Sharing

Thought I'd share my favorites as of late. Sometimes when The King is being ugly I have to look at cute pictures to remind myself that he's not always a beast and that he can be cute and charming and fun.

Also, three chickens have mysteriously disappeared. It just so happens that Grace was on the run at the exact time the chickens flew the coop. I don't have high hopes for them. The rooster is losing his shit this morning.

Playin ball. 

Everything about this picture cracks me up.

Multi-tasking: Fantasy football draft and canning jalapeno peach jam. The draft suffered.

So. Many. Blackberries.

My green thumb does not extend to flowers in pots.

Time consuming.

Fried green maters last night because they won't turn red and because they're delicious.

Scene from my run: Hay!

xxoo

ma

Walking Dead

Me. I mean, me. I am the walking dead. Not the show.

I am tired.

What's new?

The King is suffering from a bad case of the molars again. His first is through but the other three are swollen little pricks that won't just call it a day and join the party. He was sent home from daycare yesterday and is home again today. I didn't even bother trying to leave him there this morning. He was squeezing my neck so hard and wrapped his little legs around my waist so tight that you would have needed Papa Bear and maybe a grandpa, to tear him away.

I was talking to one of my dearest friends yesterday and she mentioned her infant is now sleeping through the night. Woohoo!!! I'm stoked for her, for real. But part of me is pretty jealous. Really jealous. We NEVER sleep through the night in this house. Never. I was up twice with him last night and on average, I probably get three to four hour increments of sleep.

I don't know where I came up with the notion that motherhood would be a walk in the park. I obviously understood that there would be many challening moments and things I needed to learn but I thought overall, I got this. I know how to take care of people and love them and all that jazz.

Wrong.

So wrong.

Babies are difficult little creatures. First, they can't communicate. Second, they can't communicate. I'm literally left guessing all day. Why is he whining? Why won't he eat? Is he hot? Do his teeth hurt? Does he hate me? Why won't you sleeeeeeeeeeeeep?

Then you pile on all the other responsibilities and you may as well forget sleeping all together.

I'm whining. I'm sorry. But it has been a rough couple of days with The King, work, this house, the garden, the dog, missing chickens, sore body parts and exhaustion.

Boo.

I wouldn't trade it for anything but man, some days I could just use a break. I don't need such a long string of hard days. I can handle two in a row but more than that turns me into a beast.

This is your brain on drugs

Miley's just bein Miley, y'all!!

Get More: 2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music, Miley Cyrus

Umm, huh?

What the feck is she on????

You know when you watch someone do something really embarrassing and then you sort of feel embarrassed too? Like you totally feel the emotion and you just sort of close your eyes and try not to look at the screen as shit goes downhill fast? But you can't stop watching because it's a train wreck?

This was one of those times.

Then I got to the end of the video and started laughing hysterically.

My mind is blown.

I clearly didn't watch this last night because it's past my bedtime, I don't give a shit about "musicians" in that genre and really, ain't nobody got time for that. They were chatting about it on the radio this morning so I had to check it out.

I understand that actors and celebrities or whatever are meant to act silly for their jobs but this is just taking it like 8 miles past the line of reason. 

And don't give me that "bad publicity is good publicity nonsense" because everyone is LAUGHING at her. She probably should have done that line of coke or whatever at the beach, went skinny dipping and rubbed her ass all over her fiance in public. It would have been less cringe inducing, fewer children would have seen it and she would have the same amount of publicity.

Or maybe she could act like a respectable young woman and demonstrate the shred of talent she has by actually singing?

I sort of liked her when she released that video of Jolene now I"m in camp of Miley Cirus fell down that hill she was climbing a few years ago and bumped her head pretty damn hard.

I'm not even going to point out all of the things that were just plain wrong about this performance. There's too many to list.

But I would like to ask Miley "What do you think your Grandmother, or maybe better yet, your Godmother Dolly, think of all that?"

I'd also like to ask her "what the feck is wrong with your ass??"

Whoa.

What a morning!

Ole Kingy decided he was getting up before the sun today, which is awesome.

Also means I didn't get a run in but we did take a nice long walk at 6am to get out of the house and put an end to the whining. I'm hoping to squeeze a good run in tonight.

I love walking/running our road. We have the best views.

