I'm Back!

After a short hiatus, I'm back! We were on vacation from July 4-13, and it was WONDERFUL!! On the 4th, we went to our town's parade and festival, the weather was great, but man were there a lot of people! On Saturday we went to the lake and spent 5 days there. It was fun, although not really relaxing, chasing after a two year old is enough to wear anyone out:) We got a ton of fishing in, and lot's of swimming, so it was a great vacation!

Friday the 11th Brad and I went up to Two Harbors for the weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, and that was pure heaven:) We satyed at the same resort we honeymooned at, and we had an amazing time. We didn't do much other than relax, eat out, and we did do some local shopping. The highlight of the week for me, was on Thursday night, when Brad gave me a three diamond princess cut anniversary ring! It is beautiful, and I am still so amazed that he did this!!

So now we're back to the real world of kids and work:) I got two new daycare kids, a 2 month old, and a three year old. They are doing awesome, and it's a nice addition to my little daycare family!!

As far as food goes, this week I've been doing a lot of preparing things the night before so I won't have to do much during the day. Last night I made a batch of banana muffins, and baked them this morning, tasts just like banana bread, yum! I also made a batch of pizza sauce for the homemade pizza I made for lunch. I didn't have any tomato paste to thicken it up, so I pureed garbanzo beans and added that, worked great and the kids ate every last piece of pizza!! Even my Emma who never eats takeout pizza!! For supper I am making a Southwestern Beef Bake, it has Fritos on top. And last night I made Hearty Maple beans that were sooo good! I will post the recipe for that one, it's super easy, and so very good.

Tomorrow I am making Beef Stroganoff in the crockpot, and Friday will be a free for all days, as Brad is gone. This weekend we have an outdoor party at some friend's of ours, and I am going to make a big batch of Salsa.

That's it for now, I will try to remember to post the recipe for the Hearty Maple Beans....

Baby it's HOT outside!

I caved and turned the air conditioning on this morning. Ugh, I hate having the air on during summer, no I don't like to be hot, but I so love having my windows open, and the fresh air coming through. It's supposed to be 90 today, so I figured it's time. Not too bad that it's the 1st of July, and this is only the second time I've turned it on!

I am trying to find some easy recipes to make for this weekend and next week, we're on vacation from July 4-13. We are going to the lake on the 5th and staying until Tuesday or Wednesday. I cannot, nor do I WANT to eat hotdogs or hamburgers the entire time. I need to make a big batch of muffins, some bread, and a pasta salad and salsa. Hmm, when exactly am I going to do this??!!

I did make a casserole yesterday, and my kids LOVED it! All it was was browned hamburger with onions, broccoli, and potatoes in a cream base (3 Tbl butter melted, and add 3 Tbl flour and one clove of garlic, saute for a minute or so, then add milk to thicken to the right consistency). At the end of the baking, I added some cheddar cheese to melt. I only had maybe a cup of it left! Big hit for me:)