A Little Knitty

I mentioned in a meal planning blog post that I was testing out Hawaiian Haystacks in the freezer and the outcome was GOOD!!!! So, here's my recipe....the original is here  (there are beautiful photos there....that I'm not capable of!) Makes 2 dinners, 4 servings each 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter 2/3 cup all purpose flour 2 tsp salt 1 cup sour cream 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 48 oz chicken broth (I used leftover homemade turkey stock once) 3 tsp dry Ranch Dressing seasoning packet 1/2 tsp garlic salt 4 cups cooked shredded chicken breast Cooked brown rice, enough for your family Here's where it gets fun...the toppings. The following is a list of the offerings we have put on our haystacks, but not all at once...that's just crazy talk! This last time we put a little Greek twist on things and it was fantastic too. My favorite is any combo that is sweet and salty....mmmmm. I know some of it might sound funky...but give it a try, it is now a family favorite in this hou

I tend to stay away from hot button issues. My beliefs are my beliefs (mind you, they have changed a lot over the years) and I usually keep it to myself. But this topic has weighed heavy on my heart the last few days. I have witnessed (via the news) the aftermath of a young man who did the unthinkable. I don't understand why he did it, if he had mental problems, if he was on medication or not on medication, if he was raised in an amazing home or a horrible one, if he was afforded every luxury in the world or kept locked in a basement. Honestly, for me no reason makes it forgivable, but I am not the judge . Twenty-six people lost their lives and the least we can do is learn something and make sure they leave a legacy of love and courage. I know if my child had been in that classroom last week, I wouldn't want his death to be paraded around for news ratings, religious bashing or political gain...I would want people to stop, reflect and see how they can be the change they want to

As I mentioned before, I recently received an early Christmas gift of a Silhouette Cameo. I LOVE this thing...it's amazing! I have made a ton of gifts, but I can't show them because it will spoil the surprise!! BUT, I can show you this... These are the gift tags I made on my Silhouette. Instead of signing our names on every gift, I just have to put TO: So-and-so and they know who it is from!!! Last year when I was wrapping gifts I started getting lazy writing all our names (it was the first year with four family members) and that is when I realized our initials are PBn'J (like the sandwich) so of course I had to do it in this order again! :) Yup, this is how I spend my evenings...I'm one wild and crazy girl!!!

I had no intention of making fudge today, but B was cruisin' the net and decided his mission for the day would be fudge. I wasn't going to say no, and when he scooped up both kids and took them on his fudge ingredient finding mission...I was ALL FOR IT!!!! So the recipes we used were here and here ....but I tweaked it a bit... Fan-freaking-tastic Fudge Servings: Should be a lot, or just for you! Ingredients -3.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips -1/4 cup butter -14 oz sweetened condensed milk -1/3 cup Bailey's (Omit if you are giving this to young children or pour yourself a drink if you are dealing with young children) 1. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted. 2. Over low heat, warm condensed milk and butter. 3. Add melted chocolate to condensed milk and butter and stir until completely incorporated. Then continually stir until it is a little shiny (I know that might be strange, but that seems to be about th

Lately I haven't been meal planning like I usually do. Partly because I had lots of freezer meals hanging out....and didn't really have to cook/grocery shop much. However, when I'm lazy that leads to it being 5:00 pm and I have forgotten to pull anything out of the freezer, so we have pizza! So this week, I made sure I actually wrote things down and tried to stay ahead of the game...here's what I came up with! Monday : Man Pleasin' Chicken (from the freezer), brown rice & sauteed kale ---Since I was making rice for this meal, I just tripled the batch so that I could have rice already made for Tuesday night's dinner and have another helping to freeze for a meal next week or whenever. ---Also, since I found myself at home all afternoon and I knew that the next day would be super busy, I threw some beans in the crockpot. The beans were dried beans that were soaked overnight for this recipe. I soaked a TON of beans...so the large amount that was left over after

Tuesday, December 11th - N's bedroom Wednesday, December 12th - Day #19 Before bedtime, N requested that Freddie hide up high, I think it stresses N out when the elf is anywhere in toddler territory! Ok...I lost track and the elf did stuff and left on Christmas Eve. I asked him to wait a bit next year...a whole month of Freddie was just a bit too much!!!!

