First Priority.

Life is so short.  Can I get an Amen?

I have so much stress in my life but most of it I have created.  I lose sight of my priorities very easily.  Do you?  It cannot just be me.  I have so much to do on any given day that most days I end up spinning my wheels.  I'm starting to fall into the category of 'I do everything but I do nothing well'.  You would never know it.  If you are one of the ninety seven people that I do something for, then you would never know that the ninety six other people exist.  I give 150 percent, each and every time, no matter how big or small the task.  But, what is all this 'yes ma'am' stuff getting me?  A frickin' headache, that's what.

I over volunteer.  I say 'yes' way too often.  I don't know why.  I guess if I'm honest with myself its because I don't want anyone to think poorly of me for saying 'no'.

Lately, I have found myself in a predicament where I can't wait for the kids to go to bed so I can hop on the next project.  That is terrible.  When I actually realized that I was doing this I had to stop and think to myself....I have totally lost track of my priorities.  Between working, blogging, room mom, soccer mom, cheer mom, cooking, cleaning, Junior Achievement, any other 'kid' thing, baseball, wrestling....I mean the list just goes on and on and on and on....Oh wait, I forgot about school, I am a full-time college student also.  Do you notice what is missing from my very very long list? Church or anything that has to do with God himself.  WHAT is wrong with me, where did I get so off track?

I typically spend Sunday mornings watching Church of the Highlands internet feed from my desk, while working.  While it is amazing and Pastor Chris is wonderful, this just isn't cutting it anymore.  The first Sunday in March, I will be in church.  I physically will leave my house and find the righteous pathway back to God.  I have let all of these things overwhelm me and consume me.  It has totally made me forget what really matters.

If I have to say 'no' in order to say 'yes' to Christ then I guess I may be disappointing a few people.  If Christ is your number one then your number two through ninety-nine thousand will certainly just fall into place.

~I can do ALL things through Christ Jesus.  My father says so.  Philippians 4:13.

                                                           It's a GREAT day,
                                                                               Traci

#Snowmageddon2014

I have taken the weekend off from blogging because last week was a total chaotic nightmare here in my great state of Alabama.  I don't know if you have heard but we had a little snow and a lot of ice.  We have spent the latter part of the week being made fun of about our driving skills, our ability to freak out over what most Northerners consider 'nothing' and then my favorite part, the aftermath.  The aftermath? You may say.  Yes, the ever loving aftermath.  How can 2" of snow and ice wreak any aftermath???  Well, here in the South (I'm sure all over the entire globe) we like to do a little something called 'pointing fingers'.  Heard of it?  So I'm sure you have read 39 blogs already about the why and why nots of how ill equipped our great state was during this so called snow storm but I'd like to discuss it a little further, bare with me, I need to get this off of my chest.

As you all well know, we went from zero to chaos in about 10 minutes flat.  Literally.  It happened that fast.  We didn't expect it, the meteorologist god of ALL times didn't expect it, the schools, business - no one knew what was about to happen.  Often the schools down here close for what most parents consider 'no reason'.  Some parents think that they do it specifically just to piss them off.  Well, that wasn't the case on Tuesday to say the least.  Somewhere around 10:00 AM we had the initial phone call of schools closing at 11:30.  It was cutting it close no doubt but it was doable for most folks.  No all, but most.  Mom and I share a car most days so she left home headed to her bus route, got about 2 miles down 31 and within a matter of 10 minutes, could go no further.  Cars were going left and right, stalling out, parking on the side of the road.  Now I get the phone call that no parent wants to receive:  ALL SCHOOL BUSES HAVE BEEN TOLD TO RETURN TO THE SCHOOL, ROADS ARE BECOMING TO DANGEROUS.  WHAT?!  I go into immediate panic mode.  IMMEDIATE.  Mom has my car, she is stuck 5 miles away from the school in traffic and I cannot get to MY children.  Long story short....a sweet friend walked over to the school from a neighboring neighborhood and got all three kids.  My kids school were allowing over the phone check-out and release which is unheard of, especially this day and age.  I was SO thankful.  But I want to clarify, the teachers, the school - everyone was ALWAYS informed.  I talked to the kids teacher and they assured me not to rush, they'd be there until all their kids were gone, they were a calming force in my day.  My mom, who turned around at 11:00 AM finally made it to my kids at 3:42 PM, five miles away.  Retrieved the kids and headed home.  In the midst of all this chaos my cousin (also next door neighbor) was stuck downtown Birmingham at her workplace.  She made it a couple of blocks away and had to turn back.  Her husband, a local Police Officer was working hard and non-stop in the chaos.  So we gratefully kept their daughter throughout the night because Lisa did make it home until the following afternoon.  Thank GOD she had the sense to turn back.

