Tasty Tuesday… Easy Peasy Cheeseburgers

For the Super Bowl I decided to try out a recipe that I found on Pinterest for cheeseburgers.  Now, I know you are probably thinking why would anyone need a recipe for cheeseburgers, but consider who you are reading about. I’m the girl that only has a kitchen because it came with the house! Ha Ha!  Anyway, this recipe is super easy and will leave you with a meal to enjoy now and quite a few cheeseburgers to freeze for later. 

What you need:  2 packs of buns, minced onion, sliced cheese, and 2.5 lbs of hamburger meat, and season salt

First, take a cookie sheet (with sides) and generously sprinkle it with  minced onion.  Use more or less than pictured for your personal taste.

Next, press the hamburger meat onto the pan and sprinkle with your choice of seasoned salt.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Caution:  When your meat is finished cooking you will need to drain the grease from the pan and then pat any remaining off of the meat with a paper towel.

After that, take a pizza roller and cut your meat into 12-15 patties.  They will look like this:

Last, assemble your cheeseburger.  Eat and enjoy!

If you are freezing some of the burgers for later, wrap in wax paper and seal with a small piece of tape.  Drop them into a Ziploc and place in the freezer.  Easy peasy!!!!

NOTE:  I have also tried this “baking” technique with sausage and it works well too.  The sausage is perfect for “McMuffins” with sausage, eggs, and cheese! Yummy!

Hop on over to 33 Shades of Green for a list of many more Tasty Tuesday blogs to visit! Also, it would definitely be worth your time to visit the Big Red Kitchen blog for many other family friendly recipes.  Happy Tuesday!

Happy cooking!

A New Ride…

Over Christmas break Mackaylan learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.  Mickey worked very diligently with her until she mastered the art of two wheels! A few words that come to mind that describe our learning-to-ride-a-bike process are:

Persistence:  Let me tell you, there were times when I wanted to cry as I watched my baby girl fall over, get back up, fall over, get back up…  However, she was determined and would get right back up, listen to her daddy’s tips and try again!

Patience:  This word describes my wonderful husband!  He made it his personal mission to help Mackaylan reach her goal.  He provided just the right amount of advice and encouragement that enabled her to experience success!

Practice:  Mackaylan practiced multiple times a day.  Their favorite place to go ride is up at the school because it provides a relatively flat, traffic free, area.

Parental Support:  Even though Mickey is the one who receives satisfaction in saying he taught his daughter how to ride a bike, you can tell by these smiles that Lydia and I were definitely her biggest fans throughout the entire process!!

Turning 33….

My sister and I are exactly 9 years and 1 week apart.  This means while I don’t remember us really “growing up” together it is hard for me to remember any of the special memories from my teenage and adult years that she isn’t apart of!  She is truly one of my best friends! From weddings to childbirths to weight loss she is always at my side with an encouraging word, sweet smile, and lots of love!  I can’t imagine celebrating my birthday with anyone else!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Granny and Lydia getting an iPad tutorial from Boyce.

Who says girls can’t have fun playing with trucks?!

          Boyce and Grandaddy… 2 Carolina fans!    

                                     Mackaylan playing the Wii

                                     My new coat.  LOVE IT!

“Gift cards are my love language!”  No greater words have ever  been spoken… haha

Bagwell Christmas….FINALLY!

Well, I am FINALLY getting around to posting the last of our Christmas adventures.  Yes, I realize it is almost a month since Christmas, but at least I have our tree down, Christmas cards sent, and only 1 present left to deliver…I just like to say it makes Christmas last a little longer! Ha! 

We celebrate Christmas with my family on the 26th of December.  This is our second year doing this and I think we all agree this tradition is a keeper.  By gathering at mom and dad’s the day after Christmas It allows us more time to be together, and kids have had time to process their first round of gifts before receiving more.  We follow the same routine each year:  dinner, gifts, and dessert… it is great!!

You can see by all of these gifts why it takes us over and hour to open presents each year.  C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

We allow the kids to open presents first and then they each choose one gift to play with while the adults open their presents.  This system works well for us.

While these two were enjoying their special Christmas cookies... 

Lydia was in sacked out in one of her favorite spots:  Granny’s arms!

My hope is that we will all keep the Christmas spirit all year long!  Why should special traditions, time with family and friends, unexpected gifts, and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, be limited to only one time of the year?  It won’t be around here!

Lydia- 8 months

Here are a few milestones from Lydia’s 8th month:

Crawling- Man, can this little girl move!  She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything.  Life as we know it is over!   She loves drawers, doors, and cabinets, and is obsessed with Mackaylan’s room.  Just last night we went and purchased not one, but two baby gates!!

Pulling Up- Lydia is constantly pulling up on furniture, toys, chairs, etc.  I believe she is going to be walking before her 1st birthday for sure.  Just recently she has even started letting go and just standing for a second or two.  Her favorite place to pull up is at the coffee table where she proceeds to chew on it like a beaver! On the bright side, it keeps her teeth a little dull! haha

Mama!!!- It was a long time in the making, but she has finally started saying “Mama!”  So, now her word count is up to 3 (or 5)… “dada,” “mama,” “bye-bye,” and sometimes it sounds like she is saying “hey there,” but I am not totally convinced on that one.  However, none of them are consistent.  It just depends on her mood!

Weaning- This one is bittersweet for me!  Lydia is now only nursing before bed and first thing in the morning.  All other feedings consist of formula and/or food.  I have loved every minute of our nursing experience and hate to see it come to an end, but she is ready to give it up and in some ways so am I- especially the pumping! 

Table Food-  Well, the little girl gets it honest- she loves to eat!! So far, we haven’t discovered anything that she doesn’t like.  She really enjoys the independence of feeding herself and will gobble up anything that we put on her tray.  However, she really loves biscuits, green beans, chicken, cheese quesadillas, diced apples, bananas, Gerber Puffs, and waffles!! 

Happy- Lydia is such a happy baby!  Every time we go somewhere people always remark on what a good baby she is and how content and happy she seems to be.  They are right.  Unless she is hungry she is going to be smiling! She has such a sweet disposition.  Trust me, we do not take it for granted.  Both of our girls are full of life and personality and we do not take that for granted.  We are truly blessed!

I’m not sure exactly how much Lydia weighs right now, but I think she is right around 22 lbs.  She is wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  What can I say?  She is growing like a weed!  I can’t believe that in just a few short months we will be celebrating her 1st birthday!  Where does the time go?