April’s 10 Things To Smile About

I’m linking up over at EmmyMom to her monthly meme 10 Things to Smile About.  She started it after a hard month to remind herself that there are always things to smile about.  I totally agree with her and love linking when I remember. 

Here are the things that made me smile this month:

1. Munchkin.

How can this little girl not make me smile? Even when she’s cranky she’s my sunshine girl!

 

2.  The Man

I love this man so much! I love how he takes care of me.  I love how much he loves his daughter.  Is there anything better than a daddy spending time with his daughter? It melts my heart every time.

 

3. Visit from my In-Laws

We had a great weekend when they visited!  Our day in Seattle was fun as was just hanging out at our house.

 

4. Starbucks.

YUM!

5.  Candy Crush Saga

I should have taken the advice of @molly_danger and NOT downloaded this game.  It’s so addicting as I’m sure many of you know! It does make me smile, especially when I beat a level that I’ve been stuck on! I’m currently stuck on level 92. GGGRRRR.

6. Grilling

We can and do grill year round here in the PNW.  We’ve been our of propane for months now and kept forgetting to get more. We FINALLY did and we’ve been grilling up a storm! Hot dogs/brats, hamburgers, steaks…all of it is so yummy!

 

7.  The Sun and Warmer Weather

The sun has started to make an appearance here in the PNW.  It even hit 70 a day or two last week and it looks like it might later this week too.  The sun makes me smile real big.  Give me some vitamin D please!  I also like being able to sun Munchkin’s dipes.

 

8.  The Garden

Warmer weather means it’s garden time!  I’m not very good at growing things but I enjoy having a garden.  It’s a little late but I’m excited to get some stuff planted!

 

9.  Blogging

I’m blogging again and loving it!  Some days it is a struggle but for the most part it’s flowing again.  I had a great time participating in the Ultimate Blog Party ‘13 hosted by 5 minutes for Mom this month, as well as linking up for Menu Planning Monday.  Link ups might not be super fun for all my readers to read but they help me stay blogging. 

 

10.  My Parents 35th Wedding Anniversary

My parents have been married for 35 years this month. Or well, they would have been, if my dad was still with us.  Even though the day was sad since he’s not with us anymore, remembering Dad makes me smile.  My parents had talked about taking an Alaskan cruise for their 35 wedding anniversary for YEARS.  So while my parents are not able to take it together, my mom decided that she still wanted to go.  We both agree that dad would want her to go! Since it’s no fun to go on a cruise alone, I graciously offered to go with her (I know, no noble and self sacrificing of me!)  We’ll be going later this year.  Knowing that the trip is coming and that we’ll be able to celebrate their marriage made me smile. The photo is from their 25th wedding anniversary party. 

Linking up at:

Mr. Fix-It

We bought a table toy for Munchkin from a friend of a friend pretty early in my pregnancy.  I was so excited for Munchkin to play with it, even though I knew it would be awhile.  Back when Munchkin first started trying to stand, I got it out and out help her stand at it.  She loved it!

I didn’t but batteries in it right away.  I was sad to see that there were still batteries in it when I went to put some in.  I have no idea how long they had been in there and they had leaked.  I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t work.  The Man cleaned it really well and it still didn’t work. I was so bummed. I knew Munchkin would love this toy! She loves to  stand at it and hit the buttons, even though it made no sound. 

The Man saw how bummed I was and said that he’d take it apart and see if he could fix it.  He didn’t think he’d be able to but he would try.  He finally took it apart last night and he was able to fix it!  One of the wires had come off and he had to solder it back together.  He wasn’t surprised it broke as it was poorly put together.  Munchkin loves that it makes noise now! It’s her new favorite toy.  I think we’ll be playing with this a lot in the coming days.

