Elizabeth’s Dedication

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted in a few days… I have a good reason though!! 🙂  Last weekend was so crazy busy, but sooo much fun!  On Saturday, we went to Jenks (about 1 1/2 hours away) for our nephew’s first birthday party!  Then I had to get ready to have 24 people at my house for lunch on Sunday!! Elizabeth’s baby dedication was Sunday morning at church, then all of our families came over for lunch after that.

Before we went to church, my friend Emily came over to take a new family picture of us.  We’ve been trying to get a new one for a long time, and this was the perfect time to take it.

I did simple for dinner.  I ordered a sandwich meat tray from Walmart and bought various rolls and buns for the sandwiches.  My mom brought chips and some dip and my mother-in-law brought some yummy wraps.  I did make Elizabeth’s first cake though!  I wasn’t really sure how I wanted to decorate it, so this is what I came up with Saturday evening at 8:30. (Ignore the not smooth icing, I was too tired to make it completely smooth!)

I also made yummy cake balls.

Here are a few pictures from the dedication and dinner.

Red Beans and Rice

Last week John said to me, “Don’t laugh at what I’m about to say… I’m really craving red beans and rice.” And of course I laughed because we never eat beans (except black beans with Mexican food).  But like a good wife ( 🙂 ) I wanted to make him what he wanted.  There was a slight problem though, I didn’t really know what Red Beans & Rice were.  Well, I knew the obvious that is was red beans cooked with rice, but I didn’t know if you were supposed to add anything else or if it was all mixed together or separate. Luckily All Recipes came to my rescue.  They have several recipes for Red Beans and Rice, after looking through a few, I picked one and started cooking!   (I was really excited to find that smoked sausage was an ingredient, yumm!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 16 ounces smoked sausage, thinly sliced
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Directions

• Bring the rice and water to boil in a pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.(I just cooked minute rice in the microwave.  Secret confession, I’ve never cooked rice on the stove, I’m scared to, but I’m not sure why…)

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and green bell pepper, and cook until tender.

• Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned.

• Mix in beans and tomatoes, and continue cooking until heated through.

• Serve skillet mixture over the rice.

When I decided to make this meal, I didn’t really know what I was going to eat for dinner.  This didn’t really sound like something I would like.  But after I finished cooking it, I tasted it and it’s really really good!  I ate it for dinner and I took it for lunch the next day.  John and I both made the comment that it was even better the second day.  Although John did really like this recipe, he said this isn’t at all what he thinks Red Beans and Rice is.  (When we go to Louisiana we always go to Catfish King and John and his dad get the Red Beans & Rice for their side.  That’s what he is remembering. )  So if you have a good Red Beans & Rice recipe, let me know, so I can see if it’s what John is wanting!

French Friday’s With Dorie

I love to cook new recipes and I love blogging events.  I used to be a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, but after my waistline started expanding, I had to bow out.  But Dorie Greenspan just came out with a NEW book Around My French Table and a NEW baking group has been started!  French Friday’s With Dorie

I’m so excited for this group.  It will help me branch out and try new and exciting recipes and I’ll get to share the results with you all!  So, check back on October 1 for the first recipe – – Gourgeres (which is a fancy word for cheese puffs, yummy!).

Baby Legs

Have you heard of BabyLegs?

BabyLegs are cute leg warmers to keep baby’s legs warm. They can also be used to protect their knees while they are crawling.

When I ordered a few pairs, I didn’t really know what to think. I wasn’t sure how useful they’d be, but Elizabeth would look cute wearing them. After using them for a month or so, I LOVE them! Have you ever put pants on a baby? It can get challenging when she’s squirming on the changing table, or just when she’s impatient and wants to play. With BabyLegs, you don’t have to take them off while you are changing diapers! It makes diaper changing fast to get baby back to playing.

I'm baaaaack!

Hello?  Hello?  Is the microphone on?  Oh hi mom, I see you’re still here reading my blog. 🙂  So, I have been gone way too long with no explanation and I’m sorry.  Life is SUPER crazy right now, but I’m going to try my hardest to start posting again!  You may be wondering why it’s been so crazy, well, here is the reason –

Bath Time!

 Elizabeth Faye was born in June of this year and our lives have not been the same since!  She is such a joy to be around (well, the times that she’s not crying 🙂 ) and I just love her so much! 

I’ve been debating on if I should make this more of a mommy blog or keep with my food and baking and decorating, but I think I’ll just blog about everything.  Hopefully it works out well!!

If you’re still reading this blog, can you PLEASE leave me a comment telling me so?  I’d love to know who my readers are right now.