Martha gets another star!

Okay I'm not a fan of Martha (mainly because I'm jealous of her crafty empire.) however, I dislike her less today. I was trying to vamp up dinner and in an easy way, and Martha came thru for me once again. I was going to go the easy route with just purchasing a rotisserie chicken, however I noticed several ingredients in their marinade that Mason couldnt eat- so I went with Martha Stewart's suggestion and roasting your own chicken. SO I did it, don't necesarily suggest it. My house is still smokey. First off, they don't package whole chickens like they do the turkeys at Thanksgiving (someone needs to change that!) because i had to pull out the innerds, liver, giblets and other things by hand. And hello, I'm preggo with a gag reflex. Okay so I didn't really pull it all out (okay none of it.) I held the little bird while Gavin did it. Actually, I didn't even really watch, I just made sure he got it all. GROSS. Who wants that stuff anyway?? Don't answer that please.
Let me go on to say how Chickens are nasty birds, or maybe the one I selected was. Poor little guy, or gal, probably a gal, she had an abnormally large tailbone. I feel for her. Also her stuff was hanging all over the place! She had some loose skin that was fryin' like bacon after I lubed her up with butter and stuck the thing in the oven. Maybe it wouldnt have been such a smokey mess (wasn't really that messy) if I cooked it in a turkey bag. But I wanted it to look like Martha's picture in the recipe so I used the roasting rack. The smoke might have not really been from the bird (who knows) but I accidentally pulled out the wrong meat thermometer and partially melted my new one in the oven. It looks pretty cool though, all warped like. So maybe that's what caused the smoke, me cooking the thermometer.

SO ANYWAY, Gavin cut the bird apart (because I'm a total sissy girl and do not like meat on a bone, let alone touching it is gross.) I had some of the yummy tortillas from Central Market, piled it on with some iceberg lettuce (spring mix would have been good too) threw on some spring/green onions, Hoison sauce and the yummy chicken and I was very pleasantly surprised at my dinner. yes it did slightly resemble Moo Shu Chicken, but way healthier! You could probably add some stirfry veggies, but I'm all about the meat cravings right now (and chocolate. Hey Hoisin sauce does resemble it!)
Mason didn't have the wrap, but he did want to try it (sorry dude.) instead he had mmmm'd over the chicken, and had some veggie noodles I made him with a side of granola. (hey its what he wanted!)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/asian-style-chicken-wraps?autonomy_kw=Rotisserie%20chicken&rsc=header_10

Thanks again Martha for coming thru for me!

Not so pretty chicken (but I did it!)


Easy SUPER yummy delicious wrap pre chicken.


Sorry there's no pretty after/wrap pictures because you would have seen me stuffing my face, and that just isn't pretty.

Name that Photo

Who ever comes up with the best quote--gets a cookie :-)
I have a very observant child.


OH, where do I start??? HAHA. First off, Mason was pointing at Rilee standing up and peeing in the tub. HAHA.
1. "Mama, she broke off her pee-pee."
2. "Wait.......huh? Where did it go?"


Oh boy, what will I say when he really does ask???

The Quiet

Saturday afternoon Gavin & I were invited to go out on a friends new boat so Mason stayed overnight at Granma & Papaw's house. We had a nice time out on the lake tubing and ate out. I even got to sleep in to 9:30 on sunday morning!!! (i never ever ever sleep in, i did wake up quite a few times but kept forcing myself back to sleep ;-) When I did get up, it was so strange. It was so QUIET. I couldn't get over THE QUIET. I just kinda walked around the house, like 'what do I do now?' no toddler to feed, change, etc. it was almost surreal how quiet the house was. After Gavin woke up, we lounged around watched tv for a while and I even mentioned, "I don't remember the quiet like this before Mason was born, what did we do all the time???" Not that my kid is so loud, but he sure does put life in a room! :-)

I have to say I'm LOVIN' this rainy weather. Lazy Monday, no plans, no where to be, always my day off- we all 3 slept later than usual this morning AND all 3 of us even took a nap at the same time...and longer than usual :-)
I love the rain!

A week off

what's that? it doesn't happen very often, but it does occasionally occur! We've enjoyed the last week of summer...well really Mason has 2 weeks left, but it was the last week of Amy & Rilee's summer. We'll be sad to not see miss Rilee everyday as we have so much fun with her funny little personality. Its pretty easy now to bribe Mason out of a rotten attitude or even a tantrum with 'Go see Rilee', but now we're not going to be able to do that so easily!
Mason sure does enjoy his almost daily playdates with his cousin as he calls her "Ai-leeee" I can't even say her name in just chatting on the phone or to Gavin because if he hears it, he expects to see her soon! its sweet.
We've spent our week relaxing at home (as I've had a horrible fight with allergies all week and its knocked me on my butt) and had a few outings and playdates with Amy & Rilee.

Mason trying on some shades


Trying to get TWO children to follow TWO directions is next to impossible (1. put on sunglasses 2. look at the camera)


Mason trying to be his rockstar self....or maybe a diva...


Grocery shopping made easy with Mason & Rilee.
Mason is wondering, "Who's driving this thing!"

