Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm, Monday!

So I think I am going to try to do this as frequently as I can.  I LOVE to cook and find new recipes for all occasions.  Any recipes that I find have to be fairly easy and not have crazy ingredients/spices that you wouldn’t normally have.  I know I have like 2 readers, but if you like to cook or think you can’t cook (Beth)…give these a try!  They are tried and true by me personally and we all know how much I LOVE to eat.  So to start this new tradition, I think I will  go with….drum roll please….                   CHICKEN SALAD 

It is spring and the perfect time for refreshing foods.  Once I tried this recipe by emmaxwell, I was in heaven. 

Ingredients:

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat

1 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

1 cup chopped celery

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup minced green bell pepper

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika and seasoned salt. Blend in dried cranberries, celery, bell pepper, onion, and nuts. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. Chill 1 hour.

Serve with your favorite cracker and enjoy!!

March Wrap Up!

Seriously been too busy to blog.  Lots of things have been going on around here in Moncrief Land.  Most importantly, I went back home for spring break to visit family.  We started out in Austin, then on down to Aransas Pass, then back to Austin, and finally back to Dallas!  Very busy trip!

Austin Part 1:  We went to visit Aunt Sharon and Uncle Rusty in Buda.  They have a beautiful piece of land out in the middle of the country, so the kids enjoyed roaming around.  We also ventured out to Salt Lick for some tasty BBQ!

Aransas Pass/Ingleside:  We pretty much just laid around and visited family for about 3 days…great food and lots of rest!  Pretty obvious being that I didn’t even take my camera out that much…we were that lazy!  The pics below are at my BFF Jennifer’s house.  Clearly, Emerson knew she could not go on the stairs, so she hung out the only place she could! (Jocelyn, in the pic with Campbell, is Jenn’s daughter.  Her and Campbell are the same age)

Austin Part 2:  We went and visited our friends Lisa, Caden, and Connor.  Campbell and Caden had a lot of fun while Lisa and I caught up on lots of gossip and drama!  Again, being very lazy, the camera didn’t come out.  I did get a pic of the boys on my iphone, though!

Finally, back home to Dallas!  I had enough time to walk in the door and shower before I was off to the Black-Eyed Peas concert with the best group of Tech girls EVER!!! (PS…no, Megan was not drinking!)

Finally a little relaxation with the hunkiest man in the world and the two best gifts I have ever received!!

Is It Really March?

I cant believe that March is already here.  I am so excited to FINALLY have a week of freedom, fun, and family.  A lot has been going on around here as you will see.  I hate that I haven’t fulfilled my resolution of blogging 3 times a week, but I am happy with what I have done so far.  First off, Wes and Campbell went to the Monster Truck Jam at Cowboy Stadium and had a wonderful time.  Great bonding…ha!

Emerson Mae is just talking up a storm…She has been babbling since she was born and we just knew she was going to be a talker like her mother.  She has been saying simple words like mama, dada, ball, etc. since late last summer.  I can’t believe I am just now blogging about her talking…never too late.  I had two videos from bath time, but I wasn’t paying attention to camera placement, so I will have to send those out through email, but will work hard to get more videos of her talking.  She doesn’t cooperate very often…she is happy all the time, but has a definite mind of her own.  Her way or the highway kinda thing!

She says things like: thippycup (sippy cup), boop (book), bow, all dee (all done) dog, cat, pees (please), thank you, yuv you, hi everybody, eat, nack (snack), up, no way, doe away(go away), stop, thock, thoos (sock, shoes), nose, ees (ears), head, dance, and the list goes on!  She also signs for more, please, thank you.  She sings row, row, row, your boat and twinkle, twinkle!

We ALSO went to our Family Skate Night our PTA puts on and I am WAITING VERY PATIENTLY for Kaci to email me the pics.  My classroom kids always love seeing my personal kids.  It’s so fun to mingle with them outside of school (in moderation).  It was a fun event and yes, Wes even got on skates and he swore he was going to attempt a triple axel.  Anyhow, pictures will be coming soon.

Campbell and I were playing soccer outside and he was trying to get the ball away from me (you know my mad soccer skills).  Anyhow, the ball went under the trees and the tree attacked him.  He blamed it on me of course because I kicked the ball under the tree.  PS…He has gotten a haircut since then.  It was a little out of control, now it is almost a buzz cut thanks to Wesley.

FINALLY, I am so excited about heading south to visit the family over spring break.  Best of all I am coming back home just in time for the Black Eyed Peas concert with my favorite girls!  I doubt it will top the NKOTB concert back in ‘08, but it will be a great time nonetheless!  

Blog Explosion!

Okay, so seriously I posted 4 blogs today, 5 if you count thins one.  I have had so many things I have wanted to blog about and absolutely no time.  As you can see we have had a very busy February and I definitely wanted to share these events.  Thankfully, the snow day gave me the opportunity to do this.  So, with that being said, please keep scrolling down for the latest Moncrief happenings!

