Roasted Ranch Potatoes

This recipe was just too good, and so easy!! Went well with our steak dinner!!

Of course I found it on pinterest!!

 
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 pounds potatoes (unpeeled, washed and cut into chunks)
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing (bottled, not packet)
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for topping (if desired)
- 1/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon (I used the "real bacon bits" in the glass container - Hormel I think)
- 1 tablespoon dried dill weed (wasn't sure if we would like it so we didn't use full TBSP)
- 3 scallions, washed and chopped (didn't have any so I just chopped up some sweet onions)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 
- Add (in a large bowl) the ranch dressing, dill, cheese and bacon.  Add in the potatoes.  

- Sprinkle in a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  Toss to coat potatoes.

- Spoon into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  Cover with foil.

- Bake for 60 minutes.  Stir gently halfway through to get the bottom potatoes rotated so they don't become burnt and to ensure that the middle and top potatoes get a chance to brown. 

- Remove foil.  Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Gently stir again, as necessary. (I added more bacon pieces at this point and a little more cheese).

- Bake for an additional 15 minutes, then sprinkle on a little more cheese, if desired.  Bake a few more minutes or until everything is gooey, browned and bubbly on top.

- Serve with scallions sprinkled on top for garnish.

- Great with a dollop of sour cream.

NOTE:  The original recipe called for jarred real bacon pieces.  I made the recipe using real bacon (about 5 - 6 slices) that I cooked until crisp and then broke into pieces.  Although I am a firm believer that there is never a substitute for real, fresh bacon, I would think that the kind from a jar would be fine (as long as you don't use imitation bacon bits).


Original Recipe came from: http://joyouslydomestic.blogspot.com/2012/10/roasted-ranch-potatoes-with-bacon-and.html?m=1

Seared & Baked Steak

Valentine's Day was last week and since I had to run to Costco for some things, I decided to pick up some of their NY Strip Steaks for dinner. If you don't know, Costco has an amazing meat section. Their steaks are so fresh and reasonably priced. We got 4 steaks for about $34.00. The one good thing about their NY Strips are that they are so thick (approximately 2 inches) that you can cut them in half and double your meal. We have actually done that before when grilling with friends.

So, my intention to have steaks for Valentine's Day Dinner. As the day went on we just decided to save the meat for the weekend so that we could have more time to prepare. We needed the time to prepare because we were going to cook it differently. Usually when we get steaks we just throw them on the grill. This time we decided to sear both sides and then stick steak in the oven.  I had no formal recipe. Just a friend gave me some suggestions and I googled the rest.... Season the steak as you typically would. 

 INGREDIENTS:
-  Steak of your choice. We had NY Strip which was declicious.
-  Salt & Pepper to taste. The video stated to use 3-4 generous pinches of salt. I was so scared because that seemed like a lot of salt so I just did 2-3 pinches.
-  Italian Seasoning (It's what we like)
-  Montreal Steak Seasoning (just because it was available). 

DIRECTIONS:
-  Leave the steak out at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour (we did an hour)
-  Pat dry with a paper towel on both sides (watch video for the details on why to do this step).
-  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season steak to taste. While seasoning the steak get your non stick pan out. (The video we watched suggested an iron skillet but we don't have one). Heat pan on medium high heat while you are preparing the steak. 

- Place steak in pan. You will know when the pan is hot enough if your steak SIZZLES when you drop it in!!! Our steaks were very thick so we seared ours for 4-5 minutes on each side. If your steaks are thinner you may be able to get away with 2-3 minutes on each side.   
-  After you sear steak on both sides, set the steaks aside and let them "rest" for 10 minutes (again, watch the video for more details on this).
-  Place steaks on broiling pan. Cook them for 6-8 minutes, then flip over, and cook for another 6-8 minutes. Of course if your steaks are thick like ours then you will need the 8+ minutes.  Keep an eye on them because my husband wanted medium and it only took an additional minute and a half to get mine to medium well. We cut into the steak to see what was happening because we don't have a thermometer. 

 
 My husband and I cooked this meal together. We waited until after our son was in bed so that we could truly enjoy the experience, and the meal. He said that this was a "perfect" steak and it tasted like a restaurant! Can't wait to try this one again!!

Served with Cheesy Ranch Potatoes and a vegetable!!

This video really helped me out and gave me an understanding of what to expect. 

http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/how-to-properly-sear-a-steak/

We all think it...

I'm sure I'm not the only one... Actually I'm positive I'm not the only one..

We all think it... Our children are the most perfect things ever created!!

As I check on Alex before he goes to bed, I just think to myself... We created this beautiful child. I carried him for 10 months! I grew this beautiful being inside of me!!

How amazing is it to know that you created such a beautiful person??

