back to school . back to school

The children are finally back in school after several days of no school and many 2 hour delays.

I know why they schedule spring break in the spring.  It's so the children can play outside. OUTSIDE!  They can't play outside when it is -13 degrees.  Kids and parents locked in the house for days on end can start to go stir crazy.  

I feel like I'm crazy.

I'm going to enjoy doing nothing today.  All alone in my house.  

Can you tell I am losing it? haha!  

I'm not really, but I am ready for routine to come back in full force. 

wordless wednesday ~ basketball boy

snow day getaway at a local hotel

All the kids and moms I know were craving something fun to do since we are stuck inside the house due to the super cold weather. 

Record low temps here in Ohio =  major cabin fever!  

Sooooo we all got hotel rooms and decided to swim the day away!

We may have let the kids jump on the beds for a few minutes.  We ate pizza and swam and had a huge sleepover.  Our rooms were right next door to one another and they were adjoining!!  How fun is that?!?!? 

We all got up and had breakfast in the hotel and swam some more!

We made some fun memories and the kids swam all their energy out!!!  

Mission accomplished!

don't toss the brown bananas

My family will not eat a banana that looks like this.  Will yours?

Personally I don't judge a banana by it's peel.  I love them sorta soft.

When they are too brown for the family I will save a few for myself and peel the rest.  

Then I slice them up and throw them into a baggie!

I put one banana in each baggie for portion control.  

Finally I throw them into the freezer and later once frozen I add them to smoothies!  The kids are smoothie obsessed right now.  A baggie of banana blended with a handful of strawberries and some orange juice =  the best breakfast smoothie ever.  It's kid approved!

So, don't throw away your brown bananas!!

she loves the white powder!

Thank goodness Lily Jack loves the snow!  She has been cooped up in the house and she needs to run.  I can't help but laugh at her while I watch her run circles around the yard.  She creates a powder cloud behind her as she gallops around.  

I am not sure what she smells when she dunks her long snout deep into the snow.  I bet it's quite cold down there.  I seriously love this frisky pup so much!  She's amazing!

chicken tamale casserole pin gone right, oh so right!

We have had so many school delays due to the weather.  It's been very frigid or snowy this entire month.  When I know I'm home all day I want to make something fun and different for dinner.  Soooo, I get on pinterest and search for ideas!  Pinterest is so very fun.  I found a great recipe to help pass the 'snow day' down time.  As you know, I enjoy being in the kitchen.  Sometimes the kids play together so well I get bored.  I have a problem.  When I get bored I cook.

Also another excuse to cook:  using the oven warms this old farm house kitchen.

I found this chicken tamale casserole recipe. 

I followed it pretty much except I made a few changes.  It's snowing and cold and I didn't have a can of creamed corn.  There is no way I was leaving to get a can, so I put a can of whole kernel corn in the blender and added heavy cream to it.  Viola...creamed corn.  I added a can of chopped green chilis to it for flavor.  Also I must note because of the heavy cream I cut the milk called for in the recipe in half.  I used 4 cooked chopped chicken breasts and I'm not sure if they equaled 3 cups of chicken, but the recipe was amazing anyway.  

Otherwise I followed the recipe.  Ahhhh!  It is OUTSTANDING!

  I am a tamale lover and one of my life long goals is to make tamales from scratch.  Gary and I both want to do this.   For now, this recipe satified my tamale craving.