Recipe of the Day

Well, I finally got around to making the halibut recipe I was supposed to make two weeks ago!!  The good news is, I didn't have to eat it the past two weeks!!!  The first problem is, halibut is VERY expensive to buy and I just learned that lesson today!  Second problem...I don't do bones!  Not fish bones, not steak bones, not chicken bones, not piggy bones!  Somehow my country girl self didn't realize I was buying $20 worth of bony fish!!!  Grrrrr...Thirdly, I don't mind paying a little extra for something we love and Tyler loves halibut BUT I do not like paying the same amount (or more) than we would pay at a restaurant for a professional chef to prepare our meal!  So you are wondering why I am still going to post this?!  Well the peach salsa that I made to put on the fish was YUMMO!  In fact, after getting a little bone in my mouth I gave up on the fish and ate cilantro lime rice and peach salsa with fresh green beans for dinner!  Also, the marinade for the fish was really good and would be great on chicken, shrimp or salmon.

Marinade:

1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 (6 ounce) halibut steaks  (chicken, salmon or shrimp)
*Marinate at least 2 hours and baste with remaining while grilling

Salsa:
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen peaches
1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped* (I left the seeds but I love spicy)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Also, I made the chocolate cake recipe from the chocolate peanut butter cake.  I made three square disposal pans and will be doing different things with them; first and foremost having a big piece for dinner since that didn't go so well.  Then taking one over to my friend Kim's so we can enjoy one with our mini's to celebrate her birthday!! I don't know how I will ever make another chocolate cake recipe, this one is soooo good!  I also screwed up a batch of homemade frosting...How did I do this??  Well, when recipe disaster happens, it pours!!!

Must Love Dogs

From the time I can remember, I have always loved dogs.  I love big dogs, little dogs, short dogs, fat dogs, skinny dogs, really love ugly dogs and most recently...blind dogs.  As I got older, it would definitely be on my bucket list of qualities for a future spouse.  I don't mean someone that tolerated dogs, but someone that really loves them...if you are a pet person you know what I am talking about.  When Tyler and I started dating he always said he would know if I was "the one" if his dog Shawn liked me.  So he took me to his parents house for lunch one day and Shawn tackled me!  Kisses, wags, the whole nine yards.  Luckily I met all of Shawn's expectations!  Soon after that I drove to Tishomingo to visit his grandparents.  Tyler and his family were already there but I had to drive down separately after work.  Tyler met me at the local gas station so I didn't get lost in the dark trying to find his grandparents house.  I have a very weird fear of going to a strangers house without snacks in my bag and food in my belly.  I can't explain it and I was never starved as a child.  Until I am very comfortable with people, I always do this ritual.  So I wandered into the gas station grabbing Pop Tarts, Chocolate Gem Donuts, potato chips and two hot dogs.  The hot dogs I intended to eat before getting to their house and the other items would get me through until I made it home the next day.  So when I came out of the gas station, Tyler had arrived and was petting a stray dog.  We quickly find out its a "she" and was clearly nursing a bunch of puppies.  Tyler grabbed one of my hot dogs and fed it to her.  I think she gulped it up in one bite!  So he grabbed my second hot dog and proceeded to feed her that one too.  As much as I love dogs, my survival instincts kicked in and I had no dinner!  It was late and those were the LAST hot dogs in the gas station.  Needless to say, he loves dogs as much as me and I survived on my purse of goodies through the night. 

Our sweet girl is no exception to this animal loving family...nothing brings a smile to her face faster than Oscar.  The first time she belted out a HUGE belly laugh was to Oscar bouncing around the backyard!  They play together, trade toys, she recently licked him back (ha!) and now...shares her snacks with him!  Really?!  Only 9 months old and already feeding the dog??  She has morning snack time everyday around 9 and sits in her high chair with her flavored puffs (yuck) and has a serving of fruit.  Apparently Oscar likes the sweet potato puffs more than Paige does.  She carefully picked up one puff at a time, held out her chubby little hand and giggled as Oscar carefully took each one.  I scolded both of them and you would have thought I was invisible...they proceeded with their snack time. 

