New

As many of us who get really into blogging for a while do, I have been a little slack for the past week or so about posting! Sometimes life gets so mundane that I don't feel like I have anything to write about, but I just like reading blogs to see what is going on with people I don't get to see very often, so I will write on! Today has been a great day; Ben's friend Matti Grey came over to play in his new swimming pool...let's see, I had ladies' devotional at my house last night, so Ben and Brad went out alone for 2 hours and came back with a Little Tykes T-ball set, a new (and might I add HUGE) pool, and an electric pump. I guess that's the risk I take when I send them out on their own. Many of you can recall the enormous bear that still takes up half of my den on a daily basis. Anyway! Ben loves it, and I love to see this smiling face, so that is all that matters!
Ladies' devotional was amazing last night! I had eleven girls over, made WAY too much food, and had a great conversation based on ways that we, as Christians, can identify with Springtime! (I'm sure you can think of oodles of correlations as well!) I do love how everything is so new in Spring! The trees, once dead-looking, suddenly are covered in new leaves. Vegetables, which start as tiny seeds, flourish into healthy and beautiful foods for us to eat. There were several applicable verses, but one of my favorites is, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8
Speaking of new beginnings and growth, I was able to get a few of my pots planted this weekend. This is only my second year having a container "garden," and I have never really had a green thumb, but I am learning! I am most excited about my edible plants like this basil and rosemary (to the left) and my porch tomato below. My porch is absolutely blazing hot in the afternoon until the early evening, so I can only really plant full sun plants in my back yard. Herbs and veggies are perfect for the porch! I, with the help of my dad, also planted 2 tomato plants with cages in the back yard. This is our first experience with tomatoes, so if it goes well, we plan on planting more vegetables next year. I envy people who can go out in their yard and have their ingredients for lunch or dinner! We want to do that too! Finally, last year I planted a large palm tree in my largest planter, and we only planted annuals (don't come back every year) in our pots. I hate to spend so much money on annuals that won't be around for long. So, this year, instead of palms, I planted 4 arborvitae bushes in my 4 larges planters and surrounded them with annuals. That way, I spent less money on annuals plus, we will have 4 beautiful shrubs to plant in front of our shed out back at the end of the summer! I got the idea from a gardening magazine ,but I will be using it every year! Hope all is well with you! Happy week!

My lazy Sunday afternoon boys:)

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend; we definitely did. We mostly did yard work on Saturday; thanks to my parents for their help, and we rested today! This was my favorite kind of weekend! I got really busy last week, so I didn't get to post much, but this week is looking a little clearer...we'll see!
I wanted to share a couple of things/recipes with you in case you are interested. I have always been a shopper who thought it was silly to buy a whole chicken uncooked when you can buy a rotisserie chicken already cooked and delicious for $4.99ish. But after this week, I am now convinced that, although rotisseries are great for quick, last-minute meals, a small roaster chicken is such a great value due to its ability to create multiple meals that my family loves! As I said last week, I was able to buy a 4 pound all natural roaster on sale for @2.75. I must admit I was a little terrified because I had never cooked a whole chicken before, and that just seems like something a mother or grandmother is supposed to be able to do...(wait, I am a mother now:). After quizzing a few people about their cooking methods, I decided on the trusty crock pot because why slave over a stove when you can throw it in and forget it! Here is the "recipe" I used, and the chicken fell of the bone and tasted awesome!

Roasted Crock Pot Chicken

1.)I cleaned, washed, removed parts from the chicken and patted it dry.
2.)In a small bowl, I mixed 4t salt
1t cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
2tsp paprika
1t onion powder
1/2 t black pepper + anything else you want to throw in.
3.) After rubbing the chicken (over and under the skin) with olive oil, I rubbed on the spices.
4.) I made 3-4 balls of wadded aluminum foil to place in the bottom of the crock pot.
5.) I placed the chicken on top of the aluminum foil and turned the pot on low for about 61/2-7hrs...YUM. (served with a pasta/veggie side,green peas, and crescent rolls). Then...
6.) I put skin and bones back into crock pot and added 4-5 cups of water to liquid remaining.
7.) Turn crock pot on low and let it go overnight. Strain liquid to remove skin/bones and you are left with amazing homemade chicken stock. Let it sit in the fridge for a night, skim the fat off of the top, and make recipe #2 with part of the remaining chicken.

Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

I know it is a little warm outside for soup, but this is amazing! Ben gobbled it up and called for more "hoop." I served mine with cornbread, and the next day, we ate a small cup of it with a half of a chicken salad sandwich (of course made with the last of the chicken from the crock pot!)
I chopped my chicken and added chopped celery, chopped and peeled apple, chopped walnuts, a little mayo, and salt and pepper. So good.
For most of you reading this, the fact that a chicken goes a long way is common knowledge, but I guess I didn't realize just how far! I have a small family now, but you can at least probably get two meals out of it with a family of 4. Also, you can obviously use your chicken in your favorite casserole, etc. too. I am definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for great prices on chicken from now on; what a value!
Ok, one last picture for the day. Kroger is again having a "mega" event, so this is a great time to stock up on grocery, cleaning, or personal items. This is a picture of what I bought today; I am going to do my regular shopping and a little more mega shopping tomorrow, but it is easier to go on Sunday afternoon while my two boys are napping! This is $57.10 worth of groceries that I bought for $14.38 today (20 items so that's .72 each). If anyone reading this is not a coupon person but wants to be, (and I'm not talking crazy stock-pile women) I would love to help; just ask! Or check out this article on "Learn to Coupon" from southernsavers.com, which I have put on here before. Happy shopping!

Back to Life...

This is at what my eyes have been looking the last week...ahhhhhh. But now, it's back to real life and being a real mom. Our cruise was even better than I could have imagined. Cruising is one of those things that people either love or hate; everyone has an opinion on it. After this past week, I can say that I am definitely a cruise fan. Granted we had beautiful weather all week, and the entire ship was filled with friends from State Farm, but the fact that cruises force you to leave cell phones, computers, and work at home is one of the main reasons we will be back again. We were aboard the Holland America ship The Noordam, and I loved everything about it; the people, the rooms, the food, the employees were all top notch. Thanks to our awesome parents, who kept Ben all week, I feel totally rested and am ready to get back into our normal routine at home.
Today, we grocery shopped, got printer ink, (yuck) and bought my large fern for the front porch urn. For you Lawrenceburg folks, the Weakley Creek Nursery has the best ferns in my opinion, but you have to get them before they are gone. Other than that, Ben and I are pretty much just enjoying each others company after a week of absence. I just wanted to share our meal plan for this week; I am looking forward to getting outside and grilling more as the weather warms up!
Monday: Tonight, I am going to be making an Unstuffed Pepper Bake. Brad and I both grew up eating stuffed peppers, but Brad doesn't love when the pepper doesn't get completely soft, so this is the perfect solution, and it should ensure that the bell peppers get cooked all the way through.
Tuesday: Tuesday night Brad has his first church softball game (defending champs!), so I am going to make a Slow Cooker Whole Chicken. I am not following the recipe shown here, but I liked how this blogger showed how you can use the broth for additional meals. I have never cooked a whole chicken, but I bought one on sale a couple of weeks ago, so I am going to give it a try (thanks Sammi Hughes for sharing your recipe with me). I'll let you know how it turns out!
Wednesday: Leftovers night:)
Thursday: Thursday night, I am hoping the weather cooperates, so we can grill outside instead of using the Griddler, but we will do what we have to do. I found this recipe for Grilled Chicken Tacos in, where else, but my Southern Living. I love warm, fresh tacos, so I think this will be awesome with the salsa and black beans on the side.
Friday: I never plan to cook on Friday nights, but we always have enough food in the house in case we decide to stay in. I hope everyone had an awesome Easter with your families. Ben was very excited about his Easter basket this year, which made the day even better. He loves it so much that you may see us hunting eggs outside throughout the summer; whatever makes them happy and keeps them busy:)

Happy Belated Easter!

