Presto Pesto Love

     I love this pesto! It goes with everything! I put it on sandwiches, pasta, sausage, veggies, chicken...anything really. It is the absolutely perfect pesto. After so many people have asked for the recipe I figured I would post it here. The original recipe can be found HERE on Food Network. The Sandwich King of Food Network came up with this delicious date night sandwich only a man could conjure up (and I have made it and loved it!) but the pesto he put on it was to die for! I altered it a bit for my taste and to compensate for the fact that we do not have fresh basil at our Commissary (still working on that one...) and what do you know? Perfection! 

What you need:
1 Tub of Basil Pesto (plain)
1 Head of Garlic (roasted)
2 Tbl of fresh Rosemary
1/4 C Romano Cheese
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

How To:

Roast your Garlic :)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the end off your garlic and wrap in tinfoil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for about thirty minutes or until smelly good and browned.

Puree your Rosemary, Cheese, and Garlic together in a food processor (or Ninja) until semi fine. Add the Pesto and some of the Olive Oil. Add more Olive Oil as needed until smooth. This Pesto is a little on the white side due to the cheese and garlic so don't worry. 

That's it. It's that easy. Now my favorite recipe for it is this.

Italian Hoagie Roll

Deli Turkey

Deli Ham

Roasted Red Peppers

Swiss Cheese

Rosemary Garlic Pesto

Mayo

Load it all up together. Wrap it in tinfoil and place on a baking sheet. Throw it in that oven that is still preheated (you know you forgot to turn that oven off with all the chaos going on Mama!) and place a heavy skillet on top. Let it stay in there for around 20 minutes. It will be a nice grilled panini when it comes out. 

Cut it in to slices, make some Lemonade, and invite some friends over for a Play Date.

Enjoy the recipes Ladies!

Best Wishes,

Jules and Monkey!

Aren't they just a Hoot!

  

   My husband a while back was diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease that affects his neck on a daily basis. It sounds kinda scary and when we first found out about it, it was. One surgery, multiple orders for Quarters (required sick leave), and too many different pills to count I decided that I was tired of playing fireman. This particular issue flairs up with repetitive strain or workouts that are too much too soon and then requires pain medicine and muscle relaxers to get the issue back in control so my husband can function again. So I did some research...and found that simple things like neck exercises, proper diet, and heating pads / ice packs can help maintain his level of functionality and help prevent future issues. It seems simple but there are always snags in life. The biggest one here is that he can't sit at work with a heating pad plugged in and wrapped around him after his workouts. So I took on the challenge of figuring something else out and something amazing came from it...I re-discovered Rice Heating Pads! They are environmentally safe, non electric, portable little bags that you can freeze as an ice pack or heat up in the microwave and use as a heating pad. They last for years and you can make them in virtually any shape and size you want. As well you can add spices to them to aid in certain issues like headaches, sinuses, stress...the list goes on and on. 

   Enter my addiction to Owls. I decided after making a heating pad for my husbands neck that I would try and make those cute little Owl Hand Warmers that I have been seeing all over Pinterest. I originally wanted to purchase one for Monkey but all the links kept taking me to pictures or Patterns. Since I have been sewing since I was a little girl I decided to make my own pattern and make a few for Monkey and me. It took a few days but I got them done and they are so wonderful. They fit perfectly on my shoulders and behind my neck when I'm relaxing at night and Monkey likes to play with his and just hug it when he watches Mickey Mouse. The best part is the size! I have a few stacked in the freezer now at all times to fix the bumps and scrapes that Monkey gets.

They lay flat for stacking so they store easier in your Freezer
or cupboards :)

They are perfect for his knees and head. When I know we will be somewhere cold I can microwave two and put it in his pockets for him to hang on to or use them to keep my feet warm at night when my blood sugar level gets the best of me!
   They were so cute and fun to make that I decided to add them to my Etsy Shop. I make them in the same four fun patterns we have at the house now and I purposefully made it so the price was affordable for anyone. I

know I have had so much fun discovering new ways to use our owls and I bet you will too. In fact, let me know how you use your rice hand warmers at your house. I would love new ideas for these versatile little cutie pies!

Best Wishes,
Jules and Monkey

Hot Chocolate-y Goodness

I wrap the needed items for our Advent Calendar and put them on our mantle
so we can enjoy our adventures each day! 