Have you seen the pictures of I-65 compared to the scenes from Walking Dead.  Wow!  Cars everywhere, people everywhere, chaos everywhere.  How can 2" of snow cause so much drama??  We weren't prepared.  No snow plows, no salt, nothing.  The models forecasted incorrectly and that was that.  Our local meteorologist, James Spann...let me correct myself 'The Man' James Spann issued an apology which I believe was beyond uncalled for.  It was an unforeseen event, act of God, it happened!  All of you people that wrote to him and called him out, shame.on.you!  Shame ON YOU!  This man is right 99/100 times.  He relayed information based on what he was given.  What else is there to be said about it?

Our school system, wow - way to hang in there guys.and dolls.  Thank you for staying with the babies who parents didn't make it to the following day.  Thank you for making the call to turn the buses back for their safety!  Thank you for putting your own safety at risk to keep our kids warm, fed and happy!  These people stayed away from their own family in order to stay with yours.  Thank you teachers and faculty, thank you.

I actually went on our local facebook page last night and posed the question, what could we do to honor the school staff that stayed behind.  To thank them.  Wow.  The response was overwhelming, but sadly both good and bad.  One woman actually stated that (paraphrase) it was their jobs to stay, they get paid for it and they had to do it.  Others said 'what about me, I did something too, what about me'?  What!  Really?  First off, my intentions were solely geared towards our teachers.  But people sucked the life out of it.  Quickly.

Immediately we went from thankful to pointing blame.  Teachers wouldn't have to stay if the school system would have called school off or called for pick-up earlier, if they wouldn't have turned the buses around..if..if...if.  Really y'all?  Let's break this down really quickly.  Did you want the bus to lose control on an iced over road, did you want the bus to not make it up the 1 of 932 hills in your community, did you want the bus to be stranded with children on it or did you want your Kindergartner dropped off to an empty home?  You decide because I can nearly guarantee that one of those things would have happened.  Should they have called school off for the day?  Sure.  Then if nothing would have happened, 40 percent of you would be bitching about that too.

Overall, as a community I personally believed we worked together and got it done.  Several people had to step out of their comfort zone in order to help their friend, neighbor or even a total stranger.  So while you are sitting back and poking fun of the situation, feel free. but remember that lives were lost, kids were separated from their parents, people were stranded in freezing temperatures.  THAT is what YOU are making fun about, not our driving skills or our chaos but a mother being separated from her daughter, a husband not being able to find his wife and sick children without their medications.  Just to name a few.  But while you are sitting back laughing we were all coming together, it took ALL KINDS of people working above and beyond their pay grade to help each other out but WE stuck together and made it happen.  So if you were one of these people then thank you!  No matter what you did, no matter how small or how big, THANK YOU!  Even in the chaos, the craziness of two little inches of snow and ice that crippled the South, thank you for holding it together, even when possibly your neighbor didn't.  It takes an army y'all and I am so proud and grateful to be one of the soldiers in this army, and you should be too!

Thank a teacher, a policeman, a nurse, a doctor today for everything they did but also thank your grocery store workers, your delivery pizza people, your neighbors, your family and friends because it took the entire community to keep everyone safe.

