Nice Face discount...

It's a real thing.. Jarom experienced the nice face discount when we went to Disney world, and I usually get the nice face discount for food haha.. So anyway we were at price chopper, and I really wanted to make a steak.. I love steak, love is probably an understatement but just so you get what I'm saying here, I'll use the word love. And because I love steak, I hover at the fresh meat part of the  market quite often asking the "meat specialists" which is the best one to buy and what seasonings to use and the preferred method of cooking them since we don't have a grill. Well yesterday was my lucky day because we got a HUGE steak, I mean HUGE I'd say like 30 oz or so.. for $8. The guy at the counter gave me a discount! which was awesome! So, today we cooked it up:

This was the uncooked steak (obviously).

Cutting into it.. um does that just look heavenly or WHAT! (It tasted heavenly as well)

yum yum yum!!!

We finally mastered the art of cooking a delicious steak without having a grill. I do love a steak on the grill though!

How to:

Get a good seasoning... I happened to also talk the meat guy into giving me a container of seasoning.. which they usually charge like .50 for haha.. but still cool... and Jarom mixed it with the Montreal steak seasoning dry rub. So good... add garlic salt and you are set!

Brush the steak with olive oil, then rub it with the seasonings until coated.
Sear each side to lock in the flavor.. about 30 seconds on each side, ** oh, before you do this, set your oven to broil (hi) and place a glass dish in there.**
Once seared, remove the glass dish from the oven, and place the steak in there. Broil on hi about 2 to 3 minutes each side. (we like our steak a little rare.. but if you don't, just broil a little longer)

Let rest of 7-10 minutes, then slice against the grain and enjoy!

It was a lot easier than we thought it would be, and it came out so incredible, if we could afford it, we would do this all the time! (some places don't give out the nice face discount though.. which sucks haha... Also, I stole "nice face discount" from Seinfeld... I don't really know why people give us discounts on things.. maybe because we are awesome?? haha who knows.. gotta catch people on the right day and in the right mood I guess! Plus everyone loves Fae!- who is most likely the reason we ever get a deal, who are we kidding? nice faces! haha)

Fae likes Cheese

This is just further evidence that she knows what I am saying to her.. when she is ignoring me haha! {Fae is a huge talker.. not real words in sentences or anything like that, but she is never quiet, she babbles on all day.. but she is getting better about using real words amongst her babble.. I just thought this was cute because she usually says "no!" if I ask her anything}

The other day I said
"Fae are you hungry?"
she said "yes"- well she nodded yes
I said "what would you like to eat?"
she said "cheese!" haha...

This girl is so much smarter than I give her credit for... sometimes I think she is still a baby and I try to do things for her when she wants to do it herself.. like get dressed, or wash her hair, or feed her. I Still feed her, mostly because she makes a huge mess, and stuffs 100 pieces of whatever in her mouth at once and chokes. (This happened with said cheese actually- and it is a real choke, turning blue and scaring the crap out of me.. I had to turn her upside down to get it out!) She is just way too hyper and eats like Jarom haha I think this is going to be a life long battle.

Anyway, our family/Fae's 18 month pictures have been postponed due to weather.. I know I'm high maintenance and I have to have our pictures done outside instead of a simple studio.. but I'm soooo not a fan of studio pics! It's all good though, it doesn't really matter when they get done, just that they eventually do! Life is soo good right now!

Have a Rice Day

Yummy Rice Recipe

What you need:
1 Cup Rice- I use Uncle Ben's Enriched Rice
2-3 strips of Bacon- with the Fat
Bunch of Scallions
4 cloves of garlic
Onion Powder
Garlic Salt (I have a grinder)
salt and pepper

What you do:

Make the rice as directed ( 2&1/4 cups of water, 2 tbs butter and 1 cup rice- boil for 20 minutes- then take off heat set aside for 5 minutes)

While rice is cooking, in a medium to large size skillet, cook up the two (or 3) strips of bacon until crispy, but not burnt. Save the grease!!!!

- while doing both these things, chop up the scallions and the garlic.

Once the bacon is done set aside to drain on a paper towel.