The Organization Bug

Today started off like any other day. I woke up, opened the blinds, started the coffee, potted two arborvitae bushes, (what? like that's not a normal morning activity?) made Ben's breakfast, started a load of towels, but as I walked to the back of the house to collect the rest of the laundry, my eyes beheld the mess that is (Brad's) the back bedroom. Then it bit me...the organization bug. You know that feeling that comes over you once in a blue moon that makes you want to show every piece of junk in your house who is boss and put it in its place; yeah, that feeling. I figured my best tactic would be to wait patiently until Ben went down for his morning nap; ( I can't believe he still takes one; lucky me!) I played and worked puzzles with him, so the junk wouldn't suspect that I was onto it. After about an hour, Ben finally got that sleepy look in his eyes; it was go time...I attacked the back bedroom closet with an indescribable fury! Stack, fold, hang, toss, repeat; I was an organizational hurricane leaving nothing but clean and straight in my path. The closet, while proving itself to be a formidable foe, was no match for the organization bug.

Once the first battle was over, I realized I simply couldn't stop there; there were other areas of the house losing ground to clutter, and I couldn't just sit back and watch, so I continued in my quest for cleanliness. Here are just a few of my conquests:

The Fridge: Dominated
The Spice Cabinet: OwnedHad to stop for nourishment; made this bbq chicken pizza: dominated it too.


The Pantry: Is that all you've got, house?
Clutter: 0, Me: 1. Hopefully the next time you get bit this Spring or Summer, it is by the organization bug. :)

Off to an Early Start

Happy Sunday everyone! Somebody is excited it's Spring! Ben looks pretty pumped about this precious House of Hatten outfit that I got for him at the Little Sprouts sale this past February. For those of you who love to dress your babies like babies (at least on Sundays) like me, this sale is for you! If you have not heard of it, the Little Sprouts sale is held twice a year in Franklin (location changes), and it prides itself on being a "boutique only" sale. I love to volunteer at this sale, and I am usually one of the people checking in clothing items; we make sure that there are no holes, stains, missing buttons, or just general icki-ness. Clothes must be certain brands as well, which ensures nice clothing items at a very fair price. I highly recommend your checking this out for the fall! I was able to purchase all of Ben's nicer wardrobe (Sunday clothes, Easter, etc.) at the Spring sale.
On another note, this weekend was a great one; we were able to spend time with my parents Friday night as they were kind enough to come and entertain Ben while "we" packed for our trip. By "we," I mean I packed MY stuff for the cruise and Brad stayed up until some wee hour of the morning playing Tiger Woods golf on Wii with my dad. Oh well, he'll be stressing, and I'll be ready to go!:) Speaking of my dad, he is awesome, and he let me use his phone upgrade (since I used mine already on a terrible phone) to get an iphone; I suddenly feel so modern! I don't really use the internet much, or at least I haven't yet, but it is cool to be able to check email, etc. wherever I am...can't wait to try out "facetime" calls; let me know if you have an iphone too!
After the great iphone purchase of '11, we headed up to Pump it Up at Cool Springs for a birthday party. I have literally never seen a child have so much fun as Ben has there. He is so independent and loves to climb, slide, run, fall on his face, and he never once fusses! That's my big boy! After that, Brad and I headed up to Cool Springs for a little shopping (aka, walking around and really buying nothing). It was fun, however, and Ben was the best boy in the world as always; as sleepy as he must have been with no afternoon nap, he rode in the mall stroller (bless his heart; we forgot his) for 2-3 hours and never complained...we are truly blessed!
Today, we had a great worship time at church, we watched a little golf, Brad got busy outside, so I went ahead and did my couponing/shopping for the week! If you have a Kroger nearby and like to coupon, you should go this week. I only got things we really use, and since we are going out of town, I didn't have to buy produce, etc. Pictured right are the food items I got on my trip today and below that are the baby/cleaning items I got. As you can see, the food items are all great brands, and I got some really yummy stuff (Blue Bell ice cream, sister shubert rolls, nestle toll house cookies, streamfresh veggies, etc). Also, as you can see, I stocked up on diapers, which I am still pretty excited about! I had several Huggies coupons that were about to expire during our trip because they haven't been on sale lately; I figured I would make sure they didn't go on sale this week before giving them away...They did!!! Go figure! I used all 5 of my coupons combined with the store sale to get $55.66 (before tax) worth of diapers/wipes for $41.95 (saved $13.71). I am starting to buy a pack of Pull-Ups here and there since that time is getting close! Kroger also has a General Mills cereal promotion going on where you instantly get a $5 Kroger gift card when you buy 4 participating cereal/bar items (on sale for $2.79), so I checked out with those first, used coupons, spent $8.42, got a $5 gift card (which I then used on the rest of my groceries), so each of the 4 cereal items came out to about .85 a piece (regularly about $4 a piece). So...if I add up the large chunk of money that was spent on diapers (Spent $91.47 total; about $60 (if they were regular priced) diapers; that means everything else averages about .95 a piece). A good week since I would have to buy the diapers regardless of price. This past week, I read "Learn to Coupon" on the Southern Savers website. This was so helpful (ie, I will no longer simply cut out all my coupons on Sunday; I will leave them in their inserts and file them in order. That way, there is no huge mass of coupons to sort/look through). This website gives me all of the sale/promotion items and the location or link to the coupon; you can't beat that! I am learning so much, and really only use this website; my feelings are "the simpler, the better." If I can do this every week, so can you. Give this info a read, and start saving a little more each week; it's quite fun. Happy and blessed week to all!

