CHEERSPORT Phoenix 2015

After AYC cheer was over this year, Summer decided to give All-Stars a go. Our local gymnastics school has an All-Stars team and Coach Steven decided to build a half-year exhibition team as well. It seemed to be a good fit for Summer, so we went ahead and jumped in. The team definitely had it's growing pains and I will say for the record that Steven is a much nicer coach than I am. (Probably why he gets paid. LOL) They managed to out together a great routine and took CHEERSPORT Phoenix head on!





I had my own issues at the competition. I forgot to charge my camera battery the night before, so, of course, it died after only one picture. Then my phone died mid-recording of the routine. Mom of the year here, folks. Thankfully, I have an awesome daughter who lent me her camera and an equally awesome friend that sent me the video she took. Sorry for the fuzziness of some of the pictures, I was using a camera that I was not familiar with and had the settings all wrong. These are actually the BEST of the shots I took.

Monsoon All-Stars take the mat!

Love these three! They were my girls for AYC.

Since they were an exhibition only team, they weren't in competition for trophies, but they did get some nifty medals!

And finally, here is the video of their performance! I think miss Summer has caught the All-Stars bug, so I have a feeling this will not be our last competition!

The List... Or What Summer's Into At the Moment

Well, it's that time of year again. Her majesty's birthday is right around the corner, and, because she is her mother's daughter, she has made a list of things that she would like for her birthday.

Pink's I Hate Running Line

I Woke Up Like This, Flawless Tee

EOS

Nike Pros

Headphone Splitter

Lego Friends (really, she has enough!!!)

Pitch Perfect

She loves almost EVERYTHING Lilly Pulitzer 

Pink Polaroid - this specific one. This was at the very top of her list.

Gift Cards

Beautifully Disney Makeup Line. Good luck finding this unless you're AT Disney

Cheer Bows

Kate Spade Keds (I think these are covered)

We have been looking for one of these stuffed aliens for 3 years. If you find one, buy it!

You can never go wrong with anything Disney for Summer

 Baby Lips

Trampoline Chair (NO NO NO NO NO)

Dumbo Plush

She really like these workout tanks because she can wear them to cheer. She ESPECIALLY likes them if they are Disney themed

She likes this specific tank. I think you can get it on Etsy

Cool Story Bro

 The Fault in Our Stars Movie, Book, and Shirt (She REALLY likes this movie)

A JUMBO Baymax plush

Other things on her list that are more difficult to picture - Clothes, Ellie's curling iron (Ellie is her friend and I have no idea what kind of curling iron she has), Sparkly things, Disney custom Tom's (I actually have a really cute idea for these on our next Disney trip), and everything on her pinboards on her Pinterest and mine. 

Summer may be a lot of things, but vague is not one of them!

ACES Talent Show

Summer chose Try by Colbie Caillet for this year's talent show, AND, she made the decision to sing it acapella. Brave girl! We think she did an amazing job. I wish that I had panned the video over to her friends behind us who were waving their cellphones in the air like lighters.

Recipes On Demand

In the last week or so, I have had requests for several recipes that I have mentioned on Facebook. Rather than try and email them to everyone that asked, I'll just post them here where people can access them at your leisure

Mini-Frittatas - There wasn't really a recipe for these. I took the leftover yellow bell pepper and spinach that I had in the fridge and diced them up, added some cut-up frozen turkey sausage patties and salt and pepper, then added enough egg whites to make it soupy. I put them into greased muffin tin and baked them for 20-30 min at 350*. I imagine you could reinvent this recipe with whatever you have on hand.

Rice Pudding

• 1/2 cup Raisins (golden Or Regular) - I used regular because it's what I had on hand
• 1/2 cup Bourbon Or Other Whiskey (optional) - Wild Turkey!
• 1 cup Medium Grain White Rice
• 2 cups Water
• 2 cups Milk - I used skim and it didn't affect the creaminess
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream - I used 3 to offset the skim milk
• 1 Tablespoon Salted Butter
•  Pinch Of Salt
• 8 ounces, fluid Sweetened Condensed Milk, More If Needed
•  Dash Of Ground Cinnamon
•  Dash Of Ground Nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg, Beaten
• 
  
• Caramel-Pecan Sauce
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
• 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
• 1 Tablespoon Bourbon Or Other Whiskey - Wild Turkey again, I just drained some off the raisins.

In a small bowl, combine the raisins and whiskey. Set aside for 1 hour.

In a medium saucepan or pot, combine the rice, water, milk, cream, butter, and salt. Nonstick saucepans are recommended, but I don't have one, so I made it in stainless and it worked just fine. Bring it to a gentle boil, then cover the pot, reduce it to low, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring twice during this stage. Note: The rice should be cooked, but there should still be visible creamy liquid; it should not all be absorbed. If the liquid looks like it is absorbing more quickly than this, you can cut this stage to 18-20 minutes. 

