Good ol' Sloppy Joes, the healthy way!

Tonight's dinner was a hit! I have been menu planning and am attempting to make all of this weeks dinner's in the crock pot and am blogging as I go! Sloppy Joes were on the menu tonight and everyone in the house LOVED them! The best part about it, was that they were healthy and no one even noticed! Here is what you need:

2 lbs. Ground turkey (you can use regular hamburger meat if you want but seriously the turkey is amazing and way healthier)

2 cups of white onion chopped up pretty well

2 cups of celery cut up into tiny pieces

2 TBSP Brown Sugar

2 TBSP of Vinegar

2 TBSP mustard

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

1 can of Cambell's tomato soup

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

Here is what you do:

Brown the first 4 ingredients in a big pan on the stove

Add all of the other ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir well

Pour the meat mixture into the crock pot and then pour the liquid mixture on top of it.

Mix well.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

I served mine on whole wheat hamburger buns after I heated them for 15 seconds in the microwave. Remember you can always tweak the recipe to meet your needs! Give it a try and let me know what you think! =)

Mexican Chicken

Being a full time Mommy, wife, and student is a tough job. I like to make sure that I do all of my "household duties" before I tackle my school stuff. I chose to be a Mom and a wife before I became a student (again), so I like to make sure my family is taken care of first. Having twins is wild on its own, so I don't have a lot of "free time." I am a HUGE and I mean HUGE fan of Crock Pots because I feel like I am able to produce a hearty and sometimes pretty healthy meal for my hubby & kiddos. I use mine all the time. I decided to start menu planning for a week at a time to make sure I could save time and don't have to worry about "what's for dinner" for the fam while I am away at school. I have been gathering a ton of Crock Pot recipes from different websites and have been putting them to the test! Tonight's Menu was called "Mexican Chicken" which I turned into chicken tostadas. It was such a simple recipe and I didn't need to go to the store for anything. I had all of the ingredients on hand which was the best part! I fried my own corn tortillas for the shells and I made rice and beans on the side. (I make real beans, not canned beans, but whatever you prefer is fine!) I dabbed some guacamole on top but you can tweak it to meet your needs!) Aaron and I gave this a score of 8 on a scale from 1 to 10 and 7 year old Christian said it was the best thing he ever ate! The twins devoured the burrito I made them so it had to be delicious to them as well! Tons of flavor and super easy! Hope you enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen is fine) place in the crock pot..
dump 1 can cream of mushroom soup on top of chicken (I use low sodium)
1 cup salsa
1pkg, taco seasoning
Cook on low all day or on high for 4-6 hours
the chicken will fall apart and it is great on rice with a dab of sour cream or on corn or flour tortillas

Just call me Brittany Crocker!

My little brother James Dylan whom I named my son, Dylan James after, was hired as a Kern County Sheriff! I was really excited for him because he has wanted to be a cop/officer/deputy forever! Him and his gf decided they were going to come up to the Bay from Fresno for a little celebratory visit, so I decided to bake him a cake! Although I would love to identify myself as a baker, everything I usually attempt to bake usually turns out, well...not so good. But I wanted to give it a shot and decided to bake a yellow cake with strawberry frosting! Let's just say I was SUPER proud with how it turned out! Not only did it look pretty, but it tasted pretty darn good too! Good Job Jamers! Your big sis is super proud of you, and you should be super proud of your sisters baking skills! =)

Oh Shit...literally!

People who have singletons (1 baby instead of 2) don't often realize what us parents of twins go through. Take for instance my experience today during bath time. My kids love bath time and were in the tub splashing and laughing! I usually sing them a song I made up when I wash their body so that they will learn all of their body parts. It usually makes the bath time experience more fun! So anyhoo, I was just about done when they both kept saying "butt" "butt" and laughing...I brushed it off and got each kid out, (one at a time) dried them off and told them to go straight to their room so I could get them dressed. Once we made it to their room, I had Dylan on the ground lotioning him up, putting diaper on, cleaning ears etc. All the while, Brayden is running around in his birthday suit having a gay old time! Not paying much attention to Brayden while I put the finishing touches on Dylan, I look over to see Brayden squatting in the corner taking a poop on my beautiful $300 rug I have in their room! I frantically yell "No no Brayden!" and he just casually walks over hands me his diaper and says "butt yuckkk!" Oy vey...if only I could put two diapers on at the same time, we wouldn't have poop in the corner!