Let's even take it a little further... Even if you are not a birth mother... If you are just looking at your child while they are sleeping and thinking... I made this child to be who he is today... Hopefully, one can appreciate the fact that it wasn't just my influence. My family has been so fortunate to have grandmothers, grandfathers (papa's), aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends contribute to make my son who he is today!!

Feeling so blessed tonight! Even with life's craziness I'm grateful for what I have!!!

Kitchen Helper

We have no space in our home. My husband has been in his home for over 12 years. When I moved in I considered it to be cozy.... A child later, we are cramped. Before I moved her I lived in a house by myself. It was new construction and very functional!! I was able to pick out my own carpet, floors, counter tops, and well, anything extra... It was my first home and I LOVED IT.  I miss the space and of course storage.

Since living here, we have made some changes... The "front room" was once a dining room. In a sense... It had a dining room table (a nice dining room table I might add). It was the first thing you ran into when you walked in the front door... Literally, you opened door, took 2 steps, and there was the dining room. It became the "catch all" room. Mail, packages, unpacked Target bags. You name it, it was in there...

So, when I was pregnant I decided that we needed more living space. So the table went out and we got a new couch, brought up my old end tables that were sitting in basement, and put a TV in the room. So, now it is a living room.

So, we have more living space, but no table to sit and eat at. The kitchen is too small to put a table in so... Alex has a high chair, and I stand up and eat. Or sit at the little breakfast bar that is against wall.

Well, Alex has been trying to show his independence and wants to help with everything I do. So far he has mastered quite a few things including stirring eggs!! Well, when I ask him if he wants to help I either have to hold him, or kneel on kitchen floor to have him help me. Since it is such an inconvenience - and rough on my knees... I did some research and found a Kitchen Helper... This is what I found...


Fancy right??

Yes, $150 fancy... And this was moderate pricing! Some went up to $250.

Although I thought Alex would really enjoy this, I wasn't really trying to spend $150 for it. So, I made a post on a board I belong to and someone suggested that we do  DIY project. In the meantime, I was calling around to children's resale shops and they had no clue what I was talking about. So, I checked out the DIY site that the person suggested and aaaahhh!!! I'm so glad I did!!!

My amazing father in law is going to build a Kitchen Helper for us!!! I'm so excited that I have to share this site of DIY projects!!



http://ana-white.com/2010/12/helping-tower.html

Estimated cost.... Wait, for it... $45!!!

Just d!!

Just a quick minute...

Have you ever noticed that as a Mom, there is no longer such a thing as a "quick shower??"

There was a time, in my single days, where I could oversleep for work and literally jump out of bed, get in shower, get dressed, grab breakfast, and head out the door within 8 minutes. No lie, 8 minutes.  

Then, I became a mother. Yes, the early days and weeks, I don't even remember showering daily. Showering was not high on my list of priorities considering I wasn't sleeping or eating. During the newborn days, showering was a basic necessity that sometimes had to be slipped in while baby was sleeping. I know that when I had "down time" my first thought was not always, "I need to shower." My first thoughts were of course sleeping, eating, and trying to clean up the clutter. Of course by the 2nd day, it became obvious that I needed to shower but, it was more of a chore, and not something to look forward to.

Now adays, I try to jump in the shower for "just a quick minute" and something just takes over. As soon as I feel that steam flowing in the air, I get dragged in to a place where I never want to leave! I get sucked in so quickly. As soon as that hot water hits my face, I  immediately get stuck in one place. I try and move but my feet just can't get it together. For that "quick minute" I am taken away to another place. A much quieter, slower, and peaceful place. My thoughts are taken over by blooming flowers, sunshine, and desert scenes.  Time slips away, and my head becomes clearer as each second goes by. I take deep breaths, in and out, and force myself not to dare and think what is going on outside the closed bathroom door!! I go counter clockwise, then clockwise, and then just stop to take it all in. My favorite part is when the hot water hits my back and the water just drips down. I can just feel my muscles loosing up. 

I honestly think I spend more time just spinning slowly around in the shower than I do actually cleaning myself!!

Macaroni and Beef (Homestyle?)

Cooking on the weekends just makes me depressed... If I could do it, I would do take out all weekend... And honestly, there are some weekends that we do take out for almost every meal (even breakfast)! Since I went out last night with friends, and have a date night with my husband this evening. I had no excuse not to cook something for my son!

So, I had found a really easy recipe last week and decided to give it a try. I added some seasonings because at first bite, it was a little bland. Also, I wasn't crazy about the corn in this dish. Although, I would probably still add it for my son's sake - and sneak in that vegetable. I was searching through the reviews/comments on the webpage and one comment stated: 

"A home style combination of ground beef, macaroni and mozzarella cheese in a zesty tomato sauce."

There was nothing zesty in this tomato sauce. Not even one pinch of zest....This above comment was so far from the truth I honestly had to laugh.

