Friday nights and a little nostalgia

Growing up Friday night's meant family night. Pizza and a movie and picnics in the front room.  Sometimes we'd make our own pizza (taco pizza is what I remember) or we'd pick up Papa Murphy's or Figaro's (if you're from the Dell you know that place was the ish) and super convenient to picking up movies at the old Hollywood Video.

The hubs and I decided that this tradition was a must. Now that D is getting older it will be easier to do this tradition, until recently it hasn't been very fun to watch movies with a chatty D :)

My fave part of friday nights is making Homemade Pizza or Calzones. Dylan loves helping with the "toppings." And they are just sooooo good, I mean my calzones put Papa Murphy's to shame. 

Creamy Pesto Calzones

Roll out your dough and place on greased cookie sheet

Take Ricotta and spread on half of dough. Do the same with your Pesto.

Top with your favorite ingredients

Fold dough in half and take your fork and seal the edges. Poke some holes in the top of the dough too.

Bake at 425 for 18-20 mins or until golden brown.

Cut int and enjoy some serious deliciousness

(Can you tell this picture was a complete after thought....whoops)

Stacy's Calzones

Ingredients

• Prepared pizza dough (i really like Wincos and Safeways)
• Pesto (Costco's is the best deal)
• Light Ricotta (small tub)
• Italian shredded cheese blend
• toppings (sausage, pepperoni, olives, canadian bacon, mushrooms)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Roll out dough and place on cookie sheet.
3. Take ricotta and spread over half of dough. Then take Pesto and do the same.
4. Add toppings (we did canadian bacon, italian sausge, turkey pepperoni, olives and mushrooms) There's no right or wrong way to layer these ingredients.
5. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Fold dough in half. Use a fork to "seal" the edges. Poke holes in the top of dough to help vent.
7. Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
8. Slice that bad boy up and enjoy!

Every time I make this I usually make 2 because it always gets gobbled up and because the leftovers are delish!

Love.

Stace

The first day of fall

The first day of fall in the lovely Pacific Northwest means rain, and lots of it. I'm not complaining. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, maybe because its the start of the holidays, almost my birthday or because I can justify boots, scarves and hoodies.

In honor of the first day of fall crockpot baked potato soup needed to happen.  It's one of the hubby's favorite meals. He likes it so much that he will get up early to heat it up for his thermos for lunchtime. 

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 5 lbs of russet or yukon potatos, diced not peeled
• 2 cloves of garlic or the equivalent of minced garlic
• 64 oz of chicken broth
• 16 oz of light cream cheese
• toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, green onions)

Instructions

• Cook potatoes, garlic and chicken broth on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.
• Puree/blend half of your potato/broth mixture with both bricks of cream cheese. (we like our potato soup chunky so I don't puree the whole soup)
• Serve soup with any of the above toppings

Note this makes a TON of soup so I'd half it if you are a small family. My family love this soup so I cook the whole shebang and we just eat it for lunch throughout the week.

If you're feeling extra fancy and don't care about the bazillion calories serve soup with this garlic cheese bread. You can thank my bestie for finding the little delicious number.

I'll post pics of the soup after it's done cooking :) Happy first day of fall!

Love,

Stace

Mexicana Bowl

If you know me, you know I'm a meal planner. I hate it, but I do it because it saves me money and I don't have to think about what's for dinner every night.  Whenever I do my meal planning and huge grocery shopping trip I always make sure that dinner that night is quick and easy.  Somehow grocery shopping always zaps my energy and makes me a little moody (I blame Costco and all the old people/kids that stop for samples)

While Sully and I did our epic grocery trip I made sure to get something quick and easy for lunch and came up with a simple dinner idea. When Jason and I started dating, he came over once and had one of my family's fave quick dinners and it soon became one of his favorites. Nothing fancy, but super easy and tasty.

Crispy Chicken Ceasar Salad

• 1 lb of chicken strips (we get the spicy ones because they have less breading)  
• 2 bags of Light Ceasar Salad Mix

Chop up your chicken and mix it in with your salad mix. I have to make a double batch because my husband and daughter love it, and it's just way too easy!

But back to why I started writing this post. My girlfriend Lindsey made these yummy wraps when we went camping together. I took her idea and changed it a bit and came up with a new dinner. I got a stamp of approval from the hubs and D was "ok" with it but not a fan of the "green leaves" in it ;)

The Mexicana Bowl

 Grab your crockpot, a slow cooker liner (because they're genius!), carne asada and your favorite marinade (I used Lawry's Steak and Chop)

Toss in the meat in your crock and cover in marinade. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

 Now that it's all cooked, it's time to chop it all up. 

