Toddlers and Social Media

There once was a time when I thought "toddlers" were 2-3 year olds. I have been mistaken. My 18 month definitely toddles. And climbs. And gets in to everything, all day long. She also doesn't play with toys that often. She would prefer an iPhone or a laptop. And if neither of those are available then a remote will do. She's definitely a child that requires a lot of attention from mommy. And mommy's attention is always devoted to social media.

Speaking of that...

Last night, I was on my phone doing something lame. Irelyn kept climbing in my lap & pushing my phone out of my face. I kept snapping at her and putting her down. She needed my attention & I was playing Criminal Case. A Facebook game was more important than my daughter. Now I don't do that subconsciously but it was happening!

So I decided to do something about it. 

I deleted all social media apps & games from my phone!! I'm doing a social media detox. Cold turkey.

I'm hoping to see specific results from this too. My house will be clean. My kid will go outside more. My husband and I will have conversations that I actually remember. I will get back to my blog. :) Yay for you!! I will join a gym. (I'm NOT super pumped about this!!) 

And most importantly, I will be getting to know my Heavenly Father better and on a much more intimate level.

I can't wait to become a better wife, mother, friend and Christian over the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to start a new blog series, #babybumpsins. God laid this on my heart several months ago. I've been "too busy" to work on it but I should be able to find the time now.

Keepin' it real in the dirty south...

Real hot & humid...

Irelyn's Mama

Taco Pasta Bake

Oh. My. Gah. This was the quickest and easiest thing I think I've ever cooked. And I LOVED IT. So did the hubs so yay for me (and Pinterest)!!

This meal took me 15 minutes to prepare. And to me that is priceless!

Taco Pasta Bake

What you need:

• 1 box of Ziti pasta
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1/2 package cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Ok. So as you see, I added a few ingredients of my own. And so should you!! You can't have a 'Mexican dish' without Rotel and refried beans!! Kidney beans would've been great too!

What you do:

• Boil your pasta
• Brown ground beef (I cooked mine ahead of time & froze it) & drain
• Mix taco seasoning & 1 cup of water to ground beef for 5 minutes
• Add cream cheese, Rotel and beans. Simmer on low until cheese is melted.
• Put pasta in casserole dish; mix in 1 cup shredded cheese.
•  Top pasta with beef mixture & gently stir it.
• Top with remaining cheese (PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE FOR ME)
• Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

For real, this was so simple and delicious! Especially since I had precooked my beef! Toss together a salad and a side of corn. This was perfect. It was cheap and easy and my kinda supper!!

The perfect one is awake from her nap so I'll have to cut this one short! But you should definitely cook this for supper one night this week! Your family will love you!

Prep Time: 15 minutes (if you precook your beef)
Yields: 6-8 people

Chicken Lo Mein

You call it a One Pot Wonder. Everything goes into one pot and you cook it at once. Pretty convenient if you ask me! Tonight, well today at lunch, I tried this recipe, Chicken Lo Mein. I must say, it was a pretty quick and easy dish. And tasty!

Chicken Lo Mein

What you need:

• 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used 2 breasts)
• 1 - 13.25 to 16 oz. box of linguini or fettuccini pasta, broken in half (I used whole wheat linguini)
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in thin 3" long strips
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut in 3" long strips
• 1 bunch green onions, white part sliced and green part cut in 3" long strips
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t corn starch
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 t EVOO

What you do:

• Add the chicken, then the pasta, then the remaining ingredients to a large stockpot and cover. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir and reduce heat to medium-low. 
• Cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.Cook until most of the liquid is gone and chicken is cooked through.
• Remove the lid and let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Prep Time: 15 min.
Yields: 4-6

Veggies cut in 3" long strips

 

If you do not have a garlic press ~ INVEST in one!

I am a control freak. So 2 things happened in this recipe. 1 - I boiled my chicken separate while I was slicing and dicing. And 2 - I added more liquids than it called for. I definitely would add more liquid but not as much as I did. I added the rest of the water I boiled my chicken in. Didn't hurt the meal. Just made it very juicy. Oh and I also added 1/4 cup extra of soy sauce. If you add more broth/water, then definitely add more soy sauce.

This meal was stinking good! It was very different from anything else I've ever cooked. I would, however, "modify" it to fit our family a little better. Next time, I will add more chicken and possibly some shrimp. I will cut the veggies into smaller pieces. And I will add broccoli, sliced yellow onion and water chestnuts for sure!

As far as price goes, I came out of pocket on this meal just under $10. I already had the chicken and the seasonings. And I will be able to get a lot more uses out of the cornstarch and soy sauce. We've eaten off of this meal twice and there's still at least two more servings in there!

I give this meal an overall 4 Stars. Definitely something you should try at least once.

Thanks for reading! 

5 STAR Food

I've been really excited all day to cook this meal and share it with y'all! I cooked Parmesan Baked Tomatoes and French Onion Chicken Sandwiches and both were fantastic! My husband likes everything and anything but he still really, really enjoyed this meal.