Next time I will add onions to the ground beef for a little more flavor. I also added 1/2 of package of frozen spinach because I have to sneak in veggies with my 18 month old. 

So, all in all.... This is definitely my kind of recipe. So simple and perfect for a quick, no thinking or planning, Saturday dinner... All the ingredients were already in my pantry so the time it took to prep was awesome!! There was so much leftover that I ended up freezing half of it for another day. My 18 month old will probably enjoy it again. I will just add a little spaghetti sauce next time around.

Ingredients:

2 cups elbow macaroni 1 pound ground beef 1 (10.25 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

1 (11.5 ounce) can tomato juice 1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 package of frozen spinach

Directions:

1.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Defrost spinach and drain.

2.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no pink shows; drain excess fat. In the large pot, combine macaroni, beef, tomato soup, tomato juice, spinach, and corn; heat through. Stir in cheese. Original Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homestyle-beef-macaroni-and-cheese/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=homestyle%20macaroni%20and%20beef&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e13=A%3aSearch%20Results-List%28control%29&e7=Home%20Page

Alex's friends

We go through stages with Alex at day care. 

One week he will cry and stomp his feet in protest when he is dropped off... Then the next week he will just walk in, greet his friends, and get right into play time. 

Well the past few mornings he had barely even stopped to wave good bye to me! There are mixed emotions surrounding this milestone. 

On one hand, I'm so happy that he is comfortable and feels safe in his environment. I'm also happy that he has developed friendships and seems to be developmentally on target with his peers. Not only does he get excited to see his friends, but his friends are also excited to see him. This morning a little girl came running up to him and said, "HI ALEX!!"  Alex returned the greeting by saying, "HI EMMA!!" These interactions that he is having with his peers shows me that he is adjusting to day care and is developing into a social child. The many things he is learning from being in day care just amazes me. I miss the one on one attention he received during his first year of life but, there is something about him interacting with other children, participating in structured activities, trying new meals, learning how to use utensils, and doing group activities that reassures me that I made the right choice of using a center for child care. Now of course if I had the ability to stay at home and do it myself, I would... But would incorporate the structured activities and learning into our home life.

The days of him being little are moving too fast, and soon he won't even think twice about saying "good bye" to me before I leave for work. It saddens me that he is growing so fast, and that he is becoming more independent. But, I only feel sad for a few seconds because the fact that he is growing and developing from a baby into a little boy just give me so much joy!!

Terrible Twos

Terrible twos have come early with Alex... I got the warning from the day care teacher, although I had been experiencing them before. The day care teacher just confirmed that he wasn't just acting out at home, but at school too...

So, what do we do now?? Of course it comes when I want to wean him off pacifier... Which after very little research will be put on hold... Let him keep the binky, shit, like the research said, it's more for the parents comfort than the child's...

So, evenings now consist of eating at exactly 5:15. Any later and we have tears.. And I mean real tears. Unless it's a lazy day of chicken nuggets (organic I might add), I can't get dinner on the table by 5:15.... Seriously, I pull up in the driveway after work anytime between 4:50 and 5 (all depending on traffic).

So, what's a mom to do?? Unfortunately, lately, I have to let him cry... Or fix a quick dinner (ex grilled cheese and soup) which I always feel guilty for.

What happens if we cook a real meal?? He cries and cries until it's fixed. Alex will hang on one of our legs to the point of one of us having to remove him from kitchen to get stuff done!

I get it, he is 17 months, and plays hard all day!! He is so darn exhausted by the time he gets home, he has every right to be cranky!! I just need to get it together and plan meals ahead of time so that dinner is done when we get home!! It happened once for a week, and well... Not much more than that!!

So, I have my weeks meal planned out, just need to get it together so we can have everything prepped before those terrible twos can kick in....

Money Mistakes Parents Make

This was an interesting article. 

Thankfully I had parents who are very financially responsible. They instilled their views in me, and I hope to pass on these skills to Alex.  I would love to learn more about the "marshmallow experiment" I think that the findings are interesting, yet not surprising. Too many times I see children being over indulged and have no sense of "delayed gratification." Even in our music class the instructor teaches "delayed gratification" but not always allowing the first child who reaches for an instrument to have it right then. She also recognizes a child who has waited the longest. Interesting to see what the long term effects of always getting what you want, when you want...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-kobliner/money-mistakes-parents-make_b_2584308.html

Snow

Snow, was the word for the weekend. I'm not sure if I just don't pay attention to the weather reports, or I just wasn't aware, but I don't remember hearing that we were going to have snow accumulation.  

