The Fun of Bed Making...

I sat down to blog today about something serious that is going on in my life currently and I just couldn't find the right words so I gave up and moved on to cleaning the house. I decided to wash the sheets on my bed today instead of the usual Mondays I try to wash them on. And when it came time to make the bed I got distracted by none other than Prince Kibbiton... So I decided to combine my love of three things... My cat, photography and clean sheets on my bed. So this post is something all my cat loving friends will appreciate... 

 He thinks he is being cute... And maybe for the first 2 minutes he is but one thing is for sure... he is definitely what makes bed making fun!!!!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Today for lunch is one of Andrew and Tad's favorite lunches I make... Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It is actually quite simple to make. Here is what you need:
Pizza dough mix
1.5 Cups cooked cubed chicken seasoned with Buffalo seasoning (I use the Pampered Chef Brand) 
1/2 Cup Buffalo Wing sauce
3/4 Shredded Cheddar Cheese 
1.5 cups Monterey Jack Cheese   

Preheat oven according to pizza dough mix directions. Make the pizza dough according to the directions. 
Spread buffalo sauce on the dough, cover with cheeses and top with chicken. Bake about 12 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is a slight golden brown. And enjoy :) 

 

Our Real Life "Marley and Me" named Karley...

Most of you know the story of Ellie... 

She is our chocolate lab we got two years ago. Ellie was special to us because she was the only part of life that worked out the way Tad and I had planned before his helicopter crash in Iraq. Unfortunately, when spring came around and she began to shed we found out that I was severely allergic to her, to the point of my throat closing and breaking out in hives when I am near her for more than five minutes. She is now residing with my father in law and loving her life of roaming 5 acres and endless amounts of treats! Her leaving was devastating to me. I spent months training her to sit, stay, lay down, say please, catch, shake, kennel, bed... and Tad even taught her to stay out of the kitchen. She would lay at the entrance of the kitchen but not cross that line. I felt like I lost my best friend. She went every where with me and with us as a family. I am very thankful she is in a happy home and we can see her almost anytime we want. But I still felt like I lost a part of my family... 
In December, I had my battle with depression from my hysterectomy and life in general. Tad and I decided that it was time to try to find a new friend for me and a baby for us. He wanted his boat/fourwheeling/camping companion and I wanted our family dog who we could play with and take on the boat and out to do things. Our chihuahua's are spoiled princesses who do not enjoy car rides or the boat! We found the perfect dog at the Humane Society named Polar Bear. That did not work out as he was sick and removed from the shelter. We found Hailey, who we LOVED! and the shelter would not let us take her. So they offered us Vanilla, now known as Karley. 

We fell in love with her and her smile right away and she was instantly spoiled by all of us! 

She fit right in with everyone with in days. 

And she even excepted that Kibby is the man in charge in the Stuart House! 

But what we didn't know is that she would become a huge challenge and an expensive one at that! She came from the shelter with kennel cough and gave the other two an upper respiratory infection that lasted for three weeks. 

She broke out of her $300.00 wire crate and bowed it at the bottom making it difficult to close. 

And she began destroying all her toys!

Let's not forget how she made her self comfortable on my kitchen table for nap time when I was upstairs on the treadmill... That was about the time when I realized we needed to put up a dog run outside where she could behave when I couldn't watch her.

We all know how that worked out for us! So I got creative and sunburnt! 

And solved the digging to get out under the fence problem... 

Tad and Mikayla helped out with the dog run project and build the dogs a dog house to hide from bad weather and the sun. Well, Little Miss Smarty pants, Karley, learned she could climb on top of the dog house and jump over the fence to the outside of our yard. 

So we put up a tarp over the dog house to keep her inside the run. Karley discovered she could get on top of the dog house and push the tarp out of the way and jump the fence. So our neighbor while taking care of her while we were on vacation moved the dog house to the middle of the run. That didn't stop her determination to get out. She jumped 6-8 feet from the top of the dog house over the fence and was found up the street by our other neighbors. So we told Ryan to leave her out of the pen so she couldn't get out of the yard. She loved that! She even threw herself a little party in our garage! Chewed up cardboard boxes, four wheeler helmets, plastic bins, the hose on pressure washer she drug out, soccer balls, wood, and salt for the water softener! Now I know how parents of teenagers feel when they come home and find their teenager has thrown a party!

