October Birthdays

We have some special people with birthdays in October! My mom and sisters came down from Santa Barbara last weekend, and we decided to celebrate my sister's, Jake's, and my birthdays with my crazy Munoz side of the family.

My sisters and I with the girls!

Sweet Presley and Jakers

Mom and Chloe...I can really tell how much hair Chloe has lost in this picture!

The best game ever...stacking cups

Cousins!

"The sisters"

The outtakes...

Sorry it's so grainy, girls :(. But cute, nonetheless!

Lauren and Chloe

Tutu and Ava :)

Blurry, and I had to use a flash, and the room was crowded so I couldn't get any good pictures, BUT this is Jake on his new scooter my mom got him for his birthday. He was so excited! Every morning now he goes outside and rides his scooter on the patio back and forth with his helmet on. *precious*

The next morning husband Danny watched the kids so my mom could treat my sis and I to some manis and pedis at the nail salon. Feeling spoiled!

This weekend is Jake's and my *real* birthday, and we've got some fun activities scheduled that will keep our little family (and my visiting mother-in-law, Sherrie!) very busy.  I used to be the only one with a birthday in October in my family.  Then my little sissy Julia was born. Then my sweet cousin Aidan was born. Then my Jakers was born. {Not to mention some special people on Danny's side of the family, including sweet Grandma Sally, who have birthdays in October.} I am one lucky gal to be sharing "my" birthday month with such special people. :)

Easy & Cheap Trader Joe's Dinner

You just might know that I loooove Trader Joe's. It's fresh, it's easy, the little taste sampling stand in the back lets you try out all kinds of new goodies, and the checkers are just so dang friendly. I don't like grocery shopping...but if I HAVE to, then I'm going to Trader Joe's. I'm featuring an easy meal you can pick up at your local Trader Joe's for under $20. The tartar sauce, dressing, buns and feta cheese you'll use again, so I'm sure it's a super cheap price per person meal (I'm just not going to do the math. Sorry).  

Grab some of their Mahi Mahi Burgers in the frozen section, pick up some arugula and tasty Greek Style Feta dressing that you can toss together with some crumbled feta. Here's what you'll need:

Cook the Mahi Mahi patties according to the directions on the box {I've only made them in the oven, but I'm sure they'd be delicious grilled}. We just spread some tartar sauce (it has a kick to it from the jalapenos!) on a honey wheat bun, place the patty on top, and top with some peppery arugula. Thinly sliced red onion would probably be good, too, but we didn't have any on hand. Toss the rest of the arugula and some of the crumbled feta cheese with the dressing (which has a wonderful dill taste to it), and serve with the burger.

Another Trader Joe's dinner winner in my book!

Just a Few Recents of the Kids

It's been so fun being able to take pictures of all three of the kids as the girls are getting a little bit bigger. They think they're such big girls, always wanting to "sit up," even though they still need a bunch of assistance. I snapped a couple of the kids together the other day...look how big everyone is getting! The time is going by much too fast! (Maybe I should look at this post at 3:30 in the morning when I'm up with the girls...)

This is Jake's serious face, and I love Chloe's smirk.

Jake and Ava have got the tongue-out pose down.

Meal Planning Monday

Monday's "Panko-Crusted Tilapia" is something I make that I learned from my Nana. I think she originally got the idea/recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, but we pretty much go by our own adaptions of it. Danny loves it. I love quinoa, and haven't made it in a while so I'm glad it's on this week's menu! The asparagus I'll probably saute with olive oil and some fresh squeezed lemon.

Tuesday's "Winter Minestrone" is a hearty, healthy, and flavorful soup that I could actually eat year-round, and it comes from my favorite Food Network chef, Giada. The swiss chard cooks up to be really tender and adds a vitamin-packed punch. Get the recipe here from Food Network's website.

Wednesday's "Maui Beef, Jasmine Rice, and Broccoli" is a super-duper favorite dinner of ours that comes around monthly in our household. Maybe sometimes more. All items are from Trader Joe's (of course, because I just love, love, love Trader Joe's). I'll make a post about it so you can see what to buy, and how we make it.

Thursday's "Capellini with Tomatoes & Basil" is another recipe I got from my Nana, but it was actually ripped out from a magazine. It's an Ina Garten recipe (Barefoot Contessa chef on Food Network), and I'm pretty sure this link to the recipe is the same or pretty darn close.

Quick recap from last week's Meal Planning Monday: the "Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake" was *pretty* good, but the recipe calls for cream cheese, and husband Danny isn't the biggest fan of cream cheese. Well, to be specific, he said, "I like cream cheese on my bagel." He tells it like it is, folks! Maybe I'll try searching for some ways people might have changed it and try it again. I'll post about the "Tomato and Corn Pizza" because it's just so dang good! And I didn't get to try out the Chile Colorado Burritos because the meat I bought went bad--even though the sell-by date wasn't for three more days! Such a bummer. And a waste. :(

Happy cooking!

