Barbecued Meatballs

My blog started out featuring primarily baking and cooking. I'd like to bring that back a little more, so I'm going to start trying to make at least one new recipe each week. I have so many great cookbooks and I'd like to get more familiar with them. When I was working I got into the habit of being able to find a recipe quickly on-line instead of going through pages of recipes at home. I still love food blogs, but I don't have as much time for them now with a little one. Whereas a cookbook I can look through while I'm feeding him. I'm excited to start finding recipes my family enjoys in the cookbooks I already have. In the past I've done mainly desserts, but now I want to include everything; main dishes, bread, jam, you name it. Yesterday my sis came down and we made some pickles. They are supposed to refrigerate for 2 days before you try them, so I'll get back to you on the results. But I also put together some Barbecued Meatballs from my "The Friendship House" cookbook. It is from an eatery in Wamego, KS that I really enjoyed the summer I lived there with my aunt. I've made a few recipes out of this book before, but this is my first "main dish" item to try. Jeremiah picked this recipe and it was fantastic. If I want to make meatballs again, I will probably use this recipe! I just made a half batch and it made 20 meatballs, which was plenty for us. But the recipe does say that you can bake them and freeze them for later use. So I may make a full batch the next time and keep some in the freezer for easy lunches because they are definitely worth making. Enjoy!

1 can evaporated milk
2 c. quick oatmeal
2 eggs
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 tsp. chili powder
3 lbs. ground beef (the recipe says they like to use some ground pork)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix and shape into balls. Place in a flat pan that has been sprayed with Pam. (Only one layer of meatballs to each pan.) I used a porcelain pan that was approximately 9"x13" and it worked well for the half batch. 

Sauce: 2 c. ketchup
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. liquid smoke (I used natural hickory)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 c. chopped onion

Dissolve and pour over meatballs. Bake 1 hour at 350*.

I served them with some corn and the pickles (yes it was too soon, so they tasted pretty cucumber-y) and it was a great meal. These will be made again in this home!

To life... full of good meals!

Seven Months!

Zeke, you are seven months old! 

I cannot believe it has already been that long since we first saw your sweet face. We captured some great shots of you this morning and I had a hard time whittling them down, so I will share a lot throughout this post. 

• You are just growing so much now that you've started eating solid food so consistently. I think you are about 26 1/2 inches long and weigh about 14 1/2 lbs. You are an excellent eater and don't make a big mess. I rarely use bibs, but I probably should a little more so you don't ruin too many of your onesies. In addition to all the other food you've eaten, this past month you've tried little bites of chicken, rice, mushrooms, whole wheat cereal, and random other bites or licks of things. 

• We moved this month and you did such a great job in the car. We drove for 9 hours one day. You slept for 2 1/2 hrs. of the trip, but the rest was pretty rough. The next day we drove for about 5 hours. You only slept for about 45 min. but you were in a great mood all day! We got you a little mirror so you could see Mommy while she was driving. We think that helped a lot so you wouldn't feel so alone in the backseat. You have adjusted to your new room fairly well and are getting used to all the new noises and things to see. You love the screened in porch (just like Mommy)! 

•  You are flexible and are starting to play with your feet more. Yesterday you wore some sandals and you didn't seem to mind too much. But you were pretty interested in them. 

•  The past four nights have been wonderful -- you've slept for 10 hours!! And you usually take at least one (but sometimes two!) two hour nap, every day! And then you'll take a 30 min. - 1 hr. nap for the other. 
• You love looking at the people and things going on around you. Yesterday we took you to church and you were very good. Quiet and observant, looking for all the lights, looking and smiling at all the other kids. You are such a sweet, patient boy! 

•  You are not ALWAYS happy as some people seem to believe. But that's ok. We love you no matter what. We think you are starting to teethe... when will they finally pop out?!? So we can understand being fussy about that. And you are having to acclimate to a much warmer house, so you've been dealing with a little heat rash and I've mainly kept you in just a diaper this past week. 

•  You continue to love taking walks in your stroller. There's just so much to see, especially now that there are trees and parks to walk through. 
• You are mostly wearing 6 month clothes now. There are still some 3-6 month clothes that fit, but not all of them. 
• You roll all over the place! Mommy really has to keep an eye on you so that you don't get into too much trouble. What's going to happen when you crawl?!?! But I am happy you are becoming more mobile. You haven't started sitting on your own yet, but we continue to work on it. I know you'll get the hang of it before long and never look back.

Big Boy! 

•  You definitely know and recognize Dora now. You love watching her, everywhere she goes. You squeal at her to get her attention. Sometimes she'll meow back at you. I hope you will be gentle to her and that you'll get along as you grow up.