And you will never guess what she did next! 

She got up on the boat and jumped into Ryan and Mellisa's yard!!! You would think that by now Tad and I realize that she can' be left alone outside until we can figure out how to stop her. Well, we didn't and the day we got back from vacation she escaped when we went in the house for lunch. Mikayla went to leave to go to a friends house and found her laying on our front doorstep bleeding and unable to move.  She had been hit by a car and was dumped on our doorstep or she limped home and collapsed at the door...

Thankfully, Tad was home to help bandage her up and clean her up because the sight of her made me sick to my stomach! 

The vet stitched her up and sent her home on pain meds. Mikayla, Kibby (That's right.. Kibby the cat!), and I rotated shifts with Karley on the couch. 

But after a few days I knew she was still in serious pain and something was not right. So we took her back to the vet for more Xrays and found that her pelvis is broke in a few places and separated from her spine. So the vet sent us home with stronger pain meds and 6-8 weeks crate rest.
It has been a very very expensive and busy month and half with Karley since we brought her home from the Humane Society. And in all honesty, I am not sure I would change any of it (expect her pain and suffering and the trouble she gave Ryan when we went on vacation!) She brings such sunshine to our life everyday... Even when she is naughty and I am so mad at her she smiles at me and makes me laugh at her goofy smile. 

Kaiah and Kylee love her. 

Kylee gets so excited to see her when we bring her outside to go potty since her injury. It's almost like she misses her outside playing with them. Even Tad, who doesn't get too emotionally expressive about pets or animals, feels like she is a part of our family, even though it's only been a few weeks. Today at the vet's office when the vet was showing us her Xrays Tad leaned down and rubbed her ears and said to her, "Aaawwww, Girl, your gonna miss the first half of boating season!" It was almost like Karley had been on the boat with us for years and this was the first time she was missing out. It was a very heart warming moment for me in the midst of sad news. 
There is no real point to this blog post other than to share the story of our Karley and to remind people who are thinking about taking in an animal or who have pets that they have feelings too. And the minute you take them in you are assuming the responsibility of taking care of them. Not every pet/owner combination works out or is a good fit. If that is the case then do the right thing and find them a good home. It is sad to see so many pets abused and neglected. I have had my share of bad fits for pets and then some. But I know I have always done what was best for my situation and in the best interest of the animal. And I don't regret making the decision with Tad to bring Karley in our lives. I know our adventure with her is just beginning and I have no doubts in my mind once she is up and running healthy she is going to give Tad and I a run for our money.... literally. But I am okay with that because I know at some point she will know that this is her home and we will take care of her and love her and eventually she will stop trying to jump the fence to see what is on the other side because she will know that what is on the other side is not as good as what she is getting on the inside...But until then I will have to keep reminding myself and my husband how lucky we are to live a movie in real life and just pray that one day Tad is not in the yard looking for my Tiffany Key necklace to clear Karley's digestive system ;)

Spicy Stiring (Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese)

Welcome back to the kitchen of...well... me ;) Tonight for dinner I have decided to make one of the newer Stuart Family Favorites... Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese. A recipe I have been asked for from lots of people when I posted pictures on Facebook a few weeks ago. I have no set recipe I follow. I kind of winged it one night during what Mikayla likes to call "Momma's Randomly Made Meal" moments. Here is a list of what you will need: 

2 boneless chicken breast

Buffalo seasoning (I prefer Pampered Chef... I have two AMAZING reps who take very good care of my PC needs! I highly recommend checking them out

• http://www.pamperedchef.biz/erindardeno or http://www.facebook.com/PamperedChefWithAmySzymanski (Sorry, Amy, I didn't have your website handy!)

a small onion diced

a red bell pepper diced

a half stick of butter

a can of evaporated milk

3 cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/3 cup flour 

bread crumbs 

Salt

a box of pasta (I like the twisty elbows)

(And red pepper if you are adventurous!)