Park with Friends

Yesterday was the perfect day for a play date at the park with some great church friends! I must say that I was totally shocked and so proud of how Ben navigated all of the playground equipment! We have only been to the park a couple of times since he has been old enough to really play. He just took off in true boy fashion, and before I knew it, I looked over and he was half way up the climbing wall! Who is this kid, and where did he come from? Ben used to be very timid, so he has really come out of his shell, and I LOVE it! Soon after this picture, however, he proceeded to skid all
the way down, but he dusted himself off and tried again! Go Ben! The kids played until they were all sweaty and exhausted, and we had a great time! The other mothers (who are obviously smarter than I) packed lunches for their kids, so my kid walked around and grazed off of everyone else's plate. Those of you who know Ben know that my boy likes to eat..and eat..and eat.
So, when we got home, I made one of his favorite lunches, peanut butter and jelly sushi...just a cutsie name and a different way of making lunch fun. I saw this "recipe" in a magazine years ago before I had a child, and I always thought about making it for my kids.
Here are some pics and simple instructions, and you could obviously change up the type of sandwich too.
Step 1: Cut the edges from 2 slices of wheat bread; roll the bread until completely flat using a drinking glass or a rolling pin.
Step 2:Add whatever yummy ingredients your child likes. These two are obviously peanut butter and homemade strawberry freezer jam and peanut butter and banana. I have also added a little honey before.
Step 3: Roll them up tightly; if you overfill, the good stuff will ooze out.
Step 4: Cut into slices like slice and bake cookies. I do smaller bites, but when he gets older, about 4 slices from each sandwich will work.
Step 5: Watch them eat and enjoy!
I am finally finished with all of the paintings due before our cruise, so now it is time to get the house cleaned from top to bottom and get all of my clothes (and Ben's clothes) ready to go. Packing is one of my least favorite things, but I am blessed to be able to go somewhere cool, so I think I can handle it! If you have time, let me know of some fun lunch ideas you use with your kids; I'm always looking for new things to make, so any advice is welcome! Happy Friday, friends!

Sticky Fingers?

