My Cooking Experiment

Back in September I confessed my love of all things slow cooker and I got a Facebook comment from a  friend that I needed to get the cookbook, Make it Fast, Cook it Slow from Stephanie O'Dea the creator of A Year of Slow Cooking.  I got her cookbook for Christmas and other than the occasional frozen pizza and one night of deer steak fajitas I have only made slow-cooked suppers since the new year.

My normal "new cookbook" routine is to read over it, pick out the things I know we will like, and only make the things I KNOW without a doubt we will like.  This time I wanted to try everything, unless it was something I know we will absolutely hate, and so begins my month of buying obscure seasonings and things on the "foreign" aisle at the grocery store.  We have had quite a few misses and have probably thrown out more food than we ever had but we haven't had a repeat supper since before Christmas and I am finding some new foods to add to our menu.

Brown Sugar Chicken
I was super excited to try this because she said it was nicknamed "Candy Chicken" at her house.  Mason helped me make it and he was excited to tell Ryan that it was full of Sprite and brown sugar.  However, neither kids would eat it for supper.  I thought it was OK - I ate it and so did Ryan but neither of us fell in love.

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
I am not a buffalo wing sauce fan and the whole house smelled like buffalo wing sauce ALL DAY.  I had somewhere to be that evening and I ended up eating Burger King for supper, but Ryan LOVED it and had it for leftovers the next day too.  I was too scared to ever try it!

Chicken and Brown Rice
I often say that I am a true Louisiana girl and if you can serve it with rice or over rice then I'll eat, but this was terrible!

Creamy Beef over Noodles
Came home for a minute between church and Sunday lunch at my mom's and this smelled so good! It had been cooking for 5 hours and had 5 - 7 more hours to go.  When I got home it had 2 hours left to cook and it was scorched!  I will definitely try this again when I can be home to turn it off sooner.

Barbecued Shrimp
This was yummy and totally a make-again dish.  Next time with less lemon juice though.

Parmesan Tilapia
We did not really like this.  It had way too much lemon.  Now that I know you can make fish in the crockpot then I may try out some different variations.

Seafood Alfredo
This was good but it did not turn out creamy like an alfredo sauce.  I think it was my fault; I used crawfish tails and I didn't rinse them out before cooking them; I just poured the bag in there and I think it added too much juice.

Bacon & Cheese Chicken
Loved it! I have never cooked with teriyaki sauce before and was a little nervous but it was super good!

Cajun Roasted Turkey Breast
Making this tonight with a few variations and substitutions - we'll see!

3-Packet Pot Roast
Roast is my go-to meal because I can throw in vegetables and meat and it is really easy.  I was getting tired of my recipe because we ate it so often.  This was really good and I will make it again.

A-1 & Dijon Steak
We used deer steak for this.  It turned out a little dry but deer meat is very lean and I think that is why.  It had great flavor though and I will cook again with beef steaks next time.  Oh, and I substituted apple juice for the white wine.

Asian Peanut Butter Pork
Those of you who know me well will know that I do not do oriental foods but in the spirit of my experiment I tried it.  I actually went out to eat with my sister and some cousins on this night but I sampled some of Mason's before I left.  It was surprisingly good!  However, the stomach virus hit Mason that night and I now I have spent the past few days scubbing Asian Peanut Butter Pork off my walls, clothes, sheets, hangers, laundry baskets (he happened to be walking past a nice & neat basket of folded laundry with hangers on top waiting to be put away when the urge hit him!) and I think it will be a while before we try again!  However, this did not make him sick!!

Chimichangas
I love chimichangas and was excited to try this! It was a little more labor intensive than I like but it was still GOOD!  I used pork (the recipe calls for beef or pork) and omitted the can of diced tomatoes because my kids and me don't really like tomatoes.  I totally burned my first two chimi's when I tried to fry them but the rest turned out really good!! I made Rotel dip to go on top of them.

Ryan thinks I have forgotten how to use the stove or oven but I am not missing them!  However, next month I am going to try more of the sides and I only have one crockpot so I will have to start making my main dishes using regular methods soon!

