Scott's Birthday treat!

And my new favorite Summer treat!  You don't even need to use the oven!

It is cold and creamy and heavenly!

Frozen Coconut Key Lime Tart

(original recipe by Lindsey Johnson)  at cafejohnsonia.com

Crust:
9 graham crackers (1 plastic sleeve)
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp. brown sugar


Filling:
16 oz. (2 bars) 1/3 less fat cream cheese (also called Neufchâtel)
1 can cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)  {if you are having troubles finding it like me...I found it in the alcohol isle ~ though it contains no alcohol ~ can use for mixed drinks and it tastes AWESOME!!!}
1/2 cup heavy cream
juice from 12 key limes, about 1/2 cup (next time I think I'll use a bit less, maybe 1/3 cup...so the coconut shines a little more)
1/4 cup sugar

To make crust:
Process the graham crackers, brown sugar, and shredded coconut in the bowl of a food processor until fine crumbs form. Remove crumbs to a small bowl and add the melted butter. Stir with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened with the butter.

I used a deep dish pie plate...line the bottom with parchment.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 to 15 minutes for a crisper crust, or chill the unbaked crust until ready to fill. {I did bake, but I don't think I will next time.}

To make filling:
Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and add all the ingredients, except the heavy cream. (No need to let the cream cheese soften for this.) Process until everything is incorporated, thick, and creamy. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and scrape the bowl of the food processor with a spatula.
Add the 1/2 cup heavy cream to the food processor and turn on for a few seconds until the cream has thickened. (Be careful not to over-process or it will turn to butter!)
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Taste for sweetness. Pour into the prepared crust.
Freeze the tart for at least 3 hours or overnight. Let it sit for about 10 minutes {or longer depending on how long it's been freezing} before serving for easier slicing.

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday Sean! I love looking back at my cute boys and how they've grown! (but how do I choose...I love so many of my pictures!)

I love this picture for a many reasons...
a) It's a great example of what a great big brother he's turned into in the last 6 months. While he's always been good to Kyle; he's recently gone above and beyond and enjoyed entertaining, reading, and teaching Kyle. He said two funny things today...First he said that Kyle asks him lots of questions...when in reality Sean just loves to explain everything to Kyle (ie...the details of his new bike while Kyle is strapped into a stroller and I ran inside to grab something). Then he said that Kyle's his best bud. But really that's when Ryan's at school or doing homework and then he's Ryan's wing man. He's got it pretty great! When Kyle naps, mom plays games with him. When mom is busy, he has Kyle to play with. When Ryan comes home from school, he plays with his older brother. What a great life!
b) look at that boy's eyelashes. He's got beautiful long and dark eyelashes. Always has.

Here are a few shots over the years. I love the spunk you can see in his gingerbread picture. This kid has spunk!

This one is on his second birthday! So funny to compare kids at the same ages...Kyle will be two in a little more than a week from now!

Always trying to do what his big brother can do!

And now he's five! With a birthday party....

and a new big boy bike to prove it!

For his real birthday and preschool he requested these Orange cupcakes...

He was so specific in his request...

Orange (he said it was Easter-y and spring-y) swirls that look like an ice cream cone that have stripes in the swirls...If you notice the four on the far right corner, they are smooth swirls(I was deciding which I liked best) and he did not like those.

Since I was making the frosting orange colored I thought it would be fun if they tasted like Orange too...so I found a recipe...oh Heavens! It is divine! {seriously...I'm usually a chocolate frosting lover...this frosting might match a chocolate frosting in my book!}(from Dulcedo)

Orange flavored frosting

1 cup butter, softened

6-8 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1/4 cup orange juice (preferably fresh) *and I always add sour cream to my cakes/cupcakes...makes them much more moist and yummy.

Then a few days later we had a party with some new friends!

Kids opening presents is a pretty funny ordeal, but then add friends into the show and it's hilarious. Three/Four year olds are notorious for telling you what they bought you before you opened it. Five year olds and up are totally into each gift. Checking it all out. This Batman was a big hit!

And so was the windmill!

For the party I made baseball cupcakes - but still with the same yummo frosting!

Notice the squeezed orange juice didn't tint the frosting orange...I used a little less than called for. But this proved to me that I can flavor a regular frosting orange! Seriously loving it. So sad we are out of cupcakes...oh yea! Kyle's birthday is coming right up! I am also thinking about adding orange juice and orange extract to a cream cheese frosting. Sounds tasty, right?

But before we did cupcakes and presents we played some games!

First off, I proved that I am the worlds worst Simon Says caller. Good thing there were 4, 5 and 6 year olds playing the game. Any older and I might have had a revolt on my hands!

