Wednesday, September 21, 2016

EASY Make Ahead Breakfasts! Put Down Those Frozen Waffles!

School is back in session and that means a busy schedule for our house. I normally don't have time to cook a hot breakfast on weekday mornings and yet I don't like the idea of everyone having to constantly eat frozen waffles, toaster strudels and the like. 

A couple of years ago I went digging around for some ideas on breakfast foods I can make ahead of time. That would mean the hubby and kids could just grab something that was pre-made with love by Mom from the fridge or freezer, heat it up if needed and enjoy my cooking without me actually having to scramble to cook something right in the middle of our morning chaos. I found some amazing choices out on the world wide web! I tried several things, tweeking the recipes to make them my own, of course and they were a big hit! Since then, I try to do make ahead breakfasts as often as I can though since having the newest baby, this has been my first chance in a long while.

I spent this morning assembling my make aheads and wanted to share with you some of my family's favorites. First in the line up is Breakfast Burritos! 


These happen to be sausage, egg and cheese filled though I make them with many different fillings. I assemble, fill, then individually wrap them in saran wrap. Next I place them in a gallon freezer bag. In the mornings the family grabs one or two from the bag, pops them in the microwave and VOILA! Breakfast is ready to go! 






You just can't go wrong with a breakfast burrito in the morning. They are delicious and filling and a great start to the day. 


Another favorite in our household is Refrigerator Oatmeal. This one is always a hit with John P (husband) because he can put in his request for what flavor he would like me to make. He loves bananas and he loves peanut butter so his most asked for flavor is......you guessed it! Peanut Butter and Banana! 

This stuff is super easy. The ingredients are easy. The assembly is easy and you can get pretty creative once you mix the base and mix in whatever flavor combos you like. For today, I did the old standard for the hubby....


It may not appear that the jar has much in it BUT this is a 16 oz mason jar filled about 1/3 to almost 1/2 of the way full of belly filling foods. The first time I made them I actually filled the 16 oz mason jar pretty full and John P told me that was WAAAYY too much food for one sitting. That's saying a lot because my husband can eat fairly good sized portions of food at one time. The very next time I made them I decided to go with the 1/3 to 1/2 full method and that was just right for him and the kids that enjoy them. I usually make 4 of these at a time but you can make as many or as few as you wish. Depending on what you add to them, they will "keep" in the fridge for 2-4 days so I try to only make what we can eat up by then. Keep in mind you are supposed to mix the ingredients and let them set overnight. 

Last on the list for today was Egg Rolls! No, I am not crazy. Yes, I said Egg Rolls. Of the breakfast sort. Not your typical Egg Roll. These were stuffed with sausage, egg and cheese! My kids love these especially. I haven't made them in forever so they were elated to see a container of them in the freezer when they got home this evening. 


Friends, these are so yummy and they are also BAKED!!! I made these with the leftover Breakfast Burrito filling so it made them even more quick and easy! My routine is to make a batch of eggs with whatever fillings I want to use and fill some tortillas and some egg roll wrappers. For instance, later this week I will make a batch of eggs with hash browns and cheese and fill more burrito sized tortillas and egg roll wrappers. Then, I will have two different flavors of both in the freezer!

I have been asked quite a bit where to find these egg roll wrappers in your local grocery store. They should be in the produce section. I have found mine in the produce sections of both Wal-Mart and H.E.B. If in doubt just ask someone. I had never bought mine at H.E.B. before this last trip so I had to grab someone and ask and they pointed me in the right direction. I am excited to experiment with some different combos of fillings for these egg rolls as well! 

I hope to share some actual printable recipes with you very soon! Until then, comment and let me know...


Do YOU have any favorite make-ahead or freezable breakfast recipes? Share the link!

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Share with you soon and as always, love to you all!!

Stacey


Sunday, September 11, 2016

The End of The Best Birthday Surprise EVER!! Then, The Long Road Home....


