Bed decision and Glasses

SO! We called up my cousin and told her I wanted the Twin bed and BAM we went to get it! Great decision! Thank you to all who confirmed my thoughts! She LOVES it! She was running around on it and squealing out of excitement, My cousin also got me a really cute bed set to put on it! What a nice gal! I got all the sheets washed and dried but the comforter still needed to dry so I will get a pic of that up tomorrow. Very happy with this transition too. She was OUT after about 5 minutes of laying down. Also I can lay down with her if I want, which I don't very often because she thinks it's play time but I could if I wanted to. Nice to know.

Next up! I got glasses!!! I am actually embracing the fact the I need glasses for distance and to correct my astigmatism. I think that is how you spell it but really I have no idea... that was what spell check brought up lol!!! I am thinking of them as an accessory. I was worried of what my husband would think but he actually really likes them! Yay! He isn't the kind of husband that would just lie and say they look good even if they didn't so I am glad. What do you think?


Wow 2 blog posts in 1 day! I am on a roll!

Taxes and my Daughter

So I am finally writing another blog! I can't believe how off track I got.
I have been trying to do the meal planning as the budget allows, but it hasn't exactly been great. I made a few other dishes I still need to upload but it hasn't been as organized as I would have liked because of the budget. Hopefully our Tax return is awesome so I can get these creditors off my back and get our second car running. If we do that then we might not move...

Oh I didn't tell you? We might be moving. I really don't want to, but I also really don't want to be struggling like this every month. It is very frustrating. It seems like we are short between $50-$200 every month and then something has to get put on the back burner. I keep rotating every other month the things I pay. So If I paid Smud last month I will pay something else this month... ect. It isn't fun at all. I am praying we get a lot of money from our tax return. I really don't think we will get this much BUT if we did get $7000, I'd pay off our only financed car at the moment and then we'd have $210 more every month! That would be ideal and then... it would be ours!! That is our biggest debt at the moment, not too bad if we were in a different income bracket lol! But I'd really prefer paying off these ANNOYING credit cards... ugh... never again... really NEVER AGAIN! I will not have another credit card. I will put the payments I have been making to them in savings and create an emergency fund instead of using a credit card as an emergency fund.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is my daughter moving out of her crib. She was scaring me in the crib so I finally said forget it, I don't care if we don't have a cute little toddler bed, we will have one soon, and put her mattress on the floor. I wanted to see how she would do too. She didn't do too bad. I laid down with her for probably 20 minutes, but she just beat me up lol! She knew what it was for, she laid down on it but when I left she got scared. I think the bars of the crib provided a sense of security. She ran to the door and opened it twice, then all the times after that... there were quite a few, she would run to where she could see the door and then just stand there with her stuffed lion and cry hysterically. After, I don't even know how long she finally settled down and fell asleep on her mattress. I checked on her about 2 hours later (to make sure she was in a a deep sleep so I didn't wake her coming in and have to start the process all over) and she was so cute cuddled up with her stuffed animals and blanket.

This morning she had a whole new experience getting up and playing with toys instead of calling for me to come get her out of bed. I had blocked the door with a toy bin stand so the if she tried to escape I would hear her and be able to react. She saw it then just went back to playing lol. She had a blast. I think she is ready for this change. I just can't wait until we get the toddler bed...

Question to mom's reading this... I have the option of getting a twin bed for her right now and it has a bar to prevent her from falling out... should I skip the toddler bed and go straight to a twin since it is free? and then I wont have to buy a bed for a long time?  Feedback much appreciated.

February KROD!!!

This month I am hosting Edwin!!! You can find him on his blog >>> http://myadultbrain.com

I had fun watching this one he really likes his song choice I love it! And here is his video for Feb 2012

KROD Blue Suede Shoes from Edwin Schippers on Vimeo.

You can find me on Lost's blog www.grind--my--gears.blogspot.com Please leave comments!!!

Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken

This is a light healthy dish! I cooked it with my cousin Tanner for his Home Ec homework. He is in some of the pictures. We enjoyed it!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil (we sub with canola oil)
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 carrot (we sub with a handful or 2 of frozen carrots)
1 10oz pkg frozen broccoli, thawed
2 cloves garlic, minced
12oz angel hair pasta
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Serves 4

Directions:

1. Heat tbsp oil in med skillet over med heat; add chicken. Cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through, about 5 mins. Remove from skillet and drain on papper towels.

