Ariana Cooks! Pt. 2 April 13, 2018

I am slowly but surely getting these posts up. This is the second one I am doing today. This meal was a favorite among the girls but I didn't like it as much as they did. The crust was a little too hard and my favorite part were the vegetables on top. The size of the pizzas weren't enough for all 5 of us, so we made a salad to go along with it, so it was a veggie night. This meal was the Veggie Pizza wit Crispy Rice Crust

Ingredients We Used:

1 cup, cooked according to package directions UNCLE BEN'S® Flavor Infusions Garlic & Butter Rice

1 egg

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon dried oregano½ cup prepared pizza sauce1 ½ cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
fresh vegetables
We made two pizzas, so we had to double the recipe. 

Ariana Cooks! Pt.1 April 7, 2018

I know I am a month late with this post and the sad thing is, is that she only got to make two of the recipes that we chose for the month. Dinner plans changed and also we couldn't find what we needed at the end of the month or it was just to expensive where we were shopping. I budget when I shop and I do meticulous planning of every shopping trip. She had fun the two meals she made.This meal was called Country Style Turkey and Rice Casserole.

Ingredients We Used:

• 1 box UNCLE BEN’S® COUNTRY INN® Chicken & Vegetable Rice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 can low-fat condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 6 cups diced cooked turkey
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 pkg stove top stuffing

Cooking With Samantha #2

I planned on having this up way earlier than this, but RL is definitely getting in the way. The second recipe Samantha made was meatballs and rice. This was the 2nd of 5 recipes that we got from the Ben's Beginner's program from Uncle Ben's. We also had company over and he tried one of the meatballs and enjoyed it.

Samantha wanted to try to cut an onion by her self, but she didn't make it past a good slice before she had tears in her eyes. I shower her out to cut them and she couldn't handle it.

We added the onion to our bowl and then the mince garlic and the spices.  I have the recipe linked above if you want to make this with your kids.

Then came to part I can't stand about making meatballs. I mixed it by hand, and started making the little meatballs.

Then came time for us to make the sauce. I definitely didn't have enough sauce and next time, I will be using crushed tomatoes instead of the recommended diced. I did add a little bit to much onion, but the girls and Cayce and his friend enjoyed it.

We didn't have any leftover rice, because it went into the meatballs, so Sammy suggested pasta and it was delicious. Next time, I will be making a few alterations to the sauce to make it saucier and to have more.

Sammy is still loving this cooking lessons and she loves hearing us tell her thank you for the meal. I can't wait until we continue with different recipes during the summer.

Cooking with Samantha #1

Welcome to my new mini series. It is very delayed, but Samantha is having fun with it. I applied some time last year to host a Lil' Ben's cooking party from House Party. These recipes were some of the favors that were given out for the applicants. I wasn't selected to host, the party, but I still wanted Samantha, Ariana and Adalyn to do these recipes for school. Samantha is doing the recipes this year, and Ariana will do them next year and then Addy will do them when she hits 2nd grade. 

The first meal that Sammy made was Cranberry Rice Stuffed Pork Chops. She made this back on Friday April 7. We did have some problems and didn't have the right pork chops, but it all turned out great in the end. Samantha loved being in the kitchen and getting to do way more. I was going to make it part of her school day, but decided at the end to just add it on to her already done school day.

all the ingredients ready

mixing together the sauce and rice to place inside pork chops

We didn't exactly stuff the pork chops because we got the thin cut and so we just did roll ups and it didn't look appealing, but it was delicious

The finished product

Samantha also requested that we do a baked potato on the side and this was our dinner.

She had so much fun cooking this meal for us. She cooks with Cayce when he does breakfast, but this was a meal, that she did with minimal help. She is learning very valuable kitchen skills. 

My Addy Baby is 5

Yesterday my baby turned 5 years old! WHAT!! Adalyn is now a 5 year old and starting to do more things with her sisters and she is getting smarter each day. It's hard to believe that 5 years ago, we were having such a tough time dealing with all her complications after her birth and wondering how Samantha and Ariana were doing without their mommy and daddy. She had such a great day yesterday and such a fun past weekend with her daddy and sisters.

I love you my Adalyn!!!

Happy Birthday to my Ariana

My mini me turned 6 years old today. She was so excited all week waiting for this day because it turned into her and daddy's day. She had her annual checkup, then they went shopping. She got to spend some time with her granny and papa.

So, overall my girl had a good birthday... in her words, it was the best birthday EVER!!

I love you my Airy!

