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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas
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What you will need:

-1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
-1 medium onion, thinly sliced
-1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
-1/4 cup each lime and orange juices
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp. minced garlic
-1 tsp. minced onions
-3/4 tsp. ground cumin
-3/4 tsp. oregano
-1/2 tsp. cilantro
-1/2 tsp. ground pepper
- 8 flour tortillas

Directions:

MIX: juices, oil, all of the spices and salt in a small bowl.  Resever 1/4 cup of the marinade.  Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag or glass dish.  Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well.  Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor.

COOK and stir chicken in large heated skillet on medium-high heat 3 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from skillet.  Add bell pepper, onion and reserved marinade; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.  Return chicken to skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

SPOON chicken mixture into warmed tortillas. Serve with assorted toppings ( sour cream, tomatoes, guacamole, etc.)

EAT!!!!!! and ENJOY!!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I lied...

Not intentionally.  I just didn't know today was going to be so insane.  I am not doing my "Tasty Tuesday" post. Not that anyone probably cares anyway (except my sister Stephanie..who surprisingly didn't text me to tell me I forgot this week!) Love you!
Last night was not fun.  Kevin had laser eye surgery yesterday, so he is pretty much blind and out of commission.  Lauren is teething..atleast I think it's teething. Orajel seems to calm her down. 
Kevin has to put re-wetting drops in his eyes every hour..so he set a little alarm to go off to wake him up like every hour or 2 last night.  Which meant it woke me up...and THEN..Lauren woke up screaming at 1:30am.  I gave her her pacifier and laid her back down, she slept til 2:30am and was screaming again...we had a leaky wet diaper, wet clothes, wet bed, wet everything ..and it was poopy.  No wonder she was screaming.  I had to clean her and her bed up..but she continued to scream. We put some orajel on her gums and she calmed down.  I made her a "bed" on our floor and laid her down there. That lasted a whole 2 minutes before she was up crawling around and playing. So I put her in between us and she finally fell asleep.  She woke up crying AGAIN..orajel once again..and she slept for about 45 min before she was up again... Bottle and orajel..and then finally sleep for 2 hours!! Then it was up again, screaming, mommy crying, daddy graciously trying to help out even though he couldn't see.  Poopy diaper..AGAIN..and then a fever.  yay. NOT. 
So..I fed Lauren and laid her in bed.  I just got back from Target.  I had to pick up some Tylenol since I had pitched mine from the recall.  Now I am just sitting in a dark room, somewhat relaxing before the chaos begins again.
I am happy my mom and brother are coming tomorrow to visit and help out.  I need a break, and a hug, and a shower too!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Stay tuned..

I am a little behind on the updates...things have just been a little crazy!  I completely missed my "Tasty Tuesday" post yesterday, so I will do a "Tasty Tuesday on Thursday" post tomorrow. 
I have some super duper cool updates of things happening with us lately..so stay tuned! 

Saturday, May 15, 2010

You are my sunshine...

My only sunshine...

You make me happy when skies are gray...

You'll never know dear how much I love you...

Please don't take my sunshine away.

So let the sun shine in, face it with a grin.  Smilers never lose, and frowners never win.  So let the sun shine in, face it with a grin.  Open up your heart and let the sun shine in. 



Ever since Lauren was born, this is a song that Kevin and I have sung to her.  In the first few months, it would instantly calm her. Now, it may not stop a fit, but on any day (which we sing it 2-3 times a day)..I know I can get a smile out of her with this song.    I am not sure how this came to be "her song", but what a fitting song it is.  She really is our sunshine.  She makes everything so much better.  We never would have imagined how great are lives are because of Lauren.  God truly blessed us with an amazing, beautiful, smart, strong, mellow, sometimes sassy, darling, and all around great daughter! 
We love you Lauren Grace.

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

TRAIL CHILI
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Makes: 6-10 Servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 4 1/2-6 hours (in crock pot) Can be faster if done on stove top.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion
28 oz can diced tomatoes
2- 8oz cans of tomato puree (sauce)
1 or 2, 16 oz cans of kidney beans, undrained
4 oz can diced green chiles
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbsp. mild chili powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. pepper
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1. Brown beef and onion in skillet. Drain. Place in slow cooker on high.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook on High for 30 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to Low. cook 4-6 hours.