                                                       Peace Out Girl Scouts,
                                                                              Traci

Hot Dog Buns Recipe

I found this little recipe for hot dog buns and loved it.  The buns turned out fabulous.  I know what you are thinking...why am I not posting an original recipe?  Well - I am a chef but I am NOT a bread maker.  There is a HUGE difference.  I will be posting recipes hopefully very soon that are my very own but until then, I'll ALWAYS give credit where credit is due and this little lady - is awesome.  Her Julia Child voice will catch you off guard in the beginning but she is really great, I hope you appreciate her awesomeness.  Her videos are also great because they show you an angle of which you can actually see her working the ingredients, which my friends, is hard to find...I give you The Bread Kitchen's Titli Nihaan's recipe for Hot Dog Buns.......

Here is a little picture of how mine turned out; the family LOVED them.

I clearly should have folded the edges over a bit more but they were so good!  I will make one adjustment next time and probably throw in some honey at some point. So good.

I also made home-style fries that night.  I just took a cup or so of flour and added in some garlic and onion powder, about a teaspoon each and then about a table spoon of Tony Chachere's Cajun spice. Added about two cups of water (just enough to make the batter soupy).  Stirred it up really good, no lumps.  Then I cut some potatoes after peeling them into eights.  Dredged the potatoes through the batter and fried them in an olive oil / veggie oil mixture at medium high heat.  They cook in about five minutes.  Once they are golden brown, they are ready.  Pull them out of the oil and hit them with a pinch of salt WHILE they are hot.  Fry in batches, be sure NOT to crowd your oil or you will have a bunch of soggy fries or they will all be stuck together.

Dip the fries in the homemade ranch we made a few days ago and thank the good Lord above for fresh ingredients.

X's & O's.

Traci.

Potato & Leek Soup Recipe

My kids like 'Chicken N' Noodle' and 'Tomato' soup by Campbell's.  The only soup they will eat are those two.  Well, once we stopped eating processed foods I had to stop buying them.  The first soup I made for them was potato and leek soup.   I was immediately met with resistance.  The first thing the ask me when busting through the door at 3:23 PM is 'what's for dinner' or 'did you fix us a snack'?  I said we are having potato soup.  Their responses ranged from 'WHAT, seriously?, I don't eat that' and my favorite 'what about the meat?'

One of my culinary school chef instructors Chef Denny Streeter made this amazing potato and leek soup one night on a whim.  I think it was extremely cold outside and since we had class at night everyone pretty much ate during class, whatever it was that we had cooked.  So on our cold Wednesday night last week I decided to try and yes, that soup has stuck with me for the past 8 or so years.  It was just THAT good.

So, I thought I would share the recipe instead of keeping all this goodness to myself.

Potato & Leek Soup

5 T. Butter

1 T. Olive Oil

1 Small White Onion, Diced

1 Celery Stock, Sliced

2 Leeks, Cleaned and Diced

2 Carrots, Cleaned and Diced

2 tsp. Garlic, Diced

8 Russet Potatoes, Peeled and Diced

6 Cups of Stock, Chicken or Vegetable

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

3 T. Flour, AP

1 C. Heavy Cream

In a stockpot over medium high heat melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and olive oil together add in the onion, celery, leeks, carrots and cook stirring frequently for seven minutes until vegetables are well sweated. Add in potatoes and cook for two more minutes, coating with the other veggies.  Add in garlic and cook for two more minutes.  Poor the stock over the vegetables and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil reduce heat and cook until potatoes are completely cooked, stirring occasionally.  In a separate small pot add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, melt.  Whisk in 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour and whisk for two minutes.  Slowly add in the cream and continue whisking until thickened.  Set mixture aside.  Once potatoes are cooked thoroughly add in the cream mixture and stir till completely dissolved.  The soup will begin to thicken over the next few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.  At this point you can take the soup and put it into a blender and blend it down or use an emulsion blender, which is what I did.  This allows you to leave the soup as chunky or as smooth as you would like!  Serve and enjoy!

Toppers:  Crispy bacon, cheese, sour cream and chives! Nomnomnom!

