Comfort Food (you can share!)

Lately, with my extra time and creativity flow, I have started baking and trying different "beginner" recipes.  I say "beginner" because I don't like complicated things.  I can appreciate them, but I do not have the patience to try and make Creme Brulee from scratch, or gourmet anything.  What I can do is follow a few simple recipes and then add my own twist to them and see how they come out!  Lately I have been trying recipes that are 5 ingredients at most, just to get comfortable with the idea of this cooking/baking gig.  I am really liking the results!!  I found that if you go on to Pinterest, or the internet in general, you can type in "5 ingredient....whatever" and something always comes up.  Then you can browse the recipe you are willing to tackle and see how it goes.  I've happily surprised myself a few times with pretty amazing results!  I have decided to share a few of my favorite simple recipes so far for your enjoyment.  I like to remember the acronym KISS or...Keep it simple, Stupid :)  Here we go!

EASY LEMON MOUSSE (Amazing, simple, delicious summer dessert!):

What you need-
2 lemons
 one can of lemon pie filling (21 oz)
 one container of cool whip or whipped topping (12oz)
 small grater to make lemon zest.

What you do: 
In a bowl, combine lemon pie filling and entire container of whipped topping and whip together using a spoon or mixer.  In a separate bowl, grate 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and set aside.  After mixture is whipped in your bowl, add lemon zest, slowly stirring it in evenly.  Set bowl with everything mixed,  in the refrigerator and chill for 2-3 hours.  The mixture will thicken nicely.  Before you serve, slice a few lemons for garnish and add them on top along with another sprinkle of lemon zest for garnish, as well.  ENJOY!!

CROCK POT CHICKEN/PORK CHOP & STUFFING:

What you need:  
4 thawed chicken breasts or 4 thawed pork chops (your preference)
6oz package of stove top stuffing mix
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 can or cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup ( once again up to you!)
1/4 cup of water

What you do:
First, put your meat in the crock pot.  Pour the package of stuffing on the top of it.  In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, soup and water together.  Pour the soup, sour cream mixture on top of the layer of stuffing in the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.  Voila! Dinner is served.  Easy and delicious.  My husband really liked this one :)

3 INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES: (fun to make with/for kids :)

What you need:
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
*1 cup chocolate chips of any other accent you wish to add

What you do:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth.  Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Cool on wax paper.  You can freeze the dough for later, also.  These cookies are best when they are barely brown on the bottom and still a little soft :)  Easy and yummy.  Good for a rainy day or just to kill some time!  I like to give them away for the holidays and as housewarming gifts.  ENJOY!

Those are three of my favorite simple recipes as of late.  I hope you can enjoy them and try them out when you are feeling like something simple!  I would love to hear what recipes you like to make for your kids/family, also, as I am really wanting to try more of this cooking stuff!!  Happy Thursday :)

Personal Trainer...

I walk a fine line between over doing it and not doing enough.  Sometimes I feel like I am going a million miles a minute and i'm handling it, other times I over do it and eventually I collapse.  Today it one of those days.  Feeling accomplished and on a buzz from yesterday, I decided to meet a friend of mine who;s been bugging me to check out her gym.  Today was that day.  I made it barely on time and met her trainer and we got started.  Silly me, forgetting that I have not been to THE GYM let alone a gym for ohhhh about 2 years.  Over zealous and ready to impress I started the circuit training routine.  5 minutes in...sweat....a little huffy...no big deal.....10 minutes in.....sweat drenched, gasping and arms shaking from lack of exercise I stood up and a wave of nausea and dizziness swept over me like a tidal wave.  I took my pride and sat down...then I laid down...then the trainer offered me a protein bar and I realized defeat...for a few minutes.  When I felt better, I jumped back in, determined to prove that my body was the same one as pre-kid.  NOPE.  Ten minutes later....i'm down for the count, trying not to puke and trying to make the room stop spinning.  Just as it is with kids, we as parents, as adults, as women, have good days of balance, and days of disillusioned grandeur.  Today I realized my body is different.  I am not 22 anymore and it doesn't handle the things it used to.  I need to balance.  Start slow and find a good rhythm, not burn the candle at both ends like I could when I was younger.  I got home and my husband doctored me with Gatorade and then, right as I settled in to nap (because Luke was already napping...) My son woke up.  Sorry mom, not today.  The one day I really needed to be lazy, my kid had other plans.  But isn't it always like that?  You can never bet on a kid to be routine.  The day you do that is the day you do not get to nap.  So all day I have been tired from getting my butt handed to me at the gym, and my own personal trainer, Luke, is showing me no mercy.  Balance....it's all about balance.  Maybe next time I want to work out, Luke and I will go for a walk ;)

My Journey to embracing parenthood.

