Wash Your Face!
Mmmmm, strawberry., originally uploaded by phae.
I feel like I’m always telling everyone around to wash their face. Except, my lizard. Until, now. 
Disclaimer: No leezards were harmed during the creation of this photograph.
Make friends. It’s fun.
Lillie’s Favorite Recipes
My middle child asked me to print out two family recipes for a school project. When I asked her which two she’d like, she chose Mini-Pizza’s and Chicken Yum Casserole. Since I had them handy I thought I’d share.
Chicken Yum Casserole
(Easy, healthy and the kids love it!)
You will need:
- chicken breast pieces
- chopped white onion
- Bisquik bisquit mix
- shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh or frozen broccoli florets
- large eggs
Make it:
Heat your oven to 450 degrees. In a pan on the stove, brown the chicken breast pieces and white onion in a little vegetable oil. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray well. Place the browned chicken and onion mix in a layer on the bottom of the casserole dish. Mix in the broccoli. Cover generously with cheese. Whip the eggs and pour them over the top of the chicken, broccoli and cheese.
Now, follow the instructions on the Bisquick box for Drop Bisquits and drop large spoonfuls of the resulting batter on top of everything. If you like you can sprinkle a little cheddar cheese on top of the dough to top it off. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bisquit layer on the top of the casserole is brown.
If you’ve noticed that I haven’t shared quantities and measurements of ingredients, it’s because we make this to suit our needs/appetite. This recipe scales well! Just a hint- if we use 1lb chicken, we use 1/2 cup onion and 1-2 cups cheese, 2 cups broccoli and 2-3 eggs.
Enjoy!
Lillie & The Rhodes Family
Mini-Pizza’s
(Let your kids make YOU dinner!)
You will need:
- English muffins
- Easy squeeze pizza sauce
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Sliced olives
- Pepperoni slices
(And if you like: bell pepper, sausage crumble, onions, or any other pizza topping!)
Make it:
Prepare the ingredients for easy access, I place each ingredient in a different bowl and put everything out on the kitchen table. Have your little one(s) place the english muffin halves on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper to save yourself lots of scrubbing later. Next they will squeeze (or spoon, if you choose to use a canned sauce) pizza sauce on the english muffin halves. Then comes the cheese, and plenty of it. Last your little ones will add the other available ingredients.
Once all of the mini-pizza’s are assembled, simply broil them for a few minutes (usually takes about 3-5 minutes to cook, if your oven is warmed up). Do keep a careful watch the first time to make sure they don’t burn.
Enjoy 
Lillie & The Rhodes Family
Strawberries make everything all better.
And here is proof.
Even lizards hate Mondays!
Our bearded dragon Gaia is in a wicked mood today for some reason. I just found her like this- all puffed up and black. She changes colors with her mood- orange for happy, white for sleepy, and apparently- black for ticked off! I opened her enclosure to snap a photo and she even hissed at me. I gave her a peace offering- strawberries (her fave!) but so far she is opting to stare me down. Hopefully she snarfs down some strawberry soon and turns a lovely shade of orange again.
So far, I’m feeling similarly this Monday. We were so busy this weekend we never managed to get our end-of-the-week housework done… so the house needs attention. And the five-year-old is home sick with a bad cold. Which means I’ve accomplished little more than some farting around on facebook so far today. I need to work a while but I’m not sure how that will come about. At least I have enjoyable plans for this evening- Valerie’s coming over to catch up on True Blood. We both missed last season and are playing catch-up before the new season starts in June.
Anyhoo- chillax, my lizard! Mondays do pass.
Humblebees!
This is a hummingbird nest complete with two baby hummingbirds! They are the size of bumblebees! The babies hatched just two days ago. I hope they do well. (It kind of scares me that the nest is so accessible, what with there being kitties around!) Spring. Isn’t it glorious?
Earth Day
I grew this. I’ll try not to kill it. Happy Earth Day!
Artsy Craftsy Linky Love
I love artsy craftsy blogs. Oh, the ideas! In case you love them too I thought I’d post a buncha links for you to bookmark. Enjoy!
The Spark – A Challenge Blog For All Mediums
Modish – Design & Style Made By Hand
I know I should be adding lot’s more- but distractions abound and I’m being called away. So- if I forgot your crafty/inspiring blog or you know of one I should mention next time, leave a comment!
Ode to Oreo
Well, darn it- I’m bummed. Yesterday while we were at the beach my (stupid, ridiculous, sweet, favorite) hen managed to squeeze through a hole in our fence and get into the one and only neighbors yard that has a chicken killing dog. You can guess where this is going.
Oreo was given to me by my good urban-farming friend Valerie as a peeper. We hand raised her indoors until she was 6 weeks old and built her and her friend Butterfinger a custom chicken coop for our backyard. She has always been the hen that would let us touch, pet and pick her up. She’s also been a good producer- responsible for many of our breakfasts.
Butterfinger isn’t happy. She doesn’t know what to do- Oreo was always the leader. She’s clucking like crazy and looking everywhere for her sister-chicken.
I can’t just get Butterfinger another playmate- she won’t like other chickens she hasn’t been raised with. I don’t know if I should buy some chicks… Butterfinger won’t produce enough eggs for our family but she won’t share space well either. And she has another six months or a year in her yet. That is, if she doesn’t freeze or get eaten or something. Chickens huddle together for warmth at night and she just lost her heat-buddy.
Do chickens die of loneliness? Hrm. What a crappy turn of events. If only they could have gone out Notebook style- together in love.
Sunset State Beach
Sunset State Beach, originally uploaded by phae.
Yesterday we went on an explore with our good friends the Serio’s to Sunset State Beach. It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast. You can see all of my photos from the day here. Thanks for looking!
What I Want