Get the rest of your ingredients for the rice portion of the dish. (Brown rice, black beans, cilantro, cumin, salsa)

Microwave or cook your brown rice. Chop up your cilantro (I used about a 1/3 of this bunch) Place rice in a bowl, add cilantro, 3/4 cups of black beans, cumin to taste and 1/2 cup of Salsa and mix together. 

Now the fun part. There are lots of ways you can eat it. You can take your rice mixture, chopped up steak and place it in a bowl and top with sour cream, avocado and more salsa. (That's what we did)

 Or you could take all of the same ingredients and put it in a tortilla or make a lettuce wrap. I didn't want to waste extra calories on a tortilla so I did without and still thought it was delish. D wasn't a fan of the cilantro...because she's 5 and picky. Sully on the other hand loved the rice mixture and avocado.

Mexicana Bowl

• 1 lb of carne asada (this made a double batch for leftovers)
• a bottle of your favorite steak marinade (Lawry's Steak and Chop)
• Brown rice (i cheated and used Uncle Ben's 90 second version)
• Fresh Cilantro, chopped (1/3 of bunch)
• 3/4 cup of Black Beans
• 1/2 cup Salsa (i used Jason's Uncle Tab's famous homemade salsa)
• Cumin, to taste
• Avocado
• Sour Cream
• Salsa for topping

Grab your crock and add meat and marinade, cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Take your cooked meat and chop it up.  While chopping, cook your brown rice. Place brown rice in bowl. Add chopped cilantro, black beans, cumin to taste and your salsa. Mix together.  Now add the meat to the rice mixture and top with avocado, sour cream and salsa. 

This could easily be made with chicken. You could also add tomato, onion or cheese to the combination as well. I just used what was handy. Enjoy!

PS best part of this recipe is that you will have lots of meat leftover so it's great to use in other dishes...nachos, fajitas, just meat and a veggie side or steak salad :)

PSS what's your best advice for concurring the grocery shopping dragon?

Love,

Stace

A whole new me.....the process

This last year has been a year of change....some call it life, the hubs and I call it an adventure. In this year, we moved, my parent's moved to the other side of the world....literally, I quit my full time job, we had Sully, Dylan started school and my special needs younger sis lived with us for 7 months and then we moved her into an adult family home a few streets away. Lots of change, lots of reflection, lots of LIFE!

During this time of life changes, all I could think about was getting healthy, being a better me, and loving myself. I was tired of not having enough energy, not liking what i saw and to be completely honest i just wanted to start LOVING me. I had an epiphany and a mission was started.

6 weeks after I had Sully somehow my hubby talked me into joining a beginners co-ed soccer league with all of our friends. This was HUGE! I'm not what you'd call a "competitive or athletic" person, but nerves set aside I was ready for the challenge. 

Lil' Lebowski Urban Achievers was quickly formed.

Then we got some amazing tuxedo shirts so we could be super cool!

Then we got a sweet sponsor and got new shirts with super cool logos on the back, thank you Thomas Family Tree!

And in case you're wondering why the guy in the back is wearing purple (aka my hubs) he's our goalie so that's why he wears a different shirt.

With my new found love of soccer, I really started to get on the exercising bandwagon. I started walking 5Ks...another big deal!  My lovely friends were there to cheer me on when they all finished before me :)

We did the Shamrock Run in PDX

and the Tulip Trot

and then the Retro Run (hence the sweet outfit and hair)

My girlfriends and I have taken a bit of a summer hiatus to 5Ks but I hear there's a Bacon Race coming up that involves a run/walk and all-you-can-eat bacon! I may have to ponder that one. 

 In this adventure to get healthy the whole fam bam has gotten involved. D rides her bike while I push Sully in the stroller on our walks.

 My kids even hangout while I'm doing Zumba

They don't even judge me when I leave looking like this ;)

This whole weight loss/get healthy/be strong not skinny adventure is a work in progress. I've had ups and downs. I've fallen off the wagon and got back on. 

In this journey I've realized this is a daily battle.  I feel better when I take care of myself, whether its eating right or exercising. 

A few months back I celebrated my 40 lb weight loss with a family day out and some delicious treats from Salt and Straw. PS never, I mean NEVER look up the calories....I now know why their ice cream is so delicious!

I'm still teetering close to my 50 lb mark, its so close but so far!  The fact that I've maintained during the summer with camping, bbqs and lots of eating out is HUGE! So I'm not complaining.

In this adventure I'm finding ME!  

And I can't wait to see where I'm at in the next year.

Love,

Stace

Moments mean cookies.....right!?!?!

