Delicious Shredded Beef

So, I know in a post a while back I had mentioned that you would see a future blog post about simple, healthy school lunches but to my surprise my son has, more often than not, chose to eat hot lunch at school. When he does want me to pack a lunch for him he usually requests Rev Wraps, you know those protein packed, prepackaged meat and cheese wraps you buy in the cooler section at your grocery store. I have no problem with these, although I find them a bit dry.
Anyway, without school lunches to blog about I've decided to share a yummy shredded beef recipe with you that I've recently made for my family on two occasions now. First time I used the shredded beef in enchiladas and the second we wrapped the meat in tortillas with cheese and sour cream. Either way it was great.

What you need:

1 rump roast

2 cans beef broth

2 small cans of diced green chilies

1/2 white onion

McCormick Mexican Fiesta Marinade

1 small can of red enchilada sauce

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a crock pot and cook on low for 8-12 hours. 

Shred beef and put it back into crock pot for 1 hour. 

Use for tacos, burritos or enchiladas.  

*The meat will be in a lot of broth. Before you use it make sure to drain the broth off of the meat so it doesn't make your tortilla soggy*

This meat is extremely flavor packed and smells delicious while it is cooking! 

My favorite way to eat it is simply wrapped in a tortilla with pepper jack cheese. 

Let me know how it turns out for you! 

**Update**

I've found its hard to find the McCormick marinade all the time so in place you can use

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

2 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp lime juice or juice from 1 fresh lime

The flavor of those combined ingredients won't be much different. 

-N

Cheeseburger Rotini

This is my version of Cheeseburger Macaroni. I wanted to play it up so I used Rotini. It's a fairly quick meal that can be prepared ahead of time for a busy week night. This is one of my favorite go to meals when I want a tasty, filling dinner that doesn't require much effort on my part.

Need:

1 lb hamburger

1 box of noodles (I used Rotini)

1 jar of cheddar cheese sauce (I used Ragu)

1 can diced tomatoes in tomato juice

1/2 C. Dill relish (optional)

2 tbsp ketchup (optional)

2 tbsp mustard (optional)

1 tsp season salt

1/2 C. Shredded cheddar

Brown hamburger over med/high heat.

Boil pasta per directions on box.

Drain diced tomatoes. 

Reduce heat once hamburger is browned.

Mix together tomatoes, relish, mustard, ketchup and season salt in a separate bowl.

(Keep in mind you can leave out those ingredients if you don't like them but it's much better with them.) 

Once hamburger is browned add the mixture to the hamburger and stir.

Add cheese sauce to hamburger and stir. 

Drain noodles. 

Mix together hamburger and noodles and put into a greased, oven safe baking dish. 

Top with shredded cheddar.

Put in oven on 350° for 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Teaching your children values... are we doing it right?

Let's talk about kids.
There is no wrong or right way to raise your kids. If there were a specific way I'm sure 99.9% of us would most definitely fail. However, as parents we can all agree that our children need to be happy, healthy and loved. It varies, though, how parents keep their kids happy, healthy and loved. It takes a lot to raise children. Time, patience, tolerance and of course money. Money though, where should parents draw the line when it comes to the financial side of nurturing your children? Obviously children have necessities that require you to spend money on them but how do you differentiate the needs and the wants. If you have children I know you're familiar with the "I want, I want, I want". It seems you can't take your kids to the store without buying something they want or turning on their favorite cartoon without them seeing a commercial for a toy they just can't live without, but for you where do you put your foot down? Do you leave the grocery store with the name brand box of cereal that costed $3 more than the generic brand you usually buy just to avoid the tantrum that would result in not letting your child have the cereal with the cheap-o toy in it? I've been there, I've caved..... and I also haven't. I don't believe in giving your kids everything they want. I strongly stand behind telling your kids "no" because life isn't going to hand your kids their every desire on a silver platter and as their parents I believe it's your job to teach them that.
That brings me to another tough life lesson I think children should be taught early on. Life is not fair and you have to work for what you want.
In my household, sharing a toy, snack or anything that one child may have that the other does not is completely optional and up to my children. My husband and I agree that it teaches a horrible lesson. Granted "sharing is caring" but sharing also teaches your kids that they should be entitled to everything everyone else has. Which is great, but we all know life doesn't work that way. Once the lovely life of being an adolescent is over our children will have to work and earn the things they want.
That brings me back to buying your kids everything they ask for. I'm not saying you can't treat your kids or spoil them every now and then, but don't be THAT parent. You know, the parent that doesn't "believe" in saying "no" to their children. I'm sorry, but all you're doing is creating a spoiled rotten, ungrateful brat. People who think they are entitled to everything without putting an ounce of effort into obtaining it is about one of my biggest pet peeves.  