More Freddie Adventures... Day #13 Freddie was a naughty little guy and got into our fridge and dyed the milk green! I thought the kids would really love this. I waited until the milk was low though, just in case it wasn't as appreciated as I thought it would be...I did NOT give thought to the fact that you can't see through the jugs from Sam's Club. Whoops! Here's Freddie hanging out in the fridge (next to the wine of course!) P enjoyed it, N looked me right in the eye and said "Please tell Freddie to never do that again". Hahahhaa....killjoy Day #14 Freddie wanted to relax a little in the bathtub...I surely wouldn't mind a day of relaxation!   Day #15 This morning we found Freddie ziplining from the top of N's door, into the laundry room. N thought it was pretty cool! Day #16 Snowball fight with Luigi...N says that Freddie won! Day #17 Before bed, N asked Freddie if he could hide in his stocking the next morning. So, he was extremely excited when he

And the saga continues... Day #9: The husband helped the elf hide tonight, I was so sick and would have forgotten about him completely. Freddie was found sitting among the apples in the basket on the wall. This is when I learned a valuable lesson...DON'T SET THE BAR TOO HIGH!!! If I had done a Pinterest worthy elfing from the beginning, my kids would have expected that every day. Do yourself a favor people...set the bar low!! N found the elf and after a few days of fun things like drawing on faces and bringing cereal....he was like "that's it?". Day #10: I had been meaning to set up these little Christmas Trees we bought last year (because we thought P would be climbing the tree if we got a real tree...little did we know, she would STILL be trying to climb the tree this year). Anyway...these two little trees I had been meaning to set up in each of their rooms...since I never got around to it, Freddie took it into his own hands...and decorated them with gift tags. Thes

I ADORE The Ellen DeGeneres Show . I watch when I can (read: when my kids are forced into quiet time, being not so quiet) and yesterday when I was watching the 12 days of giveaways, I was daydreaming about how freaking cool it would be to have her job. I mean, giving away stuff that you didn't have to pay for and making some very lucky people VERY happy...that would be fan-freaking-tastic! So today, I was approached to do a little give away on my blog and I thought....O.M.G. THIS IS MY CHANCE!!! Ok, so it's on a very small scale and only one item (not 12 days) but it's still pretty cool! First of all, have you heard of Origami Owl ? They make these amazing lockets that I have fallen in love with. Truth be told, I'm completely in awe of the Founder of the company...meet Bella... She is the ripe ol' age of SIXTEEN!!!!! You can read all about her, and her company, here . I am green with envy that I didn't come up with the concept...it is pretty stinkin' cleaver

I had everything figured out before Little Miss P came bounding into the world. Sure, not everyday was all roses for me and Mr. N (like potty training!!!!!!) but other than his dramatics and fits (and potty training!!!!) he was very easy. He rarely made a mess, didn't wear a bib for long because he was so clean, I could go days between cleaning under his high chair, he never EVER wrote on anything other than paper, and only stuck stickers to paper or clothes because that was a rule. He would gladly wash his hands and was not a fan of finger painting. Oh, and until recently he could not have pj tops and bottoms that did not match and I still cant convince him to wear a shirt that was previously a 'day' shirt as a 'night' shirt. He is my little type A rule follower, and I totally get that because that's how I am! Having a child like this, I saw kids who wrote on walls and pondered, how does that even happen? You just say, 'we only write on paper' and that&

Bet you were wondering what our little Freddie has been up to, huh? He has gotten a little more bold and a tad bit more naughty...which the kids are loving. Day #4: I struggled with this one. I saw it on Pinterest and I have dry erase markers laying around and knew it would come right off....but I work so hard on getting my kids (mostly the little one) to follow the rules, did I REALLY want to encourage naughty-ness? I decided to go with it though, it was the elf after all, not me!!! I did thoroughly enjoy drawing on the pictures...it was more fun than I expected! I did keep checking the pen to make sure it was indeed dry erase and not a sharpie, wouldn't that be awful?? I tacked Freddie up with a little of that blue putty stuff you use to hang posters...that stuff rocks! My son found him in the morning and was shocked at what a naughty elf he was. I explained that ONLY Freddie can do that stuff and he was cool with that, but still looked a little concerned. He then asked if I was

As I'm Christmas shopping for my kids, I'm contemplating my favorite gifts as a kid. I don't remember them all...I mostly remember trying to sneak a peek in the middle of the night and the super funky fruits (that we had never heard of) that Santa would leave in our stockings. I do remember the Barbie head that I wanted badly (Barbie head makes me sound barbaric...it was like a lifesize head and you could style her hair and do her makeup), the DJ set (because that's what I wanted to be when I grew up) and the telephone I nagged my parents to death about (and honestly, they shouldn't have gotten it for me, I was a brat). But my favorite "gift" wasn't originally wrapped at all...it was the gift of reading this book every night at bed time. I loved this tradition and it is my favorite memory! Fast forward a whole buncha years...Christmas 2007 I was pregnant with my son. My dad handed me a gift that was obviously a book, and when I unwrapped it, I instantl