Sunday is here! My husband, the littles and I were simply EXHAUSTED from all the running around we had done up to this point by the time Sunday arrived but the whole crew was starving so the entire lot of us went and had brunch at The Cheesecake Factory then my husband and I, plus the small fries headed back to my sisters' house for a much needed nap while my sisters took the "Day Ones" (as Ashley would call them in her Facebook post) off for an adventure. 

They went to find some deals at Marshall's and took them to H&M. Apparently there is a multi-story version of this popular clothing store (H&M) near The Cheesecake Factory we dined at. If you haven't partaken in the stylish trends at your local H&M, you should. You will see cute and on trend styles that are very affordable! 

After their shopping trek they headed off to cool down at their favorite Popsicle Stand!   
Ashley's Facebook post read...."The baby nieces are fun but today we hang with our day ones! #auntielove#dontevergrowup"


Steel City Pops is a kid favorite when they visit the Aunties. This place has the coolest popsicles made from the best ingredients the owners can find. They boast all natural and certified organic ingredients, when possible and the business was started by a family with a dream. I so love the concept. 

It cracks me up that despite a menu FULL of options, my son always chooses the Vanilla Bean flavor. He's just like his Dad. He loves the old standard. This pic of my sister and my son is a winner! They look like they are just having the BEST TIME! Plus, they just look "cool". I'm talking "Grease is the word" cool. 

Ashley and Danielle graciously kept the older ones busy while we finished napping and I was eternally grateful. Sometimes you need a nap you didn't even know you needed.

After our nap I was hungry. Again. Yes. Already thinking about dinner. I started polling the family to find out what everybody wanted and we ended up at BJ's Brewhouse. The food was great and the service was too. 


I was really impressed with the kids' behavior during this meal. It's not easy taming a table full of wild ones. They acted so well that a table full of elderly women complimented us as we were leaving. 

These ladies were so cute! They were a table full of friends having a meal and some margaritas! Just my type of crowd! I aspire to be a table of life, happiness, and enjoying my favorite people in my elder status one day! For now I will enjoy family time. I so enjoy it. I soak up any moments like these I can. 

After dinner we went to Target to grab some supplies for the impending drive home then headed to my sisters' place, once again, for another night of fun. My son, Little John, chose CLUE for the night's down time. I love CLUE. Little did I know how long it would take to get through the board game version. At some point, I started cheating and showing my cards so we could finish. Warning, don't play CLUE unless you have TONS of time to dedicate. Holy crow. That was LONG! After a run to Taco Casa for some late night snacks, we turned in. It was another great night of gaming and visiting. I am so elated that my husband brought me to my sister AND my home town for my birthday. I have had the best time but for now it was time for bed. We were set to head back to Beaumont the next morning. 

We woke up the next morning and started packing things up but before we left town we wanted to feed the mongrels some breakfast. My sisters suggested Torchy's Tacos. My family LOVES breakfast tacos plus, this is another place I have never eaten at so we were all game. 


If you ever come across a Torchy's, try it. The food was great and the service was too!

We ate breakfast then headed back to finish packing up the car, say our goodbyes and head out. I hate goodbyes. I balance them out by calling them "See you laters". I hope that one day my sisters and I will end up living in the same city again. I hope it AND I pray it. For now, I am grateful for the visit and hopeful we can visit again, very soon. We packed up the kids and the SUV and drove south to our home. Driving home always feels much longer and more bleak then driving TO the visit. The road feels long and sullen. I immediately miss my sisters' company. We always have the best time together. Going home is necessary. It's inevitable so I will make the best of it.

One of the things I look forward to is stopping at Buc-ee's, which is our half-way point, for a round of rest and some snacks before we get back on the road again. 



