Traveling is always fun, but for me it is a great refresher. Home is where I love.
Elizabeth and I will be traveling again soon! So excited to see my mama and siblings. ❤️ it’s been almost one and a half years since I saw my siblings, in person…
So excited!!
So I guess, my poem kind is at war with itself…I love being home, but the thought of seeing my family again makes me willing to travel from home!
If you are with a family member today, give them a hug. Because some people in the world are unable to see their own family members often. ❤️
This vacation was to visit the newest baby addition to my sister in-law’s family. All the way to Kentucky.
Our trip was a total of 5 days…
Day 1 Drive eight hours.Hotel. Day 2 direct flight to Cincinnati, drive 10min to Kentucky. Day 3 Kentucky. Day 4 Kentucky. Day 5 Fly plus drive the eight hours. 😩
Day 5 was the worst.
But enough of the depressing things I’ll post some pictures. 🥰
Driving out of our home state. Such a beautiful blue sky. Next state. I feel like their sky is huge!! An actual conversation that happened in the car.
It’s funny how my mind and my hubby’s mind work differently. Haha 😂 Elizabeth wanted up. This was going to be a fun day, if we were only into the drive by 3 hours.
Finally!
We went exploring because we got there a bit before we could check in. Next step swimming in the pool to get the wiggles out!!
Scratch that. The pool at our hotel is closed. So we went to the park and let Elizabeth get her wiggles out. The hotel was really crappy. In all our experiences, it was the second worst ever. The first being a weed smelling infested hotel that made me puke. So this one was just a smidge better because it did not smell but it was pretty bad.
Elizabeth was over the car. But at least we are on our way to the airport.
I don’t know if you remember Elizabeth with her backpack…but man, was that a life saver! If you have a two year old, get one. It was amazing.
Elizabeth was doing digital Art. I thought this one was pretty. Digital Art by Elizabeth 6-2-21I know airline’s say they wipe everything down due to Covid, but I always wipe everything, I think she might touch, down. Luckily I did because my wipe came back a light brown.
I would suggest wiping down things that claim to be clean. It never is. I’ve been doing this even before Covid. Just because my child has always been curious. She touches everything.
The clouds look like whipped cream. I’m hungry.
Finally to Kentucky. It is beautiful. It’s green! But wow it is humid!! It was 50 something degrees and I was drenched. Compared to home it felt like the air was giving me a sweaty hug. 🥵
Elizabeth and Papa. What a wonderful view they have out their windows.
Next, an outing in Kentucky.
Noah’s Ark. The tail end.
It was truly amazing!! Except at this area they had fake thunder noises and Elizabeth got scared. She got some extra mama snuggles.
Again Elizabeth touching everything. She liked all the wood. I wiped her hands when we got back to the first floor.
This last picture we had gone up to the third floor of the ark and was slowly making our way down. It was huge!!
The center of the ark. Just think people today had tools and machines. Noah had his hands and the tools he made.
Walking threw the ark made me realize something. Noah was the creator of the term rustic. Whoever claims otherwise is a liar. He started it all. Haha 😆
Elizabeth was Done! at around 2:00. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law do not understand because they have a 1 month year old. Their child is fine as long as she gets to eat and sleep. Not so true for a 2 year old. And I must say! Elizabeth walked almost the entirety of the day…except the first floor of the ark. (It was too crowded and the thunder). My fitbit said I did almost 10,000 steps by this point! But she did amazing. Also we got there around 9:30. So it had been 4.5hrs. But the grandparents and the new parents did not understand.
So around 3:00…the hubby and I were Done! We got the keys to the car and took back our screaming child. The instant we got in the car, she snuggled into me and slept. It was nap time. She probably napped for a good hour and a half. I probably got 30min.
Nap time plus waiting was a total of 3 hours before everyone else showed up…😕 it would have been nice to go back to the hotel before dinner.
Bedtime was interesting… Kentucky is 2 hours ahead of us. So when it was 10pm there, it really felt like 8pm. I feel bad for our neighbors because Elizabeth was finally falling asleep around 11:30 every night.
