Dinner Date

 

Just recently we had a lovely get-together with my family. My great Aunt Jane & Great Uncle George came to visit. A family friend, Sue, was also here at the same time! My Mom cooked a lovely dinner and all of us joined together to catch up and enjoy each others company.

Lesson #7

Tasty Treat {Poppy Seed Chicken}

We had THE most yummy meal for dinner last night! A classmate of mine from Bishop Kelley has an adorable blog called The Fox Family Channel. She recently linked up to a recipe exchange and shared one of her favorite meals. I saw her Poppy Seed Chicken recipe a few weeks ago and I was dying to try it!

I fully intended to snap a few pictures of the yummy plated meal, but we dug in and before we knew it our plates were clean. This one will definitely go in our favorites recipe book!

{note} We cut the recipe in half for the two (1/2) of us, and still had one leftover serving

• 4-6 cooked chicken breasts//shredded or diced
• 2 (10 3/4 oz.) cans of cream of chicken soup
• 1 (8oz.) container of sour cream
• 1 sleeve of Ritz (I used reduced fat) crackers//crushed 
• 4 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

  {Makes 4-6 servings} {Serve with white rice}

1. Boil the chicken for about 15-20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked // Let cool then shred/dice
2. In a bowl, mix the soup and sour cream until well blended // Stir in the chicken
3. Spread the creamy mixture into a baking dish 
4. In a large ZipLock baggie crush the crackers // Add poppy seeds and butter to the bag and toss to coat
5. Sprinkle cracker mixture over the creamy mixture // Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

{Thanks Chelsea!}

pin.

As if there weren't enough things to keep me glued to my iPhone...

introducing Pintrest.

People look at me like I am insane when I tell them about Dylan's napping schedule. It is crazy. BUT, i love it, so there  :)  He will not nap without nursing - no ifs, ands, or boobs about it. We lay down together two or three times a day for a nap, and I discovered that if I sneak away he will sleep for maybe thirty minutes. However if I cozy up and snuggle with him he will sleep for one to two hours! So for the past 11 months I have become a napper. I used to loathe naps - they felt like such a timesuck, a day waster! But with sleepless night and a SUPER active kiddo, I now welcome those blissful hours of downtime. Sometimes I sleep, other times I catch up on the world of social media. I will piddle on Facebook from time to time but the app is absolute junk, so I don't get on much anymore. I am an absolute blog addict, a DIY junkie & a photo fanatic.

I was ever so lucky to receive an invitation to pintrest from a friend, and it was love at first glance. It is a virtual pinboard where you can add photos of things you love. In my Interior Design classes we were often urged to make inspiration boards, where we added clippings, fabric swatches, ideas and photographs that influenced our creativity. This site lets you do just that. Its not for everyone, but it IS for me. Check it out! I have two invitations left if you want to try it...just ask!

{Tasty Treat} Kiwi Pops

We are really into kiwis here at the Smith house. Dylan is finally opening up to new fruits and veggies, and one of his new favorites is kiwi. He isn't quite ready for chocolate, but I ran across this recipe and thought it was both adorable and delicious looking!

Showfood Chef shares with us that

One serving of KIWI:

* contains the same amount of fiber as a BOWL of bran cereal.
* contains the same amount of potassium as a banana
* provides the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C

and...

Folate (good for pregnant women), Lutein (helps prevent age-related blindness), Zinc (healthy hair, skin, teeth), Vitamin E (antioxidant and immune system booster) AND...the enzyme found in green kiwifruit makes a natural meat tenderizer.

Yummy & very good for you.

Let me know if you give this tasty treat a try!

Stormy Weather

Eek! Waiting for the storm to hit

{Tasty Treat} Mexican Casserole

Ryan does most of the cooking around here - he is my chef extraordinaire! Over the past few years he has really fallen in love with cooking, and I have not complained a bit! He makes the savories and I make the sweets.
Also, I do the dishes :P
Every now and then he will step aside and pass the spatula to me...tonight I whipped up some Mexican Casserole. It was so easy and tasty, I had to share!

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, drained
• 3 cups tortilla chips, crushed
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, and heat through.
3. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with Cheddar cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Enjoy!

{Wordless Wednesday}

Park Play

I keep coming back here and staring at a blank Blogger template...so far behind that I don't know where to begin. I'm going to stop worrying about catching up and just share what I have time to!
While I had a wonderful love affair with this blog for over a year, I must admit that the break has been nice. There just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done, but I am starting to realize that is just fine!

These past few months have been immensely full and fun. Dylan seems to get more hilarious and entertaining. He is SO curious and wants to spend every moment investigating and taking in the world. I love nothing more than indulging that need for him - we have so much fun on our outings and jaunts both big and small - from the grocery store to the zoo. It is such an amazing luxury to be able to spend my days playing with him. I said to Ryan last night, "it is so crazy to me that for the next five years, my main objective is to have fun with Dylan!"

At my baby shower while pregnant with D, Cara started a book of advice for me. She had each guest write a little bit of guidance for my transition into motherhood. Yesterday, while cleaning up the house, I opened it up and flipped through a few pages. My Mom's final note in her advice was:

"Let the dust collect and the dishes sit - GO TO THE PARK!"

I looked at Dylan and he grinned back at me, so we did exactly that!

This was his second trip to the park. Around the time that the days began to warm up and the sunshine begged to be basked in, I started scouring for nearby parks. I was so happy to find that ours as well as nearby neighborhoods are littered with them!! Our friend Kevin was even sending us texts when he would spot a park with baby-friendly bucket swings! So one fun Saturday afternoon we headed out for Dylan's first park excursion. I'm pretty sure Ryan and I had way more fun than he did - I think the big towering swing set and slide were a bit scary to him. He whined on the slides and he just barely tolerated swinging in my lap, so the trip was shorter than planned. We decided to go for a stroll in the pretty neighborhood instead!

shorts & a tank - the warmth is here!

{Wordless Wednesday}

{Wordless Wednesday}