Friday Fast Five...

1 Fall is OFFICIALLY upon us! Oh I am so so so happy. My heart is just singing joyful sounds! Oh fall is my season, cool crisp mornings warm sunny days calm clear evenings, the colors, the combines, the apples. Oh yes I do love it all, well I love it all except pumpkin spice anything, or let’s make that pumpkin anything as well. I know that is a complete and utter sin against all things fall. But pumpkin just isn’t my thing. Bleck yuck eww gross! Now s’mores and apples yes please!

2. We are having our family picture taken in Mid-October and I am searching for appropriate outgits for each of us. I don’t want us to be matchy matchy but I also don’t know what direction to go. I have been looking at pintrest pretty much each night but there is just too much. Please someone help me!!! I would love your suggestions and guidance.

3. I am entering a cookie baking competition this weekend! Woohoo this is my first one for cookies so we shall see how it goes! I’ll let you know come Monday!

4. Charlot informed me one day this week that when she is six she will try strawberry milk, she might be old enough by then. And that she knows she is only going to be 5 but she still isn’t quite ready for pink milk. Thank you for the information child.

5. I am so ready to enjoy a weekend off work so basically have a great one all!!! 

Why is Teaching Agriculture to All Students Important???

The first thing I saw on Facebook this morning was a post from my big brother that read something like this.

“As I celebrate National Teach Ag Day with my students and educate preschoolers-3^rd graders about common agriculture commodities in Missouri: want to give a big shout out to Paul Crews, Dan Hill, and Lonnie Burns who weren’t only great agricultural instructors but my dad and two other father figures in my life.”

I instantly smiled thinking of these three men who played a very important role in both Zach’s and my life. These men sacrificed time with their own families to ensure others were educated about agriculture and well life in general. It was a great way to start my day.

If you know me or have been reading my blog very long you know I have a love for agriculture and a passion for educating others about it. Yes I have a degree in agriculture education and no I do teach in a classroom setting each and every day but the love it there. Every chance I get I am speaking with others on the importance of educating our next generation about agriculture. Not just through high school Ag and FFA programs. I am talking about outreach education just like the event my brother and his students hosted today. Where young kids can come and learn about where their food is coming from.

 Sure all of these students that came to the program today live in a small town surrounded by corn and soy bean fields and yes tractor traffic jams are a regular occurrence in their world but that doesn’t mean they have any idea what those fields and tractors do for them. Do you think that all those students knew that the very car their parents drove them to school in was fueled due in part to those very corn fields that are right out their back door? Or that the Marconi and Cheese they enjoy wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of American farmers?  

I am going to guess no. And as an agriculturist that is a scary thing to me. Children of today are consumers of tomorrow. If we as farmers, ranchers, and all agriculturists don’t educate them who will? What will they believe? What they hear on the news, what they read in the paper? It is time for all of us to do our part, yes we feed the world, but if we want to continue that tradition we have to have consumers who want what we are offering and understand our side of the business.

This morning as I was taking Charlot to school I told her about Uncle Zach using her baby pig today. She wanted to know why he was using her pig, so I began to explain he and his students were teaching kids today about where their food comes from. I instantly thought if I am preaching education am I educating her? So here we went with a discussion about where milk, pork chops, pasta and cheese come from (four of her favorite foods). It was as easy as that…If we all do our part we will all reap the benefits of educated consumers who understand how much agriculture affect their everyday life.

So thank you big bro and all you who believe in teaching agriculture for all you do each and every day to educate the next generation. And thank you to the farmers and their families for the sacrifices they make so that my family can eat, your work doesn't go unnoticed!

Citrus Roasted Herbed Chicken

I have been doing monthly meal plans for several months now and I have found they are a saving grace. They make my evenings go so much smoother and they are also very cost effective, I find I make less last minute trips to the grocery store. Also with my monthly meal plans we have been making a real effort to not go out to eat nearly as much. Now this is great as well for both the wallet and waistline, but I do feel sometimes like I’m missing out. I get this feeling mostly on Saturday nights for some reason I feel this is a special night and I should be eating something special.

To combat this in my meal plans I try to plan more of a special meal, one I wouldn’t typically make Monday through Friday. And it has worked quite nicely! We get a nice meal on the weekend, we save some money and a lot of times I get the chance to try out a new recipe. Date night dinners at home are pretty nice quiet and relaxing. Charlot loves it because we typically choose a movie to watch as a family after supper and I normally make some kind of dessert.

