Christmas Morning

We had a lovely Christmas. 

Santa made a little accident and gave Ruthanne a leapster game she already had (woops, luckily I had some extra in the closet and I offered her one of mine for her Santa one). 

We had lovely cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

We relaxed and watched movies and chatted and enjoyed a quiet day.

All the pictures I took are linked below.

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Tex Mex Crockpot Roast Recipe

I found this recipe last night and made it today. I modified it a bit and it was sooo yummy!

Tex Mex Crockpot Roast Recipe:

1 can chili beans

1-2 cups frozen corn

1 can rotel tomatoes/diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1/2 tablespoon ranch seasoning (I keep a jar with the herbs already mixed)

1.5-2 lb roast (mine was pretty lean)

Throw it all into the crockpot and cook on low about 8 hours, or high about 4 hours. We served it over rice with shredded cheese and sour cream. Everyone ate it and liked it!

Cold Weather Dinner

Since we have some cold weather blowing through, I thought we needed an appropriate dinner tonight. So we're having:

Chicken Corn Chowder

and

Skillet Bread

Hopefully it will be a success!

In Support of Poppa’s Team

Paul wore his Auburn outfit.  I guess it worked!

Charging the camera:

    

Cheese!

Ruthanne & John get in on the camera action.

 

Cyber Monday!

Gotta love it!  Just scored Curious George (the movie) on dvd for $7.99 on amazon!  Perfect Christmas present for this little monkey!

I love this

Because it totally keeps my monkey lover (Paul) occupied for a few minutes!

Oatmeal Soufflé

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe here yet. Patricia had seen oatmeal soufflé mentioned in a food network magazine and insisted I make a version while they were here one weekend. I obliged and it was really good. A little fussy and takes a little while to throw together, but we enjoy it. The original recipe comes from here: http://www.ericsons.net/535/oatmeal-souffle

But my version is this:

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a large high-sided casserole dish.

Bring to a simmer in a pot on the stove:

2 cups milk

1/2 stick butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar/demerara sugar

Once it is simmering add in:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, separate 6 eggs.

Whip the egg whites until peaks form but still moist.

Beat the yolks until thick and lighter.

When oatmeal is done, mix in 4 ounces of cream cheese (the whipped works well for me) and the egg yolks until combined. Then, gently fold in the egg whites 1/3 of the mixture at a time. Pour into casserole dish, sprinkle with more cinnamon and brown sugar (optional). Bake for 35-40 minutes. Enjoy with cream or milk if you want!

My First Ball

So, I finally got to go to a ball!  Luke was invited to pray at the Marine Corps Ball on Friday, so we got a babysitter and off we went!  I had the babysitter snap a photo before we left though.

We got some professional photos taken at the ball, we’ll see if they turned out any better!

Halloween Costumes

Here are some pictures I took of the kids before we went to the trunk or treat at church.  We have a witch, a pirate, and Mickey Mouse (we lucked out that the weather had cooled off for this costume).  The last two pictures are from the trunk or treat, I decorated the car with spiderwebs and had spider rings stuck in it.

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Chili's in the crockpot!

I think that means its gonna be a good night! We'll be trunk or treating later at church. Halloween pictures to follow!

Oh, I think I'll tack on my chili recipe. Its nothing flashy or fancy or different, its just a really good basic chili.

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 onion, chopped small

1 can chili beans

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 small tomato paste can of water

1 packet of chili seasoning (original/mild - I want to mix my own, but we love the packet)

cheese, sour cream, chips, whatever you like to top your chili with

Add first 7 ingredients into a crockpot and cook for a while! Or you can do it on the stove of course.