Sunday, November 23, 2008

Blessings

So today Yasmin and Arianna were blessed and im so happy, i feel so proud for the huge step i made to fully decide to bless them in the LDS church. When i first moved to Utah i knew i was moving into an LDS neighborhood and i really wasn't too happy about that, i always thought, since i was old enough to understand religions, that mormons were full of themselves and just wanted to convert everyone they could, now that im older and i don't have other people putting different things in my head and i decide what i want for myself i understand that no one was trying to force anyone to do anything they didnt want to. I understand the gospel of the church and i made the decision to bless my daughters knowing that the next big step for our family is to teach them the gospel and to teach them to follow our prophet and heavenly father and when they are ready baptize them, I am fully aware that my daughters are now real members of the LDS church and i for once am okay with it. One big step i had to make in my life was to get married to my now husband tony whom i love so much and i did it we were married now i have a bigger goal nd thats to be baptized and become a member of the church myself. I'm excited to be baptized and i have learned so much already about the prophet Joseph smith however there are still a whole lot of things i need to learn of course. I'm so thankful for being given the chance to learn and set my life straight i feel like now i am on the right track in life for once. i have never felt so spirtual in my life as i do now. I'm also thankful for all my family and friends around me that support me and making my decision to do these things, a good friend of our family Christer Sponbeck blessed the girls and i am proud that he felt honored to do the blessings for us. For anyone that is reading what i have to say i just wanna add that what i have said is true and straight from my heart i didnt right this down first, I now know that this church is true and i'm so thankful for heavenly father i know he has a plan for me and all his children.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Kiddie Kandids

Today we went to kiddie kandids picture studio at south town mall and had some blessing pictures done and a family photo i think they came out great but thats just me. Yasmin was a total stinker the whole time we were lucky enough to get some decent pictures of her.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Recipes

I was going through my files and found some of my recipes that tony saved away for me and i decided to share them with everyone here they are;

Fajitas:
1 lb thin steak and/or chicken cut into strips and/or shrimp (if using all 3 use 5-6 ozs of each meat)
2 tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
1 pkg. mckormick fajita seasoning
2 red,green and yellow bell peppers,cut in strips
1 lrg yellow onion cut into rings
1 lrg tomato,diced or chopped (optional)
8-10 corn tortillas
3 wholes limes,quartered (to taste)

Cut steak or chicken (or both) into strips (note:you can buy pre cut fajita strips at smiths or wal-mart) put cut meat into a bowl along with shrimp (optional) and set aside.

In a large,deep skillet combine sliced onion and bell peppers with 2 tbsp. oil stir freqently over meadium/high heat until onion and bell pepper are tender yet still firm, Put into a bowl and set aside with a lid to keep warm.

In same skillet add all the meat and cook over medium/high heat until cooked through, add peppers and onion mixture continue stirring until hot all the way through (note:DO NOT drain any liquid that forms from the meat or peppers) take the fajita seasoning and add 1/4 cup water, once mixed add to fajitas and mix the seaoning in completly.

Serve with warmed tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, lime, etc.
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Apple Banana Smoothie :
1 frozen bananas, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup milk

In a blender combine frozen banana, orange juice, apple and milk. Blend until smooth. pour into glasses and serve.
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Manicotti:
7 pieces manicotti (single layer of foil)
1 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese + 1/2 c. for top
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 egg, well beaten
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1/8 tsp. italian seasoning
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
1/2 c. spaghetti sauce

Cover bottom of 8 inch casserole dish with 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce. In large bowl, combine cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Fill cooled pasta tubes with cheese mixture. Arrange in single layer in baking dish. Pour remaining 3/4 c. spaghetti sauce over pasta. cover with foil. bake at 375.F for 20-30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella. bake 10 more minutes. makes 3-4 servings
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Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas:
2 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup sour cream, for topping

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

Put the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the hot skillet and saute the sliced onion and green pepper until tender. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until the aroma is strong. Mix in half of the pico de gallo and chicken breast meat. Set aside; keep warm.

