Summer = Zucchini

I think this started when I lived with my sister.

Actually, I'm almost positive that's where it started.

You see, I never really ate veggies growing up, no matter what they were in. I always thought they were disgusting and my stomach would wretch just thinking about them.

My sister made some zucchini bread one summer and I tried it.

And I liked it. A lot.

Ever since then, my mouth watered every summer for it.

And now, it's a summer thing in our house. Every summer, almost. And thank God my mom grows zucchini.

Milk, dark, white..I love 'em all.

It got cake crazy in my house for about a week.

It started with a TROLOLOLOLOL cake I made for a friend coming back from England after a 3 week stay.

Long story short, Kyle got jealous.

Kyle demanded a cake for him.

Apparently, what Kyle wants, Kyle gets.

TONS of calories and whatnot. But SO good.

I did cheat on the frosting, though. That was store bought because it was the specific kind Kyle wanted. *eye roll*

Oh, those italians.

I'm still not a fan of spaghetti, really.

I KNOW, I KNOW. Shoot me, right?

Still trying to find ways to actually eat it without an issue, and I think I found something to help.



Who doesn't love cheese stuffed balls?
Teehee.

Rollin' in the dough.

Hah. I wish.

Anywho.

I have a weird husband. I've talked about him.

Kyle..ugh. He will eat raw BREAD dough if you let him. He thinks it's delicious. I think it's disgusting.

As far as cookie dough is concerned, I can see his way of thinking. I think cookie dough is delicious, but I hate any of us eating it because of the raw eggs. I'm not a fan of putting my family at risk.

However, there IS a way to enjoy cookie dough...

...egg free!

Taking Advantage Of Late Nights.

Last night, Riah woke up around 2am. I was just beginning to doze off.
She had a nightmare. She clung tightly to me. She wanted to stay with me.
2 hours later, we were still both awake. So I did what any mommy would do.

I put in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
I made hot chocolate.
I snuggled with my baby.
I made her a memory.

You're so cheesy.

I don't know about how you do things in your home with your family, but when it's summer our family butts heads. Mainly, it's me. I hate the hot weather. Summers in Missouri kill me. I'll suck it up to take the kids to the park, but I hate the outdoors. And it doesn't help that I'm a mosquito magnet. There's only one thing we can agree on.

Summer = Grilling Time.

A lot of burgers happen, and these take the cake.

It looks like a typical burger, but there's a nice surprise inside.

Out of our element.

When it comes to beef or pork, we're pretty basic people.

Bar-b-q.

Sometimes, I don't think we even know that there's other ways to prepare it. It just doesn't make sense to us. I can't really blame Kyle for it. He's a southern boy after all. But me? I'm just all over the place.

I really think I need a trip back north.

So, I've been trying to stay away from bar-b-q because..well...I don't like being outside. And with the schedule Kyle works, I'd have to be outside to do the grilling..I don't like that idea.

Well w00t for different ways to cook pork!

During the process, you'll probably step back and be all "Um, no. This is going to be disgusting."
Don't worry. It won't be.

Ravioli? Holy Cannoli!

Oh, how I miss Chris Farley. :(

Anywho.

Pretty much, any cheese or pasta dish is a huge hit in this house. Not so much with Kyle if veggies are involved, or minced garlic. He doesn't like the texture of it. Lame.

I'm constantly trying to find ways to make different pasta dishes aside from spaghetti and fettuccine alfredo because, let's be honest, these can only go so far before you're so beyond sick of it that walking down the pasta aisle at the store makes you nauseous. Food that's easy and kid friendly is also a plus.

There's honestly no way to really get a glamorous photo of this. No way. I tried. But you know what? If you make it, it speaks for yourself. Gabe actually finished it ALL, without much on the floor or table. That's saying a lot.

Snap. Crackle. Pop.

This is another SUPER easy dinner, one that kids will DEFINITELY approve of. Using an old favorite cereal of mine.

Yup.

RICE KRISPIES.

Did you know there's other things you can do with them without making rice krispie treats?!

Yeah. CHICKEN.