Saturday was a rough morning.  Alex decided to get up extra early, much earlier than usual.  It was about 5:45 AM when I heard him in his crib talking to himself. At first I was just hoping that he was dreaming. But then I saw him through the monitor, wiggling and moving. Since it was so early, I made him sit in his crib until 6:15 AM.  Funny thing is, he didn't even mind the alone time. 

We started our day with some music and nursery rhymes. Coffee for me, milk for Alex. Then, it started snowing. And it didn't stop for a few hours. Alex and I decide to get bundled up and check out the snow. I honestly did not think he would enjoy the snow. We have tried to get him to touch it before but he just shakes his head and cries... So, I just bundled him over his pjs. We ended up spending almost a full hour outside. We tracked animal prints, kicked snow, used the shovel to clear the walkway, and just had a fun time. At one point I asked Alex if he was ready to go inside. All he could say was, "No, No, No." So we stayed outside a little more. When I took him inside, he had a full fall out temper tantrum. Real tears and all. 

Alex's first time in the snow. He is so amused and excited. He laughed when the snow hit his face.

Just makes me think of how much fun we will have this summer since he enjoys the outdoors so much! Just like last summer, we will probably be outside the majority of the time! 

We attempted to get ready for music class but the snow just kept coming down. I didn't want to risk an accident so, we decided to stay home and play.
 
Our second trip outside was just as fun but, it seemed colder. This time Jason got the snow blower out which, Alex was afraid of. Maybe it was the nose? We didn't stay out as long and once again Alex had a temper tantrum coming in. 

It's annoying yet so interesting to see him have a temper tantrum. He is so frustrated and just can't express him. He is just so strong willed sometimes he just doesn't know how to handle not getting his way. 

Trying it again.

Working full time and being a first time mom isn't easy.  I have been trying to be healthy and cooking but, sometimes we are just so rushed it doesn't happen that way!

So, I decided to try the meal planning chart again. On Friday during my lunch break I went over my recipes I had saved. Wrote everything down and figured out this weeks meals.

Had a little set back today because I couldn't go to the grocery store because of the snow! Not complaining about that because it was so nice to have a down day with my son! We skipped music class and played outside twice!! Such an amazing learning experience for the both of us to explore the snow together!

So, back to business tomorrow. I remember last year I went to the grocery store on Super Bowl Sunday and was so disappointed at the amount of people who were out. But, I must get to store tomorrow to prep for the week. I think I could get away with preparing Monday's dinner without a trip to the store, but... Will I want to go after work on a Monday??

So Monday I will be trying a teriyaki chicken in the crock pot. May come home on my lunch break to cook everything. I hate the thought of keeping crock pot on all day with no one to supervise.

We will see how it goes tomorrow....

Was it worth it?

This article hit home...

After undergrad I thought of going back to school. I was probably at my first job making no money. I began gathering information from colleges all over the country. My goal was to get my Masters in Social Work.

At the time I was dating someone, long term, who had no desire to leave his home town. Not that I felt like I had a future with this person, but, I did have what all people want out of a relationship... Support, security, and well.... Comfort...

As I went over these brochures and packets from all of these schools I just didn't know how I was going to leave my comfortable life and pick up and leave. Not only that, but the GRE testing scared the crap out of me. I hate math, I absolutely suck at it. At that point I had not taken a math class in 5 years.

So, as my friends start applying and getting into grad school, I'm thinking to myself... I need to get moving. I enrolled in a school that did not require GREs and was known to be a little more lenient with it's academics. It was not a university where professors had tenure. Many of the professors were hired because they had he work experience to fit the class.

So, I sign up for a field that I have no experience in, and looking back, I did not do my research on what it would take to actually find a job. I did vey well in grad school. I pretty much made all A's with an occasional B - in what area, I don't know.

Did furthering my education help me?? Hell no... I have no experience in the HR field to even apply for a job. Not only that, I don't even see any decent job postings in my area. My Masters in Human Resources was a waste, the other one in Public Administration is helpful only because I work for the government. Will I ever be able to apply what I learned in Public Administration in my current job... Definitely not.

The fact that I pay an estimated $150/month in student loans irritates the hell out of me. Did I grow personally... Heck yes, in more ways than I could ever share. Did I learn about myself and my abilities in grad school?? YES, I sure did! If I were ever able to consult and problem solve issues in a workplace, I would be awesome.

Would I ever consider going back to school?? Maybe. In this state you have to have a social work degree to get a license. Do I feel like it would be worth it?? Who knows. Not that I actively job search but I'm sure that not many places are hiring. Would it be the worst thing to stay in my current job?? No, I am very fortunate to have a job, with benefits. Would I like to have the same salary that I have had in the past?? YES. But at this point I am just so thankful and count my blessings that I am working. And actually enjoy my job (for the most part- minus those typical office issues).

Very interesting article that I found last week on my lunch break.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/my-master-s-wasn-t-worth-it-173855765.html?page=all