Randomness

I was going through pictures and realizing that Nate isn't in very many, so I took one. Ashlyn really loves Nate. When I am holding her and Nate is near she is always looking in his direction. My boys are Mamma's boys. It looks like Ashlyn will be a Daddy's girl, and I would love that. I know, this is like the only picture you have seen of Ashlyn without a headband. Nate says she doesn't like them and spares her of wearing one whenever he is around.

 Ashlyn has been acting like she wants to eat food so I made her some rice cereal and we gave it a go. She liked it ok. I am not ready to do it everyday yet. She is only 5 months, no rush.

The boys went to the dentist today. No cavities. Their teeth look great. My boys seem to like to brush teeth and Tanner asks me to floss his. I hope that sticks. They got to pick out a prize and Tanner picked a stick on mustache. Silly kid. Oh, he has a girlfriend by the way. Calise is her name. I asked what he likes about her and he said she has pretty bows. :)  We register him for Kindergarten tomorrow! Exciting!

Speaking of Tanner, we were at Walmart at the checkout and Tanner said "Mom, Look! A man-girl!" He was pointing at the cashier. She was a bit masculine, but sheesh. How do you teach your kids to be quiet about stuff like that? He saw a 400 pound lady at the mall today and said, "Mom! That lady is big!" I was so happy he didn't say "FAT". That is harder to hear than big. Every time I see a fat person, or someone without a limb, or who has an oxygen tank or a cast or anything out of the ordinary, I worry he is going to point and loudly say something. He is just curious.  I hope people don't take offense.

One last thing, I have been raving about some recipes I have been trying lately to some of my friends wanted to share where I get them. My sister-in-law, Mickie, introduced me to Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I have been cooking almost solely from this website for weeks (about 4 recipes a week) and we have been loving every one. My favorite thing about this blog is it is a mother who is trying to do away with processed foods. Not all are, in fact today's post was about Ramen Noodles (she threw out the seasoning), but for the most part they are. She uses a variety of seasonings and ingredients, and lots of her recipes are healthy. You will find plenty of butter and cream in the richer recipes, but they are unprocessed ingredients, so don't call her out on that one. I didn't say it was a health food blog. Here is a list of ones we have tried. You can healthify some of these pretty easily and get good results. I almost always use whole grains in place of the all purpose flour and whole wheat tortillas and pasta.

• Andes mint brownies (I still prefer a box brownie mix to this, but still good)
• Super bean Burrito
• Bread Bowls (I haven't had success with these yet with whole wheat flour)
• Cheddar and Herb biscuits (don't attempt whole wheat flour on this one)
• Oatmeal pancake mix (whole wheat flour is great in this)
• Hot Fudge Pudding Cake (you could easily use whole grain flour)
• The Best Chicken Fajitas
• Hawaiian Haystacks (brown rice was good)
• Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Tuscan Garlic Chicken
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies (probably could use all or part whole grain flour)
• Sugar Cookies (make as is. These are AMAZING)
• Grasshopper Ice Cream pie
• Blueberry muffins
• Pizza (used part whole grain flour would work with all I think)
• Pudding
• BBQ Chicken Salad
• Romain Salad w/ Chicken, Cheddar, Apples, Pecans...
• Southwest Cobb Salad
• Marinara
• Cinnamon sugar almonds (I used an extra cup of almonds in this one)
• Broccoli Cheese soup
• Chicken and dumplings
• Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup
• Cream cheese chicken and vegetable soup (used low-fat cream cheese, I bet fat free would work)
• Creamy white chili
• Baked Taquitos

Nope, most of these are not meat or dairy free. I know what you are thinking  "Hey didn't she 'go vegan' a while ago?" I would say I am vegan-ISH. I still go very light on animal products, but I cook with small amounts of meat a couple times a week. And the rest of my family has dairy daily. It is easy to go light on the meat in these or take it completely off, like with salads.