Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes #KernelSeasons

I was so excited when Kernel Seasons approached me again to help with the launch of their 3 new flavors: Bacon Cheddar, Buffalo Wing and Pizza.  Not only was I excited but the kids couldn't wait to try what I was making. 

I decided to use the Bacon Cheddar seasoning in my trusty mashed potato recipe I use from Allrecipes.com with a few simple tweaks.  My kids gobbled these up and asked for seconds.  My husband said they were amazing.  Enough said.  The delicious taste of bacon and cheddar without out all the calories.  Definitely a win in my book.

Ingredients:

• 6 Red Potatoes, washed and cubed
• 1/2  cup warm milk
• 1/4 cup margarine/butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 capful of Kernel Seasons Bacon and Cheddar seasoning



Washed potatoes.  I don't peel them because I like the texture and additional nutritional value the skins add.

Directions:

• Place cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook 20-25 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.  This means that the potatoes slide off the fork when pierced.

• Drain well and put potatoes back into warm pot.
• Add warm milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, butter and bacon cheddar seasoning.

• Mash well (incorporating all ingredients) until light and fluffy.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did!


P.S. I have another recipe I will be posting using Kernel Seasons Pizza Seasoning in the next few days.  Stay Tuned!

Berry French Toast Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf Italian bread cubed
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup flavored creamer (I used Irish Cream)
• 3/4 cup  milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 8 oz package cream cheese softened
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup rinsed blueberries
• 1 cup hulled and quatered strawberries

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat 3 eggs into cream and milk.  Mix in cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. 
• Pour egg mixture over bread and set aside.

• Mix sugar into cream cheese until smooth.
• Spray 8x8 pan with nonstick spray.
• Fill bottom of pan with 2/3rds of bread mixture.
• Top with 1/2 the berries.

• Dollop cream cheese over berries.

• Top with remining bread and finish off with remaining berries.

• Bake for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes checking for doneness.

***Changes I would make next time would be to use the whole loaf of bread so I have more bread mixture to cover the top.  I will probably up the eggs to 4 and the milk combo to 1 1/2 cups when I add more bread.  I would also double the cream cheese mixture.  No complaints about the original finished product though.  The kids inhaled it!

Decisions, Decisions

It's always hard when faced with a tough decision.

This past week I've had one of those lying  heavily on my mind. With everything else going on its been tough to give it the time it needs to fully weigh the pros and cons. The impact it may have in a positive or negative way on my family.

My father's sister passed away last week. I spent Sunday and Monday out of town attending the memorial and spending time with my cousin.  My mom's mom has been in the hospital for over two weeks now.  She has been getting worse instead of better. Now, my mom's sister is also in the hospital.  May has not been a good month for my family.

So the decision I needed to make had to wait. I put it off. I attempted to ignore it. All I received in return were sleepless nights with everything worrying me and weighing me down. My anxiety levels have  been up and panic attacks on the horizon.

Today I researched and asked in depth, detailed questions about the choices I had to make. The deadline was approaching fast.

This evening I am confident in the decision I finally made. There was not necessarily a right or wrong choice. However, there was a lot of grey area and opportunity for negative future impact.  I decided for my families sake to chose the option that was a guarantee.

Who knows what the future may bring but at least this way I know where I'm going and what I need to do to make it work.

Now I pray there will be no regrets. I'm 90% certain there won't be. Now to focus on the positive, move forward and make things happen.

Wordless Wednesday: Homework Time

Why yes....that's an ice pack on my back.  I'm hot and sweaty. And my baby is waiting patiently for me to play with her once I finish my homework.
 
Oh, and yes it looks like a tornado hit after I get home from school.

A lot on My Mind

I'm having trouble sleeping tonight. Many things are zooming around my head and I can't make it stop.

Maybe if I blog about it I'll finally sleep.

Here goes:

1. As of tomorrow night my grandma will have been in the hospital for 2 weeks. She slipped and fell while getting into bed. My cousins convinced her to go to the hospital and she's still there.

The swelling and pain from the fall have made it difficult for her to walk. She's in her 80's. They also discovered she has a kidney infection and other problems.

To make matters worse claims of neglect were made by some family members against others that she was living with. Family drama ensued and Facebook was a disgusting free-for-all for some. I was appalled.

This has all weighed heavily especially since my family (including my parents) don't live close by. It's sad. My mom comes from a big family and 90% still live in the vicinity.

2. My Aunt passed away Monday.  My cousin called me up in tears. She didn't know who else to call. My Aunt has bern distant from everyone for years. That made it hard for my younger cousin to make and keep family connections. I found her on Facebook a few years ago and we've kept in touch ever since. Unfortunately she's also estranged from her older brother.