Remove the pot from the stove and add the sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Return to low heat for 5 minutes to finish cooking. 

Remove the pot from the stove and slowly drizzle in the beaten egg, stirring constantly. Drain the raisins and stir them in. If you'd like the pudding to be a little creamier, stir in a little more sweetened condensed milk. If it's too creamy, return to the stovetop and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately in a small bowl. 

While the rice is cooking for the first stage, make the Caramel-Pecan Sauce: Combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, light corn syrup, and chopped pecans. Heat up the mixture over medium-low heat, then allow to bubbly gently for 5 minutes, or until consistency is like a nice caramel sauce.. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Top each portion of rice pudding with some of the Caramel-Pecan Sauce.

Nutella No Bakes

• Ingredients

• 2 cups Sugar
• ¼ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• ½ cups Milk
• ½ cups Margarine
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 pinch Salt
• ¼ cups Peanut Butter, Creamy
• ¼ cups Nutella
• 3 cups Quick Oats - I used Old Fashioned Oats. I don't care for the texture of the quick oats
• 
  
• Preparation
• Over medium heat, cook sugar,
• cocoa, milk and margarine. Boil
• two minutes. Remove from
• heat. Stir in vanilla, salt, peanut
• butter, Nutella and oats. Stir
• until combined. Drop by
• teaspoonfuls on wax paper and
• cool. Refrigerate. Eat. Repeat.

I GUARANTEE This Girl's A Winner!

Summer won her class's Spelling Bee! The word that put her on top - guarantee! We are so proud of our smarty-pants! (Especially her Spelling Bee champ mom!)

In other news, she is also working very hard on one-mans at cheer and doing very well with the help of her awesome coach, Steven.

Menu Plan Monday

I have had a lot of success with menu planning. It cuts down on our grocery costs, as well as the amount of food that we waste. This week, I am teaming up with Laura at Orgjunkie.com to share this week's menu.

Breakfast: Mixed Berry Green Smoothies
I cut up all the fruit in advance so I just have to throw things in the blender

Morning Snack: Carrot chips and guacamole
I bought the crinkle cut carrot "chips" and individual serving-size ready-made guacamole from the produce section at the grocery store. I make my homemade guacamole with pico de gallo mixed in and have found that it tends to smell everything up when taken to school or work, even in a sealed container.

Lunch: Peanut butter roll-up on Lavash bread, Bell pepper slices, Strawberries, Almonds, and a Sugar Cookie
This is what is going in our lunch boxes this week. On the weekend, we chow down on leftovers at lunchtime.

Afternoon Snack: Bell Pepper Slices and Sunbutter
I also have a variety of other grab-and-go type snacks in the pantry, but I will be snacking on these and hopefully the kids will as well. I sliced up all the peppers in advance to make them convenient.

Dinner
I do a lot of the meal prep (chopping, marinating, etc) all at once on Sunday night, that way during the week, dinner prep is a snap.

Monday: Balsamic salmon with a cranberry, pecan, and kale salad
Tuesday: Pecan crusted chicken tenders with sweet potato cubes and snap peas
Wednesday: Smoked turkey and mixed greens with pomegranate, blue cheese, and pecans
Thursday: Burgers with purple potatoes and green beans
Friday: Sausage, potato and collards soup
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Steak and mixed greens with pomegranate, blue cheese, and pecans

Dessert: Chocolate pudding
I try and always have some kind of dessert after Sunday dinner. This version is made with avocado and dates. I have a gluten free pie crust in the freezer leftover from a baby meal that I made. Maybe I'll put the pudding in that and top it with some coconut whipped cream. Yummy.

Surviving January

The girls started back to school and Den and I started back to work this week and we survived. It was tough getting back to the grind, but we did it. Report cards came out and both girls made the honor roll again this quarter. We had a rare cold, rainy, nasty day, which I was so excited for. I came home after work, changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt and finished the book that I have been reading since October - The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane. It was really good, but definitely more of a summer read. It made me miss the Atlantic. Summer got the all-clear to head back to cheer this week, so she started that back up on Friday night. Den is steadily working on the '69 Bronco, and it is starting to look like a vehicle again. I am so excited to see what it will look like when it's all finished. I had an MRI this week on my head and neck to look at vascular structures as a possible cause of my headaches, which, I am happy to say, I am going longer periods without. They still occur daily, but some days they won't show up until late in the afternoon. I am taking that as a good sign. Den and I each have a sweet Grandma that ended up in the hospital this week, so prayers for them would be greatly appreciated. That's about it for us. 2015 seems to be off to a pretty good start!

 Summer amazes me with her work ethic at Physical Therapy. You should see her doing squats on the Bosu Board!

One evening, I left Diesel alone long enough to use the restroom and I come back to him gnawing away on Den's VARNISHED javelina skull. Dumbo.

Summer and her friends enjoying our rare nasty day.

Oh, and since I forgot to post our beautiful New Year's snow pics, here are a few of my favorites!