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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Replacing the Boxed and Canned: Homemade Spaghettios

Okie dokie, so we ate our last can of spaghettio's about a month ago. The kids have been begging me for spaghettio's for lunch for a while now, so I finally decided to try out a homemade spaghettio's recipe I found here: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/08/19/homemade-spaghetti-os/ 

Here it is below!


Homemade Spaghetti Os
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

15oz no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tbsp milk of choice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp to 1 tsp salt, depending on your preference

2-3 tsp butter-type spread (I used real butter)
3-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast or grated Parmesan cheese (I used 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese)
2 tbsp sweetener of choice (I used sugar in the raw)

1 cup uncooked tiny pasta of choice (If using a larger pasta, such as elbows, increase to 2 cups)

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except the pasta. Bring to a boil, then lower and cook on low until the butter spread melts completely. 
2. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, throw in the pasta and cook until desired texture is reached. Drain, then pat dry with a towel. 
3.Pour the pasta into the sauce, and stir to combine. Serve. 
4. Before reheating any leftovers, stir and add a little milk if needed.



I used little star noodles that I thought were super cute. And I did not pat dry the noodles with a towel....I just drained them and all was well. 

This recipe was a win! It was super easy to make, one of my top cooking criteria, and the kids loved it. So no more canned spaghettio's for us! 

If you would like to check out a nice home made stove top mac and cheese recipe, click HERE.

With love,
Mama Hauck


Friday, April 25, 2014

Garden Progress

So far, our garden plot has gone from this: 


To this:

To this:

We've had a lot of help....


It still might not look like much, but boy oh boy has it been a lot of work! Our ground is literally nothing but rock about 6 inches down, so that makes digging holes for posts quite impossible without a jack hammer. It's taken a long while to dig our holes and cement our posts and poles in the ground in preparation for our fencing, but we've done it! Onward we go! 

With love,
Mama Hauck



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

There Is No Doubt

I've been a Mama for a while now. 6 years and 22 months to be exact. But still, somehow, this fact surprises me.  

I answer to Mama, no matter who it is that's doing the calling. People say things like, "You're children are quiet wonderful" and it's not like I look around bewildered that they're talking to me....I know that they are! I have the figure of a Mama. I also have the lack of sleep of a Mama. Yet, I take a look around my home and at the three little faces that inhabit it and sometimes I'm like a deer in headlights....Who am I? What is this place? How did I get here? What year is this? 

Yes. 

I'm a Mama. Me. 

There is no doubt. Only surprise. 

Surprise because I could have sworn it wasn't that long ago I was the one watching my Dad in the kitchen making breakfast....not the one doing the breakfast making with little eyes watching me. 

Surprise because I could have sworn I was the one telling my Mom goodbye and giving her a kiss as I left for school.....not the one being given a kiss on the cheek with strong arms wrapped around my neck as my little man leaves for the day. 

Surprise because I could have sworn it was me fighting with my siblings while my parents hollered in the background to "Keep your hands to yourself!" or better yet, "Sit on your hands!".....not the one telling arguing children "If I have to tell you one more time I'm going to...!"

6 years and 22 months later and I am still surprised and pinch myself, wondering how time has passed so quickly and how, for goodness sakes, how, did I go from being a child to having three of my own. 

I am a Mama. Me. 


Rise and shine and out the bedroom door. No time for socks.


The view I have when I'm standing, cold feet on the floor, deciding what I should do first.



There are lunches to be packed.


And dirty dishes in the sink.


All gets done with my morning coffee and the help of a few cough drops when I'm feeling yuck because Mama's can't take sick days (unless there's a Grandma around!).


Little backpacks lined up on the bench by the front door alongside little coats and little shoes...shortly the bench will be bare and those little ones will be out the door.


But they always return home with beautiful artwork to fill up spaces in our home that would normally be bare and bland.



I am a Mama. Me.

There is no doubt. Only love. 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter Tails

Unfortunately, I've been ill recently. Fever, body aches, ear aches, sore throat....ugh. Timothy has been ill too. That boy has the worst runny nose...I feel so bad for him. 

Despite being ill, Easter weekend was a good one. We dyed eggs Saturday night and the kids just had a wonderful time! There was the typical fighting over who got what egg and who got to use the green dye first....but that's part of the fun, right? lol We ended up with some pretty dang beautiful eggs!


We have a cute tradition where the kiddos have a trail of jelly beans and other candy that leads them to their baskets on the couch. This year their baskets were full of sunglasses, books, new drinking cups, p.j.'s, t-shirts, sandles, and some candy treats.....all of which we were able to score either on sale or use a coupon on. Anthony and Molly also got their own mucking scoops and a mucking cart they can push themselves so they can take on the responsibility of poop scooping the barn and arena. 

Our egg hunt was so much fun! It was awesome watching Timothy....it didn't take him long at all to figure out what was going on! Watching him run around getting excited about finding an egg made me lough out loud. By now Anthony and Molly are egg seeking pros. We hid our real dyed eggs and stuffed eggs this year. Our stuffed eggs were filled with jelly beans, chocolate eggs, little reeces cups, fruit snacks, quarters, and a few even had dollar bills. 


After our super fun morning, the rest of the day was spent outside. I felt well enough to get some yard work done with Sammy while the kids played. Our Easter dinner consisted of cheddar mashed potatoes, asparagus, and smoked ribs! A fight over how much candy could be had for dessert and the comment, "You're not the candy police!!" from Anthony capped off our evening. Hahaha Love it.

With love,
Mama Hauck