PINTEREST

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DESTINATION LEGOLAND

On the road again... destination Legoland

What a great place to take the kids! Even if your kids are not Lego fans, it is such a fun place for the kids and the whole family.  Some of the Lego displays are spectacular!  The attention to detail is incredible.  There are even roller coaster rides.  Oh!  And make sure to take a change of clothes or towels for the World of Chima ride - that is such a fun ride.   Your kids will love it!

COOKING ON VACATION

So we are on our family road trip and I decided to cook! Don't know what's up with me, but after my craniotomy, I have become quiet domestic!

On the menu for tonight: Brisket, mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus. 

My brisket is in the oven. My boys are at the local hockey rink and the girls are doing something "touristy!"  

I'll let you know how it goes!


ROAD TRIP TIME

Here we go! Spring Break road trip time! My lack of patience and zero tolerance for noise is going to make for an interesting car ride! We are on the road and 20 minutes into the trip, already a pitstop! Wish me luck!

CUBAN-STYLE PICADILLO

By popular request, I am posting the "PICADILLO" recipe so that those who want to make "empanadas" can make the delicious stuff that goes inside, hence the "picadillo - Cuban style!"

Ingredients:

*Make sure to have Extra Virgina Olive Oil

1 medium sized onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
 2-3 dried bay leaves
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2-3 pounds Lean Ground Beef
1 packet of Goya Sazon seasoning (with Azafran) optional
2 teaspoons salt
Badia Complete Seasoning (few dashes)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
Some chopped pimentos (if you like)
1 can diced tomatoes
8 ounces tomato sauce
5.75 oz jar of Olives (about 1 cup)  (personally I like the green olives stuffed with pimentos)
1/2 cup vino seco (a.k.a. cooking wines/dry white wine)

*If you want to "cheat" a little, they sell a package called "Sofrito" that can be found in the frozen section in the Ethnic section.  This has green peppers, onions & red peppers already chopped up!  Saves a whole lot of time but again, it is always better to use fresh ingredients.


*Sometimes I do NOT use tomato sauce and only use the Goya Sazon and use a little "Bijol" for coloring.

Directions:

Add olive oil to a large heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add peppers and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until softened (or if you are taking the easy route, add the "sofrito" package (about half.)  Add the garlic and stir for another 30-45 seconds then add he lean tground beef and cook (breaking meat apart with a spatula) until ground beef is fully cooked (about 6-10 minutes).   Add salt, very little pepper, a few dashes of Badia's "Complete Seasoning" and a few bay leaves. Mix it up until it is all nice and blended.

Now you can add the "Vino Seco" and let it to cook for a few, at least 2-3 minutes. (Vino Seco is the key to giving it that different flavor!)  (If you choose to use tomatoes, now is the time:)  Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir until combined. (Only a little tomatoe sauce or it will turn into a semi-spaghetti sauce.)  Add the Goya Sazon now also. And finally, towards the end of cooking, add the olives, pimentos.  Mix again. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Make sure you mix it around or it will get all stuck to the pan.

Now, you have picadillo!  You can use it to fill "empanadas" or you can have it by itself with white rice and black beans or even better with some mashed potatoes!

Oooh! Sooo Delish!






MAKING EMPANADAS


Tonight, I attempted to make "empanadas" for the first time and they came out DELICIOUS! I had a little help in the preparing and the eating from the kiddos in the house! If you want the recipe, just leave a comment!






GREAT WAY TO SERVE LITTLE WAFFLES


DELICIOUS DRINKS

Time for some adult drink time!  Hmm, what to make?

                                                                         ^ Coffee drink

^Jack Daniel Slushie

^Jackberry Smash

^Pop Rocks Shooter

DISNEY SIDE CELEBRATIONS

This is for all you Disney World lovin' peeps out there!  Check out this fun way to show off your Disney love!  #DISNEYSIDE

Click on the link to start:

http://www.disneysidecelebrations.com/get-started/


WHAT POSSESSED ME?

I don't know what POSSESSED me to allow my 7-year old to stay home today just because it was a half-day at school, the day before Spring Break, as I try to do work on the computer! Never again! Talk about stir crazy! Time to head out!!!



A MOTHER'S LOVE

"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path." ~ Agatha Christie


QUOTES ABOUT CHILDREN AND PARENTING

Here are 20 great quotes I found online about Parenting:

Quotes about Children and Parenting

  1. We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents.  –  Henry Ward Beecher
  2. If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.  – C.G. Jung,
  3. The country clubs, the cars, the boats, Your assets may be ample, / But the best inheritance / You can leave your kids / Is to be a good example. – Barry Spilchuk
  4. Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.  – H. Jackson Brown
  5. My father didn’t tell me how to live, he lived, and let me watch him do it.  – Clarence Budinton Kelland
  6. If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders. – Abigail Van Buren
  7. Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.  — Robert Fulghum
  8. Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.  – David Bly
  9. To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while.  – Josh Billings
  10. Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.  – Robert A Heinlein
  11. It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.  – Ann Landers
  12. The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. – Frank A. Clark
  13. There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots. The other is wings.  – Hodding Carter, Jr.
  14. Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  – Elizabeth Stone
  15. Always kiss your children goodnight — even if they’re already asleep.  – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
  16. Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.  – John Wilmot
  17. Kids spell love T-I-M-E.  – John Crudele
  18. Your children need your presence more than your presents.   — Jesse Jackson
  19. Children have more need of models than of critics.  – Carolyn Coats
  20. If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.  – Haim Ginott