My fingers are covered in blue food dye and my shirt has lemon pie filling smeared on the front of it.  This day has been a long time coming and i'm finally happy and accepting of it.  I made a phone call about an hour ago to my boss....well...er...my ex boss, now.  She didn't answer.  I left her the message that I have been rehearsing in my head for about a year now.  "Hi LaNell, this is Lindsey, I just wanted to tell you that i'm not coming back to substitute teach next school year...I have decided to stay at home and be a mom."  Blah Blah Blah.  This person that left a message on my boss's voice mail did not exist a year ago.  The woman I knew a year ago would have gotten off work at 2, hauled ass home in her KIA and collapsed in the doorway after a long day of teaching teenagers at the Juvenile detention center.  Then she would give her husband a quick kiss while he headed off to work, tried to straighten up the house and guess what time Luke (her infant) would have had his last nap, did he need a bottle and when could she finally sit on the couch and have some "me time".   After a struggle getting her son to sleep because she was not aware of how his morning went, she would veg out for about an hour and then be snapped back to reality by crying and a dirty diaper.  By this time she would try to figure out what was for dinner and see what was around in the kitchen and prepare for world war 3 at dinnertime with a baby, who like to throw food.  After dinner was bath-time, followed by a hurried story time and then....when the little ball of energy that was Luke fell asleep, she would settle in for some homework from her online classes.  Around midnight, this crazy, tired, restless and unrested woman would go to sleep, only to wake up at  6am again (and a few times for bottles in between) to face another day of......exhaustion.  This woman I knew a year ago was not a happy one.  I was a mess, and quite frankly, very selfish, as well.  What I though then about "being an individual" was based on not letting the stereotype of "mom" hold me down from what I thought I should want as a 29 year old mother.  I wanted a career.  I wanted to go work out and get coffee with my old friends after that. I wanted to do it all and have it all and not regret anything.  The sad reality is that I had nothing.  No sleep, no sense of self, no sense of real, genuine happiness at the end of the day.  I had a house that was being bombarded by "kids stuff" and friends without kids who didn't understand me.  I was miserable.  I eventually (after fighting it for about 7-8 months) went to see a counselor and was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression.  My husband was as supportive as he could be but he mentioned several times that I should consider staying home with our son full time to which I thought "Why?  I'm not a "mom" type.  I should still be able to work and have the freedom to be an individual."  Little did I know that what I thought was freedom was actually oppressing me more.  I finished out the school year substitute teaching, with the full intention of going back in the fall and then I noticed something in the first 1.5 months I wasn't at work....I was actually happy.  Being at home with my son wasn't horrible, it was actually starting to be somewhat (gasp!) liberating.  I started enjoying drinking my morning coffee and watching him play.  I actually looked forward to going to the grocery store with him and trying to tackle that pinterest recipe I never had time for while I was working.  I am artistic, also, I found out, and I have time to do projects and really put energy into getting creative.  Who knew?!  Being a mom isn't so bad after all, it's actually awakened a sense of new inspiration in me that didn't exist before.  I met a few other "mom friends" that I work out with....we bring our kids, and you know what?  it's fun!  We walk, go to the zoo, check out random community stuff and enjoy coffee and our kids, together.  I am not saying that my friends without kids are unimportant either but lets be real: They don't understand.  For the next 18 years, I need to have friends that have something in common with me, and that's not partying on the weekend, its being a good parent.  I still see my friends without kids, its just forced me to appreciate the time away from kids more and become creative at having my son around and people over.  One example is the projector my husband got for his birthday.  We show movies projected on our back wall in our yard.  Our friends come over and bring their favorite micro brew and some snacks and after my son goes to bed, we have a makeshift movie night under the stars.  What's better than that?  No a whole lot.  I only have my son to thank for this transition from selfish She-Woman to Mature mother and artist.  So I present this blog to you, to hopefully inspire something good out of your parenting journey.  Today I quit my job, and i'm not looking back.  Cheers!  The adventure has just begun.......