The Pisko Family

Cajun Mac and Cheese

2012-02-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

MMMMMM... I love food! I am spoiled and get the Food Network Magazine at my house. I love it!! Every month I get tons of new recipes! Its Awesome! Here is one I tried last week and LOVED!!! Its from the March 2012 issue (pg 90)

Cajun Mac and Cheese

12 Ounces Wagon wheel Pasta (I used bowtie)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

6 ounces Andouille sausage, diced (I used some sausage I found in my freezer)

2 bunches scallion, thinly sliced

1 Bell Pepper,, chopped ( I used red for some color)

1 Tbsp Cajun spice blend

2 Tbsp Flour

2 cups whole milk (I used 2%)

8 ounces Chedder cheese cubed (I grated mine)

1) Cook pasta for one minutes shorter then normal. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid

2)while pasta cooks; heat oil in pan and add sausage, stirring until sausage starts to brown. Stir in scallions and pepper and cook until slightly soft. Add Spice blend and flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, Gradually whisk in the milkd and continue whisking until thickened and smooth... about 5 minutes.

3) Add this sauce to the pasta. Add cheese and reserved pasta water and stir until cheese is melted and pasta is coated.

YUMMMY!!!!

Vday Crafts

2012-02-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

I love being crafty so I always am excited for a new holiday season so I can be crafty! This year I have been busy working on on lots of fun Valentine's day stuff. Thanks to Pinterest for all the inspiration! LOL! I love my little centerpiece (above) that I have on my island!

I made each of the boys little valentine's day jars and filled them with goodies... Like Chocolate hearts, gummie lips, love hearts, Heart Suckers and felt conversation hearts. Jaxon picked out the Valentine to go on the top of his it says "You Rock" he says thats what people tell him once they see him dance.

For our friends who dont live near us we made cards to mail to them. They say Love you to Pieces. The boys had lots of fun glueing on the torn paper.

And Here are the conversation hearts I made for the boys. I think they are so cute!!!
I also did up the valentines to hand out at school. We live near a wonderful store (no really its my absolute favorite place) called BULK BARN!!! I adore it. I always spend way too much when I go there. Anyways... there they had gummie car candies... so I got a whole bunch and filled little treat bags for them. Then we attached a tag that said "I 'Wheelie' like you" I thought it was perfect for Jaxon since he adores cars!
So now I am all set for Valentines day... all I need to do is finish up Tims gift!

Avoiding Productivity

2012-02-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

What do you do on a Tuesday afternoon when you havent slept the last few nights because you have a cold and cant breathe??? You blog because doing anything productive sounds like a drag! LOL! So I thought Id post some pictures from our prechristmas prep... seeing how I was lame and never did that! Above is a picture of Jaxon and Owen with Santa. Owen didnt care and Jaxon was shy but i think we still got a decent picture!

I made an activity count down to christmas and every day for the month of Dec. we did a different activity. Like Watch a christmas movie or bake cookies, etc. This day was Santa's Beard craft. Jaxon really liked it. But I think his favorite part was that Krysten came over to do with with him. He loves Krysten!

This day we painted ornaments. Thanks to Auntie leah for getting them the Ornament Kit. My boys love to paint so it was a fun activity that we did over and over this christmas season. Jaxon and Owen loved to see their creations on the tree!

I LOVE OWEN!!! yes he has paint on his face. Jaxon is my child who hates being dirty and this would have drove him nuts... but Owen is the exact opposite and loves to be messy... so he was on cloud nine to have paint on his face and hands and all over. (yes is drives jaxon insane that it doesnt bother Owen!)

What have I been doing lately??? Ive been reading... I have moved onto Cinder... its pretty ok.. but predictable so its taking me a while to get it done. I have done Valentines Crafts... I made cards to mail out, felt conversation hearts and goodie bins for the boys, a centerpiece and of course valentines to give out at school and church... speaking of which I should take some pics of those to post on here asap! Hmmmm... Im also planning a baby shower! One of my besties is having a baby! YAY!!! So I am elbow deep in shower planning! Its going to be so much fun! Im so excited for Stef!!! I just wish should would find out what she is having!!! ARGH!!!
Oh and im now 20 weeks pregnant which means half way!!!
The Boys started swim lessons today... Owen hated it. he loves the water but hates the class. Jaxon seemed to like being independant in his own unparented class. I cant believe he is big enough for his own class with out me!!!

