Liberty Science Center

Today we decided to do something fun since we have been cooped up for so long from all the snow! Liberty Science Center was great - there was tons to see and do and we will definitely be going back! AJ LOVED the toddler room where she was free to explore, play & learn! There were a bunch of cool dinosaur exhibits and some really cool live animals, bugs and fish to check out! Dylan enjoyed being out and about in the bjourn and the double stroller was AWESOME!

PS- If anyone is in the market for a double stroller - the Double City Mini is the way to go - it will totally rock your world! It maneuvers a ton better and smoother then our single!

Copy Cat Red Lobster Biscuits

So for this one I googled a few different copy cat recipes for the biscuits at red lobster and then went from there! They came out SO SO SO good - a new favorite for Alex! He was amazed at how much they were like the biscuits at Red Lobster!

2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

3/4 cup cold whole milk

6 tablespoons cold butter - cut 4 of them into little chunks

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder separated in half

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter chunks in a medium bow. You don't want to mix too thoroughly - there should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix.

3. Drop large spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake in oven till tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt the other 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits.

Crock Pot Ribs

Pork spare ribs

1 container of bbq sauce

1/2 red onion diced up

1 can root beer

salt

pepper

olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put your ribs in a baking pan and season with salt & pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Put in oven and cook till they brown (about 20 minutes). Remove and place in crock pot with the bbq sauce, onion and 1/2 - 3/4 can of root beer. Cook on lowest setting till they are falling off the bone good! Check once in a while to make sure there is enough liquid - if you need more then add some more root beer!

3 Months!

Let's see, at 3 months he currently weighs in at 15lbs (80%) and he is 24 inches tall (75%). He is eating like a champ - five 7oz bottles a day and is on a good set schedule (we all know babies and mommy's both thrive on a nicely set schedule). He goes to sleep at 7:30 pm and is only waking once at night for a bottle around 2:30 am and then easily falls right back asleep till 7 am - can't complain. He LOVES his bouncer, his play mat and the jumparoo. On the play mat he bats and grabs for everything and kicks his legs like crazy! In the jumparoo he is actually spinning one of the wheels and he bounces like a champ! He is such a happy baby and he is always sporting a huge smile. Recently he started laughing - it's a half laugh but it's adorable! He loves bathtime and pays attention during story times with AJ. He also LOVES watching tv - UGH! He adores his big sister and is always watching everything she does of course smiling away. She loves him back and the two of them are so fun to watch - AJ recently starting playing patty cake with him - he loves it!

Happy 3 months D! In this short time you have brought so much joy and love to so many - we are so so lucky to have you and can't imagine our crazy house without you!

AJ's Tortilla Pizza's

2 Mulit Grain Tortillas

1 can Hunts All Natural Tomato Sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 TBS Parmesan Reggiano cheese

10 small slices of pepperoni cut up

0regano

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spay some cooking spray on a cookie sheet and top with 2 whole grain tortillas. Top with sauce, Parmesan cheese, pepperoni, mozzarella and then sprinkle on some oregano. Heat in the oven for about 6-8 minutes and enjoy!

These actually tasted really great - I didn't believe that I could enjoy something a 2 1/2 year old made so much!

Jumparoo!

Dylan LOVE'S the jumparoo - just like his big sister did! His feet don't totally reach the ground yet so we had to put a box under it, but he is already grabbing for stuff, smiling and bouncing away!

My Girl AJ

Here are some cute pictures of AJ all dressed up for school - she is such a typical girl, she loves nice cloths and shoes and so needless to say she loves picking out nice outfits to show off and wear to school! Then she goes and poses and asks me to take pictures of her and then wants to look at them on my camera! What a ham! My little girl is so fun and such a cutie!

Valetine's Day

We had a really great Valentine's Day this year! AJ LOVED waking up to balloons, chocolate and her presents - new sparkly shoes & books! We had a awesome family breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, cheesy eggs and bacon - Dylan smiled at us throughout - this kid is going to want real food soon! That afternoon uncle Mark stopped over for a visit with the kids and later that night Mimi came over so Alex and I could go out to dinner kid free! It was great having her come to us and not having to pack up everything, shlep it to Livingston only to pick up the kids and shlep it all back! The restaurant was amazing and it was so nice to just sit an have dinner with my guy! Hope everyone had a Valentine's Day filled with lots of LOVE like we did!

Maria's Cuban Sandwiches

So my sister in law Maria has been swearing by these for forever - I have no idea what took me so long to finally make them but boy was I missing out! These sandwiches are a crusty treat from heaven! The meat marinated in the mojo is so tender and pairs so perfectly with the ham, the sharpness of the swiss cheese and the tang from the pickles. The mustard, mayo, garlic mix that goes on top is heavenly - Alex said he could eat it on anything!

Mojo Marinade:

1/3 cup Olive Oil

6-8 cloves garlic thinly sliced

2/3 cup sour orange juice (which is really mostly freshly squeezed orange juice and then I add the juice of one lime)

1/2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

Heat up the olive oil and add the garlic. Let cook together for about a minute, as long as it does not burn. Add the sour orange juice, cumin and salt and pepper. Bring to a rolling boil, take off the heat and let cool completely. Put the pork tenderloin in a ziploc and pour the marinade over, and let it sit in the fridge anywhere from 1 hour to all day. Cook the tenderloin on 350 for about an hour or so, for a 2lb piece of meat.

For the cuban sandwiches:

Sliced pork tenderloin

deli sliced ham

deli sliced swiss cheese

pickles (i use the sandwich stackers, kosher dill)

mayo

mustard

1 grated clove of garlic

crusty bread

In a small bowl mix together 1/3 cup mayo, 1 tbs spicy mustard and grated garlic. Layer the pork, ham & swiss on the one half of the bread and bake in the oven till the cheese melts and the bread gets crusty. Add a pickle to the top & some of the mayo/mustard to the side with nothing on it. Press it together and eat! HEAVENLY!

Blizzard 2010

We had a really fun snow day today - it's still snowing as I type and we already have well over a foot of snow! While the rest of us had a great time shoveling and playing, Dylan stayed nice and snug inside and napped! I was happy to see how much fun AJ had considering Alex & I both LOVE the snow! We made snow angles, I pulled her around on the sled, she went down her slide and helped shovel. Daddy shoveled round 1 while I cleaned off the cars. I did a round 2 while AJ napped later and Alex gave D a bottle - we will both need to go out for a round 3 either late late tonight or when we wake up tomorrow! All in all it was a great day and we ended them with delish cuban sandwiches!