Cow-A-Bunga Dude!

     Yesterday, Liam and I had an AWESOME time playing with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  We set up some of his books to pretend they were roof tops and the sewer they live in.  It was a lot of fun watching Liam use his imagination.

The TMNT about to help April fight off The Crane, Dog Pound, and Shredder.

Hiiiii-YA! Ninja power!

Dog Pound got beat up!

Back at the sewer, pep talk from Sensei Splinter.

The turtles getting some ninja lessons from Splinter.

TURTLE POWER!

Balsamic Thyme Pork Loin

Original recipe found at Food Marriage

Ingredients:

Pork Tenderloin (I used a 3 lb one)

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

Thyme

Salt & Pepper 

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Cut off any of the extra fat/white skin off the pork tenderloin.

Peel your cloves of garlic and slice them into smaller pieces.

Cut slits in different parts of the pork and press the pieces of garlic into those slits around the meat.

Brush the meat with balsamic vinegar to coat it completely.

Drizzle with just a bit of olive oil then sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes, checking the temperature around 20 minutes, then again at 25 minutes, then at 20 minutes. 

The pork should be at least 145 degrees in all places.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Slice your meat, it should be a little pink in the middle, Enjoy!

A Visit from the Grants

     If you follow Lil' Mrs. Tori, then you know Tori and her family are traveling back to California from Florida.  On their way home, they stopped to stay the night with us here in New Mexico.  It was so nice to see all of them, it has been over a year since the last time we saw them!
Best Buds reunited! Liam and Brendan getting their game on playing Sonic All Stars on the Playstation.

Time for some dinner with friends!

I made some ribs, veggie kabobs, Loaded Baked Potato Salad, and....

Some Batman inspired Chocolate Cream filled Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream.

I tried out the chocolate cupcake recipe from Blissfully Delicious,

the vanilla buttercream from Add a Pinch,

and the cream filling I just whisked up some whipping cream, a Whip It packet, and some sugar.

For the chocolate Batman signal, I melted some Hersey's chocolate, 

put it in a squeeze bottle and drew the symbols on a piece of wax paper, 

then stuck in the freezer to harden. 

Topped it with a #4 candle to celebrate Brendan's birthday!

B was too quick to blow out his candle, we barely got "Happy" 

sung and it was extinguished.

Ryan and Kinley enjoyed playing with each other too.  

I think Kinley liked having someone around her age to play with.

The boys back on their electronics...Liam the Kindle, B on daddy's phone.

The next morning, I made the boys a Turbo Snail Cinnamon Roll 

with some cut apples for breakfast.

I think they liked them!

After breakfast the Grants packed up their van and headed the rest of the way home to Cali.

It was a short visit, but so nice to see them!

Looking forward to reuniting with them again in the future!

Miss you guys!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Original recipe from Pocket Change Gourmet

(I changed the quantities a bit to make less and boiled the potatoes to save time) 

Ingredients:

8-10 red potatoes

5 slices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)

2-3 TBsp butter (softened)

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)

3-4 green onions or chives (sliced thin)

Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make it:

Boil potatoes till tender in the middle, drain, and let cool.

Cook bacon and crumble into pieces.

Peel then cut potatoes in cube bite size pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, mayo, sour cream.

Stir in the bacon, cheese, and green onions/chives.

Then stir in the potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with extra bacon, cheese and green onions then Enjoy!

Want S'more Muffins?

     The other day I set up our little tent in Liam's room for him to "Camp In" and sticking with that theme of camping, when he woke up I made him some S'more Muffins.  They were very tasty and perfect with a cup of coffee for me and OJ for him! Liam loved sleeping in the tent, wants to sleep in there tonight as well!

Found original recipe at Recipes by Photos

(I added topping the muffins with a toasted marshmallow)

Ingredients:

3 TBsp butter (softened)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 tsp sugar 

1 egg (room temperature)

1/3 cup sour cream

3 TBsp 2% milk

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup graham crackers crumbs (I used Nilla wafers, since I didn't have any graham crackers)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

6 TBsp marshmallow creme

3 Large marshmallows (cut in half)

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg until well combined.

Then add in the sour cream and milk, mix to combine.

In another bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat until moistened.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Coat 6 muffins cups with cooking spray or line with cupcake liners.  

Fill each cup 1/4 full with batter.

Spoon 1 TBsp marshmallow creme into each muffin cup.

Top with remaining batter.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

Take out of oven and place half of one marshmallow on top of the muffin.

Place the muffins under the broiler to toast the marshmallow. 

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool.

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Tut Tut, It Looks Like Rain....

     Yesterday was overcast, gloomy, and gray...but that didn't stop Liam and I from playing in the rain and splashing in puddles.

Rain boots - check, raincoat - check, umbrella - check!  

I think he is ready to play in the rain!

Loving this shot of our rain boots.

Jump, jump, jump!

While walking around in the puddles we found some baby frogs.

They must have been enjoying the rainy weather too!

Taking a quick break..

And there he goes again!

Splash Splash!

My little puddle jumper.

When life brings the rain, put on your rain boots and jump in the puddles.

Summer Bucket List: Gooey Gak

     Today, from our Summer Bucket List Liam chose to make some Gak!  It was rather quite simple, I found the ingredients and how to from Musings from a Stay At Home Mom.  It was a lot of fun experimenting.

Ingredients:

4 oz school glue (the whole bottle)

4 oz water

1/2 tsp Borax

1/4 hot water

food coloring (optional)

How to make it:

Pour the glue into a container with the 4 oz of water.

Mix with a spoon.

Add food coloring and stir well.

Dissolve 1/2 tsp Borax into 1/4 cup Hot water.

Stir until water becomes clear.

Pour the Borax water into the glue mixture.

Stir it up good.

You've made GAK!!

Liam like playing with it, bouncing it, stretching it....

Nice handprint Liam!

So much fun!