12/8/10

Hello Blogland!

I'll start this post with a disclaimer...It's not my normal randomness of a post but rather just what's on my heart. Just thoughts that need to get out of my head and on to paper.

I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents took us to church, taught us about God and lead lives that pointed us to Christ. I was brought up in the church and always had friends that were believers. Many of the people I attended church with are still friends and it's safe to say that they were a huge part of my faith community.

At the time in my life (up until high school) I doubt that I appreciated the roles that all those people took on and how they shaped me as a person. Once I reached college, I had a desire to find a similar community and was blessed like crazy to attend Beltway Baptist the entire time I was at ACU. I also had chapel daily at school and met with an friends who held me accountable in my life. It was a season where I took my faith as my own and grew a lot as a person.

Once I moved to Illinois, finding community was more difficult. I lived alone, went to a commuter school and was working and completing an internship. When Currey and I got married we were still longing for community. We became a part of a huge church and a small group that we enjoyed but we still felt like we were missing something. (To be fair, we lived 45 minutes from our church and small group and it's next to impossible to be in community with people when there is such a great physical distance.)

And then we found Life Church. We were hooked from the very first worship song. The people were warm and genuine. But the biggest draw was the honesty of everyone we met. People really wanted to do life with us. The good, the bad and the ugly. Even the really ugly. I didn't realize it immediately but we'd found community. That thing that I believe all believers long for. We got plugged into a small group and we began sharing life with those that were a part of our group. I could list all the reasons that our church is amazing and trust me I could easily come up with 100. But that's not the point. The point is we found community. A place were we are loved unconditionally, supported entirely in our gifts and talents and a place where we are accepted just as we are.

I'm in a season of appreciation that we have such a place but also a place of grieving for those that don't. I watch others, even believers, stumble blindly through life because they refuse to become vulnerable with those around them. Pride gets in the way of truly becoming a part of a community or sometimes its a fear of really being known by others. But that my friends is not what God intended. I believe that he longs for us to spend time with others, being encouraged and sharpened. I also believe that this is a greater support than just your family. Parents, siblings and spouses can all be sharpeners of our faith. But there is an even bigger community to belong to. Friends that become family and choose to love you in spite of yourself. So during this season of advent I urge you to find community. It's a sweet season of anticipating the birth of our savior. What better time to join with other believers to celebrate! May you joyously celebrate during this season of advent.

11/13/10

Every time I grocery shop these days, I'm reminded that I've not finished this series. Since I'm not great at blogging to begin with, a multi-post series might not have been the best idea.

I'm a very visual person. Seeing things makes them make sense to me. So here is a trip to the store.


Normally, we do not buy this much processed food. I promise! This trip to the store was before our churches Women's retreat. I was going to be gone overnight and asked Currey what he wanted for dinner while I was away. Frozen pizza was the answer. Also, I had a high value coupon to try the P.F.Chang frozen meals and they were on sale so I got that dinner for about $4. (On a side note, they aren't that bad. Not something I would regularly buy but in a pinch it was a decent, easy to prepare meal.)

There's a lot of candy because I was making Reese's cup cookies and taking M&M's for snacks.

Here's the run down. I spent $65.05 and saved $19.34. Yes...almost $20. This is the contents of this shopping trip.

Digiorno Pizza
Rice Krispies
7 Gerber Organic Baby Food packs
7 Earth's Best Baby Food jars
1 Package Huggies wipes
Peanuts
Balsamic Vinegar
Flour tortillas
Slice of cake
Roast
Deli Ham
Deli Salami
2 cans organic sweet potato puree
2 bags Reese's Cups
2 bags M&M's
2 bags cookie mix
P.F. Changs frozen meal for two
Toothpaste

Obviously, there are not very many meals in this run. A random trip just means that I have lots of odds and ends at the house that I need to use up.

To shop well, you need some flexibility. I was planning on making steaks but none were priced that well. But this roast was about to go bad so it was marked down $3 and I had a coupon for $1 off. So I got a $10 roast for $6. If you regularly price roasts, this is a great deal. Also, I needed balsamic vinegar. The bottle I got was being clearanced. It's regularly $6 but I got it for $2.

Target, especially, has great clearance deals. Often times, it's brands that they aren't carrying anymore. It's always worth checking out.

Those are my tips. I hope there is something that you find helpful about these tips. I'm really hoping to return to posting recipes very soon. We've gotten some great one recently. I can't wait to pass them on!

Sweet Peanut...

Our time with you continues to FLY. It's so hard to remember what life was like before you were here. You continue to bring us more joy than we ever imagined. Here's what you've been up to this month.

