Thursday, March 28, 2013

chicken & dumplings



I cant just "write" a recipe.. I have to make it, and write it while Im doing it, than go back later to finish the post. I never remember what I put in or how much! Im all hands on. So- Today we had chicken & dumplings for dinner! Although, today I realized i use biscuits, not the dumpling recipe.... Ive never personally tried it, I just love biscuits! Holla!

I started with a whole chicken, 6 (maybe 7) stalks of celery and carrots in the pressure cooker. Just threw them in whole after being washed; yes... i washed the chicken! Someone told me recently about washing their meat (baaahaha i can only think of sex when i hear this!) One whole onion, peeled and 1 whole "bulb" of garlic! You don't even have to take it apart if you're using a pressure cooker, which I am! Set the time to cook for 45 minutes if your chicken is frozen and 25 if its thawed. Let the pressure lower, open it up and let cool! I threw the celery out.  While the chicken cooled enough to take out and pull apart I started the biscuits.

Biscuits:
2C organic unbleached flour
1T baking powder
1/4t salt
1/2c coconut oil
1C ice cold water (may need more or less, go slow!!!)

Add the dry ingredients in a bowl, and than cut the oil in. I use a fork, I find it easier. After you've accomplished to make it look like a lumpy mess, hollowish out the middle, and add the water, SLOWLY! I started with 3/4c and ended up using 1 1/2c. Lightly toss that together, and dump the bowl on the counter. Knead the dough 3 or 4 times, until its all incorporated and not too doughy. From there I checked on the chicken, shredded it. I used the same pot from the pressure cooker to cook on the stove. Add the chicken back to the broth and add 6 cups water. Put in about  3T. pepper and salt. Bring the soup to a boil, wet your hands and start to take pieces of dough and roll them into balls and drop them carefully into soup. I did about 15, made the first ones bigger, since they'd cook longer while I was rollin! When your done, cover that baby up and turn the heat/fire down to LOW! Leave it covered for 8 ish minutes... I left it on 10 and mine came out a little over done! The trick is DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF until they are DONE. Once you take it off, you're committed and they wont cook the same anymore. Trust me.  

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MommyLocs & the Three Complainers

everynight  ok ok.. lets get real. Not everyone makes dinner e-v-errry night, right?  or maybe you do? I can tell you that I honestly dont and Ive tried and tried and tried again... Its.SO.hard! ill tell you why; my kids are SPOILED! one wont eat this, the other isn't hungry. i cater to all of their needs. separate chorizo out of the pan so it doesnt get mixed with eggs, than mix that with beans to make a burrito! what in the hell am I thinking!?!?   NOT anymore! this mama is DONE-ZO! 


Tonight is hamburgers! YUM!! I cant wait to eat some fancy sauce! sweet, delicious & savory homemade fancy sauce.  Look for recipe to follow.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed & ready to cook. Rollin with 2 extra kids, sick hubby & teething very unhappy 5 month old what.was.i.thinking! I really wanted to get things cleaned up around the main living level & upstairs... My A.D.D was going off all kinds of crazy! I kept having to remind myself it's ok & cool...

I started with the dip and figured I could clean while the meat was cooking for the lasagna. (Here's that ADD thing again! Who knew lasagna was on the menu ?!?) I had a friend coming into town and wanted things done so we could have a great time together, and not worry about feeding my Klan! The popper dip done, mess clean and baby fed! Whoop Whoop! I was on-a-ROLL! (#ROLLTIDE!) The lasagna was made in a quickness and thrown into the fridge for later.... good thing I was a planner!


This dip I've made a handful of times, after the first time I made it....it was a request for parties/dinners & get togethers. Every time I make it different, not on purpose... I never follow a recipe & I for sure don't measure a thing!

-24 oz cream cheese
- 7-8 jalapeno's (NOT onAstIck bahah) (i used canned a few times, the fresh was better!)
-1/2c mayo
-1 c grated motzerella cheese
-4 palm fulls of parsley (or tablespoon)
-2 ^ ^ Each garlic & onion powder
-1 ^ ^ Dill
-Panko bread crumbs (enough to cover top of dip)
-bacon! No set amount- as much or little as you like (cooked crispy & chopped)
Sprinkle of salt & pepper



I always tell people I dont measure, so here's my method! 





