LANDON'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

I can't believe it but today is Landon's first birthday! It just doesn't feel like a year since I had him. Sometimes I think I could do labor again. Here is that story for anyone interested. I am not ready to be pregnant again. I'm still recovering from the first time. We have had such a fun year watching him grow and lean so many new things. He is such an amazing blessing in our lives and we couldn't ask for a better child.








We decided to celebrate his birthday yesterday since Keith now works at night. We went up to my parents for dinner and dessert. He just loves being around family and has so much fun with everyone. It is so cute to see him get excited when he sees people he knows. He loved the cupcake and made a good mess. He had so much fun so it was worth it. After dinner we gave him presents. He got clothes, shoes, books, a bath set and toys. He absolutely loved the books he got. He just sat there opening them and saying something that all of us couldn't understand.

Today was just a low key day we hung out this morning before Keith had to go to work. We kept calling him birthday boy and he would get so excited and start laughing. This afternoon my friend from work took some family pictures for us. (The last ones we took were bridals... somethings have changed...) Landon was good for awhile and then he just got bored. After I got him some food and we came home and played and he went to bed around 7. No very exciting for him but he is only one and he was just happy to play all day.

Landon is getting taller and taller. He is mostly in 18 month clothes because he is so tall but he is so skinny that they fall off his little bum. He thinks it is funny when we are chasing him around trying to get his pants back where they should be. Landon just learned how to do down the stairs so he is very excited about that. He is also drinking milk now and if he is not done when the milk and it is gone he will go to the fridge and yell at us until we come get more for him.

Landon loves being where we are and doing what we are doing. He loves to help in the kitchen and watch things in the oven. He loves watching the Bosch mix things. He is into everything tries to figure out how everything works. Once he figures it out we are in trouble.. He recently figured out the toilets and so we had to put locks on the toilets. However his absolute favorite thing is the brooms and mop. He carried them around everywhere even though they are twice as tall as him.

We learned quickly that Landon is not a good restaurant patron. Once he could babble and starting being more aware of everything, going out anywhere became a task. We took him out a few times and he would scream and yell at people to get them to look at him. Then he started throwing food at people and wiggling around until he got out of his seat. It is hard to not get mad when he is laughing at everything his is doing. Now we get stuff to go or just get a babysitter because we cannot take him anywhere. I guess no kid can be perfect.

Other than things with Landon our life has been crazy. Keith took a part time job from 10 pm- 9 am so we can start saving for a house again and getting completely out of debt. On top of that he is now working at his main job from about 1-9:30 p.m. His work hired some temps for a later shift and they needed someone at night to help out so Keith was offered that job. It was a pay raise so he accepted it even though the hours are not ideal. It is hard not having here at night but we do get him here in the morning and Landon loves playing with his dad.

I am still working two days at the hospital and then I am also doing eighteen credits at school. I go once a week to the BYU Salt Lake Center once a week and have four classes. It is a long ten hour day but you have to do what you can when you are a mother. I also have two online classes that I am also taking. The plan is to be done by June at the latest. It will be a crazy few months but then I will be done with my undergrad and can just take a break for awhile. The hardest thing about it all is really just time management. It is a struggle to decide when to spend time with family and when to do homework but I'm slowly figuring all that out. I just tell myself the end is near and then there will be more time for family.

Landon is basically the most exciting thing in our life right now. There isn't much time for anything else. Thus I haven't had much time to blog... Maybe when school is done I'll get back to the food blogging... At least I hope so...

Derby Pie

This is one of my favorite desserts! It is so rich, delicious and super easy to make! It is perfect topped with Whipped cream or ice cream!

1 frozen Pie crust

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs beaten

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter melted

1 cup chocolate chip

Beat eggs and slowly add sugar butter vanilla and flour. Mix in nuts and chips pour in pie shell. Bake 25-30 min at 350 degrees. I think it is better served warm but it still tastes wonderful cooled.