• You are still a very petite Peanut and only weigh 16 lbs. You are still in mostly 6 month clothes and you are wearing lots of Babylegs and a jacket with your summer dresses as most of the fall clothes we have for you are still too big.
• You are still eating like a champ but have become a little more picky about food. You still love all fruit except apples and will eat most veggies. You have made us VERY aware that you don't like spinach. :)
  
• You got really sick this month and it was not fun for any of us! You got to visit Dr. Corcoran several times and your sickness lingered for about a week. We hated seeing you not feel well but we took full advantage of your need to be snuggled.
  
• Lulu and Pops came for a visit. You were spoiled like crazy and got to enjoy lots of walks and countless hours of play time. Your wardrobe and toy selection were expanded as well.
• You still are not sure about crawling. You get up and rock consistently and will take about 3 "crawls" as we've started calling them but then you plop down on your belly and army crawl to where ever you want to go.
• You LOVE to talk. All the time. You sometimes seem annoyed when mommy or daddy "interrupt" you when you are "talking" to Moose or Gracie or just to the air. We can't wait until you have a vocabulary. We think that you will have LOTS to say!
  
• You are starting to notice older children and are fascinated by them. I love to watch you interact with other kids.
• You continue to have the sweetest disposition! You love people and smile at anyone and everyone that gives you any attention. You have started giggling a lot and love to be tickled under your chin.
• We are convinced that you will have teeth soon, although we've been saying that for months! EVERYTHING goes in your mouth. You chew on whatever you can get your hands on so we think any day now we will see a tooth.

Blythe,
Each day brings us more joy than the last! You continue to be a greater blessing than we could have ever imagined. You bring joy to the world around you and you continually brighten peoples day with your sweet smile. It's a blast to watch you grow and we love continuing to watch you explore your world! You are absolutely our Precious Peanut!
We love you like crazy!
Mom and Dad

10/30/10

So, is it really necessary that I start every post with an apology about how long it's been since the last one? If you read this regularly at all you know that I'm a sporadic writer. And I really don't know who reads this anyway. So maybe I'm apologizing to cyber space...which is ridiculous!

Moving on...This is the second installment of how to save money at the grocery store. We'll title it coupons. Now if you just rolled your eyes or are contemplating not reading further, please reconsider! I'm not a coupon maniac but by taking a little more time I regularly save $10-$25 on our groceries. Yes, in addition to what I'm already saving by shopping sales. This is how we are keeping our grocery budget in line.

I keep my coupons organized by month so I always look at what's about to expire. I shuffle through them all to see if there are coupons for anything I'm planing on buying that week. I also pull coupons for things that I saw on sale or for things that I might buy if we have excess grocery money after buying the necessities. I keep these coupons out and look through them at the store just to remind myself what I've got coupons for.

So where do these coupons come from? I periodically buy a Sunday paper. That is great for coupons for toiletries and household products. Also, I almost exclusively shop at Target for groceries. And their website has great coupons. I've also learned that most brands have coupons on their websites. Many brands even have email lists and periodically send high value coupons.

If you do decide to get a paper, cut the coupons that you think you will use. Then look at the circular for the store where you normally shop. Often times coupons are released the same week as a sale on the products featured. (Does that make sense? I hope you get what I'm trying to say.) You can save extra by using a coupon when the product is already on sale. So...I think that sums up couponing. I have an actual receipt and pictures from a recent trip to the store. I'm hoping that will help give you a better idea. Hope that helps! Happy Sunday!

As always, this post is late!

It seems as though time is flying by faster and faster! Each month brings more milestones and is more fun than the last. Blythe is still the happiest baby around. She is super smiley and loves to be with people. She continues to easily go to anyone and loves all the attention that she often receives. So here's what we've been up to this month:

• Blythe has started solids! I'll do a post about that soon. It's safe to say that she LOVES food! We have yet to give her something that she won't eat. She's not a fan of apples but even those she will tolerate.
• We had some issues about her not gaining enough weight. Our doctor recommended that we double all of her solid foods. Blythe has started eating up! She loves variety and at our next weight check we were so excited to hear that she is back on track with weight gain.
• We got to go to her first play this month as well. She got to see our friend Maddie in Charlotte's Web. Blythe sat still for the entire hour performance and watched the entire play. Like I said, she's a super easy baby!
• Another BIG event was that I left Blythe overnight for the first time. I went on the Women's Retreat with church. She and Currey had a blast together and I enjoyed myself immensely! But I loved getting home and loving on Blythe.
• Blythe is scooting like a champ! She will get up on her hands and knees and rock but then she flops down on her belly to army crawl. She is getting into everything!!!! It's so fun to watch her see something she wants and then scoot to it. She is one determined child.
• She has also gotten to start BSF with me. I love knowing that she is already learning truths about scripture, is listening to hymns geared to babies and kind women are praying over her each week. It's such a sweet blessing that we get to spend time together each week at Bible Study Fellowship.

