A look back...

The very first picture I took with this phone...so little!

I am getting ready to get a new phone next week and as I am excited to get a new one I am also kind of sad to see this one go. Because of the pictures that I can scroll through anytime I like. Yes I have all the pictures backed up in two different places, thank you shutterfly app. I am sad that whenever I am scrolling through my pictures I won’t be able to see little two year old Charlot or our vacation to Gulf Shores or look at all the food I have eaten. Now most of you are probably thinking lady you can move those pics to your new phone. Well guess what! I don’t how! And I kind of like the idea of starting all with all new pictures! I am a mixed bag of emotions today. But any who since I wanted to put myself on an emotional roller coaster, and take a look back at some of my favorite pictures today! 

Horsey!!!!

The Hubs and his huge fish!!! I think two summers ago. 

I will forever be grateful  that I have this picture! I do love my PawPaw

The hubs with the boss

Gulf Shores Family Selfie

So Happy Rolling in my freshly raked leaves 

I have no idea I just love it! 

Pap and the Hubs carving with Charlot

Love this Picture! My FIL in his element

Me shortly after I nearly died via a deer or died because of the running in the mountains. 

Food lots and lots of food. 

And the last picture I took so big!!! 

Grilled Pineapple Pork Chops with Fried Rice...

I know I have kind of been on an Asian food kick here lately on the blog, the hubs informed me of this last night during supper. But he sure didn’t complain about this meal! I promise tonight there is no Asian planned for supper, so maybe I will be off this kick soon.

I doubt it though I love love love these flavor combos! The pork chops provided a perfect amount of sweet heat that I loved, and when you eat it with the grilled pineapple you get just a little bit of smoke mix in there oh so delish. But I felt like last night my biggest triumph was the fried rice, well that and that my kid ate this entire meal! Momma Win! Any way the fried rice! I love fried rice, wait I pretty much love all carbs so this is no exception! Ok seriously back to the rice, as I was researching making fried rice I kept reading that you should cook and cool your rice ahead of time for great results. Well guess what this momma doesn’t think that far in advance. So this is my version of fried rice probably not how the pros do it but it tasted amazing! Give it and try and let me know what you think!

Grilled Pineapple Pork Chops

4 Boneless Pork Chops

1 Large Can of Pineapple Rings in 100% Juice

1 TBSP Siracha

1 TBSP Brown Sugar

1 TSP Salt

¼ Cup EVOO

Place chops in a large plastic container with a lid. In a large bowl combine juice from canned pineapple (reserve the fruit for later), siracha, brown sugar, salt, and oil. Pour juice mixture over the chops and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, I prefer all day while I am at work. When you are ready to grill bring chops out and allow to come to room temp. Pre-heat your grill place chops on hot grill, grill for 3 minutes per side or until completely cooked through. While grilling the chops grill your pineapple as well and serve the two together!

Fried Rice

1 TBSP Coconut Oil

3 TSP Sesame Oil (divided)

1 Cup Long Grain Rice

2 ½ cups water

1 Cup frozen Peas and Carrots

2 Eggs

1 TSP Siracha

1 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 TBSP Teriyaki Sauce

Heat coconut oil and 1 tsp of sesame oil in a large skillet add in the rice and stir to coat allow rice to toast for a few minutes prior to adding the liquid. Pour on the water, lower the heat to medium, and cover and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes add in the peas and carrots. Allow rice to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes you may need to add additional water as well. Once rice is nice and tender remove the lid and allow it to cook a few more minutes to get any remaining moisture out of the pan. During the cooking of the rice whisk together eggs, siracha, soy sauce, and remaining sesame oil. Push rice and veggie to one side of the skillet, in the open part pour in the egg mixture stirring it until  it becomes a soft scramble then combine it with rice and add in the teriyaki sauce, stir to coat. ENJOY!  

Pinterest FAIL….