In a heavy skillet, heat one flour tortilla. Spread 1/4 cup shredded cheese on the tortilla and top with 1/2 the chicken mixture. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the chicken and top with another tortilla. When bottom tortilla is lightly brown and cheese has started to melt, flip quesadilla and cook on the opposite side. Remove quesadilla from skillet and cut into quarters. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve quesadillas with sour cream and remaining pico de gallo.
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Three Cheese Garlic Scalloped Potatoes :
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pint heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 1 1/2 quart or larger casserole dish with butter or nonstick spray.

Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Dot with half of the butter cut or pinched into small pieces. Arrange half of the garlic slices over the potatoes, then pour half of the heavy cream over. Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese over the layer, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering of potatoes, garlic, cream and Cheddar cheese, then top with the slices of provolone cheese. Season again with salt and pepper.

Bake for 1/2 hour in the preheated oven, then sprinkle the Parmesan or Romano cheese over the top. This will create a semi-hard cheese crust. Continue baking uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when tested with a fork.
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Turkey Macaroni Bake:
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup milk
1 (8 ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, macaroni, 1-1/2 cups cheese, soup, milk, mushrooms and pepper. Pour into a greased 2-qt, baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted
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Fluffy Hot Chocolate:
8 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking cocoa
4 cups milk
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until the marshmallows are melted, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Ladle into mugs.
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Peanut butter marbled brownies:
1 c. butter or margarine
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 c. cocoa
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.F. Use 13x9 inch greased pan. Prepare peanut butter filling (recipe follows). Melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cocoa and mix well. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chips. remove 1 cup batter. pour remaining batter in to prepared pan. Spread peanut butter filling over top. Drop reserved chocolate batter by teaspoon over filling. Marble. Bake 35-40 minutes.
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Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie:
1 banana
1/8 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons honey

In a blender, combine banana, peanut butter and soy milk. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and drizzle with honey for garnish
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ENJOY!

Making pizza

So i on the 15th of this month i went grocery shopping and i bought my turkey and ham and everything i need for thanksgiving and everything i need for what i am making for the girls blessings while i was shopping i stopped on the aisle where all the sauces were and spotted the pizza crusts and pizza sauce and pepperoni etc. and decided to buy everything we need to make pizza i told tony i thought it would be a really fun activity to do with yasmin now that she is a big girl and pretty much almost knows how to do things on her own. We started by puttting a layer of olive oil on the crusts then the pizza making began.

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Her daddy looks half asleep lol but she was enjoying putting her pizza together.

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Mine and yasmins pizza after it came out the oven (very greasy from the cheese but i got the grease off)

After we made our pizzas we took them out the oven and set them to cool they were delicious i had so much fun doing this activity with my baby girl that i went out and bought a gingerbread house kit and in the near future we will do that together also i can't believe how fast my little girl has grown up already.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Yasmins tag

So i was going across a friends blog and saw she invited me to join in on the fun of being tagged well yasmin was tagged and so i have to say 5 things about her so here i go...

-Yasmin speaks her own little language i have no idea what she is saying more then half the time but i love it when she talks cause she will sit there and have a conversation like she is actually telling me something extra important.

-Yasmin likes to get dressed only when we are going "bye-bye" if she is getting dressed just to be dressed she will take off all of her clothes including her diaper and she does this with her p.j's too so everyday we have to use safety pins so she can't take her clothes off.

-She loves juice,milk,water, just about anything she can drink including soda which i very rarely let her have and she hates it in a sippy cup she has to have her drinks in a big firl cup or she won't drink it.

-Now that yasmin is a big sister she loves to help take care of the new baby she wants to burp her help feed her which is kinda hard to do being that i nurse but sometimes i will pump just for her and she likes to try and help change baby's diapers but sometimes she helps just a little too much like trying to pick up arianna and put her in the bouncer or swing.

-She likes to be a "lady" as we call her "miss lady boobah" she will put on grandma's dress shoes or mommies (mommies more then grandmas cause mine have bigger heels she figures the bigger the heel the more the lady lol) she grabs her purse grandmas or any purse she can find and heads for the door but she can't get out (thank you for whoever made the door knob cover thingys lol).


