happy.harvey.home.

Veggie Enchiladas

Posted on June 6, 2016 by annettelharvey

It’s Monday… which means the start of another week and the need for some easy weeknight meals. A fun fact.. I used to be a vegetarian.. for about 2 years… for health reasons. It was a huge adjustment for us as we were newlyweds and I was trying to figure out how to cook yummy meals for my new husband each night. My husband who loves meat. Loves it. And so I began the quest to find yummy vegetarian meals that would satisfy us both – even the toughest meat-eating critics. Here is one of our favorites that I recreated again tonight.

Ingredients

1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium organic black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium organic corn, rinsed and drained
fresh cilantro
6 low carb multi-grain tortillas (8 inches)
1 can enchilada sauce (or homemade)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp cumin

Directions

In a large skillet, saute the onion and green pepper in oil until crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the beans, corn, cumin and cilantro; cook for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
Spoon 1/2 cup bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with enchilada sauce and cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes or until heated through.
Yield: About 8 enchiladas.

Original recipe available here.

Battling Reflux

Posted on May 29, 2016 by annettelharvey

This has been a pretty incredible week- life changing to say the least! If you’ve ever dealt with a baby (or babies) with reflux you can certainly relate!

When our girls were born they started Similac NeoSure to help get their weights up. After about 2 months we went to Similac Advance. We quickly then switched to Similac Sensitive. Why all the changes? REFLUX. It really is one of those things that makes you feel helpless, frustrated, sad and overwhelmed all at the same time. There are different types of reflux. Our girls started with the spitting up phase (which basically resulted in one or both throwing up their entire bottle immediately after finishing it) and then silent reflux where they would constantly push away their bottles and struggled to even get 2 ounces down at each of their feedings.

After trying two different medicines and switching formulas I went to one of my mommy boards (twin moms to the rescue!) and begged for help. The result.. Similac Alimentum. It’s a different formula I hadn’t heard of .. more expensive and it definitely has a different smell to it that reminds you that your baby is drinking something man made but IT WORKS. It works! After a week of mixing it with their previous formula (so we could slowly get them used to the new taste) our girls are finishing their bottles and wanting more. With over 4 months left of formula this has already become a game changer for us. (Not to mention the girls also started holding their bottles on their own this week as well!) I can’t get over the difference and in just a short time. We’ve even stopped their medicine completely. So if you’ve got a baby with reflux give Alimentum a try – it just might change your life.

A New Venture!

Posted on May 28, 2016 by annettelharvey

As of this evening I’m starting a new venture.. I’m skipping the garage sales and giving online selling a whirl! If you’re on Instagram check out @harveyhangers. I’ll be updating it regularly with adult, toddler, and baby clothes (and other baby and kid items as well.) And no… we aren’t done having kids 🙂 I’m just trying to purge the excess a little!

Jude Turns Two!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by annettelharvey

Over the weekend we had a birthday party for our favorite TWO year old! I can’t believe he is two already! The days are long but the years are short.. really short! Here’s a recap of everything we did to celebrate our birthday boy!

The Outfit

You can’t have a birthday party without the perfect outfit. 🙂 I wanted to get something for Jude beyond the normal birthday shirt with a number on it. I found this cool shirt through VazzieTees on Etsy. It comes in a variety of color combinations. It was perfect for the big day.

2. The Invitations

We invited all of the kids from Jude’s class to his party. 8 kids and their siblings! That’s a lot of pre-schoolers 🙂 We sent an evite this year instead of paper invitations which worked perfectly for the amount of people. We decided to suggest no gifts since we have plenty of toys for our boy already and kept the party to 2 hours. It was the perfect amount of time.

3. The Decor

We aren’t big into themes so for Jude’s party we opted for Elmo and Sesame Street plates and cups and napkins but then went for general blue, red and yellow colors for the remaining decor. I also printed a picture of Jude from every month of the last year from his 1st birthday to his 2nd and made a banner for over the fireplace. The triangle banner was actually a purchase from GroopDealz about 2 years ago. We had some balloons around the house and then one Elmo balloon that sang “Happy Birthday” as well.

4. The Food

What party would be complete without a tasty spread. Our goal after last year was KEEP IT EASY. We ordered a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A, a fruit tray from Publix, we made pigs in blankets, a sausage and cheese dip for chips and a caramel toffee dip for apples. We also set out individual bags of goldfish from Costco as well as applesauce pouches. There were also several coolers setup with drinks for all ages. To finish it all off we of course went for an Elmo cake from Publix.