Here, you can observe Vivian feeding the caged bears the goodies we purchased at our stop (highly unadvised :-) ) as we are driving back home after stopping. If you have a Buc-ee's near you or on your traveling route and you haven't stopped to see what the hype is all about, you should. Some of our favorite treats to pick up include Buc-ee's homemade licorice bites, candy covered pecans and their rice krispie treats. Whether you have a sweet tooth, a more savory palette or just a desire to shop for trinkets and souvenirs, Buc-ee's can help you out.  

We arrived back home and unloaded the car. My oldest daughter picked up the Grand-baby then we were off to bed. I love visiting family. I also love coming back to my bed. I have the most comfortable Temperpedic mattress. I slept so heavy the night we got back home. I sincerely dream of the day I can live close to my sister and only have to drive a short distance to my comfort zone. Until then, I will pray for more visits back home and with my sisters. I have a boat load of memories with them and look forward to many, many more. 

Here's a link to the brunch item I had at The Cheesecake Factory. It was SOOOOOO good! I highly recommend it...




Plus, you should definitely read about how Steel City Pops got started. I love their story. I wish them many successes!





Please share with me any unique places you recommend while traveling!!!


Until next time... love to you all!!






Thursday, September 8, 2016

The Best Birthday Surprise EVER!! Part Two...


It's our first full day with my sisters and we are off to a fine start. We decided to grab some coffee and breakfast before we formed a game plan of what spots we wanted to check out. We ventured to a cute little coffee shop called Avoca Coffee. A small little shop where the baristas are super friendly and the coffee is gorgeous! My sister and I got matching New Orleans Style Cold Brews and Danielle opted for a Vanilla Dirty Chai Latte... 


Danielle's Vanilla Dirty Chai Latte



I found him!!

So pretty and very tasty! Plus, I found the illusive Chupacabra! Alert the media and call off the search hounds. Give me the trophy. Chupacabra is mine!





Then we decided to grab some donuts for everyone. What's so special about donuts you ask? I have two words for you. Krispy Kreme. We don't have a Krispy Kreme in Beaumont. My favorite thing about Krispy Kreme is getting to watch the freshly made donuts go down the conveyor belt then under the flowing fountain of warm glaze. 

It's really cool to watch and hot/fresh donuts are divine! We were standing in line waiting to be helped and a lady walked over to us and asks "Would you like a sample?" I said no because I didn't want to spoil my breakfast and immediately got a death stare from Vivian and Ashley (my sister). They promptly corrected me and grabbed a donut fresh from the oven. I took a bite of Vivian's and man oh man! Who needs dessert after that?! 


Oh So Yummy
It ended up being a ladies' choice day so we headed out to do some shopping! First stop on the list, a local thrift store my sister says she finds awesome stuff at. Vivian is really in to vintage anything and everything right now so she really enjoys resale shopping these days as well. 

We found some pretty great deals! This thrift store has a different pricing schedule every day. We went on a Saturday so everything was just $1.50! 


I ended up finding some sports jerseys, jackets, Halloween items for the kids plus Vivian grabbed a few things too and I ended up paying a whopping $16.24 for everything!!


















By the time we finished at the retail place we were all famished. Ashley wanted us to try a place called Fred's Texas. Another place I have never been to. It was fantastic! Plus it was established the same year I was born and being my birthday and all I thought that was neat... 
















Apparently Vivian and Emma give it a kiss of approval too! 

Live bands perform at this place too if you're a music lover! I am. We couldn't sit where the band was playing because we had Emma and she's not quite ready for loud music but I can't wait to be able to experience live music again!

Next, we headed to a little piece of heaven. A "candy store" for girlie girls! A place some of you may know as Sephora! We only have a super small version in our local mall here so I was PUMPED to see how big and nice this one was. I felt so overwhelmed by the choices that I ended up grabbing someone to help me pick out some things. 


Here's where I get to rat out my bratty little sister. We are standing at the register checking out and paying and the cashier asks if I have the Sephora rewards card. (I don't) My sister shouts "YES WE DO!" from behind me and rattles off her phone number. I proceeded with my purchase. After she makes her own separate purchase she explains to me that she got a huge amount of reward points because of my purchase amount and was able to redeem some of the points during her transaction to get some freebies. 

