Eating our way through KC

This past weekend Steve and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. Our actual Anniversary was Tuesday the 16th, but we had friends who took our kids overnight, so we enjoyed a little "Stay-cation." I was still recovering from flu like symptoms and it was cold and rainy all weekend, so we are glad we didn't have major plans, we did what I love most, ate out a lot and napped in the cold rain.

Steve was gracious to let me choose where we ate, as he has many more lunch meetings out and gets to eat at his favorite places often, and the kids and I don't have many lunches out at all, and if we do get to treat ourselves out, it is usually Chick-fil-a.

So here are some of my top places to eat in KC (in the order we ate at them).

The Chicken and Asparagus is my favorite 

(Andy's Wok website)

Their Five Star Cheese Pizza on Honey Whole Wheat crust is my absolutely favorite pizza anywhere!

(Minsky's)

Five Star Cheese
International blend of provolone, feta, Monterey Jack, Romano and Swiss cheeses with alfredo sauce, sprinkled with Rosemary

This was the first time we ate here and the following skillet stole my heart and made me want to go back. I even had leftovers the next day and it tasted as good.

(TheEgg&I)

Cambridge Skillet

Diced ham, bacon and hollandaise sauce on a bed of ranch potatoes with melted cheese and two eggs any style. Served with an English muffin. (I substituted for fruit cup)

We had a groupon here and I have been wanting some good old manicotti and they did not disappoint
(Garozzo's) 

 
 
 

 We ended the weekend in the woods hunting together. We didn't see any deer, but it was a beautiful evening and since I haven't been in the woods in almost 3 years with Steve, I know he enjoyed having me there. He knows I won't go out in the cold, so this was probably his last chance to get me out.

Thanks to our friends who watched our kids so we could have some husband and wife time!

Dinner Time

This isn't the type of meal you will see in my house right now

One area I have wanted to improve on recently (ok, really the last 8 years since being married and in charge of cooking) is meal planning.

I have attempted many times to meal plan for the week, never sticking with it.

I don't necessarily love cooking, I do it because my family needs to eat.

I would rather spend time decorating my home, but that doesn't fill bellies.

Right now I cook

as healthy as I can

as cheap as I can

as quick/easy as I can.

I appreciate healthy meals, don't want a bunch of processed food. Our food budget is tight (I do stay home and this is an area we really try to save on). 

Let's face it, little ones don't allow me to spend hours in the kitchen prepping an amazing meal.

And to be real honest, even though we sit together for Family dinner most nights, I wouldn't call them the highlight of my day.

One kids is whining she doesn't like it (she hasn't even tried it and will not have any other options besides what is placed before her, I will not be a short order cook).

The other little one either says "NO" and shoves his plate away, or eats what he wants and then proceeds to dump the remaining food on the floor (we are actually making progress here as he is starting to hand the plate to me when he is done).

Steve and I try to have conversations, but that doesn't always happen too easily. 

So I feel like at this stage of life, I don't want to spend hours slaving over a made-from-scratch meal, just to have it not appreciated. 

All that to say, for the sake of my husband I really want to be better about being prepared for meals and actually cooking them.

So I need your help please. 

What are easy (somewhat healthy) meals that you make that your family loves?

Any venison recipes would be greatly appreciated as I have a freezer full of venison and hunting season has once again begun.

I would make soups all winter long, but Steve has asked for a little more variety, I have married a meat and potatoes man while I am a lettuce wrap kind of girl. So we are trying to find things that work for our family.

So any suggestions and links to recipes would be great!

Thank you friends :)

A little more lovin

I have been asked for my sugar cookies recipe. I make these for many holidays as they are easy cut-out chewy sugar cookies. The recipe is from my mom. I made over 10 dozen for the father/daughter dance.

