It may be an obsession!

This may possible be the biggest horse I have ever seen. He should be named elephant!

Should we take him home?

Here is Wyatt on his aunt nikki's horse.

Cooking for the week...

Chicken lasagna
Original Recipe Yield 12 servings

Ingredients
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. IF FREEZING LINE PAN WITH FOIL! Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
IF FREEZING STOP HERE. Cover and put in the freezer, wait over night, remove pan and re wrap dish as best as you can. (I wrap it in cling wrap then re-wrap it in foil) label and put back in the freezer. when ready to cook remove and put back in the original pan and bake as directed below.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Meat loaf

Ingredients
1- 1 1/2 lbs ground meat (I use beef or turkey)
6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons (you can use crushed crackers, or bread crumbs)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and broken
3 whole cloves garlic minced
1/2 green bell pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

For the glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey
Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.


In a bowl, combine crushed croutons, black pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and green pepper in a food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground meat, with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.


Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of a tray.
IF FREEZING leave loaf on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, freeze for 4 hrs then wrap in foil. THE glaze can be prepared and froze in a ziplock with the meat loaf or prepared on baking day.

Combine the ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes. Bake an additional 35 Min.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

Serves 5 to 6.

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 doz. corn tortillas, cut in quarters
1/2 c. onions, minced
1/2 cup diced green Chile's
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 c. Cheddar cheese, shredded

Alternately layer tortillas, chicken, onions, chilies, soup and cheese until all ingredients are used. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I am cooking extra chicken to freeze for fajitas at some point. I also have stroganoff and pork chops on the menu. I cooked the pork chops in a 12" skillet and serve with potato's I will post the recipe for the stroganoff later :)

Once a Month Cooking... (OAMC)

As far as I can tell here is the grocery list:

3 cans Cream of mushroom soup
1 can beef broth
5 cans chicken broth (or you can heat up water and bollion)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 containers green chili
Corn tortillas
7 Green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers (other colors if on sale)
10 onions
3 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
rice for spanish rice
soy sauce
brown sugar
white wine (for baking not drinking)
cooking sherry
powdered sugar
mozzarella cheese (5 pks shredded 1 lb not)
2 pkgs parmesan cheese
1 pkg pepperoni
5 lbs of potatoes (this is most of our sides)
flour tortillas (the big package)
MEAT:
15 LBS boneless skinless chicken breast (this is only a pound 1/2 a meal, if you eat more and it is a good price, I would buy more to have on hand just incase)
3 pkgs pork chops (not sure on the weight)
7 lbs Ground beef (again this is only a pound a meal, I use 1.5 when I cook because I am feeding 4 adults, you can also substitute ground turkey if you prefer)
A pork tenderloin (i think these are usually in 5 lb packages)
2 pork picnic roasts (can be substituted for tenderloins if the price is right)
1 pkg steak of your choice ( I usually find the best price is petiet sirlions)
chuck steak
1 pkg bacon

Vegetable oil
3 envelopes italian salad dressing
eggs (probably 18ct)
bean sprouts
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 pkgs lasagna noodles
2 pkgs spaghetti noodles
16 oz cottage cheese
16 oz sour cream
3 jar spaghetti (marinara) sauce
1 pkg fresh or frozen spinach (what ever is cheaper)
1 bottle Teriyaki marinade (I prefer the KC Masterpiece)
1 bottle BBQ sauce of your choice
1 pkg bread crumbs
1 can ranch style beans
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can pinto bean
1 pkg carrots
2 cans pineapple
1 can of mushrooms (or fresh)
apple cider vinegar
corn starch
1 pkg frozen peas and corn
16 oz egg noodles

Seasonings:
ginger, sesame seeds, cinnamon, thyme, chili powder, basil, oregano, pepper, parsley

Whew, I think that is it, sorry if I left anything out! I will post recipes another day :)

Once a Month Cooking... (OAMC)

So I have decided that it is better to cook for one or two whole days that for a couple hours each night (especially on days I have school) I think this is a wonderful idea. One shopping day a month too, which help financially because I seem to spend $100 no matter what I go into wal-mart for! OK so here is Novembers menu:

1- Chicken Enchilada's
2-Meat loaf
3- Teriyaki Chicken
4-BBQ pork
5-Hamburgers
6-Homemade pizza
7-leftovers
8-Hamburger meat with potato's and green chili
9-Caribbean Jerk chicken
10-Egg Foo Young
11-Chicken Lasagna
12-Chicken Parmesan (not a frozen meal but way easy)
13- Pork Burritos
14- Leftovers
15- Texas Chili
16- Beef Lasagna
17- Pulled pork sandwiches (a crock pot meal)
18- Eating Out
19- Steak, potato's, salad
20- Tortellini
21- Leftovers
22- Chicken kabobs
23- Beef stroganoff
24- smothered pork chops
25- THANKS GIVING
26- leftovers
27- meatballs
28-leftovers
29- Turkey noodle soup
30- spaghetti

Here are a few other things that I am going to prepare just to have:
Sweet and sour chicken
Chicken casserole
Pepper steak
Fajitas

Its has been too long!