So, I've tried to support her the best I can from 5 hours away. It's been a mess planning my aunt's memorial.  She was cremated within days. We tracked down her brother. He's across the country and can't get the funds together to come. That's creating problems because he wants his sister to wait indefinitely on the memorial.

She's finally decided to go ahead and have it without his blessing. I'm leaving in about 6 hours to drive the 5 hours there with my dad. I need to be there for her. I think we'll be the only relatives and that's just heart wrenching. I won't let her down.

And finally,

3.  My workers comp lawyer called Friday with a settlement offer. Larger than the previous one from two weeks ago.

I don't know what to do. If I take it then my case is closed and I get no more medical.

If I keep it open hypothetically I can get bi-weekly payments as long as I'm working and make under $312/week.

I'm only 37 (38 in July).  Is it worth it to settle?  It's about the equivalent of 8/9 years of my bi-weekly payments.   I'm only working part time (approximately 20 hours/week) at $8/hour.  Is it worth it?!

I've spent the last 3 hours on google trying to find the right answer. My lawyer says I should. But he'd also be getting about $30,000 from the settlement.  I have no answer.

My heart says if I take the money I have to carefully budget it.  Can I do that properly is the question. If I don't take the settlement will something effect my payments down the line? 

I hate the uncertainty of it all. Do I go with the lawyer or my gut?  I have to decide by Tuesday. I just don't know.

And that my dear readers is why I'm still awake at 3 a.m.

***Please forgive me if everything isn't clear and coherent. I'm beyond exhausted and stressed. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Wordless Wednesday: Day Dreaming

Bloglovin

Just added Bloglovin to my site. Follow my blog with Bloglovin
 
 
***And enjoy this fun Blog Hop too!***
 
 
 

Sweet Tooth Confessions

Confession time.  I have a major sweet tooth.  Some days I seem only to be craving sweets to eat.  Not good at all. I confess my sweet tooth needs to go away.  Far away!

I'm slowly working my family towards  healthier eating habits. We're all healthy and where we need to be as far as weight is concerned. However, I know processed food is not good for our bodies and I'm trying to make a change. I don't think we'll ever be 100% whole foods though that would be great.  I'm willing to make changes while also being realistic. Things like this don't happen overnight.

That being said...my sweet tooth (teeth in reality, every dingle dang one of them) is holding me back.  My cravings definitely cycle and its not always around "that time of the month".  The last week has been sugar central for me.  Not good at all.

My husband will tell you that while I'm not the best cook (thanks honey) I am a good at making desserts, treats and yummy snacks. He says its my talent.  Some are healthy. Most, not so much.

Here are my sweet downfalls:

Anything with chocolate and peanut butter.  Enough said.

Brownies...Full fledge MAJOR addiction people!!

Chocolate chip cookies....Warm and melts out of the oven.

Twizzlers....Funny thing is I don't crave them until I've had one.  Ugh. 

Sponge Candy....It's a Buffalo thing. I had my dad bring back four (don't judge) containers when he visited my brother in February.  I've been really good. I have two tubs left.  Hoping for more in June.

On a positive note, most of the sweets I eat are homemade.  So its not processed and I can control fat and sugar content.  I just have to work on controlling those things.

What foods are your downfall?

Ummm....hubby brought home a big package of Twizzlers and they're calling me.  Excuse me while I run away from them and my sweet tooth cravings!!

Guilty Pleasure Popcorn

Pop popcorn. Liberally shake Kernel Seasons Kettle Corn flavor onto it.  Add a few handfuls of mini chocolate chips. Drizzle on caramel syrup/sauce. Drizzle on chocolate syrup.

Sit back.  Put your feet up. Relax and E-N-J-O-Y.

Mmmmmmmm!!!

How do you dress up an ordinary snack and make it into a guilty pleasure?

Wordless Wednesday: A Day at the Cavern

A fun day out with the family.

Wordless Wednesday: And Then There Were None

Last Spring we had to make the tough decision of cutting down a dying maple tree in our backyard.

Unfortunately we had to cut down our "twin" maples just a few weeks ago. It breaks my heart. Tgry were starting to lean to much towards the house after all of last years rain plus the hurricane in late August.  We could tell they were dying.  These trees were very old and we loved them very much.

My kids cried. Now our small backyard has no shade for them to play in on hot summer days.

I won't miss the "helicopters" flying off in the Spring or all the leaves falling off in Autumn. But nevertheless, I'll miss those trees and mourn them.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

As always, the holidays to me mean spending time with loved ones and making special memories that will last a lifetime.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs in the Rice Cooker

                              

Making the perfect hard boiled egg just got easier if you own a rice cooker. Yes, you read that right. Rice Cooker = Perfect Egg.  No broken eggs, leaky egg whites, grey tinged yolks. No more guess work. Perfect egg. Every. Time.