Blythe,
It continues to bring us such joy to watch you learn and grow. Your smiles are endless and your giggles are contagious. You love your world! You love Moose, especially when he wants to give you kisses. You take out your paci every morning after breakfast so you can get his kisses! Neither you or Moose agree with Mommy and Daddy that this kisses are a bad idea. You are easy going and always go with the flow. You bring us more joy than we could have ever imagine. We love you like crazy!
Mommy and Daddy

9/25/2010

As promised, here is my first money saving post. I have no idea how many posts this will end up being but I'll start with this. There are literally hundreds of blogs that list deals, give tips on using coupons and share tons of money saving help. I had several sites on my Google reader but easily became overwhelmed. I've found that I can look at what works for someone and figure out which pieces work for me.

Here is what I know DOES NOT work for me.

1. I'm not a several store shopper. I do most of my shopping at Target and do a little shopping at Whole Foods.
2. I don't do the drug store game. If you read many money saving blogs they often talk drug store deals. At this point, it's not something that I have time to figure out and we are using more and more natural toiletries. There are rarely deals on these products and I have no desire to add another store to my route.
3. I don't use coupons to purchase products I wouldn't normally buy. I found that I spent a lot of money to save $0.25-$0.75 on products.
   

So, now that I've got that out of the way here's how I get prepared for the store. It seems really simple and it is but it does take some time. I normally spend 30 to 45 minutes on this but at this point I'm saving $20+ on groceries a week. I see it as working for 30 minutes to save $20 which in my mind is a great use of my time.
First, I look in the fridge and see what's there. I know it seems like common sense but I do it every week. I can't tell you how much money this saves me. I forget week to week what I've purchased and I often forget that I have the ingredients for at least one meal left over from the week before. I also see what ingredients I have and might only need a few things to make a complete meal.
Next I look at what's on sale that week. Once I have an idea of what I have and what's on sale I create a menu plan. A lesson that we learned early in our marriage is that if we don't have food at home that we are excited to eat we will avoid it and eat out. I make it a priority to change up our meals every week and use our tight budget to create exceptional food. This helps us save money as well which has allowed us to drastically cut our eating out budget.
Once I pick the meal plans, I create a grocery list. Once that list is created I double check that I'm not buying anything I already have by checking the fridge again. I know that sounds ridiculous! But after seeing that I had 6 boxes of butter because I kept buying never remembering if I had already purchased it, this became a mandatory final step!

I think this post is long enough! I'll post soon with the next steps. Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!

9/24/2010

Although I've missed a couple of weeks, I got it together this week for a Favorite things Friday. There's no theme this week, just absolute randomness!!! It's just how my brain is working these days.

I'm currently obsessed! Well, we've been in love for quit some time but there is one right by work so it's a Friday morning treat. I love Asiago with garlic herb cream cheese. SO YUMMY!!!


Peanut LOVES her pacifier. Her Munchkin pacifier clip is priceless. We've been through several as the velcro wears out but they are worth every penny.


Gift cards. Oh how we love them. There is something so great enjoying a night out together especially when we can use gift cards for it. We've been enjoying lots of fun treats thanks to the blessing of others.


Iced coffee. It's been my favorite all summer but I'm trying to enjoy it to the fullest as cool weather is quickly approaching.

So there are my random favorites. I promise grocery posts are coming. Happy Weekend!

9/10/2010

So here's the second installment of Favorite things Friday! And as I'm about to start working in a cloth diapering store, I thought I'd share my current favorite diapering products!

9/9/2010

Thanks for all the feedback on the last post. It got me really excited so I think I'm going to do a short series on grocery/budget/coupon stuff. But Blogger has hated me this week! I couldn't sign in, I've gotten a million error messages and it just hasn't been cooperative. This does not help my motivation to blog but EXCITING announcements do make me want to blog!

So before you can ponder any of the possible exciting scenarios that just went through your head, I'll share my news. I'm returning to work. Yep, it's true and I could not be more excited! Starting next week I will begin work at our cloth diaper shop. They posted on facebook that they were looking for help. I excitedly told Currey thinking he might tell me I'm crazy but as always he shared my enthusiasm and encouraged me to apply. I went in the next morning and then went back today to work on scheduling stuff. It will be part time and around Currey's work schedule so Peanut will still get to spend her days with me or her Daddy. I LOVE the store where we buy diapers and I honestly can't believe that I get to work there. It's one of those amazing God things were I was handed an opportunity that I never even thought about but is absolutely perfect. I'm excited to be able to share my love of cloth diapers with others and get paid for it. It really doesn't get much better than that!

8/24/2010

Blythe's 6th month birthday was extra special as she will always celebrate her half birthday on my mom's birthday. It's hard to believe that in just 6 more months Peanut will be 1 year old. I can't even wrap my mind around that! Here's what we've been up to this month:

• My dearest college friend, Celeste came to visit. The fact that Blythe got to spend time with my dear friend is so special to me. Great memories!
  
