Best Kids Crock Pot Recipe

Crock Pot and Boys I’ve come to love my crock pot, my go to place when I’m feeling like a real Mom and actually have a plan for dinner. I can take 15 minutes and cut up some shit throw it in there and when we all come back home in the evening it smells like one of my favorite restaurants! I’ve posted my favorite recipes and got to thinking

 Here’s the most important recipe for kids! One that you can’t forget:

 Kids - Crock Pot Style

 Take two kids - check expiration date - are they just past the cute stage where everything they do is cute and moving into the spoiled stage? Trim the fat - take out the TV the Wii ITouch Telephone

 Brown the edges - read the bible

 Add some basic ingredients:
Pocket knife Notebook
Pen
Bandaids

Then add the flavor:
Manners
Kindness
Compassion to smooth it out
Patience

And some spice
Energy
Anger

 Finishing Touches
Love
 Humor
Spontaneity

Stir it up then cover and set the pot on low for 14 years. Check once a year to see if any added spice is needed. If anything is too strong, you can add a few drops of punishment to take away the edge. What Would you add?

Me LOVE Crock Pot

The Crock Pot is the lazy woman's way of cooking. It doesn't take much to look like a gourmet chef with the help of a little bit of chopping and a whole lot of time! I can throw everything in there and forget about it until the little birds come up with their mouths open demanding food. Here's some favorites: Kel's Kickass Crab Soup Chopped celery, carrots, onions, green beans, potatos, tomatoes. Vegetable Stock Crab Meat Old Bay Seasoning Mix it all together and put in the pot for 12 hours on low setting or 8 hours on high. Either use reserved crab meat or a can of Backfin Crab meat to stir in prior to serving. Chili the Easy Way Chopped Green Peppers, Onions Chunks of beef steak browned Chili Beans in medium sauce Can of Chili Tomatoes Chili Powder Tobasco Sauce Add all ingredients with a few beers (not for you) and Stock. Cook on low for 12 hours or on high for 9 hours. Shred beef prior to serving. Add all the favorites - cheddar cheese, sour cream, onions, black olives etc. BBQ Chicken 1 bottle BBQ Sauce 1 bottle Zesty Italian Dressing Brown Sugar Worcheshire Sauce Chicken Breasts cut in strips. Combine and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken and serve with slaw and beans.

National Poetry Month - Memories

I thought I saw you the other day Was that you out of the corner of my eye? My heart sped up As the memories took over I missed you all over again I didn't cry I wanted to but Too much time has passed No sign of weakness I took that memory Tucked it away in my heart Saving it for another time When I am alone Then I smiled because keeping this memory Reminds me that you are always with me.

And they ate it....

Kale Chips Kale picked off stems and shred Olive Oil Salt Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wash and dry kale. Sprinkle with olive oil then salt. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are brown. Serve with tooth picks to clean out your teeth or you will look like a redneck.

Happy birthday!

W - wonderful, witty, watchful O - ostentatious, outgoing, ornery l - lively, loving, loud F - funny, fantastic, full of life G - gregarious, great, gorgeous A - adorable, amazing, admirable N - nice, naughty, notorious G - great gift I am very grateful for. happy Birthday Wolfgang, god gave me a great gift!

Beach Babies

Fun, sun, time on the the sand,
Three little kids, running hand in hand.
Waves to jump, holes to dig,
Broken chairs and toys to rig.

Run, play make a rhyme,
Oh goodness, look at the time!
Please, oh please, let us stay,
We haven't had enough time to play.

Hiding, hoping if they're not found,
Then its long until they're homeward bound.
Sadness, sulking to the car,
Taking some sand home in a jar.

Hoping, Wishing that it wouldn't end,
Not wanted to leave the best friends.
Joy, love, Back at the hotel, Oh it's cool!
We can still play in the pool!

Beach Day Dreaming

Sometimes I wander,
I let my mind ponder,
And travel far away.
I land on an island,
Just south of Thailand,
With just a guitar to play.

Or I'm the damsel, in distress
In an oh too tight a dress,
With hair beautiful and long.
Waiting on my knight,
And the dragon he must fight
Ending with a lover's first song.

I then fly through the trees,
In the jungle mountain breeze
Clad in a leopard skin suit.
With a monkey by my side,
And an elephant as my guide
And a cute Jack Sparrow to boot.

But something always happens,
and back to the present I'm snapping.
Hearing the sounds of my home.
There's laundry that needs folding,
And the dinner that's already molding
And my mind, wishing it could roam.

