"But, Mom! I'm Trying for the Naughty List"

     I think my child is trying to see how far she can push the envelope without getting onto the Naughty List this year.  This morning I woke up to the sounds of her playing around downstairs, which should have tipped me off from the start, but being the morning person I am, I was extremely optimistic that she was merely deciding on what she wanted for breakfast.  I should have known better.  After brushing my teeth, getting dressed and otherwise just wasting time I went downstairs to find Monkey creating her own version of "breakfast".  She looked up at me when I walked in and said, with tears in her eyes, "Mommy, my mouth hurts."  That's when I saw what exactly she had been making.  She had mixed up water, honey, sprinkles and hot sauce in a cup and was proceeding to drink it.  Needless to say she soon asked for a Pop Tart instead.
   
     After getting Monkey's concoction all cleaned up I went upstairs to begin gathering our bags for our trip home.  I was upstairs a matter of minutes when I heard the unmistakable sound of scissors.  I rushed downstairs expecting to see my mail in shreds or maybe even my checkbook in tatters, but nope.  My child had a wad of her own hair in her hands!  Of course, I happened to be on the phone with my mom, so when I expressed my dismay, she offered an encouraging laugh and a "Well every kid does that.  You did."

"But Mom!"  I moaned. "Her hair was getting so long!"

"Well then glue it back on," was all she could offer before having to scramble off the phone.

     All I could do was hide the scissors and make an appointment to have someone fix her hair once we made it to La.  And well, it turned out rather cute.

     Since I'm already on here, and it's getting so close to Christmas, I might as well share a few of our elf's antics:

An Elf's Work is Never Done

     Well I've been as busy as a little elf today, running errands, picking up last minute gifts, and helping a few friends in need.  I even managed to make some super cute goodies for Monkey's teachers at daycare and the dance studio, and of course I have to share!

 
     Aren't these little sleighs the cutest?  I found the idea on Pinterest, of course, and they were so simple to make it took me maybe an hour to put them all together.

Here's what you'll need:

3 big bags of assorted mini Hershey's bars
3 dozen candy canes (any flavor you choose)
3 packs of 6 Kit-Kats
Hot glue gun
Ribbon

Simply assemble your "sleigh" using 10 mini bars, one Kit-Kat, and 2 candy canes.

Add a bit of hot glue to hold it all together, then wrap with some pretty ribbon or top with a cute bow, and...

Voila!

     Monkey's dance teachers thought they were precious, and we'll be handing out a few more tomorrow at daycare.  I got 18 sleighs out of my supplies, and now I have a few leftovers.  I have a super fun idea for the extras, but that can wait until tomorrow.  In the meantime, I was to share a recipe I tried last night that was so yummy!

Chicken Piccata
Makes four servings

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut in half lengthwise, to form 4 thin cutlets)
1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
6 TBS butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped  (I'm just now noticing I forgot the parsley; oh well!)
8 ounces angel hair pasta
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Pour the bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Pour the beaten egg in a seperate shallow dish. Take one chicken cutlet, and it dredge in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Shake off any excess breadcrumbs and place on a plate. Repeat with all cutlets.  In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Place two of the coated chicken cutlets into the skillet. Cook on each side, for 2-4 minutes each side. Once thoroughly cooked, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.  Repeat with remaining butter and chicken, set aside.  Pour the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers into the warm skillet. Stir and scrape up any of the loose brown bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and let sauce simmer for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook angel hair pasta according to package directions. Drain water and add 2 Tablespoons butter to pasta and 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Serve chicken with sauce and pasta. Garnish with fresh parsley and more grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. 


   Well I hope y'all enjoy.  I'm back on elf duty; I have to get those presents wrapped while Monkey is dreaming of sugarplum fairies and dragons.  Goodnight!

Condescending Mutt

     Thursday I was finally able to emerge from my cave, rested and ready to reclaim that long-lost social life of mine.  Monkey is still in daycare, so I have just about all the "me time" I can stand.  Thank goodness for the holidays because I'm just about sick of my own company!

    With the school chaos at bay until about the middle of next semester, I'm trying to catch up on my running.  As I'm sure y'all recall, I did the Couch-2-5K program a few months back, and I was starting to work on a 10K when school became hectic.  These past two months I've been lucky to get one run in every 2 weeks.  Today I decided that I would hit the pavement after dropping Monkey off at school.  I even thought it would be fun to take Roux along with me.  I figured she could use the exercise.  Ever since we found a new home for Andouille, she hasn't had anyone chasing her around the house, nipping at her ankles.  That is, unless Monkey decides to play "puppy".  At any rate I figured the fresh air would be good for her.  And it was.   What is wasn't good for was my self esteem.  There I was jogging along, giving it all I've got, feeling like my lungs were going to explode when I glanced down to check on the dog, and I realized she was walking!  Granted, a brisk, bouncy walk, but a walk none-the-less.  Talk about a kick in the pants.  I tried running faster, but she would just bounce along at her brisk walk, mocking me with her superiority.  I mean, what gives?  I know I haven't been working out as much as I should, but the dog hasn't seen a track since her daddy deployed 6 months ago, and here she was taking it all in stride...literally.  Damn mutt!  Needless to say, I'll be venturing out to the track a little more often.  In my defense, however, since we've been home I haven't sat still, but Roux collapsed on the floor and hasn't budged an inch.
  