On the way home from our walk I realized that I forgot to check the mail yesterday so per usual, I asked Kingy to show me where we get the mail and we wandered over. This is kind of a non-event because the only thing that comes to our house is Cabelas catalogs and bills.

To my surprise though, I found a letter addressed to The King from the baseball office at a local-ish college. I kind of giggled to myself and sent a picture of the envelope to Papa Bear with the caption "Ry is already being recruited".

I figured inside was an invitation to a baseball clinic and was one of those mass mailings they send out to raise money. I've been to a million of them. I set it down and planned to open it after breakfast.

Said breakfast or shall I say feast took a while because Kingy was apparently starving. He ate three eggs, toast with jam and a slice of watermelon this morning, which is way more than I eat for breakfast on any given day. I think it's safe to say his teeth are feeling better. He hasn't been eating well lately.

After I cleaned up, I remembered the envelope. I asked Kingy if he wanted to go to a baseball clinic and opened it up and totally planned to save the envelope because I'm weird like that.

This is what I found (I'm typing it to protect everyone because people are weird):

"Dear Ryan,

My name is XXXXXXX and I am the head baseball coach at XXX College. After seeing your video, we have identified you as our top prospect for the class of 2030!

As our top recruit for the class of 2030, we will be tracking your progress very closely. It is evident that you have the tools to compete at the very highest level. You have the look, the smarts, and most importantly the swag to play in our program. 

Our goal is to win a National Championship and we need a leader to take us there. Ryan, we believe that you are destined to be a leader of men. We want you to be the guy that leads us to greatness and takes us to the Promised Land. 

You have a very bright future Ryan and I am excited to track your progress both on and off the field. I look forward to seeing you play again soon, until then, keep working hard, have fun and go XXX!

Sincerely,
Coach XXX"

And on come the giggles.

The King has swaaaagggg and he's going to be "the leader of men"!

I like this.

And then I start wondering, how in the hell could this be an accident and why has this coach seen a video of my kid? Was this really meant for The King? Is some creep going to show up at my house pretending to be a coach, whack me over the head and put Kingy in a baseball camp for the rest of his life where they'll pump him full of steroids and make him chew on baseballs until he gets kicked out of the MLB???

But it's funny. Really freakin funny. Especially because I think he actually is oddly good at hitting and throwing a ball and I would DIE if my dreams came true and he played in the little league world series one day. I seriously have dreams of being a baseball mom. No joke.

I'm nuts. It's totally fine.

I promptly hung the letter on our fridge, right next to a picture Kingy colored or more so scribbled on at daycare (he's clearly better at baseball). I then sent a picture of the letter to family, joking that The King is already being recruited. I also sent it to one of my good friends who was once upon a time recruited to play softball and would understand the ridiculousness of it all.

Well well well wouldn't you know, my friend just so happens to know the coach!

And so does my sister...

Who sent said coach a video of Kingy hitting a ball off the tee like a 12 year old.

Seriously, he hits like a beast. If I could get the damn video to load I'd prove it to you.

Now all hilarity ensues. I'm no longer creeped out and neither is PB. This is just too awesome and too funny. This letter is totally going to be framed and hung in The King's bedroom for life. Kingy is going to think he's the shit until he's old enough to realize its a hoax.

And then, because he's a male, he'll probably think he's the shit anyway.

Besides, who doesn't need their ego stroked once in a while?? This letter will do the trick.

I don't believe this was meant to be a mean joke, a joke all in the same, but from what my sister and friend tell me, this guy is super nice.

I'm wondering if someone else would actually think it's real and contact the coach asking for money though?

Which is exactly what I did.

Just to give him a little "ha ha" back.

"Coach,

Thank you very much for the kind letter and encouraging words you sent to my son, Ryan. While he is only 15 months old, we're certain that he is destined for great things.

We currently spend an hour each day hitting off the tee, playing catch and fielding ground balls. We hope to have him in the batting cages by fall and working on his skills in the outfield next spring. He is already incredibly strong so we're not focusing on conditioning just yet. We have also recorded the baseball world series and require him to watch it for 30 minutes each evening. He seems to be a natural and really enjoying all of the hard work. We're grateful for his natural abilities and work ethic.

