Whew! It's been busy!!!

Again, I have been neglectful. I'm sorry. Just know that I haven't forgotten about ya'll out in the bloggy world. I have been busy. Between the last two posts, our family welcomed a new family member. For Blog purpose, we'll call him Monkey. He joined the family on the 11th weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs and 14.2 oz and measuring nearly 22 inches long! He's quite a handsome fella and we're overjoyed to have him!

DQ has certainly been adjusting to motherhood and is doing a wonderful job if I must say so myself! Now if we could only get her a car and get her out and about to get a job and do the other stuff new parents are supposed to do. Forget about the dad, he decided he didn't want to be involved and DQ says she's not gonna push the child support issue do to the fact that he's already raising a child on his own (her mom abandoned her with him). It's complicated.

Monkey was right at one month old when we all hopped in the surburban and went down south to visit the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. It was quite fun! I'll have to post some pics later.

In the meantime, I'm back to post regularly for my new brainstorm...."Dinner around the world, a different country each month from my kitchen." Since I have been suffering from a severe bout of cabin fever, I have decided that since I can't actually travel around the world right now (if ever), I would bring the world to my kitchen through ethnic dining. It will be quite an experience and I look forward to it!

Now, I'm off to search for travleing DVD's, recipes, table decor, and atmospheric music, as well as perhaps some candles and such to help enhance the experience. If you have read this far into this bloggy post, I sincerely thank you. If you have any suggestions that will help me on my "journeys", feel free to holler at me or give me a link or two!!!

Birthday Week

Six years ago on September 11, my Little Bird joined our family. She's had a really big year this year with losing her first tooth (followed by 5 more), starting Kindergarten AND turning 6 years old!!! I wanted to let her know how special she is to me so I baked some cupcakes and took them to her classroom at school. Here she is smiling cheesily while the class serenades her with the "Happy Birthday!" song. The hat that she is wearing is from the Teddy Bear picnic the class had just enjoyed before I arrived with the cupcakes.

Here she is enjoying a cupcake!!!

Just a few days later, on Sept 15, Kangaroo turned 4 years old! Since she had accompanied me taking cupcakes to school on Little Bird's birthday, I also wanted to do something special for her. She does not attend preschool or anything so there was no class to share with. So, I called my mom to join us for lunch at a Ryan's restaurant. I figured that the waitresses would do the Happy Happy birthday chant and that would be Kangaroo's special time. It worked too!!! She wanted to wear a crown she had made about a month ago and then she requested to wear her Tinkerbell dress so she could be a birthday princess. Who am I do deny her request on her birthday? Doesn't she just look beautiful!!!?

With DQ at the table.
Showing us how royal she is.

Checking out the sweet stuff.

Mmm Mmm Good!!!

Gotta wash it all down!!

THEN, we had the OFFICIAL birthday shingdig at the local Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate with family and friends. The girls had a grand old time!!!

They were especially excited to meet Chuck E. himself in person!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweetie pies!!! Don't grow up too fast!!!

Chicken and Dumplin's!

I don't really follow a recipe for this. I just take about 5 pounds of chicken leg quarters and throw them in a pot with about a cup of chopped onions and red & green bell peppers. Throw a chicken boullion cube or two in there and cover with water. Bring it to a boil until the chicken juices flow clear when stuck with a fork. Remove the chicken from the water and debone. Return the water to a boil and drop those dumplin's in there! Cook about 30 min and then add the chicken back to the pot and voila! Chicken and dumplin's!

Of course, you have to have homemade cornbread with it! As you can see, there wasn't much left for a photo!
And this is the best way to serve it. Chicken and dumplin's over crushed cornbread! Yum Yum!

Oh, and you warsh it all down with a big tall glass of Southern iced tea. Nope, didn't get a pic of that. Sorry!

Easter Park Day

One week after Granny’s Egg Hunt we joined up with the Baton Rouge Homeschool Association for another Egg Hunt and Easter party at the park. This time both girls found quite a few eggs loaded with goodies AND they decorated cookies to eat too!!!

Mexicali Chicken Casserole

Last February, I had tried a new recipe. It was so scrumptious that I hung on to it to try again and again. In fact, I made it for my son's Boy Scout End of the Year party and got rave reviews! So, last night, I'm typing up the recipe for a family cook book. As I was typing, I started getting hungry and thinking....."Hmmm, this may be good for dinner tonight!"

I finished my recipe entry and went on into the kitchen to look for the needed ingredients. Since I didn't have everything required, I had to improvise. Therefore, here's how NOT to cook this dinner.

2 pounds precooked, smoked turkey leftovers
1 med. Onion, chopped
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 (10 ¾ ox) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of chicken soup
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp red pepper
3 – 4 cups grated Sharp Cheddar cheese with some leftover Mozzerella thrown in
3 cups coarsely crumbled white corn Tostito tortilla chips
¾ cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place shredded, leftover, precooked turkey breast in skillet. Add onion and garlic, and saute’ 6 – 7 minutes or until tender. Add seasonings. Cover and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside in another bowl.

In the same skillet, stir in chicken broth, cream of mushroom soup, & cream of chicken soup.

Stir and bring to a boil.

Layer half of the chicken in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Top with half of the soup mixture and half of the cheese. Cover with half of the tortilla chips. Repeat the layers once. Top with remaining cheese.

You will probably end up with leftover soup mixture due to not draining the can of diced tomatoes like one was SUPPOSED to do in the orignial recipe (see below).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Looks Yummy Huh?

Now, here's the way it's SUPPOSED to be done. (no pics, sorry)


1 (2#) skinned, boned, and shredded deli-roasted chicken
2Tbs butter
1 med. Onion, chopped
1 med. Green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 (10 ¾ ox) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of chicken soup
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp red pepper
3 – 4 cups grated Sharp Cheddar cheese
3 cups coarsely crumbled lime-flavored white corn tortilla chips
¾ cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion, and saute’ 6 – 7 minutes or until tender. Add bell pepper and garlic, and saute’ 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in chcken broth, cream of mushroom soup, and next 5 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Layer half of the chicken in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Top with half of the soup mixture and half of the cheese. Cover with half of the tortilla chips. Repeat the layers once. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 – 60 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Either way, the end result is delicious!!!