A great weekend

We had a great weekend! Travis only has one class on Friday. So when he got home that morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed out the door. I've been looking for toys for the kids to have in the back yard. Thursday I got a kids plastic picnic table for $5 at a garage sale so we thought we'd hit up some garage sales. We ended up in Huber Heights, just north of us. The first place we went had a nice lady that gave us the name of several places to visit in the area. So we went out to Charleston Falls. It was very peaceful and kid friendly. We ate lunch and hiked over to the falls. A huge snake fell out of a tree. I mean HUGE. (The picture doesn't do it justice)Travis and Trouble explored a cave (even though Dynomite is in the picture).We put our feet in the pond. The sign on the pond is written as a mirror image, so it reads correctly when reflected off the pond. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! That night we went over to our new (and will probably will be well abused) friend's house for dinner and kite flying. They gave us their extra swing set that they got from their neighbors!

Saturday we got up early (I mean I didn't even put my contacts in early) at went to our neighbors yard sell. We got Trouble a two-wheel bike with training wheels. They had a plastic swing/slide thing for sale for the yard, but we didn't buy it. So we walked over to our other neighbors for their yard sale and looked around. While we were there another neighbor had pulled out to the curb a large playhouse, covered sand box (like the turtles, but this was a ladybug) and basketball hoop. So I walked over and she said if we can haul it we can have it. Sweet! So I stood sentinel while Travis finished over at the yard sale. He and the neighbor carried it all over to our house. One lady did walk by while I was selfishly standing guard and asked about MY newly acquired booty. I guess she was pretty upset I got their first!! I directed her over to the swing/slide thing, which she bought. We just hung out for the rest of the beautiful day, had a barbecue and managed to keep the house clean.

Sunday we went to renew our temple recommends and I got a calling as the Enrichment leader. That's what I get for complaining about how long I've been out of Relief Society :-)

Monday we went to our church playgroup where I got the some 20 questions over and over. Luckily I found a lady who had a lot to say about herself, so I was glad of that. Dynomite had so much fun that she came home and had a 4 hour nap!!

Tuesday we went to MOPS!! Another awesome group of ladies. Its smaller than the Minot group because there is 5 groups in the Dayton area. They already asked me to be apart of leadership for next year, but seeing how that didn't go so well in Minot, we'll see. I explained what had happened last year and she really didn't care, which means they are desperate for help!! When I applied to help in Minot I was rejected because I am Mormon. The leaders of that church where we meet said it was because of the difference in religious views. Mainly because we don't believe in the Trinity. It was more of a blessing than a let down because it meant that I couldn't help, so I could just relax and enjoy the fellowship of the other MOPS ladies without feeling like I wasn't doing enough. I still helped in the kitchen. Anyway, I got the typical 20 questions. The kids had fun. So we'll continue with this group.

I also finished the book for our ward's book club. It was "The Peacegiver"By James L. Ferrell. It was all about finding peace in our lives through the Atonement of Christ. And all the different aspects of the Atonement. The book mainly focused on a marriage that was falling apart, but could be applied to any situation and to every person seeking to more fully understand what Christ did/still does for us. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book.

It was a beautiful weekend full of family time and good friends! Its going to be hard to pack up in two years!! -- okay, you can ask me that again in two years HAHA!!

KTT: Tin Foil

My Mother-in-Law, Lori AKA Grammy, sent me a great kitchen tip about tin foil. To preserve the life of celery wrap it in tin foil before putting it in the fridge. Thank you!!

So I wondered what others were doing with their tin foil (aluminum foil, if you prefer). These are mostly from Thriftyfun.com and families.com (literally a cut and paste job!!):

1. Need to sharpen your scissors? Take a 12 inch-14 inch strip of Heavy-duty Aluminum foil and fold to 8 layers. Now, just cut as many thin strips of foil as you can manage (25 is preferred). Your scissors are now sharp! If using standard weight aluminum foil, just fold to 16 layers and proceed.
2. You can seal any plastic bag by placing a piece of aluminum foil over the end to be sealed and running a hot iron over the foil. Make sure you have foil on both sides of the plastic to be sealed so it doesn't stick to the ironing surface. No expensive sealing gadget required.
3.Having a white smooth surface stove top is a lot of extra work each time it's used. To make less work for yourself, place a piece of aluminum foil over the burner and under the pan. Cleanup is a lot easier and the little extra time is all yours! Recycle that foil! Stash it near the stove so it's handy for next time!
4.When making a casserole, double the ingredients and make two. Cook one and store the other in the freezer. Cover the casserole in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before freezing. Use a marker to write the date on the foil. You can re-use the foil to cover the casserole when cooking it. Casseroles can be frozen for 3 months.
5.When you are out of scouring pads (or are on vacation without any), use a crumpled piece of aluminum foil as a scrubber. It takes a little bit longer, but it does the trick!
6. For grilling in and campfire dinner (look up on Internet for dozens of tips and recipes).
7. Place mats.
8. Around outer edge of pies to keep from burning.
9. You can use a piece of tin foil to hold batteries in place if you've lost the cover to the battery compartment. Crumple up a small piece and wedge in between the batteries. It helps to hold them in place. You can also do the same thing if the spring that holds the battery in place is broken. Tear a small piece of foil, crumple it up and place it between the battery and the spring. Works as good as new!
10. Cover baking sheet with to make for easy clean-up.
11. Polish chrome finishes (I would think it would scratch the chrome, but maybe not?) If there is rust, dip the foil in cola. The Cola eats away at the rust as your cleaning.
12. If you need to quit halfway through a painting project just wrap your brush in foil and put in fridge. Unthaw for an hour and so and continue painting. (This does work, my mom did this whenever she painted the house.)
13. Keep your drinks cold by wrapping foil around the outside of your cup. Even write names on it to know whose cup is who's.
14. You can create a make shift funnel for anything - cooking, placing oil in your car, etc. by using a piece of tin foil. Double it up and wrap it in a cone like shape. Tear the end and there you have it!
15. Place a piece of tin foil in the bottom of a basket or serving container. Place a napkin on top and the rolls on top of that. The tin foil will help insulate the heat and keep the rolls fresh and warm!

