Fried Corn!

Not deep fried corn, so healthier right?!?

Ha, this has become one of my FAVORITE sides! It's definitely more indulgent than plain corn but we have it sparingly. I found it here and have been in love ever since!

Here is what you'll need..

Ingredients:

• 2 cups frozen or canned corn
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter and chopped onions. Allow onions to soften and turn transluscent. Add corn, 1 tbsp butter, milk, and salt and pepper (if using frozen corn, add it in first without the other ingredients to allow it to defrost and warm up a little). Saute over medium heat until milk has nearly evaporated. You can add some chopped parsley if you want (we skip this step).

We have this with meatloaf, ribs, fried chicken, or anything that has mashed potatoes! I hope you love it!

Changes around the house...

It has been quite a few weeks since we've updated our blog. School has started and I have a great group of kids! I have a great group of parents this year who are so excited for Tony and I and support us so that is great too! I realized last week just how much I love my job! I know that being a working mom will be a difficult balance that I may never fully achieve, but it has always been a challenge I have wanted to face. Everyone makes choices that work for their family and I'm just so glad that Tony and my family support my desire to go back to work and also raise a family. My grandmother is planning to watch Emerson when I go back to finish the school year and my mom will pick up next August from there on out. I know that my career is the most flexible one to be a working mom, so at least I will get my few months in the summer, winter break, spring break, and all major holidays to be a stay at home mom. We'll just say that things will always be interesting and busy in our home, which is just how we like them!

In the spare weekends we have (which haven't been much since we've been here, there and everywhere lately) we have been receiving so many blessings!

Here are a few changes around our house:

Our great friends Mary Ruth and Preston gifted us with a wonderful gift card that allowed us to get the pack and play we wanted. It's still in the box, but it's super cute and has owls all over it. Thank you guys!

My mom surprised us with a car seat for Miss Emerson. We hope to take her many fun places that we enjoy going to!

Tony's parents gifted us this fabulous swing! They came into town a few weekends ago and wanted to buy us a swing, so away we went and found this adorable one for a STEAL! After being on sale and using a 20% off coupon this one was so much less than any other we had on our registry! Tony's mom insisted on buying Emerson her first stuffed animal so that little one is resting where she will one day! The swing has been on in our living room from time to time so that Einstein can get used to the music, nature sounds, and gliding/rocking motions it makes.

Here is a BOB stroller we found on Craig's List for a great deal as well! We plan on using this as our sole stroller so we were excited to get this one! The car seat pops in with an adapter so Emerson will be riding around the neighborhood and town in style.

Emerson has been blessed so far with a fabulous wardrobe! My sister-in-law Brianne is responsible for most of this as she went on a shopping spree at Babies R Us. The picture doesn't do all her options much justice since most of these sets have 3 outfits on one hanger. My favorites are the A&M cheerleader outfit, A&M dress, and Texas Rangers onesies. This girl is already ready for our love of sports!

I'm feeling great right now! I'm still working out and lifting weights nearly nightly. We've been going on many walks at night and I'm still riding my bike. After the morning sickness finally went away (praise God!) I wanted to get right back to what I had been doing and I got my doctor's blessing. I am a little over 6 months along right now but I haven't taken a picture just yet. Here's an old one of me at 5 months.

Will update more later!

Fast Dinner: Tostadas (or Chalupas if you're Hispanic like me)

Ingredients:

• however many corn tortillas you want
• 1 can of refried beans
• shredded cheddar cheese
• lettuce
• jalapenos (optional unless again, you're Hispanic like me and my pseudo-Hispanic husband)
• taco seasoned ground beef or turkey or chopped up chicken breasts cooked to your liking (we usually just go meatless but they can be great with meat!)
• sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place corn tortillas on cookie sheets spread apart so they aren't touching. Cook in oven for about 15-20 minutes (just until they look almost a dark brown or burned). This part is not an exact science, you just kind of keep an eye on them. You want them crispy, not chewy. So if you're first run is chewy, leave them in for a few more minutes next time. Heat refried beans in pot for a few minutes (sometimes we add a little water to the beans to make them more spreadable). Next layer a thin layer of refried beans on each shell. Sprinkle some cheese on top, lettuce, meat (if desired), jalapeños, and garnish with sour cream.