It's a Boy!

2012-02-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound earlier this week (Tuesday) and got to see the baby! Its always so much fun. This little monster is a mover for sure. He will be able to keep up to his brother's for sure. At first the tech was worried that she wouldnt get any good pictures because it never stopped moving. but finally we got some nice shots. And we were lucky enough to find out gender. IT'S A BOY!!! One last little boy to end on. Im super excited. Yes I girl could have been fun, but I love being a mother to boys. They are awesome!!!
Yes as I am a planner I have a name all picked out and everything... Rohn Nelson Pisko. For those of you who don't know I am a HUGE iditarod fan. (Thats a dog sled race in Alaska) Its amazing and one of the pit stops along the trail is Rohn Alaska.. there isnt much of anything there... but I heard the name and loved it! Plus I dont know anyone else with that name. So I think it should be pretty unique.
So now I just have the last half of my pregnancy to get through!

One Lucky Mommy!

2012-01-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Some days I look at my two little boys and think "What have I gotten myself into?" Other days, like today I look around and think how lucky I am to get to spend my days with them. Despite the crazy wild personalities they have they are pretty cute boys. So I thought I'd Share some of their sweetness with the world.

Owen has a toy vaccum and its his favorite toy ever! He is constantly helping daddy vaccum. (I dont vaccum... thats Tim's job) He copies everything daddy does... lifts up the cord, vaccums the cracks in the couch... even pretends to empty the canister. It makes me smile to see him working so hard!

Owen and Snowflake (aka Bear)
Owen adores this bear. Jaxon made it last year for christmas but it hasnt left Owens side since then. he LOVES bear. As owen has gotten older Bear becomes more and more like a person. Owen will pretend to put chapstick on bear, or lotion on bear and makes bear sit up straight beside him and nods his head when answering a question. Sometimes I think Bear will start talking before owen does! LOL!

My Boys have the coolest uncle ever... Uncle Kris is a DJ!!! So when we are at uncle Kris' house Jaxon gets to play DJ (under Kris' watchful eyes!) He loves music and will jam out and have dance parties for hours. His favorite it scratching on the turntable!

DJ Jaxon!

Mama and Papa

2012-01-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is a post for Owen. He has been asking to see Mama and Papa for the last couple of days... so sad that since they are back in Texas we won't get to see them until March 22...long ways off. But no matter how hard I try to explain this to my 2 yr old he just doesnt get it... or he doesnt care. He askes me multiple times a day "Mama? Papa?' and everytime I put on his coat he gets all excited because I guess he thinks we are going to see mama and papa but then he cries when we get to a store and he shakes his head... "No mama and Papa" sad I know... (mom, feelign guilty yet for being so far away!?) So here are a few posts (yes the pictures are from this summer) of some of the reasons why mama anda papa's house is so much better then ours.
Above is owen feeding tokens into a game at chuck e Cheese. He loves that place. He is catching on too. He loves collecting tickets.

Auntie Rachel and Jaxon seeing just how many tickets we have

Then there is the piano. My boys love playing on it. It's our piano now but since we dont have room (and I dont have the patience for the noise it will bring) yet its still at Mama and Papa's house. Its the great temptation they face every morning when Im trying to keep them quiet as normal people are still sleeping...

Baby It's Cold Outside

2012-01-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

We have been hit with a serious artic chill this week. The daytime highs has been around -30 with the windchill making it feel like -44 degrees or so. It's brutal! We have spent all week indoors only venturing out to take Jaxon to and from school. The boys are handling it really well and only have a mild case of cabin fever. We've watch tons of movies (toy story 1, 2 or 3 are big hits right now) and lots of curious george for Owen and done lots of crafts. But we are still looking forward to the warm up next week! My Poor Little Owen's hands cant take much more of the cold. Little Owen has hyper sensitive skin... and the cold seems to make it worse... I forgot to put gloves on him for the walk from the back door to the car and by the time I got him in his hands were bright red and starten to stiffen up... yep I know Im a great mom.
So in a hope to try and warm myself up a bit I thought I'd post some pcitures from this past summer, warmer days... oh how we miss you and look forward to your return.
One of our favorite spots in the Summer time is Heritage Park. The boys love the rides and the candy shop and getting cookies at the bakery. I love all the different activities they have like day out with Thomas and Rail days and the Harvest sale. I also love how close it is (unlike Calaway Park another one of our favorites, but that takes a whole day where as Heritage Park only takes a couple hours!)
Jaxon on the Merry Go Round!

