Saturday Fun Day!!

Saturday afternoon I left Amanda with Adam so that I could get a little break!! I left to go into town to do laundry at Adam's sister's home. Our vacuum, washer and dryer all went out within two weeks of each other and Naomi has been so kind to let us use her washer and dryer and the comfort of her home rather than having to sit at the laundry mat. Thank you so much Naomi!! 

When I was pregnant with Amanda, I had read the book, " The 5 Love Languages of Children" and have decided to re-read it. Through reading it again, Adam and I quickly have come to the conclusion that Amanda's language of love is Quality Time. So, earlier in the day, we had decided to make Saturday night all about Amanda. She wanted to do a sleepover, so we called Auntie Jill to see if she wanted to join us for the night. 

After finishing laundry, I came home to this...the entire living room rearranged and a fort that they had made with several king sized sheets...it covered almost the entire room!! Amanda had the biggest smile on her face as she showed me what her and daddy had been up to!! Adam is such a good daddy!! Amanda was so happy!

Adam had also been cooking for a good portion of the afternoon...he made homemade chicken nuggets for dinner...a request of Amanda's! They also made cookies on sticks and Amanda decorated them all by herself!

















After dinner we had family movie night! We watched Rango! Amanda laughed so hard during the movie! There is nothing better than the genuine laugh of a child!! Made me realize again, how blessed we are to have little Amanda in our life. 

During the movie we also painted nails, and after the movie was over Amanda wanted to play Chutes and Ladders! We were going to all "camp out" on the floor and have a sleepover, but after we had concluded our fun evening Amanda just wanted to crawl into bed. Two hours after her normal 7pm bedtime, and she was out within about 3 minutes! That night was so fun, and the joy it brought to Amanda was one of the best feelings EVER!!

Business Orders

Today was a busy day for me working on completing several business orders! We just got over the flu bug here at the house and I have been putting off what needed to be done because of a severe lack of sleep this past week. I love productive days!! It feels like a big weight has been lifted and it was so nice to have some craft time today! 

 




     

    

The bibs will be a new item to my website! Thank you so much for all of you who have supported me with my new business this past year! Can't believe I'm coming up soon on Bridger Babies 1 Year Anniversary!! Through your support, I've been able to live out a dream of mine, and I've been able to stay home with my little Amanda and share each and every precious day with her! So Thank You!!

Chinese Vegetables and Hoisin Stir Fry

We love stir fry and it is a wonderful way to get a good dose of both protein and vegetables into our diet. I love to try new recipes to see if we can find a new favorite to a classic recipe. This one made the list of our new favorites! 


















Chinese Vegetables and Hoisin Stir Fry
 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
 1 tbsp sesame oil + 2 tbsp
    2 tbsp soy sauce +2 tbsp
    1 tbsp rice vinegar
    2 tbsp sugar
    3/4 c vegetable broth
    2 cloves minced garlic
    1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
    1 tbsp corn starch
    1 c chicken pieces
    3-4 green onions, chopped
    1 red bell pepper
    2 c broccoli, chopped

In a saucepan, whisk hoisin sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, vegetable broth, garlic, ginger and corn starch together over medium heat. Allow to simmer until thickens, about 5-7 minutes. 

In wok or skillet, stir fry chicken in 2 tbsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp soy sauce until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add onions, peppers, and broccoli (or other vegetables--I used sugar snap peas...stir fry is a great way to use up vegetables that are less than prime, before they go bad!) Stir fry the veggies for about 2-3 minutes. 

Then add sauce and stir fry until combined (about 2 minutes) and serve over rice or noodles!

Play & Freeze Ice Cream Ball

Family movie night consisted of Madagascar 3 and the Play& Freeze Ice Cream Ball this past Thursday evening. I remembered as a young child how much fun we had rolling the ice cream ball on the lawn at the cabin during the summer. I figured it would be a fun activity to do while we watched our bi-monthly family movie! I had searched high and low for this Ice Cream Ball as I really didn't want to pay full price for it, and after over a year of remaining patient, I came across this one for $.75 at a garage sale this past summer. What a find! If you can't wait to give it a try though, you can find them at REI for $30. 