To start preheat the oven to 350 degrees... and then let the fun begin! 

Cube the chicken into small pieces, season with buffalo rub, and cook in a frying pan.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the red peppers and onions (and a dash of red pepper for an extra kick) to the butter with salt to taste and cook for three minutes. 

Add in the flour and stir with a whisk... will become very thick! 

Slowly add in the milk while whisking the flour mixture. whisk until it is a thick sauce then add a cup and a half of cheese. This will be thick! 

Mix in the pot you cooked the pasta in (after draining the pasta!) and pour into a baking dish. Top with a layer of the remaining Cheddar cheese, bread crumbs and little melted butter for a nice golden brown touch. Bake for 25 minutes.... and enjoy! 

I was told that I could not make this blog post unless I personally thanked my assistant for the cooking photo session, Miss Mikayla Savannah-Lynn... So Thank you, Mikayla for all your help tonight!

Hot Luvin' From the Oven.... YUMMMMM

Happy Snowy Sunday... which is no April Fools Day joke for this April 1st! It's been kind of a blah cold day in our part of the country but the kitchen here sure has been heated up! This afternoon I made a cake using a very quick and easy recipe I picked up from my friend and fellow blogger, Debbie. Be sure to check out her blog.... she makes the most delicious foods ever! (http://capturedfoodphotosandcrafts.blogspot.com/) And then we progressed on to Buffalo jerky and spaghetti pie, a long time Stuart family favorite dinner. A recipe I got from my sister years ago when I used to cook all the time for her and random other people. So needless to say a lot of my afternoon has been spent in the kitchen. I am not complaining though because there is nothing quite like the smile you get on your face when one of your kids says, 

"It smells so good in here from all the food cooking... Yummmmm...." (Thanks Mikayla!) 

Buffalo Jerky... Not a huge fan but Tad and the kids love it and it does smell really good in the dryer! 

 I am sure some of you are wondering what is Spaghetti Pie. Honestly, it is just as it sounds! Here is what you need to make it :

1/2 an onion       1/2 a green pepper

1 Jar of spaghetti sauce (The thicker the better) 

Cottage cheese    2 Well beaten eggs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

2 TBSP of butter  3 Cups Cooked Spaghetti noodles

1 Cup Mozzarella cheese 

1 pound ground beef 

Brown the meat and onion in a pan (drain grease) 

Mix in the green peppers and sauce

After draining the pasta noodles and measuring the 3 Cups of cooked noodles (roughly 1/2 box) mix in the hot noodle pan butter, well beaten eggs, and Parmesan Cheese.

In a greased (I use Pam Cooking spray) pie pan dump the noodle mixture and form a crust. Layer with cottage cheese, pour on meat and sauce mixture and bake uncover for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover with Mozzarella cheese and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

And then you have Spaghetti Pie.

A pretty simple dinner all and all. I can't wait to see who tries it and who likes it! Shall we check on the jerky? It sure does smell good! 

Looks almost as good as it smells!!!! 

For anyone who likes jerky... I highly recommend buying a dehydrator and trying to make some. I bought Tad his two years ago and he loves to make jerky. It's a great treat to take on trips or to just have on hand. We even make jerky dog treats! 

As I am sitting here typing this blog Peyton is hounding me for cake. Everyone is dying to taste the cake that only took two ingredients! That's right... I said two ingredients! 

These three....

Made this.... 

So Yummy!!!! And simple as pie! In a bowl pour a box of cake mix and dump a can of soda over it. Mix till creamy smooth and bake according to cake box directions. Cool and frost... Easiest cake I have ever made! Makes life simple for a busy Momma such as myself! A huge thank you to my friend for bringing such simplicity to my life! I think next time I will try chocolate cake with Dr. Pepper.

Although today was nothing exciting and the recipes weren't glamorous, it's the little things in life that go a long way. It is the things like Dad's jerky and Momma's Spaghetti pie the kids will remember and someday fill their own homes with the familiar delicious smells of their parents kitchen....