The purpose in me writing to you is to ask if you are serious about his recruitment, inquire about the opportunity for scholarships and express our willingness to sign an early letter of commitment to XXX. We are very serious about his future and are certain that he will be an excellent baseball player.

Please let me know if we can provide you with additional information or if you would like to schedule a meeting.

Kind regards,

Jennifer"

I have yet to see a reply but my sister got a text from Coach saying "Jen wants to sign a letter of commitment".

Hahahaha my hope that he would initially think I'm insane totally worked.


Happy Friday Friends

xxoo
ma

Shrimp Tacos and Blackberry Syrup

But not together. That would just be nasty.

The shrimp tacos were delicious people! I stole the recipe from two different sites, Pioneer Woman (duh) and Chow. I just google things a few times and magic finds me.

For instance, I just found this recipe which I may try next time - Honey Lime Tequila Shrimp Tacos

Back to what I made. Here are the recipes:

Pioneer Woman Slaw - You must have this with shrimp or fish tacos. It was wicked good and cooled the tacos down a bit, which I'll talk about shortly.

1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced thin
1 whole jalepeno, chopped - Take out the seeds if you're not into setting your mouth on fire
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro - roughly chopped

"Combine shredded cabbage and sliced jalapenos in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix milk, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne. Pour over cabbage. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours if you have the time.

Before serving, toss in cilantro leaves."


Grilled Shrimp Tacos - from Chow


2 tbs freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbs olive oil
4 tsp chipotle powder - OH DEAR LORD DO NOT USE 4 tsp, I only used 1 and they were plenty hot enough
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cumin
2 lbs shrimp
4 avocados
10-15 flour or corn tortillas grilled

Heat an outdoor grill to high (about 200°F). Meanwhile, assemble the shrimp.

Whisk the lime juice, oil, chipotle powder, salt, and cumin together in a large bowl. Add the shrimp and toss to combine.
Skewer each shrimp through the tail and head ends, leaving about 1/4 inch of space between each shrimp.
Transfer the skewers to a baking sheet.
Place the skewers in a single layer on the grill without touching. Close the grill and cook until grill marks appear on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip the skewers, close the grill, and cook until the shrimp are just firm, about 1 minute more. Transfer the skewers to a clean baking sheet.
Remove and discard the skewers, transfer the shrimp to a cutting board, and coarsely chop. Place in a serving bowl.
Serve the shrimp with the tortillas, salsa, avocado and salsa.

These were so fast and easy to make. Plus they are light but wicked filling. You must have coronas too. 

Definitely making these again.

Aaaaaand I decided this morning that I'm going to make blackberry syrup with the rest of the berries we have! I already made a ton of jam and if I make anymore we'll have jam for the rest of our lives. How delicious would blackberry syrup be with blueberry pancakes?!

Question

On my way in to the office this morning my fave radio station had a little survey and asked people to call in and answer the following:

"If you really knew me, you'd know that..."

I've been thinking about it all morning and I really have no idea how I'd answer. I feel like I should know but I really feel like I'm an open book. I don't know.

If I come up with something I'll totally share though.

So, I'm curious. What would you say?

Ran Run

I struggggled to get the run in this morning. I didn't sleep a wink last night and my house is a mess and I was sore and I was worried about the canning and blah blah blah.

But I got it in. It wasn't as far or as fast but I did it. I still have 20 miles to go and not many days left in August. I'm determined to make it to 40 though. Even if that means running every day. Which I hate.

I also talked my mom into cleaning my house for me today and I have never been more excited about anything since The King was born. I'm totally going to pay her because I have no time to do a scrub down in the next few weeks. I don't even care what it costs. I need a regular cleaning person. Pronto. Plus my mom is a cleaning wizard and my house is going to be spotless!!!!!

So thanks mom!

Shrimp tacos are on the menu tonight! Ill share the recipe tomorrow if they're good. 

Here's some scenes from the run. I had the full creepy moon to my left and the sun coming up on the right. That was sorta worth all the pain and suffering. I really love where we live. 

Canning Queen

First things first, happy hump day peeps!

I totally kicked my garden's ass last night and canned a bunch of goodies! We had a huge pot of beans and 12 or so cucumbers so we canned up some spicy beans and dill pickles. The obvious. Papa Bear was a huge help but seriously, canning is wicked hard and exhausting and so satisfying all at the same time.