Extra Chewy Sugar Cookies

1 C shortening (I use butter)

1 C sugar

 2 eggs beaten

2 t vanilla

1 C sour cream

5 C flour

2 t bk powder

1 1/4 t salt

1 t bk soda

1. Cream shortening and sugar

2. Add eggs and vanilla to sour cream

3. Sift together flour, bk powder, salt and soda

4. Add flour and liquid alternating to shortening and sugar mixture

5. Chill thoroughly

6. Roll out 1/4 in thick and cut with cookie cutters (you can do whatever thickness you prefer, the thicker you make them the chewier they are)

7. Bake 350 degrees 7-8 min

8. Do not over bake, leave only slightly brown

Frosting

1 stick margarine/butter

1 T water

1 t vanilla

3 C powdered sugar

1 T milk

Combine and add food coloring if desired

I also forgot to mention about sister's first valentine. Her boyfriend E-man stopped by on Valentines Evening with a rose in hand. It was so cute watching him walk in the door to give it to her.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies and Iced Coffee

For the girl who doesn't post recipes very often, we are on a roll. 

I have found recipe on Pinterest (which is amazing for those of you who are hiding under rocks and haven't heard of the website)

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice (I used Key lime juice leftover from THIS recipe)
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut
½ cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you haven't already toasted your coconut just put a layer of coconut on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Watch out. It goes from white to burnt really quick if you aren't watching closely.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.
5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. I made mine too big and they ran together. These do spread quite a bit.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Source: My Baking Addiction

my "helper"

Coffee would be great with these, but since it is almost 100 degrees here, I gave Pioneer Women's iced coffee a try. Since I discovered my new BFF sweetened condensed milk in THIS recipe.

Check out her recipe HERE. I didn't plan ahead enough to do the "cold brew" method, but rather just brewed coffee strong and let sit in the refrigerator. I am going to try to the cold brew sometime. 

Fun summertime yummies!

Amazingly easy and yummy Key Lime Pie

We are hosting a dinner meeting at our home tonight, food is being catered so I offered to do homemade dessert. I wanted to find a good summer dessert and thought of Key Lime Pie. We are having BBQ for dinner, I thought that would be refreshing afterwards. I found a recipe on Allrecipes that was super easy and had great reviews. While making it I discovered the sweet pleasing flavor of sweetened condensed milk. I recently read a recipe on Pioneer Woman for iced coffee that called for Sweetened condensed milk and I wonder how that could be good in coffee, that was my ignorance speaking. I made up the filling and literally licked the mixing bowl dry. I probably didn't even need to wash it, except my germs were all over it.  I plan on making this at our beach vacation later this month with my family.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 3 cups sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup key lime juice (I found this in the juice isle)
• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

WARNING - YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THIS NEXT PART IF YOU COUNT CALORIES, I INCLUDED THIS AS ACCOUNTABILITY TO ONLY HAVE 1 PIECE  OR EVEN SHARE A PIECE

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 553 YIKES | Total Fat: 20.5g | Cholesterol: 45mg

You could use reduced fat and low fat milk, sour cream, and graham cracker crust, not sure how many calories that would save you.

Image source     Recipe Source 

Salmon Avocado Salad

We had an amazing meal the other night. I wasn't in the mood to cook, didn't feel like we had much in the house, but knew Steve wouldn't want to eat out, so while running errands, I was stuck behind a train and started browsing All Recipes an application I have on my phone. I knew I had an avocado to use up, so I started there. Needless to say, when I found this recipe, I was super excited to make it. I was very pleased with the results. Steve enjoyed it well enough, this is more my type of meal than his. We did have Alaskan Salmon that was used for the recipe from our friend John who went fishing out there but his family doesn't eat it. It could be made healthier, but the butter flavor on those mushrooms was so yummy.  I highly recommend this meal!!

I made some Raspberry Limeade to go with it. Simply had Limeade made that I added some frozen raspberrys to and let sit for a bit before the meal.

Salmon Avocado Salad

Ingredients

• 2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and divided
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 12 grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and cubed
• 5 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat the oven broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the salmon on the foil, and brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Season with salt and pepper. Broil 15 minutes, until fish is easily flaked with a fork.
2. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms until tender.
3. Place the tomatoes in a bowl, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the salmon, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, cilantro, and jalapeno. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with feta cheese to serve.