I am addicted to Pinterest I will gladly admit this; there is absolutely no shame about it! I have obtained many great ideas and recipes from this glorious site. But does Pinterest ever make you feel like Wonder Woman when you are looking at it, thinking oh wow look at that I could totally do that! Then about 15 minutes later when you are actually trying to do said thing you feel miserable and loser like at the same time. I know this doesn’t just happen to me! I have proof! This is how I feel a little better about myself, there is a whole group of us out there that have Pinterest Fails! Check this website out it absolutely cracks me up! PINTEREST FAILS

Now looking at the above picture it doesn’t exactly look like a complete fail, I mean it still looks edible right? Well the ability to be eaten isn’t exactly the problem! You see when I found this recipe for stuffed french bread I thought oh that looks good, plus the post said that her kids loved it! Why wouldn’t mine it consists of bread, cheese and meat, I thought I’ll just add it to my monthly meal plan. Well last night was the slated evening for this meal. I got it all prepared with a nice fresh salad to serve on the side. I was excited to sit down and try it. And that’s when it HAPPENED…

Seriously the second my child laid eyes on her plate she screamed then cried and informed me “I am not eating that yucky looking stuff.” So much for kids loving it! Well I then promptly informed her that she didn’t have to eat it but she could expect no snacks the rest of the night unless she tried it. More tears ensued, and she proceeded to eat cucumbers…very filling I’m sure.

See I felt it was necessary to share this story with all of you so you could see that I am not the perfect Mother of the Year that I know all of you think I am (cough cough). I also wanted you to see that my kid is a complete pain in the rumpus at times especially at meal time and can drive me to the point of drinking in about a second flat. I know all of you think that she is perfect; she takes after her momma after all!!! HA HA HA!!! Here’s to another meal attempt tonight! Happy Wednesday!!!

Chicken Stir-Fry with Sesame Noodles

If you are in need of a quick and easy supper with a bit of an Asian flare this is for you! It also seems pretty kiddo friendly in our home because anything with noodles is right up her alley. I was looking for some simple noodle recipes the other day and I kept seeing The Pioneer Woman’s sesame noodles coming up. They sounded amazing so I thought I’d give it a stab. Well when I went to my local grocery store they didn’t have a few of the things that were in the original recipe and then I found out that the hubs was going to be home that night so meat would be needed in the meal. So through the process of missing ingredients and a meat needing husband this glorious recipe was born. Plus I added some peanut butter to it because well I am, as I have stated before, obsessed with Thai peanut sauces. Please enjoy this with you and yours, feel free to switch up the meat and veggies! Let me know what you think!

Chicken Stir-Fry with Sesame Noodles

2 chicken breast (thinly sliced)

2 carrots (sliced into think matchsticks)

2 stalks celery (thinly sliced)

12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

2 TBSP Sugar

1 TBSP Garlic Powder

2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TBSP Pure Sesame Oil

½ tsp Siracha

2 TBSP Creamy Peanut Butter

4 Tablespoons Canola Oil

4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

1 TBSP toasted sesame seeds

This recipe happens very quick so you want to have everything ready before you really start cooking. So start out getting your water boiling and your noodles cooked and drained, just try to keep them somewhat warm while everything else is happening. While I am waiting on my water to boil I slice up my chicken, carrots, and celery. Then in a small bowl, whisk together, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, vinegar, sesame oil, Siracha, peanut butter, and canola oil. Set aside. Heat a tablespoon or so of EVOO in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken carrots and celery, cook until chicken is cooked through and veggie are tender crisp, you want them to have a bit of a bite. Once this is done add in noodles stir in to combine, then pour sauce and toss to coat. Top with green onions and sesame seed and serve. ENJOY!

Happy Birthday to the Hubs...

Happy Birthday Hubs!!! I know how much you love to be featured on my blog!!! Hello honey!!! On this day you were born I can only be thankful, because if this day didn't happen I am not certain where I would be. I say this because you are so much to me!

You are the:

                     rock to my roll

                     peanut butter to my jelly

                     milk to my cookies

                     key to my lock

                     rice to my beans 

                     tooth paste to my tooth brush

                     flip to my flop

                     sweet to my tea 

                     shimmy to my shake (too much no ok!)

                     

and most importantly!!!!

You are the BEST to my FRIEND...I cannot imagine going through this crazy life with anyone other than you! We may not have it all together but together we have it ALL!!!

Happy Birthday I am so glad you joined the thirty world, when I told people that my husband was still in his twenties and I am hum NOT...that were starting to give strange looks! 

