Pot Roast !!!

Nothing is better than a classic and easy Pot Roast. Here is my recipe:

1. Since I start this soon after waking up in the morning I obviously don't make myself a drink, but I would recommend a BIG cup of coffee.
2. Once again since it is the morning I am going to skip the music, but I love watching Robin Meade Morning Express.
3. Get out your preferred cut of meat. This can be a chuck roast or a rump roast. Place in the bottom of your crock pot.
4. Cover your meat in one packet of Italian dressing seasoning and rub into meat.
5. Pour enough water in the crock pot to almost cover your meat, leaving the top of your meat exposed.
6. Slice up one half of a white onion and place around and on top of your meat.
7. Put the lid on the crock pot and set to the low setting and leave for 3 hours.
8. Sometimes the meat will absorb a lot of the water, if you notice that the water level has significantly dropped add more to return it to its original level.
9. About two hours before meal time add baby carrots. I use about one cup.
10. Also add your potatoes. I like to use a medley of baby potatoes (red, yellow and purple). Make sure the potatoes have been cleaned and cut into roughly 1 inch square portions. I add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of potatoes. Recover the crock pot.
11. When read for meal time check to make sure the vegetables have been cooked and are tender.
12. To serve: place meat and vegetables in a large casserole dish. Spoon the liquid from the crock pot on top to keep everything juicy and moist.
13. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.
14. Enjoy!

Reese and her Pre School Teacher

How to get your kids to eat apples:

Cut them up to resemble McDonald's french fries.

My daughter draws like Picasso.... kind of

Spit Shine

As I was cleaning up from dinner, Larry comes over to me to get my attention and nods his head in Reese's direction. Apparently Reese was "cleaning" too. I watched in horror as my three year old proceeded to spit on her hand and clean our kitchen table chairs with it. Then I started laughing hysterically. Where did she get an idea like that?

Final Grades for Summer Semester

As anyone who knows me can attest to, I am completely nuts. This summer, after giving birth in May, I decided to take 3 classes over a short 5 week summer semester. That is really the work equivalent of taking 6. To top it all off, during the last week of school (the week of my finals) I was in the hospital the entire time from having undergone a hysterectomy. My final grades are as follows:

• Intro to Computer Science - A
• Political Science - A
• Macroeconomics - C (My  teacher was a tyrant and I may have been the only one who passed that class, not even kidding.)

So now I am three classes closer to my accounting degree. For the fall semester I am only able to take two classes because of a financial aid mix up (so we ended up having to pay out of pocket). I am taking Microeconomics and Financial Accounting 1. Here's hoping for two more A's.

Layla Jean is a happy little gal : )

First Day of Pre School!!!

Because my husband is a graduate of the Kennesaw State University School of Business

McDonalds with the Girls

My New Wallpaper

THE BEAUTIFUL AND FORMIDABLE ELIZABETH TAYLOR

 I can only hope to live a life as BOLD as hers.

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Reese and I are watching 'Lady and the Tramp'. It is the first time both of us have ever seen it. What a wonderful Disney Classic straight out of 1955!

 Did you know that? :

• The film's setting is partly based on Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri. 
• It was the first animated feature film to be filmed in widescreen.
• At the time of its release it was the highest grossing Disney cartoon since 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.
• It was the studios first officially penned story since 'Dumbo'.
• Walt Disney originally did not want to include the 'Bella Note' spaghetti eating scene, now one of the most iconic moments in the entire Disney Canon.
• The film's opening sequence, in which Darling unwraps a hat box on Christmas morning and finds Lady inside, is reportedly based on an actual incident in Walt Disney's life. After he'd forgotten a dinner date with his wife, he offered her the puppy-in-the-hat-box surprise and was immediately forgiven.

 

New Chili Peppers!

Kind of the same old thing, but the same old thing is better than just about everything else coming out these days from other mainstream artists.

http://redhotchilipeppers.com/ 

Shell Shocked

My 3 year old went to color on her table and came back with this......

My "I'm sorry I went to the hospital and left you" consolation treat for Reese

If this is not the definition of awesome I don't know what is....

http://www.amazon.com/Bettie-Page-Blue-Color-Changing-Mug/dp/1596177276/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1313593777&sr=8-3

So what do Elvis Presley and Madonna have in common?

August 16th.


On August 16th, 34 years ago, Elvis Presley died too soon. On August 16th, 53 years ago, Madonna was born.

Both those things together make August 16th not the greatest of days. I mean the same day one of the greatest voices in American Music history dies, one of the absolute worst voices in American Music History is born (honestly, how did she get so famous).

Like Alanis said, "Isn't it Ironic?"

Woke Up Today Feeling....