• Blythe also got to meet Auntie J. We loved spending time with J in Dallas. It was a week of being spoiled and loved on. Blythe loved meeting J and I think she really enjoyed her first trip to Texas!
  
• Getting to Texas was an event! Blythe took her first flight. She did outstanding. I think I was much more stressed than she was. The other passengers were very gracious and we all survived.
  
• The flight was interesting because Blythe began teething this month. All I can say is WOW!!! Our sweet, calm baby has been really fussy. It's the worst feeling in the world to not be able to comfort her when she's in pain. Thankfully for now she is back to her usual happy self.
  
• We all got to experience our first flood at our house! Blythe slept through a lot of it but it was an adventure for sure! Hopefully it will soon get it's own post.
  
• We went to the doctor on her half birthday and Blythe weighs 15 lbs 2 oz and she is 25 inches long. We also got the go ahead to start rice cereal.
  
• Roger and Terri also came for a visit. Blythe enjoyed the extra love and attention! We enjoyed some great food and just quality hang out time together. Blythe got to go shopping for new fall clothes which she always enjoys. She is one blessed baby!

Peanut,

9/3/2010

Several of the blogs I read do Favorite Things Friday. It's basically a weekly post talking about current favorites. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for some time and I've decided to take the plunge! My hope is that a consistent weekly post might inspire me to be a better blogger. I guess we'll all see how that works out! :)

This week my favorites are cooking related. I've been in the kitchen lots lately. (And I promise that some outstanding recipes are coming!) So with out further adieu...

I've ALWAYS been a fan but I'm currently obsessed. I love that there is a recipe box where I can store recipes in categories that I've created. I can go back for reference and I love reading suggestions of people that have tried the recipes before. The pictures of food entice me and inspire me to try new dishes. I love the ease of the site!



Our new favorite ingredient is orzo. If you've never used it while cooking you are seriously missing out! Our current favorite use is this salad recipe. You should make it. Tomorrow. We've served it half a dozen times this summer and it's a huge hit. Seriously...make it this weekend! But promise me that if you make it you'll use good olives. The olives make it. Nothing that comes out of a can.


Coupons! I've always been a fan but now that I'm staying home we've had to tighten our budget in lots of areas but the easiest place to do that is the grocery budget. I'm proud to report that we spend $60 a week on groceries and we are able to do this by shopping sales and using coupons. And don't feel bad for us! We eat VERY well! We are eating more produce and organic than ever. It takes a little more planning but it's become a game to see how much I can save. And $60 covers ALL our meals for the entire week. We eat out together 3 times every 2 weeks (Both Sundays with friends after church and a meal together out) so this basically covers all breakfasts, lunches and dinners for a week. I'm thinking I should do a separate post about this. Is that interesting to anyone? I've loved spending time in the kitchen and making lots from scratch.


If money were no object, I would shop here exclusively. (See, don't feel bad for our meager grocery budget! I shop at Whole Foods!) If you don't live where there is a Whole Foods, I'm sorry! I've been absolutely amazed at how inexpensively I can get a few organic things here. (Although there are things here that are way over priced and just ridiculous!) Again, combining sales with coupons can make some products very affordable. And there are a few things we sacrifice for, like their granola. It's unbelievable! They offer nuts and cereals in bulk and I use these regularly. So there you have it! Some of my favorite cooking things. Hope to be back with more favorites next Friday!

8/18/2010

As I've written before, Currey and I have been greatly blessed by so many precious friends from all the seasons of our lives. In the last month I have gotten to spend time with 2 precious friends.

While in Dallas last week, Currey finally got to meet my dear friend, Emily Merrell. I've never called her Emily. It's always been Merrell. Merrell and I attended Kanakuk together for several summers and we were the best of friends. She came to visit me in Amarillo and I made trips to Dallas during the school year so we could see each other. I have countless memories with Merrell and Currey has heard about her for our entire relationship. Finally, he got to meet her. I didn't even know she was in Dallas (she currently lives in London) but facebooked her as we had been at a restaurant I always went to when I visited. She wrote back that she was in town and we scheduled a visit. We picked right back up where we left off (we decided we hadn't seen each other in 8 years!) and she had come across a scrapbook of one of our summers at Kamp. It was so sweet to spend time reminiscing about Kamp and talking about life now. I'm so thrilled that Currey was able to meet my precious friend too.