             

Cinnamon Roll Bread

Hey there people it is finally FRIDAY!!! Hooray! I hope all of you have awesome weekends planned! Mine is looking a bit busy but busy mean good for business (Tiff’s Treats that is!) If your weekend includes a wonderful breakfast or brunch then this recipe is for you!

Plus an added bonus is…wait for it…this recipe makes a ton of bread! Like six small loafs to be exact! So you will have plenty to eat, plenty to share and some to keep for the coming week! This recipe can be made into large loafs, small loafs or even muffins. However you prefer to eat your cinnamon roll bread this one will work for you!

I made this for the first time last weekend for breakfast at my Momma’s. I wanted something different than banana bread and I didn’t want something as sweet as an actual cinnamon roll. Thus this bread was born. Please try it out on your families and ENJOY!

Cinnamon Roll Bread

1 cup Butter Softened

2 cups Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Cups Buttermilk or 2 cups Whole Milk with 2 TBSP Vinegar

4 Cups Flour

2 TSP Baking Soda

Topping:

2/3 cup Sugar

2 TSP Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Cream Butter, Sugar and Eggs. Add Milk, Flour, and Baking Soda. Grease your small loaf pans, fill about a 1/3 full with batter, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix over the top, top with about the same amount of batter and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Using a toothpick swirl the cinnamon/sugar through the batter. Repeat with remaining batter. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes prior to removing from pan. 

Turkey BLT Wraps...

It is getting to the time of year that a nice light supper or lunch is exactly what I am in the mood for so I am always looking for new ideas. I made this wrap a few nights ago because I wanted a quick supper and I knew it would be delicious for the hubs eaten cold when he finally did come in for the night. It seriously provided me with the bests of a BLT, and adding the cheese made it melty and stick to your ribs. Oh Yum is all I can really say! Plus DO NOT I repeat DO NOT skip the avocado sour cream it brings so much to the party! You would miss it I promise, even if your aren't an avocado fan! 

Turkey BLT Wraps

12 slices of deli Turkey

8 strips of Bacon (cooked)

8 slices of Sharp Cheddar (each cut in half)

Lettuce 

Tomato
Cucumber

4 oz. Sour Cream

1 Avocado Mashed

1 Tsp Lemon Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mission Spinach and Herb Wraps

On a large baking sheet lay out four wraps, top with 2 halves of cheese in the center then 3 three pieces of turkey, then two pieces of bacon, and last 2 more halves of cheese. Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for a few minutes less than five. You want to melt the cheese and soften the wrap but not crisp it. While in the oven mix together, sour cream, avocado, lemon and salt and pepper also prepare additional toppings. Once the cheese reaches desired meltyness (that isn't an actual word), remove from oven and smear on the avocado sour cream. Then top with remaining ingredients. As you build this it is important to keep most of the ingredients in the center of the wrap and at least an inch away from the edges, this makes folding easier. Once you have built your desired wrap, fold in the sides and proceed with the tuck and roll method to hold your wrap together! Slice in half and ENJOY! 

Supper Service, The Pioneer Woman, and Hashtags...

The last couple of weeks the hubs has been quite busy, between cows, crops, and the dreaded word for me at least HAY! Charlot and I haven’t gotten to see a whole heck of a lot of him, good weather in the spring causes this. Isn't the saying you gotta make hay while the sun shines? 

Yesterday afternoon the hubs asked me if I could bring supper out tonight, I do this quite often but haven’t been lately because he wasn't really stopping to eat. So of course I said “YES!” I had visions in my head of preparing this amazing meal, packing it perfectly in a pretty picnic basket and delivering it to the field to be eaten on the tailgate. I must make a confession, I LOVE THE PIONEER WOMAN, her blog, her books, her show I LOVE IT ALL!!! So when I deliver supper to the field for him I am always trying to mimic her or the meals I see her deliver on TV. I know it is TV but I just think she is fabulous so I think all her meal deliveries are like that!

Well guess what even in my best attempts to be like the Pioneer Woman last night FAILED! I didn't leave work as early as I had planned, I picked up Charlot who took her sweet time getting her shoes on, I needed to mow the yard before the impending rain(back to that whole make hay while the sun shines thing), I had to water all the flowers, and then needed to change clothes. All this caused the preparing of the said amazing meal to not really begin until nearly six and my kid was telling me she was hungry and wanted to see daddy. In that moment I threw away all hopes channeling my inner Ree, and ordered Pizza Hut. Yes that mother of the year award will be accepted anytime!

