busy moms = easy recipes

So like every other Martha Steward wannabe I'm so in love with PINTEREST! borderline obsessed! I even admit to digging thru my neighbors trash for boards to make into family pictures and taking home old tires off the side of the road to make into teeter totters. (both project are not completed and may make a appearance in a later blog.) 

The newest frequent pinning is recipes.

Ive never been a great cook, I think I'm too impatient to give it the time it needs and deserves, but recently I've seen lots of easy, minimal ingredient meals and thought my wonderful hubby deserves a few home cooked meals every once in a while. 

First up is chicken spaghetti

I don't have my own pict but here is the link I followed. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/1477812348591733/

so easy, so yummy and hubby = happy tummy. Next time I think I would change out the rotel for tomatoes, although Bruce said he liked the kick, I thought it was too spicy. I also thought it was better the next day as leftovers. Like the recipe mentions I had most of the 7 ingredients in my cabinet already and I like the dump and cook process.

For desert I made another round of the angel food/pineapple desert I made for the boys on 4th of July. Again this is a pinterest find, and again soooo easy, not to mention the two ingredients makes for a quick make. So light and fluffy!

On tonights menu we have

slow cooker salsa chicken 

http://millerfamilyorganizer.blogspot.com/2012/02/slow-cooker-salsa-chicken.html

and cake batter cheesecake bars.

http://pinterest.com/pin/1477812348527669/

Heres my versions..

The slow cooker salsa chicken was super yummy. I could not however get it to look anything like the example pict. I think I didn't put enough chicken cause mine was more watery which made it very messy.

Next up were the cake batter cheesecake bars. I used a pre made graham pie mold. Mine didn't turn out like the picture at all! I also didn't notice that after you make they want you to put in fridge at least 3 hrs so the boys and I tried it this am and it was really tasty!

 My little helper

Not sure how they didn't make the top part brown... Maybe cut a layer off????

Anyone else have any easy to follow, minimal ingredient, place in a oven or crock pot and cook recipes???? 

Link to my pinterest

http://pinterest.com/camandbrodysmom/

Backyard re-model

When we bought our house we were kidless, there was a nice square shaped area with a huge sycamore tree that would loose its leave every fall and make this huge mess that at the time was a pain but manageable. Once our first came and we released that was prime playset space we knew that nice tree, which was great for shade, had to go. I had mixed feeling about that but Bruce couldn't wait to bust out the chain saw a rip that sucker out. Below is the evolution of our yard.

The white arbor we knew wanted to stay. My Dad had built this for our wedding and we were actually married under it and had it moved to our home. Cam was around 11/2 when we decided to take on this project and Brody was a sweet pea in my belly.

Not only did it have a ton of leaves drop but the root system was awful!!!

Its better it came out now rather than once it cracked our foundation. Bruce rented a tiller and prepped the yard and removed about 10 truck loads of dirt. 

We knew we needed a barrier to keep whatever we were gonna put down around the playset off the patio so we opted for a brick area right off the patio.

Next Bruce leveled the ground and placed a week barrier down. He had re piped the sprinkler system so the only area that got h20 was the far corner on either side of the arbor for a future garden. Cam assisted. 

Camden also got a new playset for his second birthday from family that would be the focal point for the  yard. 

Papa and Dada building away!

My dad found a place in nearby town that took tires and removed all the steel to make playground mulch so that made the perfect bottom. We got over 500lbs!

Tada!!!! Dada worked so hard! with help from Papa assembling the playground and grandpa Bob for tree removal. 

Didn't really anticipate the appeal of shoveling the mulch.

Next project was the garden boxes, a gift from my Dad for my big 3 0.

He used vinyl fence pieces and pre cut to fit into the shape we wanted. a idea I saw on pinterest. 

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2010/05/24/how-to-build-a-vinyl-square-foot-garden-box/

Turned out better than I imagined! our first harvest was sunflowers, carrots, spinach, peas, a pineapple top, some avocado seeds from Brody Odie's favorite meal and a red pepper.

Cam loves watering his garden and watching his plants grow.

Updated 3/2013 we used more vinyl fence pieces and created a small barrier to keep the rubber mulch in. Garden is doing great!!!

Carrots have been a huge hit! The boys love picking and eating our fresh
organic carrots.

Pineapple, onions, red peppers and more carrots