A park near their house.
So sweet 🥰She got daddy’s hat…❤️My extended family.
The day at the park was day four. It was warmer, but with a warmer temp meant sweating from the humidity. If it wasn’t humid and the life pace was a bit slower this would be a wonderful place to live.
Day 5
On the plane and the beautiful sunrise.
We had to wake up at 3:50am. 😒 It was good because we still had the eight hour drive after the flight. But it felt like our 1:50am. I was still on our home town time….😵
I wish I could find a cookbook that is only ground beef recipes…
This recipe says it takes 45min…🤨 another easy dinner!! A mom’s happy plan.
My ingredients!!Defrost the ground beef.
When I initially brought the beef up, I thought I had already put it in water. But alas no, I did not. So now I have to wait the 30min.
The tunes are on!
Unless I am trying a new recipe I don’t listen to my iTunes. I usually just roll with my Spotify playlist. Mostly because I used to listen to wide range of music and I would rather Elizabeth’s first words be from an bad song.
Fears of a mama.
Back to cooking.
Dice the onion. Do you see the cute cow butter dish in the back!?! It was my hubby’s grandma’s. I am a lover of cows too!I have chosen applesauce and corn for the sides to dinner. I know it’s not a real vegetable but it works. Beef!
I forgot to take a picture of cooking the beef, but let’s be honest…you know what it looks like. It looks the same as always. And this is me draining the fat off.
Oil, onion, salt, pepper! And my foot down in the left bottom corner…
Sorry. I am a little goofy today as I write this recipe up. No, my foot is not included into the food.
It doesn’t seem right…?
This recipe does not have pictures with the steps. Hopefully this is right…
Warming up the cast iron skillet. I like how the tortilla crisps. The meat mixture looks okay now.
I love Tim McGraw.
I had to skip various songs. Some were too random for my brain. Also some had some colorful words.
Starting to look yummy!!
I added the green onions. It was not in the list of ingredients, but green onions always add more delicious flavors.
Interesting mix.
I’ve already given the hubby his and Elizabeth her Mac n cheese. This one is Mama’s!!Yum!
Of course the night I choose to make a quesadilla, is the day when we are out of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. 😞 it was still delicious but I was bummed about the lack of extras.
But to the scoring.
Look Like Picture: 9. Mostly because I used the cheese I had. It was the cheddar jack mix from Costco. Not really the right taste, but still worked.
Taste: 9. I think it worked. But I think it would better with some diced green chilies mixed in. I’ve been in a spicy mood. The hubby liked it. He gave it an 8, just because he wasn’t very hungry to begin with.
Easiness: 10! It was easy. Another easy peasy recipe for a baby brained mama. Meaning… “dumb moments”. I have those days occasionally often. 😂
Hope you enjoyed the post. But also my music playlist.
Another google ground beef recipe. We still have a lot of ground beef to go. My mother can attest to it; she has seen the goods. 🤩
Do you notice the flowers in the background?🌸
I was given anniversary flowers/ Mother’s Day flowers. The hubby did good!
Back to the food…
Looks so yummy!! I wish mine had looked like that…
Defrosting the beef…again imagine some calming music… Instead I had…
This is where I am at in my music from 10years ago…strange choices…Noodles and beef!
Browning the beef and cooking the curly-cue noodles!!
The spices!!
I tasted a few noodles just to make sure they were not poisonous. Not that I love noodles, but for the safety of my family 🤨
This recipe was not really what I expected. I grabbed the tomato sauce, but it didn’t really register in my mind. I thought this recipe was more of a cheesy Alfredo pasta…
💪Wonder Mama!!
I have gotten into the habit of trying to wash the dishes often throughout the day. Because then when it’s dinner time, all I have to do is dinner dishes. So I am probably in the kitchen, at the sink, about 70% of my day…
Heavy Cream! Cheese! Noodles!!