Owen on the Merry Go Round

The Boys on the little Ferris Wheel.

OH this is a big week in our house. Owen is now Officially off the soother. YAY!!! We took it away Sunday night and he has gone 3 whole days and nights with out it! YAY! he has been asking for it alot today... but I think its just that his teeth are bugging him... he has his hands in his mouth alot today! But Im not giving in. He is doing great! We are now a soother free house (ok... for another 5.5 months until the new baby comes)

SURPISE!

2012-01-07T11:03:00.002-07:00

After like what... 4 long months...Im back! I Bet some of you were wondering if Id dropped off the earth! But I havent... life has been CRAZY! But Im back and hoping for some more regular updates on here... fingers crossed... But here is a recapped of our lives!

Owen!
Summer ended... so sad. My boys and I love being outside so we were very sad to see summer go knowing that we would have to entertain ourselves in the house more often then before. Jaxon is already counting down to Spring. We had so much fun this summer and are really looking forward to next summer

Jaxon's first day of school!
With the fall came a new school year. Jaxon started 4 yr old Preschool. Its super exciting because its basically right across the street from us. So its a fun walk! No more long car rides to school. Jaxon is loving school and is excelling. He can write his name and counts non stop. We even have him doing addition and subtraction now. My goal for next week is to label some things around the house to help him start to read. He is a sponge and loves soaking up evey little bit of knowledge he can. He is also working on telling time.

HALLOWEEN
And of course Halloween happened. My boys were sick the weekend before Halloween (seems to be tradition in our house) But they were fine and dandy for the big day! Jaxon was a monkey and Owen was a monster. Jaxon was so excited to get candy and it took owen about 3 houses to figure out what the deal was and then he got right into it too! After about 30 minutes and 1 and half blocks Jaxon said he had enough candy and wanted to head home...So we did.

What else happened... Well Christmas... but Ill blog that with some pictures once I find my camera cord...Oh and we found out we are expecting our third baby. I am due June 26th. YAY! I have been super sick.. but I always am. And everything is going well. We are hoping to find out what we are having at the end of the month! I want another boy... Tim wants a girl. Of and in case some of you are wondering THIS IS THE LAST BABY FOR US! Im super excited about that fact... knowing that I will be able to get rid of baby stuff FINALLY and not have to store it all! That stuff takes up so much room!

Owen and Markers...

2011-09-22T15:51:00.000-06:00

I really should learn...dont turn my back on Owen. He is the sneakiest kid I have ever known! He never stops amazing me. So here is the story. The boys go these super cool Thomas the Train coloring pads. They just love them. So one rainy day we pulled them out and they sat at the counter coloring away. (Owen will do anything that Jaxon wants to do!)

Look how nice they are coloring together!

Jaxon has been working hard at holding a marker the correct way. he always really tries to stay in the lines now. He is so grown up!
So to continue the story... I was sitting with Owen supervising the marker coloring time. I have not forgotten what he did to my kitchen table. Owen was doing great. He colored on the counter once but I caught him and he seemed really upset by the mistake. So he was back on the paper doing great. Staying on the paper, even putting the lids back on the markers... So I had a thought... yeah I know bad move... I decided Id leave owen to color with Jaxon and Id walk the whole 5 feet to the sink and do some dishes. I made a point of turning around and checking up on him every time I washed a dish. he was still sitting there coloring the paper... after about 6 dishes I realized something... he was still using the same colored marker.That is really rare! Just has I realized that Jaxon goes "OWEN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!" Owen acts all surprised and I look closer... he was colored all over the barstool and his leg... awesome. Apparently he was watching me and would color on everything but the paper while my back was turned and then continue coloring the paper when I turned... nice eh? What kind of 2 yr old does that!?!?!

Oh so proud isnt he?!

At least the barstools are dark colored... I think I got all the marker off... at least all that shows!

Welcome to the Terrible Twos!

2011-09-16T09:01:00.000-06:00

Owen had his birthday a little while ago... ok almost a month a go... I figured it was time I blog about it. In case I havent mentioned it before; Owen loves trains, particularly Thomas the Train. So it was only natural that we have a Thomas the Train party. It was so fun! Since Mama and Papa werent going to be able to make it to Owens party they gave Owen his present early.