Throw the scallions and garlic into the bacon grease, and let them brown for a bit. Once the rice is done, transfer the rice to the skillet- keep the heat on medium low, not trying to really fry the rice, more just combine the flavors of everything. Chop up the bacon and add it to the skillet. Mix everything around, let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with onion powder, garlic salt and salt and pepper-- to taste.
(sorry there are mo measurements.. I just kinda throw things in there and keep tasking it to see if it tastes good haha)
And now you are done! Enjoy the yummy rice!

I served with Chicken...
For chicken..
Marinate a few chicken breasts (however many) in Lawrys Herb and garlic with lemon Marinade.  for either 30 minutes of over night. Add some honey to it.. then bake at 350 for about 45 minutes!
Cut into strips and enjoy a Chinese looking meal.. with all the freshness of lemon and garlic! Yummmm!

4 years!

Today we have been married for 4 years! It is crazy how fast the time has gone. Some days I feel like we just barely got married! (in a good way ha ha) We have been through a lot- moving, baby- school etc. But we still seem to really love each other, which is a good start to F O R E V E R! The trip to NYC was supposed to be for our anniversary... but I'm pretty sure we will be going out to dinner this weekend... or maybe we will get it to go.. but either way it will be one romantic night!!! 


I am just so thankful for Jarom in my life. He is my best friend, and he is so funny and so sweet to me, even when I don't deserve it, which is most of the time. He is super good looking, and we definitely made the most beautiful baby- that I've ever seen! We have a ton of fun together, even though we like hardly any of the same things. I do have one complaint though-- since Fae was born, the number of kisses I get in the day has been cut in half! It's okay though because our little Fae needs as many kisses as she can get! 


I love my little Jarom and I am so excited to be able to spend the rest of my life with him! I just hope that sometime in the near future we move out of NY and make a real salary.... haha  girl can dream right?? 


P.S we both-- in all seriousness F O R G O T today was our anniversary.... haha I called Jarom and said "It;s our anniversary today, did you know that?"
loooongg silence..
"did you?" he asked
" Well, my grandma called to say she was sorry for not sending us a card.. so I just remembered"
"We are so lame! hahaha" 

Then he came home with a big bouquet of lowers to make up for it.. I didn't really care that he forgot, since I did too... but I do LOVE flowers! 

The best pasta Salad...

Ok, maybe I'm a chef at heart (haha) or maybe I just watch too much Food Network.. either way, I made up this delicious recipe for pasta salad a few weeks ago, and I feel like I just have to share it, so try it and that me later. This recipe is a little bit involved.. but super easy.

 What you need: Pasta (1lb) any kind you like, I use Garden veggie Rotini Pasta.. because it sneaks in a serving of veggies.. and Fae likes it!
 Olive oil
Good Season Italian dressing mix (you need to prepare the dressing as directed- I just always have it on hand, as it is my favorite salad dressing-besides the Olive Garden Salad Dressing, which is amazing)
 Garlic (3 to 4 cloves minced)
One small onion
One Red pepper
One peeled and grated carrot.
 Fontinella cheese (or another hearty Italian cheese of your choice- Fontinella is our personal favorite) salt/pepper 

Step one, prepare the pasta as you would for any other dish, leaving it just a tab bit al'dente. Strain, run under cold water, and let sit to "dry" While pasta is boiling, set oven to 350 and mince the onion cloves. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the minced garlic on it with a little bit of olive oil. Once oven is preheated, put the garlic in the oven- you need to toast the garlic, NOT let it burn.. there is nothing worse than biting into a burnt piece of garlic, talk about bitter. This can take 10 to 15 minutes.. watch closely. (I never said this recipe was quick and easy. haha) Once the garlic in in the oven, chop your onion, red pepper and grate your carrot into a small frying pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and fry with a little olive oil. I usually cover it, so the "Veggies" become tender instead of crispy. You can add any veggies you want, sometimes I add broccoli. Cook until tender, but not mushy, and add to the pasta (you need to transfer the pasta into a bowl before you do this) The garlic should be done by now, and nice and brown, add the garlic to the pasta as well. Cut up the cheese, and it at to the pasta.. then add as much dressing as you think you need, or would like. Mix, and put in the fridge to cool. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving... it's SO good. Sorry, I don't have a picture because I made it for some company we had last night and it's alllll gone!