Enjoying the cool morning breeze on the porch

•  You love to dance! Here's a cute video of you dancing to some music I was playing to get you excited. We have fun dance parties! 

I love this face! 

• You had a lot of fun on your last playdate with Audrey. It will be sad to live so far away from our Texas friends. But we promise to stay in touch! 
• We also got to have one more evening with our friends from Wedgwood as they helped us load the truck. We will miss this family! 

• You have started learning to use a sippy cup! It's taking some time get used to it, but you are laying here next to me holding it with one hand and keeping it in your mouth. Good job, Buddy! 

Well I am sure there is more you have done this past month, but this is getting long and we need to try again to get you to take an afternoon nap! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and pray for you daily. Each month (week and day!) is exciting and new to see what you will learn and discover. Thank you, God, for giving us such a sweet son. We love you Ezekiel!

To life... full of the dog days of summer!

Goodbye Texas!

Tonight you will get some random thoughts. I haven't blogged in awhile so I wanted to update, but I don't have much time to really work on composing something great, so we're going to go with one of my stream-of-consciousness posts. Sound good?!?!

Moving is a lot of hard work! We've unpacked lots of boxes in the past 2 days, we have lots more to unpack. And it's going to be uphill work because we've done mostly the easy stuff first, you know, books, movies, kitchen stuff, etc. The crappy part comes up with random yearbooks, office stuff, etc. Fortunately, I have help willing and able to come help me this weekend! Hooray! Because of my sister's help last night, most of the kitchen is ready to go. So tonight I made blueberry cobbler for Jeremiah. I learned that my oven cooks fast! Good thing I checked it early! I also realized that I've made that cobbler 3 times in the past month. Twice with blueberries and the third with the addition of peaches. It's good, it's simple, it's easy and quick. Definitely a win when you're busy (packing, unpacking, moving, having company, etc.!). I have been looking through my cookbooks, now that they are out and proudly displayed and I really want to start trying out some new recipes. I had gotten used to looking up recipes online at work more than using cookbooks, but I have so many great resources, I would like to start using them more. I haven't decided anything for sure, but I think I would like to try to start making one new recipe every week, for... a while. I'm not talking about just desserts (like usual), but rather main dishes, dips, breakfast, bread, jams, soups, and more. I think it would be pretty easy to make happen and I think it would be great to start adding to my repertoire.

Tomorrow is Jeremiah's first day of work. I will miss having him home because he has done a great job getting things set up around here and helping me make forward progress.

Things I like about our new place: all the windows = natural light = love! So much more room! Quiet street. Lots of trees. Quiet upstairs neighbor. More room.

Things that will take a little getting used to: wood floors = creakiness = trying to maneuver out of Zeke's room without hitting any "land-mines" and waking him up! Having one bathroom again. Wood floors. No central air (although that's not too huge for me, like I said, just have to get used to it). Please don't think I'm not grateful. But there are definitely things you get used to about living in apartments that are different from living in a house. But the overall assessment is that I really like our new place!

I am tired. Zeke is still trying to adjust. I figure it will take about a week to get back to where he had been getting good consistent naps. Although now I'm wondering if he might be teething.

I'm tired and I'm not going to go back and re-read this *gasp!* to check for any errors. You'll just have to read it for what it's worth. Thanks for listening. Once we get unpacked, I hope to create a good routine for us and get back to blogging a little more often.

To life... full of maneuvering around cardboard boxes.

One Week From Now...

We'll be moving into our new place in Kansas City! It's hard to believe! I am very excited, but it will be hard to leave all the friends we have made here in Texas. It has been a wonderful 4 years. We have learned so much in our time here, grown so much as a couple (and now a family!), and our faith and beliefs have been stretched and strengthened greatly.

Moving, packing is a lot of work! But I like to stay positive so some of the good things: I feel like I'm getting a decent work out every day! And we're getting rid of stuff we don't really need. None of us have been feeling well for the past 3-5 days. But I'm hoping by Saturday we'll be recovered and ready for our journey. I don't know how much I'll be able to post in the coming weeks as we continue to pack, then drive, and then unpack, so I'll leave you with some pictures of our recent goings ons :0)

Love that smile! 

Papa Glen came for a visit this past week! 

We went to the zoo, of course! 

 And here's a fun video too. I don't believe I've posted it before.

To life... full of ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Busy August!

Sorry for my lack of posts as of late.  ---- We're moving!!! --- So I've been busy packing
feeding Zeke

putting together boxes

changing diapers

doing dishes

putting things in a box like a puzzle

watching the Olympics

making Zeke food

trying to find a place to live

packing boxes

feeding Zeke

you get the idea! 

And here's what Zeke is learning to do...

I think we have a soon-to-be crawler on our hands!! Both exciting and nerve-wracking!

To life... full of forward motion!