We love asparagus in our household. Brad isn't a fan of it from a can, so we usually buy fresh asparagus and try to find different ways to cook it. Usually we just simply bake it. But every now and then we like to spruce it up at bit. This isn't anything super fancy or even complicated, but it adds just a touch of something different to a really great vegetable.
Emily and I went to the beach with just our girls back in March. Both of our husbands were out of town the same week (super rare for them to both be gone at the exact same time). Well as a treat for our girls, I decided to make them each a small happy (I made a slightly larger one a while back). I didn't want to do anything super big for two reasons. One we only were going to have so much room in the car, ha! Two since we would only really be going to the beach one day, there wasn't much point to buy a whole lot of things to take. Check out all the fun things I added to this one!
You may recall a year ago that we remodeled Melody's bathroom. We wanted what was the guest bathroom to feel more like something she would enjoy. Because we were on a time crunch with her birthday party, we didn't do anything to the cabinet work. We left it the cherry it was before. Well I have always hated that. I felt like it didn't really work with everything else in that bathroom. So about two months ago I finally got the initiative to redo the cabinets. I knew this was a small enough project that I should be able to complete it myself. Check it out below.
I love Mexican food, and I am always trying to find new ways to make it. Brad isn't the biggest fan of it, so I have to be creative. Taco Pizza is very similar to taco ring, but it is different enough to offer some variety :). You can change things up with a different type of seasoned meat, and you can customize with your toppings preference!
Easter this year was much different that ones before. Melody was able to walk this Easter, and she was much more interested in hunting eggs. We spent Easter local instead of traveling like we usually do. While we missed our out of town family, it was nice to spend Easter with our local family and friends. And traveling on holidays can be really stressful too. Unfortunately our dishwasher sprung a leak the week before, so that did create some drama Easter weekend. However it was a blessing we were in town to handle it. Aside from the housing woes, we had a very fun and eventful Easter weekend. Check it all out below:
In early March, we went to Memphis to visit Brad's family. His dad was turning 60, and his mom was surprising him with a birthday party that weekend with family. While there, we visited the Memphis Zoo. I don't recall ever visiting here before. As a kid we went to the Birmingham Zoo, but I never remember the Memphis Zoo. And this was an obvious first visit for Melody. My brother in law and sister in law have season passes, so they were extremely familiar with the zoo and what Melody would be interested in. So because of this, we followed their lead, and I didn't do any research before hand. As an avid Disney planner, this was difficult for me, but I knew I could trust them and their guidance!
In an effort to find more ways to get vegetables in our diet, I have been trying to figure out new ways to cook them. Melody loves anything crunchy, so I decide to bake some squash "chips". She didn't eat them unfortunately. But Brad and I really liked them! My only recommendation is to cut them more evenly so that they cook more evenly!
When we bought Melody's Easter basket last year, we did so with the intention of it being her basket forever. So we used it again this year to fill it up with some Easter goodies. Check out everything we filled it with this year below!
When mom and I went to Disney back in January, we opted to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter. We had Annual Passes so we had a little extra money to spend on this trip since we were not buying tickets. So we decided to stay moderate in the end. With the construction at Caribbean Beach Resort and Coronado Springs, those were not an option. I have already stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, and the cabins at Fort Wilderness do not appeal to me. So that left Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ). I have actually always wanted to stay here, so it worked out. And we were able to get a discount using our AP.
In an effort to help Brad get his diabetes under control and change our eating habits, I found this recipe on the American Diabetes Association website. Like a lot of food we have cooked lately, the pictures do not look as appetizing as the meal actually was. This goes perfectly with rice and broccoli and even a few spring rolls!
For Melody's first Christmas, her Nannie gave her an American Girl doll. It took her about 6 months to really become interested in her doll, but when she did, she became obsessed! She now sleeps with it in her crib at night, and it goes with us on almost every trip. Well prior to us moving it to her crib, each night we would take turns setting the doll up so that it appeared she got into certain shenanigans each night. We did this most nights for about 6 months or so. Some nights we didn't do anything too fancy. And a lot of nights it was a real stretch to come up with anything! Well below are some of my favorites!
