Lion around at the zoo

A few weeks ago, I was grocery shopping alone at the Commissary.

It’s funny. When I was pregnant, strangers in stores always talked to me.

“You’re so….big. Are you having twins?”

Oh, how I loved those little chats…Then when the boys were babies, people still talked to us, but these days we’re just regular old people. I don’t get comments unless I take all 4 of them out together. Then of course, no one can believe they are all boys. (Ha! I can’t believe it either. It’s okay.)

So now when people talk to me in the grocery store, it’s usually a man who is grocery shopping but doesn’t know what he’s doing and wants help.

I was 80% of my way through the store, my cart was 70% full, and I had just turned down the bread aisle. Only there are apparently two bread aisles because regular sandwich bread wasn’t on this aisle at all, which left me lingering and searching for longer than usual because this is yet another side effect of moving all the time. You don’t know where anything is.

An airman in his mid-twenties (I’m guessing), started talking to me. He asked something like, “How’re you this fine day?”

This caught me off guard. It’s a little unusual, right? We just shop. We don’t shoot the breeze with random people standing by the hot dog buns.

By the way, when I’m nervous/uncomfortable, I tend to laugh. It’s an annoying habit that may sometimes send the wrong message, but I have very little control over it.

So I laughed a little and said, “I’m fine.”

But I’m standing there thinking, “Is this guy trying to talk to me?” Ha! Sometimes in my head I’m still 28 and cute…I forget that I actually look like a mother of four nearing 40…

He kept talking.

“So what’s a good thing to cook? I mean, I like to, but I don’t know what to make. I need ideas,” he pointed towards my cart full of vegetables, cheese, and breads and such, “and you seem to know.”

Oh!! This young man is actually wanting meal ideas from me?

He isn’t just trying to talk to me. I did a completely terrible job of thinking up cooking suggestions for him on the spot. See my mind was wiped clean as I realized that I am now the motherly lady you ask for kitchen tips…

I guess my bubble was burst, but hey. I’m going to redeem myself here. Would YOU like some cooking ideas? I have nothing earth shattering to offer, but here’s a sample of what has been cooking in my kitchen this summer.

How I actually serve lunch. That’s ham, fruit, and apple bread.

That is…this is my cooking plan aside from frozen pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches, and fruit trays because we have honestly mostly eaten exactly that.

Chicken Noodle Soup, like this recipe.

During our 2 years in Georgia, Joshua raved on and on about Mrs. Bowers’s (a local friend’s) chicken noodle soup, so I tried to make it as much like hers as I could!

I guess my cooking is still highly influenced by our time in Georgia because one of my other summer projects was this cake I saw by our Georgia friend, Julie. Hers was a little bigger, which I wasn’t quite ready for that level of baking, so I did a 4 layer version of the red, white, and blue cake for July 4th.

Yes, I photographed it while it was still in the freezer…which is why I will never be a food blogger. And don’t laugh at my melting blue rosettes. It was my first try, so I was pleased as punch.

Want to make a swirly cake like this? Well, you just need a TON, TON, TON, that’s 3 tons, of buttercream frosting, food dye, and some boxed cake mixes because oh yes, I definitely make my cakes from a boxed mix. I figure there’s no shame. That’s just pre-measured flour and sugar and directions, really.

Here’s a link to the YouTube video I watched to learn how to make the buttercream swirlies. Oh my bad, they call them rosettes:

Here’s my menu plan from last week:

I number my cookbooks, and this month I’m using book #16. Does that sound strange?

Ok. I know that looks like I’m planning to bake a lot of sweets, but in my defense, the kids are home all day and we do that for fun together. We will never actually bake 2 desserts in one week, but I dream big.

The apple bread was a huge hit with Alan and Daniel. The mug was a lovely gift from Jennings.

I couldn’t find another one online that was exactly like the one I made, so here’s the recipe for it.

Printable Apple Bread Recipe

Apple Bread

3 eggs, slightly beaten

2 Cups sugar

1 Cup Vegetable Oil (I used canola.)

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 Cups All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 Cups cored, peeled, and chopped apples

Topping:

2 Tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325, and chop up your apples. Set apples aside.

Stir together the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla until ingredients are well mixed. Combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and stir into liquid ingredients until just evenly mixed.

Stir in apples.

