Recipe of the week

Have you ever been in the middle of making breakfast and realized you don't have any pancake mix in the house. Well that has happened to us a couple of times and lets face it, Sunday morning breakfast with out pancakes is just not the same at the deJong house. So one morning Russ asked me to jump on to my favorite recipe website and found a simple pancake recipe to use. You should have everything you need for this right in your cupboard/fridge (if you are short an egg go ask your kind neighbor to borrow one - you know who I'm talking about:) and plus this will save you a ton on pancake mix (this is my thrifty tip of the week as well :) so here it is:
1 1/2 c Flour
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 egg
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 c milk

Mix dry ingredients together
Beat the egg with the milk and melted buter, beating to combine
Using a wooden spoon fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter without over mixing
Heat a greased griddle or pan, once hot pour a small amount of batter into pan, once bubbles start to appear it's time to turn the pancake.
Serve with your favorite syrup, peanut butter or jelly or have them with just plain old butter

**you can add fruit to the pancakes, my suggestion is to add the fruit right before you turn the pancake over**

Enjoy!

How cool babies ride

Little P isn't feeling very well today :( which means he is even more clinging than normal, so when you don't feel well and your a baby this is how you get to ride with mom all day long

Welcome Thomas James

Congratulations to Sandra and Brian on the new addition to their family - Thomas James weighed in at 8lbs 6oz and 19in long. This makes 9 grand kids for Grandpa & Grandma Thomas, how did they did so lucky to have such beautiful grand kids.

Mom and Daughter night out

One of our dear friends invited Madie and I to a mom and daughter sleep over at their church. Well since Madie and I don't get too much girl time I said sure why not. We had so much fun, ate way too much junk food - I was a little sick from all the junk food, at one point even Madie said " don't they anything healthy" way too cute sweetie :). Finally at 11:00pm it was time for movie and lights out, I think we made it a whole 10mins into the movie before we were both out for the night. We had a ton of fun and hope to get to go again next year.

Fun Pics

Someone sure loves the camera!

Recipe of the week

I have been finding amazing recipes on my favorite site called www.recipezaar.com
ones that my family will actually eat, which is very amazing to me. So this week the feactured one is: Crock Pot Chicken w/Black Bean and Cream Cheese!

4 hours | 3 min prep

SERVES 4

• 4-5 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can corn
• 1 (15 ounce) jar salsa, any kind
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1. Take 4-5 frozen, yes, frozen, boneless chicken breasts put into crock pot.
2. add 1 can of black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn drained.
3. Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked.
4. Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.
5. All done and enjoy!

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

If you have a recipe that you would like to share please let me know and I would be more than happy to post it.

Madisons Birthday

It was 7years ago on January 3rd that Russ and I welcomed our one and only Madison Paige in to the world. Boy has time flown by. She is already in first grade and reading, and about a foot shorter then me (you heard me right) and changing everyday. She does have her moments of good and bad, and lately it has been more good then bad (we have been working together on it) way to go Madison.

So for her birthday I decided she could have a sleep over party again (last year was a nightmare) and this time all went well. She enjoyed all the gifts she received, which is amazing for her.

Here are some pics of her party.

Christmas 2008

So it has been a while since I posted last, hope everyone had a great Christmas and a nice New Year.

This year we went over to Wenatchee for Christmas, the trip over there was a nightmare. It took us 7hrs to get there, when it only should have taken us 5 at the most. So my loving husband drove the entire time - thank you honey! So instead of taking Stevens pass over (it scares me in the summer time I have panic attacks, could you image me driving over in the winter) so we decided to take Snoqulaime pass instead. The drive up to the summit was the worse part, with the normal snow falling there was also snow drifts (never seen one until that day) which made it impossible to see at times. We saw so many crazy drivers causing accidents it was horrible, at one point I told Russ to just take me home that we weren't going, well we keep on trucking. By the time we got the summit I was on the verge of throwing up (had the bag in hand and ready just in case), and tried to roll down my window but I couldn't (that was a terrifying moment for me) thankfully Russ was able to get it down so that I could get some fresh COLD air and I felt much better. After we took a much need potty and food break we got back on the road again. Going down the pass wasn't that bad, just ice and snow in most places the rest of the way and with a couple more pit stops we made it to Wenatchee by 3pm boy was I glad to be there.
Amanda and I made dinner, boy do we have fun doing that. Thanks Amanda for being my co-cook :)
All the kids had a great time and enjoyed all their gifts and time they got to spend with their grandparents, auntie Amanda and uncle ray.

After being there for five days it was time to go home, so know we had a decision to make which way do we go. After looking at the pass reports I made the decision to take Stevens (your heard me right) I didn't feel like spending 7hrs in the car again with four kids, and after we made it down Stevens (I slept the whole way) it wasn't too bad, next time we will just take that way there.

Happy Holidays from the deJong Family!

P.S. yes you see Preston in a blond wig, Madie got it with one of her gifts and I thought it would be cute to see how he would look as a girl :)