Today’s recipe is one of those new recipes I tried on a Saturday night in, and I think it is perfect for a special meal at home! Especially since the peak of citrus season will soon be here! I love using clementine’s in a dishes and this is a perfect use for them!

Citrus Roasted Herbed Chicken

¼ cup EVOO

4 Cloves of Garlic (minced)

2 TBSP Sugar

2 Lemons (1 sliced one juiced)

2 Clementine’s (1 sliced one juiced)

½ tsp Paprika

1 TBSP Italian Seasoning

1 TSP Onion Powder

¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

10-12 pieces of Bone in Chicken (I like Legs and Thighs)

1 Small Onion (thinly sliced)

1 TSP Dried Thyme

In a large zip top mix EVOO, garlic, sugar, citrus juice, paprika, Italian seasoning, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and chicken, allow mixture to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour up to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large baking dish line the bottom with ½ of the onion slices pour in the chicken and marinade. Take remaining onion and citrus slices and arrange around the sides of the dish and in-between pieces of chicken sprinkle Thyme over the top.  Roast in oven for 1 hour or until juices run clear if the top of the chicken isn’t brown enough for you broil it for 3-5 minutes. Enjoy over rice or noodles or just mop up the juice with a nice piece of crusty bread and most importantly ENJOY!

Ham and Cheddar Quiche

I am finding now that school has started and harvest is in full swing our evenings seem to get busier and busier. But I still strive to put a home cooked meal on the table. Notice I didn't say homemade...because this recipe allows for an easy store bought short cut without sacrificing any flavor! 

Another type of meal I love on busy nights is one that part of it can be made ahead of time and then just assembled and baked! This quiche can do just that! The best way to do this is to make up the egg mixture complete with all your goodies (ham and cheddar) the night before or even two nights before cover it and store in the fridge. Then when you get home from work you can unroll a store bought crust, pour in the filling and bake.While this quiche was baking I made a nice tossed salad and sliced up some fruit, then dinner was served.  Plus I got a load of laundry started during all of this as well, which to me is quite a successful evening.  

Now for those of you who are thinking quiche for my busy family your a crazy lady my kiddos would never eat quiche let alone my husband. Let me be the first to say just give it a try. This is why I made this recipe pretty simple, all ingredients that most people like, ham, eggs, cheese. I kind of think of this one as an introductory quiche, start here then you can get even more crazy with your ingredients as you warm your family up to this idea. I will say it took a little coaching but my picky little one ate this and actually told me I could make it again! Yet another success. 

Ham and Cheddar Quiche

1 Pie Crust (Homemade, Store-bought, Frozen) 

11/2 Cups Ham (diced)

8 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Whole Milk

2 Cups Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large glass bowl whisk eggs, milk and seasonings, once these are well combined stir in meat and cheese. You can either go ahead and pour it into your crust and bake it right away or you can store the filling covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake (up to two days in advance). 

When you are ready to bake place your pie crust into your pie pan and trim the edges. Gently prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and pour in the egg mixture. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 50 minutes until filling is set. ENJOY!!!

Reality Check from a 4 Year Old...

I don’t like to sound like perfect Polly on this here blog of mine…that is definitely not my intention, like at all. My life is imperfect and sometimes kind of ugly, some days I feel like I’ve kind of got it all together and some days not a single part of the day is falling in place. Then there are those days where truly I feel like I maybe just maybe am doing ok at this mom thing then one sentence is uttered from my kiddo and smack I get a gut check with reality.

It happened yesterday, specifically 8:40 p.m. the hubs had done bedtime, then left to go heat check a sow. I was sitting in the middle of my living room floor making glittery signs for the Little Mr. and Miss Slater pageant. FYI I’m pretty sure I swallowed some glitter.  I then hear “Momma…Momma” I get up and go into her room. I ask what she needs “Hum I’m a little scared, would you snuggle with me?” The first thought in my head…oh man I have so many things to do.

I walked around the edge of the bed pulled back the covers and that’s when it happened…”Momma your REALLY going to snuggle with me?” “Yes sweetie why wouldn’t I?” “Well aren’t you too busy, that’s what you usually say.” Oh dear goodness how in the world did I let this happen? “No I am not scoot over and let me hold you.”