..... better!..... not great.... but better! I can really tell I am feeling better because all I want to do is cook (still can't though, boo...). Update for families: Reese is starting pre-school in a few days and I can NOT believe it. She is very excited, but I am sure she will chicken out like usual once we finally get there. I think it will just take a few times for her to adjust. Last night Reese asked me if I was "sorry for going to the hospital" and leaving her. That's an easy way to make me feel incredibly guilty. Obviously heartbreaking and she doesn't understand that when I go to the doctor today for my post-op that I am coming back home and not going back to stay at the hospital for a few days again. To make amends I am feeding her sweets for breakfast this morning. What are ya gonna do? Layla is getting HUGE. I am going to take some more pics soon. She also smells heavenly like all babies do, so I hold her way too much. She is sleeping decently through the night, but I can not wait until she is old enough to put in the room she is going to share with Reese. Until then, Larry and I literally have no place in the house that is strictly ours = sacrificing to give our kids the best = slowly losing more and more of our sanity.

Screw the last TEN days LOL

So, the last ten days of my life have been absolute hell. Eleven has always been my favorite number and as it would turn out, day eleven is the first day I am feeling anything close to normal. Two Fridays ago I had a hysterectomy. I am only 25. For some reason I always thought hysterectomies were just for 'old' people. I was wrong. I have had surgery before, but this one was like none other. I had some internal bleeding afterwards (in the form of a hematoma) which meant I had to have to a blood transfusion, which is weird because you are keenly aware that someone else's blood is going into your body. It also hurts really bad. It is cold and thick and feels like you are being stung by a bee the entire time it is going in. Anyways, then after six days in the hospital I got to come home, only to find out that I had caught a stomach bug during my stay. Flash forward to today, the first day I am not having crazy issues. Did I also mention that it turns out I can not take codeine? It gives me a fever....... ok...... breathe..... I am now insistent that my life get back to normal. I would not have made it through this experience without my husband, who took off of work just takeover all of my duties at the house raising two kids..... not the easiest transition. Here is the good news though.... I will no longer ever have monthly visits I don't want and I also never have to worry about getting pregnant ( had the two amazing kids I wanted ), so I just keep repeating these two things over and over to myself as I sit here, still in pain, trying to pick up where I left off before the surgery. PS: I am still not quite healthy enough to start cooking again, so it still may be a week or so before another recipe gets put up. Until then we are stuck eating take out.....ugh.

Mr. Disney, I LOVE your car.

This is an original ad from a 1939 magazine for De Soto cars. It features Walt Disney (one of my heroes) right after he won some Academy Awards for Snow White. This hangs on the wall between between my kitchen and living room. Classic piece of Americana.

Chicken Pot Pie with Leeks!

1. Slip into something more comfortable.
2. Put on some ELVIS 
3. Pour a glass (or two) of wine.
4. Boil (6) CHICKEN BREASTS and then chop or shred into small pieces. Set aside.
5. Loosely chop (2) LEEKS.
6. Saute LEEKS in a pan with (2) tablespoons of BUTTER for five minutes.
7. Add (1) cup finely chopped ONIONS (I prefer vidalia) and (1) cup chopped CARROTS to the pan with the LEEKS and saute over medium heat and additional ten minutes.
8. Add (3/4) cup of FLOUR to the vegetable mixture and continue cooking for one minute, stirring constantly.
9. Combine (2) cups CHICKEN BROTH and (1) cup HALF AND HALF together. Slowly pour liquid into vegetable mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture is thick and bubbly. ( aim for the consistency of a thick pancake mix).
10. Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
11. Add chopped chicken.
12. Pour mixture into baking dish.
13. Place a pre-made PIE CRUST on top, pinching the edges to the baking pan.
14. Bake in a pre-heated 400 DEGREE oven for 40 MINUTES.
15. Enjoy while still HOT!

Layla Being Cute

Quick Blog - 8/4/11

So, I am doing a quick update today. There is a lot to get done today. First, I want to apologize for my camera dying yesterday. I was going to put up a link with a slideshow on how to make chicken pot pie with leeks (amazingly yummy), but because my camera died halfway through I am instead just going to put the recipe up with the few pics I was able to get. Secondly I am officially procrastinating right now on getting ready to go take my final exam in my computer science class. The only real motivation I have to go is that I want an 'A' in the class and on the way there I actually get to be in the car by myself without any kids which is like a mini vacation for me. Third, there will be no recipe for dinner for tonight because I am having to fast for my surgery tomorrow. This means I will undoubtedly be ornery and short of patience, but hopefully I will lose a few pounds (please!). I may post some more pics on here later if I get around to it. Now I have to jump in the shower so I can go take a test in a part of town that I am scared I am going to get jumped in.... awesome.

Thank You Crayola

Thank God these markers are washable.... not that this couch has not already been colored on in some form a million times before

Every Girl Should Have a Red Apron

More Kitchen Goodies

Somehow I have convinced myself I have room for more stuff in my kitchen.... really I am just kidding myself

The Most Perfect Colander Ever

Found this for eight bucks at TJ Maxx after ordering one three times as expensive off of Amazon..... needless to say, I kept this one and canceled my online order!!!

Today marks a new chapter in my life. After three years of dealing with various health issues that really made it very hard to live life to the fullest, I am happy to report that my heart is functioning completely normal again and that I have one last surgery ahead of me in two days after which everything about me should be functioning like a well oiled machine! I have also recently given birth to my second daughter Layla, who along with big sister Reese make my world go round. I am back in school finishing my accounting degree and I have a husband who looks sexier to me every time I see him. Life is looking up! Cheers!