Fried Green Tomato Casserole

I love, love, love tomatoes - especially home grown ones like the ones from my parent's farm. I also really enjoy cooking. This might sound crazy, but cooking is therapeutic for me. Sometimes I get in a rut and cook the same things over and over. But lately I've began to try to new recipes again. I found this recipe and tried it on Friday.

The recipe is Fried Green Tomato Casserole. Though I tweaked the recipe a bit with three additions or changes.

Original Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 Medium green Tomatoes, Sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste (I added Italian seasoning)
• 1 Cup Ritz cracker crumbs
• 1 Cup sharp Cheddar cheese (I also added shaved Parmesan cheese with the cheddar)
• 6 Tablespoons of butter

Layer half of the sliced tomatoes in a greased, shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add half the cracker crumbs and half the grated cheese. Cut butter in small pieces and place on top of crumbs. Layer the other half of tomatoes, salt & pepper, cheese, cracker crumbs, and the remaining butter. Baked covered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes; uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes until brown. Serves 6

My tweaks:

I didn't really need or want an entire casserole, so I cut the portion down. I only used one greenish/yellowish tomato. I cut it into slices and put in a greased 8"x8" pan. I coated them with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning (Italian seasoning is a favorite and thought it would be a great addition). Then I sprinkled each slice with cheddar and shaved Parmesan cheese (I guess I was aiming for an Italian dish, because the additions I kept adding were Italian). I crushed up about 6 or 7 Ritz crackers. I placed the crumbs on top of the cheese. Last, I cut little pieces of butter and placed them on top of the crackers. I baked the tomato for 30 minutes but probably should have baked them a little less. It didn't have as much as a "crunch factor" as I had wanted. The greener the tomato, the longer it should bake. My tomato wasn't that green. But it was sooo yummy anyway! This would make a great appetizer if you were having some friends over for dinner.

Simple, yet delicious!!

All the ingredients you will need (butter, cheese, tomatoes, cracker crumbs, salt & pepper).

Voila! By the way, I didn't bite off the piece in the upper right corner. It had a little brown spot that I cut out before baking.

Sweet Cookie

We had a very fun Halloween last Sunday evening. Many adorable trick or treaters greeted us with their cute costumes. Since trick or treating didn't start until right around Lexie's bed time, we dressed her up to sit on the front porch and help hand out "5" bags of candy. She had a fun time watching all the kids arrive at our door step.
A few days before Halloween, I carved two pumpkins. Lexie LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I thought it would be fun to carve Mickey and Minnie. I think they turned out cute.
But my favorite thing about Halloween this year was my sweet Cookie. . . . . :)

Who doesn't love a sweet cookie??

Kids night @ McCrays

For those that don't know about kids night at McCray's Tavern in the West Village (Smyrna), it's the best thing ever! Every Tuesday night, McCrays reserves their back "sports room" for kids night. There is a huge projection screen that plays a Disney classic along with flat screens in the corner showing other cartoons. There is also a little face painting station - which there is no way of Lexie sitting still long enough to have that done. There is an all you can eat kids buffet for $1.50. Yes, a $1.50! The adults can order off the restaurant menu. Their buffet consists of pb&j, chicken fingers, fruit, mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, and mini burgers. They either have create your own bowl of ice cream or create your own cookie. Tonight was the cookie. I had fun decorating the cookie and I think Lexie had fun devouring it. We look forward to next Tuesday night!

Lexie enjoying the Lion King

We chose chocolate shavings, butter finger, pink icing, and m&m's.

The masterpiece! Umm, Umm Good!

Lexie thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks Da Da for letting me eat all the sugar!

Beth and Brunch

My Mom drove up last Wednesday afternoon. She and I had the pleasure of attending a Women's fall conference at church on Thursday morning. It featured a video presentation by Beth Moore. It was about her new book, So Long, Insecurity.
Her main focus was that insecurity plagues women day after day. Yet God has designed each of us to live off His immovable, immutable security. She challenged us to develop the six characteristics of a secure women.
The six characteristics were:
1. Saved from herself
2. Entitled to truth
3. Clothed with intention
4. Upended by grace
5. Rebounded by love
6. Exeptional in life

While her point and lecture was so amazing her delivery wasn't quite so. The entire two hours of the video, I felt like she was screaming to get her point across. I kept wanting to turn her down or even mute her (I know it's not very nice. . . .). I'm not sure why some evangelists have to scream to get their point across. I've been a long time fan of Beth Moore (still am) but I don't like when people yell while preaching the Gospel.
But it was a fun-filled Mother/Daughter morning. After we picked up Lexie in the nursery, we went outside and picked out some great big pumpkins!

18 MONTHS!!!

Holy cow! Where has time gone? My sweet little munchkin is 18 months old! She is quite the active child to say the least. There is never a dull moment in our house. I am constantly on my toes at all times!

We went for her 18 month check up on Friday. The child is super tall. She is still in the 97th percentile in height and head. She actually dropped to 85th for weight.

Her precious little brain has totally exploded. She is really starting to communicate and speak real words. While there are some moments where it seems like she is speaking a full conversation in Chinese!

Then there are some moments. . . .she has began refusing to do what I want her to do. She acts stubborn and defiant at times. But I know this is all part of her learning to be independent and learning to be her own little self.

