WC Day 5: Slow Cooked Beef Fajitas

As promised, some of our Pinterest favorites......

Slow Cooked Beef Fajitas

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/403377/slow-cooked-beef-fajitas

*****

Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze

Each bag serves 4-6

3 lb beef round steak cut into strips (across the grain)

2 8 oz cans diced tomatoes w/ chiles

1 large onion or 2 small

1 green pepper, cut into strips

1 red pepper, cut into strips

2 tsp cilantro, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tsp chili powder , 2 tsp cumin, salt and pepper to taste

1 jalapeno chopped (optional, obviously not a good toddler choice)

Directions for Bags:

Cook on low 5-6 hours. Scoop with slotted spoon onto corn (or flour) tortillas. Garnish with sour cream, avocado, shredded cheese, pico de galo, etc

This has 5 stars with this family.....highest it can get!! It's SUPER easy, makes two meals at the same time, and tastes amazing!!!

PS.....We see the surgeon with Madi this afternoon and I will update when we get home.
PSS.....Prayers needed today are for clarity and wisdom with the surgeon, and that we can devise a plan; that we get results from the culture and sensitivities before the end of the day so we can start her on the right antibiotic, and don't end up with her uncovered all weekend; and that bloodwork comes back and doesn't show a systemic infection. Thanks friends!!

Houston Part II: Extended Family

One of the many blessings that is revealing itself with the increased control over our visits to Houston is that we are not pushing as hard as we were before.  We are not generally sitting in doctor’s offices ALL day, then attempting to “squeeze” the very important fun times in.  As much as my better judgment at times would say we needed to stay in and rest, the very real need to make the fun memories too would often overpower the logical part of my brain (and heart).  With the new schedule, the fun times are not at the cost of needed rest like they were before!!  SO much better!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Monday night we were blessed to have beds to sleep in at my Aunt and Uncles house.  We had a lovely meal, and more, we had some good quality time to visit and love on them.  Never can get too much of that!!!  They graciously fed us a lovely breakfast the next morning before we were off to start our day.

I also mentioned in the last post that I was discombobulated this trip down, and while this was mostly related to not quite knowing where we were sleeping from night to night, and unpacking and re-packing more than I ever want to again, there was one other reason I was a bit out of sorts….a good reason!!

My precious child, Madison, was planning a surprise for me for my birthday Tuesday night.  Little did I know at the time, but she’d actually been working on it since we were in Houston in April, when she found out that we would be there over my birthday again this year.  She and my precious friend, Jeanne, were working out the when’s and where’s, but it was ALL on Madison to then contact the other people she wanted to be there for my special evening.  She, quite literally, stressed herself out getting it all arranged, then dealing with the fact that we were not where we thought we would be Tuesday night!!

Madi, Jeanne, Kyla & Beth

In the end, it all worked out beautifully!!!  I was dressed from head to toe in items my precious family had gotten for me and felt like a million dollars…I was directed to get us to RMH where the meet up would take place…..and there, one by one, some of my most precious friends came through the door to help celebrate my special day!!!  They were all there to take ME…little ol me….out for a special dinner!!!

I will simply say Perry’s Steakhouse is amazing!!!!  There we met up with my cousin, and while two other people I love dearly were not able to make it, they were definitely there in spirit!!! It was an incredible evening, and I am pretty sure that had someone been looking in on our table, they would never have guessed that prior to this evening not a single one of these precious ladies had ever met before!!!  It made my heart swell seeing these people that I love, start loving on each other too.

Margie, Jeanne, Kyla & Beth

My precious Jeanne

Miss Madison put her heart and soul into this surprise and it could not have been any sweeter!!!! 

Wednesday we finally got in and settled at RMH and I started feeling a bit less out of sorts thankfully!!!  We had some down time after our appointments that morning that we took advantage of, spending some time loving on our RMH family, and then headed over to visit with Jeanne and her precious girls.  As always, we walked in their apartment and one would think we spend every day over there.  There is a comfort that we have with this family, and no matter how long it’s been since we have had the chance to see them, we just pick back up like no time has elapsed at all.  It’s perfectly lovely, and so awesomely real.  We had a wonderful time visiting with them and having dinner.

Thursday evening, we were without the boy & my mom who were both stuck at the hospital.  After finishing up our appointments and errands for the day, the girls and I were in need of a little more time with the female portion of the Andrew’s family!!  Beth & Madison were gracious enough to come back over to our part of town and have dinner with the girls and I, getting me back to the hospital for the night just in time to catch the end of game 5 of the NBA play offs with my Mavs loving son!!  Another family we are just so blessed to just mesh with in a really incredible way!!