We cruised to the Pizza Hut grabbed the pizza and headed to the field, where we were greeted by freshly raked rye hay and bales, a lovely site. I got Charlot all set up on the tailgate with her pizza and then got the remaining pizza out. The smell must have been a strong thing because I swear these two punks came galloping across the field before anyone else could even get a piece of pizza in their mouth. 

They quickly got a lesson in manners from a four year old. “Duke, sit, Gabby, sit…now if you are good I’ll give you a bite, but you can’t bite my fingers.”  I don’t think they are actually listening, just praying that the piece of pizza in her hand falls out.

Add caption

All tailgate suppers require a meeting of the minds. Tonight's topic was, deciding if they would bale the remainder of the field. The hubs and my FIL were a little worried it was a bit too wet, too wet hay is a bad bad thing. I'll have to have the hubs actually explain why because I cannot actually explain it correctly.

The final decision after getting the moisture tester, was to continue baling. Which meant family tractor ride selfie! I think Charlot would have stayed in there all night.

I'm pretty sure the hubs wanted to participate in the picture but chose to act like he was actually working! HA! OK he was possibly looking at the monitor.

Yes a job well done a nice even and level bale...man I worked hard to get that made. Those cows had better appreciate that this winter!

It was getting later and we were needing to head home so a quick picture sitting on her hard work.

Hugs from poppy.

And see ya Daddy!!!

Seriously you two I am out of food...and isn't it time for your pre-bedtime nap anyway?

In other news I used a Hash Tag last night! WHAT! I have believed these are for the 30 and under crowd which isn't me! But I threw caution to the wind and posted the first picture with the #supperservice. Watch out I may lose my coolness factor soon.

Signing off...The Hash-tagging, Pioneer Woman Wannabe...

Mother's Day Weekend Recap...

I know Mother’s Day is over and I am well aware if I was going to do a recap it probably should have been done yesterday, but hey it’s me and I would not wait to share that salad with you. That means today you get to see all about my weekend, could I have skipped this post and provided more timely information yes, but again it me, I want to document this past weekend for me! 

We started out Saturday morning with breakfast with my parents; my great Aunt who had been here since the bro’s wedding was flying out Saturday. Thus breakfast was needed to see her off; it was awesome to have her here for a visit. I prepared the above bread, delish, recipe coming sometime this week!

After breakfast Charlot and I headed to town to purchase groceries and do a little Mother’s Day shopping for my momma and the Hubs mom. My dad met us at a local nursery to pick something out for my mom. It was so much fun shopping with him; Charlot showed him everything in the place. The pig planter (imagine that a pig?) in the first picture was the gift we decided on, it was from all her kids, grandkid and husband. I think she really liked it; it will make the perfect addition to her front porch. 

Then Saturday evening Charlot was treated to an extra special treat! She got to go on a date with Christopher, RaRa didn’t mind I’m sure. Seriously though the hubs and I were totally not needed, other than to provide her with transportation, guess we better get used to that. She didn’t want to ride in Christopher’s trailer, she said it smelled. 

Then on Sunday it was breakfast prepared by the hubs, and then church before lunch with my momma. I made lunch for all of us, it was really nice to enjoy sometime together. The last several weeks have been very hectic for all of us. Good weather in the spring for farmers=BUSY!!! 

After lunch we went and visited with my MIL for a bit. Then home for the hubs to prepare supper, extra special treat! Or at least I thought that was all we were doing, Charlot had other plans. As soon as we walked in the door she announced that we needed to have a Mother’s Day dance party! I said ok, she brings out all kinds of dress up stuff and announces that she is DJ Doc and she is in the HOUSE!!! Then she dresses me up because I am queen for the day! It was such a special moment; I am so blessed to be her momma.

Even if the crown was cutting of circulation to my head…

Asian Grilled Chicken Salad...

That's a fork full of YUM!