He worked so hard on getting it open

It's a big stuffed Thomas! Owen was thrilled. He is always wanting to take his trains to bed with him and now he can! The extra bonus it has a huge tag! (another one of owens loves) so now he snuggles beside thomas everynight and plays with the tag. Good Times!

I just did a simple cake for Owens party... but he did get two new trains out of the deal. Ferdenand is the blue one and Victor is the Red one

I sure do love my two year old!!! where has the time gone???

Transition time

2011-09-11T08:34:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks Owen has been trying really hard to not nap. So at first I thought he was ready to give up napping... but then at 5:00 pm when I was cooking dinner Id always find him snoozing somewhere. Awesome... then since he naps so late it makes it a late night... boooo... I now have two options I can either not make dinner at 5:00 so I can keep grouchy pants awake... or I need to really enforce 2 pm nap time! I really hate this transition time, not only because it makes for some unpleasent evenings but also because it means that soon my 2 yr old will not be napping at all.... hooray. Im sure come winter time when he is no longer outside running around and soaking up the sunshine that he will be completely done napping....

Good thing this kid is so darn cute!

Owen can sleep anywhere at 5pm is seems.... I had folded up his little napping couch so that he wouldnt have a place to crash.... but he made it work anyways...

Jaxon's New Room!

2011-08-31T08:14:00.000-06:00

I have been on a kick all summer to decorate my house. I just started feeling like it was kind of plan and boring. So I wanted to spruce it up. I always up for change. Tim and I make a great team too because I'm creative but not very good at figuring out how to get to my end goal, thats where tim comes in! So I wanted to paint these Squares on Jaxon's wall but I am not good at measuring and straight lines. So Tim took my idea and put it on the wall! YAY! he did it while we were in Edmonton at the beginning of the month so that Jaxon wouldnt be sleeping in the stinky smell of paint. but he did have to save one square so that Jaxon could help too!

Ready to Paint... scary isnt it!

Carefully painting

All Done!
I love this wall! I think its awesome! the picture really doesnt do it justice! Jaxon loves it too!
Now... what next???

Missing Mesa Monday???

2011-08-17T17:22:00.000-06:00

ok.. Im sure I already posted the recipe I did on Monday... I distinctly remember writing about how I love recipes with only 3 ingredients... but I cant find it now... so sorry if it somehow got lost in cyber space!
This past monday was my last Mesa Monday... I have now tried all the recipes I am willing to try. There are a few more that If I went to the restuarant Im sure Id love to try but they require way more effort then I am willing to put in at dinner time...
So here is the one I did... It was super yummy bytheway!

Chipotle Honey Glazed Rib Eye Steaks

1/2 cup honey

1 Tbsp Chipotle Chili Puree

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp canola oil

dash or garlic

Mix all those together and then pour over 4 rib eye steaks. Allow to marinade for a few hours or over night. Then gril them up to perfection! Super Yummy!

My Painting

2011-08-08T15:53:00.000-06:00

I have been wanting to decorate my house for a while. Tim and I have been married for almost 7 years and I still often look around my house and think it looks like a bachelor pad or a student couple's place... I wanted to spruce it up. But I had a few issues... first I lack the talent and eye for interior decorating. (any advice is greatly appreciated) Two I often changed my mind on what I wanted and Three a lack of funds! Its hard to decorate when you are on a budget. But I was hit with some wonderful inspiration when I was in Vegas with my mom and Sister.

This is a painting the Vdara has hanging in its lobby by the elevators. Gorgeous right??? I fell in love with it. The best part was I know I could make one really really simply! Thats when I decided I would make myself one and find a place in my house for it! So when I was at moms this past week. Thats what I did. We went to Michaels and bought some canvas and paint and brushes and I set to work. (side note..I have also started doing the Personal Progress program again since I am back in YW and this is one of my Value Projects...it didnt take me the full 10 hours so Ill just have to paint another one too!)

Here is mine! I know there are less circles then the orginal... but I still love it! I think I did not too bad for my first painting. I have fallen in love with painting abstract art... Ill have to do lots more of it!

And just because I couldnt resist... look at my handsome little owen. How can you not love this man!

Tomorrow is Mesa Monday!