Stuffed Shells

This was one of my favorite dinners growing up. It is easy to make and very delicious!

Stuffed Shells

Box of large shells
24 oz can of Pasta sauce

Stuffing
1/2 lb of sausage
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
16 oz container of cottage cheese
1-1 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz chopped spinach
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS garlic salt

Boil the shells according to the package directions. Cook the sausage until brown and thoroughly cooked. Pour some of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 pan to completely cover it. In a bowl mix everything for the stuffing ingredients. Once the shells are soft drain the liquid and when they are cooled down start putting the stuffing into the shells and then put them in the pan on top of the pasta sauce. I usually stuff all the shells that aren't broken or torn first because there are always left over shells. Once you have used all the stuffing pour more pasta sauce over the shells. Use as much or as little as your family likes. Then to top it off sprinkle some shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Cook at 350 degrees until the cheese on top is melted and starting to turn brown.

This recipe is easy to omit whatever your family doesn't like. Alter the recipe to your family's likes. This is how I usually make it. You could use hamburger meat instead of sausage or change which cheese you use or how much. I halved this for Keith and I and we had plenty for dinner and lunch the next day.

Zucchini Bread

So the other day my dad gave me a zucchini from their garden. This this was huge! So I remembered a few years ago my old roommate Janelle made some Zucchini Bread. I decided that was the perfect thing to make with this huge zucchini.

I went on a search for a recipe that I liked. That took awhile. There were a few that were ok but I decided there were a lot of people into substitutions... It is not for me. At least right now. So after some Pinterest searching I decided to look at my staple website the food network. I found a recipe that I could mostly follow.

The recipe is from Paula Deen. No matter what happened in her past this woman know how to cook and cook amazingly. She has some of the best comfort food out there. There were only a few changes I made. I added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg because it really isn't my favorite. I also added more chocolate chips and added orange extract instead of orange zest. Also I added some sugar on the top before putting the bread in the oven because I like that crispy crust it gives it.

Here is the Recipe if you don't want to go look at the website.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon orange zest
Whipped cream, for serving
Zucchini ribbons, for serving
Directions
Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips, and orange zest. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. Chill before slicing. Serve with whipped cream and ribbons of zucchini.

So this makes 2 loafs of bread and I thought I had two bread pans but I only had one... The first one looked great and then I went to get it out and the bottom stuck to the pan. I knew that I should have used Crisco to grease the pan but I was being lazy and used Pam. So for the second pan I mad sure I greases it really well with Crisco. I used butter Crisco because it is just better. It worked out much better!

I feel for the first time making zucchini bread I did a pretty good job. I really liked the orange flavor that came through with this recipe. I didn't make whipped cream for it but it is good with some butter and is best when it is warm!

7 Layer dip

So seven layer dip is one of my go to for parties or just when I don't feel like using the oven. I use the salsa for so many things and it just tastes so much better than canned salsa!

Seven Layer Dip
1 can refried beans
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 Tbs. Taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
Guacamole
Salsa
Tomatoes
Olives
Lettuce
Onions

Mix the sour cream and Taco Seasoning together (I like more seasoning but you can use what your family likes). Spread refried beans into an 8X8 pan. Spread Sour cream mix. Add other topping as desired. I usually keep the Guacamole and Salsa on the side for my own personal reasons. Keep refrigerated until serving.

Salsa
2 Diced Tomatoes (vine ripe are best)
1/2 onion diced
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Green peppers diced if desired
2 tsp. lime juice
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. garlic salt

Mix all ingredients together and serve. More garlic salt can be added for taste

Guacamole
Take some of the Salsa from above
2 avocados
1 tsp. lime or lemon juice
2 tsp. minced garlic
Garlic salt until desired taste

Take some of the salsa and add the other ingredients to a blender and blend until desired consistency. If you have more time hand mash avocados and add other ingredients. I like to add extra lime or lemon juice so the guacamole doesn't change color as fast.