Are you with me? I started on day #3...so I'm making myself do 20 & 25 to catch up...but I just did my 30! :)

I wanted to partake in the Elf pandemonium last year...but I was too cheap to pay full price and figured they would go on sale after Christmas. I was wrong...so I bought our little friend and stashed him away for this year. Yup, I'm totally one of "those" moms. Now, I don't go crazy because I'm just too lazy to pick up messes in the morning...but I have been finding fun things to do, and my husband has even gotten in on the fun!! Here's Freddie's first few days with us... Day #1: Freddie was found hanging out in the laundry room. Just hanging, not doing anything thrilling...but he was out of reach of the toddler. I didn't think to take a photo until a few days in...I didn't think I would even last past a day or two. Go me! Day #2: We picked up the Christmas Tree the night before, so Freddie climbed to the top (again, out of toddler reach). Simple and easy! Day #3: Hanging from the ceiling with our MistleToad. Do you see the out of toddler reach the

I'm not a huge fan of baking. I love crafting, knitting, cooking, and even tolerate sewing...but I do NOT dig baking. It makes a big mess, takes too long, is too exact and I end up eating way too much butter and sugar in the end product. But...it's the holiday season and it seems like baking is something I should do with my kids (well, kid....I'm far too type A to let P help me out here....it's something I'm working on but I'm not quite there yet!) Anywhoodle....I found the PERFECT compromise...all the mess (oh goodie) of baking. All the rolling and cutting and baking and decorating...but none of the eating!!! YAY!!!!! So what the heck are we baking? ORNAMENTS!!! Here is what you will need: 1 Cup ground cinnamon (Costco or bulk spices is the way to go!!) 1 Tbsp ground cloves 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg 3/4 Cup applesauce 2 Tbsp white glue Directions 1. In a medium bow, stir together the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Mix in the applesauce and glue. Work the mixture with

Today (and by "today" I mean a few weeks ago, because that's when I started writing this) I am doing a freezer meal exchange with my sister in law, cousin & a friend. The four of us are preparing meals in our own homes and then getting together and trading them and heading home with 6 yummy meals ready to freeze then enjoy whenever we please. I have participated in a few of these and have always enjoyed them (and my husband is a huge fan too!). Here are a few reasons I love them... #1. Batch cooking rocks. It's pretty much just as easy to make 3 meals as it is to make 1..and the clean-up is virtually the same. #2. Getting together with friends for any reason is fun. #3. Food made by other people is just yummier. #4. Meal planning is a lot easier when you have meals ready to go in your freezer. Now, you wanna do it too, huh? I put together some resources and FAQ's to help you batch cook at home and maybe plan your own freezer meal exchange. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUE

Every so often (when I'm out of crockpot meals) I'll throw in a product spotlight for one of my favorite Norwex products. If you don't know about Norwex, check out my page . Over the last year, one of my favorites (and a product I use every day) is the travel pack. It is made up of 4 small envirocloths that you can stash anywhere like... In the stroller....so you can wipe up messes or wet slides at the park. (but don't buy a stroller just to put a travel cloth in it, that would be silly!) In the car...when you spill your coffee on your shirt. In your diaper bag....cuz there is always a mess with kids around. In your desk drawer...for random work related spills. In your purse....because you never know when you'll run into a mess. In your kitchen...for smaller messes and wiping counter tops. In your bathroom...because it is a bathroom. In your gym bag...because you sweat. Know what that means? You need two packs *grins*

This is one of my FAVORITE meals...and lots of variations depending on our mood. It usually starts out with the following: 1 lb chicken breast or thighs (or a mixture, and it can be frozen) 1 can corn 1 can fire roasted, diced tomatoes (sure, you can use normal diced, but I like fire roasted!) 1 can black beans 1 can pinto beans 1 cup salsa 2 TBSP Taco seasoning (or whatever you like...I got the mondo package pictured below from Costco, but when it's gone I plan on filling it with this  because it's yumtastic) Throw it all in the crockpot and cook on Low 6-8 hours (if you are using fresh chicken, you can go with less time...but for frozen chicken I would go with the 8 hours). We serve over cilantro-lime rice in a bowl or put the chicken mixture in tortillas. Don't forget to top with cheese, sour cream, avocado, green onions, tomatoes, crushed tortilla chips...whatever floats your boat! Oh! And one variation is to add 8 oz cream cheese during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