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She has her "purse" now where are her shoes?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Yasmin saw the dentist!

Yup Yasmin seen the dentist for not the 1st time but the 2nd she went to see a dentist when she was 14 months old and they discovered she had 2 cavities in the back of her 2 front teeth they said it was from being on the bottle i was devastated to find out my daughter being so little had cavities but they told me not to worry they fixed the problem and we were done. Now after six months she had to go see the dentist again we chose a different dentist this one that was closer and specifcally a pedia-dentist. He discovered she has a badly chipped front tooth one of the same teeth that had the cavitie i told him she and her auntie were playing and auntie was spinning her to make her dizzy and then she let her go thats when yasmin was so dizzy she walked right into the wall her auntie felt terrible cause she also got a bloody nose we thought it was broken at first but thank goodness it wasn't. The dentist said not a problem they are not gonna fix it because it's a baby tooth so it's gonna fall out anyway and it will probably fall out sooner then normal. As he continued checking yasmin he seen that the cavitie on the back of her tooth came back (because she still on the bottle) he said it came back for 2 reasons the bottle and the chipped tooth when it's chipped like that it more vulnerable to get cavities on the 19th she will be sedated and have it taken care of again. In the end i was extremly proud of yasmin i thought she would scream and kick of a stranger trying to look at her teeth she wont even let me brush them sometimes so i have to fight with her to brush them but she let him do his thing and didnt even let out a tear.


she was waiting for him to come check her teeths.
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Halloween!!!

This year was a great halloween the LDS church had a halloween party for all the families to go to at first tony didnt want to go but i begged him to with me and get to know some people IN THE neighborhood we had so much fun. There was cupcakes made by several different families and drinks there was also 2 different backdrops for everyone to take a family picture. After that they had trick or treating which included games the chldren had to play the game and they won the candy there was a movie in another room and musical chairs in another.

On halloween night we took yasmin trick or treating this was her first year understanding what to do she couldnt really say trick or treat so she just said treat we figured that was enough she probably wouldnt know any good tricks anyway lol. She had so much and so did me and tony watching our little girl go door to door and get candy. It started to rain after a while so we got wet but we didnt mind one bit cause we were having a good time we took yasmin to the neighborhood haunted house i thought yasmin would be to scared but she made me hold her as we walked through it was a fun experience for yasmin and us. All in All halloween was great this year i am looking forward to next year i hope it is as good as this one maybe even better.

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She made an adorable little witch.

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Yasmin 2nd birthday!!!

This Year yasmin is 2 years old wow where has the time gone. We had her Birthday party at The Little Gym in orem,Ut it was expensive but the price of the party was very well worth it. we invited a few people from our neighborhood (we invited family for her 1st bday and 2nd they never showed) and the ones we invited showed which i'm very thankful for. The kids had a blast they were able to play in the gym area for 1hour they climbed,jumped,spinned,fell,and played games with the instructors. it was really fun watching yasmin play with her friends it's amazing how fast children grow up but i dont know if i am ready to her turn 3

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She did so good walking the beam even though her daddy was holding her hand.

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After all the fun it was time to go upstairs and have some food,cake and open presents the adults had a lovely time trying to keep all the kids in their seats because the area was kinda small but we had fun doing it. The kids had a blast when they were given their water bottles that The little gym gave them and when they got to open their goodie bags.

The cake was eaier then normal because it was made out of cupcakes it was also delicious because it had whipped topping it made it easier for clean up time cause they can't make too big of a mess with a little cupcake the only thing that got messy was the kids thank goodness they had paper towels and a sink :]



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She loves her new baby doll.

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I made her a cake myself for her actual birthday day the 13th of October. She wanted her own cake so we also made some cupcakes and gave her a cupcake.This was her second year experiencing a candle but her first actually trying it for herself she didnt like it to much when she thought she could touch the flame poor baby :[

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About Me

My photo
Eagle mountain, Ut, United States
"Let us all recognize that each of us is a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven, who loves all of His children." ************************************** "Every family can be strengthened in one way or another if the Spirit of the Lord is brought into our homes and we teach by His example."