Then we had a potato sac race...per Sean's request. Pretty fun and funny. Even Kyle was having fun figuring out how to hop - though he didn't make it to the finish line before he fell and was over it.

Then we played a game where they had to win the things that went into their goody bags by tossing the ring onto the item. It was pretty fun, but dragged a bit after a while.

Happy Birthday Sean! We love you so very much and are so glad you are a part of our family!

*Sean is the king of "what if?" questions. Some are non-sensical...some are very inquisitive.

*Sean tells stories...makes things up, but will admit to it..."Mom, in our preschool olympics today, we got to ski! Senora Brock had snow in the back yard and we put these things on our feet and we each got turns to go down the little hill!" Totally impossible scenarios.

*Sean is a great sharer. The last few days he let Ryan ride his new bike home from school because I can't bring Ryan's bike with us...the first day Ryan rode it all the way home and Sean rode the scooter. Today I forgot the scooter so he suggested Ryan start off and ride it half way home and then they switch. All his idea...when he found out I forgot the scooter.

*Sean is a smart cookie. He loves preschool. He loves to answer all the questions in primary...I have to keep reminding him he needs to raise his hand and he can't just shout out all answers. He has great math and reading skills for a brand new 5 year old!
*As previously mentioned, Sean loves to play games. All games.

*Sean sometimes needs to sleep! There are days where he'll fall asleep in the van or get a little testy which means he needs a nap. After he wakes up, he's good to go! Especially in the morning...this kid pops out of bed talking a mile a minute!

*Sean is very loving. He loves to tell me how much he loves me and give me kisses. He's excited for our new baby to be born. He loves his brothers endlessly (even though he'll purposefully bug Ryan sometimes ~ he is a human). He loves his dad ~ he told me that he loves the skateboard toy he got from his birthday because he loves his dad to teach him the tricks and he literally can hardly wait for his dad to be his coach in soccer next fall. He loves cousins and grandparents and loves to be around them!

What a great kid! We are lucky to have him!

Easter-eggstravaganza and Spring Break!

Happy Easter! What a nice week we had!

Terrible picture of our yummy easter tomb rolls. But the empty tomb worked better this year!

*wrap a thawed frozen Rhodes bread dough around a large marshmellow. Seal tightly.

*dip in butter and then cinnamon/sugar mixture.

*cook on 350 for 15 minutes.

*serve quickly. Gooey yumminess!

This one pictured somehow doesn't look as yummy as some of the other ones. Less gooey. You can also assemble the night before and put them in the fridge overnight. I started with dough that had risen overnight so I didn't let it rise again.

Easter breakfast:

Tomb rolls

Hard boiled eggs

Orange slices

Easter was is a beautiful day ~ despite our very cold and blustery weater here. Because we had General Conference, we stayed home ~ all together ~ watched General Conference, including a few beautiful Easter talks on our Savior, ate yummy food, had a little hunt in the yard, watched two PowerPoint presentations (from previous Silent Lesson presentations) on the computer about Jesus ~ one to I know that my Redeemer Lives and the other to I believe in Christ.

In reverse order...

Ryan finds an egg in our very windy and cold but before the rain came between General Conference sessions on Easter Sunday!

The boys and their pretty colored eggs and my beautiful tulips from Scott!

The week before Easter...on a gorgeous Saturday morning...our super awesome friend hosted an egg hunt for some friends! LOOK how cute it was!

Ryan is all about hunting and could not be interrupted to look at the camera.

Meanwhile, Kyle was delayed because he knew there was candy inside the eggs...he learned from Ryan's school hunt the day before.

Grandma helping Kyle get back on track!

Post hunting mayhem on the trampoline. Don't worry...they dumped the candy into their baskets before jumping into them!

At one point, Sean got hit in the head with an egg...I watched intently to see what his reaction would be...since he'd gotten hit with a rock on the head before the hunt...He calmly said, while rubbing his head, "I don't think that's a very good idea." Which I'm fairly certain no one heard.

What a fun morning!

Day before...Ryan's 1st grade Easter Egg Hunt...over 2500 eggs donated by families....each kid allowed exactly 17 eggs...Ryan followed the rules precisely.

So many eggs!

After hunting picnic.

















Not pictured: Sean's preschool Easter Egg hunt!

A whole lotta fun! And Grandma came to town for Spring break too!

Folsom Zoo....the bears were out and close to see really good. Here's one who was actually the farthest away!

Of course we had to take a ride on the train! Kyle loved it!

The big boys thought they were so cool to get to ride in the cargo car!

And we got to spend some time visiting with Grandma Lee.