A week before that my best friend from college, Celeste, visited. Go here to see pictures of our time together. I was a slacker and took NO pictures while she was here. Celeste and I met our freshman year and then pledged the same club at ACU. We spent almost every Friday night together at Starbucks. We both had long distance boyfriends and would spend our Friday evenings chatting to each other and our boyfriends on the phone. I'm sure we looked like weirdos but it worked for us. :) We shared many adventures in college and always had a blast when we were together. I can report that we still enjoy each others company immensely! Celeste was here for a work conference so we got to see her on several occasions which made her visit extra special. I think it's safe to say she LOVED Miss Blythe! As the smiles in Celeste's pictures show I think Blythe loves her Aunt Celeste too. We got to share several meals, shopped and even had a couple of Starbucks dates. As always, it was SUCH a treat to spend time with my sweet friend. We just missed her precious husband Adolfo. Hopefully next time! Just wanted to take the time to document these sweet visits. Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

6/24/2010

Our time with Blythe is absolutely flying! She continues to get bigger and become more alert. With each week that passes it seems as though she is becoming less and less like a baby! We can not believe how fast she is growing.


As always, she had several firsts this month. They include..

• Her second road trip! This time we went to Wisconsin. My parents flew into Chicago and spent a couple of days with us here. Then we packed up and headed to Wisconsin Dells for the week.
  
• Swimming! We were able to give Blythe her first taste of swimming. Currey and I took her one day, then Jeffrey took her the next day. She seemed to like it. Just one more experience!
• Blythe rolled over for the first time! We actually all missed the first one, but saw 2 more after that. She waited another week until she would show her Daddy but now she just can't stop.
• Unfortunately, once on her belly she screams. She's not quite sure how to get back on her back. We are anxiously awaiting that milestone as we spend most of our days flipping her back over.
  
• We got to attend our first play group at our local cloth diaper store, Cumfy Bummy. It was nice to meet some other moms, especially other cloth diapering moms. We really enjoyed it and I think that we'll be back!
• Mommy had to take her alone for shots. It was much more traumatic for me than Blythe. I was so upset, I frightened the nurses. I HATE getting shots, so watching Blythe get them bordered on unbearable.
• She weighed 13 pounds and 4 ounces and was 24 inches long at her 4 month appointment. She's dropped to the 45th percentile in both.
  
• She is still in 3 month clothes for the most part and I'm not complaining! I'm not ready for her to grow up and it's already happening.
  

8/14/2010

I was so proud of myself because I got several posts done yesterday but then Blogger was having issues and wouldn't let me post!!! I was annoyed but thankfully, this morning, it's cooperating. So get ready for several new posts.

And since I recently realized this never posted, here's Peanut at 3 Months. So Cute!

7/24/2010

As always, these posts come so quickly! It seems as though I was just writing the last post. Blythe is now 5 Months old!!!


Here's what we've been up to this month...

• Blythe attended her first wedding and got to see Daddy perform his first wedding.
  
• That weekend she got to meet lots of people that love her dearly, including Currey's mom and 3 sets of her great grand parents. She was loved on like crazy!
  
• She also got to attend her first staff retreat. Again, Blythe received lots of extra love that week. We are so blessed by our church family especially the other staff members that we serve with. Staff retreat is always a highlight of our summer and we loved that Blythe got to be a part of that this year.
• We stay at Papa John's lake house for retreat. While we were there Blythe got to go on her first and second boat rides. She was having a hard time sleeping so we took her out on the pontoon. It rocked her right to sleep. Later in the week she got to go on another boat ride for a sun set cruise. We got a precious picture of her with her daddy!
  
• During staff retreat she began sleeping on belly exclusively. This made us very nervous initially but after staying up with her for over an hour flipping her back over we decided she could sleep on her belly. :)
  
• She can roll over from her belly to back now, although she rarely does that. She now enjoys her tummy time and spends most of her day looking at the world around her.
• Blythe got to meet Marge and Bob. This was SUCH a treat for Currey and I as we just adore the Schroeders. We enjoyed introducing them to Blythe and it's safe to say that they are in love! I think the feeling is mutual.
  
• We had some issues with feeding but were introduced to a wonderful nurse named Sue. She was truly a life saver and now we are back on track. At our second appointment with Sue, Blythe weighed in at 14 pounds and 8 oz. She is such a great eater!
• Blythe attended her first White Sox game with the youth group. She even wore her White Sox onesie. She looked adorable!

Blythe,
You still bring us more joy than we could have ever imagined. It is so fun to watch you grow and learn. You are so alert. We spend lots of time wondering about what you are thinking about. You are absolutley amazed by the world around you! You continue to smile continuously and love people. You go to everyone with ease and just eat up all the attention. You are a precious little girl and we are blessed to have you as a part of our family!

8/11/2010

I can't believe it but I have somehow managed to log 100 posts here on my little blog. The posts are so infrequent but it's interesting to look back and see what I've thought was post worthy over the last 2 years. It's been fun to see where we've been and the adventures we've had. Such sweet memories! When I realized that this post was going to be our 100th I felt it should be memorable. Yes, Blythe's 4th and 5th month are special, but there is something I thought was worth celebrating in this post....Blythe has moved to her own room!!!