2011-08-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

Ok... so I spent last week up at my parents house in Edmonton. We did do a Mesa Recipe, but it wasnt on monday and Im not typing it out... it was insane! when I say we...I mean mom... bytheway... We did Shrimp and roasted garlic corn Tamales... They were super yummy... but they took like 3 hours to prepare... so I have kept the recipe and may make them... once a year... but there is no way Im taking the time to type out that one for you... it was intense... so if you really want to try them and you have 3 hours to prepare dinner then get the book and turn to page 98.... there ya go!
Tomorrow I am going to stick with Mesa Monday... I have a few more recipes to try... This time its.....

Red Chili-Honey glazed Shrimip

(bobby flay uses salmon....but I dont have any in the house and I have shrimp... so voila!)

1/3 cup Honey

1 Tbsp Ancho chili powder

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

(nothing beats a 3 ingredient recipe!)

So since Im using Shrimp Ive had to tweak the method a bit... here is my plan

1)Whisk everything together.

2) Pour over shrimp and allow to marinade 4 hours

3)Grill

DONE AND DONE!

Hmmmm.... what can a tell you about Edmonton... it was fun! My boys always love seeing mama and papa... I love having them baby sit for us! YAY date nights. Tim and I went out and say Captain America... Yep i was just that desperate to see a movie... I really want to see Harry potter 7... Tim say it without me and that makes me sad....after the movie we went to Montanas for dinner... it was awesome! I had this massive burger with Onion strings and deep friend Jalapanos adn Tim got this dinky wrap... I laughed so hard because when the waiter brought it out he totally thought tim had the burger and I had the wrap! BAHAHAHAHAHA

Owen is starting to talk more... He currenlty can say; Dad, Bro (jaxon), Cracker, Cookie, No, Papa, Pop, Cheese and Holla... oh and his newest two work phrase Im sad... when he is crying and throwing a fit if you are ignoring him he will start whining... Im SAD IM Sad over and over until you acknowledge him. Its cute! Also... no I did not forgot to put Mom on the list... he wont say it... loser

Jaxon is pretty sick of summer holidays and is ready to head back to school... I told him we still have another month. He was sad... but I think he will perck back up now that his BFF Krysten is back in town. he sure has missed her.

Sick of the Rain

2011-07-27T15:25:00.000-06:00

Hello Hello! Did you think I forgot about Mesa Monday... here is what happened... Tim went a head and planned a HT BBQ for Monday night... which meant I had to push Mesa Monday off until Last night. The shrimp with the Chili butter... it was a pretty decent recipe. But I found it lacking when eaten on its own. so i whipped up a salad and topped it with the shrimp. then it was WONDERFUL!
So next week... is still a mystery. I am heading up to Edmonton to spend sometime with my parents since they are up from TX... ok... My boys are dying to see Mama and papa so we are going to hang out! Plus Im always up for the help that grandparents have to offer! So Im waiting to pick a recipe until I see what my mom wants to do and what she has in her kitchen!

More Mesa Monday

2011-07-21T16:18:00.001-06:00

Ok... so I know its really a few days past monday and I havent posted how monday went. Life has been a little insane the last few days. Tim got home late-ish on Monday... in time to put the kids to bed. Then tuesday Tim had to work a 14 hour day (boo) and didnt get home until 10pm and then Wed we had an ice cream date night (thx Ashley for watching the boys) and I had a YW Pres. Meeting... and top it all off... I am supposed to be writing my talk for sunday... Keywords;Supposed to be. if only I could find the time! HAHAHAHA I better work on it soon though... Sunday is right around the corner.
So.. Mesa Monday.. last monday was the grilled prawns with Habanero-Toasted Garlic Vinaigrette. It was ok. I enjoyed it... but I wasnt blown away like I was with the other recipes Ive tried. So I probably wont make that one again... So onto This coming up monday....
Grilled Shrimp Brushed with Smoked chili Butter
1 1/2 lbs large Shrimp, shelled and deveined.
1 Tbsp Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
juice of 1 lime
1) Heat oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
2) Put butter in a food processor and add shallot mixture, chipotle chiles and lime juice. process until smooth. Scrape chipotle butter into a bowl
3) Brush shrimp with oil and put onto the grill. grill shrimp brushing with chipotle butter every 30 seconds. (should take about 1-2 minutes per side)
Sounds good to me!
While tim was away on his "Dudes reunion" I had the boys all to myself. it was exhausting and we had some pretty long days... but we all survived and even had a little fun! One day we went to get slurpees... yes it was a rainy day but we went anyways. This was Owens first Very own Slurpee... he wouldnt let go of the cup!

