So I've been seeing lots of recipe posts on Pinterest for Ham & Egg cups. I'm all about finding different breakfast items that make my morning a little easier, that don't result in cold cereal. Don't get me wrong, we still enjoy breakfast cereal, but I like to mix it up - so we get some variety. Who wants to make a full on breakfast every morning. Not this lady! I'm not what you call a morning person. So I was excited to find these recipes for breakfast....easy, custom made to your liking, and you can make a bunch and store them in the fridge for the week. Yes, please!
End result: Delicious and easy!
Ingredients: Ham(I had a packaged thin sliced honey ham. I used 2 slices per cup, so pending the size of the slice you might only need 1/2 a slice - 2 slices. I'd use black forest ham or similar in the future - just because I'd prefer salt vs. honey) Eggs (for 6 muffins I used 4 eggs) Milk Various veggies/cheese - veggies, cheese, etc. (I was out of veggies, so it was just cheese) Various spices - what you normally season scrambled eggs with if any (I use pepper and Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion - basically a flavorful dehydrated onion seasoning) Non-stick spray
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray
3. Line your muffin cups with ham slices
4. Scramble your eggs as you normally would and season if you'd like
5. Add a light layer of cheese & veggies on top of the ham
6. Add scrambled eggs on top and fill to just below top of muffin tin
7. Bake for about 15 minutes (give or take depending on your oven). Bake until eggs are firm
8. Store left overs in the fridge.
Thomas the Train is in town at the Minnesota Children's Museum!
My husband had this week off from work, so we thought it would be the perfect time to all go together. My boys have a well-used train table at home, and love anything trains. So this was the perfect exhibit!
My little guys wore their Thomas shirts, and before we left the house they were yelling at each other with excitement, pointing at the other's shirt. Roman yelling "Thomas" and Logan just yelling gibberish, but with full gusto!
Logan (my almost 18 month old) actually shrieked with excitement when we first walked into the Thomas the Train Exhibit. The exhibit included trains you could climb aboard, the largest kid's train table my kids had ever seen, costumes to dress as Sir Topham Hatt, an area where you could fix Percy, etc.
What else can you do at the Minnesota Children's Museum?(Pictures show the tip of the iceberg)
I highly recommend the Minnesota Children's Museum for any families with kids (crawling and above). There is so much to do to keep them entertained, and I recommend purchasing a family membership if you think you can make it there a few times a year. A basic family membership is $99 a year, but for our family of 4 to go 1 time it would cost us $40. So we've already cleared our membership for the year (now on our 3rd visit with the membership).
What the basic membership gets you:
* Unlimited admission for 12 months for 2 adults & children in the same household
* $2 off admission for up to 6 guests per visit
* Member discounts - member events, museum store
* Other local business discounts - ex: Free admission to the Science Museum on Tuesday A few tips/things to know:
* Best day to visit: Tuesday, no school groups allowed
* Worst day to visit: Target Free 3rd Sunday's (while free, it is super packed)
* There are a couple food options near by, but packing a lunch is a fun/cheap option, and there is an area with tables to sit.
* Pack light and bring a bag that is cross-body, so you can park your stroller and not have to worry
Dustin (my husband) and I left the Children's museum with smiles on our faces. This has to be one of our favorite memories we've created as a family. We got to see everything we wanted, and the boys did great. Normally things like this can be stressful and can test your patience, but this was one of those moments in time where the stars aligned, and all was right in the world.
Does anyone else think of the Billy Madison's "Back to School" song when they start seeing school buses, backpacks, and lunchboxes? Maybe it's just me, but either way, it's fun to see all the Facebook pictures of kid's first day of school. There is so much excitement in the air for knowledge, or maybe it's to show off their cool new starter jacket, Doc Martins, and shirt they tried on in front of the mirror seventeen times. Oh wait...maybe, that was my childhood. I digress.
The first day is always so thrilling in anything - you feel energized and excited. It could be a new job, a new class, a new diet, first day of school, etc. Well, school is in session, but nobody is in school at our house, but I can feel the energetic pulse regardless. So with that said, I used that energy to get the house in order, spend quality time with my kids, and fit in some education with them while I was at it.
Day 1: kitchen cleaned, living area cleaned, 2 loads of laundry done, brushed the dog, checked emails, went to the library, read a ton of books to my kids, the kids colored pictures for my husband for work, we did a letter B craft, made chili for dinner, and dehydrated apples.
So like I said...it was Day 1. Excitement, motivation, energy...insert other positive words. You get the idea.
As a full-time mom I struggle daily to find balance in keeping the sanity in my house (dishes, laundry, Legos and tiny itty-bitty toys off the floor, etc), educational/social opportunities for my kids, and time for myself. These are my struggles as a full-time mom, but as humans we ALL struggle to stay on track with our goals, and there is comfort in knowing that.
In an effort to find that "perfect" balance as a full-time mom. I found a routine that works for us (when the stars align)
A Full-Time Mom's Schedule (wishful thinking):
Breakfast - at the table, no TV, just talking and waking up
Morning Cartoons - on the couch or they can play in the livingroom, and I get a minute to enjoy some coffee
Let the day begin - Playing, outings, outside, craft, preschool type learning, reading, etc.
Snack
Playtime/Pickup toys before lunch
Lunch
Naps/quiet time
I work on one or some of the following: dinner, clean, shower, blog, bills, etc.
Snack
Playtime
Pick-up
Dinner
Let's be honest, my days don't usually look like this, but I TRY, and if you are trying you at least have a goal. So if you are trying to get back into a routine, exercise more, eat less, be more financially responsible...whatever your new journey might be, good luck to you! School is now in session!
We headed over to the Minnesota State Fair, or the Great Minnesota Get-Together as many like to call it on Thursday with the boys. In total we were there for about 5 or 6 hours. What helped us survive the state fair with 2 little ones under 3 was:
* Extra snacks packed with
* Rain gear packed as their was light rain in the forecast
* Easy to maneuver, lightweight strollers
* Going early in the day
* Making the first half of the day about them and doing all the things they'd enjoy
* Making the last half for us. They were tired and content in their strollers and we got to see the things
we wanted.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed. Great way to start the fair!
My deep-fried favorite at the fair this year. Queen olives, stuffed with cream cheese and then deep fried, served with ranch dipping sauce. This year we had a Chicken Gyro from the International Market, deep fried olives, bullseye (chocolate dipped peanut butter then battered and deep fried), corn dog, Sweet Martha Cookies, and french fries.
A view from the top. Roman and I went on the Ferris Wheel. On our way to the fair he said he wanted to ride this ride and when we asked what his favorite part of the fair was he said the Ferris Wheel.
Who can resist the Ferris Wheel....my husband. I guess it's not for everyone.
A view from the top!
More Rides....(monster trucks, Dumbo, and a train)
Kemps Little Farm Hands. Roman and Logan got to do farm work for the day. They were rewarded with fake money that they got to use to purchase a little prize in the end and free samples of ice cream. Not too bad!
A pit stop for Mommy & Daddy! Land of 10,000 brews! As a bonus, I got a free flight of beer...mistakenly. I got my flight of beer, brought it up to the counter to pay for it, and the confused cashier asked what I was doing. I told her I was paying for my flight of beer...apparently, I was suppose to buy a ticket, and then give it in exchange for a flight of beer. Her response "Oh honey...you just got yourself some free beer. They should have asked you for a ticket, so enjoy!" And we did!
While on Machinery Hill checking out the tractors, Roman and Logan had to test drive a John Deere of course! Ok...it was parked, but they made all the necessary sounds for real life mowing!
And our final stop was at the horse barn. One of my favorite stops. Such beautiful creatures.
I had another successful run with my bread-machine! I made Rosemary bread using fresh Rosemary from our herb garden at home. It was very easy and the result was a bread similar in taste to the bread they serve at Macaroni Grill. Yum.
I'm missing the black pepper in this picture, but you get the idea.
I found a recipe on Pinterest and made some changes and came up with the recipe below. Of course there is variation from the original recipe! Like I've said in previous posts - I like to bake dangerously, and recklessly abandon recipes!
Rosemary Bread Machine Bread:
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Tastefully Simple Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning (can replace with Italian seasoning)
I am the worst when it comes to baking. My husband knows this, and I know this. However, I am determined to try. So I've been trying my luck with my bread machine again. I've set out to find some easy, delicious, and cheap recipes to make my own bread in the bread machine. It's a bread machine...you add the ingredients of a recipe, and it does the rest. How can I fail at this? Don't worry, I found a way.
Even when a machine does all the work for you, I still find a way to mess up a recipe, venture on my own, wing it, etc. That's why I love to cook instead - mistakes are forgiving and often welcome in cooking. Baking is by the book - and I like to live dangerously when I cook!
So my journey begins with 2 out of the 3 loaves that I've made so far being fails. Here is what I've made so far:
Whole Wheat Honey Bread: FAIL!
I honestly can't remember what the recipe was that I found online. It was just kind of bleh. The honey was lacking and it was really dense.
Onion Bread: SUCCESS!
I found this recipe in a bread machine recipe book from my parents old bread machine growing up. It had tons of flavor, very light/airy and had a great crust.
Onion Bread
1 pound loaf. Do not use delay option. Add below ingredients to pan in this order.
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp Tastefully Simple Onion Onion*
2 teaspoons margarine or butter, softened
2 Cups Flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 teaspoons dry milk**
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yest or quick acting active dry yeast (1 packet)
Settings:
White bread
1lb loaf
Crust: Medium
* I added this to the recipe
** I omitted this from the recipe, since I was out and it still turned out great.
Banana Macadamia Nut Bread: MAJOR FAIL!
No egg white & no macadamia nuts on hand = who needs those anyway!
The recipe called for an egg white, and I realized after getting half the ingredients in the pan, that I was out of eggs. I quickly Googled a substitute, and found you can mix 1 tablespoon Flax & 3 tablespoons water. Great news! So I did just that. I got everything in the pan, only to realize I forgot to attach the mixing blade. Ugh, really!! So I dumped everything into a bowl, attached the blade, poured the dough mixture back into the pan, and voila...none the wiser, right?
WRONG!! What is this even? Can I even call this bread?
Well, off to find new recipes and to enjoy my misadventures of baking bread in a bread machine!
My August Ipsy subscription arrived. I wasn't excited about their plastic (cheap looking) cosmetic bag, but I did like the pattern/color. I got 2 full size products and the rest were sample sizes.
August's Products & Estimated Value:
Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner (Sample ~$11.25)
Urban Decay Perversion Mascara (Sample ~$5.50)
J. Cat Beauty Flying Solo Eye Shadow (Full Size - $2.99)
Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Lip Conditioner (Full Size - $5.50)
Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk (Sample - $6.50) Total Estimated Value: $31.74 + Cosmetic Bag
Overall this wasn't my favorite Ipsy bag and the value was lacking from previous months. However, I will probably use everything in the bag or at least try it out.
.jpg)