Chocolate, Marshmallows, and Golden Grahams; what could possibly go wrong? Nothing! Yesterday, Ben and I prepared a little treat for (ourselves) our van ride to the Predators game with friends. I had a coupon a while ago for Golden Grahams; I can't say I have ever really eaten them, and I have two boxes, so I thought I'd look up a recipe for something sweet. Boy, did we find one. I can't keep my hands off of these things! Ben was a great help in the kitchen as we made these S'mores Bars yesterday. As you can see, he is quite the little chef:) Pictured are all of the ingredients needed to make these awesome treats (I didn't have any choc. chips, so I chopped up the giant Hershey's kiss Brad gave me for Valentine's Day:). The only tough part is the stirring, but they are worth the effort! Ben's school bake sale, here I come! (O.k., maybe getting a little ahead of myself:)
I wanted to share a couple of other food items today. This one is a no-brainer, but if you have a picky eater, you know it can be tough to get them to consider new foods. Ben is not so much a picky eater, but I always think it is tough to fit in all the needed fruits/veggies needed in a day. I definitely have a pizza lover! He will scarf (is that a word?) the stuff at any opportunity, so for an easy lunch idea, I came up with "Sneaky Pizza." I start with a Natures Own bagel thin (I had a coupon one time, and they are great!) I take apart the halves and spread about a tablespoon of pizza sauce on each. Then, I layer fresh spinach leaves, grated carrots, and any other veggies I may have handy that won't alter the flavor too much. Then, I hide it all under a small layer of yummy cheese! Ben eats both of the mini pizzas and has no clue what is in them. You could obviously use those sandwich flats or English muffins; whatever you can come up with is fine.
This morning, I poached my chicken for the chicken and spinach lasagna (recipe on yesterday's blog) I am going to make Friday night. I wanted to make my FAVORITE soup to eat on the rest of the week. It calls for chicken broth, and instead of buying the (loaded with salt) canned/boxed version, I thought I would use the broth from poaching my chicken. All I do is strain the veggies/fat from the cooking broth and then season it a little more (add a little salt/pepper or whatever else you like). This Spinach Tortellini Tomato soup is perfect for any day, and it makes a large amount, so you can eat it for days. It is definitely a husband-pleaser in my house as well (that is a difficult feat for a soup). Ok, I better get busy because I know my boy is ready to get outside and play! May break out the new water table today; I'll post pics soon! Have a blessed day!

Lights Out!

This is what my house looked like for much of yesterday afternoon...dark! Although I am very thankful no one I know was injured by the storms, they came through pretty hard, so I did a lot of painting and drawing with no lights! I must say, it was pretty nice to have limited tasks I could get accomplished with no electricity; Ben slept through the whole storm, so I just hung out in the dark by myself!
Finally, the lights came back on just in time for me to cook dinner; I have been wanting grilled food so bad, and I had already put the meat out to thaw, so I decided to go ahead and grill..indoors! Thanks to our little Cuisinart Griddler, (LOVE this thing!) I was able to surprise Brad with yummy, summertime chicken shish kabobs. I was thumbing through my new Southern Living Sunday while meal planning, and I just thought these sounded healthy and great, so I changed up the recipe just a bit, and they really hit the spot! The recipe is called Rosemary Chicken Kabobs, but we don't really care for rosemary, so I switched it out for Mrs. Dash's lemon pepper seasoning, and I took the salt out of the recipe too since I used Mrs. Dash. Give them a try or change them up to how your family likes them; the red wine vinegar helped make a great marinade.
Tonight, Lord willing, we are off the a Predators' game, tomorrow night is church (so we always eat afterward with friends), Thursday night, we are eating at the Boundary in Nashville for Brad's work (amazing), so Friday night is the next night I will hopefully cook again! This was an easy week for grocery shopping:) My parents are coming down Friday, so I thought I would make something big and extra yummy, so I am going to make one of Ben's favorites, Chicken and Spinach Lasagna. This, of course, is another Southern Living recipe. I use a lot of recipes from Cooking Light and other healthier places, but I have found that I hardly ever go wrong using a Southern Living recipe.
Hope you make some great meals this week and spend a lot of quality time with the ones you love! God has given us an absolutely beautiful day outside, so I am truly thankful today.