And yes, it pairs GREAT with mac 'n' cheese.

A House Divided.

Sometimes I wonder why Kyle and I are married.

And there's one very big reason for this.

KYLE DOESN'T LIKE CHINESE FOOD.

Okay, I grew up on a fair amount of Korean food. There's a lot that I don't like, such as kimchi, bean sprouts, etc. I can't handle spicy. Hell, I didn't like Chinese food until I was about 14. Same with seafood. My palette has changed a lot throughout the years.

When Kyle works nights, I usually get simple dinners for me and the kids. The last one I got for myself was sweet and sour chicken by Healthy Choice.

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

It was horrible. The chicken was dry, there was VERY LITTLE sauce, and...it was just a fail. I was disappointed.

So I decided that while the boy was away, the girl would play.

Tastewise, it reminds me a lot more of honey chicken, but it's so good, you won't care.

Also, this is baked. It won't be crispy unless you want to do it that way.

Take A Day Off. Or 4-6 Hours.

I honestly, 100% believe that the only people who dislike slow cookers don't have one.

Or have one, tried it, and failed. I don't know how, but I guess anyone could.

There are cons to using a slow cooker, like having to clean it (because that's a royal pain to me) and having to smell the heavenly aroma of food throughout your house ALL FREAKING DAY, but there is one pro that makes it worthwhile.

IT'S CALLED NOT REALLY HAVING TO DO MUCH OF ANYTHING ALL DAY.

Some recipes, like this one, will take an additional step, but typically they're small and easy.

And, come on. Tell me that isn't worth a little extra work.

Yeah. You can't. I know.

Freecycling.

I've gotten a LOT of things from Freecycle.

Okay, not a lot. But quite a bit.
It's pretty hit and miss, but if you get a chance, find your Freecycle group for your area (it's on Yahoo groups).

A majority of the things in my craft room are from Freecycle. But my most recent find?

Yuuuuuup. An older model (running Windows XP) HP computer, complete with a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. All we need are speakers. And it's working. For FREE. Insane, right?!

Initially, when I emailed the guy about it, he told me that the computer crashed on him so he wasn't sure if it would work. This lit a spark in me. I automatically emailed him back, telling him that if it wasn't working, I'd still LOVE to have it. A part of me hoped it wouldn't work. A part of me was eager to take it apart and use the pieces in various craft projects, namely throwing some in resin.

But alas, it works. Which is great. But I'm slightly disappointed.

The computer has been greatly accepted by all the members of the family. One little guy especially.

If this is a glimpse into my future, I'm screwed.

Anywho.
This is going to be the computer for the kids. This keeps them off of my (er..mine and the husband's) MacBook. This gives us a chance to load up those awesome educational PC games for the kids and helps as far as what to get them for Christmases and Birthdays. And it will connect to the internet via an ethernet cord. I'm currently on the hunt for a desk and chair.

French Spaghetti.

To be quite honest, spaghetti isn't my favorite. 

Actually, I don't usually enjoy eating spaghetti. I need to be in a mood for it. Everyone else? They'll eat it like chocolate. Bleh.

In an attempt to make it easier for me to eat spaghetti..well..

...yeah. It's like a spaghetti calzone. And it's pretty great. I used my french bread recipe for the bread, but you can use frozen dough.

Burnt Apples?! What?!

There's little things that I like more to eat in the spring than fruit cobbler. I'm a sucker for peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. *sigh*

Kyle's not a peach person, really. Or a strawberry person. Or..okay, he's not very diverse in what he eats. So when I'm making something fruit related, I try to keep it apple. He's happy with apple.

So, apple cobbler it is.

I PROMISE IT TASTES BETTER THAN IT LOOKS.

Stay puft.

So, when I made my whoopie pies, I didn't have any marshmallow fluff on hand. Kinda disappointing, to be honest. I always mean to buy some of this stuff because there's random points where I'm dying for a fluffernutter. Yum.

I remembered seeing a homemade marshmallow fluff on Pinterest (I know, I know, it's an evil site, right?) and I figured it would work better than not having whoopie pies at all.