Bread for Mason

So i think Mason has been getting bored of his breakfast muffins- so I've been playing around with my Mom's bread maker to make him some bread. The only bread he's eaten since March/April has been his gluten free, egg free, corn free, soy free muffins. (sounds not appealing, but I make them rather tasty- either Carrot, Pumpkin or Zuchini muffins). I attempted a bread mix last week with the bread maker and it came out still gooey. So that was a flop. I'm also trying all this withOUT the manual for the breadmaker. Who knows where she has the manual! I remember my Mom used it pretty often, so maybe she just didn't need it.
Last night i attempted it again and I'm rather impressed! The crust came out a little over done and in parts it even looks like some of the mix didn't get mixed in, but for the most part the bread looks really good. I haven't tried it but it sure smelled good last night! So Mason is enjoying his first "Cinnamon Toast" for breakfast this morning. He's loving the new breakfast food! Yeah!

Am I missing it?

I'm a big big fan of Google Reader since there's so many blogs out there that I read on a daily basis. I'm still a fan of going to each individual blog to see the different headers and so I can leave comments. I haven't figured out how to leave comments via google reader yet- am I just missing it or are they not that high tech yet?
Someone HELP! (I know this may require you leaving google reader to leave me a comment on how to!)
Thanks ! :-D

Sweet Peas

Yesterday afternoon we went swimming at the Kaspar Casa & Liz and Mr. Reed came too. Reed is such a sweet happy boy. We got some cute pictures of them in just diapers goofing off after swimming. They all 3 sure do look cute and innocent, huh!

Babysitters, ANYONE?

So we LOVE our babysitters (Alyssa & Kalie who are twin sisters) but they both leave for college in TWO weeks. And that's the week that Mason finishes MDO for the summer before the fall session starts up (beginning of September) so there's 2 weeks in there that we are going to have to juggle somehow. I'm sad we won't have Kalie & Alyssa (and they are awesome!) and I'm even more sad I have to go thru the process of finding a new babysitter (and that's just stressful altogether!)
So maybe my few avid readers can help me find a new babysitter- qualifications are as follows:
- must love faux hawks, bouncy balls & toy cars
- must be responisible!
- must be ON time!
- must love kids (well thats a given!) and experience is highly suggested!
SO if you know a high school age or college age (that is going somewhere near by) gal with experience I'd love to meet her! The days we need help with are (for the remaining last 2 weeks of August) are Fridays and then most saturdays-both during the day- (and an occassional date night with my husband would be great too!)

Funny story about Mason and his babysitters- Alyssa has sat Mason most of the summer- we desperately needed her to watch Mason and Rilee last friday as Amy was leaving town and Gavin & I had to work- so Alyssa's twin sister Kalie & her friend Laura saved the day and watched the kiddos. I wasn't sure about how they would do with Mason not having met them yet. But when the girls got to the house, Mason had NO clue that Alyssa & Kalie were 2 different people. He went straight to her and I think he thought Kalie was Alyssa. HA! Now I love this idea of having twin babysitters- he's clueless!!!! NOW, if he EVER saw both girls at the same time, he'd probably wouldn't be sure what to think! LOL

I heart the farmers market

I've always been a big fan of the farmers market (i have a weakness for the ones in california! lol!) I've hit ours up in Colleyville pretty often but usually find it easier with Mason to just buy our fruits and veggies at the grocery store (Market street or Target which I've found dont always have the freshest and cheapest variety) I've officially made my vow today that I will ONLY buy our fruits and veggies from the farmers market. I bought a ton of items today (raspberries, vine ripe tomatoes, scallions, plums, ripe avocados, kiwis and asparagus) and I ONLY spent $10 plus tax! I couldn't believe that was it. The thing that gets me even though i look for items that are close to ripe at the normal store they usually take a few days to ripen, Mason already devoured both plums and I had used tomato & avocado tonight that was perfectly ripe! Not only are their things super cheap but also ripe enough to eat AND are local and Texas grown. So off my soapbox, just sayin' how much I love the farmers market!

Chicken Salad with Lemon Yogurt Dressing

Our dinners have been pretty boring lately (and Mason's too) even though we eat at home almost every single night. I've been lacking in the creative dinner area. I've been into anything lemon-y lately (partly because lemon is so refreshing with it being SO hot out!) Lately I haven't been able to get enough of lemon yogurt or Caesar Salad with lemon. To even out my indulgence in my cupcake craving last night (see my flickr photos) I thought I must make a super healthy dinner tonight. When Mason went down for a nap so did I (I do this daily when I'm not at work!) but before falling asleep I was channel surfing and came across an old recipe of Martha Stewart Everyday. I've seen the show before but didn't really think anything of it. She was saying how everything they cook has 8 ingredients or less and all fresh ingredients (meaning produce=most things Mason can eat) and one of the things they made today was this Chicken Salad with Lemon Yogurt dressing and it looked really good! I made it tonight and it was SUPER quick and REALLY tasty! Mason definitely gave his approval as he had already snacked alot prior to dinner and then he ate 2 good size servings! yeah! I had JUST enough to put into his lunch for tomorrow. Here's the recipe below- quick, tasty, HEALTHY (and still hearty enough to fill up on!) and easy :-)
PS- I used vine ripened tomatoes which I think are sweeter than plum tomatoes (although I think this recipe would be awesome with cherry or grape tomatoes too!) I also added some avocado to my salad and YUM! did it make it tasty!!

Chicken Salad with Lemon Yogurt Dressing
Ingredients

Serves 4
2 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
6 ounces mesclun (about 6 cups) * we used chopped up romaine lettuce mixed with some leftover baby spring mix *

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rub tarragon, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper under chicken skin. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; roast until cooked through, about 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, 2 teaspoons olive oil, remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Remove and discard skin and bones from chicken; thinly slice meat lengthwise. Add to bowl along with tomatoes and scallions; toss to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add mesclun; toss to coat. Divide among plates; spoon chicken mixture on top.