Here are the boys telling her all about Bakugan's.

Other stuff we did:

* showed Grandma our new trails.

* enjoyed some Rubios Fish Tacos (a western treat).

* watched Ryan play baseball ~ he made a legitamate out playing second base!!! So exciting~despite the fact that I didn't see it. Seriously so bummed. I saw everything else, but that! Argh!

* Ryan discovered how good he is at playing catch and how much he loved it. Took baseball mitt along with him whereever we went...happened to have it when we needed to run into a grocery store for a few things. Luckily Scott's was in the back and per Ryan's request they played catch in the parking lot instead of coming into the store! So cute. SCOTT WAS IN HEAVEN!

* watched Scott play softball (where I got hit by a line drive foul ball on my shoulder. Still tender...so lucky it wasn't my head! I probably would have blacked out!)

* rain ruined Scott's day off and our hike plans on Friday. Bummer.

* watched General Conference! So awesome.

So nice to spend time together! Thanks for all the fun mom! We love you and miss you!

Coconut Ginger and Citrus Salsa

I've had a few recipes that I've wanted to make for a while...but I ended up combining them!

Instead of Sticky Coconut Chicken

or Halibut with Kiwi Orange Salsa

I made: Sticky Coconut Tilapia with Kiwi Orange Salsa

It was really yummy, but next time I'm going to make it with Salmon. I think the flavor of the coconut with the Salmon will be great!

Marinade:
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

* I used about a cup of coconut milk in the rice that I made and it was so yummy! Then later that week I made Hawaiian Haystacks(If you aren't familiar ~ rice, chicken, pineapple, green onions/reg. onion, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, cream of chicken as gravy...and used the coconut milk in the rice again and it was so great! Really revived the old Haystack!

Kiwi Orange Salsa
1 cup or more kiwi and orange ~ diced
1/2 up minced red bell pepper
4 tbsp. minced red onion
1 tsp. lime juice ( I used more)
snipped fresh cilantro to taste

We enjoyed this meal! We also had asparagus and salad. We were all in a happy place!

The Whole Enchilada

I love Enchiladas...and limes!

I love Mexican food!
I love limes in my Mexican food!


This is our Cinco de Mayo last year...I took pictures but never got around to doing a Cinco de Mayo post. It was yummy! I forget how I made the Enchiladas that day...



Enchiladas
Cornbread with cilantro-butter


I've also been loving variations of black bean salsa or pico de gallo - sometimes with avocado.

Again...It's all about the limes!

Oh ... and I discovered...since I was making up my recipe - for the best taste I use more salt than I'd expect.

5-6 roma tomatoes
1/2 to 1 onion
bunch of cilantro
1/2 to 1 jalepeno
juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
salt to taste

can add
2-3 chopped avocados
1 can rinsed black beans
corn

So..I've been making modified versions of enchiladas for a while now. The old cream of chicken enchiladas were getting a little old on me. So I've experimented with my own fillings, black beans, cilantro, tomatoes...and toppings...I've used red enchilada sauce that I'll mix with sour cream or green enchilada sauce/sour cream ...trying to figure out how I really like it. Then I stumbled upon this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe that had adapted it from Sisters Cafe Blog and printed it out a while ago. Well I finally got around to making it on Monday! We were having the Sister Missionaries over for dinner and I had most of the stuff so I got started, even though one of our Sister Missionaries is from El Salvador ~ made me nervous to make Mexican food for her! BUT she said she loves Mexican food and really liked it and even asked for the recipe so I think I passed somewhat of a test:)


My version of ~~~
original versions in the links....
My Kitchen Cafe

My Sister's Cafe
Honey Lime Enchiladas
Marinade:
1/3 c honey
1/4 c lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
2 tsp fresh garlic

Sauce on top:
2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce (next time I am going to try the Herdez Salsa Verde instead - still experimenting)
1/2 cup cream or sour cream
*I also added lime juice

16 soft taco size flour tortilla

Inside:

4 Chicken Breasts or 1-2 lb pork shredded(next time I'm going to cook pork in a crock-pot with the sauce...I. can't. wait! This time I just sauteed the chopped chicken in the marinade...and it was delish.)
1 can of black beans (drained) (my addition)

2 roma tomatoes chopped(my addition)

combine the meat, beans, tomatoes.

1 lb. grated Colby Jack Cheese, or Monterrey Jack Cheese or Cheddar. I used Med. Cheddar because I had it on hand...I want to use Colby Jack or Monterrey Jack next time...

Lightly spray 2 pans with non-stick baking spray. Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom. Fill tortillas with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.
Pour remainder of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese on top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy.


