Thursday, October 27, 2011

They Won't Stop Growing!!!

A week ago my family and I celibrated the twins first birthday! I know i should have posted this a week ago, however, with party planning and school i tend to get a little behind.  Anyways, the twins woke up to cake and presents for breakfast. I had never seen baby A more excited about anything. He was COVERED in icing! He loved it! Baby B, however, tried to grab her candle realized it was just a touch warm lol. She didn't get burnt but I think it scared her. She wouldn't touch her cake after that and I had to grab a fork and feed it to her.
It was a great day! They loved it! Mommy it a a little sad though....my babies are growing up! It won't be long until they are starting school.....

The night before my c-section


Baby A

Baby A was 4 lbs. and 8 oz and 18 inches long

Baby B

Baby B was 4 lbs. and 11 ozs. and was 18 in long.

My Sweet little twins!

Baby A and his cake!

Baby A now weighs 22 lbs!! and is 29 1/4 inch long!! He is mommy's little "tank"

Baby B and her cake!

Baby B is now 18 lbs and 28 inches long!! Looking at her now, you never would think that she was the bigger one!!

Baby A after his cake!! (he loved it!!)

Baby B was not nearly as into it as Baby A.


Needless to say it was a wonderful day. We also got baths right away. Baby A had icing in his ear, I didn't think we would ever get them clean. 


Growing Home

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Baking.....A LOT!

Sorry I have been MIA for a few days. I have been busy baking and doing school work. I am going in school hoping to get in the nursing program. I have always wanted to be a nurse. It just seems to be my calling. I love to take care of people and pray that I can do well enough in school to make it. The nursing programs at my school of choice is very competitive. It seems like everyone in my generation wants to be a nurse. Hopefully I am one of the lucky few that make it into the program.

Now to let everyone know what I have been up to.

Well, I have been taking care of baby A and Baby B. They have both been sick. I hate not being able to fix them! Baby B would just lay her head down on my chest and whimper. Now they are both back to their mischievous-selves. However, now that they are back 100%  My darling hubby (DH) is sick. It turns out her has bronchitis and pleurisy. I figured the had bronchitis. He gets it every year, but the pleurisy was a surprise. He is now done with his meds, but is still in a lot of pain. Poor guy! He is pumping himself with pain killers to try to get through his nights at work, and praying he doesn't have to work over. Hopefully he will be better soon,.

I have been great though (I got my flu shot!!).

DH and I went to Sams Club a few weeks ago and bought me some baking supplies. When making the Artisan Bread I didn't have any yeast. I do however have wonderful neighbors do have yeast lol. I NOW HAVE YEAST! A pound of yeast to be more accurate. I also have 25 lbs of sugar and of flour. I have been putting it to good use too.

I made some cinnamon rolls the other day. They were wonderful. I used half AP flour and half whole wheat flour. They turned out great and I will definitely be making them again, very soon. you can find them here.

I also made some bread. I am apparently having issues with my bread baking. I have made bread before. This is not my first rodeo. Well I made this recipe 3 times and not once did it turn out right. The first time it rose in the bowl but wouldn't rise int he pan. Very frustrating! I baked it anyways hoping it would rise a little in the oven, but no such luck. I ended up with the hard little brick of what I would be ashamed to call bread. The second time I forgot the oil. I wish I could blame this on someone else, but no, the twins were napping so this one was all me. The got be super frustrated so i tossed it and started fresh. The last time it all went great! I didn't forget anything, it rose both times wonderfully. I baked it, it smelled great! I went to the oven to get it out and the darn thing fell!!!!!! GRRRRR!!!!!!!!! Not happy! I kinda wanted to cry. I called my mommy almost in tears and she said i let it rise too long. Ok...I can fix that! Next time keep a closer eye and try not to get distracted.

I also made an Amish Friendship bread starter. I am very excited about this! I haven't had it in forever. I can't wait until my 10 days are up so I can make it!!!

And lastly to prove to myself and DH that I can bake I made pizza. I had never made pizza crust before so I was really taking a chance here. but it was great!!!I got 6 thumbs up!! (DH, Baby A, and I, Baby B was sleeping) I took this recipe and cut in half. It was a little thicker than I liked so next time I'll make bread sticks out of it too. I got it here

2 Tbls yeast
2 1/4 C warm water
3/4 tsp salt
6 1/2 C flour
Knead all these together until a soft elastic dough forms.
Let rise 30 minutes
Divide into 3 or 4 parts.
Roll and press out onto 3 or 4 greased cookie sheets or pizza pans
Top with sauce, toppings, and cheese
Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes

Thanks for reading!!
Sweet Mama

      

Monday, October 3, 2011

My wonderful Sister!

Last night I went to my sister Carrie's house.  We had a wonderful visit and, like most times we see each other, I left with some awesome recipes. A few weeks ago she told me about an artisan bread she was making. At the time it sounded good but i had no interest in trying it out. However in the last few weeks I have decided that there is absolutely no reason for me to buy things i can make myself.

She gave me a recipe a while back for taco seasoning and my husband and I LOVE it! So here it is.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons chili powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon onion powder (we use dried minced onion)
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

I just stir it all together and put it in a cheese shaker. When i make tacos (about once a week) i just shake a bunch on it until i think it smells right (great measuring right?)

Today I made the bread she told me about you can find the recipe here. It was very easy and smells wonderful! I tried to take pictures as i went along so you could see how it looked. I have no idea if it looked right but it seems to be OK. I did not have a bowl large enough, so I used the pan I got in the hospital when i had the twins....don't worry I washed and sanitized it lol
This is what it looked like After I mixed it all together

The dough half way through the rising process

My dough ball before rising.

After rising and I cut the slits in the top.

It's DONE!! Ok, so it doesn't look like the one on the website, but I'm proud of myself!

She gave me other recipes and as I try them out I will update.