A new adventure with Eli…
Our very first legit hike. Not one where I had to carry her the entire time. Not one where she got angry 10min in…
We did leave after about 20min. Because a storm was coming, and I didn’t want to attempt this hike wet and muddy…with a two year old…
But still it was a fun day. And it was filled with such sweet moments.
This bush was covered…😳
I know I’ve only been posting chapters…but that’s all I have ready. Eli has been a handful; I don’t have any free time to draw.
So I hopefully will be posting other types of posts, but if not there will be a chapter.
Also I’ll be traveling again soon…so this summer is going to be filled with many travels and family.
But still. I will post something.
Travel…
Sights, nature, things.
Love…
Hugs, gatherings, smiles.
Adventure…
Experience, thrive, strive.
Joys…
Laughter, children, food.
Leaving…
Goodbyes, sighs, waves.
Home…
Comfort, happiness, bliss.
…
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. 🥰
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 🥵
Next, an outing in Kentucky.
It was truly amazing!! Except at this area they had fake thunder noises and Elizabeth got scared. She got some extra mama snuggles.
This last picture we had gone up to the third floor of the ark and was slowly making our way down. It was huge!!
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.
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
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….😵
Finally back home. There is no place like home!!
First vacation in over a year…so I might post or I might not…
Maybe it will all just be the story….
We shall see.
Enjoy your next week!!
I am so focused on packing that I forgot to post, forgot about my mom’s group today, forgot to go to the post office first thing…
I even had a schedule planned…
Oh well. Sorry. Tomorrow I will!!
Cheesy Ground Beef Quesadilla!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sorry. I am a little goofy today as I write this recipe up. No, my foot is not included into the food.
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 had to skip various songs. Some were too random for my brain. Also some had some colorful words.
I added the green onions. It was not in the list of ingredients, but green onions always add more delicious flavors.
Interesting mix.
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.
New recipe…
Creamy Ground Beef Pasta!!
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. 🤩
I was given anniversary flowers/ Mother’s Day flowers. The hubby did good!
Back to the food…
Defrosting the beef…again imagine some calming music… Instead I had…
Browning the beef and cooking the curly-cue noodles!!
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…
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…
How could it be bad…? Three awesome ingredients will be added to meat. It already is delicious!
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.
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. 😂
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!!
Enjoy!
Today’s recipe was bagels…
It was from ‘Crusts: The Ultimate Baker’s Book’
I was in the mood to try something new. And let’s be honest bagels are awesome!!
So I forgot to take pictures of the dough…but I used the mixer of awesomeness!!! It sadly did not like the dough though…
Our mixer is only four years old. It shouldn’t be dying.
So it actually looks okay.
I’ll layout the process I’ve already done. -mix dough in mixer until ball is formed.
-roll the ball of dough on a cutting board with a light dusting of flour.
-divide ball into 12 pieces. (I miscounted and cut 14)🤪
-roll into hotdog shapes and form bagels.
-put a light dusting of cornmeal on pan and place bagels on top. Let the bagels chill in fridge overnight.
-… imagine the corny elevator music…
-next let bagels sit in room temp for 2 hours to let puff up.
Now the next picture!
I didn’t realize you have to put them in boiling water for about 1 min. It makes sense, but when they came out of the water they looked really bumpy and were super slippery. I dropped them upside down a few times!
Speaking of bumpy. It reminded me of a toy we had in my childhood. I don’t remember the name but it was a figurine that had stretchy limbs…so you could make him punch himself. But his skin was similar to the bumpiness. Strange… back on topic…
I should say, at this moment I was worried. I was worried it was going to be another failure. Normally I don’t worry but when you put days into something you really hope it works well. But to stay positive…if they come out hard as rocks, like the first time I made biscuits, I will just take them outside and have a bagel fight with Elizabeth!
Now relax! 🙂 they came out better than I expected!!
Awesomeness!! They are a little crispy on the bottom but they are still soft enough to eat!!
If I keep this up I will never buy anything ever again. Which saves money and I gain experience. A win win. The hubby will be happy. So an extra win!
I love just plain bagels. They are delicious to me!!
Elizabeth took a bite of daddy’s and made the best disgusted face. It was priceless. Almost like her gramma experiencing lobster. So she proceeded to steal mine. At least I have 12 others to choose from.
Look like photo: 9. Just because I think I need to cook it less time. Meaning I will be trying again.
Taste: 9. Again just because I need to adjust my cooking time. By 5min? We will see.
Easiness: 7. It wasn’t too hard but just since it was a two day process you have to make sure to have space in your fridge. That might have been the hardest part, rearranging the fridge. 😂
Well enjoy your Tuesday!! Maybe have a bagel! 🥯
I’m sorry about today. I think because of lack of sleep, is the cause for my painful headache. I will be taking a day.
Thank you all for staying updated on my blog. Knowing people are reading my post gives me a boost of enthusiasm every day. 😊
emily2jane 