Let's not wait any longer. Here's the DL.

Parmesan Baked Tomatoes

What you need:

• 2 tomatoes
• 1/3 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 t. oregano
• salt & pepper
• olive oil

Here's what you do:

• Slice tomatoes and place on baking sheet
• Sprinkle with cheese, oregano and salt & pepper
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Bake on 450 for 10 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Yields: 12 slices

Ok. Walmart only had tiny, baby tomatoes so I used 3 tomatoes. Recipe called for 1/3 cup of cheese; I probably used more like 2/3 cup. But this was a very quick and easy dish. It tasted like pizza!! It was very good but I'm not a fan of cooked tomatoes. It's a texture thing I do believe. Will I cook this again? Yes. My husband LOVED these. Bonus for me because this was as easy as fixing a bowl of cereal! It wasn't a cheap meal per say. The tomatoes were $2.50 and the cheese was $3.25 for the bag but I only used 2/3 of a cup! I already had the oregano and s&p and olive oil. $6 for only one dish isn't that great. Sorry penny pinchers!

I give 5 stars for the taste, 1 for the texture and 2 for price.

French Onion Chicken Sandwiches

What you need:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
• 1 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 4 sandwich-sized King Hawaiian buns
• non-stick cooking spray

Here's what you do:

• Preheat grill to medium-high heat
• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar, stirring well to combine. Cook the onions for 25 minutes, stirring frequently, until deeply caramelized.
• Pound the chicken breast halves until they're about 1" thick. Coat with the nonstick spray, then place on the grill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, turning over once halfway through.
• Top the chicken with the cheese, cover once more and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
• Build the sandwiches by dividing the spinach among the buns, place the chicken on top followed by a generous helping of the caramelized onions.

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
Yields: 4

I didn't really know what this recipe meant by halved but I sliced it and made 2 out of each breast. Think butterflying the chicken. I also don't like Swiss cheese so I used Pepper Jack cheese. I used an electric skillet to grill the chicken. I have no clue how to operate a real grill! Oh, and I used regular hamburger buns because I didn't see that it said use delicious ones.

I doubled this recipe thinking we'd have leftovers and we definitely did not. Not because we're little piggies or anything. The chicken I bought was on sale for a reason & it did some serious shrinking. I ended putting a whole breast on each sandwich.

THIS SANDWICH WAS HEAVENLY. No. For real. I loved it so much and so did James. The Hawaiian rolls would have taken it over the top. I spend about $8 on this meal. The cheese was $2.74 for 10 slices but I have another meal I will use the rest on. The bag of onions was $5 but I have a lot of onions leftover. The buns will be used in another meal also and so will the spinach. I will buy better chicken next time. This sandwich is worth the extra money on good chicken.

I give 5 stars for everything concerning this dish!! It will be a weekly meal in the Sharp house!

These were the most simple dishes. I started cooking at 4:07PM and was done at 4:59PM...and that was making sure everything was picture perfect. I had to make sure each onion and tomato slice was perfect. And I also took a ton of pictures to make it look all fancy and professional for y'all.

I absolutely loved this inspiration I had! Can't wait for the next recipe!!

Until then...

Feeling inspired...

When I feel inspired, I better jump on that train while it's at the station. Once it leaves, I never think of it again.

So, last night, as my insomnia kicked in, I decided to check out some meal ideas on Pinterest. I hadn't been on in a few months and holy mother of Elsa!!! Have the meals always been so enticing??? 

I love to cook. It's probably one of my favorite things to do. I also love to grocery shop. I know, I know. I'm insane. So take these two things, combine it with Pinterest & my new blog...BAM!!! Inspiration!

Here it is. During the month of June I'd like to try several different recipes a week, document the whole she-bang and write a blog about it. I'll give tips, how to's, try it or don't try it, pictures, shortcuts, etc. I will be incorporating the freezer meal fad with my meats to see if it's worth the time you save vs. quality and taste of the meat. And, for all you penny pinchers, I will try my best to do cheap-ish meals. I will be scouring Walmart for the best prices I can find. :)

Exciting right?! You better believe it!!

Warning: I do not cook very healthy. I do not use organic, gluten-free, low fat or any other healthy ingredients. I do, however, use fresh and frozen vegetables. That should win me some points, right?

Until we meet again...

#TBT

Here we go. It's Wednesday, May 29, 2013. I wake up around 11am and think to myself, "Flo should be in town Sunday but let me go ahead and take a test, ya know, just for the heck of it."

Catch up: I took my last birth control pill at the end of April. We were going to try and have a baby! I mean, I was almost 30 and you know folks can't be having no babies this late in life. Plus, we had both been hippies back in the day, if you know what I mean, and that can cause sterilization. So, I had made up my mind that it would definitely take us forever to get pregnant. Surely.

