Meal Time Memory Lane!

I have very few memories of my grandmother from when I was little, however there are a few that seem to stick out and most of them involve dinner time. She always seemed to make dinner the best time of the day, it helped that just about every meal was amazing! She tried to teach me how to cook when I was 13 or so, but I would never learn. I wish now that I would have! Here are some of the most amazing meals she made, well that I remember anyway.

I loved her beef stew. I don't remember what she made it with, I just remember the very first time I ever tried it I was 6 years old and vowed to eat nothing but her stew every single day! Obviously, I didn't follow through with that, though I don't think it would be all that hard! I remember my mom agreeing with me and grandma laughing at me. She added stew meat and tomato sauce and a bunch of other ingredients that I can't recall. I so wish I would have gotten that recipe!

Another thing that she made that the whole family loved was her Million Dollar Fudge. She only made it around Christmas time or Thanksgiving, and it was the best fudge ever made... well in my opinion. I actually have that recipe around here somewhere, and I tried to make it with my daughter a few years ago. It tasted good, just not like grandma's!

I also loved her Chicken and Noodles. Those were my all time favorite thing that she made. Melt in your mouth delicious. I don't have that recipe either, it I did though I would love to share all of them with you!

One thing that ties all these great recipes (and many, many more) together is Coke! I was a lucky girl and my grandma lived with us. Evey night at dinner time she would make the meal since my mom worked evenings. She always let me have a Coke with dinner. I always thought I was getting away with something by drinking a Coke with dinner, and grandma would just laugh at me! I remember telling her that it made my ears tingle and I liked it. It seems silly to say that Coke made our dinner time complete, but in all honesty - it did!

Now today I let my kids have a Coke with their dinner. My daughter makes it obvious that she feels the same way I did - like she's getting away with something! They don't normally get soda, so when they do with dinner, it's something special to them. My family's favorite meal is Goulash, and Coke makes pasta taste even better than it normally does. I hope to perfect my own recipes so that my daughter can make them for her family when she's older and the tradition of having a Coke with dinner and sharing the days events!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola® blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs received by SocialsMoms, I will receive a $25 gift card. For more information on the program, click here.

Daisy Lock In!

So, one of the best parts about being a girl scout leader is getting to go to everything with my daughter. Except for when I don't get to go! Noodle went to her first Daisy Lock In last night, I'm gonna go pick her up in about an hour. I couldn't stay because I had no one to watch my son. From some of the pictures on facebook from other moms, I could tell she had a great time! I can't wait to hear what all they did. They are supposed to be making pancakes this morning, she will love that!

Here she is all ready to go! She has only stayed somewhere overnight just a few times, and it's always been to my best friends house. I was worried about her all night, though I knew I had minimal reason to worry lol! She was surrounded by at least 40 other girl scouts, DAISY girl scouts. All kindergarten and first graders. Maybe it's a good thing I had to stay home! I hope she had fun, I can't wait to see the pictures that the other troop leader took and I really can't wait til I get to hear her telling us how much fun it was!
One hour and counting... I miss my baby!

Switching It UP!

Hello lovely readers! Here I am again with a new Social Moms opportunity, I love working with them! This writing prompt comes from Cottonelle, they would like to know what little "switches" we have made to make a difference in our lives! I always say it's the little things that count, so here are a few switches that I have recently made.

The first one is taking time for me. That sounds like it would be a big switch, but it's really not. I take 5 minutes for myself to read an extra chapter in my book or to play around on facebook. Sometimes I take that 5 minutes to just hide in the bathroom. 5 minutes here and there for "mom" time really helps me. Sometimes I need that 5 minutes to stay sane!

Another thing I have recently switched up is having more time with my husband. I've started getting up earlier in the mornings so that I can see him for a little bit before he goes to work - kid free. Those kid free moments are something him and I hardly ever get, so they are cherished. We talk about his job, and what all he has to do that day or what I'm planning on doing with the kids. We check the weather together every morning too, and normally complain about how cold it's going to be! I love our morning time together - even if I do look like a walking zombie!

Another switch I've made is dropping the soda. I can't really say  this one is little though. It's been about a week now since I've stopped drinking soda and I feel so much better. I have way more energy and I'm not dehydrated anymore. I started drinking water instead. I use flavoring from Walmart and I love it. It don't have the same "texture" and soda, but it tastes great!

I also switched up how I pay my bills. I should have done this long ago. I started using... online bill pay! My cousin and friends made fun of me until I tried it, and I found out that it makes life so much easier. I have more time to hang out with the kiddos or to make crafts or what ever for girl scouts. I have always hated going to the pay stations to pay bills, online is so much more simple! I'm hooked now.

One of the best switches I have made is starting to freeze meals. I started doing it for my friend that is having surgery, and then realized that I could do it for my house too. Every meal I have made for the last 2 weeks has been doubled and part of it going in my freezer. I thought that it would be really hard, but since I'm already making dinner it's so easy to make a second batch at the same time! It will save me time and energy later. There are so many great websites that help with it. I think I may try once a month cooking next month!

Well there are a few of the things that I have switched up recently, and for the better. My favorite is probably waking up early to hang out with my husband! I'd love to hear about the little things you have switched that make your life easier. Thanks for reading!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Cottonelle blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Bittersweet Weekend

My weekends are normally kinda dull. Well maybe dull isn't the right word, they are pretty busy - but nothing over the top exciting.
This weekend will be bittersweet for me.
I'm going out with my best friend. To a bar (which almost never happens), and I will probably get really drunk (which also almost never happens), and I will make a complete fool of myself (which happens a lot).

It sounds like fun -BUT we are going out together JUST IN CASE it's the last time we can.

My best friend of 20 years is having brain surgery on April 12th. The list of things that can happen to her are really freakin scary. The top 2 - Death and getting paralyzed.  It's scary to think that the one person that you can tell anything to could be gone in the blink of an eye. I love her like she's my sister, and my kids call her their aunt. I'm so scared that something bad will happen and that her kids will be left without the most wonderful thing in their lives. I'm scared that her great husband will be a widower at 25. I'm scared that I will be left without the person that I can be a total dork with, the person that I have grown up with, and the person that is my rock.

All these fears have been boiling up inside of me for the last week. Every time I think about her surgery I have to hold back the tears. They still seem to find a way to overflow. When I think of the future, I always think of her and I in the "beauty shop, gossip going not stop, sipping on pink lemonade". I picture us being the crazy old ladies at our children's weddings that STILL get up to sing karaoke without even thinking twice. I hope that we get the chance.

It's so hard to put on a brave face for her when I am so not brave. It's not easy to think positive, but I really am trying to. If you have been there and done that with brain surgery, please share. If you have any kind of advice, I would love to hear it.

Thanks for reading.