Divide between 2 greased loaf pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping. Sprinkle over tops of loaves.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes.  I like to set the timer for more like 1 hour, stick a fork in it to check for doneness. If fork comes out clean, your bread is done. If it comes out doughy, bake 10 minutes longer.

I got this recipe from a church recipe collection: Roanoke First Baptist Church Covered Dish, page 192. This recipe was from Virginia Yarbrough, and I altered it to omit pecans for our nut allergy kid.

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Maybe next week I will work on my food photography skills, but hungry boys get quite impatient, so I make no promises.

Happy summer!!

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The post What I’m Cooking This Summer (& Chatty Stories at the Supermarket) appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I love it when I get to try out products! You’ll love this cutting board, and you might even score a FREE one!!

It was an exciting weekend here, so I have FUNNY stuff to share today.

The sad thing is the messy ones were arranged by yours truly.

I thought this photo well captured the key difference between Daniel and me. Look at how neat his memory tiles are. Look at mine. He clearly got a few things from his father.

Found this on my walk. I think it’s the true home of the Berenstain Bears!!!!

I had my picture made with my snake-killing weapon.

John David insisted on bringing all the pumpkins inside.

Looks sweet, right? You’d never know that 30 minutes before he cried all the way through Target until I cried uncle and went home. *Groannnnnn.*

That one relative at gatherings that says shocking things. I hope you all have that one relative.

Hehehe! No, I’m just kidding. I have no idea what was said here, but I thought this photo was funny.

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Now for even more FUN AND EXCITEMENT!! I have a brand new giveaway!!!

And this is one we can ALL use!! A bamboo cutting board with silicone edges. Lime green!

Putting mine to good use

I like the fact that a bamboo cutting board is easier on your knives, and I am a real sucker for the cute lime green handles.  I’ve enjoyed using this.

I also love that this is a family business. These boards were created by a mom who wanted a bamboo cutting board that would not mold, so she added the silicone edges to prevent that and created her own business.

You can order your own here: TheKitchenLove.com

So what are you waiting for? Log in and click one of the option tabs below to enter the giveaway.

*****No one gets your email address other than me, and I will only use it for notifications regarding the giveaway.*****

I’ll announce the winner in a week!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you miss my latest post on my new obsession with Lula Roe?? No worries. Click here to read about it over at Monterey Premier.

The post 3 Fall Funnies and a NEW Giveaway for Your Kitchen! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I was at the chiropractor’s office today, when lo and behold, Daniel’s new preschool teacher walked in. I admitted to her that her job was much too hard on the back for me. Just the one day of volunteering had me running home to my hot pack. But you know what? She loves teaching. It’s her calling!

I’m so glad that there are people who actually do love teaching. I am in awe of teachers.

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So, some funny things have happened lately.

The boys were so excited about this, so goofing up was sad. They were soft and delicious, but the icing was runny. That wouldn’t have mattered, if the icing bag had not BUSTED wide open all over the cookies. Icing everywhere. At that point, we just gave up and ate the cookies.

As for the Crispy M & M on the crotch, that was Daniel, and I assure you it was just a button. I’m pretty sure.

Alan said, “Did HE make the cookies?” See, this was the day Dan had croup. I said, “Yes, but I tried really hard to not let him touch them…” That’s like taking Nonna shopping and not letting her buy anything. I wasn’t super successful.

Truth is, I just found that Pinterest photo and stuck it beside mine. I never had any intentions of doing something I’m completely incapable of: making cookies that cute.

The holiday bug took over me yesterday. I cooked 2 pans of cornbread, 1 pan of dressing (southern style), and gingerbread cookies! I even made my own chicken broth, mostly because I didn’t think I had any. Daniel later pointed out that I had an entire unopened carton of chicken broth in the refrigerator.  Where were you two hours earlier, Daniel?

One day, Daniel’s wife is going to thank me for her amazing chef husband, and I’m going to say, “Oh, you’re welcome dear. I did that just for you,” when in reality that was all God. I have nothing to do with Daniel’s awesomeness in the kitchen.

I took a few photos of making chicken broth and corn bread dressing for you. I thought I’d photograph the whole process and share my to-die-for family recipe with you.

Despite what Food Network might lead you to believe, cooking can be easy and still taste incredible.