I want all of our children to understand the value of a dollar and that you don't just happen upon money, but you have to work hard, put in effort and sometimes have to put others before something you want before you can have what you desire. I want all of my children to appreciate what we do for them and be grateful for what they have. 

Teach your children the value of things, not only the dollar amount but the effort required to achieve it. Teach your kids that just because someone has something they want doesn't mean they are entitled to it. Teach your children the sacrifices you make to give them what they have. Teach your children to appreciate you and the objects in their life. Teach them to be a grateful person.

You will truly be rewarded with something priceless when your children grow to be self sufficient, responsible adults because of the decisions you made. 

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole is great in its original form but every now and then I like to put a twist on my recipes. I made this as a side for my homemade version of shake and bake chicken. Instead of cream of mushroom I used cream of chicken to compliment my main dish.

What you will need:

1 bag frozen green beans

1 can cream of chicken 

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can of French's Cheddar French Fried Onions (FFO)

Preheat your oven to 350°

In a bowl mix together your green beans, cream of chicken, cheese and 1/4 can of FFO.

Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and evenly spread out your green bean mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is bubbling and then top with as much as you would like of the remaining FFO and bake for 10 more minutes. 

Enjoy!

Cake and a toddler meal hack!

Today I spent some time in my kitchen. Almost all day actually. My husband's birthday is coming up and we have a sick Camaro SS so I used it as inspiration for his cake. I'm not going to give a step by step for this or anything but I wanted to show it off. It's no masterpiece but it's also one of the few I've used fondant on.

Happy Birthday (a few days early) to my amazing husband!! 

Also, since I spent all day in the kitchen we had spaghetti for dinner because it's simple. Well, we had some leftovers so instead of letting them sit in the fridge for days I decided on a different use for the sauce and noodles. My baby loves noodles with any type of sauce on them and it's usually my go to meal for her. I put the leftovers in my mini food processor and did a rough chop so it would be ready to warm and serve and portioned it in baggies to freeze!

Don't forgt to label and date! 

We call them "saucy noodles"! :)

This could be done with almost any food you make for dinner that your baby/toddler eats. Just make sure the ingredients freeze well. 

Also, my preferred method for thawing is to place the baggie under running hot water until it's warm enough to serve! Safer than using the microwave! 

Do I have to eat this?!

Getting through breakfast is a breeze, throw a bowl of sugary cereal, pancakes, waffles or bacon in front of my bunch and they go to town. Lunch is usually pretty uneventful with hot dogs, mac'n'cheese or a corn dog waiting to fill them up... but then there is dinner, the meal I actually put time and effort in to. The last daunting task of the day before I can finally relax.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and from what I hear I am pretty darn good at it too. I try my hardest to be creative and to stay clear of cooking meals out of a box. I spend a good couple of hours a week making a meal plan and a grocery list and we aren't even going to talk about the shopping trip it requires. Ugh! Point being, I work my ass off to make dinner!

I try to plan well rounded meals, a meat or protein,  a veggie, maybe a dairy item or a grain and some sort of fruit to follow up. I don't make meals with crazy, unheard of ingredients and for the sake of all I avoid things like liver and onions all together. So it's not like I'm cooking disgusting meals. My kids would beg to differ though.

They are incredibly picky and I can usually count on at least one of them to complain about some or all of the contents of their plate. It ranges from "what are these red things?" all the way to "I'm not eating this, it's gross!!" It's frustrating and down right pisses me off. We try to stress to the kids that eating healthy will help them grow, etc... but it never works. We have resorted to making them a permanent fixture at the table until their plate is at least nearly clean. It's always "can I be full?" ("I don't know, ask your stomach" is my favorite response to that one, hehe) or "how many more bites?!"  Some nights I fear they might end up sleeping at the dinner table. It doesn't end there though, an hour later (whether they ate their food or not) they all want a snack. Nope! I've considered putting the repeat offenders on a strict ham sandwich diet for dinner regardless of what I cook for everyone else. Trust me. The first night I cook something they really want to eat, that sandwich won't be their saving grace anymore. Tough.