Here are some things she is doing:

• she loves Roaming the yard - front and back.
• She enjoys pushing her crazy coupe and radio flyer - and sometimes riding in it.
• Every day after she wakes up from her afternoon nap, she likes to sit on the front steps and wave at all the cars driving by.
• She loves to take my old cell phone and pretend she is talking on the phone.
• We are 15 miles for the worlds busiest airport - meaning that there are quite a lot of planes that fly over our house. Lexie is fascinated with airplanes in the sky. She hears them and runs around the yard trying to spot them in the air.
• She loves ketchup on just about anything. She is like me and love french fries.
• She has the love for ice cream like her Daddy.
• She is still very much the little snacker. She constantly likes to munch. Again - like me.
• She loves Day Day's aka Dogs. Whenever she sees one outside or on the TV, she does a fun dance.
• Every morning she enjoys watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while eating her breakfast. Of course Pluto and Goofy are her favorites.
• She still has the "Mader voice" - meaning very loud voice.
• She loves to make the animal sounds. These are her favorite: "arf" for dog, "meeeou" for cat, "ahhhh" for sheep, "neeeeeeee" for horse, "cock-a-doodle-doo" for rooster, "boooo" for an elephant (heeee), and "eeeeeeya, eeeeya, eeeeya" for Old McDonald.
• She likes to pick up picture frames of both sets of grandparents and talk to them as if they were really in person.
• She loves her pink blanket (a special hand made gift by some amazing friends). She can't go to sleep without it. She can put it anywhere. If you ask her to go find her blanket, she will be on the prowl until she finds it.
• She is toying with learning her colors. I will ask her to go pick up a purple block. She will sometimes grab it or the blue one. But I was pretty impressed. She will point to colors and want me to say what they are.
• She likes to play with crayons. We have about a 5 min. art session every day and then she is off to something else.
• We don't (and never had baby gates. . . . I know, I know) - but she will grab my hand when she wants to go upstairs to play in her playroom or when she is ready for her nap. She knows not to go upstairs or down by herself.
• When she is hungry, she will either climb in the kitchen chair or walk me over to the pantry door.
• She grabs at her diaper letting me know it needs to be changed.
• When she is ready to go outside and play, she grabs my shoes and hands them to me.
• She is OBSESSED with her shoes (I'm proud to say like her Mama)! She has all sorts of boots and cute flats. I find her putting her fancy shoes on even when she is about to go night night.
• The child used to HATE hair bows. Now if one falls out, she grabs it and runs to me to put back in her hair.
• She loves to dance. Whenever she hears a fun beat of music, she goes to town dancing. Her favorite is the AU fight song (she has been dancing to that song since 7 months) - no joke!
• The ladies at MMO (mother's morning out) say that she loves to share her snacks with her friends. She even tries to feed the caretakers. They also say that when she is playing with a toy and some other kid wants it, she will hand it to them and go find another toy to play with.
• Her last 4 teeth have just popped through. As Dave says, now that she has all her teeth she can eat a steak! Ha!
• She loves to walk on her tip toes - maybe practicing wearing heels in the future.. ..
• She doesn't like to be spoon fed anymore. She wants to feed herself - even though it makes a complete mess!
• She likes to step into my heels and try to walk; She LOVES my jewelry - her days of playing dress up are coming. . . .
• And my favorite - she has become extremely generous with her sweet kisses! Every time I tell her that I love her, she leans in and gives me a kiss!

She has such a sweet and kind soul. Her heart is so sweet! I just adore this little child of mine. We have such a fun time together during the week. We have a lot of play dates and fun filled afternoons.
And if you are wondering when Lexie will have a brother or sister - you might be wondering for a while (I can't tell you how many times a day/week I get asked). I really am enjoying this special time with Lexie. If the Lord thinks that it's time for Lexie to have a sibling soon, than so be it. Otherwise, it might be a bit longer. We are in no rush! As you can see, Lexie keeps us pretty busy.

Happy 6-0 Papa John

2 weeks late, but my precious daddy turned the big 6-0 on Friday, August 20. My Daddy doesn't like surprises nor does he like to make his birthday a big deal. But it's a milestone birthday. How could we just let his birthday pass by without doing anything? My Mom and I decided that we would take him out to his favorite restaurant in town. The Warehouse Bistro. So we invited two my of dad's closest friends Robert (who lives in Destin now and drove into town just for Dad's dinner) and Scottie (along with their wives) to join us for the celebration. Robert's mother started the Warehouse Bistro and is now partial owner. So when we got there, there was a table full of black balloons, confetti, and baskets of gag gifts. Also Robert had a variety of yummy appetizers already set and ready to eat. As always, the food was absolutely amazing! I sure wish they would open up one in Atlanta.

Also, I have to brag about Lexie. The child loves to sleep and usually is asleep by 6:30 (EST). We tried all week to find a sitter but it was Opelika's first home football game. I gave her a really late nap. She was up and ready for dinner by 7. I was a little nervous walking into the restaurant knowing people were probably going to be annoyed with a toddler there. But she lasted all the way to dessert and seemed to gain a lot of friends throughout dinner. My Mom and I just packed a few little toys/books, cheese puffs/yogert melts and milk it seemed to occupy her throughout dinner. She did amazingly well! I was oh so proud of her.

Even though my Dad wasn't too keen on the idea, he walked away feeling very special! We love you, Daddy!

Lexie entertaining herself

Daddy, Scottie, and Robert

Lexie excited to celebrate

I keep telling Dad to wear these glasses around town. He could start a trend. . . .

Mama and Daddy at nights end

Cousins!

John and Amelia stopped by for a couple hours on Saturday morning. Pour Amelia wasn't feeling very well, but she seemed to plow through and have some cousin fun! It was great seeing you. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

"Yay! My cousin is here to play!"

Lexie and Amelia

Brothers and their little girls