“Do we have to go to bed?  Look how nicely we are playing together!” said the well-behaved children.

 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Even though Emerson Mae is a little under the weather, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play in the snow with the kids.  Too bad Wesley went to work.  A family snowball fight would have been fun and I could have used the help. 

Emerson was in a tiff with the gloves.  She would take them off because she didn’t like them, but then whine because she wanted them back on because her hands got cold…duh!  Eventually I brought her inside and Campbell continued to play outside by himself for another 15 minutes or so!

I truly wish I could have taken some pics of my school’s neighborhood.  It is an older community with a ton of trees.  I have already seen some pics and it is absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately, living in a new subdivision,  you don’t get all the old trees, so I really do not have any scenic pics to share, just fun ones!

UHM…Seriously?

This is sooooo cool!

UHM…Seriously?

Watch out, MOM!

   UHM…Did someone throw snow at me?

Look MOM!  I can make a snow angel!

UHM…I don’t think my legs can move!

  This is soooo much fun!

 Oh wait!  I can eat this stuff?  Now, were talking!

  Too busy eating, mom!

  Okay sister, since you aren’t moving, I will come to you!

HAPPY SNOW DAY!!!

Megan’s Having a……………

GIRL!!!  Bring out the tutus and bows!

We went to Megan and Jason’s house on February 2nd for the big reveal.  Megan couldn’t wait, so about 2 seconds into dinner she opened the envelope to reveal the news.  Princess Walker should arrive sometime around mid June.  Her due date is June 21st.  Megan’s birthday is June 18th and I think her dad, Joe’s, is like June 19th.  That would be neat to share a birthday.  Unless you’re like me and your birthday is sacred!  Anyhow, here are a few pics from the evening.

Megan and Jason holding up their sono picture. Megan at 20 weeks and calling her mom with the news!  I wish I could say I was that tiny at 20 weeks!

Megan, with Jodie and I!  That angle makes me look pregnant.

Megan with a glimpse into her future.  Darbie, the teenager and Miss Emerson who has major attitude and is ALL a muck in this photo!  I mean seriously…her rubber band broke, belly hanging out, and I think her bow might be hanging on to about three strands of hair for dear life!

Hubby Turns 30!

After months of prying for any idea of something special to do for Wes…he basically wanted to be super lame and do nothing! 

Me: “Let’s go on a cruise”                        Hubby:  “Can’t…too much work”                      Me:  “Let’s take a weekend trip”                          Hubby:  “Can’t…what would we do with the kids.  Parents live too far away”                       Me: “Let’s go out and do something fun”            Hubby:  “Hmm…maybe, but just going golfing is good enough.  I don’t want it to be a big deal”                                                              Me:  “Let’s have a get together at the house.  Something small.”                                     Hubby:  “Nah, not really.  We live so far.  We have kids…blah, blah, blah, blah, blah”

So, I just decided to take the day off, have lunch with him, and spend the rest of the day trying to figure out something special to do.  Basically, I came up with the idea to buy him 30 gifts.  That was way too hard so 15 of those gifts were homemade coupons.  He ended up loving the whole idea.  He said it was the best birthday ever!

I think Campbell was more excited about daddy’s presents than the birthday boy himself!  Too bad, Emerson was asleep for the festivities! 

This was taken by Campbell Walker.  You resort to these means when you celebrate by yourself!

6 Can Tortilla Soup

This is one of the best and easiest recipes EVER!!!  I of course took pictures of the process for dramatics (and for you Leah).  So follow along!

You might be asking yourself why there are only five cans.  Well, it is because I prefer to use frozen corn instead of canned corn.

You take all of these ingredients and dump them all into a medium pot.  Turn the heat to medium.  Once the mixture starts to come together and boil a little, turn the heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes. 

Just a couple of tidbits:  use 1 can of drained mexicorn or about half a bag of frozen kernels.  Completely drain and rinse the black beans,  You can totally use rotisserie chicken or chicken breast, but the canned WHITE chunk chicken is really good and quick.  If you use the canned chicken, you might want to shred apart the chunks.  I also add a couple of dashes of chile powder and cumin, but it is still GREAT without!  Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, avocado slices, and of course a tasty Mexican beverage!

 

 

Best Thing Ever!!!

Yes, I am blogging twice in one day, but I needed to spread the word.  Although I haven’t tried this, I am soooo gonna order it soon.  I have tried to find it at local stores, but I can only find it online (actually, I just heard that you can buy it at Wal-Mart).  Are you ready?Now, you can’t appreciate this unless you are an EDGE lover, but how cool is this?  Baker’s Edge Brownie Pan!  Yummo, the chewy goodness that is the edge of a brownie!

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes