Lopalope

Audrey loves to eat lopalope and tonight Daddy handed her a gigantic piece.

...but that didn't stop Audrey...

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Tonight I tried a new casserole from my healthy living magazine. Good recipe (I altered it a bit):
5 c uncooked egg noodles
1 1/2 - 2 c mixed frozen veggies
4 cups cooked cubed chicken breast
1 can (14 oz. or so) cream style corn
1 can reduced fat reduced sodium cream of chic soup ( I used cream of mushroom because I accidentally bought it instead.)
2 1/2 c shredded colby monterey jack cheese (reduced fat)
1/4 c onion chopped
1/4 c green pepper chopped (I left this out)
1/4 c red pepper chopped
cream or a bit of milk
pepper
seasoned salt
garlic powder

1. in large saucepan, cook noodles according to package directions, adding frozen veggies in last 5 min. Drain
2. stir in chicken, corn, soup, 1 c. cheese, onion, peppers and seasoning. I added a bit of cream because it looked like it would be dry to me. Glad I did. maybe 1/4 - 1/3 cup cream.
3. transfer to sprayed 13 X 9 baking dish. cover and bake at 350 for 30 min. sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

This was really good with a salad. Will definitely make again. :)

Saturday on the Guadelupe

This past weekend Nana and Cousin Cameron came for a visit (it was Cameron's 14th birthday) and we decided the best way to celebrate was to spend a day at the river.Audrey was crowned the "Crab Queen" for the day...
and I just couldn't stop taking pictures of the Queen...

It was a great day. Very relaxing for all. Audrey played in the water all day and loved it. Nettie even got to join in the fun.

Happy Birthday Cam, from our little Crab Queen!

Home stuff...

If you know me very well these days, you know that I love to garden. I've been container gardening for several years in Boston and now I'm excited to have more room and a yard to garden in (nevermind that our grass is dead...we will have flowers!)

Below is our front porch.

Yes, that is a large pickle looking cactus. It was here when we moved in and I am growing to like it.

This flower bed was totally dead and nasty when we moved in. Mom and Dad came for a weekend and we cleaned it up and planted new flowers. I am having to water like crazy right now to keep them happy.

I haven't done anything to the back yet. Would love to plant a vegetable/herb garden back there. We'll see.

Sarah bought us some new pillows for our couches. They add some nice variety. Thanks Sarah!

And I wanted to show you Audrey's 1 year portrait. So precious! We have it hanging in our bedroom. Mom framed it for us. Pretty much every picture in our house was framed by mom. She's so good.

Isn't our little girl precious?

Baseball Game Weekend in Dallas

This past weekend we went to Dallas to see the Red Sox play the Rangers. It was nice to be home for a few days. Audrey had alot of time to play with her cousins. Here she is with Cate.

She spent alot of time with Caroline and Cole. Caroline even babysat for us and did great! And Audrey walks around the house calling for "Dole" constantly. She gave him lots of kisses - which he immediately wiped off of course.
Her T-shirt says Grandpa's Girl. A more true statement has never been made.
I think she loves her uncle Eddie too.
She just woke up from a nap here and refused to smile, but Uncle Eddie got alot of good cuddling.

So we went to see the Red Sox play the Rangers with Dad, Sarah and the kids. It was a great night - even though the Red Sox did not do well.

Audrey got to stay home with Gran, but she wore her Red Sox hat and cheered with us from home!

There were quite a few Red Sox fans there to cheer with us. And cheer they did. And the Rangers fans were pretty nice - although at one point a lady behind us yelled "go home you Boston trash!" Not so nice of her.

Cole ate everything that he could possibly eat at the game.

And Audrey got to go and meet her great Grandmother, Mema, for the first time. It was a good visit. Mema was very happy to meet Audrey. Audrey found a balloon in the room and it ended up being our ice breaker. She kept bringing it to Mema. She was really sweet.

What a nice weekend at home! Thanks guys!

My Swimming Pool

It is REALLY hot here in New Braunfels. And we are in a serious drought so it really hasn't rained since we moved. Our grass is brown, we are watering our flowers like crazy (but we are banned from sprinkling our yard), and we're scared to see what our first electricity bill will be. yikes!

BUT...the heat did call for a baby pool for Audrey. And she loves it. When she wants to get in she says "ish, ish" (fish in Audrey language..and there are fish all around the sides of the pool) and she does the bath sign. It was so hot we just stripped her down to a swim diaper and chunked her in. No need for a bathing suit.

Here we are sharing some ice chips.

She did like them, despite the face she is making.

Now this is a regular sign for Audrey. She puts her hands up and says "wha?" or "whas tha?" anytime she wants to know what something is or where someone went. It's her question look. And it's pretty cute. I think this all started when we would knock over blocks and I would put my hands up and say "what happened?" she's done it ever since in any question situation.

And there you have it, the only way to survive a hot Texas afternoon.

Really Yummy Chicken Burgers

So tonight's new recipe was really really good.
I have never cooked with ground chicken before. I didn't really even know you could get it that way. I asked the butcher about it and it was out near the ground beef, packaged much the same.
And it was a good price.

Chicken Taco Burgers
Mix together:
1 egg beaten
1/4 c chopped onion ( i used red onion)
2 T taco seasoning (I used chicken taco seasoning)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 t pepper
add in 1 lb. ground chicken and mix well
make into 4 patties

grill, covered over med.heat for 4-6 min. on each side (I overcooked mine a bit I think)

I put some pepperjack cheese on top and melted on the grill.
sliced fresh red pepper and lettuce as condiments.
I put a bit of butter and garlic on the buns and toasted. Really really good.
Troy said it would be good with some kind of chipotle mayo or sun dried tomato mayo. I bet pesto would be good.

Then for side dishes I Grilled Avocado and some Pineapple.
For the Grilled Avocado, I cut it in half, sprayed with olive oil and lime juice on the inside face. sprinkled with salt and garlic. Grill face down for a few min. Then turn over and grill on back side for a few min. While backside grills add some cooked black beans (drained) into the center of face up side, cover with a bit of cheese until melted. Then you're done. This was good.

And we just threw the Pineapple on there. That was Troy's addition to the meal and it turned out to be a nice side.

This was GOOD STUFF! You should definitely try it. I will cook with ground chicken alot more now. If you make it, let me know what you think.
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"iiide"

Audrey loves to go "iiide" (outside.) She asks me all the time. I'm pretty sure she asks me if Nettie needs to go iiide so that she can go with us. And she loves to play around on the back porch. Here are a few pictures of her time iiiide tonight.

Today was also her first day to wear a ponytail.