Budget crisis 2011

So I am at the end of my Junior year at San Francisco State University. I am majoring in Child & Adolescent Development with a concentration in Youth & Family Services. One day (after my kids start elementary school) I would like to be a Youth Probation Officer or work at juvenile hall or something along those lines. But this past November, the state agreed on raising tuition at California State Universities by 11% and planned for it to take effect this upcoming Fall 2011 semester. WELL, last month the budget crisis still seemed to be an issue so whoever is on the "budget committee" voted to raise tuition ANOTHER 11%. So that is a 22% tuition increase starting THIS fall, August 22! With the classic slogan "You get what you pay for," you would think us students are getting top notch service! However, it is quite the opposite. Every single class that I need for me to stay on track for a timely graduation is full. Class numbers and class titles are being switched and we are not being notified of the changes. Teachers as well as directors of the CAD department are not being helpful and aren't returning emails or phone calls. Some classes that I need (prerequisites) are not being offered until next semester, but I can't enroll in certain classes until I take the prereqs! I am just putting in a lot of work and spending a lot of time on something that should be so easy. The cost for an education is increasing and the level of service is decreasing. Not fair to those who are really trying to better their lives! If only I could have a talk (debate) with Mr. Obama...

Random Rant take 30!

I've been in a rut lately. I love my immediate family so very much, and at times I feel like the plan God has for us is kinda crazy. When people throw out the statement "You can't choose your family" it bothers me. I truly wish I could hand pick each and everyone of my family members. I feel like I got kinda screwed. I am not going to go into major detail on this one, but those of you who know Aaron and I, know our deal with the family situation. Although this is my personal blog where I should be able to share my true thoughts and feelings, I know doing so would cause major havoc that I just don't want or need. But Aaron and I have come to realize that sometimes the people who don't share your blood act more like your family than those who do. Becoming a parent made me view life completely differently than I did before I had kids. My life revolves around my children and my husband and I wouldn't have it any other way. Aaron and the kids totally complete me. We go about our lives on a daily basis without help from anyone else. We are strong people who just keep pushing through the rough patches. I don't know what we would do without each other and I feel like our struggles with the "family" is just bringing us closer together. Society makes it hard to cut out the toxic people in your life when they share your blood. Being guilted and being sabotaged to be around them when you truly don't want to and when you truly have nothing in common is just super frustrating. I used to yearn for those "close knit" relationships and bonds with my family but have come to the conclusion that it is just not meant to be. Cutting ourselves out of the puzzle and attempting to break the generational curses is what we have to do to create a safe and stable environment for OUR children. Although sometimes it is extremely painful and you want to give in because you think the people who have hurt you most have changed, we have to remember HOW MANY times they have put us through the same vicious cycle. I think the example that I had growing up is why I am the Mom that I am today. I always want to be in control and always want to make sure everyone is taken care of. I want my kids to feel loved and respected at all times and I want to raise them to be strong men who aren't afraid to express their opinions and are able to make educated choices based on the morals we have instilled in them. Sometimes Good kids don't come from Good parents and that is just a fact. But we will do our best today and always. The people we have as "family" who make such poor decisions and don't make an effort to be a part of our lives are the ones who are missing out. I have AMAZING children and they are worth making an effort for. The people who don't do what they need to do to involve themselves will be the ones who are missing out in the long run, because they can't go back in time to make up for what they have missed! Time to cuddle my boys and let them feel the love.

A clean house is a happy house

I get beyond stressed out when my house is a disaster. It seems that there is always an unbelievable amount of never-ending clutter! I pick up a toy and put it away, and the babies follow me and take it out again. I get so fed up sometimes and I just say, Forget it!!! We used to be able to afford a house keeper, but lately things are just too tight. Organization in my home makes me feel at ease. I can finally sit back and enjoy doing unproductive things when my house is organized, instead of having that "guilty" feeling! Since we rent this house, there is no way we are going to invest our own money into it. Our carpet is wretched! It is brown and like 30 years old! I vacuum it every day because it always looks dirty due to its age! It is such a pet peeve of mine but our landlord refuses to update it. Our den/playroom has wood paneling (YUCK!) I would do this house up so cute if it were my own! But tonight, I am able to sit on my couch and enjoy the Giants game in my nice and clean casa! It is definitely the little things! =)