                                                                             
Oh and what did the kids say about it?  They devoured it.  Even Tanner, Mr. Picky eater himself.  It was so good and I believe I did Chef Streeter proud.  'I don't eat that' quickly turned into 'Can I have more'!  I hope your family enjoy's it as much as mine did.

Much Love,

Traci

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

In our attempt to rid the kitchen of all the prepackaged convenient items we are getting down to the bare minimum.  I had a pack of pork chops that I purchased a few days back and as I was cleaning out the massive collection of spices that I have accumulated over the past year or so, I found some rather tasty pure Maple syrup.  I thought, what the heck.

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

1 Pack of Chops, Whichever tickles your fancy...I used a bone-in pack of 12.  

Olive Oil

McCormick's Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning

1 T. Butter

1 Small Onion, Minced

1 tsp. Garlic, Minced

1/2 Cup of Good Maple Syrup

1/2 Cup of Water

1 T. Soy Sauce

2 T. Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)

1 t. Chili Powder

In a skillet heat a smidgen of Olive oil (you can use what ever oil is handy) over medium heat.   Preheat over to 375 degrees. Take the maple seasoning and rub into both sides of each pork chop.  Once the oil is ready begin searing off each side to a light golden brown, do not cook all the way through.  As you sear all the chops place them on a lined deep sided cookie sheet or casserole.

In a small sauce pot add in the butter.  Once the butter has melted add in the minced onion and cook for one minute over medium heat, add in garlic, cook an additional three minutes until onion is translucent.  Do NOT let the onion or garlic burn.  Once the garlic and onion have sweated add in the maple syrup and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in soy sauce, brown sugar and chili powder.  Stir over medium high heat at a boil for about four minutes until the sauce is well combined and begins to reduce.  Reduce heat to low in order to reduce further for about 8 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Take a barbecue brush or mop and mop each pork chop with the glaze. 

Cook for ten minutes at 375 degrees, turn over and mop again.  Cook for an additional ten minutes.

Remove from over and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  There will be additional sauce in the cookie sheet or casserole dish that can be spooned over the chops while resting and at service.

Yumm-o.

I need to apologize in advance for the picture....the kids attacked the food and I could only take a picture of the leftover 2 chops (out of 12).

                                                                                                Peace, Love and Broccoli Rabe-

                                                                                                            Traci

Don't Be Chicken...

We have a saying in our home......

It amazes me that even though I have a very expensive culinary degree that says 'call me Chef'', my kids STILL will beg for McDonald's, Captain D's or Taco Bell all.the.time!  It's so annoying.  I say the same thing every time, 'YOUR MOTHER HAS A VERY EXPENSIVE CULINARY DEGREE AND YOU WANT FREAKY MEAT FROM MCDONALDS"???? What?!

It doesn't happen often.  In fact, part of our 'lifestyle' change in the Silloway house has been to eliminate eating out.  Its just so convenient during sporting seasons...but just so bad for you!  We have eaten out once in the past couple weeks and that was because I was feeling like crap-ola and its my job to do the cooking so I sprung for chicken sandwiches instead.  You would have thought the kids won the lottery.

Since Wednesday night is our only free night, I have decided to start making it a theme night...my theme is Gourmet Wednesday.  Exciting isn't it?  Okay, so it is exciting for me.  Last night was the first Gourmet Wednesday night meal and we had Sauteed Chicken Breast with Fresh Veggie Risotto over a bed of Caramelized Onions topped with a Hollandaise sauce.  One word for you: nomnomnomnomnom.  It was so good.  Payton, my sweet child was fired up; she was so very excited.  Haleigh said 'I want that yella sauce mama and just the chicken'.  I immediately said, 'it doesn't work that way'.  Tanner said 'oh gahhhhhh I'm eating cereal'.  He is NOT so much on the fancy.  I told him that surely he was not going to be eating cereal and he could go ahead and sit his rear down in his seat.  He pouted but he got over it rather quickly.   I plated the dish and served it.  Doug, the hubby licked his bowl clean (actually just ate the leftovers tonight), my Mom even enjoyed it and for those of you that know her, you know that is a sheer miracle in itself.  Payton was excited about her fancy dinner and ate it 'all gone gone', Haleigh pitched a holy fit because she didn't like the Hollandaise. We stirred it up and she was fine.  Tanner.....well, he was hungry when he went to bed.  He at the chicken but decided against the rice because of the asparagus, it was foreign to him.  

