You are what you eat

Faith and Kathy inspired me to talk about the food that we eat. I never used to cook. Hubby and I used to eat out all the time. Then we had kids at that was a game changer. I want my kids to have a healthy balance diet with lots of vegetables and fruits. It is so much harder and expensive to eat healthy food with the kids unless you are making it yourself.

I bought a slow cooker and started looking at easy recipes I could make for my family. I also started meal planning and prepping my food as much as possible and this has helped reduce my cooking time tremendously.

If you have picky eaters and want them to eat vegetables, you can blend things together. this is the case with my tomato and veggie blend for my ribs (I also use this with chicken or fish). So delicious and easy to make while being full of awesome veggies.

All these awesome veggies go into making the sauce

I blend everything together with the maggi cube to give it a bit of flavor

For this meal I used two baby back ribs, cut them in smaller pieces to fit in the crockpot

Put everything together in the crockpot and that was it. 15 min prep time, 6 hours cook time. Easy delicious meal

I also grill veggies that I know my family likes and put seasoning on them to give them a bit of a taste. My favorite is this combination of sweet potatoes, squash and eggplant. The best part is that the sweet potatoes overpowers the other veggies so it's actually sweet and delicious. Oh and I always make enough so that we have some for the week.

Another easy recipe, the hardest part is chopping everything. A bit of olive oil, salt and pepper then grill for 25 min and voila.

The result was a delicious rib dinner with some veggies, yummy I tell you. The best part is that the boys are eating veggies without even noticing that they are. Score.

What I also started doing was adding fruit cups to the lunches. I pre-cut everything and put them in containers for the week. My boys actually love fruits so this is pretty easy. I pick the ones they love, clean them and have them ready to go. All they have to do is eat :).

Pineapple and grapes

Strawberries and grapes

The weekly pack ready to go

Another favorite in our house is baked chicken Parmesan, not much to say about this super awesome meal. Another easy delicious meal I tell you

Another thing I do is hide the veggies :). I know I am sneaky, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. My hubby loves chicken quesadillas so what I do is add onions and any other veggies that I want (I usually just puree peas or mushrooms or something like that). I also add bacon to hide the taste of my veggies even more. Genius I know :)

Then of course I put this on a tortilla and load it up with cheese. Veggies, what veggies? Brilliant :).

 I bake for less than 10 min and dinner is served. Our plates before we started chowing down

I used to have such a hard time getting my hubby and son to eat any veggies then I got inspired to hide them as much as I could and so far it's been working great. What they don't know can't possibly hurt them :). Of course we eat junk food, candy and chips and such. I am a believer of everything in moderation is acceptable. What techniques are you using to get your family to eat veggies? Please share some recipes.

Jbird is 6 months

6 months, what a beautiful milestone you reached this month my son. I am so happy that we are here, half a year of you my Jbird.

This 20lbs chubby chubster is all mine. I just love his rolls, cheeks and how solid he is. I thank God everyday for his good health and healthy appetite.

We have a sleeper, finally :). You guys, I am in heaven I tell you. My baby is sleeping 5 to 6 uninterrupted hours at night now and it's amazing. We are not quite sleeping through the night but this is a huge step. He usually goes down between 9 and 10 and doesn't wake up until 3ish when he just nurses and goes right back to sleep until about 7. We are still Co-sleeping and loving it.

We survived 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding and I am finally ready to get you started on solid food. You are clearly ready as everything goes in your mouth and you chew on everything and anything in your sight. The way you look and drool at food just makes me thing that you will be a much better eater than your brother. I am so ready to embark in this new adventure with you.

You are such a happy baby. You smile for no apparent reason. You are just such a joy to be around. you have the most infectious smile and giggle

You are so fascinated by your brother. Every time he is near you, you start giggling and just get so excited. That makes momma so happy. Your brother totally returns the love and it is just so cool to watch. Love my boys

You are a complete momma's boy and I love it. If you are unhappy, the minute I touch you or you see me, you just calm down and start smiling away. I am one happy momma

For good measure, here is a picture of Tman when he was 6 months old

Thank you son for all the moments you look at me with adoring eyes, smile with clear joy and just makes me feel like the most amazing mom in the world.

Happy 6-month sweet Jbird, I am so happy that God chose me to raise you. I love you so much, my heart could burst.

#Projectmilf week 2 and a winner

Week 2 of #ProjectMilf is about celebrating the people in our lives that inspire and motivate us

My family is full of strong inspiring women and if I had to only pick a few of them I would chose my mother and grandmother as the most inspiring of them all. Today I want to celebrate these two women who have shaped the way I lead my life.

 My grandmother story is a true story of courage and dedication. Her father passed away when she was a mere 3 years old. Her mom remarried but unfortunately for my grandmother, her stepdad and his family were not very supportive of her. They decided not to send her to school but kept her in the house so that she can do all the chores. My grandma went on to have 12 kids that she raised practically by herself because my grandfather passed away way too soon. Despite the hardship that she endured in her life, my grandmother raised and took care of all her children and grandchildren. Today, my grandmother's story inspire me to be a better mom, a better wife, a better daughter, and just overall a better person

My father left my mom at the tender age of 26 with 3 young children. Poor women had to raise her kids as a single mom and provide for them all on her own. She truly is my inspiration in life. I am sure having a strong mother like my grandmother guiding her definitely help her succeed.

