My 10 Happy Things. [Zucchini & Quinoa Stuffed Portabellos]

My 10 Things.

I love......[in no particular order.]

1.  My new home, for how much of a pain in the ass this move has become, no matter how much I bitch and complain about the process, what we still have to do, etc. I am SO excited to be in a bigger house and looking forward to all the memories we will be making here.

2.  Babywearing.  Something about it just makes me feel like a skilled parent, even tho I'm not the best at it.  The wraps are so pretty, Tulip loves it and I can get shit done.  Enough said.

3.  My husband.  Obviously this guy has to make the list, he is such an amazing Father and loving husband.  God knew what he was doing when I met this crazy kid.

4.  Workaholics.  It's just a good show.  I mean come on, have you seen the Ninja Turtles episode?!

5.  Leggings.  They're so comfy.  I know you're not supposed to wear them like pants but sometimes I do.  I mean a longer t-shirt, but still.  I know. 

6.  My kids.  My sweet flower girls.  My crazy boys.  These four little people have helped me grow so much, I am forever grateful for their love and patience with me everyday. 

7.  My church.  Be it small but mighty.  It's easy to be discouraged about the things you're not doing, but I'm hoping to remember the things we are.  

8.  Tattoos.  They're just so pretty. 

9.  The beach.  I love the beach so much more now, the smell of the ocean, the color of the water, sand in my toes and usually happy kids all around.  A day at the beach is always a good day.  Unless you get rained out with a newborn and than a homeless guy starts a fire in the rocks and runs away and fire men come and think it was your husband that started the fire.  Than it's just an ok day. 

10.  My new blog designer, Miss Tobie!  Be on the look out!  This space will be looking rad someday soon-ish.  But for now I'll keep working on my writing and getting yummy recipes out!  

Zucchini & Quinoa Stuffed Portabellos

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef

2 tbs. olive oil

5 Portabello Mushrooms

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 cup cooked quinoa

4 slices good cheese, optional

Salt

Pepper

1.  In a large skillet brown the ground beef with the olive oil. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

2.  Once meat is browned add the diced zucchini.

3.  Cook for 5 minutes and than stir in the quinoa, season again with salt & pepper.

4.  Scrape out the gills, the brown inside, of the mushrooms with a spoon.  

5.  Arrange cleaned mushrooms on a baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil inside each cap, season with salt & pepper.

6. Fill each cap with a scoop of the beef mixture, dividing it equally between the 5 caps.

7.  Bake at 400 degreed for 10 minutes, top with cheese or panko crumbs if desired and bake an additional 5 minutes.

To make vegetarian/vegan:  Replace the ground beed with tofu or more veggies.

I'm also trying to figure out how to work Blogger a little better, especially in the aspect of adding pictures and the stories they tell.  I LOVE taking pictures, all the time, anytime, of anything and I really want to be able to go back through my blog one day and see the pictures and remember this time in our lives just because I know it moves so fast.  I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to do it but for now, they're here.  Pictures top to bottom: 

1.  Lily reading her new Junie B. Jones book under a slide at the park the other day.  She got the book from the tooth fairy the other day and is starting to love reading.  That makes me incredibly happy!

2.  A typical day for me.  I was on my second Nutella iced coffee of the day, taking a break from baking a Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake with a little munchkin tugging on me.  I'm pretty happy. 

3.  Oliver the Grouch.  Just look at it, you know. 

The Pregnant Mommy Wall [w/Cheesy Chicken Jalapeno Bake]

The end is drawing near.  Just not near enough.

I've hit the pregnant Mommy wall.  And it's not even my due date yet.

Pregnant Mommy wall is kinda like what I imagine Runner's Wall is, since I don't run and have no intention to unless my life depended on it.  Some women hit that wall at 12 weeks, and you will hear ALL about it on their Facebook for the next 5 months.  Oh yes, lucky us. 

My back hurts and if not my back then my ribs or my head.  That might be from the other kids but who knows at this point?  People are starting to drive me [more] crazy than usual and Andy is doing more damage control than normal.  I really want to savor this last little bit of time, I really do, but I can't.

I'm just so grumpy.  So hot.  I feel like a roly-poly especially in the middle of the night when the thought of getting up to go to the bathroom sounds almost worst than peeing in the bed.

I'm so tired but I can't sleep. The baby feels so huge inside of me now that when she moves I literally feel elbows & knees poking out of my stomach.  Ahh, the joys of pregnancy.  As much as I complain about it all tho I am trying to hold onto that joy.  The same advice I would give to my expecting Mamas I'm trying to give myself, although I'm probably more stubborn than most of them and hate unwanted advice, even my own.

[39 weeks!]

I know in a week or two this will [most likely, please God let it be] over and these last few days will be just a blur of 3 kids instead of 4.  Of preparing for her instead of holding her.  Of feeling her stretch on the inside instead of little feet on the outside.  Pregnancy is such a short time and I know what a blessing it is that I CAN have healthy pregnancies.  I have lost babies in my lifetime and I never want to seem ungrateful for the lives we have been blessed with.  When all I want to do is complain I'm trying to remember all God has blessed me with.