Hope ya'll can find something you like on here!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MOM!

My beloved Mom's birthday was this past Friday! I know I'm so behind on blogging . . . apparently my teachers would like me to devote ALL of my time to my schoolwork!

On her birthday, Conner & I went to my parent's house after dropping Mason off at school (shh, don't tell Mason!) and brought her some Monkey Bread and my Dad made biscuits so we all enjoyed an incredibly fatty, calorie-laden breakfast - yummy!

That night we joined my parents and two of their couple friends for supper at Crawdaddy's Kitchen.  I'd never been there before and it was really good! The boys love seafood so it was a win/win!

Here is the birthday girl!

Mom & Mrs. Kathy

Papa and his beloved's, Conner & Mason 

Our newfound cousins, Donald & Charlette

Mom & me - I know I look TERRIBLE if this wasn't a picture of me and my mom

I would have never put this on the blog!

Funny story - my cream colored shirt is actually part of Mom's birthday present!

I modeled it for her and then said "Surprise! After I wash this I'll wrap it up for you on Sunday!"

Anyway, my Mom is gorgeous and fabulous!  She is so sweet! Today we've had three discussions about my child's bowel movements and that is a normal day!  Even though my Dad says I call WAY TOO MUCH I still talk to her at least twice a day and sometimes more and she totally is my best friend!  For one of my classes I had to write an autobiography of sorts and I said that I couldn't recall many memories from early childhood but all I had to do is look and see how much my Mom loves my kids to know how loved I was!  She is a WONDERFUL Mimee to Mason & Conner (& Faith) and I cannot imagine one day without her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Faith Marie is Here!

Proud parents welcomed my little niece Faith Marie at 6:34 p.m. and she was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 17 3/4 inches long! Perfect in every teeny tiny little way!!

Proud daddy, Josh, and his new bundle of God-given joy, Faith

Does she look like she's been up since midnight? No! Beautiful Mommy, Erica!

Super excited Papa & Mimee and their first granddaughter

Faith is already so well-loved by her extended family!

Erica, Aunt Mindy & Faith, ReRe (Aunt Amy), Mimee, 

Erica's brother, Uncle Christian, sister Aunt Taylor, and mom, GiGi 

Erica finally gets her back from us - sweet love!

I've definitely caught the fever . . . ha, ha!!

College Student . . . Again

Yesterday began my first official day of college . . . yet again! Apparently I just like going to school!

I did end up passing my Praxis and my GRE - yea - and now I am enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching at Northwestern State University!  All of it is online and in 2.5 years (1.5 years of school if I go slow and 1 year of teaching) I will graduate and be certified to teach Secondary Education in English and Social Studies and possibly I'll toss Business Education into the mix as well!

All of my classes are online, but I do have to leave the comfort of my sweatpants (not much has changed since 1998 when I first started college!) occasionally for my field experience hours.  This will enable me to still be home with the boys while finishing school.  Technically, if I could find someone to hire me without being certified, I could began teaching now; however I would like to wait until Conner is in school.

Hopefully I will be able to streamline and prioritize my time wisely but if you don't hear from me on the blog for a while it's because I've got actual writing that I have to do! Like my three page paper due this Friday!!

Sort of Like Seeing a UFO . . .

a very rare occurence happened this past weekend - Ryan & I & boys left the house!! Praise the Lord! The occasion was Ryan's cousin's (Patrick) birthday party/Cotton Bowl game!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK (AND MAW MAW)!  Patrick and Meredith's son, JP, and my boys play so well together and they all had a great time playing inside and out.  I was in love with their new baby Addison, such a sweet little one! Can't wait for my niece, sweet baby Faith, to get here in 15 days and counting!

Sunday, I was let out again - this time to a baby shower for my cousin's wife, Lindsay.  A new little Burford boy should be here around February 8, 2011! It's a small world because Lindsay's mom, who is of no relation, introduced me to a cousin that was there that I had never met!  Although I did feel a teensy bit like a stalker because Lindsey over at Louisiana Livin'  knows Ann and therefore I felt like I knew Ann and I have a feeling I scared her just a little with all my knowledge of her! Oops!

