CREAMY HAMBURGER GRAVY OVER MASHED POTATOES

When I think of this meal I am instantly taken back in time to High School. Hamburger gravy and High School you say? Yes! It's because HB Gravy over mashed potatoes was one of my all time favorite lunches. I was beyond spoiled, I admit it. Not only did I grow up in a wonderful community where everyone knew everyone (not always a good thing, like the time my neighbor ratted me out when I took my mom's Toyota for a spin ...pre Driver's Ed of course) and my third grade teacher was also the Basketball coach, our Home Teacher and my Bishop; but our school lunches were prepared each day, fresh and homemade with love from the mothers of the community. Mrs. Dayton...what a wonderful lady. I'll never forget her or the fact that she always had a smile or a tease, or that she let us sneak into the kitchen occasionally and treat us with a cookie between classes (sshhh...don't tell). I don't have her original recipe, and unfortunately she's passed away now. So this is my personal concoction. So from my kitchen to yours, Eat Up!

CREAMY HAMBURGER GRAVY
2 lb. ground hamburger
Several dashes of onion and garlic powder

If you are using 90/10 HB, add 2 TB butter
1/2 c flour
1 can evaporated milk (if you don't have evap, use all whole, but evap really changes the flavor)
1-1 1/2  c whole milk as needed



Over medium heat brown hamburger in skillet. Once done, add garlic and onion powder, then butter (Yes butter! If you're looking for low-fat recipes you are looking in the wrong place, looking for tasty recipes....keep reading). Add flour and coat HB well, then make a roux by slowly adding the milk over high heat until it thickens to gravy. It will thicken the higher the heat, but be careful not to burn. Keep adding milk until your desired consistency, then turn down the heat to low. Enjoy. Great with a side salad and green beans.
(This is Jason's plate....yes he can and does eat this much and does not gain an inch!)

I'M ON THE HUNT FOR A COSTCO CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFIN CLONE.....

Every single time we go to Costco, my boys beg and beg and beg and BEG me to buy them chocolate muffins. And who could blame them, their kids and their minds revolve around sugar and treats and things that taste good; and those HUGE, pillowy soft mounds of chocolate overkill are definitely eye popping. I mean they drool for heaven's sake! I don't necessarily balk at the fact that the muffins are now $6.50 for a dozen, it's the fact that I HAVE to buy 12. If they would sell them in packages of 4 or 6 I'd buy them. But let's face it, I'm glad they don't or I'd buy them EVERY time I went and the scale would scream at me. Needless to say, Logan is ALWAYS disappointed when our shopping trip is over because I didn't cave and buy a weeks worth of sugar in one muffin. So today I decided to surprise him and make some chocolate chip muffins from scratch. I found a copycat recipe online that SWORE they were just as good. It's a very easy recipe and they are super moist and extremely delicious and although very close, not quite right. They turned out a little flat on top and I'm thinking the recipe was too heavy. So the recipe I used is below. Does anyone have a good one they'd like to share?

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 TB oil
1 egg
1 1/4 c milk
2 c flour
1/2 c mini semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c milk chocolate chips
Mix all ingredients in order until there are no lumps. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-5 min. until done.
Serve with ice cold milk, and sit back enjoy the smiles!

MIX ME UP A DRINK....

Vitamin Water is soooo boring,
so Silas decided to mix me up a drink.
It's shaken, not stirred....on the legos!
Delish.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR..........

Dustin and Taska came to celebrate with their kids. All the little cousins ran around the house like wild hooligans while we visited and played board games. Blurt is our new favorite!

A $2 D.I. treasure. Love that store! We had Navajo tacos for dinner and started fireworks at 8 pm so we could have the kids in bed by 10. The "package", as Jason referred to our evening entertainment was "acquired" out of state, if you get my drift.

It was a whopping 12 degrees outside as we opened the double garage door and lined up camping chairs in direct view of the fireworks display. Here are the "boys" preparing for the first artillery shell.
5 minutes into the show I was pretty darn sure we would be arrested due to the level of noise we were creating. I must have heard every door on our block open and a few, "What was that!" But in the end we managed to escape the flashing red and blue. Watch the video at the end of this posting.
Here is Jason warming his hands near a roman candle.
7 min in the whining and complaining had officially started from all the kids since fingers and toes and noses were slowly going numb even though they were bundled up like Ralphie from A Christmas Story!
Not even the thought of lighting Sparklers could get them to stay outside, so at 10 min in we lost most of the kids. Only Silas stayed because Jason bribed him by letting him light off one of the artillery shells. He's a pyro in the making! At 15 minutes, the party was officially over. What a bunch of party poopers! It took longer getting everyone dressed and everything set up, than we even spent outside watching fireworks! We are definitely in the prime of our life I tell ya.