The 3 beautiful faces I kiss everyday.
The 1 wonderful husband that is always there to hold my hand, and give me a shove when I need help getting out of bed.
The 2 little feet currently kicking the crap out of me from the inside.

As much as I complain I am thankful for it all.

And food!  I am so thankful for that.  I have become a ravenous beast towards the end of this pregnancy and have gained 18 pounds so far.  My inner low self-esteem teenage girl is trying not to shriek in terror and calm myself down knowing it is normal, healthy & good for the baby to gain weight.  With Lily I lost 15 pounds, with Jonas I lost 10 & with Oliver I think I gained 5 so I'm also getting a little paranoid that this is a monster little girl.

So I've been known to eat dinner.  Than a bowl of cereal & than 5 clementine oranges.
I can't be stopped.  I'm the bottomless pit!
I made this the other night and it's one of those things you just can't stop eating.
It was so good and easy.  Just one more thing to be thankful for.

Cheesy Chicken Jalapeno & Rice Bake.
[Also known as Murderous Mayan Mexican Bake,
since we've been watching a lot of Sons of Anarchy lately.]

2 cups rice [I used a mixture of white & brown but you probably could use either or]
2 cups [8 oz.] shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 Jalapenos diced small [We like stuff hot so do less if you don't!]
1 cup evaporated Milk
1/3 cup chopped Cilantro
1 1/2 cups cooked diced chicken [I used all white meat]
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbs. melted butter

[1] Preheat oven to 350 degrees & butter a 2 quart casserole dish.
[2] Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into casserole dish.
[3] Bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
[4] Enjoy!

I served this with tomato slices [for Andy] and tortilla chips, just for a crunch but it's fine without!

5 in 5. Edition: 2

Again, I will tell you just how much I love an easy project! 

I don't mind elaborate ones as well but it usually helps me if I have most things on hand and I can do them in under 30 minutes, cause that's about as much time as a child under 2 will probably ever give you.

So here's another set!  

1.  Slow Cooker Dulce De Leche

[1] Slow Cooker [2] Mason Jar [3] Water [4] Sweetened Condensed Milk

So easy & tasty!  I used this to top mango cupcakes and stirred it into my iced coffee but it would also be good in brownies or pretty much anything!  Just open up the can of milk, place into a clean mason jar and close tightly, you can also do this directly in the can but it creeped me out a little and you're probably going to want to put it in something else so you might as well do it to begin with.  Put the mason jar in your slow cooker and make sure it is completely covered with water!  Put it on high for 6 hours or low for 8.  The advantage of doing it in the jar as well is that you can see through it and see how dark your Leche is getting.  Yummy! 

2.  Tooth Fairy Money

[1] Dollar Bill [2] Hair Spray [3] Glitter

Our oldest, Lily, just lost her 1st tooth last week!  This made me want to cry and also have slight flash forwards of a teenage daughter and how much I hope God does not show me what I deserve from my teenage years.  We were so excited to do tooth fairy things & make it magical, etc.  Then she told us that her Aunt had already told her that I'M the tooth fairy.  Buzz kill man.  But we went ahead and made it fun, for us, and hoping she might still believe a little bit.  When she woke up the next morning to glittery money and her tooth missing she was pretty amazed. :)  5 year olds are so easy to fool.  Really. 

The money is a lot glittery than it looks in this picture and super simple!  Just spray the bill with the hairspray and shake on the glitter!  It dries really quickly too!

3. Cousin Jaz's Mexican Squash Casserole

[1] 1 Zucchini [2] I can of corn [3] 1 small can of tomato sauce [4] Shredded Cheddar Cheese 

First off, I will say I consider oil, salt & pepper to be freebies.  You will need all of those here!

I can't remember exactly when I learned how to make this but one of my favorite in-laws taught me how to make it!  I know it was a long time ago, maybe when we lived in Guadalupe and Jaz worked at the awesome Hot Dog on a Stick in Santa Maria.  Either way, good memories come with this recipe & I wish I got to see this beautiful woman more often than I do. 

Slice a zucchini in half & then into half moon pieces.  Not super thin, this will cook in a pan and then bake so you don't want it mushy.  Heat oil in a pan and sauté zucchini with a little salt & pepper.  About 5 minutes, add 1 can drained corn or fresh if you have it, even better!  I like a little char on my corn then I add the can of tomato sauce.  Mix well and pour into a baking dish, it's a pretty wet mixture.  Top with as much cheese as you like, I LOVE cheese as you can see.  Bake at 400 degree F just until cheese is melted and it's done!  Andy loves this with rice and pork chops.  It's the Mexi/Filipino in him.

4.  Spring Clean your mattress!

[1] Baking Soda [2] Lavender Oil [3] Mason Jar [4] Sieve [5] Vacuum

I have an obsession with cleaning and I have a really sensitive nose.  Two random facts about me that happen to match up.  I can't stand bad smelling things or just random funk.  We got a mattress from a friend when we moved back here, for which I am very thankful!  I figured a good cleaning never did any mattress bad and the lavender helps promote good sleep.  After we did this our mattress smelled so fresh, ahhh.  Fill a mason jar, with baking soda and about 4-5 drops of Lavender oil.  Shake well.  This recipe made enough to clean my mattress twice, you could do carpets with it as well, etc. And since nothing in here is toxic and even edible I don't mind the kids playing in it while it "soaks."  Use the sieve to sprinkle the mixture over your mattress and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.  I let mine sit for a few hours cause really it can't hurt.  Then vacuum!  If you have a hose attachment that would be awesome, we don't so I just lift the whole vacuum up. 