Step 1.  Fill bottom of rice cooker with 1 cup water.

Step 2.  Place steamer basket insert on top. Place eggs inside. Sitting the eggs up on end versus on their side will center the yolk (if you're making deviled eggs) and give you space for more eggs.

Step 3.  Place cover on rice cooker and turn it on. Set timer for 20 minutes.

Step 4.  Remove eggs from rice cooker using tongs. They are very hot. Place in an ice bath to cool. Eat immediately or place in fridge for up to a week.

                              

 Enjoy!  My kids sure do!  We'll be making a dozen tonight and coloring them for Easter.

                               

That Kinda Morning

So my morning has gone something like this:

3:30 a.m. …Hubby's alarm goes off

3:35 a.m. …Hubby's alarm goes off

3:45 a.m. …Alarm again

3:50 a.m. … Alarm last time (so glad I'm off work this week).

3:50-4:00 a.m. …Hear muffled rummaging through bedroom closet and in bathroom.
4:00 a.m. …Poor, tired hubby has left for work.

4:30 a.m. …Drag self to bathroom and then back to bed.

5:00 a.m. … Hear annoying cat scratching at a bedroom door. After verify that the regular culprit is at the bottom of my bed I investigate. I don't see him so back to bed . Weird but I'm too tired to think about it.

5:15 a.m. … More scratching. Now I'm getting pissy because I'm exhausted and it sounds like he's scratching the arm of the couch in the living room. I head downstairs. See him sitting there looking innocent  and scold him. Drag myself back upstairs.

5:25 a.m. … Scratching, again. Now I'm beyond ticked. Why do cats have to scratch things?  Why my couch in particular?!  Stalk downstairs. Grab dreaded lavender smelling "anti-scratch" spray and spray both sofa and love seat arms. Make mental note to buy packing tape (stick on couch and deters scratching).

5:29 a.m. …Stalk back upstairs unsatisfied knowing it's not over. Just a small battle won.

5:50 a.m. …Scratching sound is back. I lay there and actually think it through this time.  Definitely a cat. Scratching at a door. Hmmmm...maybe to get out of a room instead of in like I assumed close to an hour before.

But wait, both cats are accounted for. Thinking. We have 2 more cats but they like to sleep in the basement at night. One is a serious recluse, afraid of her own shadow. She rarely comes up and doesn't stay for long. Maybe she snuck up and found her way upstairs into a bedroom and got closed in at bedtime.

5:54 a.m. …Listening carefully. Nothing. I decide to check Little Bee's room. Makes the most sense as its the closest to the stairs. I crack the door and Mittens runs through it like her tail's on fire and the devil's nipping at her heels.

Mystery solved.

6:06 a.m.…Meowing from basement. Obviously Molly now wants up to be with the other cats. Stomp downstairs. Let Molly in. Mittens flies downstairs to hide once again.

Dang I'm tired.  I give up on sleep. I hop on Twitter for a bit. Read through my RSS reader. Go online and comment on a Scary Mommy post.

6:30 a.m. …Give in and go downstairs and make coffee. Mittens is scratching at the basement door to come in again. Heck, maybe she want to be social finally. Well, as long as we don't get too close. Ha!

7:00 a.m. …Kids are up. Well one kid. Time to start this day. Last day of school before Spring Break. Bring it!!

***Btw...Don't judge me as the scary cat lady. The two we just got last month were my parents two cats. My mom hounded my dad to find them another home. After 6 months with no luck he was going to (well actually did) take them to the animal shelter. We couldn't bare to see that happen. My older cat is their mom. It broke our hearts. That's a whole other post. So, we took them in and hope to find them a loving home together with someone we trust. Until then, I guess I'm an honorary (temporary) member of the cat lady club.

7:26 a.m. …Goalieboy finally made it into the shower after procrastinating for over 20 minutes. Ugh!  If only he'd taken one last night. He begged, pleaded and promised to take one in the morning. I guess this was my payback for bring nice. I seem to get that a lot around here. Do you?

Tell me I'm not the only one having one of "those kind of" mornings? Do you have a story you'd like to share? Feel free to comment here or write a post about it and link back here.

Chat with you soon.

Girl Scout Bear

Build A Bear Workshop is helping the Girl Scouts Celebrate their 100th year. They are offering a limited edition bear and Girl Scout uniforms.

My daughter's troop had a special party there to celebrate. This is her bear, Lizzy. The pink sweater is a castoff from another stuffed animal. She claimed Lizzy was cold.Isn't she adorable?!

