Thursday, April 28, 2011

Buddies

Some of Harper's buddies came over this morning to hang out...it was a Babypalooza!!!


Stickers!

Harper and I played with stickers for the first time this morning and she had so much fun! I gave Harper some blank paper to put the stickers on but she was much more interested in putting the stickers on herself!




Tuesday, April 26, 2011

New snack cup

Harper is having fun figuring out her new snack cup. When we got home today from running errands she was a little cranky so I decided to give her Cheerios in her snack cup while I started making dinner. She sat down right at the baby gate closest to the kitchen and proceeded to dump pretty much all of the Cheerios out of the cup, what a stinker! Of course this attracted Jack so he came over and she started to feed him too...oh well, at least it distracted her for awhile so I could make dinner :)


Silly Harper

I stepped outside this morning to get the stroller ready for our run to the park and this is what I came back to!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Weekend

The Lucas family had a very busy Easter weekend! It started off on Friday with the celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary! We had plans for just the two of us to go out to dinner that night but our babysitter fell through so we had pizza at home with the 3 of us instead, which really was just as nice!

On Saturday morning we took Harper to her first Easter egg hunt! We crashed a neighborhood egg hunt with a good friend of mine (she actually lives in the neighborhood)...it was organized by age group so Harper was in the 1-3 year old group. She didn't really know what was going on but she did a good job putting eggs in her basket! After the egg hunt we headed to Maudie's Tex Mex for brunch, yum!



Saturday evening we went over to a friend's house for dinner...they have 2
& 4 year old girls so Harper had fun playing with them while Mommy and Daddy had fun visiting with their Mommy and Daddy! :)

On Easter Sunday we gave Harper her first Easter basket and she really enjoyed going through everything in it!


After her nap we went over to my friend's house to hang with her family for Easter...Cooper is one of Harper's best friends and they are only about a month apart in age, they have lots of fun together! We ate ham & all the fixins and sampled cupcakes from a local bakery for dessert!



It was a great weekend!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Using leftovers

Last night was a leftovers night and I decided to get creative.

I decided to use these to make mini pizzas:

I had leftover roasted veggies and turkey sausage so I decided to throw them on a pizza. One pizza was hummus, roasted veggies and feta...the other pizza was roasted broccoli, turkey sausage and italian cheese blend.

I have to say, they turned out pretty good! I put them both on a large cookie sheet and baked them at 350 for 8 mins then I broiled them for a couple more minutes to get the crust nice and toasty! I was a little worried the crust wouldn't hold up but it did. Oh yeah, and I sprayed the bottom of the crust with olive oil spray before putting them on the cookie sheet. You should give it a try!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Just another Spring morning of cuteness!

My friend Janice and her photographer friend that is in town took pics of Harper and Harper's boyfriend Cooper this morning at the park...this is the first pic they have up and it's so freakin adorable that I had to share, can't wait to see what the rest look like!

Here is the link to the blog:
http://www.danileighblog.com/

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Harper is 15 months old!

Harper turned 15 months old today, gosh it's hard to believe how quickly she is growing into a little lady! We went to her doctor's appointment this morning and drum roll please...she weighs in at a whopping 19 pounds, 4 ounces and she is 28 1/2 inches long! She is in the 5th percentile for weight and 6th for height so she is definitely my little peanut!!!

A quick list of some of the things she is into at the moment:

-wearing necklaces of all kinds
-dancing around to her favorite music
-snuggling on Mommy's shoulder
-eating Magic Pops from Central Market
-chasing Jack around in the back yard
-playing at the playground

I love my little girl oh so much!!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Shrimp and Pineapple Not-So Po' Boys

Super yummy recipe...the mayo/chutney is amazing!!! The only change I made was that I used Panko instead of cornmeal. You should probably use an egg to get the Panko to stick to the shrimp, I didn't do that and the Panko kinda fell off when I started to cook the shrimp. If you are looking for a new shrimp recipe and you like spices you gotta try this one :)

Ingredients
1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp
Kosher salt
4 teaspoons Cajun shrimp seasoning (recommended: Cajun's choice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 serrano pepper, seeds and membrane removed, minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained, finely chopped
Small handful minced cilantro leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Cornmeal or Panko, for dredging
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 big po' boy buns, split
Lettuce and sliced tomato, for topping sandwiches

Directions
In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with a hefty sprinkling of salt, and massage gently. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes then rinse. This helps plump the shrimp especially if they were previously frozen.


Add the Cajun seasoning to the shrimp and let it marinate for 20 minutes, while you make the chutney.


In a skillet, warm 1 tablespoon olive of oil over low heat, until shimmering Add the cumin and fennel, it should splutter.


Stir in the onion and serrano pepper and saute until softened and has picked up a little color. Add the turmeric and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the pineapple and toss to coat with the spices. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and mayonnaise and stir to combine.


Add some cornmeal or Panko to a shallow plate. Coat each shrimp evenly with cornmeal, while you warm up a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering (hot), add the shrimp in batches. Flip after 2 minutes, or when they start to change color. Cook another 2 minutes on the other side, until cooked to your liking (don't overcook, and should only take 5 minutes, tops!). Remove the shrimp from the skillet to a paper towel-lined plate.


To build the po' boy: Slather the pineapple-mayonnaise mixture on 1 side of each bun bottom. Spoon a generous helping of shrimp over the top. Add some lettuce and tomato and cover with the bun tops. Wrap in plastic and aluminum foil and you're ready for the picnic!

My little Longhorn Cheerleader!