Making my Monday a little brighter...

Spinach, Ham, Cheddar and Chevre Omelet

You'll need:
    two eggs
    milk or half 'n' half
    ham (I use deli honey ham)
    a slice of sharp cheddar
    a bit of goat cheese/chevre
    butter
    a big handful of baby spinach
    a small bowl and fork or
           whisk
    a small omelet pan
    a spatula
    a plate

I like to keep my breakfast to one pan so I start by melting a half a tablespoon to a tablespoon of butter in a small omelet pan. Add a slice or two of ham and the spinach -keep the heat low. This looks like a lot of spinach but it cooks down significantly.

Meanwhile, slightly beat the eggs and a little milk or half 'n' half together. 

Turn the ham and stir the spinach. It cooks quickly this way and is much better than putting cold ingredients into the omelet--that always results in overcooked eggs.

 

Put the ham and spinach to the side while you cook your eggs.

 

Pour the beaten eggs and milk or cream into the same omelet pan (still on low/medium heat) and cover. If too hot, the bottom will burn and you'll have lots of raw eggs on top. Depending on your temperature, this could take 5-10 minutes. Turn up the edge to check. The less raw egg left on top, the better looking your omelet will be and it's also much easier to flip.

 

Here, the eggs are easily separating from the pan. Loosen them around the edges with a spatula, shake the omelet loose with a circular motion then flip it. You can also try to flip with the spatula but will probably have holes.

 

This is far from a perfect flip, but it's good enough for government work or a Monday morning breakfast. Using butter may give you a little brown color, cooking spray is also an option.

 

Immediately after flipping, top half of the omelet with the cheddar, ham and spinach, then the chevre crumbles on top of that. The cheese will be melted on both sides by the hot eggs. The second side only takes a minute or two so try to do this quickly. Fold the eggs over then dump it on a plate and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

 

Yum! Tangy, creamy chevre...melty, sharp cheddar...delicious sauteed spinach (lots of good vitamins)...a little sweet ham...and of course the incredible, edible egg... What a fabulous combination! My husband loves this omelet as well and it can be a great, quick dinner with some fruit or a salad. Omelets are also a great way to use odds and ends of leftover ingredients from the fridge or pantry. You could start by frying up some bacon then adding chopped onions of any kind, mushrooms, thin slices of potato, asparagus, and topping off with cheese (again any kind of cheese will work). Shredded leftover chicken with cheese, and a couple spoonfuls of salsa would be a yummy Mexican omelet. The possibilities are endless...

Friends

            Last weekend, we got the "old gang" together. We've known each other since high school or college and some of us even elementary school-we're going on eleven years or more of great friendship. We've been through a lot together and I couldn't do without these girls. When I was in the hospital for 8 weeks on bedrest with Baby P they visited, brought me lunch, sent flowers, called, emailed, sent care packages, prayed like the dickens and were so supportive. Last week was the first time in years that all six of us have been together in a long time and we had so much fun. We don't do it often enough!

We have hundreds of pictures like this one, the people at the table next to us actually got up from their seats (all four of them) to take this picture for us. Cheers to them!

We took lots of pics of these neat handpainted horses in downtown Lex. After looking at this one, I realized I probably should have worn heels and then had a nightmare about short legs chasing me around the house with a pair of stilettos...

Hey there, movie star! Where's your BF Dean Martin?

Sarah really wanted to feed the horses and the only thing handy was a her little leather clutch, yum! And it matches!

Weird story involving a policeman directing traffic after a Nickelback concert. We are huge fans, by the way, of Nickelback and that friendly policeman who led us over to a dark corner of a park to give us contraband concert memorabilia (C went home with 3!!).

I feel like there should be a scary Halloween story to go with this picture...something like: the woman who drank so much caffeine she jittered away into nothing and could never be photographed again...

Baby P loves his aunties! Obviously :)

That's better, maybe it was just Sarah that made him cry...

LOL...No, really, laugh out loud!

                     So our new favorite thing is finding ways to make Baby P laugh out loud! It is so fun and you will not be able to help L'ingOL yourself when you watch this video!

Told ya! And yes, my husband is speaking another language part of the time so unless you 'praat Afrikaans' rewinding and listening again will not help you out much. Also, what is it about a giggling baby that is just totally irresistable?!

The things I have to do to get out of the house...

             With a baby, leaving the house is not simple. In fact, it should be an Olympic event. Unlike the days of slinging on some clothes, swiping on some mascara, grabbing my keys and running out the door, it's a combination of juggling a 9 pound carseat with a 14 pound baby in it (that's 23 pounds for us non-math peeps), plus all his gear, my purse, phone, and whatever else is necessary for where we are going.

Baby P's gear:
carseat
stroller
diaper bag stocked with:
       -3 or 4 diapers (I've tried leaving the house with just 2 and it was NOT good)
       -wipes (lots!! for the obvious uses and the not so obvious-wiping P's hands after crazy
        people touch them, cleaning our clothes after Baby P spits up on both of us, cleaning
        the carseat in case of a diaper mishap, cleaning gunk off the car cupholders...)
       -a change of clothes for Baby P
       -spare burp cloths
       -changing mat so that Baby P's cute little hiney won't touch anything dirty...or is it
        so that he won't get clean things dirty with his cute little hiney...one or the other
pacifiers (2: one on a strap attached to his shirt and one in a pouch on his carseat in case
        of disaster, i.e. losing the shirt paci)
blanket (in case it's cold inside or outside)
nursing cover (if nursing)
toy  (if Baby P is going to be awake and needs to be entertained)
if staying at the grandparents:
         bottle, frozen milk
         thick blanket for playing on the floor
         bouncy seat or play mat
         books (don't laugh, my 4 month old loves to read)
         Kindle (oh, wait, that's my thing...)

All of this to say, I love that big huge purses are in style! Speaking of, I think I need a new one...