this is his "Touch it and Die" look

Also while tim was gone We went to Jaxons buddy Elizabeth's bday party. That was an adventure. They had a bouncy castle with an Elephant on it... While owen is terrified of cartoon elephants (yeah I know totally weird) So he was in hysterics the entire time we were outside. it was not awesome at all. Then we went in for cupcakes and to make a craft. The kids made masks. Ashley had Princess ones for the girls and pirate ones for the boys. But Jaxon insisted on doing a princess one.. I was a little worried about my boy until he said "if I make a princess one I can bring a girl home with me" now Im worried but for a whole other reason!

My Little Monster

2011-07-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

I have been blessed with two very wonderful, very different boys. While its after hard to tell them apart in pictures since they look so much alike they have two very distinct personalities. Jaxon is my little buddy. He tries so hard to be good and helpful and is so dissappointed in himself when he gets too out of control or makes me upset... then there is his brother Owen... My Little Monster. Dont get me wrong owen can be really sweet and loving.... when he wants to be. But for the most part he takes great joy is tormenting me. He refuses to listen and will simply ignore me. you can watch his eyes and he will purposely go cause trouble... then I put him in time out and he laughs until I say "You are not getting out of time out until you feel sorry for what you did" Then he fake cries and tries to give me a hug. He is a non talker... or so he would like you to believe. I have caught him speaking in his sleep and if I ignore him long enough he will bust out words I never knew he had... but those moments are rare...stinker.

But how can you not love this guy....

He has also inheritated my dads perma-gel hair. for those of you who dont know my dad... he has never used hair products (at least in my lifetime) yet his hair holds almost any shape you put it in. He runs his hands through his hair and it stands on end... I am constantly surprised at what I find when owen wakes up from sleeping. Its a wild mane to tame on my little monster

Rainy Day Craft projects

2011-07-13T19:33:00.001-06:00

It was bound to happen... after weeks of nice sunny, hot weather the rain has come and we have been stuck in the house the last few days. My Kids are going CRAZY and so am I... so in order to relieve my cabin fever I have started crafting again. My mind has been a little scatter lately so I have not done any big projects that would require me to concentrate. So I have returned to Felt Food... it always does when I want to be crafty but only have short periods of time to whip something up... here are the latest additions to the felt food gallery.

Pepperoni Pizza

Broccoli and Cauliflour

Doughnuts
Then yesterday my uber talent friend Ashley came over with her kidlets and taught me how to make a necklace. Jaxon and Owen were thrilled to have playmates and I was thrilled to get a gift made for my cousin Kinsey who is getting baptized on Saturday. I am super excited to learn how to make necklaces... I may have to start doing some up for gifts! Thanks so much Ashley for helping me learn this skill... although Im pretty sure Ill be calling you often to ask; "How do I do this again?"

its not the greatest picture... but its really pretty... I actually want it... but alas its Kinseys..LOL

Another Great one

2011-07-12T16:58:00.001-06:00

Mesa Monday yesterday was another real good one. I think i still like the Yucatan chicken better. But those two I had last night were awesome too! Plus i made use of my Mandoline which is always fun! Oh I will say... when I made the Potatoe Gratin... there was no cheese... so I added a layer of grated cheese on the top of it... I know I know... Im sorry Bobby Flay... but it needed CHEESE!
So whats on the Mesa Menu for next monday...

grilled Prawns with Habanero-Toasted garlic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup, plus 3 Tbsp canola oil
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 habanero chile, chopped
2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 pounds large prawns

1) heat 1 tbsp oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. add garlic, season with salt and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes)
2)Transfer garlic to a blender and add vinegar, habanero, honey and thyme. Blend until smooth. With blender running slowly add the 1/2 cup of oil and blend until emulsified. (hmmmm I wonder if I should use my blender or my food processor....)
3) Preheat grill to high. Toss prawns in remaining 2 Tbsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 minutes on each side.
4) Transfer to a platter and immediately drizzle with the vinaigrette.