Last night did not go as smoothly as my jamming session on Sunday. First, I forgot to buy cayenne pepper because I'm an idiot so that put a hold on things for a good 45 minutes. There was vinegar pretty much everywhere. I blew out the bottom of a jar while it was in the water bath, not sure how. Burnt my finger tips trying to get it out. Didn't hear any of the harmonious popping and totally thought I screwed everything up.

I feel like something else happened but I can't remember because I also didn't get any sleep last night. That's also probably plenty.

Of course the first thing I did this morning was check all of the jars and to my surprise, they were all sealed. It was like Christmas. Success!

Also, wilst getting our can on, I decided I'm going to name every jar something different. These are the names I came up with so far. I swear, I made these up on the fly. I was a giggling idiot and PB was shaking his head at me like I belonged in the loony bin but I don't care. I think it's brilliant!

We're jammin
Black Betty Jam
This is my jam
Jam Master J
Jenny's Jam
Dill-licious
Where there's a dill, there's a way
What's the dill-eo?
Nickel for your pickle
It's no big dill
Let's make a dill!
Dill-lightful!
Show me your pickle
Mean Beans
Angry Beans
My ass is on fire cause I ate the beans, beans
It's bean great!

I could go on but I'll stop there.

The King only wanted to eat pickles for breakfast so that means I'm pretty much awesome. Next on the list is banana butter, peaches, pears and probably a shit ton more pickles and beans. I'm hoping to fill two cupboards full of my canned goodies.

Fingers crossed!

AH THE FAIR

Oh. Em. Gee.

People. I am going to the fair this year because I just found out there's like 8 billion free concerts. I don't really like fairs because they are disgusting and dirty and just icky. And usually hot.

But I'm throwing all that out the window!

Here's my line-up.

Salt-n-Peppa
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
Jana Kramer
Styx
Florida Georgia Line
Vince Gill
Luke Bryan - I paid for this one
Parmalee
Kix Brooks

And I'm probably going to throw in a monster truck show, wine slushies, enough fried food and BBQ to last me the year and a whole bunch of kiddie rides, games, tractors, animals and FUN!!

I am way too excited about all of this but I don't even care.

I'm waving my fair freak flag high!

Ha!

Now jammin: Grace Potter and The Nocturnals

Wake up!

My ass hurts from running today. The hills kill me.

In other news, I finally ran to the very end of our road. Holla! I'm celebrating with dunks. My next mini goal is 3 miles. Not going to be fun. No way. No how.

Humans of New York

Maybe I'm partial to this site because I lived in NY for a bit and took notice of every cast of characters I came across. Or maybe it's just the raw honesty of the answers.

If you have a minute, or ten, check it out.

Humans of New York

The last picture, of a man and his son, hit me kind of hard. The caption reads:

"What's the hardest part about being a Dad?"

"Probably just realizing that my time with him is short"

Ain't that the truth.

Coffee. Please and thank you.

What a weekend!

I don't know if we've ever been so busy. I could totally use a day just to recover and clean my house. I didn't run this morning either which I totally needed to do. I'm running out of days to hit 40 miles and I ate way way way too much buffalo chicken dip this weekend.

We kicked Saturday off with a drive up north to my parents and stopped to get a hair cut for The King as soon as we got to town. We're only allowed to go to this barber because Papa Bear has been going there since he was The King's age. Cute but super inconvenient. Per usual, he cried the entire time he was in the chair. When he was finished I picked him up, he stopped crying, smiled, high-fived the barber and waved goodbye.

Mmm hmmm.

Next was the baby shower which was a lot of fun when I was actually able to converse with adults and shovel food into my mouth. A lot of the time I feel like I bring Kingy along to these sorts of gatherings so people can see him and then I just chase him around until it's time to go. At one point I was catching frogs, in a dress, to entertain him. I'm not kidding.

We then headed over to the family reunion and did more of the same. We ate a bunch more food and Kingy entertained all of the adults by looking cute and being charming. Obviously. Then he went in the creek with grandpa and proceeded to beat me with a pool noodle. At which point, all of the other little boys there caught on and I was left bobbing and weaving, dodging blows from the little hellions.

I'm clearly the cool adult.