It's gotten to the point where I seriously question why I put the effort in to make a decent dinner. The only thing stopping me from being a Hamburger Helper type of gal is that I appreciate decent food containing ingredients that I can pronounce and I am fairly certain the whole "meal in a box" type of dinner probably isn't exactly packed full of the nutrients a growing child needs.

So unfortunately for my kiddos, it looks like they are going to have to take a few extra bites of their meat loaf and choke down their vegetables. Hopefully one day my persistence will pay off and I will have a group of kids with a diverse pallet. Until then they are going to eat their broccoli!
-N

If you can't get past Pj's and Coffee...

Last night I read a blog post that really hit home. A friend of mine shared the link to it on Facebook and curiosity got the best of me. As I was reading it I felt as if I related to it more so than not and in a way it upset me but also uplifted me that I certainly wasn't the only one who deals with this sort of thing. 

Here is the blog post I am referring to:

Scary Mommy: Being a Good Mom is Making me a Bad Wife.

I couldn't have read it on a better day.

Right now we are on week four of my husband's six week visitation with his three kids, I call them my steppies.

There are times when the day goes off without a hitch and my husband comes home to dinner almost done, the kids playing together nicely, a smiling baby and most importantly a happy me. Then... there are those days when he walks through the door and I unload on him. Yesterday, he didn't even make it home. I blew his phone up mid-afternoon with a few long text messages. I had a moment of weakness. The baby wouldn't go down for a nap partially due to the fact that I think I wanted it to happen more than anything, irony loves to get the best of me, but more so due to the fact that the moment I would catch her dosing one of my three steppies just had to walk in the room with some sort of question or complaint. They aren't exactly accustomed to being quiet, I don't know how things work at their Mom's house but this is Dad's house and we have our own rules that need followed. So, I lost my shit and started texting. It's not like they aren't aware of our rules. They know better.

I have to give my hubs credit. He kept his cool and asked how he could help. I didn't have much of an answer. He has tried to get them to behave for me but they still fight, tattle, disregard my need for them to tone down the volume. I was at a loss. I didn't have a solution.

After thinking about it, reading the blog post mentioned above and getting past my rough afternoon, it all seemed to me like an overreaction. I will admit that. Then the blog post touched on not being everything I should be for my husband. That's what really got to me. I recall part of my texts to him saying "I mean it's 2:30 in the afternoon ... I'm still in the clothes I woke up in and I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. ... I'm on the brink of tears at least 2 times a day." The part that gets me is that more often than not my husband comes home to me in a t-shirt and sweats with my hair thrown up in a messy bun, no makeup and coffee breath. He still loves me but I want to be the person for him that he first met. I sure weighed a lot less, I sure put more time and effort into myself and I know damn well I was a lot more pleasant to be around. Hell, if I miss me, then I'm sure he does too.

Not that I can't spare the 20 minutes it would take to clean myself up, it's the fact that I see no reason to. I mean why waste 20 minutes on myself when I have no intention to leave the house or I will end up changing because the baby spit up on me, I spilled my coffee on myself, I got a little messy while cooking, got stinky and smelly while cleaning or all of the above. I wish I could see it differently, but I don't.

Having a daughter makes me want to be a better person. I don't want her growing up with a frumpy mom because I don't want to set that example. I don't want her thinking it's acceptable to leave the house in sweats unless of course she is going to the gym or something, which if you look at me clearly I don't do that.

I'd love to be the mom that can cook, clean, do fun things with her kids all while looking flawless. How the hell do I do that!? Please, enlighten me.

I want to be the wife and mom my husband can be proud of, brag about and someone he most importantly looks forward to coming home to.

In two short weeks my Steppies will head back to their Mom's and we will resume the normal visitation schedule, school will be in full swing for my 4th grader, as he will start this coming Monday, and I will be left with a quiet house and my darling 10 month old. My anxiety will decrease, my stress will reduce and I will be back to someone who could juggle a lot more because I will be dealing with a lot less.

I don't feel alone in this struggle. I don't feel like I'm the only one failing at being supermom. 

I hope anyone who reads this can take comfort in knowing they aren't alone either. 

It's okay to let go sometimes. I've found when it's all said and done, your husband still loves you and so will your kids. If you don't get past pj's and coffee one day, don't sweat it. Tomorrow is another day and you can try again! :)

-N