Stuffed Chicken Roll-Ups.

I love a good Pinterest recipe like the next person, but, like most recipes, I adapt them to our preferred taste. 

I saw the delish picture of stuff chicken on Pinterest at 11:45 pm one night and decided to add it to the list of test recipes. Because I no longer wake up at 5:30 am to report to work by 8am, I stay up a tad bit later than my normal 8:30/9 pm bed time. 

It's more fun if you don't go back and reference the recipe and just try to wing it. This certainly gives it a flare of your own. 

STUFFED CHICKEN ROLL-UPS

Ingredients:

Hand full of spinach

(3) mozzarella sticks cut in half

Tonys seasoning

Italian seasoning

Chicken Cutlets

1/4 white wine

Butta' (use as much as you want)

Onion (use as much as you want)

Because I wanted to be fancy, I sliced the onion into disks and then place the rolled chicken on top of them.
You don't have to go this fancy. 

You can use chicken breasts, or take the easy way out and just buy chicken cutlets.
Sprinkle your desired seasonings on, add the spinach and your cheese sticks. Anything that involves cheese sticks is bound to be good! 

Next, roll 'em on up and put a tooth pick in the middle.
Again, I went fancy and even wrapped some bacon around a few of them. Because butta' and bacon make everything better. 

Pour the white white over the chicken and add the butter.
I even drizzled some olive oil on the chicken before it went in the oven.
Bake at 350' for about 35-40 minutes.

These are super simple to make and they taste divine! Hope you enjoy as much as my fam jam did! 

Jaxon's Paw-Ty: The Details.

This Pawty was so much fun!  

It's so fun to have a backyard full of sweet and sweaty babies having fun playing and inducing a sugar coma with ice cream and cake. 

Normally parties do not stress me out. However, this one did solely due to the weather. Because a big black cloud sat over my home all day, I did not set up for the Pawty until 1 hour before. I had WAY MORE decor than just an hour's worth. 

Because nothing says 'little boy' more than burlap and blue. 

The 'J' was a last minute Hobby Lobby find. 

My sweet frand Kerri made the puppy cakes. Thank goodness for Pinterest and iPhones. Not only is Kerri talented with the cakes, she also sings out of this world and has a heart of gold. Our schedules were so crazy and we couldn't meet up for me to pick up the cakes,  so I literally had to 'hid a key for her' and she just came on in my house and dropped my cakes off. I was hoping she was gonna unload my dishwasher for me, but she didn't. 

I mean, how stinkin' cute is this puppy! 

Because every 1-year old needs a poster of themselves at their Pawty! 

Maybe I had a little too much fun with this at times. Maybe. 

It's amazing what a recycled formula can, a piece of foam, crinkle grass, kabob sticks and scrapbook stickers can do! By the way, if you need these, I have 4 of them. Free to a good home. 

Menu included:
Puppy Chow
Corn Dogs
Pawtato Chips
Hot Dogs
Pup Corn
Pawsta Salad

and of course cake and home made Pup-cream 

My sweet friend Jennifer Pace made the party favors. I told her to pick a color: light blue, red or navy. She did all of the colors!  Not only did they look good, they tasted AMAZE! 

Suga' cookies make for the best little parting gift! 

I hate to even admit this, but I glued dog treats on a wreath. Oh the things I do for my little lovey. 

Sweet labor of love! I spray glued burlap on a foam board then printed signs for the Pawty. 

When you own a monogramming machine, and when given the opportunity, you must appliqué everything. This is free to a good home if you want it! 


All of the photos of Jaxon's Pawty were shot by Jennifer Parnell. Because let's be real, no mother has time to play hostess AND take pics! 

DIY: Picnic Table Re-Do.

You know I love a good bargain. 
I love to find something, clean it up and make it new again. 
Case in point: 

I previously blogged about finding this gem in the deep woods of Greene County, MS while helping my dad with his hunting blinds.

 The thing about Greene County is, you just don't know what to expect. 

You may very well see a wheelbarrow full of mustard greens on the side of the road where you take what you want and leave your money in a rusty old coffee can, or pull up to the gas station and tell the attendant to put your purchase on your parents "ticket."