I love Thai food and could eat it everyday. However, my wallet and waistline won't let me. I was wandering around Pinterest awhile back and found this recipe for classing up ramen noodles. So, today (this is completely a lie, I wrote this last week and forgot to publish it! hahahaha) I found myself with a hardcore Thai craving while the kids were in quiet time. So I brought up Pinterest on my phone and checked out how to dress up ramen. I don't usually have it on hand because of the massive amounts of sodium, but I had some left over from making this salad during the summer...and you know ramen noodles don't go bad! Of course I didn't stick to the recipe...so here is what I did: Poor Man's Thai Ingredients: Chicken ramen soup with packet 1 tbsp peanut butter (crunchy would have been better, but creamy was fine) 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp siracha (I'm a pansy, do this to taste) 1 tsp red curry paste (gave it an extra kick and I had it laying around) Cook the ramen a

I am insanely excited to announce that I can now consider myself a happy hooker!!!!! I FINALLY showed that crochet needle who is boss!!!! I still can't read a crochet pattern all that well, but I'm a card carrying hooker...and that's something to write home about! *grins*

The other day we took a sick day. P had been under the weather, running a fever and just not herself and I was sure N would be next. Unfortunately for me, they were not lethargic enough to be entertained by a movie and we are rarely home all day, so they were looking at me like, "what the heck do we do with ourselves?" So, I pulled out paper and finger paints and we got down and dirty! Totally looks like pudding, huh? My daughter thought so! It's so funny to me how different my kids are. I started by painting N's hand and he whined a little then started gagging. His little sister was across the table, hand outstretched, screaming "PLEASE"!!!!! They crack me up! We started with brown paint all over.... ...then we did just orange on the fingers and we have a turkey (sans beak, dangly neck thing & feet) This handprint belongs to Mr. N This belongs to Miss. P Once they dried a little, I asked each of them what they were thankful for. N started with everythin

I kinda need this...so I can knit and be warm and comfy at the same time. I guess technically it would be SO much cooler if I knitted it myself, but that's not gonna happen.  So...guess what is on my knitting needles right now?  hahahaha...that's a trick question because I have 987987987 projects going at the same time...and since both my grandma's gave me all their knitting needles, I really do have close to that many pairs of knitting needles. In fact, here is a photo of just a few of my special ones that I inherited from the grandma that taught me to knit... These sit in a vase in my garden window as a reminder of my wonderful grandma. I figured this was a much better way of displaying them as art instead of just stuffing them in one of my MANY totes of yarn. It is strange to people who don't understand the story, (you have a vase of knitting needles in your window?) but they make me happy. Wow...I go off course so easily! Anyway... That adorable hat right there is w

I stumbled upon the original recipe for Man Pleasin' Chicken here (while pinning my heart out on Pinterest, of course). It seemed to get rave reviews...but honestly I am NOT a fan of maple syrup. But I decided to give it a shot...and wouldn't ya know...I fell instantly in love. There weren't leftovers for lunch the next day because I ate them for dessert! :) So, the original recipe is stellar, but I decided I needed a little Man Pleasin' on hand at all times in my freezer, so I adapted the recipe to make 3 dinners at a time. If you want to cook one today and have 2 for the freezer, just put one of the 3 meals straight into a pan and the other two in a freezer bag. What you will need: 3 - 1 gallon FREEZER bags* Sharpie Pen 6 lbs Skinless & Boneless Chicken Thighs 2 cups Dijon Mustard 1 cup Maple Syrup 4 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar 2 tsp Dried Rosemary With the Sharpie, write "Man Pleasin' Chicken" and the date on each of the bags** (Quick Tip: It's also

Overachiever of the day goes to....ME!!!!! No blog posts for months...then...BLAMO...3 in one day! But I had to share what is in my crockpot right now! http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/diabetic-recipes/30-minute/easy-recipes-in-a-bowl/ I doubled the recipe and I will add peas near the end (I don't think they will last 8 hours in the crockpot). I'll let ya know how it turns out...but so far it's looking fantastic! What's in YOUR Crockpot today? *UPDATED* Oh goodness, sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself....other times you need to publish your mistakes so that OTHER people can laugh at you. This weekend we went to Seattle and I picked up some pretty colored carrots. Today, when I was prepping the meal I linked above, I pushed the baby carrots that I purchased for the meal to the side and headed straight for the beautiful Pike Place Market carrots. I peeled, chopped and dumped the beauties into the crockpot. I then turned the crock pot off and left it to do its

