Cherished Moments

We all have those wonderful moments with our children that we look forward to and cherish forever. The day they were born, first words, first steps, and especially the funny wonderful things they say. This morning I woke up and found myself in one of those moments I will definitely cherish forever. A couple of weeks back I won an apron in a giveaway they were doing over at Mommytalk. The apron arrived in the mail the other day and it is absolutely adorable. Vic happened to see it and got so excited. She called it her "cooking costume" and she immediately wanted to cook with me. Without really thinking about it I told her we would make pancakes in the morning because what we were cooking at the time she could not help with.

The next morning I woke up as usual and got everyone downstairs for breakfast. I had not slept well the night before and I was tired and kind of cranky. I remember thinking all I wanted to do was get the girls a quick breakfast and get me some coffee. As I was washing a bottle I hear Victoria say "Mommy, I am ready to make pancakes". She was standing there behind me holding her "cooking costume". My first thought was "aww crap me and my big mouth". I was in no mood to make pancakes. I looked into that sweet little face and could not help myself. I grabbed the pancake mix and tied that cute little apron around her waste. She climbed up on a chair next to me and we mixed, giggled and made the best batch of pancakes ever. When all was said and done she wrapped her arms around my waste and said "Mommy, thank you for making pancakes with me". I cried and thought what a wonderful moment. I never even made it to the coffee and we had such a wonderful morning.

Victoria loves that apron and those hot pads so much. She ended up wearing it the entire day which included our trip to Walmart. She got a couple of strange looks but several more smiles. I love everyone over at Mommytalk. If it was not for their awesome giveaway I might not have had this moment to cherish. I wish I had pictures to show for it but I was way too busy in the moment to stop and worry about that. The one here is one I took of her afterwards. I can only hope for so many more of these cherished moments with both of my girls.

Recipe Monday - Carne Guisada

Yes, I know today is Sunday and I usually post my recipe on Monday. This recipe is being featured over at Mommytalk today so I am a day early with this. I am feeling some pressure here though because I have to follow crazy yummy doughnuts and some incredible baked mac n' cheese.

This one is a favorite in my house though so I thought it was a good time to share it. My step mother is Hispanic so I learned a lot of wonderful stuff from her family. I actually used to make homemade tortillas to eat with this and they would send it over the top. That recipe is for another day though. Carne Guisada is also know as a Mexican or TexMex Stew. We usually turn it into tacos which is where the homemade flour tortillas came in.

So, here goes:

2-3 lbs Stew Meat
1 Bell Pepper Chopped
1 Onion Chopped
1 Can Chopped or Crushed Tomatoes Drained
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp Flour
2 - 2 1/2 Cups Beef Broth

Add oil to a large stock pot and heat. Add stew meat and brown on medium high heat. Add Cumin, Salt, Pepper, garlic and flour. Stir frequently and cook for about 2 minutes just to cook the flour some but do not let it burn. Add broth and bring to a boil. You want to make sure the liquid covers the meat by at least an inch. Cover, Reduce heat and simmer. Cook for 1 hour stirring occassionally. Then add the Tomato, Onion and Bell Pepper. I always wait to add the these veggies so they do not disintegrate during the long cooking process. Cover again and simmer for another 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender and literally falling apart. If you want to spice it up just a bit then seed and chop a jalapeno and add it to the pot.

I love to make this whenever I make a roast. I usually buy a big roast and cook it for dinner one night. Then I take the leftover roast meat and add all the ingredients above. In this instance I will sautee the onions and peppers and then add the meat and remaining ingredients. I cook it for about 30-45 minutes in order for all the ingredients to kind of come together. We love it because it takes a leftover meal and creates a completely different flavor. It does not even seem like we are eating leftovers.

Enjoy!

Stumble It!

Signing Time with Rachel Coleman

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Rachel Coleman the co-creator of the Signing Time series for Mommytalk.com and you can check it out here.

I used Signing Time with my oldest and now using it with my youngest who it so close. She was actually signing "eat" to me the other day which was awesome. It is progress but we are not quite full communication yet. It will not be long though and it is nice to know my hard work is paying off.

Rachel is a wonderful person and is very devoted to her family. It was a pleasure to talk to her and great to hear her recommendations first hand. She definitely knows her stuff and gave me some really great tips to pass along. I really appreciate her taking the time to talk to me and share some of her stories.

Go check out the article and the wonderful community over at MommyTalk. I have met some great friends over there and they are always happy to help. They offer great parenting advice and awesome parenting articles. I really want to thank them for giving me this opportunity and for helping me along the way.

Mommy Talk Giveaway

Quick! Over at Mommytalk.com they are doing a giveaway! Head on over and sign yourself up too!



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