How could it be bad…? Three awesome ingredients will be added to meat. It already is delicious!
Not quite the same…
See how the google picture is so vibrant while mine is kind of boring. Probably because of the cheese type.
But it still tastes good. Yes. I tried it.
The family meal!
Have to have my healthy food… SALAD!! We also had some leftover Hawaiian rolls. It seems like I added a salad just for the refreshing green color. 😂
My food! I did not eat three Hawaiian rolls…I ate two though!
Overall another easy recipe. Especially since I got the ingredients measured out beforehand and I was able to just add as I needed. In total, it was only about 30min to make.
Look like picture: 6. The noodles are the same but the consistency and color are quite different. But I give it a 6 because compared to the photo only the color is different.
Taste: 8! A solid 8. Mostly because it was not what I expected. So my brain was a little shocked. Whereas the hubby and daughter loved it!! If you try this, there is a distinct tomato taste. Almost like a creamy tomato soup pasta. With meat. Can’t forget the meat!
Easiness: 10! Another easy, chill, calm recipe for a mom who is frazzled. I wasn’t frazzled today, but on a day where I am I will probably make this again.
So to sum this recipe up. Not what I expected. Still good however. And the family approved. So I’ll be adding it to my cookbook.
Thinking…I might make a secondary google inspired cookbook called: The Frazzled Mama. Then when I am uninspired to cook; I can find an easy recipe! 🤔 I like this plan!!
Elizabeth’s outfit yesterday was my inspiration for the poem. Just a happy poem for a happy day.
Yesterday was the day to pick up Grandma!! So I decided Elizabeth would wear her new yellow dress.
I am so jealous because I love the color yellow, but I am unable to wear it.
But as I see Elizabeth in her dress, I think about a poetry book I used to read in my younger days…Ride A Purple Pelican. If you do not know this book, I definitely recommend it.
I sadly do not own it myself, but I will soon now that I remember.
Elizabeth is my very own Molly Day today. (Reference to the book)
Just a post of remembering memories. Watching my daughter’s childhood and remembering my own…❤️🌸
Planting a garden here is difficult. If you live anywhere where it snows you understand. You have start your garden inside.
So I started with the green beans plants. I always put them in moist ziplock bags and hang them on windows. If you ever did that green bean science project in elementary school…that is what I do every March.
I forgot to take pictures, of course, because I didn’t think I would post this. But I did an entire package of bean seeds. So about sixty seeds.
But this post is about the transplanting from the starter seeding to the main pots. We were going to build big garden boxes this year but the snow would never go away, and the building materials have become unreasonably priced…so we opted for Home Depot buckets. Also for all my romaine lettuce, that I started from tiny seeds, I will be using various pot sizes that we already have. Because I originally planted seventy-two lettuce plants.
My lettuce…😳This is our potato plant. It’s our first year trying potatoes.
Back to the topic of transplanting…
Every water bottle has its own green bean plant. And my lettuce plants in the back look happy.
At this time I only have about fifty-six green bean plants. And some more will probably die after the moving of pots…
Well once I began, I realized I forgot to buy more soil, and Walmart is too far away to only spend about sixty dollars in soil. So I checked online to see difference of price.
Ace. Ace is closer and only two dollars more. Ace it is!
Now I can start!!Don’t forget my big helper!!
Elizabeth was helping me fill buckets. She will probably be bored soon.
They look so healthy!! But man does it take a lot of time.
We only have one tomato cage. So I am putting the big plants together. We will go buy some more at another time.
Do you see the roots…most of the plants were like this. It shows me that it needed to be transplanted maybe a week ago.
Green beans are done!
It’s about 12:30pm now so I have to feed my hungry thing…
Well I took a long lunch break. Elizabeth was over heated. She over heats if it is over 60 degrees outside. It was almost 80 today. So It’s 4pm now. I had to make sure Elizabeth was cooled off completely. She is watching a movie inside and I’m outside again with the baby monitor.
Keep going…
Since the lettuce plants are so fragile I just quickly finished. Everything is in its new pot and all watered!