Spinach Quiche

I recently posted about one of my favorite meals, Spinach Quiche, and have had a few requests for the recipe, so here you go:

1 recipe for single-crust pie (I do make this from scratch from a quick oil based recipe, but store    bought ones work great and are easiest)
1/2 C chopped onion (1 medium)
6 slices of bacon, chopped (I use turkey bacon)
8 beaten eggs
1/2 C dairy sour cream
1/2 C half-and-half, light cream, or milk (i use milk because that is all I have)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t white pepper
Dash of ground nutmeg
3 C lightly packed chopped fresh spinach
2/3 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C shredded swiss cheese
Cherry tomatoes, cut up

1. Line unpricked pastry shell with a double layer of foil, bake at 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes more or until pastry is set and dry. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook onion and bacon until onion in tender and bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels

3. In a bowl, stir together eggs, sour cream, half-and-half, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in onion mixture, spinach and cheese
      (note: I placed bacon on top as I was cooking for a vegetarian, so I left bacon off a 1/4 of quiche)

4. Pour egg mixture into hot, baked pastry shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. If necessary, cover edge of crust with foil to prevent overbrowning. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with cherry tomatoes if desired. 

(note: I usually end up baking over an hour because I do a deep dish version. I also bake the tomatoes on top, that is up to you)!

Enjoy!

The last few days

Here is a quick photo catch-up of the last few days.

It is so nice that Payton feeds herself, I will have to readjust to taking the time to feed the baby when this little squirmy one in my belly arrives. 

I have had to learn to let go with messes as Payton feeds herself. When she is done eating (especially hot cereal for breakfast) I have to search all sorts of parts of her body for food, especially her hair and ears (everything goes in the ears right now).

We had friends over Saturday night to grill out. This is one of the few times Payton is with mostly boys, most of our friends seem to have girls, she is the oldest at this pool party and she stood her own, getting the 2 little guys wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls. I have loved traveling but it is so nice to be home and get together with friends. I really love Olathe and our life here and it is nice getting ready for the fall and get back in the swing of things.

The guys working in the basement. Our sump pump went out, thanks to Mike put a new one in for us. It wasn't fun to come home to water standing in the basement. Luckily the water was in the unfinished part. 

Sunday Steve preached at all 3 services, then we headed to our friends Dave and Kim's house. They have a little guy born on Steve's birthday (almost 3 months ago) that we got to see for the first time. I brought them a meal and since Kim is a vegetarian and Dave and Steve like protein, I had to be creative. We ended up with one of my favorite dishes, Spinach Quiche and fruit pizza. I left the turkey bacon off Kim's 1/4 of the Quiche. It was a great night catching up with friends. 

Monday we had E-man (Ethan, but it is so cute how Payton says E-man) hanging out with us all day. He is 4 months younger than Payton and they play so well together.  

I love how kids can play with a cup, rocks and grass for 45 min. Who needs toys anyways?

Farmer's Market

This morning Payton and I made a trip to downtown KC with our next door neighbors Zack and Hilary. We went exploring the River Market's Farmer's Market. I was in heaven. I wish I could have that type of farmer's market in my backyard, so I could go weekly to get my fresh produce. There was so much selection. It was hot, but we had a good time.



Payton was a trooper. She was enthralled with all the people. It was so packed.



Trying to cool off in the shade for a bit before heading home.



Look how beautiful all this produce is! I could have bought everything in sight. I can't wait to take Steve back.



I came home and had a caprese salad that was like heaven for me. I had some fresh baked Honey Wheat bread from the market as well. This is the kind of meal that I sat and slowly savored every bite. We are going to have it again for dinner tonight when Steve arrives home from Indiana.



Yesterday I finally broke down and bought a kiddie pool for our back yard. It will probably be the best $12 spent. Both momma and Payton enjoy cooling off in it.



Have a great weekend!

A little bit of nothing

A few random things that do not fit together :)

Two Friday nights ago we went to the Royals game with some ICCC staff and volunteers. It was fun to get out to the ballpark, as this was our first game for the season. We were thankful that Hilary (next door) watched Payton, as we were so high up in the stands that would not have been fun to keep an eye on her and her wanderings.

