year he said he wanted something different. I thought great different, what the heck does he want. Well there was quite a nip in the air over the weekend reminding me of my favorite season FALL and my boss adores apples. I knew that my mother in law’s Fresh Apple Cake would do the trick. And man oh man did it! I decided to follow my hubs request and not put any icing on it, instead I made a Carmel Whipped Cream to be served with it. I think every one really enjoyed it!



Fresh Apple Cake

3 Eggs

2 Cups Sugar

3 Cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 Cup Oil

3 Cups Fresh Apples (Peeled and Diced)

1 Cup Pecans (Chopped) (I suppose you could use walnuts here but I believe that is criminal)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bunt pan thoroughly (or if you are like me and don’t own a Bunt pan use an angel food cake pan). Cream Eggs, Sugar, and Oil together until light and fluffy. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon , mix until well incorporated. Add in the apples and nuts. The batter will be thick but don’t worry it will be great! Pour into prepared pan, bake for 1 hour or until a knife comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes prior to inverting the pan.

Caramel Whipped Cream

2 cups Whipping Cream

6 TBSP Butter (the Real Stuff)

¾ cup Dark Brown Sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar together until bubbly and thick, turn off the heat add a splash of cream stir together and allow the Caramel to cool.

Once Caramel is cooled pour whipping cream into a bowl and begin to whip once it has started to thicken gradually add the Caramel continue to beat until thick and fluffy

Please don't judge the back grounds of these pictures I had to take them at work!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Oh the fun times…

I guess there comes a time in every parent’s life that you realize just how big your baby is getting. Each night after Charlot’s 5:30 supper she typically likes to take a little nap, it is typically between 30 and 45 minutes. This gives me a great time to get supper together/finished. Last night I laid my sleeping baby down in her crib and left to go and cook supper. I was cooking away and being quite productive, when I heard her starting to wake up. I thought oh I only need a few more minutes to finish the dish; she doesn’t seem upset so I will let her be for a few. Within a few minutes I heard her laughing hysterically, I knew that she was up to something and this is what I found!




She just looks to stinking cute! But the hubs and I will be lowering her bed this weekend!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Guacamole Bacon Cheese Burgers

Talk about excess these babies exemplify it! Oh I do love a good burger. The hubs would say that I don’t ever cook burgers so I must not enjoy them. But here is the real reason I am not good at cooking them at all! I never manage to get them molded correctly so sometimes they end up super thick and tiny around. Then I can’t seem to get them done the way I like them. It is just one thing after another. So when the hubs said that he wanted bacon cheese burgers for dinner I was a bit terrified. I did decide to give it a go though and honestly they turned out pretty great. I got my inspiration for these from one of my favorite burger joints Fuddruckers, oh man their burgers are good. If you have never been go. Please! I have a particular love for their Southwest burger, smoke bacon, guacamole, and pepperjack cheese. Yummy!


GBC Burgers- (makes 4 burgers)

1lb Lean Ground Beef

1 tbsp Cumin

½ tsp Red pepper

1 tsp Season Salt

Salt and pepper to taste

Cheddar Cheese slices (I didn’t’ have any pepperjack in the house)

6 pieces of cooked bacon (1 per burger, except the hubs’ burger he likes two, and a spare piece for Gabby-chubby girl needed a snack)

A batch of your favorite Guac (I made my own you can buy it if you choose)

Toasted buns

Mix the burger and all seasonings in a large bowl, patty out four burgers making them a bit thinner in the center (this prevents the burger from shrinking in to a miniature football). Heat a cast iron skillet with a pat of butter, once the skillet is hot throw in the burgers, cook 4-5 minutes per side (less if you like a pink burger). Assembly spread guac on the buns place on burger, cheese then bacon! Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

When the cat’s away…

The hubs had to be away from home for a few days last week, he went to help harvest a plot in SWMO. Now I am sad when he is gone, I miss him so much as does Charlot. But when he is away I have to take advantage of it when it comes to dinner. Now he would never touch a meal of pasta with sauce with no meat I mean never. I on the other hand do occasionally enjoy a meal-free pasta meal. I really can’t think of a simpler or tastier way to enjoy pasta and tomato sauce. This sauce is a bit spicy from the red pepper flakes, yet velvety and rich from the cream. Oh excuse me while I drool a bit. If anything can make the hubs being away any easier this simple supper can!