First Day of School

We have been done with our first day of school for about 30 minutes now, might have been longer when I finally get this up, but it has been a fun but hectic day. We started at 10:30am. I had made up my mind that we would not be starting any earlier than that this year and I would not start after 11:00 unless there was an emergency.

Today was so fun for both girls because their excitement was contagious. I was laughing and having fun right along with them. It was also hectic because I tried to get them both to do different things at the same time. Nope, I found out when we finished for the day, that I couldn't keep doing the same thing for the rest of the year. I am physically and mentally exhausted.

I am sending Cayce to take Sammy and Airy to Wendy's and redeem their free frosty's that they got for summer reading. It is their treat for completing first day of our new school year.

They enjoyed their little desserts. After they got home, then we had supper. They were very quiet after supper and they were tired. Too tired to run around and be loud like they usually are. So we put them to bed and after, I fell onto my bed and didn't want to get up. Cayce also picked me up a treat too while they were out. It was a Good job today mama treat. So funny... and so good.

So here's to a great 2015-2016 school year!!!

Ariana's Fishing Trip

Ariana had her first fishing trip yesterday and LOVED IT!!!! We were kind of nervous because my dad and I didn't know how she would like the noise of the motor and Noah is a two seater and her seat is only a foot from the engine. But she did great and loved it. My dad looked back to check on her and she said she had her hands up in the air and was just laughing hysterically.

she was eating her breakfast right after getting on the lake

Ariana had a blast and did not want to come home. She wanted to stay there forever....lol. Those were her exact words. I know baby girl, me too!!! When they got done fishing, my dad got them too the dock and loaded the boat back on the trailer and before they got out the lot, she was knocked out, dead to the world, catching flies. My dad busted out laughing because they didn't even hit the main road.

She woke back up when they got back to my parent's house and she was too tired to help clean the fish, so there aren't that many pictures of her, but next time there will be pictures.

When my dad brought her back home and got her out the truck, she busted into tears. She didn't want to come home. She wanted to stay with her granny and papa and go back to the lake. The only way I got her to calm down was with food and cuddles. She didn't want to be touched or talked to. So, there will be plenty more fishing trips for her.

Saturday's Dinner Pics

When my dad brought Sammy back home from her fishing trip, she was wore slap out and hungry. My dad was surprised that she came right to me and said that she was hungry, because she had eaten to her heart's content when they got back from the lake and then she had a small nap.

That girl of mine has a bottomless pit for a stomach. It's never ending. I wasn't planning on cooking and having some Ramen noodles for supper because it was so hot outside, but she wanted a meal, so what she wants, she gets.

After we put her fish away, we got dinner started which was hamburger helper and veggies. They all sat at the table and enjoyed the goodness.

Happy Kids, Happy Mommy!!!!!

Sammy's Fishing Trip

Yesterday, Samantha went on a fishing trip with my dad. My dad is an avid fisherman and he goes every chance he gets. That's one thing we always did during my childhood. If we weren't fishing in Lake Murray or in Santee, we were up on top of houses roofing. My dad has been a roofer his entire life and that has finally stopped when he fell of a roof 3 years ago and had to have a major surgery on his foot.

Anyways, he took Sammy fishing for the second time in her life. She loved it.

He picked her up on Friday afternoon, because my dad leaves early in the morning when it's still dark to get to his spots. Things never change.

He got one pic of her before they started getting bites and had to work at reeling all their poles. When my dad fishes, he put out 4-5 poles at a time. He's an expert, let's just say that.

Samantha loves fishing. She loves the boat which my dad named Noah. I call that my boat, and my brother and I fight all that time over who is going to get it in the future. I got this little person to help sway decision making...lol. But hopefully, we wont have to decide for a long time.

In the early afternoon, they headed home. My dad doesn't stay as long as he used to because the heat bothers him and one thing that happened to me when I was little was that I almost had a heat stroke. After that, when ever it got too hot, we would go home, fish or no fish. Our health came first and sure enough, right when Samantha told her papa that she was hot, he headed back to the dock!

Now, my dad taught me how to skin and clean the fish right when he started taking me fishing. You want to eat it, you clean it. Sure enough, he is passing this stuff down to my kids.

Sammy's catch.

Her first catch of the day was the catfish. She reeled it in and brought it in the boat all by herself. My dad said it reminded him of me. Because I would do all of it. I would bait my hook, cast my line, wait, wait, reel in my fish and bring it into the boat and then let my dad take over. I would not touch the fish at all until cleaning time.

holding up a catfish fillet

scaling the fish

happy kid

"it's gross and fun"

Overall, my little person had a fun time and she can't wait to go back after her birthday. She wants a water themed birthday, but we will get to that later.