We headed home around 9 which was way past our bed times and we both went to bed dirty. I didn't even care. Papa Bear stayed out with Grandpa and rolled in around 11. He then "snuck" into bed with me and snored all night. All night. Which wouldn't bother me because he hardly ever sleeps with me so I take it for what it is. The only problem is The King has a crib in our room at my parents so he also didn't sleep. I finally kicked PB out of the room around 3. He didn't know what hit him.

It was a pillow.

Like clock work, The King woke up at 5:30 on Sunday and was ready to party because he could see me. We snuck out and went for a walk to watch the sun rise and then went on a breakfast date. I love our dates. He actually decided he would eat that morning but not before he shit his britches at the table and spilled an entire glass of chocolate milk in my purse.

Awesome.

We finally headed home around noon on Sunday and were able to fit in all of our weekend chores, minus cleaning. We were both irritable so it was wicked fun. I picked a ton more blackberries and canned the shit out of some blackberry jam! I was so proud of myself, also wicked hot and slightly burnt. Papa Bear even high-fived me and said "good job". I hope to tackle beans tonight and pickles on Wednesday. The food overfloweth from the garden lately.

Went to bed at 10:30 and am ready to go back.

Whew.

Here's the pics to go along with the play by play of my weekend that I'm sure you wanted. None from the baby shower because we didn't sit still.

Creek strollin with grandpa. These two love each other so much.

I mean. Really? 

Proof of the exhaustion.

Early morning walk. Both wondering why the EFF we're up so early.

Suns comin up!

Breakfast activities. Stackin.

At the big table, in a big chair, with a big boy cup. How did this happen?

He spent a solid 20 minutes "fixing" all of my stuff.

Then he grabbed dads hand and dragged him over so he could explain what he fixed.

YEAH BABY!!!

Begging me to go for a run this morning. Sorry sister.

Hey! It's Friday!

Yesssssssss

Friday. I've missed you. 

We have a busy weekend lined up. Full of good friends and family we haven't seen in a while and a lot of food. I don't know what I'm more excited for. We should be exhausted by Sunday but that's ok. I don't know if you've realized it but we only have three weekends left.

I don't have much to say this morning. It's Friday. That's all that matters.

Talkin to Nanny

Mowin like daddy. There's a little smirk there. So proud

I don't know why we're making these faces

Every morning. Wrestling match.

"Say cheeeeeese!"

This is what happens when I work from home and need a break.

This is right up there in my favorite pics of all time.

Caterpillar

First tomatoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterdays loot. Whoa.

Uncle Drew and The King freaking out over the creepy caterpillar

Happy weekending friends!

xxoo
ma

Zulily Again

Hey. Zulily has some pretty awesome stuff on sale today. Clarks, back to school gear, diaper bags made in the U.S. of A. Need I say more?

Go.

Go now, go.

Zulily

Now jammin: Steeldrivers

Old Crow Medicine Show Pandora station never does me wrong



Also, it is FREEZING. 59 degrees.

Things you care about. Duh.

No recipes to share today. Sorry. Yesterday was a "eat whatever you can find day".

We are making steak quesadillas tonight with all of the leftover steak from two nights ago though. I'm also going to make that pineapple salsa again because I have grilled pineapple in the fridge.

I'm getting wicked good at "recycling" food. It feels really good to not be wasteful. If only we could decrease our actual trash too. I'm working on it.

Soooooo I wanted to tell you, the ole blog has officially had over 11,000 hits!!!! That's pretty stinkin awesome if I do say so myself!!

I'm going to guess there's about a handful of people that actually read this thing a couple days a week and they're probably family so it doesn't reeeeally count. But either way, thanks to all of you for entertaining my shenanigans.

I've honestly thought about scrapping this thing a few times, and still do every once in a while. It's not like I make money or sell anything on here.

Blogging is pretty narcissistic but also makes you feel wicked insecure at the same time. It's kind of weird. You write with the idea that you have something of value to share, be it recipes or funny stories, or cool blogs you found, crafts and other nonsense. Totally assuming that other people will find interest in things that you find interesting. Sometimes things happen and I think "I MUST share that on the blog" for no other reason than I got a big belly laugh out of it and I bet you would too.

And then the other side of you is all, "nobody cares what I have to say. None of it is interesting. I'm not even good at writing. I'm probably just wasting my time".

