Just an Update

Life has been so busy lately that squeezing in computer time is hard. I've been really busy making cakes and other goodies people have ordered from me, taking the boys to story time, and going to the park A LOT! They are so full of energy that I go crazy if I can't get them to the park on a daily basis to run off some energy. Eric is really busy with his residency and not home much. He was actually able to help me with bedtime last night. I forget what it's like to have help! We got them bathed, teeth brushed, books read and down for the night a lot quicker than when I have to do it all by myself.

That's about it. I thought I would post a pic of each of them

Here's Connor after he tried to "stamp" his mouth with the stamp markers. He looked like a little Hitler until I was able to scrub it all off. It took me scrubbing him throughout the day to get it off.
Brandon found one of my sports head bands and put it on his head by himself...then posed for a picture. What a silly goof.

Super Bowl Snack Throw Down Week 2

Before you read the recipe for this week, I wanted to thank you all for your support and votes! Lauren and I tied last week!!!! Go to www.highlowaha.com, click the red dot to enter the blog and click "kate" to vote! Also, vote for the following week's secret ingredient of either potato or avacado. Voting started today, Friday, and goes until 8 pm CST on Sunday.

Thanks again everyone!

Longest Yard Mushroom Dip with Baguettes

AND

Instant Replay Mushroom Pockets

I pulled out all of my cookbooks, handwritten family recipes, and my old fashioned thinking cap to try and find the recipe that would take you all to the end zone. For those of you don't always reach for the mushrooms first on the snack tray, this may be the 2 point conversion you need! This is the very first time I've ever made this and I will definitely make it again. I rate this as a solid TOUCHDOWN. Although, the next time, I won't mix up "tsp" and "Tbsp" when it comes to adding the Worcestershire sauce! Oops!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 slices bacon
• 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Place bacon slices in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry until crisp. Remove bacon, crumble and set aside. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
2. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic to the bacon drippings, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Sprinkle the flour, salt, and pepper over the top, and stir to blend. Mix in cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. Reduce heat to low, and stir until cream cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream and bacon. Serve warm.
4. Slice a fresh baguette and toast in the oven for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.

Instant Replay Mushroom Pockets

Since I like to try new and different things, I also turned the dip into the filling in my Instant Replay Mushroom Pockets. If you thought the dip and baguettes were good, these are even better! I would rate these as an EXTRA POINT...IT'S GOOD!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 1 egg mixed with 1 tsp water
• Longest Yard Mushroom Dip

DIRECTIONS

1. Thaw one sheet of frozen puff pastry.
2. Roll out and cut into equal 12 equal squares
3. Place 1 Tbsp Hot Mushroom Dip in the center of each square.
4. Pinch the sides closed and brush with an egg wash.
5. Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees

Super Bowl Snack Throw Down Week 1 PIZZA PIE POPPERS

The football season and Throw Down competition are upon us. You can vote directly on the website at www.highlowaha.com. VOTING IS EVERY FRIDAY!!!!! There will actually be "push button voting" on the blog to make voting simple. However you can also cast your vote by sending an email to info@highlowaha.com. Enough words...LET'S EAT!

Below are my "Pizza Pie Poppers" The actual ingredients are from a recipe I've been making for a few years, but I adapted it to be more "football friendly" If you are interested in the recipe and step by step instructions, including pictures, please scroll on down. I made this whole recipe for under $10!



INGREDIENTS - Yields 30 poppers

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
1 15 oz package refrigerated pie crust
1 pound bulk sausage
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2 4 oz cans mushroom stems and pieces
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 8oz can tomato sauce - basil, garlic, and oregano flavor ( I use Hunts)
2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

Here is everything you will need!

The above ingredients
Skillet
Mini muffin pan
Rolling pin
Tumbler glass
Tart shaper or the bottom of a shot glass


Brown the sausage and then add the spinach, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese.



Stir thoroughly. This amount of meat actually makes enough for 2 recipes. Go ahead and divide it into 2 even amounts and freeze half! This is my favorite part of this recipe. I love having things frozen that can make a delicious meal in minutes.


Next, roll out the pie crust on a clean surface. I used my pie crust mat, but you can use a cutting board or clean counter if you don't have one. Turn the tumbler glass over and cut out as many circles as possible. Gather scraps, roll them out again and continue the process until the dough is gone. I can get 15 circles per pie crust.

Use the tart shaper, or bottom of a shot glass, to press the pie crust circles into the mini muffin pan. I alternated them to make plenty of room!

Spoon 1 tbsp of the meat mixture into the bottom of each cup, next add 1 tsp tomato sauce, and top with about 1 tsp mozzarella cheese. You can see the progression in the picture below.



Finally, pop them in the oven for 10 minutes.



Let them sit for about 10 minutes and then enjoy with the beverage of your choice.


Twin tested...and APPROVED! Brandon ate 3 and Connor ate 2. When I make this in the original pie form, they each will eat an entire piece of pie.



Here are the instructions and ingredients all together to make it easier to copy and paste.

