Spring Break Countdown

To make the kids spring break fun we had a spring break countdown.  Everyday one of the kids opened a colorful bag with what we were going to do for the day! Usually it was an activity and a craft. Their favorite activity was a scavenger hunt around grandmas house which ended with a treasure!  After the hunt Madison told me that it was the funnest thing ever, and that made me feel good. I am so grateful for my kids, they make me so happy!

Raspberry Bread Pudding by Kneaders Bakery

I love this dessert!  It is very rich and naughty, which is why I make it once a year.

1 1/2 loaf good aged white bread  cut into  1 inch pieces

Mix together:

1 qt. heavy cream

2 C sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

Pour cream mixture over bread and stir every ten minutes for half hour.

Fruit filling

5 C frozen raspberries

1 C sugar

1/2  C apple juice

Combine until sugar dissolves in separate bowl.

Layer 3/4 of creamed bread in 9 X13 pan.  Pour fruit mixture over bread, then top with remaining creamed bread.

Bake at 375 for 40 min.

Vanilla Sauce

1 1/3 C butter

5 T flour

3 C half and half

1/3 C sugar

2 t vanilla

Over med. heat melt butter.  Add flour.  Stir 10 minutes. Do not brown. Add half and half, and sugar.  Boil and stir till mixture thickens.  Take off heat and add vanilla.

Serve bread pudding topped with vanilla sauce!

Best in Show

We attended our first Pinewood Derby!  McKay has really looked forward to this since he has been in scouts.  He and Dad looked on the web for ideas of cars, and McKay wanted to make an ice cream sandwich car.  He won Best in Show!  When the race began we discovered that it was too narrow for the track.  Thank goodness we had dads' backup car from when he was a scout.  He took 3rd place!  He was a very happy young man!

Tropical Breakfast

I was given a new cookbook for Christmas.  It is the second one done by the Ivory family in Utah.  You can purchase it at the Make a Wish Foundation.  It has awesome recipes.  This is a really good and delicious breakfast.  I guess they serve it for room service in Hawaii.  Some day I will make it there.

Tropical Breakfast

8 oz pineapple tid bits

1 C water

1 C instant brown rice

13 oz unsweetened coconut milk

2 T brown sugar

1/4 t salt

banana slices

shredded toasted coconut

toasted sliced almonds

Drain juice from pineapple into sauce pan.  Set pineapple aside.  Ad water and rice to pan and bring to boil over med. heat.  Simmer uncovered until water is absorbed, 5-7 min. Stir in coconut milk, brown sugar, and salt. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to lowest possible simmer and continue to cook uncovered until rice in tender and mixture is creamy, stirring often, about ten min.  Stir in pineapple. Dish into bowls and top with banana, coconut, and almonds.

A new green smoothie recipe

I came across this recipe on Pinterest. It is sooo good! I will be having one of these everyday!

1 frozen banana
1 T peanut butter
1/2 C vanilla greek yogurt
1 C vanilla almond milk
4 C fresh spinach

Christmas Road Trip to San Antonio

Chris had been in Utah for two weeks on business. When he finally made it home we decided to take a road trip to San Antonio before Christmas Eve.  It is a three hour drive west of Houston and is pronounced San Antone by some of the locals.  On our way we stopped by Seguin, Texas to see where Chris' dad grew up.  We saw the graves of his grandparents (Nanny and Opa) and great grandparents along with his dad's childhood home.  It was special to finally see the place where so many fun stories were created over the years. 

We continued on and arrived in San Antonio later that afternoon, checked into our hotel, and headed for the River Walk.  We strolled the river and later found a great Tex Mex place right on the Walk.  The evening weather was nice, we were seated on a balcony overlooking the river with mariachis serenading.  It was very romantic minus the squirming baby and keeping our kids from throwing things over the balcony...ha.  The next day we headed to the Alamo.  This place was inspiring...200 Texans held their ground and fought to the death against thousands of mexicans under the direction of Santa Ana's rule of tyranny.  "Liberty or death....remember the Alamo."  Chris has a distant relative named Major John Joseph Baugh that fought and died at the Alamo, pretty cool.  Psssss...remember to remove your hat and speak softly when you enter or they will let you know....this is considered hallowed ground in Texas.

After a lot of fun we headed back to Houston.   On the way home we pulled off the beaten path to a little town called Luling.   This is home to a famous small-town BBQ smokehouse.  I truly felt like I was having a real "Texas experience".  Being in a small, cute town eating BBQ with some reputation. There was quite a line and their own special way of ordering.  There were huge smokers the size of cars, unlike anything I had ever seen. The ribs, brisket, and sausage are ordered by the pound, served in a pile on butcher paper, and paid with cash.  By the way we ate everything with our hands except the "tater salad".  I could not get enough of the sauce, it was soooo good. We had a fun road trip and created some good memories.

 

Grandpa Bill's childhood home - paint, garage doors, and a clock, otherwise the same.

Famous tree in the Alamo courtyard

Zombies on the River Walk

Ready to chow down, the kids love BBQ

The pride of Texas - the Alamo

My favorites

We take family pictures every other year. Like many, I think of what co-ordinating colors we will wear and how we will hopefully get at least one good shot. This year was such an ordeal.  I am not a procrastinator and planned to have our session at the end of October. Many things came up, and we finally had them done at the end of November. I had us wearing cream and gray which Chris did not care for at all. It turned out that the pictures did seem a little bland and we did not get one good family shot, someone was always off. Our photographer offered to do retakes of just family shots for free. I then went shopping again for clothes with color. I just love seeing my children in pictures and am so proud that they are mine. Here are some of my favorites.....