Recipe Sunday

This weeks recipes is from the kid-friendly section  from Kraft recipe website - Bacon cheeseburger roll-up

This recipe is amazing! You can take this recipe and create any "pocket" you want. The hubs and I love to make pizza ones by adding ground beef, cheese, and green peppers! Give this recipe a try, it's great for regular dinner or as an appetizer for a party.

1 lb. lean ground beef
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust


1) HEAT oven to 400°F. Brown ground beef with bacon and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Add VELVEETA; cook until melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 min.


2) UNROLL dough onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Press into 15x8-inch rectangle; top with meat mixture. Roll up, starting at one of the long sides. Rearrange if necessary so roll is seam-side down.


3) BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until golden brown.

You Know You're a Mom When...

I saw this post on my cousin-in-law's blog - Hope Springs Eternal and I had to give it a try!

You Know You're a Mom When...

1. You realize the worrying you did while pregnant, can not compare to the worrying you do once your little one arrives!

2. You look, poke and talk about your babies poop on a regular bases.

3. You take your babies temperature way too often!

4. You disinfect everything when you go out to eat - table, high chair, etc...

5. Your out and about for the day and your baby has to eat - you jam yourself, your baby, the stroller, diaper bag, and purse all into a small changing room, in order to breastfeed your baby.

6.You don't care about modesty any more because it's way easier to breastfeed without a hooter hider. 

7. Your baby sleeps through the night but you don't - because you still check on her way too often.

8. Your favorite store becomes BRU

9. You spend your Christmas or Birthday gift cards on your baby instead of yourself.

10. You forget what these words mean: shower, shaved legs, washed hair, makeup, hair dryer...

11. You feel like you accomplished a huge quest when you finally get boogers out of your babies nose!

12. You can type, eat and talk on the phone one handed, while breastfeeding. 

13. You can get your baby to smile and laugh at something you do.

14. Your camera & video camera is always within arms reach!
 
15. Your house has been taken over by baby items!

16. Comfy clothes are your primary wardrobe for most of the week.

17. Baby spit up doesn't even faze you. 

18. Watching your baby sleep becomes one of your favorite past times!

You Know You're a Mom When...What moments make you feel like a true mommy??

Wordless Wednesday

Diaper changes are becoming harder & harder!

Organic Baby Food Pouches

Two words: Convenient and Organic.

What mom doesn't like to hear those two words when it comes to something for your baby. Plum Organic Baby Food (and Ella's Kitchen Organic Baby Food) is the best invention since cloth diapers.  I am absolutely in love with these brands of organic baby food.

Let's start with the word convenient:
a. The pouches are easy to take with you when you are going out - no need to worry about a lid popping off and baby food getting all over your diaper bag.
b.  No matter if you're feeding your baby at the mall at lunch time, at Chili's during dinner, or in the car on a road trip. Your little one can eat all of it and you just throw the pouch away (or recycle if available!) or they eat half of it and you screw the cap back on, throw it in the diaper bag and stick it in the fridge until tomorrow (or later on).
c. The baby food itself is not runny; it's nice and creamy. When you squeeze the pouch the food comes out, sticks on the spoon without any mess what so ever.
d. For older babies or toddlers - you can just hand them the pouch and they can literally suck the fruit/veggie puree out of the pouch, no spoon needed. (Don't worry the pouch is BPA free)

Let's talk about the word organic:
a. This is what the back of Ella's Kitchen Organic Baby Food says:

• No added sugar, salt, or water
• No preservatives or thickeners
• No E numbers or GM
• No high fructose corn syrup
• No dairy, egg, or wheat
• No lactose or gluten
• No lumps or bits and nothing artificial.
• Just yummy organic food for babies

For first stage foods, both brands offer single foods ( just peaches, just, peas, etc...!) When all the first stage foods have been introduced, you can move on to all the other yummy pouches they offer. Like: Plum's Spinach, Peas, & Pears and Ella's Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, Apples, & Blueberries. It's pretty cool, when you are using a pouch, you can squeeze it at one point at get a purplish color and the next minute you get orange. This just reassures us that there is actually each of the foods in the pouch that they say there is.

If you are interested, give them a try! They really are worth trying at least once. You never know, you may just fall in love. You can find them in the baby food aisle at your local Babies'R'Us or Whole Foods.

Weekend in MI

Enjoying a little dinner, after a long car ride.

Natalie was very happy to see us!

Elijah making waffles Saturday morning!

Trying to get a good picture of the 3 kiddos - ya, it didn't happen!

Daddy and Claire

She was so sleepy, she fell asleep sitting up!

Claire and I at dinner!

On our way home!

Recipe Sunday

This weeks recipe is: Baked Falafel with Yogurt Sauce from www.foodnetwork.com

I saw this recipe this morning on the tv. It looked SO good. I will be trying it very shortly! If you love chick peas - this recipe is for you!!

• 2 cups leftover chick pea salad (recipe at the bottom of the page)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Nonstick cooking spray

For Yogurt Sauce:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

For Falafel:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a baking sheet in to the oven.

Combine all falafel ingredients, including the chick pea salad, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse mixture until coarsely ground.

Using your hands, form the falafel mixture into balls about the size of walnuts and set aside. If the falafel mixture sticks to your hands dip them in cold water in between rolling each ball.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place the falafel onto the sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking, to brown on both sides.

Place on a serving platter and serve with yogurt sauce on the side.

For Yogurt Sauce:

Add all the sauce ingredients to a small bowl and combine well. 

Chick Pea Salad Recipe: (www.foodnetwork.com)

• 2 (19-ounce) cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine.

Heading to MI

We are heading to MI to visit Katie (my sister-in-law), Jay, Elijah, and Nat today. It will be so nice to getaway, even if it is just for the weekend. I love weekend getaways but now, since Claire was born it is like going on a full fledged vacation. We have to take so much crap stuff, I feel like her room is empty because it's all packed and ready to go! It use to be super easy. We would just throw the necessities in a small suitcase and hit the road but...

Now this is what we have to shove into our 2008 Chrysler Sebring:

a. Medium suitcase for Eric and I
b. A laundry basket full of stuff for Claire
c. A bag full of food/dishes
d. A bag of toys
e. Stroller
f. Car seat

No matter how much stuff we need to take or how cramped our car is, we will have fun enjoying time hanging out with family!!