 It's certainly a hidden gem......just like this picnic table that my dad was hesitant about hauling home on top of his golf cart. He even offered to buy Jax a new one as he was hoisting it up. I may have then spouted off something about this one now has character and turning it into a blog post. 

I digress.

In my most dramatic flair, I made dad stop his camo golf cart and sling the table on the top of the cart. 

After dad delivered it to my house, the work began:

I decided to paint the sides navy blue. Then, I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased some vinyl fabric 40% off. I had no idea what I was really doing, so I asked the clerk helping me to go ahead and cut 3 pieces. I have learned, the less I have to cut, the better off my project will be. 

Then, I pulled out the bottle of spray glue. 

After pulling my fingers apart........

TA DA! 

And to continue to make Greene County proud.......I present to you, my High School colors. 

Clearly, Jax is trilled over his mama's crafty work. 

Thank goodness he doesn't mind to sit at a table that has been rained on for 20 years and survived Katrina! 

It's-Great-To-Be-A-GCHS-Wildcat! 

Anyone remember that cheer?!? 

You are welcome for me sticking it in your head for the rest of the day! 

Easter Recap

So- last Wednesday, at 3 am, I woke up with a double ear infection like I was 5 years old. It was the worst pain ever. At one point, I told H  that I would rather give birth again than have to deal with the throbbing pain of an ear ache. 

Of course, H had just left on a business trip and my parents were out of town. So that just leaves me and Jax. All alone while I'm sick. Welcome to motherhood. While laying in bed at 4 am, I thought about getting up and taking a lortab.  Then, I decided it's probably not a good idea to take a heavy pain narcotic due to the fact I needed to drive Jax to school and myself to the Dr. So instead, I popped 3 tylenol and hoped for the best. 

A few hours later, the doctor diagnosed with me a sinus and double ear infection. Fun times my friends. Fun times. 

Fast forward.....it's Easter weekend....and I still can't hear and I still feel terrible. BUT- that didn't stop us from attending 2 Easter Egg hunts and a sweet birthday party! 

For your viewing pleasure: 

The Peep Show at the Walley Easter Family Picnic

Why thank you Pinterest. Thank You. 

Sweet Boy Cousins. Next year, they will have 2 more boy cousins to play with! 

My sweet Aunt was previously a cosmetologist.......check out her middle egg. "Crack" me up!! 

These are the eggs that Jax "decorated" with his truck stickers! 

Bay Bay may very well be the reason Jax walks early! Jax wants to go everywhere he goes! 

Easter basket from Granna and Pop's! 

Do you see the Jelly Beans in Jax's basket?? I told mom NOT to buy Jax any candy because I would not give it to him. So- she bought 'peas and carrots' Jelly Beans. That woman is always pushing the envelope when it comes to being a grandmother! I think she enjoys this a little too much! 

Well just melt my heart! 

Sweet little buddies in their matching shirts! 

Sometimes, I have brilliant ideas. Then, I stay up an extra 2 hours with an ear ache making matching shirts for the little buddies to wear! I thought it would be so sweet for them to match! Then.....everything went wrong with my machine! I make no promises on making 4 shirts next year. If I do- I probably need to start NOW! 

Thoughts for Thursday.....

This week has done me in. 

1. Teething is going to be the death of me and Jax. It's so bad at our house that I'm starting to wear wrinkle cream repair at night. 

This kid LOVES LOVES LOVES his dad. They are 2 peas in a pod......but at midnight, when teeth are breaking the skin of his gums.....he only wants mama. 

Sweet buddy now has 4 teeth, and they all came at a bad crying price to him. Thankfully, the past 2 nights he has slept through the night again. I probably just jinxed myself here. 

2. I have lost a formal dress. If have loaned you my most favorite cream colored dress, please return it. I have racked my brain in trying to remember where it is. I have called all of the cleaners.....and nothing. I've got nothing. 

3.  Tuesday night, I made hamburgers and wrapped them in whole wheat pizza dough and baked them. Genius. They were so good. It was sorta like a hamburger pocket. 

4. So....this is happening at my house: 

5. This is my life, summed up in a text message with my baby daddy: 

Apparently- H and I love to use emojies. A lot. 

