I Can't Stop Myself

Okay so now that I am feeling better what am I craving? CHOCOLATE!!! And boy do I love my Gramma for aiding my addiction! She just recently sent us a care package and in it was this...



Do you see the one with the red oval around it? That's what I'm chowing down on. Oh.My.Goodness. You have not experienced happiness until you have put one of these yummy yummy gems into your mouth. It's a luscious macadamia nut enrobed in crunchy toffee surrounded by creamy milk chocolate. I'm not usually a fan of milk chocolate but these things, OH! So good! So sinful. So addictive. I need to stop eating them right now. Stop I say.

If you don't have a nice Gramma that lives in Hawaii, then go to www.maunaloa.com and order yourself some. RIGHT NOW! GO! HURRY!

Fabu Chicken and Noodles

Thanks to an apple, a hard boiled egg, two Excedrin and a bowl of Chicken and Noodles, I'm feeling much better. No more nausea and no more dizzy spells. No the Chicken and Noodle recipe is not magic by any means, but it is quick, easy, cheap and delicious. Just the thing I needed after two days of being under the weather.

Kristi's Chicken and Noodles less than $1.25 for lunch for 3 people

1 C small pasta shape (I used macaroni but any small shape would work), about $0.30
1 C frozen mixed veggies, about $0.30
1/2 C diced chicken, about $0.25

Sauce *:

1 C water, negligible
1 pkt or cube no sodium chicken bouillon, $0.16
1/2 tsp onion powder, negligible
1/2 tsp garlic powder, negligible
1/2 tsp thyme, negligible
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning, negligible
3/4 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt **, negligible
2 Tbsp flour, negligible


Cook your pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking whisk the sauce ingredients together until everything is well incorporated and there are no lumps. Set aside.

In the last minute of cooking, add your frozen mixed veggies and bring back to a boil.

Drain the pasta and veggies and add your chicken and sauce. Cook on high heat until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is heated through.

Serve and enjoy!

*If you are not like my family and have no issues with dairy then you can double the recipe and use a can of undiluted cream of something soup instead of making the sauce.

**We don't usually consume a whole lot of salt so if this isn't salty enough for you please feel free to add more.

I'm Back!

It has been one interesting week. A week of conflict for Jeff and I and a week of illness for Jeff and I. Amazing how the children escaped it. Now we are in full blizzard mode.

We started the week in a "great way" with a fight; and we are ending the week in a great way, our stomachs are finally starting to resemble normal.

The children have ruled the roost the past couple of days. They have been pigging out on junk food and canned soup. It's about all I have been able to make for them. Today I am tackling a mountain of dishes and laundry and toys. Things tend to pile up when both parents are sick and the kids run freely through the house. You know you aren't feeling well when you allow the kids to have a fruit roll up, arare and sweet confetti puffed rice (I googled and googled this and could not for the life of me find it online) for lunch.

I'm still not 100% today. I'm feeling a little dizzy and still a little queasy but that is so much better than being bed ridden like I was a couple of days ago. My entire body hurt and I was well...to lack a better way to phrase it, peeing out my butt. I know you just really needed to know that. I know. Hey I'm the queen of TMI, what can I say.

Jeff is just now starting to feel better. He absolutely refused to listen to anything I had to say and thus made himself feel a whole lot worse before he felt any better. Yesterday even though he was still having his "issues" as mentioned above and throwing up, he was eating fruit roll ups, strawberries and drinking orange juice. No wonder he was up all night again last night, while I slept fairly well considering. Now that hes listening to me and eating what he's supposed to and drinking his ginger tea, he's finally starting to feel better.

Score one for the mom! I wish I could say that this would teach him to listen to me because I'm ALWAYS right. But I know it won't. One can only hope. Look for a couple more posts today as I catch up on not posting for over a week.

When Will I Learn?

So all day today I had a raging migraine. From 7am until just about a half an hour ago. There are a couple of reasons why I get migraines:

1. Poor Diet.
Either too much salt or sugar or both too much salt and sugar.
2. Dehydration.
Not drinking enough water.
3. Caffeine withdrawl.
I like my coffee...a little too much sometimes.

So what was the cause of my migraine today? All of the above. Yep, that would be why I titled this post, "When Will I Learn?" 'cause I don't. I don't ever learn. I eat crap, don't drink enough water and get my body used to too much caffeine and the next day I'm layed out all day with a queasy stomach and hot needles burying themselves into my forehead.

So what finally got rid of my headache? 2 cups of coffee, 4 Excedrine tablets, 64oz of water and a plate of migas.