Home again!

Yep. This is it! Mule Day 2011 at its finest! What a perfect day we were able to spend outside with friends and family! If you aren't from around Columbia and you weren't able to make it this year, you missed a great one, and you should definitely check it out next year! Mule Day is one of those great American festivals that sounds completely red-neck (and let's admit it, it kind of is), but it brings back so many happy memories of watching the animals and floats go by with my grandfather Pap to walking around trying to spot cute boys with my girlfriends:) Now, I think Ben will love it as much as I do, and he fit the part perfectly in his little cowboy boots! We arrived at the parade around 10, it doesn't start until 11, so Ben had a blast walking up and down the street looking at all the people and flirting with pretty little girls (too cute!) In addition to all the fun, Uncle Brent was able to be here for the weekend, so he and Ben spent some quality bonding time as shown. This is the two of them reading a Christmas book on the ipad. Ben has a slight obsession with fireplaces, (strange I know) so Brent had a hard time turning the page from the fireplace with the moving fire. We hated to say goodbye to Uncle Brent this morning as he headed back to D.C., but Mule Day weekend in Columbia was definitely a success!
Today, we attended church at Graymere church (which was great as always). I love seeing and talking with the adults I grew up admiring now that I am a mother. It is fun sharing Ben with them for a little while. Tonight, however, it was great to be back home in the burg. We headed to Pizza Hut for a little post-church pig out with our friends and their twins (boy and girl, melt my heart). This busy week, we are heading to a Preds game with friends, eating at Stoney River for Brad's work, (yum.) packing for our big cruise, and, meanwhile, I am trying to finish up some last-minute painting projects. I'll leave you with a great picture from home tonight. This is Brad quizzing Ben on his ABC's while Ben is "pooping" (he really just likes to sit and be read to) on the potty. Every time Ben said a letter, he got a high five. I love these two boys, and might I add how blessed I am to have such an amazing, godly husband and father. Life is good today.

One before the weekend.

This is what Brad wishes our dining room table did not look like...but it usually does! Today was a very productive day; it could have been because Ben and I did not leave the house all day long! These cold, rainy days have actually been perfect days for playing inside and painting! Ben "helped" me paint for a little while. He now loves to climb up into our tall pub-style chairs, grab a paintbrush, dip it in water, and "paint" all over the newspaper. This is all fine until he pours the entire cup of water all over the floor/table...fun stuff! He is definitely getting closer to 2 every single day:) He has gotten to where he now says "no, no" if he does something he knows he shouldn't do; it is a mixture of a whole lot of cute and a whole lot of trouble. I will miss my baby being a baby, but time marches on!
Ben's Gram, Papa, and Amma stopped in for a short visit today which was awesome because I was able to finish 6 paintings on which I was working! He worked his puzzles with them for a while and had a nice little surprise visit!
Tomorrow, we are headed to Columbia for the Mule Day festivities; Ben's uncle Brent will be coming to visit. Brent is a hunter and lives in Washington, D.C.; he has some sort of horned animal skull hanging in his house that Ben just has to see every time we are on Skype. "Bull" is one of Ben's favorite words, and he calls all cows/horned creatures bulls. So, Ben now calls Brent uncle Bull. We'll see if it sticks (it's kind of cute). I'll be sure to post some pics from M.D. early next week!
I'll leave you with a picture of a patterned monogram painting I did for my cousin; I think it turned out pretty! Also couponers, tomorrow from 3-8, go pick up your free bag of sun chips from your local store...if you feel like making a special trip for a bag of chips (I probably won't). Have a safe and blessed weekend!