6. Jax's Paw-ty (it's obviously dog themed) is pretty much planned at this point. Birthday party #2 will probably just be cake and ice cream with the family on a Sunday afternoon. I'll be the first to admit, this party is a little out of control. But- in my defense......I have waited a long time to throw a birthday party.....and by-golly....it's gonna be big (at least by my standards). I've enlisted the help of my dad with wooden blocks for games and stands to hang signs from. As long as I say "It's for Jax" he will pretty much do anything. 

7. After I sold my kidney for my monogram machine, I kindly asked H if we could pre-purpose the office in our house that he hasn't used since September to be my craft room. Currently- my craft room is the walk-in closet in his office. I painted it the brightest robins-egg blue I could find, and H even hung a chandelier in the closet for me. However, my craftiness is expanding- thus my space needs to as well. In the midst of office and craft chaos on Sunday afternoon....... this kept the 2 little weenies happy for 10 minutes: 

8. Easter Photos. Jax will cooperate until he decides not to anymore. This where he decided not to anymore. 

9. My mom is very sentimental. I am not. I'm so bad that my friends make fun of me for not keeping items they think I should. 

Saturday morning, I sipped my coffee at my parents house out of a mug from my 10th grade trip to NYC. We stopped in PA at the Hershey Factory. Mom saved it. 

10. Speaking of my dear sweet mom- I left my phone charger at my house, so I borrowed hers. This is it: 

Red. Rope. Light. 

It honestly scared me. It was dark in my bedroom and then I plugged it in.....and all of a sudden, I felt the urge to have a dance party at 10 pm. 

Menu Planning: 101, Meg Style

So, my previous post about Dave Ramsy and being debt free sparked some emails and text messages. 

Questions that my 3 readers asked:
1- What did we do for entertainment to keep from going crazy?
2- Meal planning: How did I manage it?
3- Vacations: We cut out vacations, but we still took some weekend getaways. How did we budget for it? 


Questions #1 and #3 are easy to answer:

Entertainment: we lived walking distance to a country club, and we own a golf cart.......so in the Spring/Summer, H would play golf and I would go to the pool. Thankfully, our friends would always want to cook out and hang out about every weekend, so that kept us busy and occupied. Plus- it was always a lot of fun! You don't have to go somewhere every weekend to be entertained. Not to mention, H and I were both in grad school, so that took up a LOT of our time.

Vacations: we have taken 2 international vacations since our honeymoon that was almost 8 years ago! Our last vacation, was the final ditch effort to get pregnant on our own before moving forward with infertility treatments. After that didn't work, we nixed big trips. However, to keep our sanity, we would still take some weekend get-a-ways with our Marriott Rewards Card. A lot of times, our stays were free. We deviated from Dave here. He says NO CREDIT CARDS.....with NO if's, and's or buts. However, we have always had and will always have a credit card........simply for this reason. When we have large purchases, we put them on the credit card, then H will schedule for the online payment pretty much the next day. Meanwhile, we rack up points with Marriott and have free hotel stays. BOOM! We paid for all 3 rounds of IVF on our credit card. Mama got a couple of weekend get-a-ways with that purchase. The key is to pay it off that month! If you don't think you can do it......then don't get a credit card. This is H's department......and literally, he will schedule a payment before he walks out of the Dr.'s office! If you have a hotel preference, join their reward system and email list. You can get some pretty good deals! 

Question #2 is a bit more comical:

Meal Planning: Y'all. I don't have time to coupon. Before my wild monkey man arrived, I would occasionally look at the online Kroger ad and do a little menu planning from there. But here's the thing: chicken and veggies will always be on sale. And even if milk isn't on sale, I'm still gonna buy it. So, I stopped doing that. Instead I began a routine. 

-During the week, I start making a list. I sometimes write down items that we DON'T need. I no longer rely on my infertility fried and pregnancy drained memory. 

- Pick a cookbook and start flipping the pages. 

