Easy summer meal - Shish Kabobs

This is a easy summer meal that I have been making for a few years.  I just came up with it one time when I had a pork roast that needed to be cooked and I wasn't sure what to do with it.

Ingredients:

Marinated pork roast

Multi-colored peppers

Large onion

Medium size squash or zucchini

Feel free to use other kinds of veggies also.  Especially ones that you might normally find on a Shish Kabob.  You could also make these with just veggies and no meat.

This is the kind of marinated roast that I use:

 

Utensils:

Skewers

Tin foil

Grill

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Step 1:

Chop up the roast and veggies into large chunks.  Make sure that the pieces are big enough that they will stay on the skewer.

Step 2:

Place the veggies on the skewer.  There is no special way to do this.  I try to put the skewer through the middle of the veggie/meat and alternate the different veggies.  In general, I use 3 to 4 pieces of meat per skewer.  It is also best to have either a piece of squash or pepper on the end.  They tend to hold up the best when cooked.  Also, feel free to place the pieces as close together or far apart as you would like. 

Note on skewers:  For a wedding present, we received a grill set and it included 4 metal skewers with wooden handles.  This is what I use for our shish kabobs.  I am sure that you can use other types, even plain wooden ones. 

Shish Kabobs prior to cooking

We usually have extra pieces of veggies and meat.  I just place them in a piece of foil....

and wrap it up. 

Step 3:

Place the kabobs and tin foil packet on the grill.  My husband usually does the grilling so I am not sure what temp he cooks them at but probably like a medium temp.  He cooks them for about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Eat and enjoy!  You could pair the kabobs up with some rice, noodles or a salad.  Great, easy family meal!

I am linking up at The Shine Project today!  Check it out!

Princess Party

The Saturday before our camping trip, Alyssa and Malachi were invited to a Princess birthday party for a friend that was turning three.  Malachi had a fever so he ended up staying home with DaDa just in case it wasn't because of teething (like I thought it was!)  The girls were suppose to dress up in princess dresses and the boys like pirates.  About and hour into the party, Cinderella showed up!  Alyssa ran to her and gave her a big hug!  She thought it was great and so did all the little girls.  The boys, not so much.  And let me tell you, this Cinderella was talented!  She did face painting and made balloon animals.  I am glad Alyssa likes princesses so much  because it will make our trip to Disney this fall that much more special! 




Animal Balloons!




Dancing with Cinderella!




More dancing



Face painting



Alyssa with the SWEET princess display!

 

Dinos at the zoo! Part 2

Here are some more pictures from our day at the zoo on Saturday!

Styracosaurus

Kentrosaurus

Suchomimus

Megalosaurus

Allosaurus

At the end of the dinosaur exhibit, they had a little educational area for the kids. 



Leonard wanted a dinosaur of his own!



Digging for dinosaur bones

My little paleontologist

This weekend, they also had their indoor theaters open for free!  That saved us another $12.  One theater was  a ride simulator but Malachi was too small for it and I was afraid that Alyssa would be scared.  The other theater was showing a Dora show in 3D/4D.  We opted for the more kid-friendly one. 

Very successful Saturday morning zoo trip! Makes me want to watch some Jurassic park movies and some Dinosaur Train!

Dinos at the Zoo! Part 1

On Saturday the kids, hubby and I decided to take a trip to the Detroit Zoo.  We have a membership (since we live like 15 minutes away!) and the kids love it there!  The zoo currently has a dinosaur exhibit that is there until mid-September and I have been wanting to take the kids.  I really wanted Leonard to come along also just in case it was too scary for them and one of us had to make a quick exit.  This weekend, the dinosaur exhibit was free, normally $4 a person.  Since that was the case, I decided that this weekend was the weekend to go.  It saved us $12!



Coelophysis



Brachiosaurus

Chasmosaurus

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Baryonyx

Quetzalcoatlus

Amargasaurus

Pachycephalosaurus

Edmontosaurus nest w/babies



Edmontosaurus

garage saling

The garage sales in my area start on Thursday, so yesterday I decided to take the kids out and hit up a community garage sale.  It was about 90 degrees out, so the kids only lasted about 40 minutes.  I didn't really find anything but the kids made out big time.  As we were leaving the first garage sale, the woman offered me two little wedges of watermelon for the kids.  The second garage sale had a free table and Alyssa picked up a bead necklace, a bubble wand and a sandwich bag full of sidewalk chalk.  She would have taken everything if I had let her.  At the next garage sale, we found a care bears puppet book for 10 cents.  The lady let us have it for free.  By the next garage sale, the kids were sweating profusely so the lady offered me a water for the kids.  I told her they had water in the car but she still offered her "cold one".  At this point, Alyssa started to have a little melt down and I decided that it was time to leave.  I am guessing that all those people felt sorry for my children, that their mom dragged them to garage sales on such a hot day.  After the sales, we went to Meijer to pick up some groceries.  There the kids received a free cookie!  My kids made out like bandits!

cheap, thrifty finds!