We are both very happy that Oscar has done so well with the sweetest addition to our family because as much as we love him, our child(ren) safety is the most important thing to us.  Now if I can only talk Tyler into buying some land so I can have a fleet of dogs, a boat load of mini-ponies, fainting goats and a kitty circus...my life won't be complete without a kitty circus!!!  Ok, this post is getting out of control so I am leaving you now with a few photos to hopefully help you forget how crazy I am! 

Sweet & Sassy, Fat & Happy...Healthy as can Be!! 9 Months

Well, I came up with this title BEFORE our checkup this morning.  Dr. McMuscles says our little Ham Bone has not gained enough weight this checkup.  In fact, I need to verify but I think she has stayed the exact same since our last checkup.  The good news is, she has always been a big girl so she is by no means under weight.  Since she started crawling (right after Christmas) she hasn't stopped moving.  I am certain her climbing, crawling, walking behind toys, dancing and singing has caused her to burn LOTS more calories than she used to!  Looks like she may have mommy's metabolism (YAY!).  But we are going to follow doc's orders and make sure she eats more.  Other than that, she is right on track!  Knock on wood, we have only been to the doctor for Well Baby Checks thus far and I hope to get us past her one year mark without any illnesses!!  Here are some fun facts:

• You currently weigh 18 pounds, 15 ounces and are 29 inches long
• Singing & Dancing are the most favorite past times (doesn't matter if it's toys, mommy singing or music videos on TV--you will break into dance for any music--well, we both do)
• There is not a food you do not like! Baby food, big people food, sweet food, DOG food and you LOVE to share my bottled water with me!  You even immitate me drinking it when I have the cap screwed on nice and tight!
• You are such a great sleeper!  You go to bed about 8:30 pm and wake about 7 am with a grin from ear to ear!  You start looking for daddy and oscar as soon as I snatch you up!
• You and Oscar often trade toys when I'm not looking.  For some reason you both prefer each others toys.  I guess I will start taking you to PetsMart and him to BabiesRUs:)  
• You don't have any teeth yet so mommy is looking into getting you a set of baby dentures
• You walk along all of the furniture, behind your toys and love to climb on mommy and Oscar.  We are pretty sure you will be walking in less than a month. 
• You know your name and who mommy, daddy and "bubba" are.  When you see daddy when he gets home from work, it is the happiest moment of your day!  "DADADADADADADADADADADADA!"
• Your hair is the most beautiful shade of blonde and is getting so long! 
• You LOVE people and show off for everyone we pass by!  You also get SOOO excited when someone rings the doorbell.  So no sign of stranger anxieties but you do prefer mommy when you get a boo boo and at bedtime.
• You still love "Itsy Bitsy Spider" but your new favorite song is "It's Raining Paigie's"
• Your favorite book is Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton--you love the part when mom says "OOPS!"

EDIT:  I said above that Paige started crawling "right after Christmas"...Well, that was a big lie.  I just saw that again and realized that she did in fact start crawling right after leaving my parents house but it was not at Christmas it was after our trip in March...so just in case anyone does the math, I did not have a crawling 4 month old on my hands...

Well, if its not obvious already, we are so in love with our sweet girl!  She is the light of our life and such a joy.  Here are a few photos my friend, Tanda took that are just to DIE for..and I'm not just saying that because my baby is in the pics:)  If she ever decides to do this for a living, I will send you ALL her details! 

A Dose of Inspiration does a Soul Good!

I stole copied the series of quotes below from MckMama's blog (link at the bottom) because I LOVE it!  Sometimes it is hard just to be yourself for fear of what someone might say, think, react...do it anyway!  No matter how confident or comfortable in your own skin you are, people can always find a way to get under it and pick a raw wound.   On the reverse side, before you start throwing stones at someone think about the last time you felt judged or insecure about comments someone said about you.  We are all uniquely different and beautiful in our own ways and discussing differing opinions or beliefs, ways of life, parenting, the list goes on...should be something we are all comfortable doing.  I feel really blessed because confidence is not an area I struggle with most of the time (thanks mom & dad) and I was always encouraged to be me, stand up for what I believe in and to be open-minded.  I want to raise Paige to be strong and confident.  Be passionate about her beliefs and stand up for them.  To stand up for the people she loves and believes in.  But also to be a listener, a learner, willing to hear other sides and respect their differences because when we are closed-minded we are ignorant.  So today, be weird, be funky, be creative, be passionate, be colorful, be loud...just be you. 

