The past few days...

This week has flown by and I'm so glad the weekend is here!!!

I made a few hand embroidered tea towels for some Mother's Day gifts and they turned out so cute. I love when you can make things by hand. They are so much more special and meaningful. 

I must be in a crafting mood because I dug out my sewing machine this week also. I have been seeing jelly roll race tutorials and really wanted to try it out. This has to be the EASIEST and fastest quilt you can do. Most can finish in 45-60 minutes. I had to change out my thread and had a jam with my machine that caused it to take a few hours. Overall, I would do another one! This would be a great quilt for beginners (which I still consider myself as).

I bought this jelly roll years ago but the fabric is so much fun and vibrant.

You can probably see my oops in the pattern above. Be sure to keep your strips in order and not let one fall off the table ha! I didn't realize until I was done and just decided to add it in. It really screwed up the mix and match pattern with patterns being side by side. Oh well! :)

Here is a step by step tutorial if you want to try it out!

Yesterday I made dinner for some sweet friends who just had a precious baby girl. I made Salisbury steaks, mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, green beans, AND a triple chocolate bundt cake with ganache icing. WOW was that cake pretty! This is my 3rd recipe but 2nd dessert to try of Amy Hannon's. Y'all I just love everything about her! If you want to try this recipe out check it out here.

This week has brought BEAUTIFUL weather. It's that time of year where there's no humidity but it's still very warm. We've played outside most of the week and have grilled almost every night. 

I think we own about every toy made for a boy of the age of 2! Ha! I love watching Jamie teach James new things. It's too precious! :)

It can be very hard in some ways to maintain a healthy diet while grilling. When I think of grilling I think of hot dogs, hamburgers, brats, and BBQ. Fine in moderation but not the best options when you're trying to lose weight. :)

Healthier options could be chicken, seafood, or any lean beef/pork/turkey. Lots of veggies. Try not to add lots of salt or oils. We chose the Weber marinade above since you only need to add lemon juice. It was so good and I will definitely be buying more!

We paired grilled chicken with mini sweet peppers this week!

Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day weekend...

VBS

It's hard to believe that summer is right around the corner and that means a lot of activities, traveling, AND Vacation Bible School!!! 

We had our first meeting tonight. The theme this year is "submerged" which I think will be really fun. It's hard to believe all the thought and creativity that goes into VBS around the United States in all the churches. Most Baptist (and I believe other similar denominations) use the same curriculum's (Lifeway, Concordia, Baptist Press, and so on) which makes it fun to gather ideas, help each other, and lend leftover supplies.

This year I'll be a "craft leader" and one of my duties is to decorate a classroom. I have been browsing on Pinterest all morning and pinning ideas. It's going to be so much fun and I can't wait to see what God has in store for our church and pray I can be a blessing through service.

Weekend Fun

We had such a good weekend full of many projects and outside fun!

Friday night has become our game night (aka "free date night") once James is put to bed. We don't get a sitter very often for date nights so we've started doing this for a few weeks and it's been so much fun and we BOTH get excited talking about our game night plans.

Another weekly tradition is my boys waking up to a big hot breakfast (no calories counted). We usually do pancakes but this week we changed it up to cinnamon rolls and bacon. Yum!

I worked frantically all weekend to get some Mother's Day gifts done and set to be shipped. I made the cutest flower tea towels for my Aunt Pam. Simple but time consuming I quickly realized...

We also painted our bedroom (photos to come soon). Walked around this cute downtown area in a nearby town to look for furniture. Went to the library. Grilled out. Did yard work. Played all day outside on Sunday. James was so dirty last night I swear the bath water was black. Ha!

James LOVES his bubble mower. If you have a little boy you need one...hours of entertainment. Bubbles not even needed. Every time Jamie is mowing James has to follow him and push his mower. It is so so SO cute!!!!

Fixer Upper

The title may seem a little misleading considering we bought a NEW house last June BUT let me explain... 

The first thing I noticed when we bought our white bare bones new construction house is that it lacked serious character. Imagine builders grade everything. I have really worked hard to incorporate warmth and personality. 

Just adding paint to our white walls has made a huge impact!  I knew I wanted to incorporate crown molding throughout our main floor as well and that made a huge impact. We also plan to replace the vinyl flooring and carpet on the main floor to all wood/ceramic, upgrade the lighting fixtures, and add more landscaping. 

While we save for the big upgrades I've been trying to finish one room at a time (paint, decor, furniture). So far we have James room done, upstairs guest bathroom, and our master bathroom finished...

This weekend I am painting our master bedroom and hope to get started on furniture projects for that room as well. I am going to upcycle this dresser using Annie Sloan Chalk paint and hope to share how it turns out (if it doesn't turn out as a flop)...

Zucchini Boats

I've discovered a new favorite this past week (thank you Pinterest)!!!  I've been in such a food rut lately and I'm thankful I came across these. This recipe is great because you can do so many variations and it's super healthy and can fit almost anyones dietary needs. They are gluten-free, low-carb, and you can even make them vegan if that's your preference. Plus, they are super cheap!!!

