Good Food, Good Meat...

...Good God, Let's eat!  My Dad used to say that when we were growing up sometimes, instead of saying Grace before dinner.  It has stuck with me :)

I wanted to share a couple dinners we've had lately, that are pretty all around pleasing, at least I'd like to think so since I made them. 

Chicken Spinach Alfredo Pizza

 

I like to make a homemade pizza crust, but this pizza would be a SUPER quick fix if you got pre-cooked crusts (usually in the pasta aisle) or the refrigerated crust you get in a tube by the refrigerated biscuits.  I used:

• 1 jar Light Parmesan Alfredo Sauce

• 1 box chopped frozen spinach

• 1 cup chopped or shredded chicken (leftover rotisserie chicken would be perfect)

• 1 8 oz. bag shredded Mozzarella or Pizza cheese

• 1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese (optional- it makes it seem a little more gourmet, to me)

• 3-4 slices of bacon, chopped and cooked crisp

1. Prepare your pizza crust if it's not cooked already, it usually needs to cook a bit before adding toppings
2. Microwave unopened box of spinach in a glass bowl for 5 minutes; remove from packaging into a dish towel; wrap with towel and twist ends to wring water out of spinach; combine spinach and alfredo sauce
3. Spread sauce mixture on pizza crust, top with cheeses, then chicken and bacon; bake until desired doneness!

Pork Lo Mein

Get together:

• Your favorite stir-fry veggies (we like sliced bell peppers, sliced onion, shredded carrots, sugar snap peas, and crushed garlic, or sometimes I even just use a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies)
• 1 lb. Pork loin, steak, chops, or you could do chicken breast, too- this needs to be cut into thin strips
• Lo Mein noodles or spaghetti if you can't find lo mein (I have gotten mine from HyVee, they were called Wu-Mu noodles there, and I also have gotten them from an Asian food store and they were called Shang Dong noodles, I think....)
• Canola oil 
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. Soy Sauce

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles- lo mein noodles only take 3-5 minutes to cook, spaghetti would, of course, take a little longer; drain in collander, set aside.
2. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok and stir-fry meat until cook through and no longer pink; remove from pan and reserve
3. Add another couple tablespoons of oil in skillet or wok and stir-fry veggies until desired doneness (we like ours a little softer so the baby gal can eat them with us, so I cook them a wee bit more); add meat and noodles and soy sauce.  Start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste- we LOVE us some lo mein with our soy sauce ;)
4. Enjoy!




And just in case you mostly read to catch peeks at our little rascal- check down below, she cracks me up!

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Boogie Fever

We have boogie fever at the Brown house!  One of our favorite things to do is flip to 90's on 9 through our satellite receiver on our TV and hang out, clean, or DANCE!!  Here's a little video of our girl showing her very best moves....

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Hawkeye Garb- Cyclone Heart

We obviously have no idea which team, if either, Cailyn will prefer, but I like to think since she's a Mama's girl she's rooting for my alma mater when the Cy-Hawk game comes around.  However, I totally forgot to get her Cyclone gear for Friday- though my friend Jamie was happy to donate an ISU toddler jacket she found in a tub of clothes she received for her twins!  I just didn't get a picture of her in it, dang it!!

Not a problem though- so far she's seen two of these games, has worn Hawkeye clothes both times, and the Cyclones have won...both times...so maybe I'll continue to let her wear Iowa stuff...

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The Joy of a Bunk Bed

To the average busy adult, this may just look like 5 kids climbing on a bunk bed.  But to the children playing it is not a bunk bed, and to one another they are not children, they are just themselves.

To a toddler a bunk bed is monkey bar training and a place where only they can fit when standing straight up.  It is a trampoline with a roof.

A bunk bed is a window to play.....PEEK-A-BOO! 

To a first grader and a preschooler a bunk bed is an indoor jungle gym- or the perfect perch for inspecting dust covered fan blades.....and telling your mom's friend she really needs to clean them.

A bunk bed is a place for snuggling and hanging out.  A place to someday stay up late and tell secrets and stories, and then sleep in and smell apple cinnamon pancakes tiptoe under door.

And these children on the bunk bed are not just children.  They are childhood friends- and though their memories may fail them as they grow older, they'll always remember the joy of a bunk bed.

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