    As usual, I have a yummy recipe to share with y'all; after all I have a lot of making up to do. This is a  recipe for Chicken Fajitas that was a big hit with my Monkey and was pretty easy to throw together.

Chicken Fajitas

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
12 flour tortillas, warmed to serve

Preheat your oven to 400.  Grease a 9x13" baking dish.  Mix together chicken, tomatoes, chilies, peppers, and onions in the dish.  In a small bowl, mix together oil and spices.  Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken mix, and toss to coat.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the veggies are tender.  Serve with tortillas.  Enjoy :-)

    Now I'm going to hit the heavy bag for a little bit, but first I'm going to check and make sure that my mutt is still breathing.  

The Little Girl Who Needs Presents

     Today I turned in my paper for the English Final at about noon.  Is it bad that it just now hit me that I'm finished with English!?  I don't think my mind can focus enough to appreciate that fact.  I still have four exams left, but they aren't until next week, so tonight I took a bit of a break to spend some extra time with my little Monkey.  I'm glad I did;  I ended up having a truly proud Mommy moment.

     My Psychology teacher is very active in the community and orchestrates many charities and fundraisers around campus.  Today she told us about a Christmas charity where they're collecting stockings filled with little things for a child of any age or gender you choose.  She asked that if we participate that we bring ours in on the day of the final, and she'll see that it gets to the home.  I decided to get Monkey involved, so after explaining to her that some children aren't fortunate enough to have a Christmas tree and lots of presents, we went to Wal-Mart.  She was under orders to pick out a stocking and a few things to put in it.  I honestly thought this was going to be a fight, considering she's at the age where all I hear is "I want that" as we peruse the aisles of any store.  She definitely impressed me, though.  She was so excited to pick out things for "the little girl who needs presents".  She filled the little girl's stocking with a teddy bear, a baby doll, a coloring book with crayons, a sticker book, and a small Snow White doll.  The only moment when she was even a little disappointed was when she figured out she wasn't going to get to hand the gift directly to the little girl.  She cheered up, though, when we began talking about how happy the different things in the stocking would make the little girl we'll never meet.  It truly did warm my heart to see the pure joy on her face at the thought of helping someone else.  I hope she never loses that.

     If anyone is interested in filling a stocking, I'll be happy to drop it off for you.  My final is next
Wednesday at 1:00, so I'd just need it before then.  There's also a Teddy Bear drive going on at school. They're collecting stuffed animals that are in good condition or new to give to the police and firemen to be handed out to children in emergency situations.  Again, if anyone is interested in donating, I'll be happy to drop them off for you.

The Sound of Pitter-Pattering Little Feet Usually Means Something Horrible is Happening

     My poor little blog was feeling so neglected, it logged me out of my account.  It was rather snooty too when I tried to log in.  It was all "Do you have a blog?"  Lately, the answer depends on the day I guess.  Oh well, I have a few spare minutes to try to squeeze in one more entry for this month.

     Besides running around trying to keep up with school, I've been chasing my little Monkey around.  I think I set myself up for failure by giving her that nickname.  It seems she's taken it as a personal challenge to live up to it in every way possible.  The night before last I put her to bed before heading off to shower.  It wasn't long before I heard those little feet going up and down the stairs.  I begrudgingly turned the shower off, got dressed and went to investigate.  I found Monkey standing next to her bed, wiping some kind of white powder off of her pajamas.  My mind immediately went to the Clorox I had been using to clean the bathrooms just a few hours before, but I reassured myself that I had put that way out of reach, hadn't I?  I rushed to the laundry room to check, taking Monkey with me to prevent her from licking the stuff off.  (You may laugh, but I wouldn't put it past her.)  On my way, I found a trail of the same white powder leading all the way down the stairs and into the laundry room/pantry.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the Clorox was in its proper place on a high shelf.  The relief turned to frustration, though, when I saw the bag of flour half emptied onto the floor.  When I asked Monkey why she had gotten into the flour, she said she had wanted more cupcakes.  Confused, I just stared at her.  I had made cupcakes the day before, but those were in the kitchen, not the pantry.  That's when it clicked.  The flour bag had a picture of cupcakes on the side.  