Random 5 on Friday

I don’t know about you but I’m so glad it’s Friday! Two whole days with The Man home to help out.  This morning started rough which brings me to my first random thought:

1.  The Man gets Munchkin right before he leaves around 5:30. He changes her diaper and gives her her medicine.  Then he brings her back to me in bed and we go back to sleep.  It works beautifully….until it doesn’t.  This morning when Munchkin came back to me she didn’t want any mama milk which is unusual.  Then she started coughing. And she coughed and coughed and coughed.  Then she threw up.  All over our bed.  Most of it got on the bed with just a little bit on her and almost none on me.  I didn’t want The Man to be late so I told him I had it.  I did but next time I’ll have him strip the bed and locate some clean sheets.  Also, it was time to change our sheets anyway. And once I did get clean sheets one, Munchkin went right back to sleep.  Then she was up for an hour and is asleep again. Poor Munchkin.

2.  The weathermen said it was going to be in the high 60’s again today. Well, it’s not.  It’s cold again.  I was hoping for another warm day. Oh well, hopefully spring will be here soon! I had to put socks on this morning cause my feet were cold. I thought I grabbed matching socks but a few hours later I realized I didn’t.

3. Thankfully it’s not raining so The Man will be able to mow our lawn. It looks like no one lives here or cares about the yard. Our lawn mower has been broken. The Man was able to fix it with the help of his dad this weekend so now he gets to mow the lawn. YAY! I’m also excited because then Munchkin and I can go out and enjoy the yard…if it ever warms up.

4. The Man tilled our garden yesterday! I’m a little behind and haven’t started anything from seeds but I am excited.  We started the garden last year but didn’t keep up with it.  This year I’m excited for our own veggies! I can’t wait to get stuff planted.  We’re going to be planting lettuce, spinach, green onions, zucchini, carrots, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and broccoli.  Are you having a garden this year? What are you planting?

5. I’ve gotten sucked in to Candy Crush.  I’m stuck again on a level. It’s a good thing I can only play 5 times in a row and that it takes a half hour to get a life! 

Have a great weekend!

I’m linking up with Miranda at The Pebble Pond:

Join the Movement

I know the week is almost over but I wanted to share for those of you that don’t know that April 21-27, 2013 is National Infertility Awareness Week.  Did you know that infertility affects 7.3 million people in the U.S? That means that 12% of women of childbearing age, or 1 in 8 couples are dealing with infertility. I bet you know someone who is dealing with infertility!

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse (six months if the woman is over age 35) or the inability to carry a pregnancy to live birth.  I have family and friends who are dealing with infertility.  The Man and I also experienced it, as we tried for two years to get pregnant before seeking help (yes, longer than we should have!)  I was convinced that the next cycle would be “the one.” Thankfully, we got pregnant one cycle after seeking help and we have a happy ending to our infertility story.  There are many who do not.

It can be hard to know what to say to someone who is dealing with infertility.  Telling them to relax doesn’t help…trust me, I know this from experience.  Infertility is a medical diagnosis and relaxing does not fix it.  Would you tell someone with cancer to relax?  I think not.  It’s the same with infertility.  I strongly encourage you to check out this page for things to do or say to someone who is struggling with this diagnosis.  I had so many people tell me to relax or tell me how easy it was for them to get pregnant.  Neither helped.  I was that women who blocked/unfollowed people when they announced a pregnancy.  I just couldn’t handle it.  It was hard, so hard.  I didn’t talk much about how hard it was.  It feels like you are broken, especially when everyone around you is getting pregnant. 

Knowing how long it took us to conceive Munchkin makes me a little nervous to expanding our family.  We both want more children.  I do wonder how long it will take to get a little brother or sister for Munchkin. I try not to dwell on it as I know it won’t help.  But the thought is there, lingering in the back of my mind.

Even if we don’t have anymore children, I am so thankful for my baby.  I am so blessed by her.  I’m thankful that I was able to carry and give birth to her. I treasure that experience.  I don’t take it for granted. 

I have friends who are still trying to have a baby.  If you’d like to follow their stories, I know they’d love to have you follow along.  Wife of a Sailor and Lauren are trying to conceive their first child.  I recently found Courtney’s blog through  the Ultimate Blog Party 13 and she is dealing with secondary infertility and is going to be doing IVF to conceive her second child.  Brittany is doing an IUI to try to conceive her second child.  Then there are those who decided to adopt to become a mom, like ArmyMomma.  This ladies are all amazing, incredible moms.