The day before we left for our camping trip, I made a quick trip to Walmart to pick up a few last minute food items and try and find a bathing suit.  Let's just say I was not very successful in the bathing suit dept. but I did score a few cute items for Alyssa for the fall! 

And the best part.....they were only $1 each!!!  $3 total!!!   Score!!

I'm back!!! Camping trip

Hey guys!  Sorry I have been MIA for the last two weeks.  We have been really busy so I didn't have much time to upload pics and post. 

Last week, I spent the first part of the week packing and getting ready for our camping trip.  The babies and I spent the rest of the week and part of the weekend actually camping in Boyne City at Young State Park.  We met my brother, his wife and her family up there.  It was fun and we had a good time, but it was a lot of work!  On the way home, I realized that I didn't take very many pictures, so sorry for the lack of pics.  Maybe it was because I had to chase the kids around and didn't want to carry my camera in my pocket??   ;-)   Here are a few of the pics that I did get.  The beach pics are courtesy of my sister-in-law.

Our tent

Trying to entertain the children at 6:30 am so they
don't wake everyone else up

Playing on the bike rack while waiting for the showers

Beach time!

Malachi loved this raft!  We went out on it 4 or 5 times!

Tired, Fun times!

Also, I forgot to mention that Alyssa got sick Friday morning and took a 5 hour nap on the beach! I think it was a combination of the sickness and lack of sleep from the previous two days.  She only had a low grade fever but it lasted until Monday night.  Not sure if it was just a cold or what. 

knitted baby blanket

So I have been trying to use up the yarn in my stash and this has been my most recent finished project.  It's a baby blanket that I made for Leonard's cousins baby. 

The actual knitting doesn't take me that long, usually.  The reason it seems to take me forever to finish a knitting project is because I hate to sew in the ends.  That's right!  It's not difficult and it only takes maybe 15 minutes, but I hate doing it.  I'm really not sure why.  I have a swiffer pad that I completed three or four months ago that's waiting for the ends to be sewn in.  If anyone has a theory, I would love to hear it.  :-)

thrifted camping chair for the kiddos!

Sometime last winter, I went to a church rummage sale that was down the street from my house.  I usually don't find a lot at rummage sales but I really wanted to get out of the house and I love looking.  It must be the thrill of the hunt or something.  I was almost at the end of the sale and about to leave when I saw some little school chairs they had by the wall.  I made a bee line for the chairs but decided I didn't want them.  I don't just buy things because they are a good deal.  I buy them because we can or might be able to use them.  I am a bad thrifter like that and have kicked myself more than once for choosing not to buy something, only to need it months later and have to buy it new.  Next to the little chairs was a tall dark blue canvas bag with a $2 sticker on it.  I thought it might be one of those foldable camping chairs, so I pulled it out to check out the condition.  I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be this:

It was a camping chair alright, except there were two little toddler ones together.  Perfect for Malachi and Alyssa, and in great condition (they do need a good scrubbing though!).  And for $2, what a deal!  One of the guys working the sale said he had no idea what it was.  I am thinking he didn't take it out to check.  We are going camping next week with my brother and sis-in-law and will definitely be taking this with us!

Picnic Potato Salad

I hope that everyone had a great weekend and a great 4th of July!

So I said that I would post about the homemade Potato Salad that I made for Alyssa's Party so here it is.  It was super yummy, way yummier than store bought, and easy to make. 

Yummy!!

Picnic Potato Salad Recipe

This salad is delicious with just about anything grilled, and always tastes best outdoors! Feel free to use chopped green onions instead of red onions in this flavorful salad.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds potatoes, cooked until just tender, cubed, cooled
• 5 or 6 hard cooked eggs, cooled, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped celery, optional
• thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, for garnish, optional
• .
• Dressing:
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (a little more or less, as desired)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine potatoes, egg, onions, and celery. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. (Stir the mayonnaise and mustard in a little at a time, until you have the flavor and consistency you like.)
Top with thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, if desired.
Serves 6 to 8.

The recipe can be found here.

Sprinklers and outdoor fun on a hot day

Playing in the sprinklers was on our bucket list of things that we wanted to do this summer.  It was so hot outside yesterday so I thought we would try it out to cool off a little.  Neither of the kids were super thrilled about the sprinkler, so I am sure that we will be going to the water fountains more often then playing in the sprinkler.  I gave them ring pops to eat after playing in the sprinkler and Malachi got it all over.  Here are some pictures from our time outside:

What you lookin' at??  

spying on the neighbors

The ring pop aftermath