So these pics may be repeats... I can remember if I added them here or on facebook or both... But I love them!

Jaxon at the zoo!

Jaxon making paper towel butterflies. When we made them he insisted on making to take over to his friend Krysten. He Adores her and reminds me every day that she is his best friend!

Owen enjoying a popsicle. My Kids LOVE LOVE LOVE popsicles and freezies. Owen (the non talker) actually busted out Purple when I gave him this popsicle... has he said it again... of course not

Summer Success

2011-07-05T20:16:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was our first Mesa Monday. It was awesome! I think I am really going to love Mesa Mondays! I started by making the BBQ sauce... it was amazing... then I marinaded the chicken and man... that combination of Chicken and BBQ sauce was AMAZING!!! i even used the left over bbq sauce for dinner tonight! It was wonderful! So Next monday I am making Ancho Maple glazed roast turkey and Potato, sweet Onion and sage Gratin.
Here are the recipes
Ancho Maple Glazed Turkey
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp ancho chili powder
1 (18 lb turkey) Ok... Im not cooking a turkey... so I will lower the recipe quantities and do it on chicken breasts!
20 Sage leaves
8 Tbsp butter, melted
1) Whisk together the maple syrup, mustard and ancho powder.
2) loosen skin on the turkey... or chicken... and place sage leaves under the skin. Rub entire surface with melted butter... I may not do that... hmmmm...
3) They do a bunch of different stuff here since they cook an entire turkey... but Ill place chicken and glaze in a baking dish and back at 350 degrees... basting every 5 minutes until cooked through.
Yes I know Im altering this one alot... it makes me nervous.. wish me luck!

Potato, Sweet Onion and sage gratin

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 large sweet onions
3 tbsp finely chopped sage
4 large idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cups heavy cream (I always cheat and use whole milk)

1) Preheat over to 375 and butter a 9 inch baking dish
2)heat oil and butter in a large saute pan. Add onions and cook until soft and caramelized. Stir in sage
3)Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom of baking dish. Top with 1/7 of the onions and 3 tbsp of cream. Repeat for 7 or 8 layers. Press on top to submerge potatoes in teh cream. Place dish on baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil.
4) Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes.

YUMMY

Another Summer time success... the splash park in Okotoks! LOVE IT!!! We went last wed with some friends and have now decided to make it our Wed ritual. Jaxon LOVES it... owen not so much... but he will get used to it. I was actually quite shocked how much Jaxon enjoyed it. Normally he doesnt like splashy water. but he was all for this!

owen sat on my lap the entire time... wearing my shades no less. I was hoping that tomorrow would be a better time for Owen... but today he burnt his soles of his feet on our deck box... so he cant walk on them.. so I think it will be another snuggle with mommy day.

jaxon was running every where. He LOVES this picture of his running... "Im super fast mom"

Yeppers... we Love summer!

Introducing....

2011-07-02T20:01:00.000-06:00

MESA MONDAYS!!!!
   Ok... so here is the back story to my latest and greatest project that I am super excited about! In April I went on a girls trip with mom and Rachel to Las Vegas. LOVE LOVE LOVE VEGAS! It was a blast! We did so much fun stuff and since you know me and my love for food (which is shared by my whole family) you can only image how much I stuffed my face... I gained 5 lbs in a week... yeppers it was awesome. One place that we didnt get to go eat, which we really wanted too, was Mesa in Cesears Palace. For those of you who dont know, Mesa is one of Bobby Flay's restuarants. So needless to say I was a little bummed that I didnt make it to Mesa.
   BUT.... I was on the library website searching for books and I found this awesome cook book called "Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook" I was super stoked to read it! as I flipped through the recipes there was TONS that I wanted to try and so I invented Mesa Mondays. I am going to try a new recipe from the Mesa Grill cook book every monday... maybe Ill get a taste of what the restuarant would have been like!
By the way I think this is a much better idea then how my mom spends her Mondays... Meatless Mondays... Bleck!
   So then I thought Maybe someone out there wants to play along with me... So Ill post the recipes Im going to try before the monday I try them... then if you want to try them too you can! FUN FUN!
   To start off I needed a recipe that I had all the ingredients for since I had spent out June grocery budget!

