Its in the sauce y'all

You all know I'm no Paula or Giada (or even a long lost cousin), but when I do have something that makes my taste buds sing and is simple to make too, well by golly I'm gonna share it with y'all.  

Yes, I'm southern today so "y'all" it is.

General Tso's is my absolute Favorite Chinese dish.  There's just something about that sauce.  

*swoon*

And ladies I have found THE. BEST. store-bought General Tso's sauce for your "no-take-out" dish by Iron Chef.  Trust me when I tell you it will not disappoint.

The best part of this meal is how easy it is, you literally throw it together.  No recipe needed.  I use popcorn chicken cooked in the oven.  We let ours in there a little longer than the directions on the package so it's nice and crispy and won't go limp in the sauce.  Then I cook up some frozen broccoli in one pot and rice in another (what could be easier?)

 

Then I literally toss the broccoli and chicken in the sauce, spoon over rice, and serve. 

Come on now, you have time for that right?  

This quick meal is a staple around our house.  There is only one store in our area 

that sells the sauce though so when we go, we stock up on that baby!

Go on and getcha' some!

6+ years and still waiting to sleep

I have been waiting to sleep for 6 years now.

*Sigh*

Will it ever come?

Ok, maybe I'm being a tad dramatic but really...just a tad.

I don't know what it is with my boys but there is always some sleeping issue and they end up waking me and Hubsy up sometimes 6 or 7 times a night!

It varies from true night terrors to just not being able to sleep.

The other night L (my 6yr-old) was already on his way to our room when he thought he saw a giant rat in the hallway.  He screamed for me and I've never heard that kind of utter terror in his voice.   I thought surely he must have had a limb cut off!  OK, not likely but I was half asleep after all. 

Thankfully it was just a rat (sort of).

Don't even get me started on E.

That boy will resist sleep AT. ALL. COSTS.

His excuses for coming to our room are endless, and some are really hysterical, except that I'm being woken up and I'm not exactly the most pleasant person in the middle of the night.  They usually don't become funny until reflecting on them once I'm already up and showered.

Then we went and got a puppy that can't go all night without being let out to pee.

What were we thinking?

Needless to say I was BEYOND grateful to Hubsy when he offered to have a sleep-out in the living room with both boys the other night.  Oh and he took the night shift with Seamus too :)

Long live the monster tent!  Even though it takes up half my living room , it provides days of new adventures for the boys every time we bust it out.

I had 9 blissful hours of totally uninterrupted sleep and man was it heaven. 

HEAVEN I say!

I may or may not have taken an additional 2 hour nap later that day too. 

I admit nothing.

How about you?

Do you or your kids have trouble sleeping?

How do you deal?

And since Seamus is just too cute, I'll leave you with this pic.

Have a great week!

Pie Pops

We recently got away from the house for a bit and went up to my Dad's farm for a vacation visit.  

Now if you've been following me for a while, you may remember that my stepmother, Rose,
is an awesome cook ;)

You really should check out here blog Sprigs of Rosemary.  

I love when we visit because she always has something new to try.  This time she made these adorable little pies on a stick, or "Pie Pops" if you prefer a fancier title.  They were so cute, you couldn't resist them (and they tasted just like the real deal).

 

You can find the recipe she used here.  

Rose's blueberry version

 Rose made up her own filling though with their farm fresh blueberries....delish!

So if you want to get some "oooh's & ahh's" at your next picnic, try making these cuties.

Happy weekend girlies!

Pleasing Prints

Today is my fist time linking up with Michelle at 

The Vintage Apple for some Pinterest lovin'...

thevintageapple.com

...so I thought I'd share some of the prints I fell in love with while perusing Pinterst.

 

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{1} For moms with boys, could this BE any cuter?

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{2} Can I get an AMEN!

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{3} Talk about calling me out to walk-the-walk and not just talk-the-talk!

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{4} Trying to drill this into my kids right now.