Mid-Week Shopping

This is one of those days when I know I really shouldn't be stopping to blog, but Ben just went down for a nap, so I thought I would sneak one in. The picture above is a bunny (obviously) that I painting earlier today; it is part of an Easter painting for a friend. It made me smile, so I figured I would include him for a little Springy touch! I hope everyone had a great weekend and beginning of the week. We have been in Columbia, so I haven't had my camera or computer to blog. Sunday, we had a 90th birthday party for my dear grandmother Edna! So many people turned out to wish her a happy day, and if you know my grandmother, you know why! She is such a people-loving person; I think she received over 100 cards! It was so great to see her so happy around all of the people who mean so much to her! I hope I can have half as many friends as her when I am that age. I will post a picture from the party when my mom sends me one.
Yesterday, on the other hand, I attended the funeral of a high school friend's father. This is one of the first parent deaths of people my age; I am constantly reminded we are getting older. My thoughts and prayers are with The McAdams family on the loss of a father, grandfather, and husband.
Now that we are back in Lawrenceburg (it is good to be home, by the way), I had to do my shopping today. This week was kind of fun because I really don't need any groceries since we are headed back to Columbia for Mule Day (yay) this weekend. I was able to score some really good savings at Walgreens this week, and I only did a little coupon/sale shopping at Kroger. I'll include my weekly pics as if anyone cares along with amount saved. I am trying to keep my receipts to show Brad just how much money I save him each month:) To the right is my Kroger haul for today. I used coupons on almost everything except the apples, bananas, the Oscar Mayer deli meat, and the whole chicken, and the Tyson frozen chicken breasts (the deli meat was 1/2 off this week, the whole chicken was $2.91 with a red clearance sticker, and the frozen breasts were $5.99 and are usually $8.99). I always buy my frozen chicken when it is $5.99, so I don't get caught without any and have to pay full price. Anyway, I spent $47.76 and saved $34.36 (44%).
At Walgreens, I had a $10 register reward from buying Brad's expensive Mach 3 razor blades last week, so I was able to use that towards the first half of my purchase. I used coupons and the $10 rr to buy the items with register rewards attached first. I paid $30.72, saved $34.97, and earned $16 is register rewards. I shopped a little more, but Ben was getting exhausted, so I checked out with some of the other items I went to buy; I used $12 of my register rewards and paid $1.87. In all, I bought $92.08 in health and beauty products for $32.59, and I still have $4 is rr to use next time. There was a register reward special on travel size products, so I stocked up for our cruise!
I guess that's it! The only cooking blurb I have today is the fact that I did the old switcheroo last night with our pasta for spaghetti. At first, Brad called me out and thought he was going to hate it, but, as I suspected, we couldn't even tell the difference. I won't use it every time, but it certainly is a good way to get a little whole grain in Ben's diet since he shoves it in by the bowl-full! *One more thing, I wanted to make a correction in my crock-pot roast recipe. I accidentally wrote 8 hours on low in the crock-pot. I really only think it needs about 6 hours or so. Just make sure you check it with a meat thermometer to make sure it is done. Hope everyone has a great night; let me know if you try any of the recipes I have put on so far! I'd love to hear from you!

Better late...

Happy Sunday everyone! I am up early this morning with no baby to care for (he is at mom and dad's),so I thought I would fit in a little blog about our Friday and weekend! I previously wrote that Friday would be a day of painting, and it was! Ben is SO unbelievably good while I paint that I can usually get quite a bit accomplished! He loves to "do laundry." If I leave a load accidentally (as we all do I'm sure) in the dryer, he will spend an hour moving the laundry from the dryer to the washer and back to the dryer; thank you, front-loading machines! He makes me laugh because I will hear him bump his little head on the dryer or washer door; he immediately comes to the laundry room door with his hand on his head saying "Oh." I ask him, "Did you hit your head?" He replies, "Uh-huh." I say, "Are you o.k.?" He says, "Uh-huh" and goes right back to playing. He just wants me to feel his pain I guess! Another great and random activity that keeps him busy for a while is playing with dried beans. He is a little too young to fully comprehend keeping them all in the container, but he does a fairly good job! Try it with yours if you dare!