Finally, Friday afternoon part of us were off to yet another family we have become an extension of (Madi wasn’t feeling good and stayed back with my mom)……

How incredible is it that we have this many families that we feel this kind of belonging to!!??

The Parker’s welcomed us into their home with open arms as usual, and we picked right back up where we left off last time….just so very cool.  Sean and Chance were almost immediately playing music together….we had the chance to congratulate Lauren on her graduation and give her a little token from each of us that we hope brightens her day when she sees them…..Abby & Skye were off exploring who knows what….and Teion and I were immediately in conversation about anything & everything, over glasses of wine.  We were further blessed on this occasion to meet another family that the Parker’s love, and had an amazing time getting to know them!!!

We are SO very blessed to have this amazing extended family.  I cannot imagine our time in Houston without them there.  They rejuvenate me when I need it the most…..and though we come home weary, at the same time, we come home feeling all warm & fuzzy, and so very loved.

Family….friends…..THANK YOU!!!  We love you all so very very much!!!

{FoodieFriday: Schweddy Balls}

Clearly I am not a food photographer

Go ahead....Google it...watch the video and laugh your butt off.  I giggle just writing it!!!  I giggled when I decided last night it’s what we will be calling my latest cooking creation.

Let me say up front….cooking is NOT my thing.  I occasionally create something I like and am proud of, but it’s not often.  Just ask the kids.  Like how some mom’s feel about laundry or cleaning the bathroom (which I don’t really mind), I mostly feel about cooking….and food shopping (I order from a menu really well though!!)…it’s tedious and after a few weeks of “being good” and cooking things at home, I am burnt out and begging for there to be some kind of food fairy to feed my family.  The local restaurants generally become those food fairies for me, much to my pocket books chagrin.

Now that we have that clear…..LOL.

On rare occasions I get it right……more often, other people get it right.  Either way, sometimes it’s worth sharing, so watch for occasional “food” posts from me.  Now, back to our Schweddy Balls<snicker>.

A long, long, long time ago I found a meatloaf recipe that has become one of a very few favorites around these parts.  One of our “comfort foods” (and after the month we have had, comfort was needed last night). On my side of the equation, it’s easy, takes few ingredients, and doesn’t take much time, but looks and tastes like it did.  On the family's side, all but Abby LOVE it.  As in, my children, since they were little, ASK for it.  Meatloaf being requested is not normal!! 

(As a side note, Abby doesn’t really eat red meat….and does not “do” sauce….and thinks the idea of sweet & meat in the same sentence is disgusting, thus her lack of interest in this particular dish)

Let me start with, this will work in a traditional way too….as in forming the meat into a loaf pan and making it look like “meatloaf”, however, it takes a little longer to cook this way (1 hour, 10 minutes or so) and well, last night I was in a hurry and I thought maybe shaped into meat balls would cook more quickly, which it did, which made me happy.

Schweddy Balls

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 40-45 minutes

Feeds: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 pound of lean Ground Beef

1 package Onion Soup Mix

¼  Red Onion, chopped

1/3 cup Milk

1 Egg

6 tbsp Brown Sugar

6 tbsp Catsup

3 tbsp mustard

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix meat, onion soup mix, onion, milk and egg together. (Note: if it’s not sticking together well, you can add some bread crumbs to firm things up).  Shape into good sized meatballs (should make about 9) and place in a shallow cooking dish.

Mix the remaining ingredients together and spoon over the meatballs.

Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes (until meat is cooked through).

Mmmmmmm….so good!!!

(Note: If your doing this in the old fashioned way, once you have formed the meat in the loaf pan, I have found that if I make indentions about half way down the pan side in the meat, as well as a dip down the middle of the loaf, the sauce gets to more of the meat. I have also found that doing it in the loaf pan, there is more fat that needs to be drained off before you remove the meat from the pan.  Mostly the sauce stays put while I drain it off and if nothing else, it “looks” prettier this way.  Finally, done this way, I like to put a bit of catsup on the slices once they are on the plate, just for a tad more moisture/flavor….did NOT have to do this with the meat balls though!!)

We like to have mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli with ours.  By the way, if you have not tried the Ziploc Zip ‘n Steam Bags, your missing out….these things are awesome!!! 

Now if only they'd pay me for the plug

Steamed Broccoli (using Ziploc Zip ‘n Steam Bags)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes (microwave)

Feeds: 4-5

Need:

1 Large Ziploc Zip ‘n Steam Bag

1 bunch broccoli

3 tbsp Margarine

3-4 shakes of Lawry’s Season Salt

Clean and cut the broccoli heads off and place into steamer bag.  Add margarine and season salt. Microwave for 6 minutes.  DELICIOUS!!  Better yet, EASY!!

ENJOY!!! We sure did  J

Comfort achieved. 