Mix all the ingredients together, usually let the cream cheese sit out for a few hours to soften, add the herbs and let it sit! while thats going, grill/roast the jalapeños, however you prefer. I did it on the stove in a cast iron pan, took about an hour, keeping the heat on very low, simmer even! put a wet paper town in a zip lock & toss the jalapeños in the baggie for like... 30 minutes or so.. they'll be WAY easier to peel! you.are.welcome!










I never got the end pictures, it was gone soon after being cooked! This made A LOT! 

Bake @ 400 for about 15 minutes or until the bread crumbs on top are golden! Serve with Chips!



Monday, March 25, 2013

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

On the last few of our drives we saw the signs for the zoo... I wanted to go, so bad... I could almost smell the animal shit ahahaha. seriouslly! I wanted to take the kids SOOO badly! We went up there once, I got some info, and decided on opening day of the africa stuff, we.are.going!


The giraffes are the first animals you see! You cant help but see them. They're HUGE and everywhere!!! They must be stupid cheap hahaha




a little piece of A2theZ

A high of 60 the weather.com says.... so off we drive, heading west cuz.. west is the best! 





 We drove all over the mountains! First was Helen hunt falls. You don't have to pay and can hike through the creek up the mountain to the falls. There are tons of other trails, and more "civilized" trails. 
We didn't drive any further west/ up the hill from there we headed south & checked out some creepy little camp ground and ended up in the hills have eyes country! Creeeeeepy!



 There were a lot of things to do there, although..mostly climbing on rocks, up creeks or steps! The frozen water falls were beautiful.


 Cant beat a photo op! My brother & I and Hubs & I 
brother husbands lmfao
 i always... always always have something to say about sister wives. I see a couple together, who probably isnt even a couple at all! But... Im like oh look! they have a sister wife!!! I LOVE love LOVE the idea of having a sister wife. until it concerns my family... hahahahhahaha. these woman ALL have sex with the same man, but get offended when someone asks if they have orgies? STFU! Come on now, be real!  I joke when we're all out together and tell the "guys" they look like a gay couple with their kids hahah its so funny. other people have over head and laughed... than when they're CAUGHT laughing, they are all ike "you said it" ya, cuz its true hahahaha. i totally appreciate the help. i love that my husband will baby wear! its great for bonding and she loves  it.... and its easy for hikes! we love it!



We found a piece of Arizona while driving around a few days ago!
Literally a piece of home!

Alfonso's!
Of course we went back and had lunch! Same family owns it & it was JUST as delicious... If not better. Jk Brenda! Hahahahaha! seriously though... i want some now after blogging about it! hahaha.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Take a little trip with us!


Today we set out on a mission, Manitou Incline! We pretty much knew that we werent going to get up the whole way, not with our kids and especially not in this shape! but... we wanted to try and see how far we would get. I packed a snack and off we went!
The drive is B-E-A-UTIFUL!  SO.. WE PASSED IT! 
HAHAHAHA


No, seriously though. We drove through Manitou & never say a sign. I figured there MUST be a sign. We ended up driving to Woodland Park. It was a cute town, city maybe? Anyway, its literally in the mountains! We had so many options from there, where to go... ? We asked a few people and decided back.. we're goin, going... back back.. to Manitou! hahaha!

We had an amazing lunch at Hells Kitchen! Great pizza, atmosphere and staff (of one! haha) but for real, the pizza is authentic NY style, it was GREAT! 


Okay, Okay! Here's the fun stuff! We headed down the street to a park. First thing I see, a group of hippie/hipster/kids/homeless looking fucks... thats all I can use to describe them! I tried snapping some pics but... oh well hahah. next time! We did have a blast there! 



Now... This toy/contraption.. All I could hear was screaming! Hahahaha... 







We walked around the town, went in some shops, checked shit out. The locals in most of the shops were assholes, Im assuming because we're not "locals" what-the-fuck-over! my $ is local enough for you to take though right? hippie-sonsa-bitches! 