Of course it is supposed to be cold and rainy tonight so I will have to put them back in the basement.
The transplanting was Saturday. Today this is a current photo.
Only five bean buckets survived and one lettuce bucket.
It is super tiny, but I have little green beans growing!! I feel like a proud mama of my baby plants. 😂
The potato plant is sad but still alive. The lettuce plants are still thriving. After moving pots, I’ve lost about ten more bean plants and about twenty lettuce plants. I don’t think the lettuce plants are too happy with the purple lighting. I think they prefer sunlight.
Hopefully the cold weather is gone and I can leave them outside soon… we shall see.
I have to admit. It is difficult to stay within just three cookbooks. There are only so many ground beef recipes…and we have a lot of ground beefs to go. So I turned to google again.
Looks easy. It says it takes a total 20min to make. 😎
So I guess I renounce my statement of number of cookbooks. But I will be continuing to share my cooking stories. Let’s begin.
Lots of chopped green onions. These are also from my indoor plant. So they are fresh!!Beef…
The longest part was defrosting the beef. I always forget hat it takes almost 30min to defrost.
Easy. Took the beef. Drain the fat, set aside.
Next I was to add all the other ingredients and let simmer. But I forgot to take a picture. But it was garlic, soy sauce, ginger powder, beef broth, various spices, and a whole cup of brown sugar…😳 but I realized why that much sugar later on…
Yummy! It smells delicious!
The next step was to add watered cornstarch. I don’t use cornstarch. For no other reason than I never have any and I always forget to buy some. So instead you double the amount and use flour.
It will help thicken the beef mixture. The only difference between flour and cornstarch in sauces is cornstarch stirs in clear; while flour might be cloudy. Also…my tunes…
I’ve decided to listen through my iTunes music….it’s all the music I bought when I was a teenager…so most of it will probably be weird now…but maybe a few gems. Maybe…
As the meat is simmering for 8min you should also be cooking the noddles. It even suggested the spaghetti noodles. It was not a random decision. 🤓
The brown sugar is to glaze the noodles…🤔 ahhhh!
Hopefully it is good. It smells devine!
Top with the garnish…
Finished!!
….Wow! It is delicious. Even the hubby said he thinks this is his new favorite ground beef noodle recipe. Mine too. I wish I could post the video of Elizabeth eating it….it is definitely her favorite too!
So…
Look Like Picture: Maybe an 8. Just because it looks like they used a different option on the noodles. The more authentic version. We might have to get some next time.
Taste: 10! 100% 10!!
Easiness: 10! Another put it all together and then enjoy! I sent this recipe to my family. It is definitely a dish my brothers and nephews would love.
Also…
Cookies
The hubby made his chocolate chip cookies earlier so we already have dessert. It’s the normal nestle cookie recipe but somehow his cookies always come out amazing. One recipe I will not make; the hubby will always be in charge of chocolate chip cookies. And this time around he tried something new…
Fancy butter.
Nick’s friend gave us some fancy butter…if you love chocolate chip cookies, try making it with this butter….you will never be able to eat other cookies.
I’m usually good about not eating too many cookies… these ones I had 8 after dinner. I gained back all the weight I worked so hard to lose… 😩
Enjoy your night. I wish it to be filled with delicious food! But if it is filled with cookies…be strong…don’t eat too many! 🤣
❤️Since it was such a warm day…we walked to the store , Elizabeth and Daddy got ice cream. She got messy of course! (Mine was at the house already.)I asked for a smile and I got her go to expression…stick out tongue. She asked for my sunglasses. She wanted to match daddy. 😂Oh so cool! 😎And then the sweetest thing happened!! Wait for it….!!!!My first flower from my baby 🥰🌸Mama is happy 😊 Finish the happy day off with daddy, while watching the train fly by.❤️Original by emil2jane 05-01-21
It was a beautiful day. Hopefully more like that to come! Have a happy Sunday! 🤩
emily2jane 