.

.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

What's Cooking: February

I have a few really yummy dinner dishes I found via Pinterest I want to share with you! 



One Pot Wonder Chicken Lo Mein from The Wholesome Dish was super easy, incredibly delicious, and it was a hit with the whole family. Next time I will add in broccoli and snap peas. The more veggies, the better! This is the second one pot wonder meal I've done from The Wholesome Dish and I can't wait to try some of her other recipes too. They are so easy to do, I love it. 


One Pot Wonder Chicken Lo Mein

Ingredients:
½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small chunks
1 - 13.25 to 16 oz. box of linguine or fettuccine pasta, broken in half (I used whole wheat)
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in thin 3 inch long strips
1 medium red bell pepper, cut in thin 3 inch long strips
1 bunch green onions, white part sliced and green part cut in 3 inch long strips
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2 tablespoons minced garlic)
¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil


Directions:

1. 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 the heat to medium-low.
2. Cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until most of the liquid is gone and the chicken is cooked through.
3. Remove the lid and let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving.




Rachel Schultz, A Household Almanac has a tasty Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken dish I wanted to try. The kids were a bit weary of the feta, picking most of it out. So obviously this wasn't one of their favorites, but all I ask is that they try it, and they did. So I was happy with that. As for the adults, we loved if of course! Bacon and feta? Yes please! 


Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

4 skinless, bonless chicken breasts
6 strips of bacon
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon
4 garlic cloves, diced I used 2 tablespoons minced garlic)
2 tablespoons oregano
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Fry bacon and de-grease with a paper towel.
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, the juice of a lemon, garlic, oregano, sale, and pepper. 
3. Slice each breast horizontally 3/4 of the way through the meat. Stuff each breast with two strips of bacon and the feta cheese. 
4. Drizzle oil mixture over breasts in a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes. 




Hawaiian Baked Ham Sliders, also by Rachel Schultz, A Household Almanac, was a quick and easy dinner to make. If you haven't noticed, I'm all about easy! My friend makes the most delicious ham and cheese sliders, so I wanted to give it a try myself. I opted to use whole wheat rolls instead of the hawaiin rolls as they were on sale and I love them. Doing so did not comprise the tastiness of these sliders! I saved even more money by getting my cheese at the deli counter because it was on sale there, as opposed to purchasing it from the pre-packaged section. We also buy large hams and slice them our self with our meat slicer. We save a lot of money buy purchasing in bulk and slicing at home.  


Hawaiian Baked Ham Sliders

Ingredients:

12 king's hawaiian sweet rolls
¾ pound ham, sliced
6 slices swiss cheese
½ onion, sliced
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
¼ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Slice rolls in half horizontally.
2. Layer ham, swiss, and onion slices on to bottom of buns. Place the bun tops over sliders and transfer to a 9x13 baking dish.
3. Whisk together poppy seeds, dijon mustard, butter, and worcestershire sauce. Drizzle mixture over sliders.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 2 minutes.
Slice into individual sliders.




Freezer-Friendly Lasagna Casserole from Money Saving Mom was the children's favorite. Next time I make this, I will double it so I have one for dinner that night, and one for the freezer. 


Freezer-Friendly Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or sausage
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces of uncooked noodles of choice
1/3 to 1/2 jar spaghetti sauce
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon parsley (chopped fresh or dried)
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Brown ground beef and onion until cooked. While the meat is cooking, boil the noodles according to package directions.
2. Mix spaghetti sauce with diced tomatoes and browned ground beef.
3. Set 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese aside to sprinkle on the top. Combine the rest of the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, parsley and salt and pepper.
4. Layer a third of the meat sauce, then the noodles and then the cheese mixture in a 9 x 13-inch pan. Repeat two more times. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 30-45 minutes.


To freeze: Cover well with foil and freeze for up to a month.
To serve: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.


With love,
Mama Hauck

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Better, Cozier Home.

This is the year for better! I've been saying it for 2 months now, and I am sure to continue to say it. 

Better, healthier self. Better, healthier, more connected family. Better, cozier home. 

We've been in our home for 6 1/2 years now. Slowly, but surely, we continue to work on our home to get it to where we want it. There always seems to be something to do. Do home improvements ever really end? I don't think so. 

