Catch-up Post

The members of this household will be very happy to see this week end. From being sick to things being crazy at work, a break is greatly needed! Now don't get me wrong, not everything was bad. Gus continues to amaze me in how much he learns. But I am going to post on that later.

First, my Pinterest Valentine project! I am sure many of you have seen these pictures going around:

Source: theidearoom.net via Catie on Pinterest

Source: danielleflanders.blogspot.com via Catie on Pinterest

I thought they were so pretty and wanted to try them! And as with me and most crafts..... things didn't go very smoothly. Here is the first one I started:

I wrapped the paper too tight.

On the second, the pieces were too long and it still wasn't right:

And finally I figured it out! Here is what I did. Cut a piece of the paper about 12 inches.

Wad up the paper well, then fold one edge about 1/3 over, but don't crease it.

Roll it up, but not tight.

Glue the edge down to seal.

Press the bottom together and twist.

A flower!


And I still haven't finished it. Each flower takes several minutes to make. I don't know where I would find the time to do a bunch of these. But, even if I don't finish it, I think I could put it in a vase or something and it would still look pretty.

I also wanted to tell you about some easy meals. I try to plan our meals for the week on Sunday or Monday. I usually go to the grocery store to get most things on Monday morning. This Monday I bought a rotisserie chicken. I then shredded part of it and put it with some lettuce, parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing for a Chicken Caesar Salad.

For dinner, I used the chicken to make Chicken Quesadillas

Shredded chicken
1 small can green chilies- diced
Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack), shredded
A dash of cumin
A dash of chili powder
A dash of minced onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Flour Tortillas
Oil

Mix everything (except the tortillas!) together. Heat a couple of tbsps of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Place tortillas in skillet. Put chicken mixture all over tortilla. Add a bit more cheese if desired. Place another tortilla on top. Allow to cook several minutes as cheese melts and tortilla on bottom begins to brown. Then flip over. Cheese will continue to melt and the other tortilla will brown. When finished, cut into fourths with a pizza cutter. You can keep it warm if the oven if needed.

Meal planning makes things so much easier! I do not always follow my plan perfectly, but then if I don't want to have to go to the store in the middle of the week I don't have to. One thing that makes it easier is if you plan to use one ingredient for multiple dishes, like the chicken I already talked about. Also, if we are having burgers and I have to buy buns, then we could have sloppy joes another night so that we use all the buns.

Gus turned 11 months old today!!! I cannot believe it. I plan to do a longer post about this later today or tomorrow. Gus was helping me with the dishes this morning:

And these two are good helpers too:

Unless it is cold and they have to stay warm:
Happy Friday!!