It was a beautiful evening, cool, but comfortable, and they had fireworks at the end of the game. Steve and I have become friends with one of the players and his wife, we met him last off-season, so this was my first time watching him actually play. It is weird, because to me he is a normal guy, but watching him make plays and showing him up on the jumbo-tron was funny.



Erin and I were glad we were one of the first 10,000 women who got a free t-shirt for ladies night!




We went out to Buffalo Wild Wings with Zack and Erin (below) afterwards. We didn't get home until after midnight (Hilary kept Payton overnight), I told Steve I felt like I was a teenager without a curfew, we usually have to get home to get Payton from the sitter, so it was fun to be out late and eat all sorts of unhealthy, yummy food!



Last Thursday was a rough day for me. We hadn't seen sunshine for what felt like months (it was a few weeks) and it was once again rainy. I was stuck inside all day again, and feeling lousy. I am taking medicine that has helped physically, but emotionally (hormonally) I am still a little off. Steve was leaving Thursday night for a few days and I was feeling lonely. I had a little breakdown, and when Steve asked what was wrong, I had about 10 different things going on in my head, so I knew it was hormonal. While I was crying to him, the door bell rang and it was our friend Amanda (Steve's high school friend who lives here in Olathe) and she said she had just been reading my blog and wanted to bring us dinner. I was so touched by her gesture. I had already been dreading getting off the couch and cooking. She stayed for a bit and shared about her recent trip to Egypt. It totally lifted my spirits and got me out of my poor me episode. She brought Boston Market which I haven't had in years, and it was so yummy! I believe God sent Amanda to me at that moment to love on me. Thanks God that you care about me even in my poor me days!



After we ate Amanda's dinner, I decided to do something productive with me evening. It was still rainy, so Payton and I went down to the basement and cleaned out her closet. We have a closet down there that I throw all sorts of "baby" stuff in. Whether it be toys to transfer out, old clothes, bathtubs, car seats, etc. It is amazing that is 16 months we have acquired sooooo much stuff! And remember, I am the rebel that really doesn't buy toys. I made 1 garage sale run last spring and got a few bigger items for cheap. I think I have spent a total for $30 on toys for Payton in her entire existence. We still manage to get sooo much stuff. Probably because she has a Papa and Gigi Southards that fine great toys and bless her with them. Papa S is the master garage sale bargain finder, and we are thankful for the many great deals he has found.

Here is Payton, in heaven playing with all of her stuff at once! We did get it organized so when this baby comes around, I know where the age appropriate toys (those toys you HAVE to have for 1 month's use) are, so we have quick and easy access to them.



While Steve was gone we made Jiffy pancakes! They are my favorite pancakes and Steve always wants "healthier" ones, so we took advantage of his absence and chowed down on pancakes!

Free Dunkin Donuts

Every Monday in March, Dunkin Donuts is giving you a free medium coffee. No purchase necessary, just walk your little self in there, order an iced or hot medium coffee and you walk out without paying a penny. Now of course we had to get a yummy to go along with our coffee, and that does cost you :)



We went with our next door neighbor Sara and her little guy Nicholas. Sara and I swap out watching kiddos often in the daytime, it is a huge help for me. Payton loves Sara and Nicholas (I really think she loves all of Nicholas' toys).



We got a new "toy box" for the family room, since our toys were starting to flow over our little basket. Payton spends so much time sitting in this box as well.



Today Payton has been walking A LOT! She is probably walking more than crawling right now. She will go all the way across the room by herself. Soon enough she will be taking off for good.

My current love

Being that we are in the depth of winter and snow right now here in Kansas, this tea has become my current love. I find myself really enjoy tea in the winter months, as I tend to wake with a sore throat and congestion. This tea with a little honey, makes my morning all better. I even made some this morning, put it in our best thermal mug, and took it to boot camp (we are kinda outside as we are in Sherri's barn). I thought about that warm, delicious drink during workout and was so pleased to get back in the car and drink it on my way home. Sherri lives out on land, and the drive home this morning was beautiful. Open fields, snow covered with the sun shining. If it wasn't so cold, I might have gotten out and taken a picture.

This is my other current love, seeing this sweet face in my arms :)