Twelve Days in Ohio

Sorry for my delay in posting (again), but we have been very busy this past month!

I got back about a week ago from spending twelve days in Ohio with my mom, grandmother (mommom) and Addie. Yep, that's right, I spent 12 days away from Chris! EEK! But I did more than survive, I had a wonderful time!

It was hard to be away from Chris and everyone else for that long, and I definitely cried before we left, but it's not very often that four generations are able to travel together! My mom and mommom got lots of quality time with Addie and I was able to see a ton of relatives and friends that I haven't seen since my wedding, or even longer! While everyone was excited to see me, Addison definitely stole the show and was adored by all.

Addison and Great Grandma Cook

Addison and Great Grandma Wigglesworth at the Columbus Zoo

My mom, Addie, "aunt" Irene and  "cousin" Sam.

Me and Addie with my cousin, Davon, and her son.

Mommom with her three children! Dave, Kathy and Doug!

The last three photos were taken at our "family reunion" that took place while we were visiting. I put family reunion in quotations because that is the easiest way to explain this strange gathering. Each year my uncle, Doug, throws a large party for his friends and family... but it is also a celebration of a train caboose that he restored many years ago. So the evening consists of eating and drinking, talking, taking family photos, taking tours of the caboose, oh and of course having my mommom "light" the caboose (plugging in the string of christmas lights). 

It's actually quite difficult to put this event into words, but as you can see in the picture above, we even have t-shirts that many people wear each year! :)

While we were out of town, Addie seemed to grow both physically and intellectually a ton! She is now walking while holding onto a finger or two and is playing and talking a lot more. It is fun to watch her actually play with other kids these days. She definitely knows who Maddie and Max are and enjoys "playing"/taking their toys from them.

I think it's just a matter of weeks before she takes off... probably running because let's be honest, she doesn't do anything slow, quiet, or gently these days.

We love food!

Chris and I are on a roll in terms of meal planning and trying out new recipes! We are really enjoying picking out new things to try. We are also saving a lot of money by only buying exactly what we need for our meals at the store and not wasting food. Double yay! 

In the past 24 hours we have tried out three recipes that are surely going to become some of our family favorites!

Oven Fries: These are ridiculously easy and soooooooo DELICIOUS!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp: I made a large pan of this last night and ate two bowls last night, one this afternoon and another one tonight.... YUMMY! Definitely not healthy, but totally worth it!

Thai Garlic and Basil Chicken: Yay, a healthy one! Chris and I really enjoy Thai food (thanks Cool Basil) and this was my first attempt at making some myself. It turned out really well! 

All of these recipes came from a little calendar that my mom gave me for Christmas last year. I already ripped off the cover page so I have no clue who to give credit for these recipes. So to whoever made them up, "You're great!"

Here they are!

Oven Fries

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds russet potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (depends on how spicy you want them)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil, and coat well with vegetable cooking spray. Scrub potatoes well and cut into 1/2 inch thick fries. In a large zip lock bag, toss potatoes with oil, sugar, garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until potatoes are tender and browned. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

2 cups sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen)

2 cups sliced rhubarb (fresh or frozen)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup oats
½ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Place sliced strawberries and rhubarb in the bottom of a greased two quart baking dish. In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and the 1 cup of water and vanilla. Cook together until clear, then pour over strawberries and rhubarb. In mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, butter and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Spread evenly on top of fruit mixture. Bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes.

Thai Garlic and Basil Chicken

Ingredients: 
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 small red onion, cut into 1-inch strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ tsp red pepper flakes
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 ½ cups fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/3 cup cold water
1 Tbsp corn starch

Directions: 
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic, onion and pepper, toss for 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes. Add chicken and sauté until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes. Whisk together soy sauce and sugar, and add to skillet. Cook, uncovered until chicken is cooked through, about 3 more minutes.  Whisk together cold water and cornstarch and stir into pan until thickened. Stir in fresh basil and toss well. Remove from heat and allow flavors to blend. Serve over rice. 

Doesn't this look delicious????

Fried Rice

Here is the recipe for the vegetable fried rice I made earlier tonight. I posted a photo on facebook and received a few requests for the recipe, so here it is! It's a combination of a bunch of recipes/suggestions I have tried. I hope you like it!

Ingredients
3 cups cooked white rice (normal or instant will work), chilled*
2 tablespoons oil (I have tried vegetable and olive, both worked just fine)
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables
Ground ginger, to taste
Soy sauce, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 egg

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package instructions. Cool rice completely in the refrigerator or freezer depending on how much time you have. It is extremely important for the rice to be cold before frying it otherwise it will overcook and become a mushy mess.*
2. Once rice has chilled, heat oil in frying pan (or wok if you have one) over medium-high heat, add garlic and onion. Saute until tender.
3. Add frozen vegetables to pan. Saute until tender.
4. Turn heat up to high, add rice and stir fry until rice begins to brown. 
5. Add ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and pepper to taste. 
6. Clear a small section in the pan. Crack the egg and scramble it. Once cooked through,  incorporate the scrambled egg into the rice mixture. 
7. Serve immediately. 

Recipes!

Last week I had a sudden urge to go through my growing collection of cooking magazines (Grandma Meyer sends them to me, I love her!), clip the recipes I actually intend on making someday and toss the rest of the magazine. Random, I know, but I really don't like clutter. Anyways, I clipped tons of recipes and have enjoyed experimenting this past week and so far I am three for three!!!

