Knocked Up Sangria

It's New Year's. I'm Pregnant. Again. I don't know how this keeps happening. Oh no wait, yes I do.

My camera is missing. I'm blaming the baby. You know, the one in my belly who causes me to forget everything. Sigh. These photos are from my phone. Blah.

I don't drink. Between babies in my belly and babies on my boobs it's been years since alcohol has touched these lips. It's simply something from my youth that for many different reasons I have decided I can do without.

But sometimes, especially at holidays when all my friends are drinking I get a little jealous. I want to drink a pretty fruity drink out of a fancy glass and get to participate in the clanking and shouting of "cheers!" and why shouldn't I? Why shouldn't we all!! Kids like fancy looking drinks too and this time you don't have to tell them no. Let the celebrations begin!!

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle chilled sparkling red grape juice
• 1bottle chilled sparkling white grape juice 
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 medium sweet apple (I used jazz) cut into cubes
• 1 orange cut into thin slices
• 1 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup red seedless grapes
• club soda (optional)

 Combine all ingredients into a large pitcher. Refrigerate 2 hours or until flavors are well combined. If the bubbles loose their luster when you are ready to serve you can always add a few cups of club soda!


Our Ratings:

 Mama f: 10 - Yay! There's a party in my tummy (so yummy so yummy!) This drink was a tasty alternative to the "fully leaded" version. And I loved that I could share it with my kids.

Daddy F: 8 - Delicious fruity drink. I could see this being a big hit at a summer picnic.

Fuller Kids: 10 - The kids thought is was really tasty and they enjoyed getting to drink a "fancy adult drink". My 4 year old said she really liked the fact that she got to eat juice soaked fruit at the end.

Lucky the Dog: 3 - Although the soaked apples were a hit, she was once again left wondering where the meat was.

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Rotisserie Chicken Salad

Ah, another crazy day in our house. We welcomed back a foster dog that we were trying to find a forever home for. Her name is Jayda and she is half chocolate lab half red doberman. Really, she is beautiful, and sweet, and dumb. So dumb. But in a sweet and beautiful way.

I love dogs. And I love to rescue them from less than fortunate situations and provide them a loving and safe home until they can find their forever home. Sometimes they only stay a few weeks till I can get them vaccines and spayed/neutered and sometimes (like in Jayda's case) they are here for 2 years and really they are just ours but Daddy F is in denial.

So what you may be asking does this have to do with chicken salad. Well, I love dogs. Daddy F, he tolerates them because he knows I love them so. But Daddy F, he LOVES chicken salad. And I love Daddy F and I don't like when he is storming around the house in his grumpy state. So today we made life a little easier on us all and busted out this family favorite recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cooked breasts from rotisserie chicken
• 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 cup chopped red seedless grapes
• 1/4 a cup chopped walnuts
• 2 hard boiled eggs chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 2 heaping tablespoons real mayonnaise 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Start by roughly chopping up your chicken breast. Salt and pepper to taste.  In a large bowl combine chicken and remaining ingredients. I serve mine on warm toasted sourdough bread (which you can make yourself or be lazy like me and buy from your local bakery!)

Now that Daddy F has his Tummy full perhaps little Miss Jayda will live to see another day in our happy home. :)

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 8 - This is a good go to for our family. It is quick, inexpensive, and easy to make but its nice to know your family is still getting something good in their tummies.

Daddy F: 10 - He loves chicken salad. Not much of a heavy eater he prefers light meals and would eat this everyday if I let him.

Fuller Kids: 6 - Apparently my 4 year old does not like walnuts. After she opened her sandwich and was able to make sure she picked every single last one out, she put it back together and ate it happily. Next time, I will just make some without.

Lucky the Dog: 8 - So she is a little bit of a skewed rating. Dogs should never eat grapes or onions (again unless you want an expensive trip to your vet!) so all she got was some chicken and eggs mixed in with her kibble. She thought this to be fabulous and was quite content.

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Berry and Spinach Salad

Don't blink. You'll miss me making a salad. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like salads or that I think veggies are a bad thing I just much prefer to eat my weight in carbs or steak. Mmmmmm steak (hey, I am a Texan after all)

But after all the super yummy delicious yet probably not so healthy things I have eaten over the past few weeks I thought maybe my arteries could use a break. Maybe the child in my belly would like a good dose of healthy vitamins this winter. Yeah, I know what you are thinking. You just said winter and you are making a berry salad. Well, maybe it's "winter" where you are, but here in south Texas it is a beautiful, sunny, 72 degrees. (yeah, you can be jealous, I am sure you will rub it in my face in August when it is 110 here and all I want to eat is ice cream.)

One time, when I had dinner at my Aunt's house in Dallas, she served salad and it had fresh berries in it. I remember at the time I thought that was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. Who puts fruit in a green salad!?!? Well now, this girl does. I have been thinking about it ever since and decided that now was the time to experiment.