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;

forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

be kind anyway.

If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies;

succeed anyway.

If you are honest people may cheat you;

be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

do good anyway.

Inspiring. I hope Dr. Keith doesn’t mind, but I’ve added a few of my own thoughts.

When you blog about your life, others may make judgements about you;

blog anyway.

If you try to parent the best way you know how, someone will still find something wrong with your mothering;

parent the best way you know how anyway.

When you kiss your children, they may not return your kisses;

kiss them anyway.

If you stand in clear support of something you believe in, others could seek to make you look foolish;

stand anyway.

When you offer your children vegetables, they might scowl;

offer them vegetables anyway.

Your husband may be grumpy and distant, and you might not want to love and respect him;

love and respect him anyway.

If you Tweet about your beliefs regarding controversial topics, you may lose followers;

Tweet anyway.

When you share excitedly about what Jesus has done in your life, people may call you pompous and proud;

share anyway.

After you forgive a friend, she may wound you again, causing you to not want to keep forgiving her;

keep forgiving her anyway.

If you do good acts, people might accuse you of doing them for show;

do good acts anyway.

If you share about your faults, others might ridicule you;

share about your faults anyway.

If you live a public life and try to point to Jesus, others may seek to point out your many imperfections;

keep pointing to Jesus anyway.

Back to Dr. Keith’s quote now…

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the end, it is between you and God;

it was never between you and them anyway.

http://mycharmingkids.net/

She's Growing and I'm Learning

There's not a lot of "Parenting" when your babies are small but I have learned very quickly that at a young age, our little ones start mimicking what we do.  Since I stay home, it is even more noticeable since we spend so much time together!  It is so funny watching my little girl wrinkle her nose, laughing from the bottom of her belly, dancing and singing in the middle of the floor and hamming it up for every stranger we pass by!  She looks so much like dad but acts sooo much like mom!  I know that she is constantly learning and for awhile, most of that learning will be from observing me...what do I want her to see?  What am I teaching her?  Do I represent the woman I pray my daughter becomes?   I saw this poem on a blog not too long ago and I love reading it as often as possible! 

A careful woman I ought to be:

A little girl follows me;

I do not dare to go a stray

For fear she’ll go the self-same way.

I cannot once escape her eyes;

What’re she sees me do,

she tries

Like me, she says,

she ’s going to be,

The little girl who follows me.

She thinks that I am good and fine,

Believes in every word of mine;

The bad in me she must not see,

The little girl who follows me.

I must remember as I go,

Through summer’s sun and winter’s snow,

I am building for the years to be,

For a little girl follows me.

-Author Unknown

Recipe of the day

Haven't made these but love all things Red Velvet! 

1 box red velvet cake mix
1/2 cp butter
8 oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cp powdered sugar

Beat butter and cheese adding powdered cake mix slowly.
Mix until blended.
Form balls and roll in sugar.
Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins

Found this here:  http://amerrymishap.blogspot.com/

A day late and $1 short...

Working on a new layout so I can catalog my recipes for my future use and organize my other topics into category tabs...wishing I would have paid a TAD more attention in my computer classes in college...I will figure it out sooner or later (probably later) but it was really funny a second ago when I uploaded a new "skin" to my page and it was great!  Just what I was looking for!  Only to see a half dressed blonde girl in some of the pics...my recipes and posts were there but everything on the side bars were her...WEIRD!  Luckily I was able to delete it quicker than I was able to post it!!!  I would hate for someone to glance over my page quickly and think that was me!!!  YIKES!!  This is a WHOLESOME blog peeps!! 

Who would have thought when I was faking my way through writing code and web design that I would have ever had a blog?!?!  Miss Independent at 21 so irritated I had to take that class because when in the world would I ever use this in the REAL WORLD?  Hmmm...jokes on me folks!  Most things are like that though, at least for me.  There is a point to all the nonsense of high school and college...well, besides Geometry (Sorry Mrs. Hammock)...I still don't think I have come up with a real life application for the Isosceles Triangle...but it may come up in sewing so stay tuned on that one.  grrr