   As a part of our family Advent Calendar every year we do different things to help teach our son that Christmas is about so much more than just Santa and gifts. It is about family, helping others, and (most importantly) about Jesus. One of the ways we encourage family time is with our favorite Christmas movies. We all pile on the couch with popcorn and Hot Chocolate and Nache food and we enjoy watching a good movie together. But let's face it...hot chocolate out of the pouches is pretty bland and no one wants to spend a lot a time making hot chocolate from scratch on the stove. So I spent some time researching hot chocolate recipes and found one on Pinterest (shocker, I know :D) that I printed out. I haven't been able to find it since then though so I'm going to include for you a PDF as well as the recipe here. 
   The original is from FamilyFun.com and is called Best Hot Cocoa Mix. They suggest using it for gifting mainly but I find with a few tweaks and additives it becomes quite delish and amazing for both family time and gifting! 
              Homemade Hot Chocolate

   ~2 Cups Nonfat Dry Milk Powder ( I prefer a higher milk content)
   ~3/4 Cup Sugar
   ~1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
   ~1/2 Cup Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips
   ~1/2 Cup Powdered Non-dairy Creamer (french vanilla flavored is pretty good too!)
   ~1/8 Teaspoon Salt

Mix everything together until evenly blended. You can split into fourths at this point and put into Ziploc baggies or you can store in an airtight container for individual use. 

To make one cup: Mix 8 oz of boiling water with 3-4 tablespoons of mix. Stir well.

Additives: Candy Cane Stirrers, Mini Marshmallows, Big Marshmallows, Homemade Whip Cream, Liquor (if your old enough), Chocolate Straws, etc. Let your imagination run wild!

I find that boiling water in the coffee pot and adding to the mix in the cup works best. Everyone's tastes are different so you may like a little more or less mix so play around with it a little.

Christmas is crazy regardless of where you are and how you celebrate. Sometimes taking a moment and just relaxing with a steamy cup of Hot Chocolate surrounded by family is just the thing to take the "Christmas Crazy" edge off. I hope you enjoy this great little way to cut the work out and get straight to the family time!

Warning: Hot Chocolate may cause extreme Sugar High's that
produce Parental Silliness and Toddler Laughter.

Best Wishes,

Jules and Monkey

Taco Boats

    I have found my new favorite go-to meal for my family. It's fun, versatile, and takes less than thirty minutes start to finish to get on the table. The best part is that it caters to everybody and

their particular tastes. I call them Taco Boats. Now I will walk you through how I make my quick and easy Taco meat but if you have your own family favorite than feel free to use that. The key here is the idea of the boats.

What you need:

93% Lean Ground Beef - 1 lb
McCormick's Mild Taco Seasoning
Water
Small Tortillas (corn or wheat) - 6
Mexi-Mix Cheese
Skillet (I prefer my Cast Iron one)
Jumbo Muffin Pan
Toppings (Lettuce, Tomatoes, Taco Sauce, Sour Cream Guacamole, Etc.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by browning your beef in the skillet on medium heat. I always use a fork and the back of my wooden spatula to sort of pull the meat apart so it gets nice and crumbly and then I put a lid on it and let the meat cook in its own juices for a few minutes before tossing it around a bit. 

Keep repeating the process until the meat is nice and brown and when you break a chunk apart there is no pink in the middle.

My family personally doesn't like the extra grease that you can see, so I drain it off the top.

 At that point I drain the fat out and down the disposal (run some hot water immediately down the disposal and run it so you don't have any issues later down the line with your pipes :D). The back of the McCormick's Package calls for 3/4 Cup of water and the whole pack of seasoning. If your family likes strong flavors that is fine but my family has found that that amount is too much for the toddler's stomach to handle so I use half the package and 1/2 a cup of water. Add that to the meat and stir it around and leave uncovered. The meat is done when the juice has thickened up.

While all of this is happening I wrap my six tortillas up in a paper towel and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds. when they come out they are soft enough to mold. Push them into the muffin cups like little liners.

Once the meat is done spoon some meat into the tortillas until about 1/3 full.

                   Top with some Mexi-Mix Cheese and pop into the oven.