This is so easy to do, and Amanda loved getting to push the ball back and forth with us and her Auntie Jill. 
What you need:
- 1/2 c rock salt (very inexpensive and can be found at any grocery store)
- ice (and because we ran out, we used snow from the backyard)
- group of friends/family 

We just made vanilla ice cream to keep it simple but there are several other recipes you can make that can be found HERE!
For Vanilla, we used 1 pint half and half, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/3 c +2 tbsp sugar!

There is two compartments on the ball; one for the rock salt and ice and the other for the ice cream ingredients. Close the compartments and all you have to do then is roll the ball back and forth for about 20 minutes. Amanda said, "delicious"!! 

    

Dehydrator Fun!!

We recently received a dehydrator as a gift from my parents. I was so excited because I knew that rather than having to cut up and freeze the remainder of our Costco size box of fruit, I could now make delicious and nutritious snacks for all of us to snack on. It will also be great for preparing veggies and other foods that we can take with us this summer when we go camping.

I started off by using up some of the bananas that I got for so cheap the other night at Rosauers Produce Sale! Adam came to bed that night and admitted he had just polished off about 1/2 the container of banana chips I had just finished earlier that day. I guess we will be making more of these soon :)

We made beef jerky that turned out pretty good...next time I think we would make slightly thicker chunks on leave it on the dehydrator for a little less time...we used a store package for seasoning and cure, but next time I think we will try the teriyaki marinade!

Teriyaki Marinade
1 lb sliced meat
1 c teriyaki sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1 packet teriyaki jerky seasoning
1 packet jerky cure

Apple sliced were a hit too...pretty sure these were polished off with about 3 days as well! It's nice to know I can be giving Amanda healthy snacks that aren't loaded with preservatives and lots of added sugars! I'm lucky to have a little "health nut" who loves her fruits and veggies anyway, but Amanda was requesting to have these healthy treats and it put a smile on my face.













We also made fruit roll ups with applesauce! What are some of your favorite dehydrated treats?? I can't wait to try new foods on the dehydrator and find new family favorites!!

Italian Beef Hoagies

Saturdays never seem to have enough time in them to get everything done we want to accomplish! That is why we often go with our easy to put together meals on Saturdays. Tonight's meal: Italian Beef Hoagies!

Recipe as follows:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 small onion
1/4 water
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Provolone cheese (desired amount)

Brown meat in skillet over medium heat. Add onion. Cook for 3 minutes before adding rest of ingredients. Sprinkle with provolone cheese and heat until melted. Then spoon mixture onto hoagie rolls! That's it!

 


I like to prep everything earlier in the day...I dice all the bell pepper and onion ahead of time...saves time when you have hungry mouths ready for dinner. You could also cook everything ahead of time and then just rewarm the meat mixture before adding it to the hoagie rolls. Either way, this is a great go-to dinner that doesn't take much time out of your day, so you can spend more time with your little ones.

Rosauers Produce Sale

I love a good deal, who doesn't? If you are fortunate enough to have a Rosauers grocery store in your town, they have awesome 13-hour sales throughout the year! Today was their Produce Sale and we scored a great price for all of the food we got. 

We got 9 apples, 4 oranges, 3 green bell peppers, 4 avocados, 4 tomatoes, 4 lbs baby carrots, 5 lbs potatoes, a cantaloupe, a head of cauliflower and 5 lbs of bananas for less than $18!!

Another sale that they have that we LOVE is their Cereal Sale! I think they hold the cereal sale twice each year...once in early Sept ember  and once in February/March. They have cereal for 1.79 a box but with coupons (which I always make sure to have), we get boxes of cereal for about 1.25 a box! This sales is also when we stock up on milk, and breakfast items like sausage, bread, english muffins, etc. 

Looking forward to using our dehydrator that we got as a Christmas gift to make some healthy snacks with some of the food we got today!!

With the cauliflower we got I'm going to make a yummy alternative to mashed potatoes! Here's the recipe:

Ranch Style Mock Mashed Potatoes
1 head cauliflower, washed and broken into florets
3/4 c light ranch
2 tbsp fat free milk
1 tbsp light margarine
1/4 tsp salt 
Place florets into a steamer basket and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a food processor. Add the ranch dressing, milk and margarine to cauliflower and blend until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Add salt, mix and serve. 

We've tried this recipe before and loved it...really couldn't tell a difference between the cauliflower and regular mashed potatoes!