If you or someone you know is struggling with infertility, they don’t have to do it alone.  Please check out the resolve website for information and support.  You can find a infertilty 101 and more information on NIAW.  You can also reach out to me or to any of the ladies I mentioned above.  You are NOT alone!

Sick Kiddo

On Sunday Munchkin started having this nasty cough. It seemed to go away so we went to Seattle anyway.  It came back on Monday and didn’t go away this time so off to the doctor’s we went on Tuesday. Turns out she has a double ear infection. Poor kiddo! We just thought the pulling on the ears was because of teething.  She’s been sleeping better since we’ve started giving her cough & cold medicine per the doc’s orders. She’s been acting happier so that’s a plus!  I miss my happy baby.

 

 

Linking up with:

 

Seattle Day Trip

My In-Laws, Grammy and Grampa, came up for the weekend to see us.  Well, let’s be honest, they came to see Munchkin and The Man and I are just icing! Grammy lived in Seattle 50 years ago and has been wanting to visit.  So we decided that now was the time to visit!

We took the ferry over and I just love taking the ferry.  I don’t know what it is, it’s just fun.  It was cloudy on the way over so we didn’t get to see Mt. Rainer.  I managed to get Munchkin to nap, though she would have been happy taking everything in.

One we arrived in Seattle we walked along the waterfront. We also made our way to Pike’s Place Market.  I love Pike’s.  I love the flowers, the fruits and veggies and seeing what the vendors are selling.  It wasn’t very crowded which was a nice surprise!

We needed to rest so we headed to Starbucks.  It’s hard to visit Seattle and not visit Starbucks.  We managed to snag some seats and we talked and visited.  Then we headed back to the ferry.  We still had a little time to kill so we enjoyed some Ivar’s seafood.  Well, everyone else enjoyed seafood, I ate chicken!

The ferry ride back was nice because the weather cleared up a little.  It was nice to see some blue sky!

Sauce from Scratch

Back in our pre baby days, The Man and I would usually make our tomato sauce from scratch.  From scratch I mean opening up cans of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings.  It worked well for us.  Once the baby arrived, that took just a little too long so we switched to the canned stuff.  We did the canned over the jarred because we usually add stuff to it anyway and it is cheaper.  Then one day I looked at the ingredients.  I’m sure why there needs to be high fructose corn syrup in my tomato sauce, but there it is.  There’s a lot of other things in there too that I’m not sure about.

So I thought it would be nice to go back to the making from scratch sauce, except for it to be a little bit more from scratch.  Enter in the 25 lbs of Roma tomatoes I was able to buy from Bountiful Baskets. 

The acidity of tomato sauce can make it hard to can so I decided to freeze it instead.  We have an upright freezer that’s just perfect for this!  My goal was not to make a complete, table ready sauce.  I wanted to make a base that I could customize for whatever meal I was making.  We like this one because it coats the pasta well.  It’s not thick but I make it chunky by what I add to it later on.

Poekitten’s Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Onion

Garlic

Italian Seasoning

Olive Oil

Salt

Peppers/mushrooms (optional)

Instructions:

1. Wash the tomatoes.  I soaked them in a sink full of water with some vinegar added to it.  I let them sit for about 30 minutes but only because I got busy doing other things.

2. Quarter the tomatoes.  I use my Pampered Chef Vegetable Wedger so this step is super quick and easy.

2.5 Cut a few tomatoes in half and toss them with olive oil and a little salt in a bowl.  Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees.  I like to think it adds flavor but I’m not really sure.

3.  Fill a pot about 1/4 to 1/2 full over medium heat.  Stir it a few times as they cook down.  (I don’t stand there as I’m usually still cutting the rest of the tomatoes.)

4.  Once there’s a lot of “water” (you know, the tomato-y liquid that occurs when you cook them), add more tomatoes.  I’ll usually fill it about half way again.  Stir to mix them up and let them continue to cook over medium heat.

5.  Once I’m done cutting up the tomatoes, I’ll coarsely chop half and onion and add it.  I’ll also deskin a half a head of garlic. I’ll chop the cloves in half and I’ll add them in.  Sometimes I’ll add a pepper if I have one or a few mushrooms. 

6. Oh yeah, those tomatoes that were roasting in the oven? Add them in when they’re done, along with any juice that is in the pan.

7 Once the tomatoes cook down, Keep adding more until the pot is full.  Once I’ve added what I think will be the last batch of tomatoes, I add a tablespoon of Italian Seasoning. If that sounds like a lot to you, add less and taste it.  Keep adding until it tastes good to you.

8.  When it looks like all the tomatoes have cooked down, I turn the heat off and let it cool.  You can go on to the next step right away. I wait about 20-30 minutes because if I don’t, I tend to burn myself.

9.  Using a food processor or a food mill, run the sauce through in batches, as this breaks up the skin.  The sauce will be thin and could be eaten as a soup.  If it’s not tomato-y enough for your taste, you can add some tomato paste.  I store them in mason jars in the freezer until I’m ready to use it.

I tend to add some kind of meat the sauce, either ground beef, ground turkey or sausage.  I’ll also add onion, garlic, more seasonings and sometimes pepper and/or mushroom if we have them.  I’ve been known to finely grate carrot and mix that in as well.  Tomatoes hide other vegetables beautifully so it’s a great way to sneak some past picky kids or husbands.

I’m linking up with:

Boston

The Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt for the second suspect hits close to home for me, as it does for so many of us. I grew up in Southeastern MA, about 40 minutes south of Boston in a town on one of the many commuter rail lines.  In high school for French club we’d take the train into the city every year for a French meal and to roam the city.  I grew up with family in the city and have great memories of the city.  Boston is one of my favorite cities on the world.  While I’ve intellectually known that something like this could happen anywhere, it’s still a shock for it to happen at home.

I’d like to share a letter that was written by a high school classmate, Monique.  On Tuesday, April 16 she visited the finish line of the Boston Marathon and left a letter with flowers at a growing memorial on the corner of Boylston and Berkley.  She’s a mom and training to run a marathon.  She sums up what I think so many of us are feeling. 

An Open Letter to Whomever Bombed The Boston Marathon:

1) You attacked an event that includes 27,000+ people that have the mental fortitude and physical prowess to run 26.2 miles. Many train for this chance their whole lives. Chances are most of them are a lot faster than you.

2) You attacked Massachusetts on Patriots Day, a day we commemorate our patriotism and how our ancestors were courageous enough to take on the British Empire to fight for our freedom. In case you missed it, we won that one against massive odds.

3) You killed an 8-year old boy and put a 3-year old in the hospital. Every parent in the country is now looking for you.
To sum up, you happened to target a group of super fast, mentally -strong, courageous, freedom fighting patriots who are now hunting you down.

Sleep Well Tonight.

As I write this, Boston has been put on lock down and are asking people to shelter down in place.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in the city or even in the state today.  One thing I know…the suspect, the 19 year old man will be found.  He will be brought to justice. Boston and it’s people are strong.  Boston will remain strong.  This will just make them stronger.

* I waited to post this out of respect for the people involved.

9 Months

Dearest Munchkin~

You’re 9 months old now and growing like a weed.  You’ve been out in the world for about as long as you were in my belly.  At this time  last year I was excitedly waiting for your arrival. Now that you’re here, I love you more than I knew I would. You amaze me and I’m so thankful for you. I’m so thankful that I’m your mama! You’re my sunshine girl and you add joy to every day, even when you’re cranky.

You are a happy baby. You’ve been a little cranky because you’ve got 4 teeth coming in.  Your middle two teeth are coming in along with one on each side.  You’ve been pretty cranky at night and want lots and lots of cuddles. Daddy and I don’t mind at all!  We love snuggling with you. If snuggles is what it takes to get through teething, than snuggling is what we will do! We’re hoping they come in quickly so you’ll be your happy self again.

You also want to walk. We bought you the Sit to Stand to help you walk and you love it! I think it’s funny when you’re walking behind it and you reach your hand through to press the sun. You love to walk with it and to sit and play with it.  You also like to stand while holding on to one of us. You’re still a little wobbly while walking but I think you’re going to get it soon.  You have no interest in crawling. People keep telling that it is important for the devolvement of your brain and your arms that you crawl but I can’t make you! I try to put you on your ands and knees and you won’t have it. You go to your belly, pull up your arms and legs like superman and cry.  Daddy and I find it amusing. You’re cute when you cry.