I had a TON of cookbooks and cooking magazines that I have accumulated over the years, and I NEVER used them! So- pre Jax, I would sit on the couch with a cookbook and plan the menu for the week. I would make myself use only that cookbook. Because I'm a fearless cook, I would deviate from the recipe. If it was a big "fancy" pasta dish.......I would simplify it to say, spaghetti or just minimize some of the ingredients. The next week, I would pick a different cookbook, or I would use a magazine like Sandra Lee or Paula Deen. Sometimes, just the photo would work for me. It was a reminder that we haven't grilled burgers in a while, or had breakfast for dinner, etc. 

During our last move, I sold a TON of cookbooks! Thanks to Pinterest, I will never need another cookbook. And because I'm a minimalist, that is a great thing. Oh, and scarves. I don't need anymore scarves. People always give scarves as gifts. I have no more room for scarves. 

Anyway, now days, I will use Pinterest for my meal planning.  I make myself actually use the pins! I have put Pinterest into the "cookbook" meal plan rotation. Again, sometimes just looking a picture will remind you to cook something that you haven't in a while (i.e. last night I sautéed shrimp and I didn't even pull up the original blog post that it was linked to. The pic alone was my inspiration). 

I used to coupon a little, but since some of the wild and crazy coupon shows, a lot of companies have changed their policy. While I use coupons, I just use the ones that Kroger mails me. 

So here's my advice:
- Don't go to the store hungry. Otherwise, you will leave with just popcorn, wine and Little Debbies. And, you will buy a pack of gum in the check out line. 

- Go with a list. If you don't have a list, you don't need groceries. After you make your list.......stick to it. Again, it's not a bad idea to write down items that you DON'T need too. When we were seriously saving, I would leave my debit card in the car. I would ONLY use the money that was allocated in the envelopes. Talk about motivation! I didn't want to be the person who "couldn't afford their groceries" in the check outline.

-Get organized. If you use coupons, put them in the order of the store layout......otherwise, you will be flipping through coupons in each aisle and you will be frustrated.

-Shop at a real grocery store. Walmart doesn't count here. Any store that sells motor oil and has a hair salon in it doesn't count as a real grocery store. Everyone says "but, they have the lowest price", etc. That may be true on some things, however, Kroger doesn't offer all of the additional shinny items that can easily distract you and jack up your bill. Kroger is my store of choice. It was just this past weekend that I texted a BFF and told her that a store employee told me they are starting a $5 million dollar renovation next month. I was super excited about it! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!

- Take your menu plan with you. Again, I no longer rely on my memory, and sometimes you need to deviate from the plan because of an great sale in the store. I keep my grocery list and meal plans in my trusty Erin Condren planner. 

- Make your meals last. If you cook a big crockpot of chili and have left overs.....freeze them. Pinterest gave me the idea of putting cornbread in the waffle maker and pouring chili on top of it! 

-Your ref ridge/freezer doesn't have to be stocked for a Walking Dead Zombie attack. My mom has 2 deep freezers, and a refridge/freezer jammed packed full......yet she still grocery shops. Every time I cook at her house, I remind her that she doesn't need to go to the store until November! It's ok to be a minimalist when it comes to grocery shopping. 

- Eating better costs less! Put down the box of Little Debbies and buy some bananas. When H and I started eating organic and clean foods, our grocery bill was lowered as well. You can save money by shopping the perimeter of the grocery store (veggies, bread, meats, dairy).

I hope this helps! These are just the bullet points that have helped me along the way. 

 Do you do something great to make your meals stretch or to save money?

Happy Valentine's Week and a Free Printable's !

Happy Valentine's Week! 

It's the week of love. 

In case you are in a pinch and need some Valentine tags for your child's class party on Friday, well, here 'ya go. 

You are welcome sweet frands. 


Just right click on the image and print your "hearts" desire.

Get it......"hearts"...Valentine's week. 

Whatever. 

I would recommend to copy and paste into a Word document so you can place several on a page. 



Jax will be using these card with a squeezable for his school friends:

These tags are great with a little individual cup of oranges:

An Open Letter to Mothers.

I'm going to be honest here......I used to judge mothers (that is until I became one). 

I didn't understand why some mothers did the things they did until I became one. 

And to continue on with my honesty......I was even a tad bit naive during my pregnancy. I had these big hopes and dreams of parenting and what it would look like and how my child's disposition would be and how family would adapt to mine and H's parenting attempts.........and I'll be the very first to tell you that it didn't happen AT.ALL. as I imagined (don't get this confused with planned. I didn't plan anything. You can't plan with babies. You can only imagine. And hope. And pray. But mainly pray). 

