Cooking 101

As a young lady, I never showed much interest in learning to cook. I never even really learned how to boil an egg until I was already a mom. I mean, I understood the basics. Start with cold water make sure egg is already in water and then bring to a boil. That was the extent of my knowledge concerning boiled eggs. Then again, I had never really had much use for boiled eggs until after I was married seeing as I don't like boiled eggs. I like devilled eggs, but I had never been in charge of preparing them.

Now, as a mom living in an area where everyone knows how to cook, I get picked on quite frequently for not knowing how. I have begun to push myself to learn how to cook. I have learned to prepare quick meals and also to do many slow cooker recipes.

One of my favorite slow cooker recipes is Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak. It takes a little bit of prep work, but it turns out so good it just melts in your mouth!

 Picture from allrecipes.com

I also love Lawry's marinades and my favorite is their Steak & Chop marinade. I know that I can throw some pork chops or steaks in a zip lock bag in the morning with some of the Steak & Chop marinade and put it in the fridge to defrost and marinate at the same time. Then, when I get home from running errands, I can just pull them out and grill, broil, or pan-fry them. So tasty no matter how they get cooked! I try to pair it with easy sides that are kid-friendly like mac & cheese, baked beans, green beans, or corn & peas.

Happy Cooking!!!

CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

I feel like I'm in a never ending cycle. I get one room clean and move to the next and by the time I get that room clean I have to go to another room to clean and when I think I'm done I have to start all over because the boys have destroyed the first room already. Ugh! I wish Ray would help clean instead it feels like they devised a plan to divide and conquer. I need a vacation. Who's with me?

Little Mens

I am starting this blog a little later than most. I currently have two children. "Ray" is my first born. He is 2.5 years old. He has childhood apraxia of speech and has been in speech-language therapy since his second birthday. Ray went from having approximately 10 words in January to speaking in full sentences now (6-8 words per). He still has problems with forming some of the words.

My second child is also a boy, "Reece." He is almost 1.5 years old. He has over 25 words and has already begun putting words together.

I want to have a daughter some day but I decided to get an IUD to give me some time to enjoy my boys first. Ray is almost potty trained so there will be a few posts in the future on our potty training adventures with him, our successes and failures. Reece has already begun to show interest in the potty as well so we may begin working with him soon as well.