My mom and I stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter when we went to Disney in January. While we spent a majority of our time visiting and eating in the parks, we did visit the food court at our hotel a few times. The formal name is Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory, but I will be referring to it as Sassagoula or the food court, ha!
These mini frittatas are another recipe I found on the American Diabetes Association website that is low carb and high protein. They are also very good and really quick and easy to make. My only recommendation would be to not use cupcake liners or use better ones that we used. The egg mixture stuck to ours. You can also add additional veggies or even some more protein via bacon, sausage, etc.
While celebrating Christmas with my mom's extended family, I noticed a neat thing my cousin Amy did. In her kitchen, she displayed a napkin from her and her husband's, Jon, wedding. She displayed it in a cute picture frame that matched the colors of their kitchen. It was actually the perfect place for their napkin based on its surroundings and such. I thought it was such a cute idea, I decided to copy it. Check out my copy below.
My mom and I visited Beaches and Cream for the very first time on our trip in January. Brad and I visited the to-go counter back in December and bought a milkshake and an ice cream cone. Because of this visit in December, I came home and found dinner reservations for mom and me. The food smelled and looked delicious from our brief walk inside. So I really wanted to give this restaurant a try. I planned it on the day we were already visiting Epcot so that we could just walk over. It worked out perfectly because we were able to take a bus from the Beach Club to Disney Springs for some shopping. Check out our pictures and review below:
Previous to Brad's diabetes diagnosis, we made a lot of casseroles. And not that he can't have casseroles, but most were carb heavy. I ran across this dish on Pinterest. The pictures below do not do it justice. This wasn't a one dish meal, however, but it was pretty close to it. I do believe I served this along side some mashed potatoes or another carb. But the chicken portion is very protein heavy with the bacon, cheese, and chicken. And the broccoli added a nice touch of green!
When mom and I went to Disney in January, one of the new places we tried was Yak and Yeti Food Cafe. It is located in Animal Kingdom near Kali River Rapids. We rarely spend a whole lot of time in Animal Kingdom. Because of that, we rarely eat at any quick service or table service restaurants. And if we do, it is usually the same place...Pizzafari. Because we wanted to do Flight of Passage, we went on the time and day I could get a Fastpass for it. So we ended up being at Animal Kingdom at dinner. Yak and Yeti has always been a restaurant I wanted to try, but I wasn't sure we would have time for table service. So we opted for the quick service version. Check out my review below!
Brad and I have been Costco members since we were engaged. We joined to buy some of the things we needed for our wedding. We continued to be members because we purchased most of our meats and bulkier items there. Well recently the yearly membership fee went up, and we started to question whether we should make the move to Sam's Club. I loved Costco so much, but it was becoming more expensive for us. Plus it was located on the far end of town, so we had to make a special effort to go there. Sam's Club is much more centrally located. The nail on the coffin for Costco was a coupon book we purchased from a neighbor's child. It contained a coupon for a Sam's Club membership. For joining, you received a $15 gift card. And membership was already cheaper than Costco. So the combo was too much of a deal to pass up. Our philosophy was that we could re-join Costco next year if we hate Sam's.
In an effort to continue to find low carb food for Brad, I came up with these ham, egg, and cheese cups. I have seen similar recipes before, but I kind of just went out on a whim with this one, ha! These were easy to make on Sunday, and Brad took them to work for breakfast during the week. He would eat 2-3 at a time. He seemed to enjoy them. I am not a huge fan of ham, so these were not for me. Brad however is a huge ham fan!
My mom and I just returned from our annual trip to Disney World to celebrate my birthday. This was the last of my birthday celebrations for the year, so it was a great one to end on! I already wrote all about the planning that was involved, so now I want to fill you in on how the trip actually went! Below is day four - Monday, January 29th!