Well, I'm still not finished experimenting....but I really loved this recipe and am always in the hunt for a good dinner recipe, so I thought I'd share!

A blog post about nothing...

try to connect them into a Seinfeld show and this post might be more entertaining...really it's just randomness.

Here is a boy (Karate Kid) who exclaims one evening..."I just caught a fly with my bare hands!"

Skeptical mom beckons him closer to prove it...Yep...still in those little fingers!

He claims he saw it and batted it with his hand mid air knocking it down to the stairs. Before it could realize what happened, he grabbed it and came to show off his catch.

Wierd. He was told to flush it and wash with lots of soap!


This next boy said to me a few days ago, "Mom, I'm really glad I'm me and not a pig."

Me: "Oh Sean, i'm so glad too!"

Sean: "Why?"

the rest of the conversation included lots of giggles.

Sean has a scar on his chin from falling off of a bar stool in our kitchen, chin first onto the floor. I saw it all happen...he wasn't even really sitting on the chair. He was getting onto the chair but didn't make it to sitting before he continued face first down the other side. I was nervous at first we were headed to the ER, but after cleaning it it was very shallow but deep. Daddy came home with a magic bandaid (Butterfly) and it healed pretty quick.

Baseball season has started again. Coach Scott is back!

So are mosquitos. See the huge red bite on Kyle's cheek? It's been there for 2 weeks now! I think he must be allergic or something. But they also really love him! Even after covering him with bug spray he got bit at our last practice again!

Argh.

On a cute note...this was really cute. Sean would hold the mitt open and close it really fast when I pitched the ball for them. What a nice brother to help Kyle play catch! They had a lot of fun doing this. Kyle would squeal each time they caught a ball.

We had a lovely and yummy Valentines Day. Our church was really early (8:30) so we had a yummy brunch after church.

Menus:

After church brunch: {My Valentine's favorites}

Mango Peach Orange Juice,

French Toast (made with Sacramento Sour Dough Bread - the only way to go!),

homemade Lemon Buttermilk Syrup,

homemade whip cream,

and Strawberries.

Dinner:

Omaha Steak Bacon~wrapped Filet's ~ peppered and cooked to perfection by my Valentine

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Salad with Candied walnuts, strawberries, green onions, feta cheese, balsalmic Vinagrette {my favorite!}

Butter and Parmesean topped Broccoli

Dessert:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie in ramekin Pizzokie

with Cookies and Cream or Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream on top

***We were in such a food coma the kids had to stay up late to eat dessert because we just couldn't eat it any earlier!

Happy Valentines Day!

Buttermilk Syrup recipe (from my fabulous friend Jules' Mudpie Gourmet)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (can subsitute regular milk w/ 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar--let sit 5 minutes)
1 T light corn syrup
Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine.
Add 2 teaspoons orange or lemon zest, if desired.

* I've also added Cinnamon which is my kids favorite. They think the lemon tastes like lemon bars. These syrups are also fantastic with Wheat pancakes...I don't have the recipe I use here now...but Ryan thinks they are the best ever. Julie at Mudpie Gourmet has a Wheat and Yogurt Pancake recipe which I've never tried because I don't usually have plain yogurt around. I'd like to compare though:) Also my friend Kristen's family has a whole wheat pancake recipe they make in a blender using the pre gound wheat berries. It is awesome. I need Kris to come make me some of that and wheat bread and pasole. mmm!!!!

Oompa Loompa

Bits and pieces of our life...I love it!

New homework boy. He's not had regular homework before so I'm pretty excited...though that excitement might wear off before long:)

Sean didn't want to be bored while big brother was busy doing his homework so he asked me to give him some homework too.

Ryan loves his handy hand sanitizer for his lunchbox.

I love these brownies. Kinda candybarish. Karen made them for Sunday and I've been addicted and now they are gone!

Bottom layer - brownie

Middle layer - frosting with real peanuts sprinkled

Top layer - rice crispy concoction with peanut butter and chocolate

Ohhh...the flavors and the crunch!

yum!

This is why I don't always bake...because I love to eat yummies!

*recipe from Karen Motley

You make a brownie mix just regular in a 9x13 pan and wait for it to cool completely. Then you spread vanilla creamy frosting over it, sprinkle 1 cup of coarsely chopped peanuts and refrigerate it while you do the rest. Then you melt 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 cup creamy peanut butter. When it is melted you stir in 3 cups of rice crispies. Then you pour that over the brownies and wait for it to cool. Store them covered.

Angel curls in the back of this angel head.

