New Menu Items!

Here are a couple of new favorite dinner ideas here at our house:

• Black Bean Tortilla Melt I made a few changes to the recipe. First I added a lot more taco seasoning (maybe as much as 1/2 a package). We decided to skip the salsa and instead top them with sour cream and fresh avocado! I also squeezed a bit of the lime juice over the avocados to keep them from going brown. Last time, I added a bit of ground beef to them and that was pretty good.



• Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs This is the best marinade recipe, ever! The flavor is just so nice! I have an abundance of honey, so I was glad to find a recipe to use it in. I did use it for kabobs, but I don't see why it couldn't be used on bigger pieces of chicken also. For the kabobs, I skipped the peppers because we are not big pepper-lovers. I instead added whole mushrooms to the marinade and they were fabulous! As I put the meat, onions and mushrooms on the skewers, I also put on canned whole potatoes. They are so yummy when the get crispy on the outside. The only problem I had with the recipe is how to keep it from sticking to the grill. Any suggestions?

I hope you enjoy these recipes. Let me know how they turn out!

Music to my ears...

I didn't think it would be such a big deal with my third child, but hearing Lil' Miss say "Mama" just melts my heart!

So it's official, I'm a...

I've had the van and the multiple children for awhile, now, but as of today I also have a soccer player! Today was Big T's first soccer game and it went pretty well. His coach is very good with the kids and just what Big T needs. We have all the gear now: soccer jersey, soccer shorts, soccer socks, soccer cleats, soccer shin guards and of course, a soccer ball. We are set! The highlight of the game was when Big T saw the other team get close to his team's goal (there are no goalies) he hurried and got in front of it and blocked a shot! From then on if the other team even got close, he made sure he was in front of the goal! The game ended up tied, but best of all, he really seemed to enjoy playing! Go Black Dragons!

So, my sweet Hubby and I have now been married seven years! Sounds a lot longer than it feels. Here is a picture of us on our wedding day:

And here is a recent pic at our high school reunion:

In honor of our anniversary, here are seven things I love about my husband (in no particular order):

1. He encourages me in my creative pursuits. He is anxious to get our guest room set up for me to use as my craft/sewing room, even though I am willing to put it on hold until we get some other things finished. He also doesn't flinch when I want to go to the fabric store or to my favorite craft store!
2. He is a good daddy and adores our children. I especially love to watch him with our brand new babies. And Lil' Miss already has him wrapped around her little finger!
3. He's a total computer geek! He enjoys his job and is still willing to be my at-home IT guy.
4. He's also super handy around the house. I have no idea how he knows how to fix stuff! He just seems to know!
5. He still thinks I'm pretty, even after 3 babies and he tells me often.
6. He's faithful. I don't have to wonder about his commitment to the Church. I have a new calling and he's so supportive and encouraging about it. He also gets into his scout calling even though he's not a big scouter himself.
7. He has a good sense of humor. (He needs one living with me.) He can make most people laugh. He can definitely make me laugh!

These are only seven things, I'm sure I could go on and on! I sure love him and I'm glad that he accepted my proposal and was willing to take on a princess like me!

I love you, Sweetheart! Thanks for seven great years! I look forward to growing old with you!

Kid-Pleasing Recipe!

Tonight I wanted to make something easy for dinner, so I resorted to a family favorite:
Parmesan Bow-Tie Skillet

It's so easy to make and super tasty. Probably not the healthiest, but I did serve it with broccoli! And I used part-skim ricotta cheese. You could maybe substitute cottage cheese, but I really prefer the texture and flavor of ricotta. Tonight I used mini bow-ties (or farfalle piccolini, if you want to be authentic) instead of the regular size. I liked the mini bow-ties because they were easier for the boys to pick up with their forks.

So just how kid-pleasing was this dish? Both boys cleaned their plates! OK, well they're not the pickiest eaters anyway, but this was something they really enjoyed eating!

Would you like to see our menu?