I spent the next twenty or so minutes holding my little sweetie hugging, kissing, giggling and singing this little light of mine. As I was getting up she squeezed me tight and said “Thank you so much for laying with me.” With tears in my eyes I said “Let’s do this more often!” She replies “ok how about tomorrow.”

I don’t know why I needed to tell this story I just couldn’t keep it in. I let myself get wrapped up in the other things I have going on. I know I’m not the only one but it is really hard to take when it is your kiddo that has to remind me of the things I should be doing. I mean she won’t be little forever she won’t what me to snuggle forever she won’t need me to do all these things forever. 

After I left her room I went back to covering posters in glitter, but I also took a second to pray and ask that the Lord help me to find the balance so that I be the best wife and momma I can be. I know I’ll never be perfect and I know I’ll continue to make mistakes but I hope that the snuggle session with my little one helped me realign my thoughts. Until the next time she has to point out the obvious.

Stay strong Momma’s, wait stay strong all parents, seriously it can be a crazy parenting world.

  

Broccoli Salad

If you are in need of an awesome side dish for your weekend get togethers or a great salad to pack in your lunch for work during the week this puppy is it! Now my big brother introduced me to a salad like this that you can buy at your local Wal-Mart deli. I am a fan of it but occasionally it is a bit too oniony (is that a word) for me. I am rather sensitive to the flavor of raw onion. 

The other thing about making this salad myself I get to control the ingredients that are going into it, thus controlling the amount of calories it is adding into my life! I have changed it up a little from the store deli version, I added sliced red grapes, lowered the onion content, subbed craisins for raisins, oh and wait for it...made the dressing from Greek yogurt!!! That's right this salad could basically serve as a complete meal! 

I'll stop talking about it and get to making it!

Broccoli Salad

1 package fresh Broccoli (broke into small florets)

4 pieces of Turkey Bacon (cooked and crumbled) 

2 Cups Red Grapes (sliced in half)
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

1/2 cup Craisins

1/4 cup Finely Diced Red Onion

1/4 Sunflower Seeds

Dressing

1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

1/4 Cup Olive Oil Mayo 

2 TBSP Vinegar

1 TSP Balsamic Vinegar

Pinch of Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toss all Salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a mason jar with a lid combine all dressing ingredients and shake well, you may have to add more vinegar depending on desired consistency. Pour dressing over salad and mix well coating all pieces. Chill salad for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

This Kid, Her Love of Pigs and her Grandma

Today was Grandparent's Day at Charlot's school...what that has to do with the picture above? Nothing other than one of her Grandparents made that pig capture possible. I am so thankful every single day that we live close to our families that Charlot is growing up spending so much time with her Grandparents. Yesterday when I pulled in my parents driveway to retrieve my kiddo I was witnessed the true love and joy my sweet Charlot and her Grandma Linda share.

I pull in I see my momma standing in front of one of the sows pens, and she is grinning from ear to ear. I then see the above picture. Yes that is my kid running in and out of the farrowing stall on to the area where the sow is eating trying to catch a baby pig. Poor thing knew what was in store and was running as fast as piggy possible.

The pig has been captured she now just needs to get to it. The sow is in the way, Charlot is yelling "move momma sow move!!!" Notice my momma is trying to contain the baby pig and not die laughing all at the same time.

Sow has listened and removed herself. Now Charlot is trying with all her might to keep her boots on and scale this fence! That pig NEEDS to be held. Again notice my momma playing right into it and helping by holding the pig.

Awe victory at last! Now I am going to hold you and squeeze you and love you forever! 

I just want my parents to know they are awesome Grandparents and amazing parents, we are thankful for all you do! Especially pig wrestling!

The Things She Says...yes there's more

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Yes this is my kid...she believes in frequent snacks, hand on the hip pictures, sending her RaRa pictures to check her style, oh and fully embraces saying the most amazing things!!! Due to these things I feel it is time for another addition of...The Things She Says.

Note these are just a few of the many hum dingers we have had over the past few weeks, actually not even weeks past week!