This is not my normal chili recipe but I think it will be from now on.  We absolutely loved it!! The flavors were so delicious.  We topped with a little shredded cheese and paired it with some corn muffins. It was a delicious dinner on a cool, rainy spring night.  I hope you all enjoy.

 

My Fabulous Weekend

Sorry this post is so delayed. I had such a great weekend with my happy, little (but growing) family!  It was so nice to have Kevin here all weekend.  Friday he was off in decent time.  I think we did some shopping but I can't remember! It was too long ago. ha!  I honestly cannot remember for the life of me what went on last Friday.  wow....
Anyway! Saturday I attended a "Battle Buddies" brunch at church.  I made coffee cake (for the first time) and it was not good.  I pride myself on my baking but this I was not proud of.  I was quite embarrassed to take it but with only a few minutes before I had to get out the door, I cut the soft, moist pieces out of the middle of the pan, threw them on a plate and out the door I went.  Lauren came with me to church.  It was so nice to meet new people!  I have already "friended" a few on facebook and hopefully we can all hang out sometime. 
Kevin went golfing on post. I am glad that he was able to get out and do something that he enjoys as well.  He met us back home for lunch.  We warmed up some leftover lasagna and then all took a nice afternoon nap.  Later that night, Kevin and Lauren took me out to eat for Mother's Day (eve).  We went to a place called Little Apple Brewing Co. here in Manhattan.  It was so delicious! The steaks were quite pricey but they were certified angus beef.  Much better quality than Applebees!  I would say the prices of everything else were pretty comparable to any of the chain restaurants. 
I of course splurged on a steak. It was so scrumptious!!! I got veggies, mashed potatoes and salad bar with me meal.  I was in heaven!
After dinner, we did a little shopping at Target/Best Buy.  Kevin said I could pick out anything that I wanted for Mother's Day.  I of course wanted a new digital camera..but at $499 that was a little out of the question.  It was fun to play around with them though. 
I settled on a new toaster.  If anyone has ever been to our house, you know that we have the world's crappiest toaster.  No. Joke.  We bought a cheap (there was our problem) one a few months ago.  It is an Oster, 2 slice toaster, bagel settings, retractable cord, 6 temp settings.  See HERE to see what not to get!  It is awful! We can put it on the 2nd setting which should produce very light toast and it will come out black.  If we put it on the first setting then we get warm bread.  We have not even attempted anything higher than 2!!  We have had way too many sparks, black toast and smoke come out of that thing.  It was time to replace. 
I picked out a pretty, Black & Decker 4 slice toaster, chrome to match the rest of our small appliances. It was a good price but not too pricey ($39.99)..I went to the shelf to grab it, and they were all sold out!!  I couldn't believe it.  I was quite bummed.  We looked to see if they had it at Bed Bath and Beyond but they didn't.  I will have to go back another time to pick it up. 
Sunday morning, we got up bright and early for church.  I dressed Lauren up super cute in a dress, tights and sweater.  I just love it when she is girly!  After church, we went out for breakfast and I got a free slice of apple pie and a carnation from the restaurant.  We came home, Kevin gave me my gift of Victoria's Secret Heavenly perfume, lotion, and body wash. It came in a cute gold clutch too.  I love it.  It's one of my favorite perfumes and Kevin loves the smell too!
We again took a nap and then just played with Lauren and hung out all afternoon.  It was so fun to just be together all weekend and enjoy each other.  I love spending time with my little family. 
Sorry I don't have many pictures to post this time.  I had a bottle leak on our digital camera this weekend, and it spent most of the time drying out.  I hope it still works well enough to use.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Highlight(s) of my day!

I just wanted to post some things that really made my day yesterday.  I sometimes get caught up in the 'oh woe is me, I am lonely, tired, stressed, fat' hoopla.  But yesterday was  a good day even if Kevin got home from work 2 hours late! 
So here are a few things that made me happy!