I've decided to link my blog to a Facebook Page...in hopes of keeping up on my blog more and being able to easily link to meal planning and all the fun stuff! :) www.facebook.com/bemorewithless

I love the fall...each year it seems like summer gets so busy (and fun) that I look forward to the changing leaves and changing schedule...and SLOWING DOWN. This summer was amazing...the weather was breathtaking and I think as a Washingtonian I felt extra compelled to enjoy EVERY sunshine-filled, non-rainy, day before the gloom of winter set in. We enjoyed our new place and the ability to walk to the pool or walk to the little park. Each weekend we found ourselves outside...but I can't really name much of what we did this year...we were just busy. I've thought of my blog a lot...even in the midst of doing something I would say "I should blog about this"...but it just never happened. I really should blog from my phone more! Anyway...I have filed away all sorts of things to blather about and I have lots of arts and crafts ideas for the holidays (thank you, Pinterest) and my HUSBAND even got crafty the other day...which impressed the crap outta me! I snapped pictures of

I came here to update my blog....it isn't going so well. I thought I could write about something amazingly witty that took place during my day, week, maybe even this month....and I came up with nothing. NOTHING! That is quite sad because I can usually think of something interesting I have contemplated....NOTHING. So, maybe I could update on our move....it was a REALLY boring blog post so I deleted it (bottom line: everything is in a box, uhaul comes this Saturday, hopefully every muscle in my body doesn't hurt the next day). Since I came up with absolutely nothing, I went over to Pinterest for some inspiration....and this sums things up nicely.... This is my worst blog post EVER and if I had any sense I would delete it....but I said I would update...so there ya go! I should go drink some more!

I won't lie...I am drawn to a life of chaos. I like to be busy and I seem to have this unspoken goal of doing as much as humanly possible before I kick the bucket. Recently a lot of my madness came to a close right as some new madness started. I am wrapping up my year as a board member for our MOMS club and our Silent Auction was a huge success. It was a lengthy process, but SO worth it. I made friendships that I hope to keep forever and we made a good chunk of change for a deserving cause! And now, in two weeks, we are embarking on a very big adventure....a move! We haven't moved in 9 years and it's easy to forget how much the process truly sucks. But the promise of a 3 bed, 2.5 bath house with a two car garage keeps me going! The kids seem to be doing well with the process so far and N is excited about having 3 toilets (I am too! Nearly every time I use the bathroom, he has to simultaneously). But he told me the other day that it would be more practical to have a 2 bedroo

Jumping is simple to do. My son jumps constantly and sometimes I check his feet for springs because it just doesn't seem possible to jump allllll the time. But since starting xfit I have learned that jumping is a lot harder than it looks. My goal is to be able to jump up onto this... It seriously comes up to my knees! I see other people do it and it is humanly possible, but I'm not 100% convinced my clumsy butt can do it. I should video it just in case it's worth something on youtube! ;) I think I'll start by jumping up onto the curb outside.

I need to write out my goals for xfit (the brutal cross training gym I joined for the next 11 weeks). I was going to write them out and give them to the instructor, but I thought I would share them here for the ultimate in accountability. Ya know, cuz if you publish something on the internet....it hasta happen! Goal #1: Get through a full xfit workout without cheating or modifying. How I'm Going to Get to the Goal: Really push myself at each workout, trying everything at least once before I modify it. Prize: A morning babysitter and I can go read or shop or do anything I want. Punishment: 50 push ups at the last class Goal #2: Complete the 24 day Advocare Challenge (I'm on day 2) How I'm Going to Get to the Goal: Focus each day on what I put in my mouth and log it on myfitnesspal.com. Prize: Girl's Night Out Punishment: I think failing is punishment enough....but pulling weeds!! Goal #3: Run a 5K in under 30 minutes How I'm Going to Get to the Goal: walk/jog on days

I am a failure! I planned today as Meat Free Monday. I planned to make potato, zucchini and cilantro soup. I collected all my veggies then got down to the veggie broth part...um....veggie broth. Darnit! I knew I forgot something!!!! So it said I could substitute chicken stock....so I did. *hangs head in shame* I bet the soup will be good though....even if it isn't meat free! :)