 I only bake it for about 5-10 minutes. It is enough to melt the cheese and crisp up the edges of the tortillas. While they are baking put the rest of  your toppings in bowls and heat up some more tortillas if wanted. Pull out the plates, napkins, drinks and call the family together.

Do you see the delish crisp on the edges?

Pull the boats right out of the muffin pan and place on a serving tray or directly on their plates.

Our Cat Sgt Sasha scheming how to get her paws on one...

 There is enough room for your family to put their toppings right into the boats and eat with their hands. The best part? It has a little crisp at the top but the bottom is still like a soft taco. and there is enough meat left over to make actual tacos still if your family has that one picky member. :)

Obviously I have some crazy characters in my little world :D

I found him in the fridge one day like a preggo...Apparently he was hot.
Random Pic of your day :)

My son eats his boat with his "poon" because he likes to feel like a big boy but I love diving into them without silverware. They make great appetizers for the football parties or you can dress them up with chicken for the holiday get together's too! The versatility of these are really what I love about them.

One meal, Three ways. My kind of cooking!

This is a recurring theme on this blog and we all know it by now but "family comes first". This meal is quick and easy, it caters to the picky tastes of every one in your family, and you can easily enlist the help of your little ones in the kitchen so they learn about responsibility and you get time with them all at the same time. What more could you ask out of a meal? I know we have enjoyed this new little gem and experimenting with it and I hope you will enjoy it too!

Best Wishes,

Jules and Monkey

Re-Purposed Cutting Board

    So I have this favorite Aunt-in-Law that for a great present one year gave me this set of 3 Bamboo Cutting Boards. She knows me so well! She cracks me up since she doesn't really do the cooking in her family because she is one of those lucky women who has a man who likes cooking and is good at it. So you know she spent a hot minute in the aisle comparing brands and prices and sizes and what-not...That makes these cutting boards so much more special to me though. To top it off they get used daily for everything! At least until the middle sized one snapped in half right down the middle. I was flat out heart broken and refused to throw out the pieces until I could figure out what to do with it. Then in true Julie fashion, while perusing Pinterest one night, it hit me...a Family Name board! I could just glue it together, stencil our name, paint it, and then hang it in our kitchen appropriately enough. That way I get to keep my cutting board and it means more in its second life than in its first. :) So here we go!

Supplies:
  A Cutting Board

  Stencil in your font of choice
  Pencil
  Eraser
  Paint in your color
  Paint Brush, fine tip
  Paint Board, paper plate worked for me but you can use egg          cartons or even buy a paint plate
  Ribbon
  Drill and Drill Bit
  Paper Towels
  Super Glue




    1. Start by placing your stencil where you want it. I tend to just eye my projects because I have a good eye for straight lines but you can draw a straight line in pencil to line your stencils on. Pencil the words on lightly as you want them and feel free to erase and re-write as you need to till you like it.

I'm a messy kinda artist but I work best that way :) I cleaned up for all of you!

The paint will cover the lines in the end and the other lines will erase pretty well as long as you use a quality eraser. Some people do this on wax paper and transfer it but I personally don't like that method. If you do feel free to do so. 
   
    2. When you are satisfied with your lettering, pour a bit of paint on your plate and dip your brush tip in it and start filling in your gorgeous letters! Try to outline the letters first as it will provide a cleaner look overall and keep the lines as long as possible to keep them from looking choppy. Also, only dip the very tip of the brush in the paint. The less paint on the brush the easier it is to control the brush's movement.

and my Husband works in Finance...Let the comments commence :)

Once the lettering is done let it dry completely. Afterwards drill two holes in the top and thread your ribbon through in whatever manner you like and tie it together.

We did blue for our Military Pride and to match our all boy
decor...Use what works for you though!

Once I got the ribbon to where I liked it I glued it in the holes and the pretty bows in place so they didn't droop.

Once that dried (in about 30 seconds) I put a nail in our wall and hung up our new little masterpiece!

    Hopefully this helps gives you an idea on how easy it can be to save that loved gift and better yet, hang it up for the world to see. Keeping family close even when far away can be tough, but things like this make it easier for us.

Making Easter Rice Krispy Treats
with his dog...Baking from
an early age :)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Best Wishes,
                                  Jules and Monkey