You’re liking food more. You often eat when we eat.  You ate a stuffed shell the other night and made a mess but loved it.  You like chicken, strawberries, avocado, pasta, and kiwi, just to name a few foods.  Even though you.like all those foods, the mama milk is still your favorite.  I don’t mind at all!

Munchkin, your daddy and I love you very, very much. Thank you for being you. 

Hugs and kisses,

Mama

Accio Food!

 

We found out last night that Munchkin likes Chinese food.  She’s also discovering that she’s a muggle.  It was sad moment for all of us!

Cruisin’ In A Converitble

I wish I was the one cruisin’ in a convertible (though with all the rain we get, the top would almost never be down. I’m not sure it’s worth having one here!) but I’m not.  Munchkin on the other hand, is! 

She’s been in her convertible car seat for two months now (I had started this when we got the new car seat but never finished it. Better late than never, right?!)  Munchkin LOVES her “new” car seat.  She hated her infant car seat. I don’t know what it was about it but she would cry every time we put her in it.  Not just cry a little but scream like someone was hurting her.  It was so painful to go anywhere.  Sometimes she would fall asleep and sometimes she wouldn’t.

She still had some room in the infant seat but since she hated it so much we decided to switch her over early.  I’m so glad we did! She no longer cries in her car seat.  She’s so happy back there.  She looks more comfortable too.

We weren’t fans of the infant car seat.  We almost never took it out of the car.  We only took it out with her in it when she was asleep and were put the car seat in the stroller.  Most of the time we carried her, either in our arms or using a carrier.  We are seriously thinking of not getting an infant car seat with the next baby.  Have any of you just used a convertible  car seat from the very beginning? I’m wondering how it worked for you. I’m thinking it would work fine since we very rarely took the seat out of the car.  We traded in the one Munchkin was using so we’d have to buy an infant seat and then a convertible one.  I’m not going to lie, the idea of only buying one car seat is attractive too! What can I say, sometimes I’m cheap! I’m loving the fact that Munchkin should be able to use this seat till she’s 3. 

I never expected to blog about a car seat.  Oh, the things we write about as parents!  Have you ever written a post on a topic that you never expected to write?

Menu Planning Monday

It’s Menu Planning Monday again! I need to come up with a more creative title for these posts but on a Monday morning it’s hard to do! 

Sunday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Crockpot Meal with Salad

Monday: Stuffed Shells with Salad

Tuesday: Pizza Casserole with Salad (notice a trend?)

Wednesday: Cream Cheese Chicken with Salad

Thursday Pronto Pasta & Sausage Skillet (Pampered Chef)

Friday: Loaded Baked Potato Chowder (Pampered Chef) This on the my last menu plan but it didn’t get made so it got put back on the menu!

Saturday: Beans & Rice…I’m going to wing this one and make it up as I go.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Cream Cheese Chicken & Veggie Soup

Sunday: Homemade Hamburger Helper

Monday: Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff with Salad

Tuesday: Ham & Hash Brown Casserole with Salad

Wednesday: Chicken & Rice Casserole

Thursday: 15 minute Skillet Cassoulet

Friday: Balsamic Chicken with Salad

Another two weeks down! I don’t plan for lunches because we usually do leftovers for that. If I don’t plan a second meal for Saturday or Sunday we’ll either eat out or scrounge something up from what we have. 

What you are eating this week?

Linking up with:

Random 5

Today I’m linking up with Miranda from The Pebble Pond for the meme she created call Random 5 on Fridays.  I can do random.  I do random really well!  Just ask The Man!

1.  I’ve had a great bloggy week!  I managed to post everyday this week.  That hasn’t happened since I don’t know when.  It’s probably been at least 9 months.  I’ve also had a great time meeting new bloggers during the Ultimate Blog Party 13.  That’s how I found Miranda!

2.  Munchkin has 4 top teeth coming in.  The middle two have cut and the other two are working on it.  This is making for a cranky Munchkin.  Going to sleep is the hardest.  I feel so bad for her and I wish I could do more.   I’ll be so happy when the teeth come in.  It’s also making us thankful that we normally have a very happy baby. 