2. Heat remaining oil in same skillet. Begin heating water for pasta. Add carrot to skillet; cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. (add 2 minutes for frozen vegs). Add broccoli and garlic to skillet; cook, stirring, for 2 mins longer (add another 2 for frozen broccoli)

 

 3. Cook pasta according to pkg directions. While pasta is cooking, add chicken broth, basil and Parmesan to skillet. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes.

4. Drain pasta. Place in a large serving bowl. Top with chicken and vegetable mixture. Serve immediately.

Late- Creamy Chicken Alfredo w/ Zucchini Creation

The above is the last picture I took. This was really good! I think you could totally cook some pasta and use the extra sauce to create a pasta dish.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 boneless, skinless, checken-breast halfs (about 4oz each) I used 5 bc 1 of mine were really big!
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp plus- 1 tsp olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced onion
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley

Makes 6 servings.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Place flour in a shallow dish or pie plate. Sprinkle chicken with salt; coat with flour. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook, turning once, until golden brown. 2-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet; place in 13x9 baking dish.

2. Heat remaning olive oil in same skillet over med heat until hot. Add garlic and onion; cook until fragrent and onion is tender, 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to med-high; add whipping crea,, Parmesan and pepper. Cook until sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened 2-3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken in dish.

3. Bake chicken until an instant-read thermometer  inserted in center of chicken registers 180 degrees, 8-12 minutes. Sprinkle with Parsley

I thought this needed some veggies and I used some of the things I had on hand.

I Cute up 2 zucchini's cooked with some chopped green onion in some canola oil (I always use canola oil in sub for any other oil, it's cheaper and more healthy). I  sprinkled with a bit of garlic salt, black pepper and a touch of chili powder. I didn't get a picture but I topped it with a little Monterrey jack cheese! YUM!

Late- Meaty Macaroni Bake

Frying pan is the only picture I took of the actual process lol! The other pic is from the recipe card.

My Daughter was being crazy clingy so I didn't have a lot of opportunity to take pics and if I did it slipped my mind because I was concentrating! 

This dish was AWESOME!!!! I loved it!!! A great lasagna twist.


Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 16oz jar spicy spaghetti sauce (I did not use spicy because of my 16 month old but I would have normally)
1 4oz can of mushroom pieces, drained
6oz elbow macaroni, divided
1 cup sour cream, divided
4oz provolone cheese, sliced
4oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Heat large skillet over med-high hear; add beef. Cook, stirring, until brown and crumbly, about 5 minutes; drain fat.

2. Add onion to skillet; cook 2 minutes. Stir spaghetti sauce and mushrooms into skillet. Simmer covered for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Layer half the pasta, half the sauce and half the sour cream in prepared baking dish (I recommend something smaller than a 9x13 bc I had to add more pasta or it didn't layer well, too much space). Layer Provolone cheese over top.

4. Continue layering remaining ingredients as in step 3 (not the provolone all of that goes in the middle). Top with mozzarella. Cover loosley with foil sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes; uncover. Bake for 5 minutes longer.

Chicken and Pasta Medley

This is what was for dinner tonight! It was pretty good!

Ingredients you will need to make this:

1 6 oz. pkg tri-colored pasta (I had Rotini noodles so I used those)

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 10 oz can of broccoli chicken soup (just realized while typing I used cream of broccoli soup lol!!)

1 soup can (the 10 oz one from the broccoli chicken soup) milk

1/2 green bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 2 oz jar chopped pimiento

1 5 oz (you have to buy 8oz and when drained it is 5 oz) can water chestnuts, drain, chopped (I didn't chop them)

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Serves 6

Directions:

 I boiled 3 chicken breasts then cut into cubes, it only took 2 large ones to make enough chicken

So I don't know why but the blog isn't letting me post like normal so here are the pics of the steps then the steps follow. Sorry!

1. Cook Pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse; drain again. Meanwhile, mix Chicken, soup, milk, bell pepper, pimiento and water chestnuts in a bowl, Add pasta to bowl; mix.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cheddar to chicken mixture; mix gently to combine. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Spoon Chicken mixture into prepared dish, spreading evenly.
4. Sprinkle top of casserole with Parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.