5.  Make a Happy Birthday balloon number!

[1] Balloons [2] Tape

This one is pretty obvious but still I had never thought of it until I discovered Pinterest, uh-oh.  For Jonas' 4th birthday this year we didn't have a big party like we have had every year before so I wanted to make sure we had different ways to show him how special he is to us & how excited we were for his birthday!  We did this on our living room wall after he went to sleep so when he woke up he was pretty excited.  

Blow up your balloons, how many you need depends on your number, how big you want it, etc.  One multi colored bag from Target was more than enough for us.  Don't blow them up too big otherwise they'll be a pain to stick to the wall.  I taped the base of each balloon and once I had them all in place I used rolls of tape to stick all the balloons to one another, it really helped.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11:5-7

Easy Peasy! 5 in 5. 5 Fun Projects under 5 supplies!

I love projects.  Projects to do with my kids.  Projects to eat.  Projects to help me save money, to organize, to clean, etc.  I'm a project kind of girl.

Here are 5 really easy simple ones I have done in the past few days.

More to come. :) 

Try them out for yourself! 

1.  Easy bubble refills!

[1] Empty Container [2] Water [3] Original blue Dawn

The simplest of all the projects is making bubble refills.  I am constantly buying little containers of bubbles for the kids, they love them, they're fun and easy to do outside.  How can I say no?  

But moving back to Hawaii I'm realizing just how pricey this stuff can be so after buying the latest bubble installment of 2 bubble wands and they used them up in about 30 minutes I decided no more!

Besides the waste factor it's just so easy to do with something I already keep on hand, for stripping diapers, plant spray, etc.

Basically just mix the Dawn & water together, each container is a different size so the ratio will always be a little different but it's super easy to tweak.  Try and blow a bubble, didn't work?  Add more Dawn.

Now go have fun!

2. Banana Pops!

[1] Bananas, cut in half. [2] Popsicle Sticks [3] Melted Chocolate [4] Toppings

With all these easy projects they really are pretty self explanatory.  Something I like, sometimes I'm not in the mood to read directions and if I think I can figure it out on my own I'll usually try.

With these banana pops you just cut the bananas in half, insert a stick [be careful depending on how ripe your bananas are] dip in melted chocolate, chips warmed in the microwave work fine here & then sprinkle with whatever toppings you like!  I did chopped almonds for me and sprinkles for the kids.

Then you can either refrigerate them or freeze them depending on your mood.

I did fridge cause it's easier for the kids to eat.  Enjoy!

3.  Home made multi-purpose cleaner.

[1] Empty spray bottle [2] Citrus peel from one fruit [3] White distilled vinegar [4] Water

I have been looking for ways to save money all over, reduce waste in our home & environment and find some non-toxic ways to clean around all the babies.  Vinegar and citrus go great together!

After you eat a fruit, any kind will work and it will give the cleaner a slight smell, lime. orange. grapefruit. lemon.  Cut the peel into pieces that can be put into an empty bottle, make sure you don't have any of the fruit left on the peel, scrape it really well.

Add some white vinegar, a funnel is handy here if you have one.  I do enough to submerge the fruit about halfway and kind of use the end of the sprayer to poke the rest down.

Let that sit as long as you want, an hour or 24 if you feel like it.

Then fill the rest of the bottle with cold water and shake!

I actually don't know if this stuff "goes bad" I clean A LOT and my bottles are always empty before anything funky happens.  I haven't figured out a method to get the peels out of the bottle yet tho either......

4. Grape popsicles!

[1] Popsicle Molds [2] Halved red seedless grapes [3] White grape juice

Being ever thrifty this project is even a free one for us!  We get white grape juice & fruit vouchers on WIC.  Oh yes, thank you Women, Infant & Children.

Fill the popsicle molds with as many halved grapes as you want.  I like mine full because the frozen grapes are my favorite part, the kids only like a few.  Top off with the white grape juice & freeze!

A pretty healthy snack and nice when I'm sweltering to death 5 months pregnant in a 3rd story apartment with no air conditioning.  Boo.

5. Coffee Pot Fish Bowl

[1] Marbles, rocks, etc. [2] Water [3] Old Coffee Pot [4] Fish [5] Fish Food

This one really is as easy as it looks!  I cold brew all my coffee and someone had given us this coffee pot so I just put it away knowing eventually it would be good for something!  A few months later, someone gave us a pregnant guppy, now named Rainbow Dash, thank you Lily & that's the story! 

You can cut the cord off the coffee pot if that kind of thing makes you nervous, I just put tucked ours into the space for it on the back of the maker.  I took the filter out of the top too so I can store the fish food up there and there's no muss, no fuss!

Just keep swimming! 

 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,
Deuteronomy 30:8-10