Chicken Salad/ Baby food

The best Caesar Dressing Ever!

It was another night of a simple dinner. After shopping at Target and then grocery shopping we were worn out so we went for the simple direction again. This is a very simple Chicken Salad. I cubed up a chicken breast and cooked it with garlic and a Montreal Chicken seasoning from Grill Mates. Usually we use just romaine lettuce but I had a bag of a garden blend so I used that. I topped it off with Parmesan cheese, chicken, croutons and Caesar dressing (the one in the picture is the only one we will eat). It took no more than 15 min to make and it is delicious!

Cooked Chicken

I also took some time tonight to make some food for Landon. We are headed to Colorado next week to see Keith's extended family. I found these containers at Target and thought they would be good for baby food. I make all my baby food in out Ninja Blender. It is seriously one of the best things we have in our kitchen! All I do is throw some cut up fruits or vegetables in the blender and puree it. This time I did pears, nectarines and butternut squash with apples. Landon doesn't love just vegetables so we have to mix it with something or put a good amount of agave in it.

My Pantry Part 1

There are a few things that I always have to have in my pantry or it just feels weird. This is other than the typical things like flour, sugar, sour cream, cream or chicken... I am a little weird about cooking. I have very specific things I like and very specific things that I do. Every so often I will go over some of the items I just can't cook without.

This I probably the item I use most often. I just don't like mincing garlic and so I use this. I don't have a specific brand that I always buy. Whenever I am out I just get what I can find whenever I am. It is very convenient to have and so much simpler than using fresh garlic. Garlic is the one thing I use in almost every non sweet thing I make. I almost always cook my meet with it or marinate my meat with it. It is such a good flavor and goes with so many varieties of food. It is a must in my house and it is a bad day when we run out.

One of my dreams is to have a spice cabinet with all my major spices in the larger jars like the ones above. These are the spices I use most often and I would not know what to do with out them. I have tried a few different types of Garlic Salt but Lawry's is my all time favorite. I use garlic salt basically every day. It can go in so many things and I use is it as much as I can.

The Grill Mates Montreal Steak is amazing! It is the best combination of seasons for just about anything! I used it on most meats and sometimes for seasoning some vegetables. I have not found a 'favorite' taco seasoning but this is the one from Sam's Club and it does the job that I need. It is very convenient to have around when I want to throw a Mexican flair into a meal.

I absolutely love having Ranch whenever I need it. They sell this jar at Sam's Club and it is so much better and cheaper than buying the packets. I use ranch in hamburgers, meatloaf or to season vegetables. I also am a little bit of a ranch snob and I only like homemade Ranch. It is so easy to make and so worth it. Just a cup of milk a cup of may and three tablespoons of the ranch and mix it up.

When I am baking there are a few items that I love having around. First is Butter Crisco. It is a very easy replacement for butter. There are somethings that just need butter but for like cookies Butter Crisco is the way to go. My absolute favorite chocolate chip cookies only use Butter Crisco. It is nice to have in the pantry in case I run out of butter. It doesn't happen often now that I have a freezer but it does happen. 

The other thing I am kind of a snob about is my choice in chocolate chips... I will not use semi sweet chocolate chips. I just do not like the taste so I use milk chocolate chips always. I will use non Hershey chocolate chips if I have to but Hershey's Chocolate is my all time favorite. I'm not a Nestle person to me the chocolate just isn't as good. It was the best day when I was at Sam's Club and they had these big bags of Hershey's chips! I an go through a bag a month sometimes. The best part is these big bags are about $6.50 (I can't remember the exact price). The best part is I don't have to worry about Keith opening a package of chocolate chips and eating so much I don't have enough for cookies or whatever else I need it for. 

I haven't really thought about buying peanut butter chips before but these have become a new staple. They are so delicious and can go with so many different desserts. I've been experimenting with them and have found they are really good in cookies and dessert breads. I've also mixed them with the chocolate and melted them for ice cream and to put on gram crackers.