Dermatagraphism

What is dermatagraphism, you ask? I had never heard of it until we took Alex to the doctor because of this funky rash he had. He had a rash or welts anywhere we touched him or if he would rub up against something he would get all rashy.

The doctor took one look at him and said, "dermatagraphism." I had to ask Taun several times to tell me what the dr. called it because I could never remember how to say it.

When we looked it up it said, "dermatagraphism; the ability to write on skin."

That is exactly what we could do, write words on his skin (barely touching him) and seconds later he would have a welt in the form of whatever word we wrote.

There is no cure for it and all you can do is give them antihistamines. Alex gets Claritin during the day and Benadryl at night. Sometimes it gets really itchy and he just scratches and then it gets worse. Poor kid!

Homemade Doughnuts

I made my first batch of homemade doughnuts tonight and they were YUMMY!!

They turned out looking sort of pretty also. I think my oil was too hot so when I turned it down they were golden brown instead of really brown. I love having the time to do this sort of fun things with my family.

The STATS are in!

Gracie weighs 14 lbs. 3 oz.

She is 24 inches long

Picasso (a.k.a. Alex)

Alex has decided that he is an artist. He has colored on the walls, himself, and paper. The other day he decided to try a new medium...the hot fireplace. The crayons just melted and now our fireplace is very colorful.

He colored on his face with blue marker.

He also tried making art out of melted plastic. He put a measuring spoon in the broiler and then shut it. I never use the broiler so when I turned the oven on to make cookies I was very surprised when I started to smell melted plastic coming from the oven. It took me awhile to find where the smell was coming from.

Alex has also been sick recently and he was having a hard time breathing so we pulled out the nebulizer and gave him some treatments. He did pretty good with them and even had to give some to his teddy bear.

He is a crazy kid but we love him.

Saturday Menu

Beef Stew

1 pound hamberger, brown until just a little pink remains
1 onion, sliced
6 potatoes, sliced or cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 cans cream of celery soup

Layer hamburger, onion, potatoes, and carrots and then repeat a second time. Pour 2 cans of cream of celery soup on top. Cook on low for 6 hours.


We are actually going to my mom's house tomorrow and so I will have to try this recipe another time. We are going to make Chinese food instead. YUM!

Friday Menu

Super Easy Creamy Chicken

4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 pkg. Italian dressing (powder)
1 cup water
1 block cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup

Mix first 3 ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours, add in the last 2 ingredients and cook on high for 1 hour. Serve over rice.

I have added all the ingredients at the beginning and then cook on low for 6-8 hours and it tastes great!

Thursday Menu

Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 pkg. no-cook lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt, and oregano; mix well. Spread a fourth of the meat mixture in an ungreased crock pot. Arrange a third of the noodles over sauce (break the noodles.) Layer cheeses. Repeat layers twice . Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender.

Wednesday Menu

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

1 bottle favorite bbq sauce
2-3 chicken breasts
sandwich buns

Put bbq sauce and chicken in crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

To Serve:
Shred chicken and put on sandwich buns.

Also tastes great over rice.

Tuesday Menu

Taco Soup

1 lb. hamburger and onion browned
1 quart tomatoes
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can kidney beans
1 can green chilies
1 can corn

Pour all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

To Serve:
Break up tortilla chips in bottom of bowl. Add soup and then top with a dab of sour cream and grated cheese.

Monday Menu

Colorful Chicken and Rice
1 cup uncooked rice
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
2 cans water
½ t. paprika

Any or all of these vegetables (the more you use, the prettier it looks):
1 large carrot, sliced into pennies
1 cup of fresh cut up green beans
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can of corn, drained

Place rice in the bottom of the crockpot. Pour water over rice. Mix canned soups and dry soup mix in a bowl, pour over top of rice. Add chopped veggies. Place chicken on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Operation Crock Pot

A few days back my cousin blogged about how she was sick of doing dishes and so she was going to have a whole week of crock pot meals. How brilliant is she!! I decided that even though I use my crock pot often I would love to try this out and see if it really does eliminate the amount of dishes. I also love crock pots because you can be all ready for dinner by lunch time and then you can focus on other things during that before dinnertime melt down (typical behavior from 4 yr. and 2 yr. olds.) So starting next Monday I will "cook" in my crock pot for one whole week.

My menu is as follows:

Monday--Colorful Chicken and Rice

Tuesday--Taco Soup

Wednesday--BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Thursday--Lasagna

Friday--Super Easy Creamy Chicken

Saturday--Beef Stew

Join me in the quest...then blog your wonderful recipes so that we can all enjoy yummy crock pot dinners.