 These two women are truly my heroes

As far as my goals, I am trucking right along. In an effort to lose 10lbs and tone up my body by July, I have been doing 200 jumping jacks 5 days a week without fault as well as dancing :). I tried to get on the elliptical but it's been difficult lately. I am also adding more fruits and vegetable to my diet, reducing portions, and reducing the amount of soda I consume everyday. Things are going well in that department. I am holding steady at around 140lbs.

As far as the hair goes, I have been applying Jamaican black castor oil to my edges daily. Things seem to be going in the right direction but of course it will take time to notice much. I got a relaxer this past weekend and my edges are looking a lot better than they did a month and a half ago. I hope to see great improvement the next time I relax.

We have a winner for the giveaway, YAY. CONGRATULATIONS Andrea R. you are a winner!!!! please send me an email so that I can send you the $20 Target giftcard.

Tman is 2.5 years

My first boy is getting bigger by the minute. He is now 2 and a half years, less than a half a year away from 3 years old. Crazy I tell you, crazy good.

He is such a fun kid to be around. One of my favorite thing to do is just talk to him. I always end up on the floor laughing so hard because he is the funniest kid. He is a talker like his momma and a total jokester too. The other day when Jbird was crying he told me "momma, Jbird is hungry, please give him the boob" then he turned to Jbird and said "please don't bite momma or there will be no more food for you". I couldn't stop laughing for the longest time.

I was having a conversation with him the other day and it went something like this
Tman: Momma, J is for?
Me: J is for Jbird
Tman: No momma, J is for Juice

When did my little baby turn into this big kid? I am not sure but I will take it. My son is such a poser, definitely gets it from his mama.

I got these cool shirts at Universal Studios in Orlando. My first child, my first boy. How did I get so lucky? I am not sure but I am sure enjoying the ride and this sweet face makes it so worth it.

This kid is always in action so it's no surprise that all he wanted to do was jump up and down. This picture is actually pretty cool

He is just a great big brother to our Jbird.  They are always having so much fun together. Check out my Tman goofing off during the photoshoot

What are you saying momma, I can't hear you. This kid seriously makes me laugh all the time

He does pay attention to directions and here he is smiling as I requested

My Tman is a happy boy, despite his crazy moments, he is almost always happy and ecstatic about things. He is telling me here that I did a great job and he is clapping for me. Thanks my son, it's nice to be appreciated.

 If he thinks I am wrong about something, he gives me this face. My baby is already old enough to scold me, unreal

My Tman is such a smart kid. He learns things so fast whether it's the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, or songs. Nothing is too much for him. Check him out, so prouf of himself riding his bike.

He has the best smile, sweetest personality, and is just the happiest kid. I mean look at this smiling face

Happy 2.5 years to my first son, the boy that so beautifully introduced us to parenthood. We are so in love with this sweet boy of ours. Thank you God for this blessing.

Weekend fun - the valentine edition

What a great weekend we had. We got some one on one time without the kids courtesy of my lovely mom and we loved it.

We are not really big on Valentine's day but when my mom offered to watch the kids on Saturday so that we can celebrate Valentine's day we jumped on the offer. No need to tell her that we don't really celebrate anymore. I guess you can call it our Valentine's day celebration. We went to a late lunch and watched "Django Unchained" afterwards. Lunch was great and let me tell you the movie was awesome, Quentin Tarantino did not disappoint. If you like his style don't miss this one.

Before we left we took a picture all dressed up as we do :). The kids were sleeping so we didn't get a chance to do a family photo. Oh well, there is always next time

 At lunch I asked my hubby to make an interesting face and this is what I got, he is a riot

 My interesting face was a lot more exciting I think

 It was a gorgeous sunny day so we walked around a bit after lunch

 Then we went to the movie theater and enjoyed watching a 3-hour movie without interruption

The kids were really good to my mom, they both napped for over 2 hours and when they woke up they just played and hung out. My mom said that she had a great time (but of course) and will be watching the kids again in a few week so that we can get some more quality time together, YAY. We are truly lucky.

My mom and Jbird hanging out when we got home

 These two I tell you. Tman did not want to share the kindl and Jbird was not having it. I have a feeling these two are going to fight for toys a lot

 Look at Jbird's face, he is fixated on that kindl

Sunday was spent lounging around in the morning. Tman decided that he was finally  ready to share the kindl with Jbird. He didn't do it for a long time but it was so sweet. Here he is showing Jbird a video and actually letting him watch and hold. Love these boys of mine.

 We spent the afternoon with a friend whose daughter is a mere month older than Jbird. It was loads of fun, they didn't get to play together as Jbird just wanted to hang out in the bjorn but maybe next time. Tman on the other hand chased their dog the whole time.

 When we got home, we just hung out with the boys and watched the Grammys

 My boys have so much fun together already. Tman is such an entertainer, always doing fun things for his brother's enjoyment

 Me and my boys, life is good

In the spirit of Faith's #yeahiamwearingthis, my outfit from Saturday; the shirt and boots are from Macy's while the leggings are from off broadway shoes.

What a great weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend too. Did you do anything fun?