What In The World Do You Do With Cube Steak???

I was feeling very ambitious a while back and got all the stuff to make chicken fried steak including cube steak. I read the recipe again after my grocery store run and realized I was kidding myself to think I would ever actually take the time to make that, so then I was stuck with a bunch of cube steaks. Luckily Pioneer Woman came to the rescue and had a recipe that I could actually make that used cube steak. I made this on Friday and I seriously can't say enough good things about it.

The MM sandwich, PW style.

It was the best thing I've ever cooked for sure. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. You should make this right now so you know what I'm talking about, but add less garlic than she tells you to. I like garlic, but it was a little much. Also, you can't be afraid of a little butter (or a lot) and cube steak.

Thanks Taunya for the introduction to her awesome blog! Now I'm not just stealing your recipes, I'm also stealing hers.

Mother'sDay

I definitely know some amazing mothers who have taught me everything I know, especially my own mother. So thank you for teaching me what it means to be a mother by your example. I would be lost without you!

Most importantly I get to be a mother to the most amazing little boy on the planet.
I am truly blessed! This little guy has come into my life and made me better in every way.
Austen, you have stolen my heart!
I'll love you forever.

We Left With All Of Our Fingers......Thankfully

The weather has been pure perfection the past couple of days, so we have been making the most of it. We've been spending pretty much all of our time outside. We even took a trip to Wheeler Farm. We stopped and got some bread for the birds and headed over. The ducks and geese weren't really in the mood for children because they're nesting right now, so it wasn't that fun. We got chased by a goose! After that Austen didn't want to feed them anymore, so we moved on to less aggressive animals.

Austen wanted to pet everything. I guess he doesn't know that animals bite.

First he pet this baby cow. When the cow laid down to take a rest, Austen thought he'd do the same and sit on a rock.

The turkeys....he didn't try to pet these.
That would have ended badly I'm sure.

Petting the baby lamb.

And petting a cute little bunny.

Austen's favorite part of the trip was driving this tractor.

Or watching this tractor scoop manure.

It was really funny because all the little boys there were more interested in the heavy machinery than the animals. They all congregated over by the fence to watch it in action. It smelled so bad and they didn't even care!

New Favorite Lunch

I've sort of invented my own recipe.
It even tasted quite good.
It's ok to be surprised......I certainly was.

I got sick of my turkey wraps that I mentioned a while back and had to think up a new thing for lunch. I am still obsessed with vegetables though so I had to have those and I also wanted to use quinoa because I have a ton and if I don't figure out how to eat it I will never get through the 300 lb bag I bought on impulse at Costco.
That was the beginning of something amazing and super healthy.



The first picture is my creamy version and the second is my teriyaki version. Both are seriously good, but the teriyaki might be my favorite.

Here goes if you are feeling brave enough to buy quinoa. (You really should! It's a very healthy grain and it's packed with protein.)

Saute some veggies in olive oil. (Whatever you have would work.) I used red pepper, zucchini, broccoli, mushroom, and asparagus.
Sprinkle in some garlic powder, onion flakes, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes if you're feeling like you need a kick.
Then add the sauce you want.
For the creamy version I melted some onion and chive cream cheese in chicken broth. For the teriyaki I used my beloved Yoshida's original sauce.
Then pour the veggies and sauce over your quinao and there you go.

Austen LOVES this and asks for it at lunch time. Today when I told him we were going to the grocery store he even said "To get veggies?" and he was super excited about it. He even says he wants quinoa which makes me laugh because most people don't even know what that is. (if that's you, don't feel bad. I didn't either until the sample lady at costco explained it to me. Even then I went around mispronouncing it for quite a while. It sounds like kin-whah.)

A Before And After

WARNING: This post contains cheesy awful self portraits, don't worry you haven't stumbled onto a 16 year old girls facebook page.

I have really thick hair.
As in it takes 3-4 hours to get done at the salon
and every hairdresser that has ever cut or colored it has said
"Wow, you have a lot of hair."
So I was sick of doing it and never took the time.
It usually just ended up in a pontail or messy bun and I looked like a bum.
(The sweats weren't helping.)
So after 2 years of resisting I finally broke down and got a "Mom" haircut.
When your choices are bum or mom hair I chose the latter.

Before

After

I haven't regretted it once.
It feels very refreshing to not have all that hair....it was too much.
I'm still a bum (I haven't washed it in 3 days....tmi?)
but at least now I have to make a little effort with no ponytail option.

Peace And Quiet Is A Distant Memory

When Austen was a baby I used to watch his very serious face and be so curious about what was going on in that little brain. I knew his mind was going a million miles an hour, but he couldn't vocalize any thoughts. I was beyond excited for the day he could talk. Well that day came and it was awesome. I learned that I have quite possibly the funniest kid in the world! He keeps everyone laughing even random people that we see when we're out and about. I love to hear what he has to say, but can I just tell you that the novelty has worn off. Every thought that goes through his head has to come out of his mouth. I'm not kidding either. Austen talks all day non-stop. He even talks in his sleep.

Most the time it's fine, but sometimes I can't take it. He asks something and if you don't answer, he'll just keep asking until you do. He never lets anything go and he never gives up!

My days are filled with "Mommy what are you doing?" "Mommy what's that outside?" "Mommy what's Sophie barking at?" "Where's mommy going?" "What's Austen doing?" (He asks that a lot!) It's so bad that I can't even talk on the phone to other people because he is constantly wanting answers to questions and he doesn't have the patience to wait until I'm done. I'm not joking either, if you've tried to talk to me on the phone recently you know what I mean. I usually have to wait until he's sleeping. He even does it during movies.....He asks about the characters constantly and it has actually put a damper on movie night because it gets old answering the question "Where did lightning mcqueen go" about 300 times.

I'm not complaining really, it's just exhausting listening to and answering him all day everyday. So, I've discovered that there are a few things that distract him and keep him quiet.

Reading stories.

He loves to be read to and he will be perfectly silent story after story. The only problem with this solution is that I can't be getting anything done around the house while I'm reading.

Watching the workers.

We are very fortunate and live in a community where our yard is 100% maintained for us and Austen loves to watch the workers. They have really cool tools and lawnmowers and edgers and blowers. He thinks it is the most fascinating thing in the world to watch them, so he'll sit in silence the whole time they are outside. Then he goes outside and pretends to do what they were doing. It's really cute, but they only come once a week.

So the other days when my ears need a break, I pull out the big guns and let him vacuum.

He loves to vacuum and it seems like the floor could always use it, so this solution is really a win win. He even enlists the help of his stuffed animals. It's the perfect thing because he's happy and it's too loud to talk over. This way I can get some stuff done in peace and well, not quiet, but it's as good as it's going to get for a very long time.

First Outside Bike Ride

Austen is so in love with his big wheel. He drives it all over our house pretending it's his car. He puts stuff in the back and uses the keys and everything. It was finally warm enough that I thought it would be fun to let him take it on one of our walks. I probably shouldn't have brought the dog too cause it was a lot to manage, but we made it home in one piece and he never tried to take it in the actual road which I was a little bit afraid of. In fact our only problem was getting him to come home. He was a little ticked off that we actually had to come back.

Feeling so cool with his sunglasses.

He even stopped and picked some flowers (weeds) for mommy.

I love this one because you can tell from the look on his face that he is taking this driving outside stuff very seriously.

He even had to stop and check the mail because that's what grownups do right?