Me: "So I could've signed up for a rewards card and got the points myself?"

Her (looking sheepish): "Yes"...

Me: "UH UH! I know you didn't just STEAL MY REWARDS POINTS?!?"

Her: Straight giggles, nothing else.....

 Very typical, sister. Very typical.

Moving on. I'll admit it. I splurged. I spent way too much in that store but, it's my birthday! Happy Birthday to ME! One of the things I bought was a new Liquid Lipstick by Too Faced. It's a Melted Chocolate in Chocolate Cherries. It's bold and I really love it!! What do you think?

Chocolate Cherries!

No Lipstick















The shopping center we were in had several other stores in it as well so we decided to run in to Bath & Body Works. No trip anywhere is complete without Vivian being a complete clown!!


I adore their faces! So devilishly cute! Perfect little pumpkins if you ask me!

It was nearing dinner time as we got done shopping and it was time for dinner.

Prior to leaving on this trip, and as soon as we decided we would be going to Ft Worth for my birthday my husband put in his request. That was to eat at his favorite German place at some point while we were in Ft Worth. Of course I said yes. I have so many fond memories of going to this place with John. I know he especially loves the beer choices too. They have an amazing selection of German beer. 

Us gals climbed in the car from our shopping excursion and went home and gathered the entire crew and headed to Edelweiss! This eatery has been a staple in the Ft Worth area for years and years and even though I spent a huge portion of my childhood years in Ft Worth, I never had the opportunity to venture to this place until I met John P. Once I ate there I fell in love with certain items on the menu but most of all, the atmosphere. The music is live and the entertainment is friendly and enjoyable. Our favorite song the band plays is the "chicken dance". 

Yes, they even have a dance floor. We had a great time as usual. They have changed the menu since we last visited and that meant some of my favorite items were gone but they added some stuff too. We ordered the pretzels, a new appetizer and they were absolutely wonderful! I highly recommend them.  Once I saw what my sister n law ordered for her meal I regretted not going with the Hungarian Goulash along with her. She let me taste hers and it was superb. 



After dinner we headed back to the house where my sweet sisters presented me with a birthday cake! Celebration was complete with off key singing by the entire family. Dogs and toddlers included! I loved it! 
I especially enjoyed my Grandbaby singing to me and waiting all excited like, for her cake! She has the sweetest smile! 


We enjoyed our cake and ice cream while breaking out the Uno Cards. Card and board games are a staple in my family!




  I repaid my sister for stealing my Sephora Rewards by serving her up several heapings of Draw Fours, Skips and Reverses. As any other sibling would've done.  

Then we retreated to bed. Time for this Momma to get some shut eye. I am so elated to be back home with my family and I can't wait to see what tomorrow's adventure is!

Check out this link to Edelweiss and check out some great German food and beer options in the Ft Worth area!


I would love to hear from you! 

Do you have any restaurants or venues you just have to visit when you go back to your roots?

Leave a comment and let me know!!


Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The Best Birthday Surprise EVER!! Part One...

I am pretty fond of my baby sister. I know what you are thinking. "Well I am too. That's nothing special and what does that have to do with this blog post?" Stay with me here. My little sister and I have a bond that is different than most. Our story isn't simple or "normal" by any means. I won't get in to the details right now about why our story is special but trust me when I tell you that I adore her in a way normal siblings can't understand (recall me saying I had a pretty horrible childhood?). Every moment I can spend with her is precious. 

What does that have to do with my birthday surprise you ask? Everything! Let me fill you in on just how my sister and my best birthday are one in the same. My husband, kids and I moved to Southeast TX about five years ago. We moved away from my sister and her family at a time when we had just recently been able to reside close to each other after years of being apart. It was a move we had to do. Yet I was so sad to be leaving her and her clan. After we had to move I looked forward to any visits back home and with my sister, her spouse and my niece. For a time we were able to visit them about once a month but we came upon some financial hardships and hadn't been able to visit for a long while. I was sullen about it, especially most recently, though I hadn't voiced it to anyone in my household. 