Spicy Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp EVOO

1 tbsp Butter

3 cloves Garlic finely chopped

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (you can used more if you want it extra spicy)

1 large Can Crushed Tomatoes

2 heavy splashes of Heavy Cream

Melt oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper, allow to cook until garlic is browned, but do not allow to burn. Pour in tomatoes and stir until well combined, it takes a bit, be patient eventually the tomatoes and oil will become one. Turn heat to low and stir in the cream.

I ate mine with spaghetti but whatever pasta you choose make sure the sauce completely coats the noodles. I top mine with a bit of parm cheese. Serve with crusty bread. Yummy

Note: Do not try to serve this recipe to your meat and potato men!

Monday, September 12, 2011

7 months

I seriously have been meaning to post these pictures for several weeks, considering in about a week she will be 8 months old. I thought about just not posting them but I have posted pictures each month since she was born, I didn’t want to slack. Wow sooner than later she will be 8 months old, oh my I am not sure I am prepared for this, I had better just focus on that she is only 7 months now. Charlot is quite a little lady she is crawling all over and has been for several weeks, she is still a super smiley baby. She loves her daddy so much every time he walks in the room she can’t stop giggling. I am so amazed how her little personality is forming and how she can entertain herself for quite awhile with absolutely nothing. She is still sleeping through the night (she has been since about 2 months), and I love that she wakes up in the morning babbling and giggling, it is the GREATEST thing to hear at 6a.m.!  I can’t think of a better gift God could have blessed the hubs and I with, we are so lucky.

This is her face when the hubs walks through the door, (sorry for the low cut, I bought the shirt along time ago and was desperate for her to wear it. Obviously it is too big!)
Have a great day!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Simple Summer Supper

It has been so blasted hot out that coming home and cooking a big heavy supper is the last thing I want to do. I cannot tell a lie I do love a steak salad. I was inspired by a recipe the Pioneer Woman posted a few days ago for a chipotle steak salad. The nicest thing about recipes like this one is that they are completely flexible. In my salad I used some mix greens, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, shredded carrots, celery (for some extra crunch), shredded cheddar cheese, sliced sirloin steak, homemade croutons, and a spicy ranch dressing, basically the whole garden. Yummy!  It was very refreshing and filling at the same time. Even the hubs enjoyed!!!


Here is a link to the PW’s Chipotle Steak Salad  , her salad looks better than me but her food photography skills are better than mine. Don't judge me.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Shopping and visiting!

The hubs is NOT I repeat NOT A SHOPPER; it is a task that he detests. So when I mentioned that I would like him to go with me to pick some clothes out for Charlot’s six month photo session, I assumed he would smile say ok and never really get it in his schedule. Well let me tell you when I woke up yesterday morning to my husband suggesting that we skip church drive to COMO for breakfast and shopping, I had to pinch myself to make for certain I was still alive. I have never gotten ready so fast in my life! We had a great breakfast and got some really nice things for the little one. I even had time to get my wedding ring cleaned, it was in dire need, the corn field has not been nice to it this summer. But nothing topped when I found these pictured glasses below at first the hubs thought they were a waste of money but as soon as he saw them on the little miss he couldn’t resist. Charlot is now officially the coolest chick at the sitter's.

After our morning shopping adventure and a little nap Charlot my momma and I ventured over to see Bert, Melisa and Mia, I had some sweet corn for them and they had a walker and other goodies for Charlot to use. Plus Charlot and Mia are quite funny playmates.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Six Months!!!

Since Charlot was born I have been taking pictures of her in the same spot on our couch each month on the 19th to document/celebrate her turning another month older. Most of the photo sessions I have shared with you here. I love this because I can easily look back and see how much she has grown and changed. I never imagined how much I would look forward to these little sessions (Charlot is quite a camera lover), I also never imagined how much harder these would get the older she gets. Wow! When I was trying to take her six month pictures I had to employ the help of the hubs to hold her still and to keep her focused on the task at hand. Together I think we got some pretty good shots.


At six months old our little girl is awesome. She is trying soooo hard to crawl, she laughs uncontrollably, she smiles all the time, she has three teeth coming in, and she is eating her rice cereal like a champ. We go to the doctor on Friday for her check-up; I can’t wait to see what she weighs! Oh my baby is growing so fast, but each new achievement for her is a blast and blessing for us!
 I think she was a bit confused in the picture.
 Here she is laughing at Daddy.
 Now trying to figure out what Daddy is doing.
 And now we fell over laughing at Daddy.
The shot we had been trying to get all along! Her classic open mouth bright eyed grin!