Park Days...

I love nice weather.. and so does Fae, she and I LOVE being outside, so I make sure that if it's at least 55 degrees out, we are at a park at some point that day. Today we went to jumping jacks for lunch, Jarom and I had hamburgers (I shared mine with Fae) and we all shared some french fries... I have a weakness for french fries.. gotta have them!

Jumping Jacks is fun, but it's definitely not my favorite drive in. I like Country Drive in, and P.J's bbq much better.. but it's still good. After we ate we walked across the street to Collin's park and let Fae run around.. this girl is awesome she seriously runs so fast, and she never stops! She went down the big slides all by her self, and made friends with other kids there.. She is so cool! This is Fae running away from us... haha she is so cute

This is Fae with her daddy :)

This is the playground

This is Daddy holding Fae at the top of the big slide so I could take a picture of her.. she isn't looking at the camera, but oh well

Here is the pretty pond

Fae and I

And this is supposed to be a picture of a rock Fae dug up and would NOT let go of the whole time we were at the park.. she carried it in her little chubby hands the whole time!

New York

Last weekend Jarom and I were able to go down to New York City to celebrate our anniversary. Our anniversary isn't until the 25th, but Jarom's friend Royce hooked us up with some cheap tickets to his show for the 15th.. so we changed our plans and went down early. The Play was called MY occasion of sin, and to my surprise (this being an off, off Broadway show) was very well done and had an awesome story! We really enjoyed it! We even got to say hi to the "star" after the show!

Afterwards, we had a reservation at DaRosina, and on our way there was almost literally bumped into Joan Rivers... but don't worry, we moved out of the way... haha The food was very good, and so it made for a great end to the night. The next day we walked from 37th all the way to Canal Street. (it's a long walk)We had fun trying to bargain with the "sales people" there.. but didn't end up buying anything... even though I really wanted a new bag.

And for some reason, Jarom wanted me to post this picture of this guy selling fruit... haha I'm not sure why but I'll do it anyway

We had a ton of fun just being together, staying out late, and sleeping in. a BIG thank you to my family for taking Fae over night!! I really don't think she even missed us!

Sauce..

I love red sauce, I just do, maybe it's the Italian in me, or maybe because it is
d e l i c i o u s! Either way, I make my own sauce... and by that I don't mean I buy ripe tomatoes and boil them, skin them and make them into sauce, no... I don't do that, I'm not that authentic. But, here is what I DO do:

What you will need:
A big sauce pan
A big onion (or smaller if you don't like onion much, I do.)
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
shredded parmasean/romano/asiago cheese
3 cans of plain tomato sauce
2 cans of diced Italian style tomatoes
salt&pepper
Fresh parsley
One Carrot
2 tbs olive oil

To start:
Put the 2 TBS of olive oil in the bottom of the pot, along with half the onion, chopped, the minced garlic, and the (peeled) and grated carrot. Place the other half of the onion "face" down in the middle of the pan (this part of the onion will be taken out later) Let those things fry up a little bit, or until they are tender. Then add the tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. Stir around a little, add your cheese salt, pepper and fresh (chopped) parsley. Everything is added to taste, so keep trying the sauce so you don't make it too salty or whatever. Some people might like to add a little crushed red pepper to make it a little more spicy... I don't usually, but Jarom adds it to his. Let it all cook on low for as long as you can... 3 or more hours would be nice.. watch it though, stirring every so often so it doesn't burn!

Then serve with pasta, or just dip some bread in it an enjoy!

18 months!

MY little Bird is 18 months now, I can't believe how fast the time goes! Fae has the most amazing little personality, she is so full of sweetness and sass. I just love her so much!
We are planning on having her pictures done at the end of this month, so I will def. put some of them up here.

