December Memories

Taylor got to invite Daddy to the PSE "Donuts with Dad" event. They headed to school early one morning to have breakfast together. The also got to build a toothpick and marshmallow creation! It was a great morning!

 We got to attend the annual "Pancakes with Santa" event at PSE too! Daddy and the kids got served flapjacks thrown style! They had to catch em! I was helping with the door check-in for PTO but got to sneak in to see them. Tay got to see Santa too!

 We invited Maddi and her family to join us to help decorate St. Peters City Hall. It was a cute community event to get the kids involved with the city officials. Kids got to make an ornament and then an officer helped them hang it on the city tree.

Taylor and Evie had their end of year performance for DRAMA CLUB! They played Twiddle and Twee, and they did a great job with Mrs. Cassel! So proud of them!

We carved out some time for special winter moments, including smore's by the fire, gettingm to find Buddy around the house-in his many silly situations, and

Billy surprised Blake with tickets to go see the new STAR WARS movie on preview night! We tricked him good...he laid his clothes for the day on the end of my bed before he got in the shower, we replaced the shirt with a new STAR WARS shirt. When he went to put his clothes on, he noticed the shirt and was like, "hey, thats not the shirt I picked, where's my shirt?" We told him to look closely at the shirt, he noticed it was a STAR WARS shirt, but still didn't "get it"! We asked him if he liked it and when he said he did...we had to give it away and tell him! LOL! He rarely gets to go see the  movies while they're still at the theater, so this was a really awesome surprise! 

And just days before Christmas, we had a "cookie bake-off" & baking day! Billy and Blake teamed up against Tay and I to make special Christmas treats and take votes from Allison, Andrew, Aunt Sissy, Uncle Danny, and Aunt Susie. Boys made peanut butter krispy chocolate-covered balls, and us girls made pill bottle cookies and white chocolate corn flake balls...the competition was fierce...I think the boys won but who's counting?!

Fresh Pico De Gallo

One of my very favorite things to make is fresh pico de gallo! 

6 tomatoes
1-2 green bell peppers
1/2 large red onion (or more)
1-2 jalepeno peppers (leave the seeds/ribs if you like it hot)
juice of 1 lime
2 cloves garlic
cilantro to taste
optional: 1 Tbs Accent, fresh ground pepper, pinch sea salt, 1 Tbs olive oil, 2 Tbs. white vinegar - I add all of these to mine!

Sometimes I just dice everything up by hand to go for a thicker, more rustic salsa, and sometimes I put it all in my mini chopper and pulse to a finer salsa...either way...YUM !! Taylor literally eats it with a spoon!!! OR you can serve with baked whole grain tortilla chips OR I make my own chips by using whole wheat tortillas, lightly rub with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and broil in oven until blistered and crispy, break into pieces and dip !!

Jack-0-Cheese please!!!

Both kids love to make jack-0-cheese pizzas. We make them with whole wheat tortillas, i let them paint on the pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese, and then cut out pepperoni eyes & nose...usually we use black olives too!
We make mexican ones the same way but replace the pizza sauce with refried beans, then add the cheese, and black beans & olives.

White carrots - our veggie of the week

I am doing a "Weekly New Fruit/Vegetable".  I have started this several times before and seem to gravitate back to the familiar, but am back at it!!

This week the kids chose the "white carrots" aka parsnips.  I have tried these years ago and remember that I liked them, but am experimenting again and including the kids.  I got a recipe for Honey Glazed Carrots & Parsnips here.               

bacon-wrapped pork fillet, spinach salad, and roast carrots & parsnips

The parsnips were kinda like a spicy carrot, but not spicy as in hot but just bumped up carrot flavor!!  The kids kept asking for more and Blake even held his arms up, closed his eyes, and yelled, "YUMMO!!"  These will be served again.  The glaze isn't even needed, but it was so delish on the meat and veggies, that I am definitely going to make it for the next holiday meal.   I think any kid would eat ANY veggie with this glaze on it.  It made me feel like I served a 5 Star meal!!lol!!

The fillets were only $1.38 each, spinach bought in bulk at Costco, and the veggies cost around $3 for all.  Yummy, cheap, and mostly healthy!!  Entire dinner for under $6 for a family of four!!

Sour Cream Cheesecake

My Mom made this cheesecake for every holiday.  You can use a traditional graham cracker crust or the cresents, as listed...we rarely use a crust, it works out just fine to pour filling directly into ungreased pan.  PLUS, sometimes, I add almond, lemon, or orange juice and zest in replace of the vanilla to give a slight flavoring!  Almond flavoring in the sour cream topping is awesome too!!

Filling
3 cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
5 eggs
1 large container sour cream

Crust  (optional)
2 rolls cresents 

Topping  (optional)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.  for optional crust- unroll cresents, lay in 9x13 dish/pan, pinch seams to form crust.  Beat softened cream cheese until creamy.  Add sugar, beat well.  Add 1 egg at a time, beat 1 min between each egg.  Add sour cream, then vanilla, mix well.  Pour into pan and bake for 40-55 minutes.  If top splits, it's okay!   Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients and spread over top and bake additional 5 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving :)  Yum!

No corn syrup Pecan Pie

This pie turned out great, because I don't like the "gel" part of the pecan pie.  Sometimes they can seem way too sweet and gooey!  This one formed a thin crusty top, like a brownie and was nutty all the way through without as much gel!

 
Ingredients
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
3.Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.

You can check out all the great reviews at:  Pecan Pie V by Elaine Helms