Youngs Farm

Saturday we went to Youngs Farm. It is a farm with some animals and a whole bunch of fun things to do. Our kids will be warped as to what a real farm is!! Anyway, at this 'farm' there is a mini golf course, go carts, driving range, hotel, restaurant, some old tractors to climb on, and some cows and goats. It was so nice to be outside. The weather was beautiful. We managed to sunburn the kids a little :-( We got to see quite a few F16 (F something anyway) take off, too. We ended our trip there with their homemade ice cream!

Later that day we discovered the elementary school playground behind our house. I guess its good to explore. Beats the dinky one we kept taking the kids too!

KTT: Crispy Ranch Chicken - and Ziploc Bags

#3 I really love breaded chicken and pork chops fried in flour, but always dreaded the dipping part...first in the eggs then the crumbs. My bowls never seem to be right to 'coat evenly'. So I started using Ziploc bags...the off brands anyway (I've also used bread bags to cut more costs). If the recipe, like the one below, calls for eggs I'd put the eggs in a gallon sized bag, close it, then smash the bag all up to beat them. Open the bag and put in the raw chicken and shake it all up. In another bag, put the crumbs in (i.e. crushed saltines, Ritz, cornflakes or breadcrumbs) and add the eggy chicken from the last bag. Shake it all up and your chicken is evenly coated! Discard the bags for easy clean-up! Below is a great recipe that I've had floating around for a few years but recently tried (kids loved it). It probably took so long because the cereal got eaten before I got a chance to cook this :-) Enjoy!

Crispy Ranch Chicken
Prep time 10mins
Bake 20-30mins

2 Cups crispy rice chicken
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope (1 oz.) ranch salad dressing mix
2 egg whites beaten
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 5 oz. each)

You can use individually frozen chicken breast, which means you have to cook longer!

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the rice cereal, Parmesan and ranch salad dressing mix in a large bowl. (or bag!!)

2. Place beaten egg whites in a medium bowl. (or bag!!) Dip each chicken thigh in the egg whites and then in the cereal mixture to coat evenly.

3. Arrange the coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife, 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.



I like to dab on a little butter before cooking:

Easter and Our First Visitors

We had a great Easter. We started off by dying eggs during FHE. This was sadly the first time we've done this since Trouble was born. At first Travis thought it would be a good idea to blow out the insides of the egg, then dye them so they'd be good for Easter. But the first thing Dynomite did was break them. So we just decided to do hard boiled eggs. I made them strip, so they didn't get dye on their clothes. They were very proud of their creations.

On Saturday who should show up at our doorstep? Mr. Pat, Ms. Kelly and Raina!! Pat and Kelly spent a fabulous week in Jamaica. They were driving back to ND from NY (where they left Raina with Gramma Donna and flew to and from Jamaica) when they stopped by and saw us for Easter. Come to think of it, we've probably spent the majority of the holidays together in Minot (with our without our husbands!!). So it was so great to have them! Actually they arrived about dinner time when Trouble and I were in the store. While at the store I thought about how Kelly always had or brought us brownies for dessert. So I bought few boxes. Well, after dinner she goes out to her car and comes in a tray full of brownies!! :-) She's always thinking of us! For Easter they brought plastic eggs filled with puzzle pieces. Trouble had camo eggs and Dynomite had pastel eggs. They went and hid them in our yard. So after they found all the eggs we put the puzzles together. Trouble thought that that was so neat that he slept with his puzzle that night. (He sleeps with his favorite toys!)Sunday Morning we had breakfast and the kids found their baskets...Thank you Yaya and Papa for all the great treats, clothes, and toys. We went to church in all our Easter outfits. Don't you love Raina's rosy checks!In order of age:Just the way we like them: We sabotaged Pat and Kelly's efforts to get an early start home by promising them a good Easter Dinner. We had the traditional ham with all the fixing and Kelly made us some candied carrots which I will be adding to the meal repertoire from now on. I made a Easter Egg Nest torte. It was a bit rich, but yummy!

It was a great trip! It was so nice to have Pat and Kelly stop by even though it was a little out of their way. We are grateful to have such great friends!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

#2 I buy onions in bulk then chop them all up. I put 1/4 cup in Ziploc snack bags and put them in the freezer. So if a recipe calls for onions I have them already to go. From freezer to frying pan to soups to crock pot meals to casserole dishes to whatever. I also do the same with red, green and yellow peppers. It cuts down on prep time and too many episodes of crying :-)

So what do I use to chop? My absolutely favorite things...drum roll please....
Vidalia Chop Wizard. I love this thing!! Its great for chopping up food for little mouths. I do carrots and potatoes for stews, apples and pears for fruit salad, cooked chicken breasts for casseroles and so much more. Its easy to use and just tip it up and you have measurements. Then it comes with a comb to clean the lid. All dishwasher safe. It has really cut down on my prep time.

Pictures of Kiddos!

We had these done at Sears before we left. The kids cooperated amazingly well. We, however, were very tired, therefore there isn't a family portrait. We, including my mom who was in town for visit, pulled an all nighter getting the house ready for the Realtors to come by. She cleaned while we worked. We couldn't have gotten the house ready without her! She worked really hard while we tried to keep our sanity.

The kids like to pull funny faces (don't all!!). So we have cues like "Mean Guy Face" or "Happy Guy Face" or "Sad Guy Face". This is their "Surprise Guy Face".