Yucatan Chicken with Peanut-Red Chili BBQ sauce

*in the book they make these as chicken skewers...but Im way to lazy to do that... so Im leaving it has breasts

1/2 cup fresh Orange Juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp Ancho chili powder

3 cloves garlic, coursely chopped

4 Chicken breasts

1)In a large shallow baking dish, whisk together everything but chicken.

2)Add chicken to marinade. Allow to marinade for at least 1 hour, or upto 4 hours.

3)Preheat the grill to high

4)Remove chicken from marinade and grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

5) Serve with Peanut red Chili BBQ sauce

Peanut Red Chili BBQ Sauce

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (they use their special BBQ sauce... again too lazy to make it up and then add to this sauce)

2 Cups chicken stock

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1)heat oil in a medium sauce pan over med. heat. Add the ginger and cook until soft, 1-2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the BBQ sauce and stock and cook stirring occasionally until reduced by half.

2) Whisk in say sauce and peanut butter and cook over med heat until thickened, 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

*this can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.

THANKS SO MUCH BOBBY FLAY! Im not looking forward to mondays!

Who out there wants to play with me?

Jaxons Preschool Grad

2011-06-28T16:27:00.002-06:00

Last week we had a big day in our house. Jaxon had his last day of three year old preschool. I am super excited for summer... but Jaxon is already asking when he gets to go back to school. It may be a long summer... or I will be exhausted from planning Tons to keep him Busy. Jaxon loved Leap n Learn so much. We are excited to start with them again next year.

Playing cars on the circle mat

Music Time

He just got his certificate and is about to Jump!

jaxon and the lovely Miss Sara. Jaxon adores her and will miss her very much. he tells me every day how much he loves miss sara!

Welcome Summer

2011-06-22T17:44:00.000-06:00

I live for Summer. Yes I know I live in Calgary and I know that I will only get summer weather like 3 weeks of the whole year... ok thats an exageration but its close. but i live for the sun and warmth. All my friends know... Amanda HATES winter and cold and rain and wind... I like to lay in the sun and burn and sweat and yeah.... SUMMER.
Today it was summer! After days and days of rain the sun came out and spread some love! YAY! To celebrate we had an awesome friend get us into Lake Chaparral. Its a glorious thing! but the down side is it makes me miss all my chaparral friends like mad... how I wish I lived in chaparral! Anyways... Thanks Brooke for the super fun morning! My kids and I both had a blast! I wish every day was and beautiful as today. It just makes me happy!
Another fun warm weather activity that my boys love is water guns. these Pics were taken a few weeks ago... but hey... why not share them right..

owen shoots all gangsta style with his gun all tilted to the side... cracks me up!

Jaxon likes squirting me... I try to convince him that getting the grass, or car, or fence is way more fun the getting mommy... but so far he doesnt believe me

Owen loves his slide.

Oh and an added treat! I have an ice cream maker... LOVE IT! I was lacking the ingredients to make ice cream... but I was craving some soooooo bad... so I looked around and I thought... sorbet would work and I have everything I need for that!

So I made Peach Starberry Sorbet... yep it is even better then it sounds... and its crazy simple

here is the recipe

Peach Strawberry Sorbet

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups peaches

2 cups strawberries

make a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar in a pot until the sugar is completely dissovled. then add the cut up fruit. (I used frozen... fresh would be fine too) Allow the fruit to simmer in the syrup for a fwe minutes until the are really realy soft and mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend mixture until smooth... I used my blender... but an immersion blender would work too. Then refridgerate for 3 hours... or over night. then just pour into the ice cream maker and press start... Mine took only 10 minutes! YUMMY!!!!!

Tub Fun

2011-06-17T07:59:00.001-06:00

I have decided to be crafty this weekend. I have far too many projects on my to do list. So I am determined to get some of them done this weekend. In order to motivate myself I have decided to post one of the last crafty things I did.... yes I made them a while ago... thats why Im so ready to do some more crafting...
Felt Food! I love felt Food! Here are some green apple slices I whipped up one day for Jaxon and Owen. They love felt food. It doesnt always get played with how it was meant to be but they do love it none the less!

Now that Owen has stopped peeing in the tub... or rather now that Jaxon has stopped noticing Owen peeing in tub... we can convince the boys to have bathes together. Its awesome! Cuts Tub time down by alot! YAY! They have so much fun!. They splash and dump water on each other. And the scream and scream and scream!

owen loves the tub... well all water actually and always cries when its time to get out!