Summertime Pantry Challenge Week #1

Here is what we ate this week:

*BBQ Chicken Salad-  BBQ chicken came from leftovers from a party at my husband's work and the lettuce came from our garden
*Homemade Pizza- using homemade spaghetti sauce (my husband makes this from our tomatoes)
*Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup in the crockpot- used some cans of cream of chicken soup
*Taco salad- using ground turkey from freezer and lettuce from the garden
*Fried Rice- using some chunky deli meat turkey that we got on sale and veggies in our refrig
*Baked Spaghetti Pie- spaghetti sauce with ground turkey, noodles, cottage cheese (mixed and put in a baking dish), shredded cheddar on top and sprinkled with pizza seasoning (will post a recipe soon)

I also made smoothies for breakfast and Banana Pudding Loaf using Alison's Quick Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding in the recipe.  The chocolate pudding is YUMMY!!!

I'm much better at writing what we ate rather than what we will eat.  It just depends on my mood what we will have on the menu.  I love this challenge.  The only thing that I bought was the cottage cheese, but I bought 2 big tubs from Costco to last awhile.

Jessna is 2 months old!

Brother and Sister (My beautiful babies!)

I love my pretty, pretty girl!  Jessna is already 2 months old.  Time has gone so fast.  When Jessna is happy, my heart just melts.  I hope she gets happier as time goes on.  Right now, I feel like she cries more than smiles, but I try to get those rare smiles.  Shrade is such a good big brother.  He is always trying to comfort her and tell her it's ok when she cries.

Making an "o"

Jessna's "Buffo"

You can see she's got quite a personality developing.

What Jessna is doing at 2 months:
*Eating every 3 hours
*Sleep at least a 5 hour stretch at night
*Smiling
*Cooing
*Tracking with her eyes
*Loves her pacifier and swaddling
*Quite fussy when eating

Height: 23.5"
Weight: 10 lb 6.5 oz.

If you want to compare what Shrade looked like and did at 2 months, check this POST.

I love having a baby girl and all the fun clothes I get to dress her in.  Right now she is pretty high maintenance and so all of my energy revolves around her and it's really hard to do fun things with my son, but I try anyway!

Recipe of the Week: BBQ Crockpot Chicken

I'm all about EASY right now! This is one of those recipes.

*Put 5-6 bone-in chicken pieces in a well greased crockpot. Mine were frozen.
*Pour 1/2-1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce on to your chicken. If you want more flavor use the whole bottle. I only used half.
*Pour in one cup of water. This makes it very tender.

Cook for 4-6 hours or until chicken is done.
Then take chicken out and debone. Put back in and stir.
Serve on top of rice or noodles with steamed veggies.

Hannah Michelle Weeks- Musician

I had the privilege of being Hannah Michelle Weeks Kindergarten teacher. Even back then she had a natural talent for singing! I was so surprised when one day on Facebook that I found her again and she had made a CD. I was even more excited when I got to see her in concert a few summers ago.  Right now she tours, has made a video and has also worked on a movie set.  She is gorgeous and has a beautiful voice.  On her debut album (Life's a Drama) she writes 4 of the 7 songs.  She plays guitar as well.  Who knew so much talent was in such a sweet package.

Go to her website Hannah Michelle Weeks- Country Artist Singer and Songwriter and listen to her music.  You will fall in love!

You can buy her CD for $12.97 or download album (MP3) for $9.99.

"Like" Hannah's Fan Page on Facebook- Fannah's! The Official Hannah Michelle Weeks Fan Club.  Tell her I sent you and tell her what you think of her songs.  PS.  She made her first album in high school!

Hannah and I- summer 2009

I can't wait to see how Hannah's career will progress.  She has such a strong beginning and I can see her soaring high!  Go, Hannah!  I knew you had something special way back in Kindergarten.  So proud of you!

Happy 101 Award!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the award image into a post.
2. List 10 things that make you happy.
3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day.
4. Put in a link to their blogs.
5. Notify the award receivers.
6. Recipients should link back to the sender’s blog.(Alas, I can't remember who gave this to me!)

10 things that make me happy:
1. My Lord Jesus
2. My Husband
3. My son and daughter
4. My extended family
5. Books (reading) and blogging
6. Music (singing, playing piano, radio, CD's)
7. Cooking
8. Bible study
9. Good movies
10. Quiet time

10 bloggers who brighten my day:

1.Hospitality Haven- I love Alison's recipes and down to earth adventure posts.
2.Happy Brown House- I love Sara's family and teaching posts.
3. Live, Learn, Love- I love Annette's preschool ideas and book reviews.
4. Domestic Engineer Extraordinaire- I love Jennifers's recipes.
5. Homemaker Honey- I love Deborah's blog layout and great ideas like praying for our husbands.
6.One Crazy Cookie- I love Tiffanee's recipes.
7. Silly Mama- I love Brooke's beautiful quilt designs.
8.Tami's Kitchen Table Talk- I love being part of Tami's Cookie Carnival.
9.Trinity Rose's Garden- I love Wanda's book reviews and giveaways.
10.Scripted By Shasta- I love reading about Shasta's adventures.

So go ahead and check out some of these blogs!  I love them all!

Healthy Snacks to Go Ebook: Whole Wheat Banana Flax Muffins

  I am so glad to have found Kitchen Stewardship's Healthy Snacks to Go Ebook. Last week I made the Granola Bars.  Well, they are all gone, so next time I will make a double batch.  This week I tried the Whole Wheat Banana Flax Muffins.  I love the very heart healthy ingredients in these muffins.  I also added chocolate chips because anything with banana needs some chocolate. And these are so easy to throw in the backpack as we go out and about for errands and fun kid experiences.  Yes!

So if you want to find some yummy treats to take on the go, check out Healthy Snacks to Go Ebook.

I have several more recipes that I'm going to try, so be on the lookout!  You can get the recipes by downloading the book for only $6.95: Click here to view more details.

Next I'm going to try Power Bars.  These will be great to take with us on our trip to MN later this summer.Also, next week we are having guests for a few days and I'm going to whip up Katie's Homemade Granola for a yummy breakfast.     

It's time to exercise!!

Yep, having a baby, you automatically gain several extra pounds.  Since I'm nursing I'm not going on the RESET program that I usually do because I need the calories to feed my baby, but as soon as I'm done nursing I will do that.  In the meantime I'm starting to walk again.  I use Leslie Sansone: Walk Away the Pounds Express - 1 Mile Easy Walk/Brisk Walk, 2 Miles.  I love these walks because they are simple and I can do them in my own home at my own time despite the weather.  I'm starting with just the one mile walk about 4-5 days this week.  Next week I will do the 1 mile walk and also the 2 mile walk at least one of the days.  At the end of the month we will be going to Minnesota for a family reunion.  My sister in law and cousins all like to go walking and I need to be in some sort of shape to do that!  Can't wait.