Homemade...

Because I'm blessed (some would laugh) to get to stay home with our kids every single day.

Because I'm not a big liker of pre-packaged food.

Because I'm a month in advance meal planner so I'm saver at the market.

Because I like knowing the ingredients entering my kids bodies are 99% pronounceable.

Because for some reason my boys have hit a semi-picky phase.

Because I have 4 guinea pigs living in my home that like to eat.

Because I love being able to cook and bake and tweak recipes for those guinea pig, semi-picky, little mini me's that we call Princess Hurricane and Monkey!!

Those are just a few reasons why I love being able to cook homemade meals. Yes, I won't lie. There are times when we'll pop a frozen pizza out of the freezer, or buy pre-made things like the flavored Philly cream cheese cooking mixes, or if Phone Guy's home with the kids they might even get to eat out. However, if it's a home day and no mid-day errands need to be ran then 75% of their lunch is homemade, not out of the freezer, etc. Yes, we do the Mac & Cheese thing and other kid food but they're 2 & 4 for pete's sake lol They love corndogs too. However, and this is why I'm blogging this recipe for you today, the hotdog in the middle is consumed but there always seems to be a pile of the corny outside sitting there when they're done. Sound familiar to anyone??

This drove me NUTS, but whenever we'd go to check out at the market there would still be a box or two of corn dogs or better yet corn dog bites in his cart (we split the store when shopping). That, and more and more I was finding I had to de-grease them (no we DO NOT fry anything in our home) before I could get them to the kids. It didn't matter if we baked them, nuked them, or Pizzaz'd them it still had to be done :( So, I knew there had to be a better healthier way. A way to get them to not only eat the hotdog, but get the deliciousness that is the outside. A way that wasn't dripping with grease. After all I had a cake pop maker ($10.00 at WM) and I had a ton of pop sticks ($7.45 for 500 at our little kitchen store) So... here's the solution that my kids (and PG and I) LOVE!! I hope you enjoy my first newly posted recipe as much as we do!

Where Has Time Gone??

So, yes I've been gone. I just didn't realize that it had been for almost two years!!

Where have we been? Well, our home has been on a roller coaster ride lately to put it mildly lol

However, now that things are settling down I've decided that I will indeed be here once a week with new things. DIY projects, helpful hints and tips, random things and food. Yep, food. We love trying new recipes and as I've said before I love to bake, so my Kitchenaid seems to be constantly running!!

So, before the "new" blog begins here's the cliff notes version of our ups... and downs... and ups... and downs...

Up ~ Everyone celebrated two birthdays which means I need to update the whole newborn, toddler, etc thing. It also means a certain guy is closing in on 40 which means PARTY. The only party he's ever given me permission to throw for him!! LOL

Down ~ Another tragedy was when we lost my mom. It was completely unexpected, it was sudden, and she died in her sleep. She was a week away from her retirement, Monkey hadn't even had his first birthday, and our calendar was filling up with "Grammy Visits" very quickly! It shattered all of us, especially since we just spent the weekend before with her, and especially me. She died of a broken heart, both figuratively and literally. 420 days without my dad was long enough for her to be without her best friend. A year and a half later we're finally coming to an end on all of the paper work. All the drama that ensued from the moment she died is another one of those another blog for another day. Either way I'm glad that she can finally be with my dad again and with her mom. She missed them both horribly and I know she's no longer hurting. Yep, a year a half later we all still miss her and dad, but I think we're all going to be okay. At least that's my theory ;)

Up ~ We put a lot, and I mean A LOT, of miles on our car driving back and forth across this very VERY flat state. We got to see Nebraska go through all four seasons. We got to see some homes in Iowa that my family lived in and built well over 100 years ago. We got to toodle around Omaha I lost track how many times. Each time we chose to see something different, other than the zoo which we visited 2 or 3 times because it's amazing!!

Down ~ The reason why we had to do all that traveling is Monkey was sick. Not just a cold or flu sick either. We're talking sick sick. He went misdiagnosed for almost 5 months here (it's allergies, he has a cold, he's teething, if there was an excuse we heard it as to why his glands were grotesquely large) Noone ever bothered to look deeper so... well... another blog another day. Well, he was so sick we got to know Omaha Children's Hospital inside and out! They're phenomenal and I can't say enough about how amazing they are!! They saved our little Monkey's life and thanks to them and their team he's thriving and ornery as all get up!!

Up ~ Our big up came last summer when we got to move out of what, for three years, we referred to as our shack because it was less than 1000 sq ft. We lucked into our new home and we love all the space we have. I'll blog as we do more improvements (it's kind of 70's early 80's ish and needs love) and about all the new home to old home comparisons. A few of my favorite parts are: an actual laundry room, a big garage, a man cave for my guy to hide in (and me sometimes too), a massive guest room that also doubles as a play room, a ton of storage, a huge FENCED back yard that the kiddos can run wild in and boy do they ever!! It will be a work in progress for awhile but that's okay, it's what we wanted and it's ours!!

So, that's where we've been. On our roller coaster of life. I'm ready to blog again. Ready to rejoin the digital world of fun!! Thanks for checking back in and I look forward to reconnecting with all of you!!

Loves from the plains