Our latest home improvement has been gaining more space in our living room, as well as more of a "cozy" feeling. It took us some time, but we finally sold our old couches so we could purchase a sectional which would help give us more space, something we've really been craving. 

This was our old set up. Very comfortable, but big. It was time for a change. 


We LOVE our new couch. It is amazing! We purchased from Home Reserve and are so thankful we discovered that company! If you are in the market for a new couch, I highly suggest you check them out. We built our own "design" piece by piece and even got to pick out what quality fabric we wanted. Super simple, super fun. Best of all, it shipped to us via UPS. So awesome. 


It took a bit of time to put together, each "piece" came in it's own box, but it wasn't hard at all. Timothy helped his Papa and had it done and put together in a matter of hours. I helped a little too. ;) 


The end result! Good job boys! Looks WONDERFUL!! And you can see how comfy it is, sweet Timothy decided to take a snooze on it!

 
Not only were we able to purchase a new couch, but we scored big time on a new rug. So big and so, so fluffy and comfortable! The kids have really enjoyed all the space to lay around, play, and wrestle. 

My handy husband also made me a table to run along the wall and backside of the couch so we have a place for speakers, remotes, drinks, etc. without having to bring back in our large round coffee table that takes up a lot of space. 


A home made, 3 shelf end table give us even more storage and completes the new set up. 


Aaahhh. Love home improvements! Next up, home made kitchen table! 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

You Make Me Smile



Anthony,

You make me smile when a good song comes on the radio and you rock out with me...Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake...shake it off! 
And when you beam with self pride after getting a 100% on your spelling test, plus all of your challenge words!
And when I know at least part of my life lessons are getting through when you take a deep breath and say, "Mama, can we have a conversation?"
Ohhh you make me smile! 




Molly,

You make me smile when I watch you attempt to do a cartwheel! I might even laugh a little! 
And when you take your little finger and push your glasses back up on the bridge of your nose after they've slipped down.
And when you read your favorite book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" five times in a row. 
Ohhh you make me smile!



Timothy,

You make me smile when you say " 'Da night, Mama!" when I give you hugs and kisses at night.
And when you call your toy appaloosa horse, an "applesauce" horse.
And when I kiss a spot on your body like your belly or your cheek and you say, "No.....kiss lips!" and you pucker up so I can kiss your lips. 
Ohhhh you make me smile!


With love,
Mama Hauck

Friday, February 13, 2015

God's Country

You know me, I'm a sucker for a beautiful sunrise. And now that it's getting a wee bit lighter in the mornings again when I get the kiddos to the bus stop, I'm out and about at the most perfect moment. 

The kids are enjoying the beautiful sunrises too. I'll look in the rear view mirror and see Anthony with his head leaning back against the head rest, just gazing out the window. The other day he told me that God creates each sunrise and the sunrise is where Angels come from. 

I think he's right. 

We're in God's country. 




 



Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, filled with all the love of a rising sun. 

With love,
Mama Hauck


Thursday, February 12, 2015

Dinos and Trains and Blocks, Oh My!

I love watching little brains tick. It's been so much fun watching Timothy play and grow. The things his little mind comes up with just amazing me. 

I love how Timothy just makes things up as he goes along, chattering the whole time, laughing at his own jokes that silly Mama doesn't get (but I pretend I do and so I laugh along). :)  

Dino's have been a big hit since getting them for Christmas. The other day, Mama's dinosaur and Tim's dinosaur were fighting. But then they got tired of fighting, so they ate a car instead. And then one bit Mama's finger. Owwie!....and that was followed by a fit of laughter, of course. 


Another of Tim's loves: Anthony's train set. He's learned that the trains only connect when facing a certain way. And as long as you're on the hard wood floor, you can make a loooooooooooong train that can be pulled around the living room. And train tracks...there's no rhyme or reason to them. Who cares.  Choo choo!! 


Clocks? Pro status. Didn't you know they are meant to be stacked up high and then knocked down? Over and over and over again. Tim, you're so cautious and steady when you stack. Then wild and crazy when you demolish. Shit eating grin and all. Love it. 


Watching you play brings me joy! 

With love,
Mama Hauck