So it's been two days since my last posting..yesterday was a busy day. Doctor's appointment for our baby due here in a few months and the post office. it was mainly long because I didn't have the customs forms filled out beforehand..but I did have them taped and ready.

the night before last..I took him to walmart to get more tape...I was that mom with an uncontrollably screaming kid. I wonder how I will manage to attempt control his fits when I am further along..hmm..not going about it.lol. So here's what some of them look like on the inside:

I didn't scrapbook the sides on all the boxes to that of an epic "oh my goodness" but I worked with what I had on hand and I think they looked great. for dinner on Tuesday night I made ham with pineapples on the stove-top.It looked like this:

Last night we had chicken nuggets nuked for 2 minutes..they were good.I should mention the little guy in the photo below was finally taken to the park yesteday evening. I had been telling him for a few days we would go but then the day would just pass me my..so thats why he looks so happy.

Today is thursday and tomorrow is Friday..Red shirt friday..wearing red to support the men and women who serve this fine country and are currently deployed.it was raining on and off all day..and we took this walk..it was raining. the tan dog you see in the picture is Lucas's best buddy.lol.well my eyes are telling to be go to sleep..so I am going to listen. see ya'll later!

Change

hello everybody,
I have been pretty busy at times during the past couple of months.So this blog hasn't been active in sometime. Last May, we packed up our house in Virginia  and moved down to North Carolina. It was a BIG change. I moved from the place I grew up and even had my first kid to a new and unknown area. Thanks to my wonderful husband and family, the move wasn't too bad. Finding new friends took me about three months-Three months!!! North Carolina sure is different, the people seem so much more opinionated down here with a touch of entitlement...it's crazy..I have NEVER been told off by so many people in Walmart for the way we discipline our child. That's why I say-people be crazy! The friends I have found are amazing and have been amazing..I hope they stick around-the military gets to decide that though.
Recently, my husband deployed-I know that's a big thing-especially on the whole world wide web to announce. Yes, some of that last sentence was sarcastic.lol.Don't worry my friends, I am not going to tell his location or what he is doing..don't want to violate OPSEC. I have seen friends of mine doing it on facebook announcing locations and such..This is his first deployment and it hasn't been too bad yet, if anything I am feeling stronger because of this crazy adventure.
For the time that he is deployed, I have decided to get this blog running again. I have so much time to do so now..lol. I don't know about some of you-but for me I love going on Pinterest.One of the things I have seen for deployment is have a deployment bucket list. I have one started already and I am pretty excited to get started on it.More on that at a later date..
Yesterday was a big day..Easter. better put the first of many holidays I will spend without my husband home:/ I woke up later than usual and ended up going to the second service at church.There were so many people there that I parked my truck in the grass. A Marine and his family walked by and Craig pointed saying "Daddy,"it was hard not to get emotional. Craig has been taking this deployment pretty good, he usually says "Daddy on a booo-oooaatt" like a broken record. lol.He does have his moments where he gets sad and starts to miss him, so we usually sit on the couch together and watch tv. I reassure him that his daddy loves him and is on a super mission.I'm hoping that if I make deployment sound cool and exciting he'll think its cool. I don't want to be a mom that doesn't mention daddy during the whole deployment, that's just wrong. Anyways, we had a really good easter meal at my girl's Cassie's house and then went home.Craig took a nap and was up really late-say 11 o'clock-but he was able to hunt eggs in the backyard. Here are some pictures:

He's tough like his daddy:)
ignore the dog marking his spot in the background.lol.

 <--getting the last egg

Yep..The easter bunny visited.

Bear with me, I have yet to figure out this blog thing out all the way..lol.

I can't believe how fast went by today!It's already near the end of the day. We went to the bank this morning..that was interesting in itself..Well, every outing with a kid is, isn't it?I hope ya'll have enjoyed reading this post..I think I am going to take a nap and then see what I can create for dinner.lol. Come back tomorrow to see what I made for dinner:) Or you can just to see what's up.

