Archives for July 2011

Mix-n-Chop

July 21, 2011 by Jules 2 Comments

I usually don't do expensive kitchen stuff...or anything for that matter...but my mom-in-love gave me a Pampered Chef Mix and Chop and I use it at least 4 times a week.

I love this tool. I use it to chop ground beef. It makes it quick and easy. Without must effort at all it help you ground your beef into tiny bits. A few of the meals I use this tool for are: Baked Ziti, Taco Soup, spaghetti, enchiladas, Beefy Cheese Dip, and Mexican Trifold.

I have bought one of these (and the other pampered chef tools I love) off eBay for my mom. Love'm

*Note: I am not being paid for these recommendations/reviews but if you know how I can- bring it!

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking Tagged With: chop, cooking, ground beef, mix, pampered chef, stir

Where ya been?

July 19, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

Sorry I've been MIA for a while now. This month has been crazy and is continuing down that same path.

The end of last month was single mom week while Matt was away at camp only to return for our crazy 4th of July weekend which included:
*a fun Zoo trip
*3rd birthday party with 14+ family members in attendance or visiting that weekend

The weeks to follow were full with:
*3 Well Baby visits and immunizations for all
*family doc and cardiologist appointments for me
*regularly schedule youth services
*summer youth events, lunch hang out times, and "after hours"

This week contains:
*dentist apt for Matt tomorrow
*packing our 5 person family to head out in 3 different directions for a week
-Mission Trip to Quad Cities IL for Matt, me, and our Relentless Students
-Nanna and Papaw's for Mags and Iz
-Ms Lynn for Jamin

August will bring:
*Yard Sale (1st weekend)
*Starting Preschool with Mags (explain more later)
*couple more youth things for the summer/back to school
*Big Duck Duck Goose Consignment Sale (consigning/volunteering last weekend Aug/1st weekend in Sept)

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Milestones:
Maggie is now 3! She got butterflies for her birthday, is getting closer and closer to being potty trained, has the speech of a 10-year-old, and will be starting preschool in August!Izzie is 18 months old! She struts around the house playing big girl games with her big sis and trying to help take care of her baby bro. She is talking more and more every day- not new words but Phrases.

Jamin is 6 months old! He is rolling over, smiling and giggling none stop. He's now sleeping unswaddled on his tummy and is transitioning to formal and baby food.

Ugg, I hope they learn Nothing while I'm gone. I don't wanna miss a minute of it.

~~~

Your prayers would be much appreciates during all this...we are exhausted in this busy blessing.
Please bear with me over the next few weeks as I focus on my family. I'll try to post a few update pics. Thanks!!!!

Filed Under: The ones about the Rothacher Home

$1.00 Zoo Day

July 9, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

My sweet Maggie has been asking to go to the Zoo for almost a year now. We read tons of books about animals and the Zoo. More recently she has watched "Little Bill" who gets to go to the Zoo as well as get a pet {Which she has already quoted from as well, "Mom...can I have a Pet?!?} We have been looking for a time to take our entire family and trying to decide which Zoo to go to. Matt and I met at the Memphis TN Zoo and then later got engaged there so that would have been cool to take our kids there...well, some day. The final kicker was when my friend let me know about the "$1.oo day" at the Little Rock AR Zoo! That is only ~45 minutes aways rather than hours AND I'd never checked into how much it cost for normal admission. $10.oo for adults and $8.00 for kids over a year. CRAZY! After going through Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University we are even more aware of how big a budget item that is, especially with 4 we would have to pay for. Needless to say, the Rothacher clan will be heading to dollar day with the thousands of other families every time they have it!

Bonus: grandparents and cousins were already headed down to see us for Maggie's belated 3rd birthday party are were able to meet us there for this cool adventure!

~~~

Here are a few (hehehe) highlight pics:

The Line...yep, this is part of the wait. It went fast though. Just enough time to put on sunscreen, shades and make some new friends

This one reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom would dress me and my brother's in the same color
so if we got lost/separated she could find up easier. (note: this was not planned ;o)

My dad pushed the double stroller the entire day. THANKS!

LOVE stroll'n with my big girl!Lil Pinguins...they should've had a monkey one for our clan

Speaking of..."MONKEYS!!!!"

How cute! Dad showing Jamin the moneys.Alligators- my FL hubby was surprised to read the sign saying we have some in ARPenguins- smart lil guys- in the water the entire time, where we should have been
Anna got them to follow her finger in circles

Daddy and his Princess Magdalene. So sweet!Tiger
One of my FAVS!!!!Iz, rid'n daddyElephants...way back in thereCloser to the ElephantsGiraphas...hiding inside (animals are Smart!)

Rhinos

Lions

J did sooo good in the heat the entire day!Bear
(sorry, can't see it but they were too cute)Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?Sweaty, snuggly Izzie...and mammaMan, it was HOT!

Apes
"If doesn't have a tail it's not a monkey, even if it has a monkey kinda shape"Favorite Exhibit! We were allowed to go IN with the birds!
Anna was teaching Mags how to hold out your finger to get the birds to land on them, hehe

You were allowed to feed them nectar out of tiny cupShortly after this the bird snatched the entire cup out of her hand :O)I felt like a monkey in a cage, this was my parents with Iz outside the cage

We had a BLAST! All this kids did fabulous during the couple hour heat tour of amazing animal goodness!Thank you for taking our tour of the Little Rock Zoo with us!
The Rothacher's will DEfinately be back for next year's Dollar Day (there will be one right!?!)!!!

~~~

Thanks to Leann Gabriel for letting me know about Dollar Day!!!

Have any deal days to share or links to your blog about family adventures?

Filed Under: The ones about the Rothacher Home

{Fry-less} Stir Fry

July 7, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

I love this meal because it is a 'well rounded meal': meat, veggies, rice! This is also a meal we as a family eat at least once a month. We chop everything small so it's a quick kid-friendly meal. They eat it up every time. It's also easy to let kids help: if little like mine they can scoop chopped items and put them in the pan (before heated) and if they are older they can use that knife themselves, stir, or even measure water and rice!

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~3 Boneless, Skinless Chx Breast
1 Red Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1 Green Pepper
~1/2 Cup Baby Carrot
{We've also tried frozen bags of 'stir fry' veggies that had snow peas, or adding broccoli- yummy}
1 btl Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce
2 Cups Rice

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*Cook chx breast (I like to bake an entire bag of frozen chx breast all at once and then put them back- fridge/freezer- for later meals) and slice or cube
*Cook rice (we do ~2 cups which feeds our family of 2 adults, a preschooler, and toddler) and set aside
*Chop peppers, carrots, and any other veggies you enjoy
*Mix all meat and veggies in a large frying pan, coat with stir fry sauce and continually stir until everything is covered and heated well (I do ~5-10 minutes depending on how much time I have before the family naws off their own fingers)
*I serve a spoon full of the meat, veggie, and sauce mixture over a spoon full of rice. Salt and pepper to taste.

{The stir fry bottle also has a yummy sounding recipe on the back using beef!}

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Comment and let me know if you try this recipe or if you have a “tweaked” favorite recipe of your own!