-S'more pop tarts ( I am shoveling one in my mouth as I type, so that's another good thing for today too!)
-Having Kevin meet me at the daycare center to do the walk through with us.  He is such a great support.
-Realizing that Lauren will have fun with all of the other little kids her age and will do just fine playing with bubbles and playing outside, and snack time and nap time and reading time! Woo..I want to go to daycare :)
Here is the little stinker, just chillin' out in the waiting room while mommy fills out some paperwork.  She is just amazing! 
-It was sunny and 85 yesterday. Enough said.
-Phone call to my sister Stephanie.
-Lauren's new wagon arrived and she loves it!
-Subway's Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich...and it's low(er) sodium because it's not "lunch meat".
-Going shopping at the Px with Lo, she loves riding in the shopping cart. 
-Wondering how I am going to hold my baby, ( I couldn't take the cart in the bathroom because I had merchandise in it), wiggle my pants down with one arm, etc. etc. without dropping her..and then being pleasantly surprised by this little contraption.  This truly brightened my day!  Best invention EVER!!!!!!!
 **and this was all before noon**
-Lauren taking a 2 1/2 hour nap!
-I got an hour nap, and crafting time, and cleaning time, and snuggle time too when she woke up.  She then fell asleep on my lap for another 45 minutes. 
-Phone call from my mamma!
-Lauren's new castle swing/slide came today. She now has something other than our coffee table to climb on!
-Lauren crawled 4 real crawl steps.
-Ice Tea
-Ignoring the census worker who knocked on my door for 10 min.
-Hot dogs/brats on the grill.
-Lauren and her daddy dancing to Frank Sinatra
-Hanging out with Kevin by ourselves even if it was for only 30 min.
-And making it through another crazy day!!



-Hope your day was as blessed as mine!
 

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Tasty Tuesday

Ok...so I do honestly believe my hubby has a "man crush" on Bobby Flay.  Seriously! If I could name things that my husband loves the most it would go. God, Family, Country, Minnesota Twins baseball and anything to do with Bobby Flay.  If Bobby says it's good then it's gotta be good.  If Bobby says "this is how to do it"..then that is the ONLY way to do it.  If Bobby says jump off a bridge...;-) I kid, I kid! I love Kevin, and I love his love for cooking too, and who else to be inspired by than a fellow redhead.  So in honor of my husband and this beautiful weather, I thought I'd share one of Kevin's favorite and simple Bobby Flay grilling recipes.

Grilled Ribeye Steak with Cilantro-Garlic Butter
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For the butter:
-8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter; slightly softened
-6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
-1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
-1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the butter, garlic, cilantro and 1 teaspoon lime juice in a food processor or with an electric mixer and process until smooth.  ( To do it by hand, finely chop the garlic and cilantro.  Let the butter get really soft then beat in the garlic, cilantro and lime juice with a large wooden spoon.) Season to taste with salt, pepper and any additional lime juice if needed.  *The butter can be made in advanced if needed.  Just wrap it in plastic wrap and it can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to a week.  Bring to room temp before using.*

For the Steaks:
-2 (16 oz) boneless ribeye steaks cut 2 inches thick ( Holy smokes, that's a big steak! This recipe is intended for 4, so if you would rather have 4  8oz steaks, then that would work just fine too!)
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat your grill to High
2. Season the steaks with salt and pepper.  Grill until lightly charred and crusty.  4 to 5 minutes.  Turn the steaks over, reduce the heat to medium or move to a cooler part of the grill.  Close the grill hood, and grill until medium rare; approx. 8 to 10 min.  ( I like mine medium to medium well..just a little pink and juicy so of course, Kevin adjusts the time a bit here)
3.  Remove the steaks to a cutting board and brush liberally on both sides with the butter.  Let set for 5 minutes, then enjoy! 
The butter recipe can serve up to 8 people..so grab some friends, grill some steaks and smother them with some yummy garlic cilantro butter! YUM yum yum yum yum.