We decided to take a little mountain drive and head to seven falls


Then... drove to Cheyenne Moutain Zoo.. for a peek!
Those are GIRAFFES! I was amazed! 

On the way home ...







Thursday, February 28, 2013

dinner time!!!

Why is it when dinner is ready EVERYONE is all of a sudden up and in the bitchen? and no, thats not a typo! I kinda figured since Im always in the kitchen (its my fav. place duh!) &  im a biznatch (thanks again lacey!)  we'll reefer (thats not a typo either) to it a a bitchen from NOW on!  This week Ive been making whole chickens in my pressure cooker (its pretty fn sweet!) Originally the chicken was planned for lunches but Ive found myself using the entire chicken for almost 4 meals! (SCORE!!!)
Tonight was .... drum roll please!
Chicken & dumplings! Yum-oooo! When I envisioned serving this dinner to my family I saw us sitting at the table, steam rising from our all matching glass bowls. That is not what happened this evening. When I went to get out the bowls, they were gone! But dont worry I found them...

Apparently someone has been slacking on chores. Which I find rather annoying, fore (like in golf cuz shits about to be flying around this mother fer) I dont forget to cook for them!  

The culprits:

Amara got served in a pot hahaha. She wasnt trilled and as I handed her her bowl of dinner, while snapping this pic she says "great this is for your blog huh" yep! Yep your exactly right! 




This blur was not intentional whatSOever haha. this is daniel- my notSOlittle26yrOLDbrother.

Whats the moral of the story? Do your chores! 


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

PCS to Construction!

I meant  to write this post lets say ooo 2 weeks and 2 days ago, the 10th to be exact!
When I found a house, on craiglist of all places I thought... and thought... I wasnt falling for it, again! Yes, again. I had already "secured" a house, I thought! Until the guy lost it or some other crappy bs. So. My mans cousin went to the house for us. Everything was legit, getting new floors, appliances, paint. All that jazz. We decide to secure this house and call it home! ...

We pack up Arizona, and make the drive to Colorado Springs! I wish it was that easy bahahaha.. seriously though, with 3 kids it wasnt half as bad as I thought it was going to be! The drive ( i did zero driving) was beautiful, the girls watched movies, ate snacks I had pre made for them and Koral played! We enjoyed xm or sirus radio, whatever it is and tons of laughs listening to Az and Amara argue... hilarious!

We ate these chicken nuggets with chic fil a sauce (i had kept and took with us! yaaa scooooreeee!!!!) at some random hotel (chillin at a holiday iinnnnn) in a city that i cant remember. after our kids ran around screaming about wanting to swim (well mostly azalea.... just her to be honest) and POOL POOL POOL! We made great timing, missed a huge storm and finally made it to CO!

The first night we stayed at a nice hotel, the kids swam and ran themselves (and me hahah) ragged! the pool was a little cold and the spa was ...weird... We get a call from the landlord "Frank" (who let me just tell you.. is some sort of asian and speaks awful english)  he says 9am isnt good, come at 11. Cool, we can sleep in!  

We go to our new home, all sooo excited! We meet Frank who shows Amara and I around (aron had to run & get something) he than says..... its not ready to move in yet. He needs to do a little cleaning and will be done at 6, is 6 good? Im thinking... yes, 6 is great! I was so happy and loved this house! Its bigger than we thought and has a lot more to offer than we had expected, its perfect!  .... we all know nothings perfect.   We had an amazing lunch with family and friends, met some cousins and it snowed! (its been snowing EVERDAY  since we got here.... )  Around 630 we round up the children and head home .
Frank is still here, and what is he doing? Cleaning... hammering.. and the garage is FULL OF SHIT! When I say full of shit, I mean dishwasherS (yea, two!), a bed, futon, NAILS and shit... I made it ver clear the garage HAD to be clean enough for us to park the escalade. Not happening.
He said he cleaned this and that but will he back tomorrow. Im kinda like... hmm okay. Im cool with that.
-This is where you grab the wine (or bowl) and things get interesting! Wish I wouldve been able to do BOTH!-
Im inside organizing somethings, while husband, his dad and my brother are unloading the uhaul trailer...in the snow, into the house. Im singing a little tune, who knows what and then MOTHER FUCK! HELL NO! The cabinets are a nasty ass mess... I start opening everything! I go nuts, the guys come in and my brother says something like "stop bringing in boxes" (hahahhaha_ )  Frank didn't clean SHIT! There was still MOUSE POISON and shit in the cabinets, I LOST it. That asian mother fucker told me he would pay me $20 to clean the kitchen bahahahahhaha THE FUCK YOU WILL.
I lost it. I may have even blacked out and tried taking something out of his arms. We finally agreed on $100 to clean the kitchen, after 20 minutes of arguing! WTF? Am I on crack or meth? Did I miss something? When you pay a deposit AND RENT isnt shit suppose to be handled?!?!