We do have the rule that you can eat what mom is serving or you can not eat.  It is a pretty simple rule.  I'm not going to MAKE my kids eat but they aren't going to tell me something is gross when they haven't even put a spoonful in their mouths.  They threaten to 'not eat' and then I threaten to 'not care' and I constantly remind them that breakfast is just around the corner from dinner.  

So, I wanted to share my recipe with y'all because it was so good and easy to do.

The chicken breast were purchased on sale at Publix during their fantastic buy one get one free sale.  So seven breast were right at six dollars.  

Saute Chicken Breast:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Olive Oil
Butter
Salt and Pepper

This is just a standard saute.  I cleaned the chicken breast and trimmed the skin and fat, patted them dry and sprinkled the salt and pepper over the one side.  In the heated saute pan (medium heat) I added a little olive oil, one circle around the pan and put the breast in (you should have a snap, crackle, pop going on).  Remember, do not overcrowd the pan because it will steam your chicken not saute it.  Get a good sear on it and turn it over. Towards the end of cooking I add a pat of butter.  I don't add it earlier because butter burns a lot quicker than oil.  If you add it at the end then it will just flavor the meat.  Cook remainder of chicken. Put into a dish and cover with tinfoil for holding, this is also known as 'resting'.  Chicken should temp at 160 degrees. If not, the next day chances are you will be in a Salmonella induced puke fest.  Enjoy.

While your chicken is cooking you can go ahead and start the Caramelized Onions:

1 Onion, thinly sliced
3 Garlic Cloves
2 T. Butter
1 T. Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Slice the onions not paper thin but still thin.  Mince garlic.  Heat olive oil and butter over a medium heat.  Once butter has melted toss in onions and saute for two minutes, add in raw garlic.  Once garlic has been added cook until it turns golden.  Garlic burns easily.  Burnt garlic will ruin the entire pans contents.  Once garlic has been cooked sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Evenly disperse in the bottom of your bowls or serving dishes.

Start your Risotto. 

Olive Oil
1 Onion, Diced
14 Asparagus Stalks (Snap where the stalk bends), Diced in 1" pieces
2 Cups of Aborio Rice
6 Cups of Stock (Veggie or Chicken)
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Saute the onion and asparagus for two minutes in the olive oil.  Add in the Aborio rice and continue sauteing for three minutes.  Add in two cups of the stock.  YOU MUST CONTINUALLY STIR THE RICE ONCE YOU ADD IT INTO THE PAN! DO not STOP STIRRING!!!  Once the rice has absorbed the stock begin adding in the remainder of stock one cup at a time.  Once all stock has been absorbed add in as much or as little Parmesan that you want but remember Parmesan cheese is VERY salty.  After the cheese has melted, taste and add salt and pepper to taste.  The texture should be al dente but creamy and oh.so.good.....

Hollandaise Sauce

Do this last, its quick.

4 Egg YOLKS
1 Stick of Butter, Melted COMPLETELY
1 T. Lemon Juice, Fresh
4 Shakes of Tabasco or Favorite Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper to Taste

This will 'break' easily so be sure to follow the instructions exactly and do not attempt to improvise.  

Simmer water in a pot (that will be holding your stainless steel bowl), making a double boiler kind of scenario.  Just have it ready.  In a stainless steel bowl whisk your separated eggs and lemon juice together until doubled.  WHISK it girl WHISK IT!  Once doubled, hold the stainless steel bowl over the heat and continue to whisk.  The best thing to do at this point is have someone drizzle the melted butter in and you continuously whisk.  If not possible then pour in a little butter and whisk, repeat until butter is done.  This is the point where most hollandaise break.  If you pour all the butter in at once then there isn't any hope, I can guarantee that.  Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle!!! Its a must.  Keep whisking till sauce has thickened.  Once it has thickened remove it from the heat and add it the salt and pepper to taste and a few shakes of Tabasco.  Whisk till combined.

