Matt's Becoming a Chef!

This is tonight's dinner ....

Beef With Red Wine Sauce

 

Ingredients

3  pounds  boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces

1  medium onion, sliced

1  pound  fresh mushrooms, halved

1  (1.61-ounce) package brown gravy mix

1  (10 1/2-ounce) can beef broth

1  cup  red wine

2  tablespoons  tomato paste

1  bay leaf

Hot cooked egg noodles or rice

Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Place first 3 ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker.

Whisk together gravy mix and next 3 ingredients; pour evenly over beef and vegetables. Add bay leaf.

Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish, if desired.

------------------------------------------------

and if that wasn't enough, Matt made me this for dessert:

Chocolate-Glazed Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup water

4 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation

Cook first 3 ingredients in a large saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar melts. Add 2 cups chocolate morsels and vanilla extract, stirring until mixture is smooth. Let cool 15 minutes.
Add flour, baking soda, and salt to cooled chocolate mixture, stirring until blended; stir in eggs and chopped pecans until blended. Spread brownie batter into a greased and floured 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 325° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 2 cups chocolate morsels evenly over warm brownies, and let stand 5 minutes to soften. Spread over top. Cool on a wire rack.

Nasal Surgery to Combat Cronic Sinusitis (since Nov.)

It went well!  Dr. Fisher got up in there and found NO POLLUPS!  So, only 3-4 days of recovery expected.  He just did the balloon synoplasty and drilled to enlarge my nasal cavity, and inserted some steroid packs to be removed in 3 weeks.  Me and the Vicodin are becoming reacquainted!

The Benefit of Overalls!

Bike Rides

For our 6th anniversary (the steel anniversary), we decided on bikes for each other

(Sherry's)(Matt's)

 -- which in order to use without daycare, we needed a "bike" for Carter too! 

The Mother/Son Luau Dance

Thursday was the Mother/Son Dance at Veterans Elementary School.  Since I am a mother, and I have a son, I figured that invitation included us!  The theme was "luau" and most of my class showed up -- eager to dance alongside Carter and I.  He had a blast. 

Matt showed up and was a wonderful help at the punch and cookie booth!

I think that Carter may have won the limbo competition!

My boys all loved him!

So did the girls who helped hand out lays

And, after the dance, Carter even helped with clean-up!

Laura and Jackson Visit Bakersfield

Super Dunker!

Cystic Fibrosis Walk 3.20.10

Visiting with Opa and Oma at the CF Walk.

Showing Heidi some love...

Feeding himself

The day that Carter attempted to feed himself some peanut butter and jelly sandwich bites...

Can you see it all over his hair? Yep, took them and rubbed them on his head. Yummy.

I did it, Laura!!

My friend Laura started a "foodblog" and I decided to try out one of the recipes last week. IT WAS SUPER YUMMY and totally easy. You should all check it out... her picture was better than mine - but photography aside, it tastes great!

Click on the above link to grab the crockpot recipe for yourself.

This is why I love the men's bathroom at Matt's new job location.

What I love even more -

That Matt took pictures while in the bathroom, just for me!

Broom Hockey

Last Friday night, in front of over 7,000 people, me and my coworkers took on one of our district's other school's staff members in a friendly game of broom hockey on the ice in the Rabobank Arena.
I'm the one who frequently falls on the ground. The ice was really slippery thanks to our tennis shoes! At one point, the announcer tells me to "just stay down!" -- SO EMBARRASSING!!
Thank goodness for helmets and elbow pads!
Neither team scores.
We had a blast, and I'm SO happy that Matt was able to film it!

Like Father, Like Son

"Kiss Me For Good Luck"

2 Year Molars - @ 1 Year?

So, he's advanced and ready to eat a Carl's Jr. Big Mouth Burger...  This is crazy.