     Sighing, I cleaned Monkey up, put her back in bed, and cleaned up the flour mess before putting myself to bed.   Yesterday, I went to school as usual, and when I got home I thought I'd help myself to one of those yummy cupcakes that were still sitting in the kitchen.  I was sorely disappointed, however, when I lifted the lid and saw there were none left.  Apparently Monkey had polished off the remaining four cupcakes before venturing into the pantry in search of more, and that's when she saw the bag of flour.  I was laughing too hard to even be frustrated.  The best part is that my child did all this and managed to get back to her room before I could even make it out of the bathroom.  The next 15 years are going to be interesting to say the least.

     I was going to insert a very funny eCard that was highly applicable to my awesome story, but I can't find it!  Oh well, here's a yummy recipe instead:

Pasta Salad

1 lb Tri-color Rotini
1 can sliced black olives, drained
1/4 red onion
1/2 cup diced Mozzarella chunks
1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup peeled and quartered cucumber
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I usually add a little more at the end)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook Rotini according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water.  Once cooled, mix with other ingredients in a serving bowl.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  Enjoy!

     This is seriously one of my favorite side dishes for get togethers.  I'm not a big fan of pasta salad, but this is the perfect amount of some of my favorite veggies.  Monkey enjoys it too.

     Well I guess I need to get off of here and return to my studying.  Finals are in less than two weeks  O.O

I'm Thankful for Bacon

   On the way to school this morning Monkey was reciting her numbers for me, and I was enjoying listening to her prattle along.  Then something caught my attention.

Monkey:  "11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17..."

Me:  "Wait a second, what happened to 14?"

Monkey:  "He got stuck in the mud."

Me: .....

   I swear that child doesn't miss a beat.  She never passes up an opportunity to make me laugh.  She's pretty witty, and I'm so thankful to have her in my life.

   Speaking of being thankful, it is November, and I've notice quite a few people doing a daily "I'm thankful for..." status update of Facebook.  That gave me a cute idea.  Instead of a daily Facebook status, Monkey and I are doing a thankful tree.  Everyday we write one thing Monkey is thankful for on a leaf, and she adds it to the tree.  We'll keep this up until Thanksgiving when I'll post a picture of the finished product.  Here's a preview, though:

     I think we're off to a good start :-)  I also have an amazing recipe to share tonight for Honey Mustard Chicken.  Before I get to the recipe, let me just say, I had a go-to recipe for this dish.  Had.  This one is better, so that other one has officially been replaced.  Here it is:

Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup mustard (I ran out of regular mustard, so I mixed 1/4 cup Dijon with 1/4 regular; it was perfect)
lemon pepper to taste
4 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken breasts in 2-qrt baking dish.  Cover with mustard and honey.  Sprinkle with lemon pepper.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Add two bacon slices to each chicken breast.  Cover with mozzarella.  Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes, or until bacon is crispy and cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy!
   

     Well this is going to be a short post, because my child is jumping on my back as I type, hollering, "Pony! Pony!"  Y'all have a good night :-)

Update:  As promised, here's Monkey's finished tree:

Catching Up

     Only one post last month?  Geez I have some catching up to do!  Most of y'all know that I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone, trying to stay ahead of the curve at school.  I came up for air today and realized we only have 5 weeks until finals, and one of those is Thanksgiving week.  I feel like this semester has flown by, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it to end.
     Besides school, I've been keeping busy with my biggest sewing project yet.  Drumroll, please....

     Monkey requested to be Rapunzel this year for Halloween, and I was all too happy to oblige when I found this awesome free tutorial for making the dress yourself!  In case you didn't see the link to the wig on my previous post, here it is.  This outfit was a total success, and I even found a paper Pascal to put on Monkey's shoulder.

     She nixed the wig after about 5 minutes, but people still got the gist.  She should have gone as Flynn Rider, as sneaky as she was being with the candy.  She'd go up to someone, say "Trick-or-treat", receive her candy, wait until they looked at the next kid, and then she'd reach into the bowl and help herself to a few more pieces.  It took me a few times of watching for it to click that she really was doing that.  Oh well, more KitKats for Mommy ;-)
   
      Speaking of treats for Mommy, I am so excited that the latest Cooking with Paula Deen issue had a recipe for Kettle Corn, and y'all know I have to share it, because it's perfect for this time of year.

Kettle Corn
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add a few kernels; cover until they pop.  Add sugar and remaining kernels, quickly stir and replace the lid.  Shake pan for 2-4 minutes or until popcorn is completely popped.  Transfer popcorn to a large bowl.  Remove unpopped kernels, and sprinkle with salt.  Enjoy :-)