I was in search of something quick and easy to make with Dylan. She loves to help in the kitchen.....my kitchen aid is like the holy grail to her. I did a quick little search on pinterest and I found this little gem of a recipe for peanut butter cookies.  The perfect "faux" baking recipe, only 4 ingredients and I had everything on hand.

We grabbed our ingredients and got to work. 

(Of course I forgot to take pictures of her mixing)

Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/4 cup of oil
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. I used a spring-loaded cookie scoop, and then rolled in sprinkles....because who doesn't love cookies with sprinkles. Place on cookie sheet and slightly flatten. Bake for 8-10 mins. 

Enjoy your handiwork

And watch your baby gobble them up!

Wondering why we used orange sprinkles....because it's BEAVER NATION baby! And treats are required when one is watching football!

Rooting for our teams is kind of a big deal around here :)

Love,

Stace

Relishing in the moments

It's the little moments that I hold close to my heart. My kids laughing and playing together or my husband holding my hand ♥  Everyday there are so many "moments" that I have to take a step back and pause and really see all of these special times. Before I know it time will fly by and my babies will be big kids and I don't want to look back and think I wished I would've played with them more, built more forts, let them help me cook or let them watch one more My Little Pony. I want them to remember the little things..... like playing princesses with brother

or watching daddy play soccer or waiting for the hummingbirds to come with papa b

 Life goes by too fast because we're always in a hurry; trying to cram one more thing to do or having a schedule that makes you so stressed to get from point a to point b that you forget the moments.

There's really no point to this post other then to take a step back and enjoy the now. 

(I say this as a daily reminder to myself)

Love,
Stace

Oh what a rainy day

Woke up yesterday to lots of rain.  You can't have a rainy day without boots, raincoats and umbrellas.  

So we waited for the bus and investigated the puddles. 

Rainy days to me, mean crockpot dinners. This is one of our "staple" dinners during the fall.  You can even make it Whole 30 compliant.  

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

 Get your veggies (onion, sweet potato and baby yukons)

 Rinse of your whole chicken, and discard the "insides)

 Chop up your veggies

 Grab some seasonings and butter (i forgot to take a pic) I used sea salt, rosemary and Irish Kerrygold butter (whole 30/paleo friendly)

 Place the chopped onion in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in the crockpot, add chopped sweet potatoes and yukon. Put pats of butter on chicken and potatoes and season accordingly.

 Set crock on low cook for 5-6 hours or 3-4 hours on high.

 Now you just have to resist the delicious smells coming out of your kitchen all day.

Tada, simple and quick delish dinner.  We usually make soup out of the leftovers :)

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

• 1 organic whole chicken, rinsed and insides removed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 sweet potato, chopped
• 5 baby yukons, chopped (omit if doing whole 30 or Paleo)
• 3 TBSP of butter (I used Kerrygold)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Rosemary, to taste

Place chopped onion in cavity of Chicken. Put Chicken in crock pot, add potatoes.  Place pats of butter on top of potatoes and chicken and seasonings. Cook on low 5-6 hours or on high 3-4 hours. In addition you can add carrots or other root vegetables.

Last but not least, what I've been working on in the studio. Matching baby bestie leggings and turban headbands.

Of course I had to test it out on Sully :)

And I also tried my hand on a pair of leather moccasins for little man. 

Happy Saturday! 

Love,

Stace

Polka dots, top knots and sweet tunes

Ugh, I really dislike alarm clocks. They always seem to go off when I'm the coziest in my bed and having an amazing slumber, and then BAM.....the buzzer goes off and it's time to start the day. Not working, no preschool and summer break really made us lazy, I never scheduled anything before 9 AM, now I have to get up at 6:30....guess I'm going to be a morning person again....right. Dylan is not a fan of getting up, she did it, but she informed me that tonight she was going to bed right after dinner so she isn't tired in the morning, I may have laughed in her face just smiled. 

School for D means being fashionable and having outfits of the day aka OOTD. If you know my girl, she's got an edge and a whole lot of sass. She loves herself some top knots and funky outfits. 

Pants from Target (similar), Shirt from Hello Apparel (follow them on IG for coupon codes) and her plaid boots are from our fave consignment shop, Little Bo-tique ......seriously I find all sorts of amazing deals there for the kids, if you're local check it out!

She's fierce, can't you tell!?!?

And since there was a 60% chance of rain that meant her rain coat was a must, since any chance of rain usually means RAIN in the PNW.

So we walked to the bus stop and listened to some sweet tunes....

Yes, there is a baby in there.....see his little pajama clad foot? 

Good tunes to start the day, and I highly recommend the Avett Brothers station on Pandora. The perfect blend of awesomeness.

Off to go get dinner started and Sully thinks its nap time. I wonder if that means I can take a nap instead of doing mom stuff!?! 

Love,

Stace