Anyway, it was a great weekend with family and friends! Of course, I had my camera both places but it never made it out of my purse!

I'm Not One of Those Mama's . . .

doing carthwheels in the streets the day that Christmas break is over!! And no offense if you are, I totally get it!  Yes, life is simpler and quieter with only one at home (and one I can lock up for nap time for at least an hour), but I have really enjoyed having Mason home and Conner definitely has too!

To celebrate his last day of freedom I took them to Chuck E. Cheese yesterday!  He spent went to the movies and spent the night with my parents the day before so he was still gone while Conner & I were getting ready.  Here is my "so pretty, sweet baby" before our departure . . .

Little boys dig their mama's make-up too! Our stuffed puppy dog, "Woof, Woof," even got a makeover as well!

Chuck E. Cheese was fun! I'd never taken them without Ryan and I was a little nervous about being able to keep track of both of them.  Mason stayed pretty close by while I watched Conner and thankfully it wasn't too crowded!

Bob the Builder meets Bob the Builder . . . just don't notice that my Bob is barefoot - gross!

He has been pulling off his socks in the car and chewing on them and when we got there his socks were soaking wet!  Then when they played on the jungle gym thing he had to go barefoot.  I don't really even want to think of the germs!

Sweet Mason - we miss you so much today!



HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY DAD!!

My dad turned 58 on Wednesday, December 29, 2010!! Happy Birthday Dad!! Since it was a Wednesday night, there was a birthday celebration for him at church along with the other December birthdays.  I think this says a lot about my dad and my family!  I have been meaning to write this post since Wednesday but haven't because I haven't gotten on the Internet in a while and because I've been trying to think of what to say and now I've got it!

We normally go eat at my parent's house after church on Sunday's and lately the boys have been interested in going to my old room and digging around in my closet for any old toys that got left behind.  Last week we played with Barbie's - I loved it!  This week I reached up a little higher and was pleasantly surprised to find a hand-made "Cabbage Patch" like doll that my mom made for me for Christmas one year.  Her name was Sarah Marie and my mom worked so hard on it.  I remember that Christmas though and I've never said this before but when I saw that doll under the tree I wanted to cry.  All I wanted was a real Cabbage Doll from the store.  I did not want my mom to make me a doll.  In my child mind, all I could think was that my other friends had more than one Cabbage Patch doll already and probably got more for Christmas and I just wanted the real plastic doll - I wanted to be like everyone else and I wanted to be able to afford or to have what everyone else had too and the very last thing I wanted was to be different with my hand-made doll.

But you know what, when I went through my old shelves that doll was still there some 20-something years later, and its there because my mom spent her time and afternoons and nights sewing for me and making her clothes and stitching on her hair.  There's only one other doll there and I know over my lifetime I had more dolls than that, but Sarah Marie is special because she was made with love.

Maybe you are wondering what this has to do with my dad's birthday and this is it, I've never wanted to be different.  I've never wanted to stand out.  I've always wanted to blend in and that's not really in my dad's vocabulary.  I always wondered why my parents weren't at the cool events or in the social group or why we didn't have this or that and now I know, it's because they are different  . . . in a good way!  They always knew, even when I didn't, what way was best and it's the way the less travelled, it's the narrow road. 

Where I live my maiden name is sometimes recognized and usually when it is people will ask if I am related to "so & so" and more often than not its usually the ones that I'd rather not claim!  But in the past ten years, more and more people ask about my dad and they ask about church and they say how much they love my father and what he's meant to them and suddenly I'm so thankful that my parents were never cool (in my young mind - now I know they are the coolest!)!

So Dad thank you for choosing the narrow way, thank you for taking me with you - you may have drug me kickin' and screamin' (on the inside) in a 1949 Chevy, but THANK YOU nonetheless!  You (and Mom) are everything I want to be when I grow up!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!