It's all bi-polar and stuff. It's kind of icky.

But then there are people that tell me they love reading it or I get harassed by family when I slack off and don't post for a few days and I jump back on the horse and spend 30 minutes or so rambling about nothing.

Sort of like what I'm doing now...but it feels good! It feels good to share and sort of be creative I guess.

So long story short, we hit a milestone and I guess I'll just keep this thing going until people stop reading, tell me to shut up or I get tired of sharing pointless stories. That's some plan, eh?

Big hugs and lots of love to all of you. If I could bake you something to say "thanks" I totally would.

Y'all rock my little redneck hippie world!

xxoo
ma

Whitney Ingram: The Family Flavor

I came across Whitney Ingram the same way I come across everything lately, Instagram. I don't know her personally, obviously, but I do know that she shares some pretty darn awesome recipes and has a cookbook coming out soon called "The Family Flavor".

I can tell you without a doubt, I'll be picking it up the day it's released. I made one of her recipes last night and it was unbelievable. I woke up this morning thinking about it. Not to mention the guys gobbled it up last night, slightly more so than their enormous steaks and that's saying something.

First, buy the cookbook. Second, follow on Instagram. Third, check out the hashtag #hereshowrecipe where you can find some of her easier recipes. Fourth, make this tonight.

This is BOMB people. No joke.

Cindy's Fresh Corn Salad

7 ears of corn (I only had six, totally ok)
1/2 diced red onion
1 diced avocado (I used three because three guys were eating and they all love it. so do I)
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

"Shuck seven ears of corn and put them in a big pot of boiling water. Cover the pot, turn off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and then let the corn completely cool. Once cooled, slice off the kernels and put into a large bowl. Add half a diced red onion and one diced avocado. Then pour in the 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Yum town."

That's it. It's so easy and so cheap and simple and so so so good.

You're welcome.

Humpty Hump

Can I get a holla for a Hump Day???

Wednesdays are my second favorite day of the week, not counting Saturday or Sunday.

Gracious Gray and I ran almost 2.5 miles this morning and I actually didn't want to die! I can hardly believe it. I also think my butt is looking less saggy these days which is a huge plus. It could be in my head but whatever. I think my pants are fitting a little better. Now if only I could do something about my mom boobs...

I've been trying to increase our distance by a quarter mile each time we run and so far, it's been a good, reachable goal. The damn hills are what kills me though. I literally run in slow motion on the way back home. If people actually lived on my road or were awake, they'd be pointing and laughing at me.

I should also let everyone know, I am by no means a runner and don't claim to be. I do not run 8 minute miles. I have ugly shoes and work out clothes. But I get up and get it in and that's what's important. I'm only sharing for hope that it might inspire you to do something you think you can't do it. It could be anything. Just give a solid go for a few days and you'll surprise yourself.

I'm also starting to get worried about the cold weather creeping in. I have terrible asthmatic lungs and I suck more at running in the cold than I do running when it's a nice temp. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Here's some pretty views the last few days.

Had to take Gracious for a walk last night.
We couldn't run in the morning because it was raining and she was a hot hyper mess.

Sun settin

Last night

This was from my morning run. Just brightened it up a bit because cameras never capture the full awesomeness.

Food Again

Surprise! I have wicked easy recipes to share.

It seems I have a knack for making things that don't require a lot of culinary skill or time, which I'm totally ok with. I'm far better at baking. Plus, you try feeding The King when he's ravenous while simultaneously trying to make a dinner that's remotely edible and ready when Papa Bear walks in the door. In one hour mind you.

It's hard and I don't have time to mess around.

Ready for this one...

Crock-pot Spareribs

Spareribs
Salt
Pepper
Onion (1)
Pepper (1)
BBQ Sauce (2 jars) - I used Jack Daniels brand this time. I'm usually a dinosaur BBQ fan.

I found a lot of recipes online that instructed you to make the marinade for the ribs but ain't nobody got time for that. So I generously seasoned those puppies with salt and pepper, chopped up some onions and peppers and threw them in the crock with the BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 8/9 hours or so and voila! Yummy ribs.