INGREDIENTS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
1 15 oz package refrigerated pie crust
1 pound bulk sausage
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2 4 oz cans mushroom stems and pieces
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 8oz can tomato sauce - basil, garlic, and oregano flavor ( I use Hunts)
2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Brown the sausage and then add the spinach, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese.
2. Stir thoroughly. This amount of meat actually makes enough for 2 recipes. Go ahead and divide it into 2 even amounts and freeze half!
3. Next, roll out the pie crust on a clean surface. I used my pie crust mat, but you can use a cutting board or clean counter if you don't have one. Turn the tumbler glass over and cut out as many circles as possible. Gather scraps, roll them out again and continue the process until the dough is gone. I can get 15 circles per pie crust.
4. Spoon 1 tbsp of the meat mixture into the bottom of each cup, next add 1 tsp tomato sauce, and top with about 1 tsp mozzarella cheese.
5. Finally, pop them in the oven for 10 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before enjoying.

Back Home

Wow. I ended up driving 3,167 miles with the boys. We had a blast everywhere we went and I'm very glad that I got to see almost ALL of my extended family.

We started off in Moline, IL at my cousin's wedding. I was so rushed at the actual ceremony and reception that I didn't snap any pictures. Here are a few pics from the park the day after the wedding.

My nephew Benjamin!
After Moline, I drove to southern Illinois to see my grandparents and aunts and uncles. I got to see everyone and even meet my cousin's kids for the first time.

Me, Connor, Grandpa, Brandon, and Grandma

Connor and Grandma
Grandma took the boys on a "ride" on the seat of Grandpa's walker.
After that, I drove to Alton, which about 30 minutes east of St. Louis to see my good friend Trish and her son Lucas who is the same age as the boys. We went to the zoo!

Connor kept calling this monkey "mommy monkey"
I sure hope he didn't think I looked like that!
All 3 boys sitting by the fountain.
Riding the train...
Standing on frogs


After Alton, Trish and I drove back to KY via Indianapolis to see my sister.

Here are all 4 boys...minus Benjamin...he was in his booster seat
Noah and Connor playing piano

After we spent the weekend in Florence, Trish and I took the boys to see The Wiggles in Louisville.

Here are the boys sitting patiently in their seats.
A self-taken picture of all of us. I'm not usually good at taking pictures of myself, but this one turned out pretty good.
There are all of the Wiggles in the Big Red Car!


Brandon watching intently
Connor and Lucas waiting for another song
I'm glad to be back home. The boys were AWESOME in the car and were very well behaved for the most part. Connor is almost 100% potty trained. We have about 1 poopie accident per week, but he's dry at nap and over night. Brandon, on the other hand isn't interested in the potty, but hey...one in underwear still saves me A LOT in diaper costs! We are already plowing into the month of September with play dates, I'm slowly having cake orders coming in, and Eric is still very busy with work. All in all, life is grand!

We Made It!

I have never been more excited to come home than I have been this trip! The only thing that would make it better would be if Eric could have joined us. The boys were angels in the car!!!! We only had to stop twice...once to eat breakfast and one more time to gas up and go potty. Connor made it the whole trip...DRY! He's so close to being 100% potty trained.

The boys' little travel beds didn't really work. They kept rolling out of them. So, being the selfless mom that I am, I gave up the most comfortable bed in the house and let them have it. I'm now crashing with Bridget!

Bridget and I took the kiddos to Totter Otterville. It's an indoor/outdoor play place in Johnny's Toys. The last time I went to Johnny's Toys was when I won the "perfect attendance bike" at Yealey Elementary back in 1989! They had a blast!
Me taking B out of the ball pit to go for a potty break
Playing with the water table...
shopping in the grocery store...
setting the table for a meal
playing on the train table...including a conductor vest...
me helping them stack up blocks...
to make them a house of their own to play in...

We are heading to Lexington tomorrow to see some old friends who all have kids now, maybe stop by the horse farm where I used to work, and do dinner with another friend. Should be a great time!

Old Video

Here's an older video that Eric has been bugging me to put up. Once I watched it again, I realize why he's been bugging me about it. It's hilarious! We have a zero tolerance policy for back talking. I have 2 2 1/2 year olds and I'm not going to be talked back to. Connor talked back to Eric and here's what happened...



My favorite part is when he hits the door and complains about hurting his hand RIGHT as he hit the door. They really don't spend too much time in time out anymore, and rarely throw temper tantrums, but it's awesome to catch it on video when they do. We have a few videos of them running around the house, naked, with their towels on their heads, waving their hands in the air, screaming "NAKED BOOTY" over and over. No, I will not upload those to youtube. If you want to see those, and they are HILARIOUS, then you have to come visit.

I WON

Thank you to everyone who voted for me for the foodie football challenge! I won one of the two spots and will be going head to head every Sunday with a snack challenge. Be sure to check back in a few weeks when it kicks off. I will need all the votes I can get each week! Anyone can vote, and all my readers SHOULD! I will let you know where and how to vote.

Thanks again everyone!