Camerons Graduation

Wyatt and daddy at the zoo 4th of July

Last weekend he was bit by a mosquito on the eye! Poor baby! It took 4 days for the swelling to go down!

Travis's Jeep

So over the summer I took Chemistry in an accelerated 8 week coarse... It was tough! Wyatt was with Barbara half the time and Patty half the time. I also got my CDL over the summer and started driving the school bus (Wyatt loves it).

Now I am driving a bus and taking anatomy and physiology 1 and medical terminology. This is by far the hardest classes I have taken so here the blog sits, not being updated :(

Wyatt goes to Patty's the two days I am in school and helps me any other time I need help! She is great!

the errors of parenting

You know you are doing something wrong when you child grabs the kitchen spoon and says
"you hear me mommy! spank your butt!!"

OH what a boy...

So the days of heathy eating starts...

My friend Patty and I were pureeing our kids nutrition last week. We puree'd butter nut squash, carrots, and sweet potatos into orange puree.

Blueberry and spinach into purple puree,

pea's, zucchini, and spinach for a green puree,

cauliflower, chick pea's and yellow squash for a white puree.

Now we are adding them to our foods and eating a searving of veggies with out even knowing it!!

We put he orange puree in spagetti last week and you couldn't even tell!

Thanks to the cook books:

the sneaky chef, how to cheat on your man in the kitchen

and deceptively delicious :)

I Have been brain washed... I watched Food Inc. on the Roku player and I almost totally stopped eating meat since (except for "dinner" the cow we butchered in the freezer). I did manage to find Organic Chicken at Wal-Mart for $1.98 a pound...

Here is the recipe for spinach and strawberry salad:
2 TBS mayo
1 Tbs honey
1tsp apple cider vinegar
Poppy seed to make it pretty :)
use just enough dressing to coat the spinach and top with strawberries!! :)
It is supper yummy! In fact I have eaten about three bags of spinach over the last week, I think I am about burnt out on it!

Who knew that food could be so beautiful Lol. I have found a couple of farms locally that I am going to buy produce from over the summer. I am hoping through all this I can teach Wyatt healthy eating habits, that is, if he doesn't pay much attention to what his daddy eats!!

Speaking of Wyatt...

What a ham! We have been working on potty training, he does great if I set a timer to remind me. I don't want to push too hard because this kid has a STRONG WILL (I have no clue where he got that from!) We are doing half underwear (when we are at home) and half pull-ups (when we go out) and diapers at night... I am bound and determined to save some diaper $!!

Colleen bought Wyatt a bubble machine for his birthday and we got in Saturday!! HE LOVES IT!! Thank you Colleen! We miss you! xoxoxo

Here is Wyatt at Rubio's for my moms birthday, you would think that we would stop eating the lemon after he figured out it was sour but nope!

Last weekend we drove to Utah on a whem to buy a car from my stepbrother... I will have picture so you can laugh at me, I am becoming frugal. :) who knew it could be so hard NOT to do something (like spend $!!)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Cameron is graduating tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will update the blog Friday with pictures!!! Yay Cameron!

hilarious!!

What happened to April?

here are the pictures of wyatt's party, they are in no particular order :)

Random pictures of Oklahoma

My cousin is Keith LMAO!!

My Great aunt says that this sign is a national monument!!

Oh yeah... here are some pictures of Texas too!

Wyatt has so many good lookin cousins!!

He is not afraid of these anymore.

Only in Texas, can you take your toddler to a bar!

I have NEVER seen so many wind mills!

Oklahoma where the winds are sweeping down the plain...

Unloaded the camera again...

This is how daddy does things... he let him play himself to sleep... silly boy!

This is Wyatt in Cortez, you wouldn't know by the pictures that he thew up all over the car in Moab!!!

Cousins



As much as I hate the puppy stages (house braking and chewing)

I LOVE that wyatt LOVES this dog, they are best buds!




Here is Wyatt with his cousins and Aunt in Colorado, they are talking with Travis's mom on Skype.

If you are wondering what he is doing with his arms, its just what him and
Grandma do, its and inside thing I guess.

Slave labor at the Ivey's LOL

He is so smart. He thinks that it is a bus because he can see a stop sign out the window when he goes on the bus with Barbara.

I knew that he associated stop signs with the bus, but I never thought of the shape,

I keep telling everyone, HE IS A GENIUS!! :)