Now the purpose of this post is not to step on any toes as I know there are LOTS of differing opinions on the subject. I'm just wanting to mark this moment in our family history. Our goal was to have her in her room by 3 months. I wish that we could at least admit strong convictions to our arragnement but actually we were bring quite selfish. You see, we don't have central air conditioning. We have 2 window units, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. It's been a remarkably hot summer and we just weren't ready to part with our air conditioner.

Thankfully our sweet friends heard of our predicament and gave us another unit. Blythe has been sleeping apart from us for a whole week and has never missed a beat! Although it's another sign that she's growing up, we enjoy having our room back. So there you have it, post number 100. Looking forward to 100 more and maybe it won't take me another 2 years to get there! :)

8-2-10

If you follow my blog at all you will quickly realize that frequent posts are not my strong suit! I've been working on Blythe's 5 month post and realized that I never posted her 4 month post that is written. Those will be coming soon. We've been recovering from a flooded basement (not fun!), entertaining my best friend from college for the weekend (more fun than words can express) and preparing for the upcoming youth group year (beyond fun but more work than I dreamed!).

(Also, if you don't view my blog in reader, it appears that the template that I was using has been taken down so there is no more cute pattern. I'll get a new one...but at the rate I move with this blog it will be Christmas before that happens!)

7/4/2010

Last weekend we had the joy of attending Currey's sister's wedding. What made this wedding extra special is that Currey got to preform the ceremony. It was Currey's first wedding and he did an outstanding job. It was incredibly sweet! We were able to spend some great time with family.

6/22/2010

Well, I'm back with 2 more recipes!

The first is bar-b-que chicken. You won't even believe how easy. Bar-b-que sauce, chicken stock and chicken in a crock pot. Let it sit for an hour or two (since it's already cooked). The meat breaks down and is great in a sandwich or our new favorite, Bar-b-que chicken quesadillas.

And now for an actual recipe...Chicken Caesar Sandwich.
Reserve some of the breast meat when you take the meat off of your chicken. Slice the chicken and toss with 2-3 Tablespoons Caesar dressing and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve on a ciabatta rolls with romaine lettuce.

It's a great summer time sandwich! Hopefully, I'll be back soon with more recipes! And of course a Blythe update! We are heading for her 4 month check up this afternoon. The time is already flying by! I can't believe how fast she is growing.

6/19/2010

The title of our blog is Breakfast with the Blandfords and was initially intended to be a place where we shared all the wonderful things that we created in our kitchen. I knew it had been awhile since I'd posted a recipe but it turns out the last time was 11/22/2008. Yes, you read that right! Almost a year and a half ago. Which is sad!!! We've been cooking up some great treats and I have lots of pictures from things we've created so hopefully I will get lots more recipes up soon.

I thought I would begin though with my new friend, rotisserie chicken. I've used this for years to make chicken and dumplings but never thought about creating additional uses for it. And then I had a baby and wanted yummy food that could be made quickly. The possibilities are truly endless but here are some of our current favorites.

I can get a rotisserie chicken at our local store for $5 which is a bargain if I've ever seen one! As soon as I get home I take all the meat off the bones. (As a side recipe, boil a giant pot of water. Put all the discarded skin and bones in the pot and boil for 6-8 hours. Add water as necessary. Strain the broth and place in freezer safe containers and you don't have to spend money on chicken stock. This saves us A LOT of money!) I don't mind dark meat if it's mixed with white meat but if you prefer to separate your meat that is fine too. I take 2 forks and shred the meat. I use shredded chicken in all the following recipes. To me it's easier to work with.

Here are 5 different things to do with all that chicken:
Make a Tex-Mex style chicken. I am a huge fan of Salsa Verde so I normally cook half of the chicken in salsa. By doing all this when you get home from the store and then refrigerating it, it allows you to heat and serve later in the week. Tex-Mex chicken can be used several ways but our favorites are enchiladas, quesadillas and taquitos. Even though it's the same chicken, it's different enough to us to have 2 of these meals in the same week. Here's my recipes:

Enchiladas:
Whatever sauce you used to cook the chicken, pour some in the bottom of a 9x13 and spread to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with corn tortillas. Add the chicken mixture (that you've warmed in the microwave), Mexican cheese blend and then cover with more tortillas. Cover the tortillas with a thin layer of salsa and add more cheese. Bake at 350 until the cheese bubbles.

Taquitos:
Warm your chicken mixture in the microwave. Warm a few corn tortillas as well. (We prefer to do this in the oven or on our stove top. Not in the microwave!) Fill each tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll and secure with a toothpick. Place rolled tortillas in hot oil on the stove top and turn once when the 1st side in is golden brown. Let cool and enjoy with salsa, sour cream or guacamole for dipping.