Fae says a lot of words.. but good luck getting her to actually say them haha... one day she will say a whole bunch of new words and then the next she wont! She is so funny, she laughs at herself all the time, she pretends to talk on the phone for like 20 minutes at a time...it gets wierd after a while, no just kidding, it's cute. She runs around like a crazy person from the moment she wakes up until the second she goes to bed. She drives me crazy- all the time-but she is the sweetest most beautiful baby ever. She likes to give hugs and kisses, watch Dora, and sometimes if we are lucky she will sit through half of a disney movie... we usually aren't lucky. She LOVES and by loves I mean NEEDS attention from everyone, and will do anything to get it. She loves to play with other kids, she is very social... when we go to the park, she even mooches food off the other kids haha! (She is so fast, it's hard to catch her before shes already done it)

Anyway, she weighs 23 and a half lbs... and is 30 inches tall. She is the awesomest!!!!!!!!

Easter!

Yes, I am posting this early #1 because we came home from church early due to a scraped knee, which resulted in the worlds fussiest baby who would NOT go to nursery because she was so concerned about her bandaid.. and who would not stop crying! #2 because that fussy baby is now asleep- so I have time.

Yesterday we were able to make the drive down to Poughkeepsie to visit with family. Every summer (of my childhood) my immediate family would take a trip down there for an annual summer party. I looked forward to this party all year long because I loved to swim and spend time with my favorite cousin Amanda. We are only a year apart (not even), so we got along really well, and I pretty much always got to spend a few days with them after the party- which was something I loved to do.
As the years have gone by, and things have changed.. Amanda and I don't get to see each other very much so it's always a treat to be able to hang out with her.
Of course, they spoiled Fae like crazy! Which was really nice for Fae because I'm pretty sure she gets bored with me sometimes. We were able to color eggs, do a little Easter egg hunt, eat awesome food, and open Eater gifts. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family, thank you guys for everything! (We are not trying to leave anyone out, so thanks aunt Binny, uncle Sonny, John,Toni, Amanda and Mrs. D for the awesome gifts!)


Ok, fast forward a little to today: Easter Sunday... the "Easter Bunny" came to our house last night.. and left Fae a few little things.. (Jarom and I have decided that when Fae is a little older we are going to kindly explain that the Easter Bunny is not real, and try to get her to focus on the true, spiritual meaning of Easter.. but for now, we will stick to the Easter Bunny)

(Her beautiful- and my favorite dress so far-- Easter Dress was give to Fae from her Grandma (Jarom's mom, aka Mimi) it's so cute, and she looked like an Easter Princess! Thank you!)








Don't mind us.. Jarom wanted us to do a "sassy pose"... Fae didn't get the memo I guess.



This is her Easter Day boo boo.. She ripped her tights and had to have a bandaid.. she was so upset. haha.. I think she'll live.



And her pretty ballerina shoes.. that I love.



Happy Easter Everyone!

sometimes

Ugh, sometimes other mothers make me feel like I'm a horrible, irresponsible mommy. (That may be because they say it... in so many words)

So, To all those mommas out there who don't let your kids "cry it out", who pick them up every time they fall down, cuddle with them every night, read stories to them before nap time, makes sure the eat a balanced meal- at every meal- to those of you who potty train early, and somehow teach your children to be quiet during church (or other times they need to be quiet) and to those of you who live without 8 hours of sleep everything - straight and don't take showers if their child wont take their "morning nap". I applaud you. I think you are amazing. I want to know your secrets because-

I'm a momma who definitely lets her baby cry it out, I don't pick her up every time she falls down, I read stories to her- at some point everyday- I rush to get her fed.. and I have to chase her around to make her eat- sometimes I still give her formula if I'm running late in the morning- she is still on a bottle- potty training is way out of sight- and she is never quiet! But I do have to say-- to defend myself-- Fae is the happiest baby in the world, she sleeps through the night, and has since 2 months old (unless she is sick), she is smart, and talented, and extremely athletic.. it's really quite incredible. She can say a lot of words, including "psycho" haha... which she learned because I called someone a psycho.. which means I need to watch what I say a lot more. She knows most of her colors, and can say them (if she wants to)-She is growing like a weed, and at every check up the Dr. tells me I'm doing a good job.

So maybe on the outside, to some people it may look like I'm being irresponsible, but I'm doing my best- and I'm doing what I think is right.