The Pink Invitational and Unite for Her

This past weekend we attended the Pink Invitational meet in Philadelphia, a very special gymnastics competition which raises money for the Unite for Her organization.

 

Motherly Traditions

We have a lot of fun traditions in my family, but one of the most special to me is one my mom started, that I hope to be able to carry on one of these days.

My mom had this beautiful statue that I just loved when I was little. It depicts a mother rocking her new baby, and standing behind her is her older daughter, who is rocking her baby doll.

It plays Turn Around (Where are You Going?). A song I loved so much from listening to it my whole childhood that I sang it to both my children when they were young.

My sister also loved it and we used to jokingly argue over who'd get to keep it "one day". My mom promised us that she'd get us one of our very own when we became mothers.

Fast forward 17ish years, and my mom is in the hospital with me, watching as I cuddled my brand new baby boy. She pulled out a box, excited to surprise me with a gift. And the first words out of my mouth the second I saw the box were, "Is that my music box!?"

 (me and my Little Man - about an hour after a C-section lol)      

LOL She thought it would be a huge surprise and was stunned I'd remembered. :) But it was one of the first things I'd thought of when I'd found out I was pregnant. I'd wondered if she'd remember her promise :) My sister also got one. My mom bought them when we were still little girls and saved them all those years.

(the song it plays - Turn Around)

I'll be getting one for my daughter, to put away for that "someday". I hope I can find the same one...if not I'll get as close to it as I can. It's one of the sweetest traditions I could pass on.

(me and my tiny Little Miss)

Do you have any special traditions you'll be passing along to your children?

Salsa Chicken - Easiest Recipe EVER

I'm up against a deadline, with edits on my new book due TOMORROW *eep!* We also have gymnastics practice today and tests for tomorrow to study for. Which means I need a super easy dinner that my kids will actually eat (because I have no time for bribery or coercion tactics tonight).

Someone tweeted this recipe to me several months ago and it quickly became one of my kids' favorites. And since it's probably one of the easiest things I've ever made in my life, it's one of my favorites too :D

Here's what you need:

4-6 chicken breasts (I use frozen - you could also use thighs)
A jar of salsa
taco seasoning
salt
pepper

Put the chicken in the pot, sprinkle with salt and pepper

Pour half to the whole jar of salsa over the top (just get them nice and covered, you generally don't need the whole jar)

Sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsps of taco seasoning over the top

Crank it on high for 5-6 hours. I'll check it out 5 hours in and see how tender it is. Once you can easily shred it, do so, then let it go for another 20 mins or so.

Serve over rice or use for tacos or nachos. My kids like to add lettuce and cheese on top and scoop it up with chips like gourmet nachos.

Fruit Smoothies

I am a huge fruit nut so smoothies are right up my alley. As usual, I go as simple as possible :)

You'll need:

Frozen fruit (whatever you'd like - I usually use the tropical mix or strawberries and blueberries from Sam's Club)
Milk (can also use yogurt or water for a thinner consistency - I like to make mine thick like milk shakes)
Honey or Agave nectar
vanilla

I tend to eyeball stuff like this rather than measure so the measurements are a guesstimate...

I take about 2 cups of frozen fruit
1/2 to 1 cup of milk (depending on desired thickness)
1 tablespoon of honey or agave nectar (or two rotations around the blender as I do it - do this to taste, depends on how sweet you want it) ;-)
a splash of vanilla

Blend up and enjoy!

To make it a little extra special, add a dollop of whipped cream to the top :)

I'm Proud to be a Bookworm but...

I could use a maid LOL

My poor hubs cringes whenever I pick up a new book, especially if that book is the first in a series, because he knows nothing is going to get done until I'm finished :D I do try to do the "one more chapter" thing, but often I "one more chapter" myself into the wee hours of the morning, unable to do anything, including sleep, until I've read every last word :)

I guess as addictions go, it's not too bad. My starving and naked family might disagree though (as they kick a path through the destroyed house) :D

I've learned over the years that if I have anything I need to accomplish, I must do it before I start the book. I catch up on laundry, dishes, spruce up the living space, and do whatever else needs doing, and THEN I sit down and lose myself in the pages. I will take cooking breaks, but I'm usually stirring whatever's in the pot with one hand and holding the book with the other :D

How do you deal with your bookworm tendencies?

Lasagna Cups and Cucumber Salad

Lasagna Cups

These are super easy to make and are so fun :) You basically take regular lasagna fixings but instead of using noodles, you are going to use wonton wrappers.

Just take regular lasagna filling -
Meat sauce (I go as easy as possible - browned hamburger, spaghetti sauce and seasonings to taste)
Cheese - I used ricotta and mixed it with shredded mozerella, can also use cottage cheese

1. Take the wonton wrappers and layer one in the bottom of the muffin tin (I wanted more coverage so I used two and placed them kitty corner to each other so each of the four corners was pointing up)
2. Add your meat sauce and cheese filling
3. Another wonton wrapper (I just used one here, sort of lay it over the top and tuck it in)
4. More meat sauce/cheese, etc until you reach the top (I think I got 3 layers in). 
5. Then a bit of meat sauce and shredded cheese on top. 
6. Bake on 375 for 20 mins. 

They are easy to eat by hand if you let them cool a little And I didn't have any problems with them sticking to the pan even without any kind of spray.

For the cucumber salad pictured above:

This is one of my husband's favorites (he's the one who makes it) :D It's super simple and sooo yummy.

You'll need:

2 med cucumbers
2 large seeded roma tomatoes
1 med red onion
1/2 green bell pepper

The dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp dill
1 TBSP parsley
4 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP white vinegar
1 tsp season salt

Chop the veggies into bite-sized pieces and toss in a bowl with the dressing. It's amazing over salad or just eaten on its own.

How to Make a Flag Cake

Fourth of July Flag Cake:

Make your favorite white cake recipe and grab some food coloring. You'll need 4 cakes total (you can use any shape...I did rounds) - 1 white cake, 2 red cakes, and 1 blue cake.

Cut the white cake and 1 red cake in half. Take one half of the white cake and layer it between the two red halves (with frosting).

Like this:

I use this handy little tool to get the layers even (though I was in a rush when I did this cake so it's not as neat as usual) :)

Then - take the blue cake and the remaining red cake and cut a hole in the middle of both (you might want to cut the red cake in half first, just so it's the same thickness as the other red layers). I placed a saucer on them to cut around so they would be the same size.

Take the blue cake ring and layer it on top of the white and red layers. The blue circle leftover can be discarded or given to the kids to hold them over until the rest of the cake is done ;-)

Then take the other half of the white cake and cut a circle out of it. Frost the top of it.
Put it inside the blue ring.

Then take the circle from the red cake and place it on top of the white circle inside the middle of the blue ring.
Like this (the white circle is beneath the red):

Then smother this baby with frosting and decorate however you'd like. We just wanted to eat it so we didn't get fancy ;-D

Cut it open and you've got......