Yeah, I get it. I'm a fat kid.

But tell me this doesn't look delicious. I totally ate it with a spoon.

Original recipe posted here.

Kid Favorite.

We eat pasta entirely too much in this house.

Also, Kyle doesn't eat vegetables. Much.

It's frustrating. I'm trying to find ways to stick veggies into whatever I can. The kids eat them pretty well. 

And then, this happened.

A lot of cheese. A bit of ham. It worked.

"Whoopehhh."

"Hey look! My mom's here!" 

"Whoopehhh." 

Name that movie.

Okay, so being from the northeast (Pennsylvania, to be exact) really instills a lot of things into your mind.

1. Amish people are people, too. This means that, yes, they deserve their own special parking area for their horses and buggies.

2. Knobles is a place you will never be too old to enjoy.

3. Turkey Hill sells THE BEST TEA EVER. If I could get my hands on a couple gallons of orange tea right now, I'd be a happy girl. But it has to be the Turkey Hill kind. None of the others taste right.

4. Whoopie pies are good anytime, anywhere. And that's a fact, Jack. 

I haven't had these babies in SO long. Honestly, I'm more of a fan of the cookie part, but that's just me. I've tried many different recipes for these, but the best whoopie pies you'll get are from random small restaurants...if you want to call them that. 

Here's the most recent recipe I tried. I LOVED the cookie part. The innards could use some work, though.

"It felt French."

I love Friends. Too much for words. I could probably watch that show 24/7. It's always hilarious.

Anyway.

Kyle, Selena, Gabe, and I went with my in-law's to my father-in-law's mother's house.

Mouthful, huh?

This was..in February. She had made us some food, and part of it was this french bread with about a half inch of garlic butter in the middle. Kyle's been going on and on and ON about it ever since. And it's almost April. Sheesh.

I was making spaghetti the other night and decided to give a try at some french bread with garlic butter.

It came out amazingly.

Until I screwed it up.

I had to bake this bread twice in two days. It was THAT good.

Fat Kid Night.

The amount of stress in my life is still at high, and *gasp* I'm out of crafts to do at the moment to take my time off of it. So, tonight I claimed myself to a Harry Potter marathon and baking.

And these cupcakes are totally worth not having a craft to do.

I guess they're a craft in themselves.

You know your mouth is watering.

I'm not built for the outside stuffs.

I'm really, really, REALLY not an outdoors person.

I don't do the whole camping thing. 

And here's why.

1. It gets freaking HOT in the summer. Pennsylvania wasn't so bad, but now that I'm in Missouri, it's like I'm walking outside to Hell. I prefer air conditioning.

2. There's no bathrooms when you go "real" camping. I'm saying "real" camping because Kyle, bless his heart, just gets into a tizzy when you bring up campgrounds. You should hear his rant. It's quite amusing.

3. There's bugs and things. Bugs are too icky for my taste. And skunks. And mountain lions. And armadillos. And possums. *shivers*

4. I'm a mosquito magnet, literally. If you want to walk outside with no bug spray on into a swarm of those things, take me will you. I promise that you won't get bit. They'll be too busy attacking me.

Now, camping food? I'm down with that.

Fire roasted hot dogs, I love. Jiffy Pop over the fire? Bring it.

And s'mores. S'mores are #1 on my fire food priority list.

In the summer, Kyle makes a fire in our yard to burn branches and random scraps of wood that I collect (because you never know what you can make from them!) and I can only stand about 2 minutes in the heat. And everytime I request a s'more, I hear the dreaded words...

"Make it yourself!"

*sigh*

But WAIT! I found the solution! Head over to Just Baked and find...

...THIS SUPER AWESOME RECIPE FOR S'MORES CUPPYCAKES!

^ Click above for recipe. ^

I'm serious. I don't kid about cuppycakes. Or s'mores. And these are as close as you're going to get to a s'more without having to fight the evils of being outside.

I'm not posting the recipe on here, but below are my photos of the process and end result. You'll drool, I promise.

Kyle and I are already fighting over them. :)