Until later-signing off.-Amanda

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Note:  If you have a very eager and helpful toddler, this recipe isn't quick.
So.. here's the recipe.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
2 cups flour (1 cup unbleached all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour)
2 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. In a large bowl, beat egg with fork. add in sugar and vanilla extract; mix using fork. add milk and mix together.
3. In medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.
4.Cut in softened butter; using hands to mix together.
5.Mix the flour and butter mixture into the large bowl mixture slowly. the dough will be a little sticky, so cover your hands in flour before you touch the dough.
5.sprinkle a good amount of flour (about 1/2 cup) on your counter top and flour your rolling pin. using a spatula, clean the bowl out to make sure you get all the flour and dough together, turn out the dough and knead it into a rectangle.
6.in a 9x13 cake pan, spray with olive oil.in a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of butter (you can use your hands or a fork-i used my hands). sprinkle 1/4 of the mixture on the pan.
7.in a small bowl, heat remaining butter or margarine for 15 seconds. take out and set aside.
8.Roll out dough into a rectangle using your rolling pin covered with flour. once the rectangle is bigger and about 1/4 inch in thickness, its ready for the next step.
9. using your hands, spread the butter onto the dough, cover the dough with the rest of the filling mixture.you want it to be evenly spread across the dough.roll up the dough, slowly and carefully, cut using a sharp knife into 18 small circles.put in cake pan cut side up. put in oven for about 10-20 minutes.
10. let cool a little bit. Eat.

A mix of this and that

For dinner last night I made Mexican Chicken and Rice Dinner. I had found the recipe on the back of the a Minute White Rice Box.  The original recipe can be found here. Here's my version though..

Mexican Chicken and Rice Dinner

1 pd Chicken breast tenderloins thinly sliced cut into rectangular shapes and cubes

3 dash sea salt

3 dash black pepper

pinch of kick'n chicken

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

frozen pepper strips (I used the VIP brand green, red and yellow strips)

2 cups water

about 1 cup organic salsa

2 cups Minute brown rice

1 can 15.2oz whole kernel corn

1/2 bag of Weight Watchers Mexican Blend Reduced-Fat Cheese

1.Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Add chicken and sprinkle the sea salt, pepper, and kick'n chicken seasoning over chicken. add the frozen pepper strips to the chicken and mix together. 

 -cover and cook for 1-2 minutes. check chicken and stir the peppers. repeat this step until the chicken is lightly browned and the strips are tender.

-remove chicken and peppers from the skillet and move into a medium skillet with a cover, to keep warm.

2. add the water and salsa to the large skillet;stir until well blended. Bring to a boil-about medium high heat. 

    -once the water and salsa are boiling, add the rice and corn. cover. reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes or until the rice is tender.

3.once the rice is done cooking, top with chicken and peppers. sprinkle with cheese.reduce heat to low;cover. continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. turn off the stove, and enjoy!!

So that was last night..

This morning I made a blueberry smoothie for Craig..

It was all gone when he brought it back to me..

and then.. I saw it.

I don't quite know how it happened.But it did. and it was all over the wall,

and the carpet..

and the bed comforter.. 

Luckily, I ran in there quickly after getting some pictures with a dish rag and got the blueberry off the wall, and everywhere else for that matter.

All of a sudden all I heard was Sesame Street on the TV.

and then is what I saw. 

he was jumping on the couch without cushions.. and I'm thinking he was using the cushions as padding. 

I don't lie when I say my son is a monkey and like the energizer bunny. 

                                          

                                                              hope you have enjoyed this post!

                                                                 

NO butter cookies!

update:  We have moved due to orders from the Marine Corp. My husband re-enlisted in the Marine Corps, and we moved ourselves. Within a week, everything fell into place and we moved in three days. So 3 days later and nine hours of sleep, we were in our new place. We were all exhausted but happy to be somewhere new. 

So far.. we been here two months. the neighborhood is alright.So far it's a rough summer. Our neighbor's house across the street burned down.There were about four fire engines outside our house for most of that morning. I let the neighbors use our lawn for most of the morning. I can't imagine being in their shoes. their kids are grown and they grew up in that house, now they have to re-build from the ground up.

 And about a week ago, someone broke into our house. We were asleep when it happened. We had about four police vehicles outside our house at five in the morning. Thanks to the person who broke in and took off the safety latches-the police took them and my grocery list. My hubby told me to forgive and forget.. but I can't. It's not that simple. I am paranoid now, it's driving me nuts. anyways..