Happy Birthday Max - A boy and his dog

Max and Shawnee went for a walk,
Side by side, they didn't even talk.
Through the woods, past the trees,
Higher than the hum of the honeybees.

They found their secret spot easily,
Both jumped around the log with glee.
For they even had time to play,
Time to add a picnic to their stay!

Shawnee and Max started with a dance,
The foxes and turkeys joined at first chance.
They circled the secret log and the trees,
Asking the deer to join, if you please.

Next they waged an imaginary battle,
A tree limb for a sword, Max rattled!
Away ran the squirrels, and a skunk,
Luckily he didn't leave any junk.

Finally Max and Shawnee sat in the sun,
sad that and end came to their day of fun.
Soon they'd hear the ding for dinner,
Goodbye fights, dancing, and not a winner!

They made it home in time for great food,
Mac and Cheese perfect fit their mood.
Behind the animals waved goodbye,
Missing Max already with a sigh.

Oh what fun!  Max hugged his dog.
"We fought, we danced, we found our secret log."
He smiled, looked at the animals who seemed so blue.
"Any day with my with dog and my friends will do!"

Breathing History - Montgomery AL

I took a morning jog,
time to meditate, contemplate
And as I heard the crunch,
the strike of foot to pavement,
I breathed history,
Not for the first time ever,
But the first time here.

I felt the smooth leather seats,
heard the soft country music.
Felt on top of the world but lost to everyone,
down that Lonesome Highway.

I felt a Southern victory but wondered at what cost,
I felt torn from my family,
I felt there were too many voices unheard,
and too many still just forgotten.

I felt the challenge of change,
Change of old but also change of today.
I wondered, are we at the same crossroads
And like them, and no one realizes it?

I ran and I thought, I thought and I ran
I wondered, are we breathing the same air
as them, are we traveling the same path,
they traveled and they're hoping
We'll make the right decisions?

Then I let the past remain the past,
As I ran into the future.

The best way to visit Montgomery, AL - by foot!

Beautiful morning for a run!  Union Station in Downtown Montgomery, AL

Wondered how many people walk up these steps on a Sunday morning?

 

A little light color with otherwise brick and iron!

Beautiful old buildings - vines and all!

Back when there was detail in architecture.

Don't need to show the pictures, but as always, I find the most unsavory parts of town on accident.  This time is was 5 guys hanging out in front of the Bail Bondsman, but I just kept going!

You never know what you'll find along the road.

Does this make you want to eat meat?

The first White House of the Southern Confederate States!  Jefferson Davis as President

Capitol Statue to Confederate Soldiers 

With the corner stone laid by Jefferson Davis!

Went looking for Old Alabama Town and found this - hopefully I was lost!

Downtown along the Riverfront - in the Alley

Love old buildings!

This is why I travel by foot through the city, what better way to get a view and a workout in the process!  Some of my favorite city runs include - Downtown Sydney, Australia....Seattle, Washington.....London, England.....and you never know what the future holds.  What are some of your favorite city runs?

A quiet morning, a cool breeze, silence as the only sound is the footfall on the pavement.

How to properly lose it at the Georgia Aquarium

Georgia Aquarium - sure this is the largest aquarium in the world, but do they have to pack it to the gills with people.  The Georgia Aquarium was like Disney on steroid, the family walks to a large mall type atmosphere with so many people running around we’re instantly thinking we’ve entered the arena of the Hunger Games.

There’s crying children, wailing children, mother’s yelling at their children, father’s yelling at their children, and lost children.  The boys and I plan an attack, knowing that we have tickets to the 4D show AND have to make the Dolphin Show at 330p to end the day.

Let me stop here and explain to you my husband.  He believes is seeing Europe rather than going to Disney, he’s not a huge Chuck E Cheese fan, he enjoys his boys but not chaos.  Imagine his face when we walk into a Who Concert mass of people trying to get to the Ocean Odyssey like us and the minute we walk through the door, Max disappears into the crowd.

Back to our goal of making it through the Ocean Odyssey, this is a tunnel through a huge aquarium with whale sharks, swordfish, manta rays AND 800 lb groupers swimming over you.  Jeff hold one child’s hand while I hold the other, we are packed like toothpaste in the tube when a child looks up at Jeff and says, “I need to toot.”  My husband is so happy to be stuck in a tube, with a child passing gas AND all the other mother’s yelling at their children around him.

We make it out of the Ocean Odyssey and it’s time for the 4D movie, we must arrive 15 minutes early and wait in a line of sweaty yelling kids for this one of a kind experience.  My sweet husband looks at me, stars to say something then simply closes his mouth.  “We’re making memories honey.” I say.