3. My Wii controller is on the brink.  It doesn’t want to work and it takes me 3-4 minutes to get it to work.  It’s cutting into my time watching Say Yes to the Dress!  I can’t get the other controller connected and it’s so frustrating!

4.  When it became clear that the sequester was going to happen and we were looking at 22 furlough days, The Man got a second job.  We were both looking and he found on first.  We had to have a second income with the loss of that much income.  We were thrilled when the number of furlough days were cut to 14.  The Man started his second job, which was a night.  It’s been about three weeks and let me tell you, it’s been rough.  Last night we heard a rumor that the furlough days could be cut to 7.  SEVEN days.  Seven days is way better than 22.  We can make do with 7 days.  We realized that we can live without the second income.  It will be tight but we can do it.  So The Man quit the second job last night.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.  Munchkin and I weren’t getting a lot of time with him and we NEED that.  So I’m a happy girl going into the weekend!

4.5  All of the Reese’s eggs I bought on Tuesday are gone.  GONE! Part of me is happy and part of me is sad.  How am I going to satisfy my peanut butter craving?

5.  I got an awesome gift in the mail the other day from my mom.  It’s a just because gift.  She sent me herb plants! I got marjoram, basil, oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary.  I can’t wait to plant them.  I love fresh herbs!  I usually start them from seeds and it’s been hit or miss for me.  I’m so excited to have the plants!

What’s up with you guys today?

Say Yes To The Dress

I’ve been watching Say Yes To The Dress on Netflix.  I’ve finished all the ones set in Atlanta and am now onto New York.  It’s great to have on in the background while Munchkin and I are playing.  The Man just laughs at me when he comes home and it’s on.  He knows how I feel about wedding dress shopping…I’m so glad I never have to do it again! I had a good experience I just don’t want to do it again. I had fun shopping with my mom and found THE dress for me. I just don’t want to spend that much money for a dress I’ll only wear for a few hours again!

Usually at the end of an episode I have warm fuzzies and everything is rainbows and glitter.  There have been a couple of times when that hasn’t happened.  It’s usually because the bride has a sense of entitlement.  I hate it when they don’t care about the budget and bully their parents into buying them a more expensive dress. 

I cringe when I hear things like “I always get what I want” and “the budget doesn’t matter” or anything along those lines.  Do they not know how bratty they sound?  It’s not cute or endearing to hear that from a grown women. It’s not all the bride’s fault, their parents have had a hand in creating the monster.  If they always give in then of course the bride is going to say something like that.  Why get upset now?  You’re reaping what you’ve sown.  It’s a good reminder to me, to make sure to teach Munchkin gratitude.

Also, the budget for some of these dresses boggles my mind.  If they have the money to spend, great. But some of them are almost what my my entire wedding cost.  It’s just crazy to me!  And the brides who bring tons of people with them is mind boggling to me too. You can’t please everyone and getting tons of opinions just make it harder (at least I think so!)

I think something that often gets forgotten in the quest to have “the perfect day”…and that’s the fact that what comes after the wedding is more important. The wedding is just a day.  The marriage is (or at least should be) forever.  The wedding doesn’t make the marriage.  The relationship is so much more important!

You get pictures of my dress because every post should have pictures, right?!

Did you have a good experience buying a wedding dress?

Easter

I’m a little late posting about Easter, but here it is in picture form:

New Skills

Munchkin is a busy, busy girl.  In addition to teething (we have 4 teeth coming in! All four on the top.  The middle two have cut and one on each side of them are right behind them.) Munchkin did two new things yesterday.

The first new thing she did was pull up to standing all by herself.  She’s been pulling on on The Man and I for awhile now but yesterday she pulled up on a triangle pillow.  I was folding clothes and I saw it out of the corner of my eye.  I was shocked when I saw that she standing.  Munchkin looked at me and grinned.  She looked so proud of herself!  I was so proud of her!  She hasn’t done it again but I’m sure she will again soon.