Quesadillas:
Warm you chicken mixture. Heat a large skillet and then add a flour tortilla, Mexican cheese blend and chicken. Top with another flour tortilla. Turn to brown tortillas. Let cool and then cut into triangles.

Ok...this post has already become very long! I'll add the other 2 recipes later today or tomorrow. And they don't involve using the same type of chicken in 3 different ways. :)

6/14/2010

I have always been a person that needs to write things down. I wish that meant I was an organized list maker but my "organizational system" is more like organized chaos. I write things down on random pieces of paper and then have my paper all over the place. I can normally find most anything I need but if I were to need to explain it to someone else, it could be disastrous! Now that I've had a baby, if it's not written down it will shortly be forgotten. So, with that said, I decided that I would make a list of the things I want to accomplish this summer. I'll report back on my progress (not that anyone cares but one goal is trying several new recipes! I'll let you know how they turn out.) So with out further adieu...

1. Read a book a month. I have always enjoyed reading but have not been doing much of it since Blythe's arrival. I want to start reading again. (If you've read anything great lately please leave a comment. I'm not totally sure what I want to read.)
2. Try at least one new recipe a week. I'm not sure why but I'm always more eager to try new recipes in the summer. Maybe that's because everything just seems fresher.
3. Shop at the Farmer's Market at least every other week. I love buying fresh produce from the people that grew it on their local farm.
4. Read Isaiah each month. I'm doing a Bible study on Isaiah next year and I want to be familiar with the material.
   
5. Help Currey finish up youth group stuff for the next year. We are having a blast planning for next year. It's going to be amazing!
6. Walk Moose at least 3 times a week.
7. Do yoga at least twice a week.
   

So that's it for now. Nothing huge or life changing but just a little reminder to myself of all I want to accomplish.

6/7/2010

So I'm still behind on my posts but at this point in time my camera with my pictures on it is M.I.A. I'm trying to be better about keeping up with my blog so I thought I'd do a post on cloth diapers.

Honestly, I can't even remember where I ever got the idea to consider cloth diapers but once I heard about them I began doing research. A LOT. OF. RESEARCH. I wish that I could say I had strong convictions about environmentalism but if you know Currey or I that is just not the case. But if you know me, you know that I am cheap. Not frugal, cheap. And I'm proud of that and that's another post in the making! :) I am absolutely in LOVE with Blythe's cloth diapers so this will probably be a lengthy post as I have lots to say about our choice.

I began looking at the options and doing the math. Using cloth diapers could save us money and lots of it. Even before we were sure that I was going to stay home, we knew the cost of having a child would be high. I continued to read different numbers but the general consensus is an average family spends $2500 on diapers over the course of each child's life. So even families with 2 children will spend $5000 diapers on diapers! To date I've spent $150 on cloth diapers. We do use disposables for convenience but I've not spent anything on those yet as we were given lots of gift cards and a couple of packs as gifts. For us cloth is much cheaper.

The world of cloth diapering is vast and everyone has their favorite brands. Picking what diapers I thought would work for us was one of the most difficult tasks. Thankfully we live in an area that offers shopping for everything and we stumbled across Comfy Bummy in Naperville. If anyone reads this that lives in the Chicago land area, they are worth checking out. We went in and they were very helpful. There are lots of decisions to make like one size or sized, pre-folded and covers or inserts, and Velcro versus snaps. We were able to look at different options and feel different materials. I think getting to touch and see them in person was MUCH easier than looking at pictures on the internet. Although we felt we were more informed I was just not ready to make the financial commitment. We decided we would wait until Blythe was a month old and then we would buy all the needed supplies.

Fast forward to Blythe's birth. We'd read all the books and knew that she would go through 8-10 diapers a day. That didn't mean much to me until our diaper genie began generating what seemed like a mountain of trash. Although I'm not incredibly green, seeing that many diapers headed to the trash put me over the edge! When Blythe was just 2 weeks old we made the switch.

We started with pre-folded diapers with a cover. We picked Thirsties and were incredibly pleased. I went though a short phase of not liking them when Blythe was about 2 months old as the fit was a bit off. Now that she's grown more I'm back on the Thirties band wagon. We were given a 3 pack of Smarti Pants at one of our showers and I bought a couple of Bum Genius diapers on-line as everyone who uses them seems to love them. I have been pleased with both. Currently I have 2 dozen pre-folds with 3 covers, 4 Bum Genius, and 3 Smarti Pants. I do laundry every other day but I hardly notice the extra work. I can stuff diapers while I watch TV or talk on the phone.

Another huge plus is Blythe does not get diaper rash. At All. Unless I put her in a disposable. I mentioned earlier that we use disposables for convenience. Normally that's just when we go to church or to staff. There are bags that you can carry to hold soiled diapers when you are on the go but I have yet to join that club. I'm actually considering becoming a full time cloth diaperer just to avoid diaper rash but we'll see if I become that brave. There is something about cloth diapering in public that still kind of scares me! I love cloth diapering which has honestly been very shocking to me. If you don't mind the extra laundry it's an option worth considering!