Lets just get the real embarrassing one out of the way! Over Labor Day weekend Charlot and I went to see RaRa. We ended up going to the Magic House in St. Louis then we decided to do some shopping, imagine that right three girls shopping! Never!
Well here we were shopping away at the St. Louis Premier Outlets, they were having some amazing sales by the way, we were in the Gap Outlet to be exact. Here we go!
Charlot: "Momma!!! I have to go to the bathroom"
Me: "Ugh ok just a sec and we will go find one."
Charlot: "No now I HAVE TO POOP!"
Me: "Ok let's go now! Rachel can you watch the stroller?"
What do I hear crickets my loving sister-in-law has nearly died from embarrassment and doesn't want to be seen with us. So she is basically pretending to not know us while grabbing my stroller from me. Lovely Charlot lovely.

On the way home from RaRa's house we are about 17 miles from anywhere with a bathroom. Of course this would occur.
Charlot: "I have to go pee."
Me: "Now?"
Charlot: "YES"
Me: "There's no where around here to stop I'll pull over on the next gravel road."
Charlot: "I'm going to pee on the road?"
Me: "Kind of" Luckily a lovely gravel road showed itself pretty quick and I pulled off.
Me: "Ok sweetie we are going to take your undies off and I'll hold your dress up while you squat."
Charlot: giggling "Ok"
Me: "Careful not to pee on your shoe."
Charlot: "Mom the grass is tickling my bottom"
Me: "Well that happens"
Charlot: "Oh look I'm making mud!!!"
Me: "Yes you are"
Charlot: "I can't wait to tell PAP!"
And she did as soon as we got to church to see them!

Last night we were sitting on the couch getting ready to watch the Miss America Pageant.
Charlot: "Momma did you know there are three kinds of boogers?"
Me: "Hum no, I didn't, what are you talking about"
Charlot:"Well there's nose boogers, you know the green ones, then there are eye boogers that you get out in the mornings.
Me: "ok"
Charlot: "And there are ear boogers, Pap said that's what those crusty things in your ears are."
In this moment I am so glad it hasn't been my dream for my daughter to be Miss America.

She had the beginnings of a rash on her face yesterday, well this morning it had become a full on bumpy red rash. So I decided I would just take her to work with me then call the Dr. and we could go from there. This is our conservation during part of the drive to work. (You need to know her dad dressed her and picked her hair bow this morning)
Me: "What's the matter Charlot you look sad."
Charlot: "I'm just not happy about this hair bow, it isn't the one I TRIED to tell daddy I wanted"
Me: "Oh well I sorry, it will be fine"
Charlot: "Momma this hair bow is pink and my shirt is purple this is not working for me."
Me: "Daddy tried, let's cut him some slack"
She is quite for a little so I am assuming that she is deciding weather her dad deserves some reprieve or not. Then this happened...
Charlot: Huge Sigh!!!
Me: "What's the matter, I told you your hair bow would be ok."
Charlot: "No Momma I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE MISS TENNESSEE DID NOT WIN"
Me: Laughing "I know we wanted her to win but Miss Georgia won and she was pretty too."
Charlot: "Yea but she was NOT my favorite. I LOVED Miss Tennessee!"
Me: Laughing even harder "You are having a rough day already, hair bow not right and Miss America heartbreak"
Charlot: "Yea and my FACE IS RED AND ITCHES!!! This day is just wrong!"
I laughed until I cried

No we are not from Tennessee and we having nothing against Miss Georgia, but if any of you know Miss Tennessee please let her know that my four year old thinks she is AMAZING!!!

That's all the Charlot crazies I have time for today! Hope you got a chuckle!  

It's Pie Day...Hooray

No I haven't lost my mind (well I'm not admitting to that yet), and I am not celebrating Pi day on the wrong day I am well aware that is on 3-14. But this is PIE day, yum! Or at least pie day at the Missouri State Fair. That's right the First Lady's Pie Contest! Now my momma and I have entered a few local contest and done well but this was the first year we stepped up to the plate to enter this contest. My friend Lorin and her momma also enter this contest each year so we were familiar with the competition through them!

I will say this was one of my favorite days at the fair because I got to spend the entire day with my momma! Something we really don't get to do that frequently. When we decided to enter this contest ML (Momma Linda) decided to only enter one pie on her first time out. I of course bit off the big chunk and said hey why not I'll enter two. Picture above is ML's beautiful coconut cream pie, now I would never touch this pie with my worst enemy's tongue but I will say it is very pretty. Next to the coconut is my oatmeal chocolate chip cookie pie. Those were our cream/custard pie entries.