I may have cooked mine a smidge too long because all the meat fell off the bone. I think they were cooking for more like 10 or 11 hours but I don't have a timer on my pot. The ribs were still really tender and good but I think meat off the bone is a no-no in rib land.

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

I searched high and low for a recipe to grill these puppies and I didn't find one I liked, or had time to mess with so I wung it.

Brussel sprouts - I think I had 20 or so
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Parsley
Parmesan Cheese

I pretty much just tossed everything in a bowl with generous amounts of all the spices and olive oil. It really just depends on what you like. I'm not good with spices. I then put them in an aluminum foil little pocket and cooked on the grill for about 15 minutes or so. Once they were close to done, I took them out of the pocket and placed them directly on the grill for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn them though. Once they were done I tossed them in some Parmesan Cheese and threw em on the table. And there you have it.

I've never cooked brussel sprouts before so I'm sure there's much more you can do with them. If I didn't add the cheese, I would have squirted some lemon juice on them. Sounds kinda yummy I think.

The King dipped his in cottage cheese because that's just how he rolls. Papa Bear ate a handful to be nice and I ate most of them. I don't think Papa Bear cares for brussel sprouts in general so I'm not counting his vote.

Also, I made another pie over the weekend. I had a ton of berries from the yard and some frozen dough so it was a no brainer. I mixed the berries (raspberry, blackberry and blueberry) with about a cup of sugar, tossed them in the pie dish with a little butter. Covered it up, put some sugar butter on the crust and cooked at 400 degrees until it looked done. So good and wicked easy if you're having company. Make sure you have ice cream!

Recap

Hey peeps

Happy Monday!

That just doesn't sound right, does it? 

I don't know why I even try. 

Well I left you on Friday whining about our night and bitching about no sleep. Shortly after the update, The King was sent home from daycare under the suspicion he may have Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Which sounds a bit like the Black Plague when you don't hear an explanation of what it actually is. I was obviously super excited. 

We then promptly made a trip to the doctor, who by the way is making a killing on us, and without passing Go and unfortunately, not collecting $200, she then confirmed he did indeed have the plague. Added with an ever so sweet, slight giggle "sucks to be you."

So said plague is actually a very common virus that is also pretty painful. Children under five and in daycare usually get it and symptoms include fever and blisters on, you guessed it, their hands, feet and mouth. 

Id like to proclaim this is not because were dirty people. Thank you. 

Luckily, or not so lucky, Kingy only really has them in his mouth. We basically treat it with Advil around the clock for 7-10 days and he's banned from daycare. He's sort of bitchy but getting better. 

Awesome. 

So my mom came over, thank you sweet baby Jesus, and helped me bleach and Lysol and clean everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything because I have OCD and am kind of a germaphobe. 

We then took The King out for fried food and ice cream at the local stand, where he proceeded to flirt with two cute little girls who ignored him. True to his manhood, they finally gave in to his charm and he ignored them by throwing rocks. 

He also was spoiled rotten all weekend with new toys and clothes. I can't help it when he's sick but he's already feeling better. 

Saturday we had a date to the duck pond and had some donuts. It was so fun. He was shooting the ducks and chasing them around trying to pet them. Then Saturday afternoon my old college roommate, whom I haven't seen in five years came to visit and we spent the evening playing w Kingy, eating lots of food and catching up. I missed her. 

Sunday we ran some errands, went to the playground and watched tractors. The usual stuff. 

I'm sure The King is thinking he should be sick more often. 

Also, I have 30 miles left to run in 19 days. I really think I can do it. Gracie and I ran our furthest yet, 2.24 miles this morning! Im haven't lost a single pound, which isn't my goal, but I can already feel a difference in my mind and body. Bonus, I think my ass is coming back. 

Big thank you to all my mom friends who are unbelievably supportive and encouraging. You know who you are and you are the best support system a mama could ever ask for. Mad props, yo!

Haha. 

Here's the pics!

Acting super sick at the doctor's office.

Maybe there's a half gallon of bleach in there...

I needed an IV of caffeine.

Aren't they cute?

So needed.

Little boy.

 

Garden Loot. Still no tomatoes!

I get carried away for guests.

I need a bumper sticker that reads: "Caution. Will stop suddenly for tractors."

This is his happy place. Watching tractors.

Mischief.

Morning run views. No filter. Just awesomeness.

xxoo
ma