Lots of oompa loompa singing...sometimes there's a repetetive phrase stuck in of

"I got a golden ticket." over and over. Don't think it got on either of these clips..but his voice is hilarious... also funny if not funnier...is when he sings, "Chewing and chewing all day long...the way that a cow does." I'll have to keep trying. SO FUNNY!

Celebrate good times, come on!

We've had a busy fun filled week of many celebrations!

the birthday

As mentioned in a previous post, Seanny's birthday was this week! Due to rain, we post-poned his birthday party that was originally scheduled on his big day. Since I didn't want to make a full on cake twice...I made a serious last minute cupcake-cake (which Ryan was so excited about) a soccer ball with green coconut grass...seriously my lamest birthday cake attempt to date. Embarrasing, actually(i only had a few minutes to frost/decorate...and soccer balls are quite a challenge to freehand!)!


Here's the birthday boy with some presents.









the projects
















This week was also Ryan's spring break, so he got to play with us all week, but most importantly on our Preschool co-op day. I was pretty excited about this preschool project I found online for Easter! It's Jesus' empty tomb - made out of paper plates. Then we made chocolate pops from melted chocolate. And of course we dyed some easter eggs too...no cracked shells this year! (last year - Sean kept dropping the egggs into the cups too hard:( )

the amusement park

Friday we finally (we got season passes for Christmas from Scott's parents - yay!) got to go to Discovery Kingdom - which is a mix between Sea World, a Zoo and an amusement park. Here is a tiger diving after a chunk of meat.

Scott and Ryan throwing shockers on the mini roller coaster. Ryan has grown up a bunch this year as he went on a big, real roller coaster, the Cobra (last summer he wouldn't do a comparable one). Sean was really sad he couldn't go on the Cobra with dad and Ryan.

After the Shouka show! They loved it!

A Cheetah. Such a beautiful animal!

The cougars came up close to the fence to say hi to us...and made their cool noise!

Four flipping dolpins!

the party

Saturday was the highly anticipated birthday party (after testing out Sean's new golf club at the driving range)! Sean decided a soccer party would be fun...so Coach Scott brought out the cones, goals and whistle! He got the kids doing warm ups, some drills and ended with a game. Sean was in heaven! Since he's watched Ryan play on a soccer team, and now a t-ball team...he finally had his moment. His smile was so big, the kind that makes you feel so good...knowing how happy he was!

the teams...

A much better attempt at a soccer cake...especiallt since the soccer ball's design is officially super difficult to draw! (ignore the mushed frosting...there was a bit of a mishap in the fridge.)

the hunt

And today was Easter! We started off the day with an egg hunt in our backyard. I love their genuine excitement! When they squeal and laugh with glee it is so fun! We've heard a lot of that this week!

Easter Roll ~ Tombs

After our egg hunt we had these Easter rolls...I copied it from an old friend...but didn't remember it precisely. I'd only remembered that you use the frozen bread rolls and wrap them around a large marshmellow and cook - which created an empty tomb roll. I'd had this in my mind all year - but all I remembered was the marshmellow. I forgot she also dipped them in a bit of butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar - would have been a hit since Ryan mention he thought I was making cinnamon rolls. Also, I only had mini mellows so I just put a bunch in and so the hole for the tomb wasn't as good...but I just wanted to pass along the idea. I'd never heard of it before and I think it's a great tradition! Thanks Camille!

Handsome Easter boys before church! Capturing eyes and smiles from all three boys is pretty difficult all by myself!










Then we got to have another egg hunt after dinner with cousins!

Checking out the loot!

What a nice evening!

















the tooth

And the finale of the week of celebrating. Ryan noticed a loose tooth on Tuesday. He was so excited. From the first moment of wiggles he began talking about getting money from the tooth fairy. Then, even though he made sure we were careful on each tooth brushing, he decided tonight that it was time to pull it out. Scott gave him options...pull it out with finger, pull it out with string and finger, pull it out with string attached to doorknob. He chose pulling it out with a finger by dad. But that little wiggly tooth was a slippery one! So he decided to switch plans to the string attached to a doorknob!

After Scott got a lasso loop securely around that wiggly little tooth (many tries later) he gave it a tug and the tooth was out...they never made it to the doorknob. So brave. I remember my Grandpa Gene suggesting we attach a string to a doorknob to get one of my teeth out and it terrified me! No way ho-se! But my little man is growing up and chose it himself!

What a week. Hope I didn't bore you. We've had a great time...last night Sean asked what fun things we were going to get to do today. Today was a great one...our bishops wife even brought the kids a new Star Wars Lego set that she said the Easter Bunny left at her house for them...imagine the glee!

Tomorrow can't possibly top the last 5 days!