This is a great meal to get in some protein and it's fast! I ate these all the time growing up when my mom was in a rush and needed to get dinner on the table. Adding meat makes them more hearty but they're great without it! I will say that if we go meat-less I eat about 5-6 of them (I don't know if that's normal, but hey they're good!)

Delicious and Easy Cajun Oven Fries

These are absolutely one of my favorite sides. Sorry the picture has some corn in the picture, but that was another fabulous side I'll post later! We have these with ribs, hamburgers, steaks, you name it! Because I've found this fast recipe we no longer buy frozen fries. So good and they pack a little heat so try them! If you're not a fan of the heat, just skip the cayenne pepper. Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients

• 2-4 medium thin-skinned Russet potatoes
• 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (I just pour it from an oil thingy and guess)
• 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper sauce (I just sprinkle cayenne pepper powder)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (again I just sprinkle)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut potatoes into wedges. The easiest way to do this is to cut a potato in half length-wise and then cut each half into thirds. Place potato wedges on a large cookie sheet (with edges that lip up to keep liquid from draining into oven). Sprinkle all ingredients over the potatoes and then toss the potatoes to cover all sides. Cook in the oven turning them once after ten minutes.

These are my favorite! I hope you enjoy!

Quick Catch Up Post

It's raining today in the Austin area and I'm THRILLED! There's nothing like dark clouds and thunder rolling in to a hot, steamy Texas day. I'm a big rain fan and I love how it just calms everything with its presence.

Life in our house has been very busy to say the least. Tony is busy at work designing roads and managing a pretty big project until all hours of the night. My morning sickness knew exactly when to say goodbye to our house, because Tony is not around so much right now to run the house and take care of me. Yay God for timing!

School is just around the corner and I've been busy unpacking, organizing, and editing my room. I'm staying away from the heavy things but still managing to get stuff done. This year will be a big change to the three previous ones and I know God will provide me with the energy, attitude, and endurance to face it like a champ.

Einstein is recovering nicely from a surgery he had last week. He went in for a routine teeth cleaning and we had the doctor look at a spot on his cheek that wasn't healing like it should. The doctor thought it could have been a number of not so good things, cancer being one of them, so he removed it and this left Einstein out of commission for a few days. Poor little guy was a trooper though! He's now back to his lively, neighborhood running, dog chasing self! We had quite a scare there for a second because he means the world to us!

We go for our 20 week check up on Friday to see Baby E. We always just pray for a healthy, happy baby but we may find out what we're having that day. We shall see!!

In the next few weeks I'm hoping to get back to trying out new recipes and posting them on here so stay tuned!

Yummy Chicken Spaghetti!

My first food post in a loooong time!

This recipe was given to me by our good friends Jon and Amy. They had us over for dinner one night when we first moved to the Austin area and wow'd me with this dish. Tony loves it and I've shared it with a few people at work who have worked it into their monthly rotation. It is really easy and can be tweaked to your liking. Here's what you'll need.

Ingredients

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cooked on grill or your way of preference (you can use frozen ones you buy chopped up already or a can of chicken breasts). They need to be chopped into small pieces.
• 1 can Rotel (we go for the extra hot stuff but up to you)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 block of the small Velveeta, diced
• 1 package of spaghetti noodles

Directions

Cook noodles and drain. Combine cooked chicken and noodles with Rotel, both soups, and diced cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.

We usually serve this with a salad, corn, and yummy garlic bread. I've found this is a great make ahead meal to take in a tin casserole dish to someone who just had a baby or surgery. If you make it, let me know how it goes! =)

An Entirely Too Long Break

I'm alive!

After many, many, many weeks of absence I'm here. Our world has drastically changed since my last post. We found out in early May that we're expecting a little one at the end of the year (if Tony has his way) or the first few days of January. We were beyond surprised, beyond excited, and I have been beyond sick. I'm hoping I'm nearing the end of my sick time because MAN have I had my fair share.

I haven't wanted to be on here much because all of the blogs I love to read have one thing in common....FOOD!! I have had a disastrous relationship with food these past 3+ months and it has been the last thing I've wanted to look at. I'm so thankful for Tony because he has taken over like a champ, making me breakfast every morning before work, coming home late and cooking large meals for leftovers, and doing all the grocery shopping for strange requests. He has been the bread winner, the bread shopper, and the bread maker the past 3 months and has done it all with a smile and a whistle. Our family is beyond blessed to have him in our lives!

Here is a shot of our little one at 13 weeks. Prayers are welcome and much appreciated!