And why am I writing this? Well because I think you care and if you don't, I needed to share. :)

Nummy Nummy Choctat Take

That's all Kaitlynn said as she plowed her way through this oh so good cake! Sorry there is no picture. I could take a picture of the empty bowl...

But this cake is fabulous and a must try!

I decided to try a recipe from "Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook". There are some really great recipes in this book but none I have tried is as good as this. Could be that it was chocolate cake? You can't really go wrong with chocolate cake. But this isn't just any chocolate cake. It makes this pudding sauce at the bottom and wow...I have no words! Run out and get yourself a 1.5 qt slow cooker and make this...NOW!

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake

Cake:
3/4C all purpose flour
1/4C baking cocoa powder
2/3C sugar
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2C milk
2 Tbsp butter (melted)
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4C baking cocoa powder
1/4C granulated sugar
1/4C firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2C boiling water

1. Grease the slow cooker
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the milk, melted butter, canola oil, and vanilla, stir in the liquid ingredients until well blended. Batter will be thick. Spread evenly into slow cooker
3. To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in another bowl (I washed out the original bowl and just used that. I hate having a lot of dishes to wash) and whisk until smooth. Gently pour the batter in the cooker; DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on high until puffed and the top layer is set about 2hrs to 2 hrs 15 minutes.
4. Turn off the slow cooker and let stand 30 minutes before serving. (I did not do this. I served it as soon as it was done and it was GOOD!).

ENJOY!! I know you will. This is the BEST cake ever! It makes this well...hot fudge sauce at the bottom of the slow cooker. Oh man so good!

As for cost this is a very frugal dessert. I bought several containers of baking cocoa when they were on sale at the commissary for $1.00. Yep and they were the dark chocolate variety too. My favorite. The flour I purchase at King Soopers for $1.99. It's the cheapest in town even compared to Walmart and the Commissary. So pretty much for pennies you can have a great dessert! The original recipe called for 1/4C of melted butter but I substituted half for canola oil because I'm running low on butter. You could use all canola oil and save yourself even more money.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free variation: Replace the flour with GF flour. Replace the butter and canola oil with coconut oil and replace the milk with your choice of milk replacement. We prefer vanilla rice milk.

A Lazy Monday Afternoon Walk

There is a great area near our house. It's a very light walk with lots to see along the way. Kaitlynn walked most of it all by herself. That is except when I had to pick her up because she was very mad that the rocks on the trail would not get out of her way. I don't ask why. Mine is only to make the, "Out My Way! Out My Way Wock!" stop so that we can continue our walk. But it was still a very nice walk and it was a great day for it. It was wonderful family time together without any distractions and the girls enjoyed seeing all of the animals that called the area home. Kaitlynn even tried to convince us that she saw a snake. She was very adamant about it too. At one point she was even calling to "the snake" which was just a fallen branch by the trail. Kylie enjoyed investigating and yelling out whenever she saw a bird or a squirrel. I definitely think that we need to start going on family walks more often. Even sour puss Jeff had a good time.

Here are just a couple of pictures from our walk today.



This was at the very beginning of the trail head. Kaitlynn was just walking along as happy as can be. She was singing to herself, "I walking! I walking!" This while Kylie was trotting up ahead. She kept trying to get to the next sign so we could read and "learn 'bout everything."



Some of the local wildlife. A goose sitting on her nest.



Some kind of bird in the cattails. I'm sure that there was a sign that told me the exact name of this bird but I can't remember.



Some ducks in the marsh.

And finally for your amusement...



Do you see what Jeff's shirt says? Hah! That is his perfect day. I believe that I got him that shirt for his birthday. It's actually his favorite shirt even though he knows I got it to poke fun at him!

The First Haircut

I remember when Kylie got her first haircut. She and Daddy both got their haircut at the same time. We went to the barber shop at the PX. She was 2 and so very excited to get her first haircut. She sat perfectly still and she was done in about 10 minutes. We saved the hair from that haircut but it was lost when we moved to our new house.

Kaitlynn on the other hand...

Kaitlynn just had her first haircut about 3 weeks ago. She did not sit perfectly still. She looked everywhere completely overstimulated by the lights and the toys at Kiddie Kutters.



She kept trying to look in the mirror to see what the stylist was doing. Every time the stylist put her head down she perked it back up to look at what the other kids in the salon were doing. That is until she was given her lollipop.



Then you couldn't get her to look up. It was funny. All she was concerned about after that was getting that darn wrapper off. She was perfectly still after that.

I do have to say that the cutest thing was right after the first picture was taken. Right after that, the stylist cut Kaitlynn's long bangs and she proclaimed to everyone within a 5 mile radius, "I SEE!". It was very cute.

Sorry there is no pose with her new haircut. That's when my camera batteries promptly died!