“Yeah, this is one of a lifetime, because I’m never coming back here,” he mutters.

We see the movie with the spray of water in the face (4D), the air on our feet and a very nice environmental message to save the oceans.  My wonderful husband has other ideas about global warming and such but still remains quiet during our 15 minute environmental message.

We have enough time to fight the crowd and make it into Frogs before hitting the Dolphin Show, a full 30 minutes before the show.  Fighting through the frogs, we join the sea of people toward the Dolphin Tales.  We get to the front of the line and I’ve got the wrong tickets, while I open my purse to get the right ones, this guy pushes past us, “Just let us get by you,” he snarls at me almost smacking the attendant in the face with his tickets.  I wonder what the extra 3 seconds ahead of me would do when I walk into a auditorium with people pushing other people out of the way for the seats in front.  Packed like sardines, I’ve lost half my seat to a very large woman with a bag of McDonalds, and Jeff is very happy that the lady next to him has chosen that time to breast feed.  My husband who watches TV shows with me explaining how they explosions in outer space cannot be real, watches a Dolphin Show with electrical capes, and dancing monsters and a disco ball.

He doesn’t properly lose it until after we wait another 15 minutes to get out of the show, then a guy with a sub dripping down the front of his shirt runs into him, looks at him and burps then continues on his way, “I’m done,” he simply states and heads out to the nearest bar.

I should have listened to him then, but no, I had to take the boys - annoying each other by punching and tripping into the petting part of the aquarium.  There’s sharks swimming in a long tank, kids line all the sides trying to get their touch in, but the sharks stay under the water enough so that short arms just can’t reach.  My two knock each other out of the way to the one open spot, the fight for it causing the other children to move down a great ploy to get them to fit.  The oldest dips his arm in the water locating the sharks, the youngest jumping up on his belly trying to touch them.  I look away and before I know it, one is chest deep in the water the other looking at me with disbelief on his face.  I walk away, and wait for both of them to catch up to me.

“What happened.”

“I was trying to help him touch the sharks.”

“He pulled my arm until I fell in the water.”

“I did not”

“I’m wet.”

“Come on let’s get out of here.”

I can’t get mad, I’m trying not to laugh.  As I bump into my last person and say “excuse me” for the 1,587th time, I’m glad that I got the memories in, the time taken care of and didn’t kill them.  It’s been a good day when I see my husband waiting at the bar for us, cold beer in his hand for me - he offers it like it’s a medal.  In a way it is, a finisher’s medal for a day with the family and surviving.  Ever taken one for the family?

A dog's problem

There’s a little dog, a small ball of fluff,

that swears she’s a person,

never been of the canine stuff,

Treat her like one and it worsens.

Her thoughts are different, she’s so sure,

that two legged she should be

she can only be human, so don’t infer,

Our family just agrees.

She wags her tail, chases the ball,

But sits like a diva with us,

She loves her treats, meat and all,

mention a collar and she makes a fuss.

She wants our food, especially the cheese,

She snubs her nose at canine stuff,

We try to say, “you have ears, a tail, fleas,”

All we get is a “Ruff.”

She thinks she’s human without the fuss

With the small addition of fur.

She’s just simply one of us,

Anything less is a mangy cur.

So human to us she is and will be,

With that addition of tail,

She’s such a big part of our family,

A dog with a tale

In honor of National Poetry Month

Musings of a Runner

Running this morning, I added a trail to the mix out of respect for Caballo Blanco, the Ultra Runner who was found dead in Mexico yesterday.  I started on the road and as always when I run, I am amazed at what I find along side of the road when running.


A set of birth control pills with several still in there.  Running, I'm thinking, "Hopefully that was the week where it's just placebo pills."  Then my imagination starts to roll - "Honey, that's it - I want a baby!"  And out go the birth control pills onto the road.  Or, "damn, these things didn't work!"  Out goes the birth control pills.  


The next thing I see is the head of a doll.  I can see the child holding the doll out the window saying, "weee!"  Then it hitting a stop sign and the poor child pulling in just a doll body.  Or the two children fighting in the back seat until someone gets hurt, and usually it's the doll.


I've seen condom packages, condoms out of the package, hairbrushes, hats, shirts, single shoes, AND CD's.  I've seen deer skeletons, too much road kill to count, and even taken a few injured animals home.  


That's the beauty of running, it's a time to mediate even if it is to wonder why the CD is sitting by the side of the road, did someone hate the song so much they pulled the CD out of the player and threw it out the window  Using my imagination to picture funny scenarios for everything I see by the side of the road, some that may actually be true!


What have you seen out there running?  Does it get your imagination rolling?