I love Build A Bear!  The employees are so friendly and great with kids!  We can't wait to go back and pick Lizzy up some cute outfits.

Refreshing and Easy Breakfast

This is what I've been eating for breakfast almost every morning for the last few weeks.  It's quick, easy, nutritious and delicious.

Just layer yogurt (vanilla is my choice), cut up strawberries and granola. Can't get much simpler than that.  Enjoy!

Crockpot Corned Beef

My family loves corned beef.  All of them!!  Amazing, especially since Little Bee is not much of a meat eater.

I always make it in the crockpot because it's quick and easy. I love that I can throw it together and walk away from it the rest of the day. Nothing like preparing a meal you don't have to babysit.

Ingredients:

• Corned beef brisket with spice packet (tried flat cut this year and loved it!!)

•  1 medium onion cut into wedges

•  4 potatoes

•  3 garlic cloves minced

•  1 bay leaf

•  1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

•  1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Directions:

1.  Remove brisket from package and throughly rinse with cold water, then place in crockpot .

2.  Place remaining ingredients on and around brisket (excluding potatoes unless you like them cooked that way). 

3.  Fill crockpot with enough water to cover brisket.

4.  Wrap potatoes individually in foil and place on top of brisket. 

5.  Cook 1 hour in high and 6 on low or 8-9 hours on low.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

*** Cook in a 5-7 qt crockpot. Serves 4 with leftovers. Yum!

*** Potatoes can be cut into quartered and placed under brisket. The same with carrots. We don't like veggies cooked in the crockpot that way so I make foil packets.

*** Cabbage can be cut into wedges and added to the pot the last hour of cook time. 

Enjoy and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

Easy Peasy Cherry Cobbler

This is seriously the easiest cherry cobbler to make. It has just four ingredients.  Ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now.  It's the perfect recipe when baking with kids. Give it a try today!

Ingredients:

•1/2 box white cake mix (approximately 1 1/4 cup)

•1/4 cup butter

•1 cup milk

•1 can cherry pie filling

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2.  Place 1/4 cup butter in 8x8 baking pan and put inside oven to melt.

3.  Mix cake mix and milk together until smooth.

4.  Pour batter over melted butter in pan.

5.  Pour pie filling over batter being sure it is spread out over top. Do not mix.

6.  Bake 45 minutes or until top in golden brown and cherry filling is bubbly. 

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

My family devoured the whole pan tonight!  They are already asking when I'll be making it again.  It's also very customizeable. Just think of different pie fillings and different cake flavors. Plus you could double the ingredients and use a 9x13 pan.

Hope your family enjoys this easy dessert as much as mine!!

What I Learned This Week

Here's a few things I learned this week:

1.  Check the settings on the washer before doing a load of laundry. Realized as I put my second load in that somehow the load size was set on medium. Here's hoping the large load in the dryer is fully clean.

2.  Pin a note to forgetful child so she remembers to bring home the small containers you put in her lunch box during the week. My dear daughter saved  5 mini ones in her desk from snack this past week. Thankfully they finally made it home and were empty. It could've bern a very stinky mess.

3.  Getting a new movie from Redbox or DVD Express can keep your children occupied and not fighting for a couple hours. Even better when the movie (Hugo) they thought was going to be stupid and boring entrances them to silence 5 minutes in.

4.  School districts ten miles apart can and will handle inclement weather differently. The school I work in closed due to an impending snow storm (started about 10 a.m.).  My kids school district finally called early dismissal at 9:50. They dismiss high school first, then middle school and last elementary (based on school start times).  So my kids were released into a mess. The roads hadn't been plowed or anything. Thankfully we live 3 blocks from school.  The district and town need to do a better job (releasing and plowing).

Life always keeps you guessing. The learning is on going. You adjust and keep moving forward.

What did you learn this week?

Finally Some Snow!

 

 

Snow!!!

 

 

We've barely had any snow since #snowtober and I can say I'm very happy about that.  The weather gurus have been going back and forth on how much snow/rain this system would drop here.  At last check we have about 3 inches.  It's suppose to change to over to sleet and freezing rain just in time for the evening commute.  Hoping the hubby can make it home from work.  His commute is usually an hour.

Most of the school around us either closed or announced early dismissal before 9 a.m.  Our school district waited until almost 10.  My kids were not realeased from school until noon when the snow was falling rapidly and the roads were not plowed or salted.  The roads by the school were slick and messy at pick up.  I'm so glad my kids are not bussers. They are home safe and sound and enjoying all the snow out back now that lunch and homework are done.  Oh to be a kid again!