How-To: Easy Boo Craft

Want a super easy, super simple, yet adorbs craft to help you decorate for the upcoming Halloween festivities? Try making these BOO letters!

This is all you'll need:

Oh, and some Modge Podge, scissors, paintbrush/foambrush, and a pencil:

First step: trace the letters onto the scrapbook paper. There is only one trick to this super easy project. You don't want pencil lines to show, do you? To avoid them, when you're tracing the letters make sure you place the scrapbook paper face down, and the letter face down as well. Am I not making sense because you're a visual person? Refer to the picture, and do this:

Got it? Ok. Repeat for all of the letters.

Next step: cut out all of the letters you have traced.

Now you'll need to paint a nice, thick layer of Modge Podge onto each letter, and carefully place each cut out letter on top.  Make sure to line up the paper with the letter, and wipe down any excess Modge Podge that might run down on the edges.

Next up: admire your adorable letters, and marvel at how much easier that was to Modge Podge the paper on rather than trying to paint a design on each letter.  Finally, let your letters dry well for about 24 hours. You may want to place a heavy object onto each letter so the paper sticks well.

Easy, right?! The letters hung around my house for a while until I figured out just the right place where I wanted them. Originally I thought I wanted to hot glue ribbon to the back and hang them on my front door, but I think I finally settled on their nice cozy spot on my mantle mirror.

This craft is super easy and adorbs as well. This process is actually how I created the letters in my twin girls' room:

I have a few finishing touches for their room (hang the curtains, organize their bookshelf, and get a rug pad), but when I'm all finished I will post pictures of their nursery.

Such an easy project that would be adaptable for other holidays, too...I'm thinking cute Christmas paper for the holidays, Valentine's Day, as well...the possibilities are endless. ;)

For now I'll enjoy the little bit of BOO I've added into the family room, and hope it inspires me to finish decorating the rest of my mantle for autumn.

Happy crafting!

Sneak Peak of Autumn

I took the kids (with Laurie's help) to the pumpkin patch at Tanaka Farms today. I captured some cute pictures that I can't wait to share! Here's a sneak peak photo. I'll post more when I'm done sorting and editing through them. Come on, Autumn, we're ready for your crisp, cool weather!

Meal Planning Monday

You all know me and my crazy need for organization (of SOME things). My house can be a disaster and laundry might be piled up, but I always try my very hardest to put a homemade (or semi-homemade) meal on the table during the work week. The only thing is...I HATE going to the grocery store. Ok, so hate is a strong word...but I truly loathe it with all my being.  So every Sunday I like to create our meal plan for the week, update our whiteboard, and get my grocery list together so that I can *hopefully* skip going to the grocery store again for the week. Most of our fruits and vegetables stay fresh, I don't have to think about what I'm going to make for dinner that night, and when Danny asks, "What's for dinner?" I direct him to the whiteboard. ;) I'd like to start posting my dinner schedule on "Meal-Planning Mondays" so I can share any recipes with you all, hopefully get comments on the posts about suggestions and/or new recipes, and I can start a running record of the cooking I do in my kitchen. So, here goes the first week!...

Monday's "Smoky Chicken & Potatoes" is a super easy, even yummier recipe that I tore out of my Family Circle magazine and tried out last month. You'll notice I get every single recipe many of my recipes from Family Circle. ;) Here's a link to the recipe--you'll have to sign up for Family Circle (it's free online!) to access the recipe.

I'll have to share Tuesday's "Tomato & Corn Pizza" recipe with you later. It's a printout, and I don't know where it's from. I'll link back up to this post when I post the recipe.

Wednesday's "Chile Colorado Burrito" is a brand spankin' new recipe that sounds delish. I'll let you know how it goes. You can find it here. You make the meat in the crockpot! I love my crockpot, and I'm a sucker for a new crockpot recipe.

Usually our "Free Night" is Friday because I don't cook Fridays (you didn't know it is a LAW that I don't cook on Fridays in our household?!), but I am going to a new member social for OCMOMs (Orange County Moms of Multiples) on Thursday night. I'm excited to meet some new moms of twins that can relate to the chaos we face, that only other twin moms can understand. I'll probably order a pizza for Danny. Not like he'll be able to eat it, though, with three kids needing to be fed, bathed, and put to bed.

Friday's "Chicken & Spinach Past Bake" is also a new recipe waiting to be added to my recipe book. I looove bakes, especially ones that include the protein, the vegetables, and the carb all in one. Recipe found here.

Happy cooking!