Plating:

Bottom:::Onions on bottom,

Next::::::::Veggie Risotto

Next::::::::Chicken Breast, Sliced or Whole

Bottom:::Drizzle of Hollandaise

Please forgive the terribleness of my iPhone camera.  It sucks.  I'm aware.

Your Welcome.

I encourage you to try different things at home.  It doesn't have to be Gourmet Wednesday but could be as simple as Taco Tuesday.  A family that eats together.......gets fat.  Ha! I kid.

                                                                                     Ciao! 

                                                                                           Chef Traci Lyn

"Stop whatcha doin' 'cause I'm about to ruin the image and the style that ya used to".

I look like a mommy

but yo I'm makin' blogs see

so yo world I hope you're ready for me.

Now gather round

I'm the new blogger in town

and my words laid down by this new knowledge I found!

Let me introduce myself my name is Traci, 

pronounced with a raci.  

So grab your glass of sweet tea and get comfy in your seat,

cause I'm telling you, you're in for a real treat!

Let's go.

Happy NEW YEAR Y'ALL!!!

I have revamped my blog, a complete overhaul.  I even attempted to leave 'Blogger' but to no avail, I'm back.  This is day one of a brand new year which means!!! Wait for it, wait for it.......ONLY 357 days until CHRISTMAS (you can think the Christmas Countdown Clock for that)!!!!  I think I'll just redneck it and leave my tree up year round.  How about you?

All about the family.

I have three amazing (and I use that term loosely) children.  Seriously, they are amazing: amazing at crying, amazing at whining, amazing at complaining and REALLY amazing at saying 'MOM, the toilet is stopped up.......'.  For example, Haleigh (aka: Hales, Bug and Sassy Pants), one of my seven year old twins came into my office saying 'MOM, what kind of chicken are we having for dinner'?  I said, 'chicken and gravy'.  She then dramatically throws her head back and flails to the floor, 'MOM WHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY, it may snow outside, when will you EVER go to PUBLIX, can I just have a sandwich, MOMMMMMM, we.don't.even.have.any.HAM, MOMMMMMMMMMMM do you hear me???????????'   I know that was a great example of a run-on sentence but sometimes you just have to emphasize exactly HOW whiny they are.  Tanner, my handsome six year old is sitting in his nasty gross boy smelling papasan chair saying 'mom, I just want to eat cereal, mom, i like your chicken but I don't like beef, I just want cereal'.  Payton, the other twin girl, is upstairs playing with her rainbow loom.  She is just like her mom, she doesn't care WHAT I am cooking because no matter, she will be eating it.  Sister likes to eat.  

Haleigh at Cheer Pictures 2013

A little about the kids.....


Haleigh.  Where do I start.  Haleigh loves to cheer.  She cheered for her 80 lb. Red Warrior team for the very first time this last football season.  She loved it!  She also has twirled but sadly, I think she will be sticking with cheerleading.  I'm okay with that of course but I so badly wanted her to twirl!  I think her sassiness will be more beneficial in cheerleading than so in twirling anyways!  Haleigh also loves art.  She loves to draw and paint and she is also a very good student!

Payton at her first match on December 21, 2013

Payton at Christmastime 2013

     Payton.  Beauty queen by day and wrestler by night.  No, I'm totally serious.  She also is an amazing soccer star!  She has played soccer for a few years but recently picked up wrestling in between seasons to help stay fit.  A seven year old 'stay fit' you may ask???  Yes, Payton is not built skinny, she is a thick child and in order to maintain her healthy weight she has to always be doing something.  With that said, she is amazingly talented, I know she will go far no matter what she decides to do!   