I found a recipe awhile go for no butter cookies!

here's the recipe..

No Butter: Peanut Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 large egg

1 cup sugar 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 pinches of oatmeal

2 dashes of sea salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup nutella

2 spoonfuls of coco powder

1/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use the blue diamond brand)

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup assorted nuts (I used a California mix without the raisins) 

 

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350

2.In a small bowl, mix flour,salt, and soda together with a fork.

3.In medium bowl, beat egg with a fork until yellow in color. Beat in sugar and vanilla extract, add milk and beat together.

4.slowly add the flour into the egg mixture.mix until just combined

5.Mix in peanut butter and nutella. 

6.fold in the chocolate chips and nuts. sprinkle the coco powder over the mixture and mix in.

7. Roll into medium balls (about a tablespoon) between your palms and flatten with a floured fork on a  cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil. <--note: only flatten if you want them to be flat. the smaller you make the balls, the more cookies you will have to eat and less guilty you'll feel eating them.

8. Bake as many as you see fit on a cookie sheet. these bake pretty quickly so watch them! they bake for about 5-10 minutes.

This is my version of the recipe.

Now here is the pictures!!:)     

                                                     the batter--->

 got that cool tool has a christmas present.. its a lifesaver!

 <--see if you flatten with a fork, they turn out flat..but they are still very yummy!

nom nom nom.. my son is like the cookie monster he kept eating all the cookies off the cooling rack.

<--now these are the ones I rolled into balls and put straight into the oven.

<--show the detail..yummy goodness!

<--original recipe before my changes..

well my hubby just got home. back at our old duty station, he'd be still on 95.. oh how I love this new place. five minute commute now.:)

and.. the boy.. is still asleep! woo hoo!!hope you enjoyed this post!

a somewhat lazy day.

Yesterday was a sad day. My Grandpa Banda passed away, he was having alot of medical problems. My mom-in-law's dog also passed away. It was a hard day and  by the end of it my eyes felt swollen because of all the tears and sadness. Today I haven't done much-I have been incredibly lazy..which for me right now is pretty bad. I am usually pretty active during the week. for the past month and couple of weeks I have been working hard to work out and lose that little "pouch." but for today there is little motivation and my heart aches. I feel that if I keep my mind distracted long enough-I can hide all my emotions. But seriously that's not realistic. not at all-but I can try..right? so around noon I made homemade finger paint.
the paint consists of flour, salt, water, and food coloring.
if you want to make it-here's how- you will need:
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 cup hot water

step two

1. Mix together the flour and salt in bowl 
2. add cold water to a medium sized pot on the stove and mix with the flour mixture-beat until there are no lumps
3. pour in hot water and bring to a boil. remove from heat and beat until there are no more lumps.
4. divide into 3 bowls and equaling drop the colors into the paint mixture.. red, yellow, and blue.

I was excited about this so put the drops in the bowls and it made mixing the colors more work!

when its thickened more-take it off the stove!

<--it will look a little like this.

no need to worry-its just salt, water and h2o!

my red turned out more pink than in this picture.

 <--possible valentine in the make here

 playing with paint is relaxing, and this paint came off easily.

 <--notice the thumprint hearts.

view of my kitchen table. notice how it is not that dirty.

-ignore the mess behind. the red paint into the bottle..so frustratining!

<--he is a good artist.:)

this is his usual expression for using cookie cutters.

 I hope I didn't take too many photos.. I really enjoy photography..
oh before I forget, I made my first "Green Smoothie on Saturday-it was amazing. here's the recipe:
2 small handfuls of spinach
1/2 cup chopped pineapple (I used the canned stuff and poured some of the juice in too)
1/4 cup frozen mango
2 bananas chopped up
1/2 cup of water
stuff into blender and pulse it til its to the consistency you want..
its really good.
Its green yes.
I call it The Slime.

On Sunday I made another one, only this time, I did a dash of this and a dash of that.
here's the just of what I put into it.
1 half to 1 whole chopped up banana
1/4 cup frozen mangoes
1/4 cup frozen pineapple
2 small handfuls for baby spinach
a handful of strawberries
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 cup filtered water

<--it was blue and yummy.

well, I have to go now.. Craig has woken up and is not happy!

until later. Thanks for reading!