My Recipe Book

   So I figured I would share with everyone how I store all my recipes.

I got the binder from Dollar General as well as all the page covers, so it was quite cheap. 

I simply find recipes online and print them out, then tuck into the sleeves. Even if I don't know if we will like that recipe, I still print. Then if we don't care for it, I just take it out. 

This works really well for me because I like to have my recipes right in front of me while cooking or baking. The covers protect the paper from getting food all over them, and I can just wipe it clean. 

I also categorize EVERYTHING. My binder is categorized by, Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Vegetarian, Pastas, Sides, Sweets, and Misc.

I <3 my recipe binder!

Stitches and Rice Krispie Treats

Well today has certainly been interesting. It was hubby's turn to sleep in this morning and I was making breakfast while our son played. All of a sudden I heard him freak out so I ran over to him thinking he just scraped himself on something. To my surprise, he had a DEEP gash in his knee about an inch and a half long! Poor guy was bleeding everywhere. I instantly ran to wake David and because he is a Medic, he had some gauze to wrap Ray's knee up in. We instantly left for the ER. They stitched him up and now he is doing great thankfully :) You wouldn't even know he has stitches if it weren't for the big bandage. He is his happy active normal self. This picture is after he got back from riding in his Power Wheels Jeep with his daddy so he looks flushed and tired because it was 102 degrees out :-/

Once we got our little guy to sleep we decided to make some Rice Krispie Treats! Here is hubby helping :)

I love this man <3

Pasta Primavera

Hello all :)

Today I made my version of pasta primavera. That's what I call it at least. I have no idea if it actually resembles real pasta primavera. Anyways, here is what I do:

My original recipe calls for:

*Whole milk
*Fresh spinach
*Cherry or grape tomatoes
*Mushrooms
*Garlic powder
*Onion powder
*Garlic
*S/P
*Canola oil
*Asiago cheese
*Parmesan cheese
*Flour for thickening the sauce

I almost always make a variation. Like today, I didn't have asiago but I had shredded mozzarella so I used that. Also I didn't have whole milk(we almost never have whole milk) or spinach. But I work with what I have.

First I saute the tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and spinach in some canola oil. I sprinkle some garlic powder and S/P on the veggies. While I'm doing that I start a pot of boiling water for the angel hair pasta. Then once the veggies are done I put them on a separate plate and pour about 2 cups of milk in the pan I used for the veggies. The measurements are not exact...I usually eyeball everything. I turn the heat to medium and add asiago and parm cheese. Again, no measurements, just taste it. Once it starts boiling, I turn the heat down to low and add some flour to thicken it up along with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. This time I added the juice of half a lemon and I really loved how it turned out. Oh, and of course add the sauce to the drained angel hair :)

So there you have it. This is pretty versatile. I almost always change it up.

Nature Collage

Since David is back, I no longer have a car during the day and Ray is starting to get antsy. So we went outside with his little elmo bucket, and he filled it up with leaves, plants, etc.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures...my camera ran out of battery life so I had to use my cell. So then I washed everything off since I knew there were bugs on them and I HATE bugs. 

He used a foam brush and modge podge to stick all his treasures on. 

I went over it again with the modge podge to make sure everything stuck. This would work a lot better with flat leaves. But that is not what he collected so I made it work :) 

He loves glitter glue so we added that and here is the finished collage:

I think it turned out quite lovely :)

Now I am off to get some laundry done and clean up a bit. Hopefully pest control comes soon to get rid of these ants that have been bugging us the last few weeks!

Mini Pot Pies/Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

So my internet is finally working well enough to make another post :)

 I recently came across this recipe for chicken pot pockets from, http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1214 So I decided to try and make them. I got back from the grocery store and discovered that unfortunately I forgot to buy the large egg roll wrappers but had everything else and also had wonton wrappers that were in my freezer. So, I improvised. Here is what I came up with:

Mini Chicken Pot Pies!

                                                                   

The only things I changed from the original recipe is using the wonton wrappers instead of the egg roll wrappers. Then I placed a wrapper into a muffin tin, put the filling in, then added another wrapper on top, squishing it in the sides. Make sure you spray the tin with cooking spray first!! The one without a top is because I was short ONE wrapper...argh!

                                                             

So that is how I made mini pot pies :) I thought they were pretty yummy! And low cal too! I served these for dinner with a salad on the side as pictured. I made buttermilk ranch dressing to go along with it. The original recipe for the ranch comes from, http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/05/oven-fried-pickles-with-skinny-herb.html. I did not have greek yogurt or white balsamic vinegar so I left those things out. I also added in dried chives. I would recommend the greek yogurt since without it, it's a little runny but not too bad. It still was yummy, and again, low cal! 

                                                      

On another note, my husband is finally back from the field! Came home a little early :) Now to get to work on a baby ;)

Darn you internet!

This morning I made baked kale chips, took pictures and was gonna update my blog. Unfortunately I soon discovered that my internet was down. They are sending a tech here tomorrow to get it fixed so I will have a few things to put up! I am writing from my phone by the way. Speaking of, I keep wanting to get rid of my smartphone and use a regular old cell phone. I spend too much time on it! It's hard to take the plunge though. lol Ray is napping and I unfortunately have quite a bit of laundry to get to, so I had better start :-/ I miss my hubby...he's been in the field for a couple months. Can't wait to have him back! -Jill

Intro

Welcome to my blog!

I got inspired to make this after I made some chocolate chocolate chip banana muffins from one of my favorite websites, www.skinnytaste.com. I often post on Facebook about what I am making for dinner, dessert, etc...sometimes with pictures. So I figured, "why not make a cooking blog reviewing recipes that I make." Well then I got to thinking, "but I also love doing crafts and fun stuff with my son, so maybe I should make a mommy blog." Well THEN I got to thinking, "or I could just make a blog about my life." I am choosing that option as I have quite a bit of interests and thoughts. I suppose you could classify this as a "mommy blog", and that's fine with me. I just ask that you give my blog a chance :)

So, I guess this is the part where I tell you about myself. I am an Army wife to my husband David of 3.5 years and a stay at home mom to our 2 year old son, Ray. Terrible two's is an understatement! He can be a handful, but is such a sweet little boy. We decided to expand our family, so we are currently trying to concieve! Wish us luck! My husband is a family man, and I LOVE that about him. He is just amazing. I couldn't have picked a better man to spend my life with. We are currently stationed in El Paso, TX.

My good friend Megan helped me come up with the name of my blog. So I have to tell her thank you again!

I love my life, my family, my friends.

Thanks for stopping by!!