And here is my peach blueberry pie. I am pretty sure I could have just eaten this entire pie. I love peaches. This was my entry in the fruit pie division. Now neither of us won or placed in the top three but we had a ball. And I have already started formulating my plan of attack for next year to take home a prize. That's my dad's competitive side coming out!

Back to the contest I spoke earlier about my friend Lorin. As soon as we pulled up to the building we met up with Kristie and Lorin. It was so much fun spending time with them and checking out our competition. Above it Kristie's German Chocolate Pie, again another pie I will choose to admire from afar, but beautiful no less.

As the judging was wrapping up I could feel the nervousness in my gut. They announced the winners in the fruit division...none of us placed. On to the cream division...nope nada for ML and I but Kristie took home first place! Which meant her pie would be judged for BEST IN SHOW!!!

And guess what she took it HANDS DOWN!!! Awesome win Kristie! So happy for you and I can't wait until next year! Thanks again to ML, Lorin and Kristie for such a fun day!

Oreo fluff

I'm taking a little break today from the last two week recap to introduce you to this recipe!!! As a kid we had a Golden Corral in the neighboring town and my Granny Fletcher loved to eat there. And honestly so did I! Clam strips and Oreo salad what more could a kid ask for, those were definitely the first two things I headed for!

Now many things have changed the Corral has closed and the building torn down, my Granny Fletcher is no longer here with us, I try to eat slightly more healthy. But one thing that hasn't changed is...that I LOVE OREO SALAD/FLUFF! I finally decide to attempt making it. I will say the results were very tasty, but next time I probably will leave the Oreos in bigger pieces. This dish would be perfect for those end of summer barbecues that will be occurring this weekend! Your taste buds and your friends will thank you!

Oreo Fluff
2 box vanilla instant pudding
2 8 oz packages cream cheese room temperature
2 cup milk
16 oz Cool Whip
1 bag Oreo's (Crushed)

In a mixing bowl beat dry pudding with cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add milk until cream no lumps. Fold in Cool Whip and Oreo's. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.

Just Like that....

Just like that in the blink of an eye we have a perfectly spunky, perfectly funny, perfectly purple loving preschooler. I never imagined there would be a day harder than the day I left her for the first time at daycare...well preschool nearly surpassed that. I think it was so hard because she told me she was going to miss me...rip out my heart! Then there was the moment I broke down crying because I was afraid that she might pee her pants because she wouldn't know where they bathroom was. Thank goodness the hubs was present to bring me off the ledge. 

Enough with that I am starting to feel a little weepy typing about it. So the night before school started we left the State Fair early, stopped for her supper of choice, cheese pizza light sauce of course, then headed to the homestead to get prepped for the next day. We picked out clothes, purple of course, took and extra long bath and filled out our sign. The whole filling out of the sign thing I thought would go quick and easy she always says when she grows up she wants to be a Doctor. Well this night she decided to chart a new course.

I said "Ok Charlot I've got your sign all filled out except what you want to be when you go up." "Is it still a doctor." 

Charlot "Welllll um I think so, um no no no if I'm a doctor I can't see you." 

Me (holding back the tears) "Yes you can, you see Momma works and stills sees grandma and pap all the time."

Charlot: "Ok but don't write doctor...um let me think about this."

Me: "Ok just let me know what your thinking."

Charlot: "Wellll I'm thinking I want to be a princess," I giggled "No don't write that."

Me: "You can be a princess and have a job. Promise"

Charlot: "Ok I think don't laugh but I think I want to be a Pioneer Worker"

Me(laughing and holding tears again): "Why a Pioneer worker" 

Charlot: "Then I could be with you all day"

Oh child of mine you are such a joy and have such a kind heart! See why I couldn't be trusted to take her to school alone, the hubs had to drag me out of there. I just pray she always wants to spend time with me! 

And just like that our baby is a big ole preschooler who is learning and growing more and more each day! The latest preschool news is she has a new friend Maggie! And she just loves her, she hopes she will still be her friend forever. I hope so to sweetheart I hope so to!