My birthday is September 5th. This year, that meant it would be on a four day weekend. Labor Day and my birthday would be the same day which was super cool to me! I was looking forward to just chilling with the husband and kids for a long weekend. 

A few days before the Holiday Weekend, my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching TV and my husband turns to me and says "Do you want to go visit your sister for your birthday?"

To some, that might be an average question. Definitely something to perk your feathers up for. It affected me some what differently. As soon as he finished the word "sister" I started bawling. He thought he did something wrong. How does he know me so well? I explained through the tears the importance of his offer and he couldn't have been more proud of himself as a husband in that moment. It's something I don't think either one of us will forget. I immediately checked with my sibling to make sure they didn't have any plans and when she replied and I told her we were coming, she was beside herself too. Let the prep work begin! It's never easy taking this many people anywhere. Let alone some place we will have to be gone a few days away from home. I was more than happy to do it though! 

Every day my sister and I reminded each other it was almost time to visit! By the time Friday Morning arrived, the family and I couldn't wait to get on the road! I was so anxious to get there. I had to find something to do while everyone else was napping so I worked on my phone, handled some business, then I decided to play with Snap Chat.....



 I would like to personally thank filters for always making me look awesome. ;-)

My sister actually expected us later in the evening so she was delighted to find that we were going to arrive around dinner time. Her favorite thing to do is take us to all the nifty eateries she and her spouse discover and we love going to these places too! We don't have the amount of options here that she does in Ft Worth so we are always eager to see what they have in store for us!

Our first outing was to dinner at Chuy's! It's a wonderful Mexican Restaurant! We had dinner out on the patio. It was delicious as usual. It was pretty busy but that's to be expected on a Friday Night. I found that I have something disturbing in common with my sister-in-law. We both suffer from the condition of becoming "Hangry". It took a while to get our food. Her and I both found ourselves whining aloud about it. We must be getting old because we just wanted to eat and go home. (LOLOLOL)

Plus, we did end up having an unwanted visitor. Vivian discovered a spider crawling on her and her knee jerk reaction was to smack it away. I am TERRIBLY afraid of spiders! So we searched to see if we could spot it after she flung it and NOPE! We couldn't. I felt kind of creeped out after that and was uneasy. Then Sophie got out of her chair and walked over to me. She started pointing and shrieking! I looked where she was pointing and that spider was lowering himself via spidey web from the table to my LEG!! (UH UH!!) I SCREAMED and my husband came to my rescue! Then the whole patio full of people started staring and we couldn't stop laughing. All nine of us. I think that made them stare more. We didn't care. We never do! The fun train has arrived people!!

Then it was back home to my sisters' house to get the little ones in bed. 

First Vacation Together
Current Vacation Together


My daughter (and Mom to my first Grand-baby) sent me a text reminding me that these little babes have been vacationing together since way back. It melts my heart. They are 4 months apart and attached to each other. Yet they are very different. Please refer to the picture of Sophie throwing a fit because she wants to party till the break of dawn while Amelia (the Grand-baby) just wants to relax, watch some "baby" shows and drift off to sleep. Sophie is most definitely the wild one in the bunch. 

Hello DFW, the Dominguez Squad has arrived! We are off to a great start! Amazing birthday weekend, we are here!  I can't wait to share the rest with you! Here's a link to check out Chuy's Restaurant in case you ever want to explore one near you! 



Please know that I DID NOT get paid to promote ANY of the places you see here. These are honest opinions of places we chose to visit on our own... So check them out with confidence and if you do, send me a comment or message and let me know what you think too!

Please share with me! 

What are YOUR "go to" spots to visit when you go "back home"?

Comment and share! Part two to come soon!!