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{5} for me Hubsy :)

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{6}  I just ADORE this one, I feel like this on many a day *hehe

Visit my sidebar to follow me on Pinterest 

What are you loving on Pinterest?  

Do you find yourself pinning any one type of theme a lot lately?

Pymatuning 2012

We took our second camping trip to Pymatuning Lake this year.  

We went for the first time last year and loved it so we're making it an annual trip now.

We get the same camp site with a direct walk-out onto the lake. 

This is what we wake up to in the morning, 

there are few better views in life than this :)

I loved sitting out on the tiny section of beach in the morning watching the fish jump, the blue heron hunt, and ducks land and quack about.  I think one of the things I love best about camping is that for me it is a humbling experience.  A reminder that in nature, life goes on without all the drama we add to it.  All these years after creation and herons and ducks are still hunting fish and fish are still hunting bugs.  It makes all the little things that I spend so much mental energy on seem so silly.

I love the absolute calm it brings to my spirit.

That said here are some more shots from our trip.

The Spillway

Fish and foul are in abundance at the spillway and everyone and their mother stops to feed them. 

Including us...and my mother :)

The birds are awesome but I must admit the carp are kinda creepy.  

But really any animal or bug in large numbers like that gives me the willies.

They practically swim on top of each other and they all have their mouths gaping wide open.

The Fish Hatchery

The fish hatchery is actually more fun than you would think. Yea there are large tanks of fish in various stages of life but the grounds are really beautiful with some unique things to see.  Especially the nesting bald eagles that we were not lucky enough to see this year but did see last time.  Let me tell you to see a bald eagle up close in its natural environment is quite impressive.  But this year we got to see scads of barn swallows nesting beneath the eaves of the hatchery building.  I loved seeing their little heads peeking out of the holes.  The ones in the last photo are probably only about a tenth of what was there.

We absolutely love it there and can't wait to back next year although I think we'll definitely be extending our stay.  You just can't fit in everything you want to take advantage of into 2-1/2 days.

Any other campers out there?

Where do you like to camp?

We're always on the lookout for new places to explore :)

We adopted a sweet baby boy!

Boston Terrier that is.  

Sucked ya right in with that title didn't I ;)

As you know we recently lost our sweet boxer.  Well I can tell you that the lack of her presence has been tough for us all.  We knew we would want to get a puppy at some point and decided now would actually be a good time since Hubsy is off from teaching for the summer and would have some time to train the dog before we all get insanely busy again in the fall.

He was rescued from a puppy mill, fostered for a while, and has now moved into his forever home :)

Meet Seamus 

(aka Seamus O'Shea, Batman, Mr. Mister)

Yes, I have given him several nicknames already

Ain't he a stinker?

So sweet!

He's quite tiny, only 3 months old after all.

You can see why I call him Batman, check out those ears!

We're pretty excited about having Seamus join our family. 
It really is like having a newborn - what with all the nighttime potty breaks and all. 
He's quite the snuggler and thinks he is a lap dog.  Problem is I kind of like it for now, not sure about when he's bigger though so we'll try to keep the lap time to a minimum :)

Happy almost weekend!

Tiny Ripples

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"You look nice honey."

That was all that was said, but it had a profound effect on my attitude.
That simple little compliment from Hubsy made me feel so good...
made my outlook for the day a little brighter...
made me want to make someone else feel good too.

That's what compliments are.
Little ripples of love that spread out exponentially.
So often we take for granted how incredibly impactful our words can be.
Even the seemingly small ones.

I urge you to take a moment to compliment someone today.
Whether it be your spouse, your child, a co-worker, or a stranger.  Give them a heartfelt compliment and rest assured knowing that you have made the world a better place.  Truly you have.
In that small act of love, an entire movement of change can take place.
You will positively impact another's life, their mindset, and their actions.
It will only grow and multiply....and YES real change can happen in that way, with seemingly humble beginnings.

Remind you of anyone?
Jesus was born humbly in a stable but He spread love in every way, in every situation, and He has changed not only the world but all existence, for all time. 
Pretty darn awesome.

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