Held Up in Houston

Well.......we are here and will be till next Wednesday or Thursday now.

On the one hand, as jealous as the kids are of all you guys in Dallas getting to play in the snow, my thought is, your at the same time freezing your tushies off, so I am NOT jealous...not one little bit.  We are cold here, and were supposed to get snow, but managed to just get ice...fun fun fun. But we are still warmer here than there, and for that I am thankful!!!  We are missing the Old Man and the critters...a lot....but are being well cared for and loved here in Houston and are making the best of it.

While we knew earlier in the week that we were not going to make it out of town towards home today as planned, we thought we'd get out of here by tomorrow.  However, the girls sleep studies (that were supposed to happen last night) had to be postponed and the best we could do is Tuesday night.  We have accomplished all but those, so this will give us a couple of days of down time, which we really all need.

Thanks for the prayers for this week!!!  We have felt them and appreciate them more than we can say.  Since we are holed up here at the RMH today, I thought an update was in order since we asked for specific prayers and have some of the information we anticipated hearing this week.

Our pulmonologist was NOT too upset with me about the oxygen not being started yet, but it was reiterated that it's something we need to make happen.  This was further enforced by the scale.....Chance was down 6 pounds since we saw them in November, even with the supplementation.  While the pulmo is not feeling like the lower-than-we'd-like-to-see oxygen saturations are the WHOLE answer to Chance's weight loss, treating it with the oxygen at night needs to happen to see if it makes any difference.

Madison & Abigail will have their sleep studies and while we know we will be adding oxygen to Madison's bipap, we will see how things look for both girls and see where we need to go from here.

Our rheumatology visit went really well!!  While one of Madison's knee's still has some fluid on it, he was pleased with her response to the steroid injections.  After some talk about where we go from here, we got the exciting news that we might be able to try and wean Madison off her Methotrexate as early as this summer!!  As long as she continues to do well, no more joints become involved, and the ones already affected behave themselves, we are good to try. If we can get her off the methotrexate and keep things stable with the injections and an occasional oral steroid pulse, it would be huge!!!   All in all, it was a very good visit.

Halter monitor is done and now we wait and see if there is anything exciting to hear.

As I have already shared, unfortunately, Chance has lost more weight. I don't even know what to say about that.  We are more than a little bummed.  And concerned.

We saw our GI nurse yesterday and while I'd hoped maybe, somehow, the weight loss we had seen the day before at the pulmo's would have been a fluke, and more importantly, wrong, it wasn't.  He really is down 4 pounds since his last weight check. Blech!!!  Plan is to finish looking at other organ systems at this point, which means we have his heart left to look at. At this moment, he's scheduled for an ECHO on the 17th, but after talking to our pediatrician's office today, we are trying to go ahead and get him seen while we are here this week.  We shall see.

In the midst of all this, we have had the chance to spend time with people we adore, and that so makes your heart smile even when things are less than ideal.  Several of our friends have been at RMH with us, which always makes the "down time" funner when we are hanging around the house.  We were able to spend the evening with the Andrew's, eating, laughing, and watching the girls have a BALL with their bestest girlfriend, Thing 9. We were able to spend an evening with the Parker's and were again reminded how freaky it is to have our twin family down here.  Chance was able to spend the day visiting with Rachel, and the girls and I were able to meet up and spend the evening with the whole Adam's family, which always does the soul good.  And we had a lovely brunch with Aunt Gayle, Uncle John, Margie, Ashton and precious Livi Lou!!!  We discovered an amazing new dip we picked up at Bucee's on our way down, discovered an awesome place to buy pre-made gourmet food that is to DIE for, and ventured out long enough today to get SmashBurger's since we were all craving them!!!  So we have been eating well too....LOL.

Unfortunately, the Mito Fun Walk was cancelled for tomorrow, meaning our easy access to see all our mito friends at once isn't happening, so hopefully we will get the chance to see a few others while we are here.  Plans are slowly but surely being made to keep us busy until we finally get to head back home.

The kids are tired, but the down evening and day today have done them some good.  Abby had a rough tummy & head evening tonight, but I am hoping she is feeling tons better when she wakes in the morning.  Some more downtime tomorrow will be good for them.

Late at night, like it is right now, is when I miss home the most.  During the day your distracted, but when it gets quiet, all are in bed asleep, and there aren't the distractions, the being away from home blues tend to hit.  As always, Michael is holding down the fort well, and while CoCo acts as though she is miserable, I know she is happy to have had him home so much this week.  I am blessed.....more than I can say....to not have to worry about things there.  It's just hard to be away so much, and when the days turn into more than a week, well......

Hope all our friends and family in the snowy tundra of North Texas are staying warm and well.  We miss you....just not the cold that is freezing your tushies off<grin>.