BARLEY DOMESTIC

I am wondering if other moms enjoy alone time as much as I do?!  I often wonder, am I being more anti-social than usual or am I just obsessed with blogging?  I think it's probably a little bit of both.  Today, my husband took both kids early to a hockey game.  Luckily, for me there was an activity prior to the game, which gives me an extra two hours of peace!   I must say publicly though, my husband is a real trooper for schlepping with both kids to a loud place with even MORE kids! But hey, better him than me.  Now, don't get the wrong idea, I do spend time with my family.  Last night for example, we spent over 4 hours at the ice skating rink with the kids.  But for now, I am totally enjoying a quiet house as I blog and do laundry! I might even be bold and watch a movie in bed! LOL!



CHARMING GARDENERS

"Let us be happy for those that make us happy. They are the charming gardeners that make our souls blossom." -Marcel Proust

NEVER ALONE- Jim Brickman feat. Lady Antebellum

)

KNIFE IN THE HAND

Yesterday, as I am in the kitchen starting to prepare dinner and I ACCIDENTALLY stab my hand with a knife, which then flips and falls on my foot and my 7-year old comes to the rescue! My hand is stinging and starting to bleed.  I stood there holding it "ooing & owwing," while my little one dashed for first-aid.  And now, 2 minutes later here is Mikey holding my hand.  He is putting a band-aid on my injury and says to me, "Okay, you've had enough of being an adult." (BEST LINE EVER FROM HIM.!!)

And here I am suppose to be the "warrior mom" and I have my little one taking care of me!  This kid is unique.  After he put the band-id on my hand, he insisted on helping me make the meatballs for dinner!  He's either going to make a great chef or a great husband some day, hopefully both! :o)

(Note to self: stay out of the kitchen!)

       Meatballs turned out pretty great!

2-YEAR OLD SAVES MOM


SUCCESS



PINTEREST FUN

I am sooo hooked on Pinterest!  I can't believe that just three months ago I had never even gone on Pinterest.  Now that I started, I can't stop.  It is so addicting.  It is absolutely time-consuming but so much fun.  I have learned about so many new food recipes on Pinterest and I am also able to use this to advertise my online shop there as well.

I had the most fun creating my Fashion/My Style board:

http://www.pinterest.com/lissettero/fashionmy-style/

Basically you can "PIN" anything you want onto any board you create.  I just love the creativity in some of these boards and I love seeing and learning about new ideas on such a wide range of topics!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/127226758197623898/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/127226758197623893/

Try it, it's a lot of fun!




FOLLOW ALONG

So I have over 2,400 page views but only 7 followers?  Hmm, how do I get more followers?  I have placed a BLOGLOVIN' widget on my page on the right hand side.  So, if you are reading this and enjoy this blog, can you please sign up to follow?  That would be awesome!  Thanks!

FOLLOW HERE!

"THE" STAGE

So here I am again, after three step-children, I am once again at the much-dreaded pre-tween stage with child #4!  Oh, how I remember those days with my own mother. It is the stage where your kid thinks life is so unfair and you are so mean and the stage where they CANNOT live without their friends.  

I don't know if it's me, or I am just "old" now, but I just feel like this stage has started at  way younger age than I remember with the other kids!  This stage is especially intense when you have a daughter.  Oh, the hostility that goes on between a pre-tween and her mom, I do not wish upon anyone!  It is that stage where you feel like you are doing nothing right as a parent. It is those moments when you must endure hearing your kid tell you repeatedly, "That's not fair,"  or "How come everyone else can go and I can't?" or my favorite, "You are the meanest mother ever!"  (Personally, I think I should win an award for this one, since I hear it so often!)

Yes, I have entered that lovely stage where I have to punish my daughter every other week for poor grades, sassy mouth, rolling of the eyes, attitude, you name it.  Don't get me wrong, my kid is a good student with a great heart but somehow, that "evil stage" creeped right in at about age 11.  I know this stage all too well. It is a "war zone" until right about the time they leave for college.  I have already experienced this three other times but never as up close and personal as with my own loving daughter living with me 24-7!  

I do, however see the light at the end of the tunnel because I do know, eventually they grow up and realize everything you did and do is for their own good. My own step-daughter at age 26 apologized to her dad for being "so difficult" during her teen years! 

Until that time comes for me, I will put on my "Warrior" gear and continue to be "the meanest mother ever" because I love my kids!