5/24/2010

In April we were blessed to dedicate Blythe with our church family. At our church we do not practice infant baptism but we do have the opportunity to commit in front of our church family to raise our children in a home where God is central to all that we do. The parents, friends, family and the church body all agree to this commitment and it is a sweet time to pray over our children.

Each family also picks a verse for their children. The verse that we chose for Blythe is:

Habakkuk 3:17-18

5/20/2010

On May 1st we celebrated the birth of my sweet husband. We love to celebrate birthdays and it's the only day of the year that Currey will tolerate me spoiling him rotten so I have to take advantage! This year was extra special as my parents were able to celebrate with us. (More on that later.)

We started celebrating a few days early as I thought the youth group would want to celebrate with us. We enjoyed a yummy cookie cake. I didn't have any candles so they just used one of the candles off our buffet. Whatever works!


Sadly, on Currey's actual birthday he had to work. This whole being a grown-up thing is not always fun! Our sweet pastors were gracious enough to allow us to use their home and my dad and I made a giant breakfast spread.

I have to admit that it was very yummy! On Sunday my parents treated Currey to a birthday dinner at White Chocolate Grill. It was delicious! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that. That place is ALWAYS a delicious treat!

I'll just say we were so surprised that my mom came with my dad for this trip! My dad was off for a few days and decided to come up. Currey and I couldn't believe that my mom would let him come see Blythe without him but they kept saying it was just my dad. Friday morning before work Currey asked if I thought my mom might be coming in to surprise him for his birthday. I assured him my mom was NOT coming. Imagine my surprise when I went to the airport to get my dad and my mom was with him. We enjoyed lunch together and then headed to see Currey at work. Currey was just as surprised to see my mom! It was great to have them here to celebrate Currey and having them to watch Blythe made preparing a birthday breakfast feast MUCH easier. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

As always, it was great to have family visit. There are several other posts coming about our other recent visitors! We'll see when those get posted! :) (And YES Blythe is growing like crazy! We were looking at pictures from my parents visit a month ago and we can not believe how much she has grown and changed. She brings more joy than we could have ever imagined! We'll continue to post her precious pics so you can watch her grow too.)

5/9/2010

The past few months have been rough. The months leading up to Blythe's birth we had so many friends experiencing grief and loss. And it was hard. Loss of relationships, personal suffering and absolute pain. We wept with friends, questioned why so many horrid things were happening to those that we love and wondered why God allows these types of things to happen. Being an adult can be trying, although there are seasons of great joy as well. At times, we had a hard time being positive and questioned lots of things. It was a very difficult season but it provided us a chance to really live life with so many that we love and we experienced a lot of growth.

In those times, it's often hard to stay positive and to always believe that God is truly in control and knows what he is doing. But today I have a heart full of gratitude. Today, God has given me the grace to see his hand at work. Today, I am trusting that He is in control and I am thankful that I can rest assured He knows what is best for me. I am thankful for seasons for growth and also for seasons of joy. God is so good and He continues to richly bless our little family.

Reason #1 I'm Grateful

Currey is a fabulous man! I am cherished and loved and he lets me know it every day! I can not imagine life without him. He works incredibly hard so that I am able to stay home and I am so thankful. He is a precious man and I absolutely adore him.

Reason #2 I'm grateful


Being Blythe's mommy is a joy! I enjoyed celebrating my first Mother's Day. I still can't believe that we have a precious baby girl. God is so good and we are amazed at his goodness. We are thankful for all the seasons we get to experience and I celebrate today that God has given us the grace to see the good in all circumstances.

5/3/2010

Libby is doing a great giveaway on her BLOG. You should go check it out!

5/1/2010

I know...2 posts in one day!

Over Easter weekend Rick and Shelly came to meet Blythe and celebrate Easter with us. It was such a sweet trip and we loved getting to introduce Blythe to Rick and Shelly. They immediately feel in love and it was so fun to see them both with her.

Currey had to work on Saturday so Rick and Shelly watched Blythe so that I could run some errands. I also got to get pampered with a manicure and pedicure! Such a nice treat and I only called home once! On Sunday, they watched Blythe again so that Currey and I could go on a date. It was nice to get to spend time with just Currey but it was so weird to be away from Blythe. They spoiled us while they were here and we packed the weekend full of activities. It was great to have them visit.


It was a great weekend of yummy food, great conversation and sweet time with family. We are LOVING all the visitors that Blythe has brought our way and we are excited about several more visits from family over the next month. We will be busy almost every weekend but it's the best kind of busy to be! Looking forward to introducing Blythe to our siblings and Blythe's first road trip for the all church retreat.