I really struggled to give this recipe a name. I wanted to call it a Thai Chicken Salad, but I didn’t know if it really was “Thai” so that’s why I went with Asian. And then there’s the whole issue of just calling it chicken salad, I didn’t want you to think it was like a chicken salad sandwich, which are yummy too just not this. Adding the word grilled seemed to fix this for me except I sometimes grill my chicken when I am making chicken salad for a chicken salad sandwich. I know it’s just a name, names are really important to me they must be just right! Ask my family, it took us three days to name our child! Apparently you cannot go home from the hospital without a name…who knew!

Seriously please forget the previous paragraph, I am slightly crazy. Slightly…right? Ok this salad is amazing, I really must focus on the recipe. With the warmer weather heading our direction at a rapid rate it has me thinking of quick summer suppers that don’t heat up the house too much and are still hearty enough to satisfy the hubs.  This did just that! Plus it pleased my recent love of peanut sauces, a salad dressing made with peanut butter, WHAT! Just give it a try I promise it will be just enough sweet and heat to please any palate! 

Asian Grilled Chicken Salad

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Bag of Slaw (no dressing needed)

1 Bag of Broccoli Slaw

4 Egg roll wrappers cut into strips (you can either fry these in hot oil or bake them in the oven)

¼ cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 TBSP Apple Vinegar

1 TSP Sriracha (or any hot sauce you like)

1 TSP Soy Sauce

A dash of Sesame Oil (a little goes a long way)

¼- ½ cup EVOO

Chopped Cilantro

Sliced Green Onion

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix both bags of slaw together. Get your grill good and hot (indoor outdoor doesn’t matter), season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Grill until nice and done, be certain to get some good grill marks, grill marks equal flavor! Now while the grilling is happening you need to crisp up your egg roll wrappers, I just shallow fried mine, but you can spray them with some Pam and bake them in the oven at 400 for  5-10 minutes. Now I adore making salad dressings in a mason jar, but this one didn’t really want to do that real swell. So I stuck with a bowl and whisk,  in a bowl combine peanut butter, vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, and sesame oil, once all this is combined stream in the EVOO whisking the entire time, keep adding oil until it is the consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper. Now in your large bowl top the slaws with cilantro and green onion and toss, then pour in ½ the dressing, tossing to coat. No w when you plate add sliced chicken breast to the top of the slaw mixture and sprinkle on some of the wonton crisps.  Serve with more dressing if desired.

The reason I am who I am…

Becoming a mom is one of the greatest blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me. It amazes me each and every day how much I can love my child. And most days when I look at my sweet little one I feel I am doing a pretty good job, I mean she tells me I’m the best momma she’s ever had. The thing is me being a good mom didn’t start the day Charlot was born.

My ability to be a kind, gracious, understanding, and loving mom started on the day I was born because God bless me with my mom. I attribute almost all my motherly abilities to my amazing mom. Yes I have an awesome dad, sorry dad you will have to wait until Father’s day for your moment, but my mom she is one of a kind.

I remember as a kid thinking that she could do anything, and I mean anything. Make 14 dozen cinnamon rolls a moment’s notice, have an elaborate Halloween costume done in a flash, feed all the livestock and fix the fence before she ever went to work for the day, no craft was too much for her, she seriously did it all. Now she may not agree with me and I know that I didn’t always show it but have always thought and continue to think of my mom as my hero. Her strength and perseverance absolutely amaze me.

She showed me that a woman can be strong and powerful without raising her voice and that a lot of kindness goes a long way. She always was there for me no matter what it took as my cheerleader, teacher, sounding board, supporter, disciplinarian, and friend. I will forever be grateful for everything about her.

 During the times of trials and tribulations in our family she provided the calm reassurance that we needed, she always turned to her faith and showed us that things would be taken care of. She never faulted in that she believed 100% that things would be ok and that as long as we stayed strong as a family nothing else mattered. And you know what she is right.

There are so many things I will never be able to do like my mom, bake bread, keep my cool as well as her, and sow those will never happen. But there are so many things that I am able to do right because of her, the most important being able to love God and my family unconditionally.

This weekend is Mother’s Day, thank these special women in your life, whether it be your mom, grandma, aunt, or sister, and let her know what she means.

So to you Momma I love you and Happy Mother’s Day you deserve the best of everything!