I made lentil zucchini boats last week and yesterday we tried taco zucchini boats. I've seen so many variations on pinterest from lasagna to buffalo chicken. Either way, they are super simple and fast to make.

Here is a step by step collage of how I made the Taco Zucchini boats. I used 1lb. ground turkey, 3 large zucchinis, taco cheese, and seasonings. You can make it simiplier if you buy a taco seasoning packet but to cut back on the sodium I make my own using the seasonings above. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes covered with foil. Easy as that!!!

In other news...

We're officially survivors of the awful HFMD. I've heard of this when I babysat years ago in college and prayed James would never have it. Unfortunately, even when your children are not in daycare they still catch things. We are not sure how he picked it up but are assuming he must have picked it up last Tuesday night at his Spring MDO musical. It has a incubation period of 2-3 days. He came down with a fever Thursday morning and we did not go anywhere else last week. He had a pretty severe case (104 fevers, wouldn't eat for days, blisters covering his whole body). Thankfully, he's back to normal except his skin is still healing. The pediatrician advised us to keep him home and away from other children until his skin is completely healed and rash free. He still can spread the disease up to a month so we are taking all precautions not to spread it further. Hopefully, we will make it to church Sunday and he can see his friends next week!

We've enjoyed lots of crafting, coloring, and painting! 

AND way too much T.V. (no judging)....

A Weekend Good for the Soul

What a blessing to have friends who take time out of their busy schedule to drive 5 hours to come visit... 

Everyone always comments about how well I have transitioned to each new city we've moved to over the last few years (God has everything to do with that). Change can be hard but it can also be renewing and exciting. We've been blessed to find good church families, new friends, and the art of packing! Ha!

I may be one of the few people out there that still writes letters and sends birthday cards to my friends. I have the same friends as I did when I was 8 years old (plus many more along the way). Friendships are so important and I cherish each one! All that being said, I love that I can have friends who have not seen me in months or years still call me and text me weekly AND drive across states to see my. How incredibly humbling to have someone think that much of you!? 

My friend Jennifer from college came from Arkansas to Saint Louis this past weekend for a girls shopping weekend. It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time!!!

Ate lunch at the cheesecake factory.

Jamie and James had a boys day. They went to the park Saturday AND ate lunch at sonic (a rare treat). 

What a good weekend for the soul!!!

Recipes to share for the week...

I've gotten behind on blogging this week and posting new recipes. If you haven't noticed we love trying new recipes and creating menu's EVERY week. Food shouldn't be boring and cooking is a great way to spend time with our families in the kitchen over great conversation.

As promised, here is a toddler muffin recipe I have made James the past few months. It is a great way to sneak in their daily greens.

Spinach Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 bag/tub of spinach

1/3 cup sugar (can substitute with stevia or cut it out all together)

2 tbsp. vegetable oil (can substitute with plain yogurt)

1 1/2 cup whole grain flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions;

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a blender, mix all wet ingredients and spinach. Mix until pureed. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Use a cookie scoop and scoop into 24 mini muffin cups. Bake 12 minutes. Keep refrigerated.  

Tonight, I made Cajun Jambalaya! This may be the best recipe I've ever made/had... This is also baby and hubby approved!!! Not only is it 258 calories per serving BUT it's only 6 WW points plus!!! I know I will be making this a lot now.

Cajun Jambalaya

Ingredients:

1 tomato

1 green bell pepper

1/2 yellow onion

2 celery stalks

2 garlic cloves

8 oz. uncooked shrimp (peeled and deveined)

6 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 lb. turkey keilbasa

1 cup uncooked minute brown rice

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 Tbsp. salt-free cajun seasoning

1 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop up bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic. Saute in skillet for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. While that is cooking, chop up tomato, turkey keilbasa, chicken (1-inch pieces), and peel/devein shrimp. In a mixing bowl, add all ingredients. Split mixture onto 4 pieces of foil. Fold foil up so it's sealed tight. Bake for 35 minutes (or until rice is tender). Let sit for 15 minutes. 

Servings: 4

WW Points Plus: 6

Me and the baby actually split one packet so it makes a good size serving!

We had a great past weekend. We took James to the park and fed the ducks and geese. He LOVED it. He really likes animals and I am looking forward to going back to the Saint Louis Zoo this year with him.

I still am pretty interested in cooking and experimenting with quinoa these days. Jamie always seems to stick up his nose when I say I'm making anything with it but he then ends up loving it. I've been seeing on pinterest mac and cheese alternatives using quinoa SO I of course had to try it. 

Mac & Cheese Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa (cooked according to package)

1 1/2 reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup almond milk

1 egg

1/4 c. panko crumbs for topping

1 tsp. salt (optional)

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

1/2 c. veggies of choice (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together except panko. Pour mixture into 8 mini ramekins. Sprinkle panko on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Servings: 8

WW Points Plus: 3

I would not consider this mac & cheese like since it wasn't very creamy. It was more of a rice side dish but it was still really good!!!

My little sous chef!!! He has really become interested in helping mommy this month. It might be a little extra work and a little extra mess but it's good to involve our children in these every day activities. There is so much to be learned from cooking but for a toddler a lot of it is sensory learning and it's so fun to see the enjoyment they get from helping us.