Soccer 2013

Tanner Jaxson's 'MEAN FACE'

Tanner Jaxson.  Oh sweet Tanner.  He is my squishy man.  I love to cuddle this child!  He is a mess!!! So very funny.  He also enjoys sports: football, baseball and wrestling.  He is a true boy's boy.  We were scared as he started kindergarten  this year because he seemed to be so behind!  He would not / could not even say his ABC's.  Well, four months later and he has blown us away!  He is not only writing, he is reading complete sentences.  We are simply AmAzEd!   

Tanner Jaxson Football 2013

Doug, my 37 year old husband and I have been married since October 5, 2002.  It was the best worst day of my life (I'll explain one day in detail but not today).  I love him to pieces, even when he farts on me and refuses to hang the hand towel up, I love him anyways.  Doug has Kugelberg-Welander Muscular Dystrophy and has been in a wheelchair since we began dating.  He is a great dad.  Due to the way our house is, he isn't able to leave at the moment and misses out on so much with the kids, its rough for the kids and for me but mostly for him.  Hopefully in 2014 we will get that worked out.  He worked for several companies in which he designed Sub-stations.  He now is home due to some health reasons, hopefully that too, in 2014 will be taken care of!  Philippians 4:13, 'All things are possible through CHRIST Jesus whom strengthens me'!  You have to believe it in order to receive it, AMEN!  

Me and Mommy

My mom also lives with us, 'Nonnie' is what she will be referred to from here on out, well, because that is what everyone calls her!  My mom, thank you JESUS for my momma!  I couldn't nor wouldn't want to do it without her.  I'd be a completely lost mess.  She lives upstairs in our mother-in-law suite (fancy name for upstairs with a kitchen).  I love it!  Mom is the aide on a handicap bus for Shelby County School System.  I have never seen a 70+ year old woman enjoy going to work every morning like she does!  She is amazing.  ANDDDD she is probably going to kill me for putting this picture on here but as I always say, it is often easier to ask for forgiveness than it is permission, so here goes.....

She'll be just fine!

Ginger 2013

I can't leave out Ginger, the dog.  She is six years old but has only been with us about four months!  She MAY be a little spoiled!  

All About Me.

A little about me.....I will be 33 in about 20 days.  No need to talk anymore about THAT!  I have a culinary degree from Culinard, so that piece of paper says I'm a chef.  I love it.  I love to cook, create, eat...everything about food...I LOVE!  Unfortunately food doesn't feel the same way about me as I do it.  In fact, it hates me.....I am so overweight that I feel like a greasy piece of grease.  I don't know why I chose that analogy.  What I should have said is that I feel like a never-ending fountain of mountain dew and Starbucks, THAT IS ACCURATE.   I hardly ever eat, once a day, maybe.  I also have a certification in nutrition so the truth is: I know better.  OH do I know better.  We told the kids that we are changing their lives, when we told them it was because we would no longer be dining at Zaxbys, well, they were less than thrilled.  One kid may have even fell down on the floor and asked 'why her'?  Needless to say, we are going in a whole new direction in 2014.  Lots of change and all for the better!  So anyway, back to the culinary degree, I cook for my family and friends but I don't have much time for any other cooking at the moment because I also own an eBay company.  It is rewarding not only financially but the freedom that comes with it is amazing.  This 'job' allows me to work from home and be able to still take care of all the household needs, kid stuff and the assistance that Doug requires as well.  I know that this is the route that God wants me on right now but it is up to me to make it work!  I am one blessed mama, fo sho!

Just A Bloggin'.

So I guess you really want to know what this blog is going to be about.  It is about a little bit of a lot of things: faith, family, friends, fitness, food and fun!  Total coincidence that the all start with a 'F'.   I want to share my life with y'all, share my recipes, my experiences, my everything!  I am room mom, cheer mom, soccer mom, wife, cook, master couponer.....there is something here for every 'kind' of mom!  Don't forget that everything will always be laced with a side of sarcasm, lets face it, sarcasm with me is more like the main entree!  I hope you will do me the honor of following me and keeping up with my family!  

Welcome to Mommy Mayhem.

                                                                                       Power to the People,
                                                                                                                        Traci L. Silloway