I recently told someone that I have been judged the entire time I have been a mother. I have had to defend my parenting tactics since the day we brought Jax home from the hospital. It started on Day 1. And y'all, the sad thing is......we don't do anything weird! 

Why is your child sleeping in his crib in his room on night one? Because that is what the pediatrician told us to do and H made me do it. 

Why isn't your child taking a paci?
I'm not sure. Let me ask him. (At times, I sorta wish he liked them.)

Why are you waking your sleeping baby during the day?
Because I'm trying to get him a schedule because I'm going back to work. 

Why are you going back to work?
Because I am...that's why. 

The hard thing about being a mother is that other mothers judge you. They will ask you questions in a minute that don't matter. They are more concerned with the brand of food (or formula) you are feeding your child rather than tending to their own baby. 

Can I get an Amen and Amen.

Ladies.......why are we doing this to other mothers? 

Why are we not supporting each other and realizing that it's their baby, not ours. 

Let me type that again. It's their baby.......not ours. 

And, if we don't like what they are doing......just don't use it/buy it/feed it to your own baby. 

Don't we all have the same goal in mind: To be the best mother that we can be? 

My child's very first meal ever was a formula bottle from the hospital because of several reasons. Reason #1 was because of an unplanned c-section and a TON of meds, I was pretty much out of it and didn't get to see my sweet baby for over an hour. Reason #2,  I had an audience of family literally standing at the foot of my bed when I woke up. In that moment, I quickly realized that it was going to be ok. My baby was in my arms, he was happy, healthy and eating. That is all that mattered to me. That moment changed the way I see parenting. That was my moment. Granted, it didn't go the way I had imagined......but it didn't matter. What mattered the most was my baby was in my arms. 

I don't understand why we question or belittle our friends (or family) and other mothers when they are not doing things the same way we are? There is no manual to go by here. 

 I have a BFF that is about to give birth this week (Eek!! I'm so stinkin' excited). Because we are so close, I do tend to give her 'free advice'......but I always preface it with: this is what worked for us (or what didn't work for us). I by no means, am the 'end all be all' in parenting. My goal everyday is to try and out smart a 4-month old little man. I need to be 3-steps ahead of him. 

There have been several times where I have thought (and sometimes even said): My baby. My house. My baby. My house.

I have some amazing friends that I do go to for baby advice. They provide the 'no judgment zone' and they allow me to ask questions freely and they know that it's out of pure ignorance and not judgement. 

Questions and Answers with my honest friends:

Why do you feed your baby Gerber foods? 
Because it was on sale at the grocery store.

BOOM! Honesty. 

Why did you choose that brand of bottles? 
Because someone gave them as a gift. 

Why did you start feeding your baby 'food' at 4 months instead of 6? Because the pediatrician recommended it. 

Why did you choose that brand of diapers? 
Because they catch poop and I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that I'm just gonna throw away. 

All mothers need encouragement. It doesn't matter if you stay-at-home or clock in everyday, we all have the same goal: to provide the best for our little munchkins. Some people lose sight of that. 

Here's some advice from a mama that has been in the game for 4-months:
-don't get baby advice from Facebook/Pinterest/and bad Mommy blogs. 

-take everything with a grain of salt. 

-make a sign to carry around with you: My baby. My life.

- remember that a lot of recalls happen because an idiot didn't read the directions. 

- you know your baby better than anyone else, trust your gut (even if pregnancy/giving birth did relocate it)

-give yourself a minute. It's always fun to see your child light up after they have had a break from you. 
One of my very favorite moments of the day is picking Jax up from daycare and seeing his face light up! I cry almost everyday! 

Moms: we are doing good jobs. We love our babies. We are giving them everything that we can to make their little lives full and happy. Who cares at what age you feed your baby 'food', or what brand food you use, or if you swaddle or not. It doesn't matter. What does matter is knowing that you are providing a loving home for your baby.....

Let's encourage instead of discourage each other. We create enough doubt in our minds without having our friends and other mothers add fuel to the fire.