MY TOP 10 OF 2010.....

Finding out that I'm going to be an aunt again...from my youngest two brothers, and that their baby boys are both due on the same day!

My first helicopter ride in May with Jason and the boys. It was a thrill! Incredible, exciting, and a little scary.

Having mom come and visit for two weeks and getting all my family together. I miss everyone and wish we could be together all the time.

Logans' 6th birthday! I love to Celebrate his life.

Logan starting First Grade. It's sad to me that he's growing so fast, where have the last six years gone. But it's good to see that he's growing into a kind, polite and gentle young man. He loves school, has lots of friends and he's so very smart!

Spending a week in Irrigon in August visiting the great women in my life; my Mom, Aunt Francie, Grandma Kelley, Cousins Lara and Shana and all the second cousins.

Oregon coast vacation with Jason and the boys. Lincoln City, Long Beach, Astoria......I can still smell the ocean, hear the waves, and feel the sand between my toes.

Silas' 3rd birthday! What would my life be like without him? Peaceful....quite....and completely boring. He brought color to our lives. I still can't believe he lived to celebrate another birthday. This child scares me to death. He's a wild man and I need to keep him on a short leash.

Finding out in September that I'm having another baby! Joy, pure joy, mixed in with a little anxiety and worry that everything will go smoothly with the pregnancy. But in the end I'm comforted to know that Heavenly Father hears my prayers and knows the desires of my heart. I can't wait to meet this little human being.

Logan playing soccer. It doesn't matter that we spent half the games laughing, not at him....entirely, really. It was just fun to see him running around having a good time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR......

So I have once again made a list of New Year Resolutions. I've been doing this since I was 14, and every year it goes like this:

1. Eagerly sit down New Year's Eve to thoughtfully write up 10 resolutions I KNOW I can accomplish.

2. End of week 1......Don't miss a beat! Pat myself on the back at a job well done. This is a cinch! I'm still very enthusiastic about my new endeavors. See, I knew I could do it. I swear to keep going to the best of my ability.
3. 30 days in.....Missed a couple here and there, but hey, I'm a busy woman, mom, wife, daughter, friend....so it's okay to falter once in a while. The important thing is to keep going, get up when you fall and all that. Don't get too discouraged, just try harder, you can do it!
4. 60 days in....I'm shooting at 50%, but let's face it.....at least I'm still going. At least I'm trying. I tell myself that half the planet probably didn't even write resolutions, and half of the half that did probably didn't make it past the first month, so I figure I'm running in the top 25% percentile. I'm doing pretty good. Another pat on the back.
5. 74 days in......Well....getting one resolution done a day is not so bad. At least I'm not a COMPLETE failure.
6. 90 days in...What resolutions?
7. 6 months into the new year....I start feeling guilty. I feel like a slacker. I really need to get back on track with everything so I give it another go.
8. Repeat steps 1-5.
9. Step 6: Get real Amy!! Why do I do this to myself every year. I can't possibly continue this facade. So, yet again, I disappoint myself to the point where I swear I AM NEVER WRITING ANOTHER RESOLUTION AGAIN!!!
10. By Thanksgiving, as memories of complete disappointment have faded, I start contemplating my new list of Resolutions. So once again, I find myself New Year's Eve sitting at the kitchen table with pen and paper in hand, naively making my new list of personal, spiritual and emotional improvements toward a better me.

This year, in light of every year past, I have decided to make 2 lists. The first is the list I WISH I could do, and the second is the list I KNOW I can do. That way each night, I can feel like I've accomplished something. Here's my number 2:

1. Forget losing weight, just don't gain any more weight!
2. When I do yell at my kids, do it in a mild tone of voice.
3. PB&J for dinner once a week.
4. Spend at least half my day picking up the same toys over and over and over again.
5. Eat chocolate at least once a day.
6. Spend the other half of my day chasing down Silas, breaking up arguments, listening to whining.....and continue to tell myself that I AM making an impact in their life...I AM.
8. Vacuum when I can no longer see the carpet.
9. Take my vitamins daily.
10. Make it through the year without spending any time in a straight jacket locked inside a padded cell.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS......

Silas snuck into my bed early one morning. I said "hello baby" he said, "I dust wan to cuddo wif you mom. I said, "you precious little boy." He touched my cheek and said, "you pwecious litto momma."

Jason overhead Silas playing and talking to himself. Here is what he overheard. In a high pitched, sad voice he said: "Oh no, I bwoke it dadda." Then he changed his voice deep to sound like a dad and said, "Alright! I'm so mad at you kids."....too funny.

Silas crawled into my lap and said to me, "I wish I was a dadda mom, and I could hode babies all day long!"