 After getting the ktichen debacle squared away, i started noticing all kinds of things that were not okay.  (OKAY is a mo frappin understatment!) husband was leaving the next day for chicago to get our stuff, and meeting his brother there. father in law was leaving early in the morining.... I was left alone to deal wtih a home under construction. this was going to be fun.

i made a list, handed it to frank the next day  and he wasnt happy when i mentioned jag. We lived in straight constrtuction for 2 days, had to kick them out after 7 one night!  I was like Hello this is MY home now, we want to go to SLEEP! you need to have this done TOMORROW. 2 weeks later... there are a few things that arent done but Ive dealt with it, really everything he did fix we could have done and more than a handful of stuff WE DID ourseflves with HIS STUFF when he was eating his egg rolls in the living room, looking at the contractors he hired, watching their every move! hahaha. geez!  He would seriously tell me "can you put your kids in bed so i can paint this door" i uhm NO! You take the door BACK down to where you brought it from and paint it OUTSIDE! you dont want to pain it in the cold? Ooo that sucks. I didnt want to live in a fucking handy manny episode!

this whole process has been nothing short of nightmare for someone who has ADD and anxiety! to top off the banging, hammering, glass shattering and air compressing that was going on... the kids couldnt play in the yard yet, cuz it was trashed (literally garbage everywhere) and when he did clean it up Amara found two shanks! (wish I wouldve taken pics!) We have to get ONE new tire on the escalade due to NAIL DAMAGE (are you FUCKING kidding!?!?!) nope, not a joke!

now that we have blinds on the windows, we are finally getting better sleep and not waking up at 3am thinking its later cuz of the SNOW! Hello SNOW! Ive never seen so much snow in my life. All it does is snow here...

Here are some pictures from inside I snapped quick last night before my ambien induced coma!

From the inside looking out! Brr!!!



Living room from front door.
 Living room from stairs in dinning room

Dinning Room. (table almost doesn't fit!)



Play room from dinning room stairs! (its a MESS!)



 PlayRoom!


Kitchen!


 Basement! aka. the dungeon






Monday, February 4, 2013

Aint no thang like a Chicken Wing!


This evenings dinner was nothing short of amazing (like 99.9% of the time!) The soldier and I made bbq & buffalo chicken wings with sautéed green beans and pasta (amazing)


chicken wing recipe
-pre heat oven to 450
-package of wings split (thats how we did)
-rub down wings with butter (delicious right?)
-put in separate baking dish
-bake the wings 15 minutes or until starting to crisp and brown
- poke holes in the wings and add some sauce, bake 10 minutes.
*~*at this point we checked the wings for "doneness"*~*
-flip the wings over and add more sauce bake for about 5 minutes
-we heated the hot wing sauce w/ some butter to coat the wings when they were done

sophie the giraffe,..... WHO?

Everyones all like "sophie the giraffe" is my 3 month old babies best friend, ya she was $22.95 (+shipping im sure) but she loves it! im all like wtf is that???? What happened to good old school teethers?  I thought cold was best? now its all about whats cute for our teething crying drooling screaming  joyful little monsters  i mean  angels.



peace out sophie! meet smokie







Smokie the Giraffe

MY husband is NOT my babysitter.

 Lets face it Mama's! We've all been there. Husband walks in the front door and without  a "hi love how was your day" you throw him the baby, tell him the toddler has popped, needs a bath & over fed the fish, the dog may or may not have eaten a box of chocolate Santa looking things ohh... and the older kid needs help with a science project due thursday, its tuesday. Your out the door.