Back to Wednesday. I tinkled on a stick and it said yes. Well, actually it said "pregnant." I was shocked. How could I be pregnant?? I've only been off the pill for a month! It was supposed to take 6 months for this to happen. Right? Wrong. Way wrong. So, here I am, pregnant.

Oh. My. God. I'm pregnant. What am I going to do? I don't even like kids.

Complete fear.


Oh. My. God. I'm pregnant. Ahhhh...I'm having a baby!

One thought later, complete happiness.

I've learned that hormones are in complete control of your mind, body and soul once you conceive. One year later ~ hormones are STILL in complete control.

Thank God James would be home for lunch in like 15 minutes. For 15 minutes I paced, cried, had a cheesy grin, paced some more, went back to look at the test, shook like a leaf and tried to think of a clever way to tell him. He walked through the door, I held up the test and blurted, "You know what this says?"

So special. So clever.

I finally convince him that I was for real and not playing a joke on him and we called our parents. Neither of them answered, so I took a picture of James poking his belly out like a pregnant woman & I held the test out in front of him and we sent them a picture. (Kicking myself that I didn't save this picture somewhere.)

They answered then.

I knew I wasn't very far along so I didn't want to tell a lot of people. I wanted to get out of the 'danger zone.' I had never been pregnant before and didn't know if I could even carry a baby. Plus, I had only taken one pregnancy test.

Remember what day it is? Wednesday. Know what event takes place on Wednesdays? Church.

Fast forward to 6 pm. Just getting ready to start church and our pastor walks up to me (in front of everyone) going on about me being pregnant. What the crap? I haven't even told my family. Here he is telling our church. I scan around looking for James and see him, phone in hand, showing people the picture. Dude, for real? Of course, I had a meltdown. We left church. I flipped out on him. (Hormones...)

So we had to make hurried phone calls to our family and tell them before the church grapevine took our precious news public.

This is pretty much how I remember this day.

I am completely in love with this little girl. I am completely in love with being her mommy. I can't imagine life before May 29, 2013. I can't imagine Irelyn not in our picture. She is the sweetest baby. I know I will fall more in love as she gets older. But today, one year later, I can't imagine being any happier.


My life isn't perfect but it's perfect for me.

Happy Throwback Thursday!!

I was 5 weeks when I found out. This ultrasound was at 7 weeks.

I'm baaacccckkkk...

So, several of you have requested that I keep my blog more updated than I have been. 

Ok. I hear you.

Let's talk about my worst enemy right now...the 'baby weight' I gained while prego. All 65+ pounds of it. 

(Did I mention Irelyn weighed only 7.3 of those pounds?! Ha)

Do I regret my inner fat chick way of thinking? Hmmm...today I regret it. When I'm drinking an ice, cold DP and eating hot fries...no. Not. A. Single. Regret.

Here were my thoughts on eating & pregnancy: 

"Eat what you want, when you want. You only have this excuse once. And besides, you can take Plexus after you have the baby and lose it all anyway."

No one told me that baby weight tends to hang on a little tighter than regular fat. And I had forgotten that I gain about 10 extra pounds on birth control.

So, in dishonor of my inner fat chick, I cooked a 'healthy' meal tonight. And it was actually very tasty!

James called it 'Shrimp Étouffée.' A true Cajun would laugh in his face.

What you need:

- 1/2 to 1 pound of steamed shrimp (my local grocery store steams & seasons them for you!)

- 1/4 to 1/2 box of whole wheat rotini pasta

- butter (I don't know the healthy version of butter.)

- salt, minced garlic & minced onion (seasonings)

What you do:

- Boil your pasta; drain (duh!)

- Peel your shrimp*; add to pasta

- Pile on the butter (Again, I don't know the healthy way to do this!)

- Add seasonings to your liking

*This shrimp is a little pricy. Well, more pricy than the frozen, tiny ones. You can use whatever shrimp you'd like!

I made way too much! 4x this recipe! But this would feed 3-4 people.

So this was missing something. James decided to add cream of mushroom (yes!), shredded cheese (nah...not cheddar anyway) and milk (yes!). **Taste the original before adding these ingredients.**

But that's totz not all. I made veggies!! 6 of them and they were delish!!

What you need:

- 1 red bell pepper (cut in strips)

- 1 small onion (sliced however)

- 15 (+/-) baby carrots

- a lot of mushroom slices

- 1 squash (sliced)

- 1 cucumber (sliced)

What to do:

- Throw them all in a baking dish. Add butter (I got a little crazy with the butter). Season with minced garlic and salt (or whatever seasonings you'd like).

- Bake at 350 forever. Jk til the veggies are tender. I forgot to time it :) Maybe 30-45 minutes. This feeds 4-6 people.

This was a pretty good meal. My inlaws and husband loved it! I wanted a cheeseburger. Ha. Nah. It was very good! We will be having this again!

And the perfect one is still perfect. I'll write more about her next time. She's rolling all over the place now. She always has a smile on her face and is the most pleasant baby I know! 

Irelyn McKenna - 14 weeks old