I thought this was a very tasty steak! My husband loved it so much he made the above picture his profile picture on facebook last summer with the caption:  "My masterpiece courtesy of the brilliant Bobby Flay"... I kid you not :)

nerves shmerves

I woke up to pee and can't get back to sleep!!! It's now been about an hour.  I might as well just stay up now.  Kevin's alarm just went off. I need to get ready and be on the road at 7:15am.  Lauren and I have an appointment to tour the daycare facility on post that she will occasionally be going to.  I have really just been up thinking about how worried I am to take her!  I know they are all licensed and trained professionals, it's just that she has never been left with anyone but family!  I know I must get over this hurdle if I plan on going back to work...just right now it totally sucks! I have to do it though.  The hospital set up a new policy that children under 13 cannot attend appointments (unless the appt. is for the child) ...unless there is another "chaperone" present.  Usually Kevin attends my OB appts. with me but this week he is going to the promotion board and next week, I just have to meet with my Dr. for a blood pressure check, and then the 25th for our ultrasound. 
I'm sure my blood pressure will be high because of my nerves..so so much for the check up! 

Thursday morning.. I am attending a bible study at church with the other military wives of the congregation.  I hate going alone into new situations, but if I want to meet anyone and have friends eventually, then I will just have to suck it up.  They also invited me to a brunch on Saturday.  I think Lauren and I will be going to that while we let Kevin golf for the first time this season.  Oh, there will also be a nursery/childcare at the bible study too..so maybe it will be kind of a dress rehearsal to Thursday afternoon.  At the church I will only be a room away, so that gives me comfort.  The hospital to the CDC (child development center) is 8 min.  Add in the time to get from the office to my car...5 min.  So approx. 15 minutes away! Yes, I am a dork, I figured this out before we left post yesterday. 

Well...I better get my butt up and ready.  Tasty Tuesday to come later. 

Sunday, May 2, 2010

URL change

TAKE NOTE!  My blog name is no longer http://www.krisjolly.blogspot.com/   It is now... http://www.everydayerickson.blogpsot.com/  .  Hope this doesn't confuse a bunch of people.  I tried to post this on facebook as well! 

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Med Recall and my weekend so far...

The FDA is investigating after a voluntary recall was made by a company who produces and distributes over 40 different over the counter children's cold and allergy liquid meds.  Here is the LINK to the press release, products and item numbers involved in the recall.  There is also information how to get a refund or a coupon to replace the recalled meds.  So, everyone, check your labels!
Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I have a sick husband and a snotty (booger kind, not drama queen kind)  and clingy daughter. I got a neti pot for one and a booger sucker for the other. Neither of them seem too fond of their nostril clearers.  At least Kevin doesn't scream at the top of his lungs like my little bug does when I come near her with saline and the booger sucker.  I feel terrible, I wish there were an easier way.
I had my 20 week check yesterday.  I am 20 weeks and 2 days along.  I am due September 17 and I have already gained 3/4 of the weight back that I had gained with Lauren.  WOOO! not.  I like to bake when I am stressed...and unfortunately I have no one to take these treats to!  I don't know if it's military families or just Kansas, but people are not friendly!  Our immediate neighbors will say hi if we are passing in the drive way but our neighbors to the other way will turn away and act like we don't even exist! And..don't get me started how they park in front of our house which is our assigned street parking.  Wouldn't be so bad, if they wouldn't purposely do it as soon as we leave...  It's not a huge deal and we don't need that parking spot technically but with a one car garage it's sometimes a pain to pull the small car out of the drive to get the big one out so we can all go somewhere.... It's nice to just park it on the street and not play musical cars.  I am not one for confrontation so I will probably just get used to the fact that they are rude and non social people AND too bad, so sad for them,  I'm not going to share my brownies!! na na na na boo boo! 

Anyways, back to my pregnancy..but my BP is high.  I have had my blood drawn about twenty times...literally and the tests all come back negative for protein in the blood and urine samples. SO that is a good thing.  Right now she doesn't seem too concerned. I go back in 2 weeks for an office visit with the Dr. to evaluate my anxiety/BP and then 2 weeks after that, I go for my ultrasound.  We have decided that we are going to find out the sex.  I think this time though, we are not going to have her tell us during the ultrasound and have her write it on a piece of paper and seal it.  We will have Kevin open it up on his 30th birthday, which is 2 days after the u/s.  IF we can wait that long! 
Ok..well I am going to bed.  I didn't get my daily cat nap in today. While the sickies napped, I had the joy of balancing the checkbook.  Now, that's a depressing task! 
But this will brighten your day..it did mine! :)