Or how about you this.
You have weekend planned with girlfriends, your leaving and have everyhting planned out for your family while your gone, dinner lunch... breakfast. Laundry is all clean, house is okay but its like whateveeeer they're going to mess it up! (lol) Seriously though you've left it with checklist of who takes a bath and when! Not even a poopy diaper without Mama knowing am I right girl? i know there is one of you ocd bicthes out there! I was one of t hem!  I use "was" very.. very lightly haha.  He (assuming your married to a man ) wont have to do a thing while your away and you like that, lets face it, cuz he wont be fucking up all your shit, right? Putting clothes on the wrong hanger, than in the wrong spot in the closet! How can he not see I have the shirts in sleeve length order!?! (lol maaaan women are nuts! makes me seriously wonder why some are lesbians! Im like HELLO! YOu know what species we are- WHY ARE YOU doing that to yourself!?!)

There's the Mom that just deuces out, she's like.. Ive had enough! She's already in the car as her husband pulls in the driveway! There's naked kids running around, oreos and cheese crackers rubbed into the leather sofa and who knows where all the pots and pans are. You've got to be asking yourself how in the hell does this  happen? I know I have. It happens like a snowball.  you neglect what seems like a simple small task, and you end up with a mother fuckin avalanche! seriously.  no joke. ive see it happen before my very eyes in a matter of6 months a 12 year marriage went down like a storm and Im sure its just the middle still... not even the bad part of the storm has passed.

you've heard happy wife, happy life.right? Its true. personally, i feel like Im an outstanding wife (DUH! haha) Im demanding, I keep a schedule and Im a bitch while doing it. I try my hardest to be as poilte as possible when Im being a bitch.. I swear. Its like... word vomit! When I say its time to leave  and the kids are still running around our friends house, and my husband is sitting there with his beer still half full Im like "Hey, drink that shit, lets go" Our friends have actually said wow your bossy. Whoa, hold that horse, what? Mother f-er, its taken me YEARS to get to where I am with the soldier, and a year ALONE with them while he was gone (he literally just got home less than a week ago, hence why I finally get to blog!) I keep my husband and kids on a schedule to keep our life HAPPY. I dont get overly stressed that way. I know that I can spend the evening with my husband doing whatever we like.. cuz our children take baths right after dinner and know when bed time is. I can keep my husband pleased this way, every night. Cuz you know, if you arent doing it, some other bitch is. it may look like i run this shit, and let me tell you, looks are deceiving.

the wife is the glue in which keeps the family together.... but the husband is the maker of that glue. When he stops, she falls apart.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

New Year with a new Haxton!

This blog has so many aspects to it. We are a military family, and thats what seems to define us. I have had so many friends turned family turned enemies in the past 6 years being a army wife its sad to think about. When I tell my friends back "home" (good ole' chino valley, arizona!) the things some people would do, they thought I was crazy! (Thats later to be determined I AM actually crazy hahaha)

This year Im focusing on my family.

Amaryllis
10 Years.
"Amara"

Koral
3 Months.
"Korie"
"MJ"
"K"

Azalea
2 Years.
"Azzie"
"Az"
"Boogers"

best.friends
The love that these three girls share is not measurable. I Love seeing them interact with eachother! When I was pregnant with Koral I was extremely  (very) scared of Azlea hurting her once she was born. I involved her in everything. So... to my surprise (seriously, i was fuckin shocked) when Azzie & Amara came to meet "baby" Koral, Az LOVED her. (And so did amara, t hinking she wasnt going to, the entire time I was pregnant she stressed how much she wanted a brother. probably my fault! Ha) Azzie is always rubbing on Korals head, kissing her and asking if she's "Awate" or "seeping". I cant stress enough how worried I was! Oooo my gosh! So far, it hasnt been all too bad. Amara is a wonderful help. Her and Azzie are always playing barbies, dancing or cheering. 


Happy New Year 2012.
in 2012 we added a new Haxton! She's made our family complete. I couldn't imagine not having her around now that she's here! 
Another "new" Haxton was born too! Me! Hahaha. You'll see friends.
You'll see. 
xoxo