My sister has often asked me what kind of things I make for dinner and since this is Mel's Diner, I thought I might share my weekly menus. Here is last week's menu:

• Zippy Shrimp Linguine *
• Grilled Chicken BBQ Wraps *
• BLTs on baguette rolls
• Steak (Petite Sirloin on sale)
• Grilled Pork Chops and Pineapple
• Crunchy Chicken Tenders with Apricot Dipping Sauce
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
  

I try to make FHE special by only making treats on Monday nights. Here is the recipe I made this week:

• Chocolate Yummies *
  

All of the recipes with a * are new recipes. I don't like making the same things over and over, so I am always looking for new recipes to try. Occasionally the new recipes become family favorites that I will add to my list of staples.

So now you're wondering which of these new recipes were worth fixing again and which were just OK. Here it is...

The Zippy Shrimp Linguine was fabulous. I would give it four stars! It was quite tasty and pretty healthy and the kids ate it up. The best part was that the zucchini and the basil came right from our garden! The other great thing about this dish is that it shows my progression as a cook. When we were first married, everything I made came from a box or a can. Now I make more things from scratch and even from my own garden!


The Grilled Chicken BBQ Wraps were pretty tasty, but a little fussy to make. First you grill the chicken and then you make the wraps, which are then grilled. My DH loved the grilled flavor on the tortillas, but the kids barely nibbled on theirs, so I'd give this dish 2.5 stars.


The Chocolate Yummies were divine! We ended up feeding the missionaries Monday night and they loved them so much that each had two and asked to take more home! I also served the pulled-pork sandwiches that night and the missionaries loved those too! I love making pulled pork sandwiches because the crock pot does all the work. I put an inexpensive pork roast in the crock pot in the morning on low and just let it cook all day. Sometimes I add sliced onions for some extra flavor (but I never tell the kids when I do!). Just before dinner, I pulled the roast out and shred it. Then I put it back in the crock pot and add our favorite BBQ sauce and keep it warm until I'm ready to serve it up on buns. So easy and not very expensive!

So there you have it! A peek into what I feed my little fam! If you try the recipes, let me know what you think.

Such an angelic face!

Lil T has such a angelic face, but he is such an imp! I seem to spend my days as a goalie, just trying to keep him out of trouble! It's a full time job and I have two other children!

The latest incident involves Lil T, a seam ripper and a 7-month-old couch. I had my seam ripper out and was unpicking some stitching on a skirt I was making for myself. I was so close to being done, it just needed some finishing work done. As I was working, the telephone rang and as I jumped up to answer it, I thought, "I probably shouldn't leave this seam ripper here on the couch where Lil T is sitting." But I was in a hurry and I figured I wouldn't be gone that long. Well I wasn't gone very at all, however in the two minutes I was up answering the phone Lil T managed to put two large gashes and several small pinholes in my skirt. I admit I reacted strongly! It was so disappointing to be so close to finishing and to have it ruined so easily! I sent him to his room and told him not to come down because I probably wouldn't be able to restrain myself from spanking him. After a minute or two, I started to realize that the person I was most angry with was myself. I don't think he realized what he was doing, he was just copying his mom. As I calmed down, I thought, "Well, at least he didn't make a hole in the couch. That would be impossible to fix!" We bought the couch along with a love seat just before we moved into our house. I really love the set. They are a chocolate brown microfiber in a sleek design.

Well, it wasn't to be. It took me a few minutes to notice, but there is in fact a 1" gash in the arm of the couch! Lil T was quite fortunate that he was already in his room (and in fact he'd already fallen asleep!)

The gash is hard to see in the picture (I've circled it here), but very noticeable in real life. My plan now is to get it professionally repaired. I've gotten one estimate of about $100 and I'm waiting to hear from another guy that will hopefully be less. The kicker is that if we'd paid for the extra warranty, the repair would have been covered. We didn't think we needed the extra warranty because we figured it was mostly for cleaning and microfiber is a cinch to clean.

OK, lesson learned here? My mom said it best. She said that that little boy is so much more important than any couch or any other thing, for that matter. Yes couches are expensive, but children are worth so much more. I often feel the heavy responsibility of caring for these three souls that the Lord has somehow seen fit to entrust me with. I know He blesses me in spite of my faults because of my beautiful children. And He is trying to teach me that they are in fact not mine at all, but His, just as I am His child.

Somehow I will survive Lil T and his independent spirit. It seems that the Lord still has much to teach me.