Thursday, we had roast with carrots, potatoes, and onions with roasted broccoli for dinner. I make this about once a month like many mothers do. It is the easiest recipe because all you do it peel and chop and throw it all in the crock pot in the morning, and the house proceeds to smell amazing all day long! Brad said, for some reason, that this one was his favorite yet, and to "do whatever you did on this one next time." Husbands are brutally honest. Not that I am a great cook, but I did want to share that simple "recipe" and the recipe for the broccoli, I stole off of another girl's blog, so I am including that. It is my FAVORITE broccoli dish, and I love broccoli!Crock pot Roast

1. Buy or thaw your roast (I always buy them on clearance or sale at Kroger and freeze them)
2. Peel a bag of carrots (I prefer the long ones not baby) and 2-3 large potatoes; chop
3. Chop onion in large chunks
4. Place onions and potatoes in bottom of crock pot and season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Place roast on top and add carrots around; sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.
6. Pour 1 cup of water (I add a beef bullion cube to boiling water for more flavor) over the top
7. Add seasoning to your meat (I use Montreal steak seasoning and a little garlic powder).
8. Set crock-pot on 8 hours low, eat, and enjoy!

"Boots!"

After many weeks of asking Ben, "what kind of shoes are you getting?", he finally got them today: "Boots"! For some reason, every time I wear a pair of boots, he says boots about 50 times! So, Brad went down to Lawson's in Leoma (for you L-burg people) today at lunch and brought Ben this awesome new pair of cowboy boots. My son is about as happy as I have ever seen him when he is sporting these bad boys! He totally takes on that cowboy persona; it must be the heels. Mule Day, here we come; Ben is ready!
Well, today consisted of painting, painting, and a little more painting, and I think I just may paint again tomorrow! We are Lord willing going on a cruise soon, so I have been working hard to finish all of the Spring/Easter painting orders I have received. This little art endeavor has been so much fun; why didn't I start doing this sooner? I am planning on opening an etsy store this weekend after I figure out exact shipping costs for out-of-town orders. I don't think nor do I expect that I will sell a lot of paintings on there, but it will be fun to have people all over the place look at my work!
I did take a break from the painting to eat a nutritious and delicious lunch! You know I must include a picture every few words, so here is my lunch: a salad of baby romaine mix, carrots, red and orange peppers, tomatoes, snap peas, strawberries, albacore tuna, and Mrs. Dash's lemon pepper seasoning...yum. I also had a Wasa cracker, which I love (most people wouldn't:). I am trying, not to diet, but to eat more healthy, colorful things each day. I naturally love colorful foods; I am a veggie eater! Ben is starting to like more foods, so I have been trying to let him at least try all kinds of fruits and veggies. He eats so many bananas, I think he may turn yellow, but lately broccoli has been giving "nanna's" a run for their money! I remember thinking he would never be a good eater because he would only eat crackers and grilled cheese, but it really is true that if you eat these things and put them in front of them week after week, sometimes they come around! I just hope he keeps on liking them throughout life (considering we live in TN, which today was dubbed "the fattest state in the union"...nice.)

I need to get back to painting, but I want to leave you with my favorite way to cook sweet potatoes; we had these tonight, and I'm pretty sure Brad and I fight over the last few every time. They are nothing fancy, but man are they good! Thanks for reading, and good night all! God Bless.(These sweet potatoes I peeled look kind of like love-birds:)
Roasted Sweet Potato Bites

1. Peel your sweet potatoes and give them a rinse.
2. Cut into 1-2 inch cubes or whatever shape you prefer
3. Drizzle the pieces with olive oil to lightly coat; toss
4. Add a little sea salt (or regular salt) to taste
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon ( I like salty/sweet combos)
6. Roast in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 15-20 min (depending on thickness) Make sure to flip them while roasting, so none burn or stick.
   
7. When I pull them out of the oven, I like to sprinkle them with a little seasoned salt
8. Serve with favorite dipping sauce (honey mustard, we prefer ketchup)
9. Enjoy!