Yes, yes. Technically putting fruit and candied nuts into my salad does add more sugar to my salad but hey, I wanted to want to eat my salad and not feel like I was having to choke it down. Forgive me. (Not that you'll even be asking for forgiveness after you taste it!)

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk (work with it to get the consistency you like)
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Place your mayo, sugar, milk, vinegar, and poppy seeds into a food processor and blend well. Add more or less milk to your recipe to get the consistency you prefer. (Can I just say as an aside, I tried using Daddy F's Magic Bullet which he said he HAD to have but never uses to blend the dressing. I see now why he sticks to the blender, it made a HUGE mess. Sorry Magic Bullet.) Store dressing in an air tight container in your refrigerator up to two weeks.

Salad

• 1 bunch hearts of romaine, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed, stems removed
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 package fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 package blueberries 
• candied almonds
• crumbled Gorgonzola cheese  

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing just before serving. Or you can be like me and drown your salad in dressing. :)  Yummo! 

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 8 - I was a nice a refreshing change to the heavy meals we usually eat.

Daddy F: 8 - Enjoyed the salad, would eat it again.

Fuller Kids: 7 - Cleaned most the plate! My 4 year old said it would have been better without the "weird cheese stuff".

Lucky the Dog: 3 - smelled nice but where's the meat?

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Woofy Wednesday

I am real star of blog. Yep. It's me. Lucky the dog.  I am 4 year old golden retriever who accidentally found my way to my family's house when I was dropped on the doorstep of my human mommy's vet clinic. She took me home and fed me and loved me. Lucky me. Yep. That is how I got this name. That and mommy says my birthday is on St Patty's Day. I do not know what this means except once a year mommy dresses me in funny green costumes and says "stay" and "leave it" so she can take my picture. I listen because I am a good dog and I love my mommy. Since I took over the house my human mommy has gifted me with a human daddy and two human puppies to love on. They are ok. They like to pull my ears and my tail but they also feed me when I sit at the dinner table so we make good deals. I know mommy is growing a new human puppy cause I can smell it in her belly. It ok. As long as new human baby feeds me and mommy still lets me sleep in her bed. Mommy gives good cuddles.  She gets cold at night and my extra fur keeps her warm. It important job because mommy has to grow good human puppy. Good human puppies feed Lucky. Lucky likes food. Mommy cooks good food and when I tilt my head and make my eyes real big human mommy will feed me too! She needs me to taste her food to make sure it is safe for human puppies to eat. Without me and my super taste buds the humans would never know true gourmet delights. Very few humans have the heightened senses that I, Lucky the dog, have and can use them for such good. I will be happy to share with you what life in this house is like when human mommy doesn't know I am on her computer. But now I must go because I smell chicken. See you next week!

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Combining My Passions!

Hello there! Welcome to my newest inspiration for a blog. I love to blog. Not only because I like to have a way to record all the fun things I do, but also because I like to think that I am important enough that people care about what I have to say! You care about me don't you? You're right, we just met, I also have a problem with jumping into relationships too quickly! My husband and I were engaged within two weeks of meeting each other and within two months were married! But we have never been happier (when I say we I mean me, he could be completely miserable for all I know but he isn't speaking up about it so mums the word!) I have two beautiful little ladies in my life and am currently 5 months pregnant with little miss number 3!

Nothing is more important to me than my family and making sure my kiddos grow up happy and at least 95% healthy (hey, what fun is life without a few medical mishaps now and then?)! We have chosen to homeschool our kids, at least until they get too smart for me, and it has been a great decision for us so far. I love getting the extra time with them and being able to tailor their educations to their needs.  My two other biggest loves aside from my family are cooking and dogs, which is where this blog idea started (I know what you are thinking, phew, she finally got around to the point! That is another problem I have, rambling, but I will save that for another day or 5).  Working at a vet hospital for many years I have had many canine friends in and out of my home. Some are just fosters and some end up staying for keeps but they all always find a place in my heart and at my dinner table (yes, I am one of those people who allow my dogs to eat from my table on occasion. And by "occasion" I mean when I cook something.).  This is our current queen of the castle Lucky.

Yes, there are some things a dog should never eat and if you never feed your dog human food I don't suggest starting with a 5 course sausage dinner (unless you want to make your vet a very happy and very rich man).  But some things are perfectly fine for your pets to eat as long as you are cooking things fresh and watching your seasonings. (disclaimer: my dogs tend to be fat.) This blog is not about dog food, it is about human food that I sometimes share with my dogs (and my children if they clean their rooms). I hope that it will lead you to new tasty things and bring a smile to your face. Thank you for deciding to take your time to read the thoughts of a crazy stay at home mom who likes to stuff her face with yummy things. :)

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