Then later last night, after tubby time and right before bed, she was standing in front of me while I sat on the sofa.  She was holding on to my knees and shifting her weight back and forth between her legs. Then casually she removed her hands and just stood there.  All on her own.  I don’t remember how long she stood there for but it was least 30-45 seconds.  I was just in shock that my baby was standing!

She wants to walk so badly. I find it amusing because she still hasn’t rolled over.  I think she’ll be 2 before she rolls!  But walking?  She’s working on it!

What’s for dinner? Chicken & Rice Casserole

Since becoming a mom I’ve been mostly cooking quick and easy meals.  Munchkin has a short window of tolerance for letting me cook.  Crockpot meals are ideal as are casseroles.  This casserole is yummy, easy and tweakable if you’d like to change it up a bit.  It’s perfect for hiding veggies in so feel free to add some!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice

3 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped*

2 cups cream of chicken soup (1 can) (use whatever cream of something you have on hand. or a homemade one like SOS mix)

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup mayo

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

.5* I take 2-3 frozen chicken breasts and grill them on my stove with my grill pan and press.  I heat the pan with the press inside.  While it’s heating I brush the breasts lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Greek seasoning. You can use whatever seasoning your family likes best.  They take about 8-10 minutes to cook.  Then I cut it up and add it in!

1. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.

2. Place in buttered casserole dish (if you use a stoneware casserole you don’t need to grease it).  Top with 1/4 cup bread crumbs or French’s French Fried Onions.  Bake for 30 minutes.

I’ve added mixed veggies to this, as well as finely chopped cauliflower and broccoli.  The rice hides things beautifully.  Just don’t put too much broccoli in or it could overpower it!

What’s your go to recipe?

I’m linking up with:

Let’s Party!

Welcome!

I’m so glad you stopped by!

I’m Poe, a thirty-something wife of The Man and stay at home mama to Munchkin.  We live in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest.  I love the beauty of the mountains that surround us and Puget Sound.  Seattle is a short ferry ride away and makes for a great day trip.  The Navy moved us ehre and we never want to leave.  I grew up in New England and while I love the northeast, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.  Thankfully The Man is no longer active duty and we can stay for as long as we want. In my free time (free time?  What’s that?) I enjoy reading, sewing and blogging.  On nice days we like to take the pups to the dog park to wear them out. 

Munchkin is almost 9 months old.  The Man and I are are delighted with her.  She’s a cuddler and I just love it when she snuggles in. She buries her head in my shoulder and wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes. My heart melts and bursts with love all at the same time.  I knew I was going to love her, I just didn’t know how much!

Motherhood hasn’t been the easiest transition for me.  I love my baby and being a mom but I’ve been dealing with some postpartum depression.  I haven’t shared too much about it yet, but I have shared how I’m still processing Munchkin’s birth and that my encapsulated placenta pills helped.  The blog has been a little quiet but hopefully that will be changing. 

We’re slightly crunchy around here (whole grain crunch according to this quiz.)  We’re a breastfeeding, cloth diapering, co sleeping, baby wearing , baby-led weaning kind of family. We do these thing because they work for us.  That was the best advice I was given while I was pregnant.  Figure out what works for you and your family and do it.  It doesn’t matter what other people are doing or what they think, do what works for you! 

You’ll find that I blog about life here at Many Waters.  I enjoy cooking so you’ll find some recipes (like this one for homemade teething biscuits) and menu plans.  Munchkin shows up frequently.  I also blog about my faith.  I try to share some of my struggles as I can encourage others who are experiencing similar situations.  It’s my life, messy and beautiful at the same time.  It’s hard for me to pick a favorite post, or even a couple so I’m not going to try.  My most popular ones are listed in the right hand column.

If you’d like to visit again you can follow me via GFC in the right hand column or on Bloglovin.  You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.  I’m on Pinterest as well, where I tend to pin recipes for menu planning and crafts to make for Munchkin and things to do with her when she gets older.  You’ll also find lots of photos of Munchkin on Instagram.  I hope you’ll stay a bit and look around.  If you have any questions, you can shoot me an email or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Please leave me a comment so I know you dropped by and so I can visit back.

Thanks so much for coming by! 

I’m linking up with 5 Minutes for Mom for the Ultimate Blog Party ‘13.