Instead, I forgot to take pictures past the first 10 or so minutes. I’m sorry. Multi-tasking is also not me… I didn’t even take a finished product photo…..and that, my friends, is why I will never be a famous blogger. Pioneer Woman I am not.

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My boys are eaten up with poison oak. Monday we finally made it to Classical Conversations. I knew Joshua’s face was starting to break out, but after missing two weeks in a row, plus several other weeks this year, due to one or the other of us being sick or having an appointment, I refused to be stopped.

We had one, shining, glorious day of CC. Then Monday night, Caleb’s entire body exploded in poison oak rash. Joshua’s face itches so bad that he sleeps on ice packs, and Daniel woke up at 1am barking and struggling for air.

When you have four boys, you should really have a MD. Yes, all parents should be doctors. It would save so much time, energy, phone calls, etc.

****Disclaimer: Please do not take anything you read here too seriously..*****

OH! This next one may look like a Pinterest fail to some of you too, but the boys and I were pretty excited about our first home school garden harvest of seriously dirty potatoes:

Again, I forgot to take a photo of them clean… They tasted perfect! I caught Alan trying to throw them away.

“But they’re tiny.”

“You still pay $2 a bag at the store for tiny Steam bag potatoes, you know.”

“Well, you can fish them out of the trash, if you want. They’re right on top.”

“Ewww. No.”

“April, they’re in a plastic bag. Here, see, here, I’ll put them back.”

“Thank you.”

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So who’s ready for Thanksgiving? I am. I mean, what could happen?

The post My Pinterest Fail and other funny stories. Bring it, Christmas! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Super Easy Crock Pot Roast!!! I promise it will fall apart. No knives required.

In the great tradition of helping out new mothers, our friends Chris and Corinne brought over this roast, just after we had Joshua. I remember this day like the back of my hand. Corinne was 39 weeks pregnant herself, and she looked exhausted. We asked them to stay with us and enjoy the roast too, and I so enjoyed their visit. I have loved every single one of their visits. They are such an outstanding couple! We always laughed so much with them.

The roast was delicious, and Alan and I just went on and on about it. Corinne said, “It’s really so easy. It’s just a pork roast, and I added like a bottle of ketchup and a can of cream of mushroom soup.”

“That’s it!” we said in surprised glee. Oh yeah! High five.

“Yep.”

Yes, I know, my roast photo has added veggies. That’s because Alan cooked that day. Yes, sometimes I let him cook. I DO have a kitchen control freak problem, but I also have more work than I can handle, thanks to home schooling, so Alan cooks sometimes. When we have yummy veggies on hand, we throw them in too. Yay, Alan!!!

So for those of you that didn’t actually read the story, here is the recipe in instruction form:

Ingredients:

Roast (Pork or beef–whatever)

Salt/Pepper

Cream of Mushroom Soup  (2 cans for a BIG roast)

About a bottle of ketchup, or until you just get tired of squeezin’ ketchup. I really use more like 8 ounces, if I actually measured it.

Optional: Onions, Carrots, Potatoes, peppers, or whatever veggies you like with a roast or happen to have in your kitchen.

Directions: I have this compulsion to salt and pepper all meat before I do anything else, so if you’re like me, go for it.

1. Dump roast in crock pot. Frozen? NO biggie. Dump it in. Cook it longer.

2. Turn cooker to low if the meat is thawed, high if it’s frozen.

3. salt pepper, and add all ingredients—If You are leaving it for too long, you may want to hold carrots until the last 3 hours.

4. Pop the lid on. Don’t peek. Don’t stir. That sets you back an hour in cook time.

5. Let it cook. Times depend on how big your roast is.

How long should I cook a roast?

This is not an exact thing. DON’T take your roast and chop it all up before cooking it. That will just get you an over cooked, dry roast. Bleh.

Small roast (as in a pound or two): 5 hours is good.

Big roast :7 or so.

For frozen roasts, try the high setting, at least for a few hours of that time. By the way, I have cooked a thawed roast in as few as 3 hours, but then it didn’t fall apart as nicely as one cooked 5 or 6.

Great News: No matter how bad you feel like life is kicking your tail, when you managed to get something in the crock pot in the morning, come supper time, YOU ARE the champion.  

The post Super Easy Crock Pot Roast for the Life-is-Kicking-My-Tail Days! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.