Since I am going to be trying out a bunch of new recipes, I figured I would share the ones I like with all of you! On the side bar to the right, you will find a link list with my recipes. I hope to update this on a regular basis with recipes I've been trying out. 

The first three recipes on the list are the ones I tried this week and I really enjoyed them all: 

Taco Pizza: Instead of a traditional pizza crust, this one uses a cornbread-like crust - it is super easy and super delicious! I followed this recipe exactly and then topped the pizza with lettuce, red onion, tortilla chips and sour cream. 

Italian Sausage Minestrone: I had a bunch of sausage in my freezer so I decided to use it up on this recipe. I followed this recipe for the most part, but I added a box of elbow macaroni at the end and used kidney and pinto beans instead of the ones listed. It turned out really well, but ended up being more of a goulash than a soup. It also makes A TON! So I have a bunch in my freezer to eat later!

Hawaiian Chicken: Love this recipe!! I followed this recipe exactly besides using pineapple tidbits instead of rings and it turned out amazing! This is one of the few chicken dishes that I have enjoyed the next day - chicken just doesn't microwave very well in my opinion. 

I also included the recipes that I have previously posted on this blog. I will post more recipes as they come to mind or as I discover them!

ENJOY!

Our Mini Vacation!

Last week, Chris, Addie and I took a mini vacation to Omaha. We planned on staying two nights, but let's be honest, there isn't that much to do there. So we ended up staying just one night, but we had a blast!

Many of you probably already saw pictures or heard about this part, but while driving over, we remembered that the olympic swimming trials were going on. We checked with Ticketmaster to see how much tickets would be - they were obnoxiously expensive! They also told us that we would need a ticket for Addie... ya right! So we checked into our hotel and then decided to head to the downtown area for some dinner. 

While driving by the Centurylink Center, we decided just to check if there were some cheap last minute tickets (it was 6 p.m. and the event started at 6:45 p.m.). I hopped out of the car at a stop light, talked with a few people and eventually found tickets for $20 from a scalper. We grabbed some awesome pizza from a place right by the event center and made it back just in time for the first event. Our tickets were close to the top/back of the arena, but we could see everything just fine! 

Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are in there somewhere!

The next morning we woke up early to get to the zoo before it got too hot out. Addie was suuuuuper excited! Okay, she didn't know what we were doing, but she was in a pleasant mood and was smiling a lot!

We tried to get there early enough to beat the heat, but it was already 95 degrees by 9:30 in the morning. Needless to say, we quickly saw the outdoor exhibits and then made our way indoors.

Here are some of our favorite moments from the day!

Watching the birdies!

Monkeys!

Hippos are my favorite!

Gorilla

Addie's reaction to the Gorilla... not a fan.

But our absolute favorite part of our time at the zoo was watching Addie in the aquarium. It might have something to do with the fact that she couldn't see many of the other exhibits from her car seat, but either way - She LOVED it! 

Sorry the video isn't rotated correctly. It won't let me fix it :(

Messy Little Girl

In the past few weeks, Addison has morphed from my sweet, innocent and clean little girl into a destructive, crazy, and very messy little girl. In my previous post, I mentioned that she was into everything... I was lying... She is now into EVERYTHING!

As I am writing this, she is chasing around an empty puffs container and pulling each zip lock bag out of its box.

See.....

She also has been teething again...for the past month. She currently has three bottom teeth, two top teeth and two more on the way! Poor thing! I hated losing teeth, getting my "big kid" teeth, braces and I still have a nervous breakdown before going to the dentist (laughing gas helps). So, compared to to her momma, she has been doing great! She has had a low grade fever, a little congestion and a hard time napping on some days.

She also has been changing her eating habits recently. She no longer wants to be fed baby food. She now wants to feed herself bites of food. She has amazing dexterity and does pretty well, but sometimes she can make a real mess..

The "no spoon" face

Looking adorable after dropping some on the floor. 

Compared to the more recent messes that she has made, these pictures don't look like she made a mess at all. Anyways, I guess I am adjusting to this messy stage and trying to resist the urge to follow her around with a vacuum and mop all day.

Hopefully my next post will be in the next few days (instead of weeks). Last week, we took a mini vacation to Omaha, Nebraska. We went to the Omaha Zoo and saw Michael Phelps swim in the Olympic Trials! I actually remembered to take some pictures and am uploading them right now... so there is hope for another post this week!!

We shall see.....

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

So much has happened since my last post, I decided that making a list was probably the easiest way to share what Miss Addison has been up to!

1. Screaming/shrieking/talking...making noise 24/7.
She has started saying "Mama" "Dada" and "Baba"
but I don't think it is intentional quite yet.

2. Being an expert crawler!!!
She just follows me around the house all day!
We will be purchasing a baby gate for the kitchen soon.

3. Making her "turtle" face. I'm not sure where she picked this up,
but she usually makes it when she wakes up in the morning or
after nap times. It makes us laugh a lot!

4. Pulling herself up on the couch,
 chairs, crib, changing table...
She gets into EVERYTHING!

5. Standing on the couch to look outside.
She especially loves seeing daddy get home
from work. She just squeals with delight and
gets soooooooo excited to see him!

6. Being soooooo stinkin' cute! I have about a million pictures
like this!  I can't help it - Nothing is more cute than a sleeping little one!!