5. The Favors

What two year old doesn’t love chalk? I debated what to do for favors (if anything) but then found these boxes of chalk at Wal-Mart for $.97. They were a big hit with all the kids and perfect for a fun giveaway.

6. The Fun

What do you do to entertain about 10 two year olds? Get a bounce house and throw some balls in there! We were fortunate that a friend actually offered us her bounce house for a very discounted price weeks before Jude’s party. We jumped at the opportunity and purchased some additional bounce house balls on Amazon as well. We also had corn hole for the adults and a couple of little tykes cars and a tunnel as well. Between this and all the food (not to mention our playroom inside that the kids seemed to find!) there was plenty to do for everyone.

7. The Result

I think its safe to say we all had a great time- especially our sweet boy! It was the perfect day to celebrate Jude turning 2!

TWO

Posted on May 15, 2016 by annettelharvey

TWO. Happy Birthday to our sweet boy Jude William. Hard to believe you joined our family just two short years ago! Jude loves and adores his “DaDa!” He also loves hugging his sisters and helps me walk them into school every morning, hardly ever leaving their side. He loves to play with his Elmo, Little Tykes car, any type of ball, play doh, coloring and crafts and he loves loves his paci. He reads books to school every morning and at night in his bed. He loves to dance after he takes a bath and talks ALL DAY LONG. ? He is so silly and sweet and loves, loves to cuddle. You find him most often in someone’s arms. Our favorite game is chase and he is already an expert at avoiding me when I try to take his picture.

Jude can still fit into some 18-24 month clothes but we are finally phasing those out and wearing all 2T now. He wears size 4 diapers and eats everything we eat. He still loves water and milk (and juice on special occasions) and his favorite foods are probably applesauce, strawberries, taco meat and goldish!

We are so blessed by the gift of our sweet son. Happy Birthday Jude William! We love you!

Peanut Butter Cookie (Sandwiches)

Posted on May 12, 2016 by annettelharvey

It’s birthday week for KH which means homemade cookies every night! Ok, actually two nights but still.. I’m making all of his favs- sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies (basically every variety without chocolate). While we didn’t make the sandwiches this time around, if you’re looking for a fun and different spin on cookies try it out- it’s almost like a homemade version of a do-si-do Girl Scout Cookie. Enjoy!

Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup PB
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Peanut Butter filling:

1/2 cup pb
4T milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream together butter and sugars in a large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in pb and vanilla.

2. Sift together (I don’t believe in sifting) flour, baking soda and salt.

3. Stir into creamed mixture. Form dough into 1″ balls. Place on greased cookie sheet 2″ apart. Flatten with floured fork to make “hatches”. Bake at 375F for 8 minutes or until brown.

4. Let cool, get your filling on.

*Recipe yields about 60 single cookies

7 Months!

Posted on May 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 7 months baby girls. In this past month you both started solid baby food and are slowly getting the hang of it. Applesauce is the current favorite. You both are so close to sitting up on your own but not quite yet. Maisie loves to roll all over and is hardly ever in the same place you leave her in. She also loves standing and playing in the exersaucer and moves backward in Jude’s walker. Sloane is still our laid back baby- often content wherever she is and just wants to be held and talked to. Crazy weekend so pj pics were the best we could manage this time around. We love these babies!

6 months and solids

Posted on April 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 6 months to our sweet baby girls! Wow! I can’t believe 6 months has gone by already! These two are so sweet! They smile and giggle and its so much fun when they recognize our faces. They love Jude and love watching him play around them. He also brings them toys from time to time and more often will lean over and kiss or hug them! One of my favorite things is how they greet us in the morning- every day when we walk in to get them out of bed we gently wake them up and they will look up at us and instantly smile. It is so sweet!

Sloane is still pretty laid back. She likes watching everything around her. She can roll all the way over now! She loves to smile and giggle and sleeps on her side most of the time but always start with her right thumb in her mouth.

Maisie is our wiggler. Always looking to move around and look around however possible. She can roll halfway and loves meeting new people. She falls asleepon her back with her right hand over her face, usually with her wrist over her mouth!

Oh how I love our sweet baby girls!

When I first started this blog I had two goals in mind. 1) Help other moms who are just trying to figure babies out and 2) Help myself remember what do! I’ve definitely accomplished the 2nd goal and I hope from time to time I’ve accomplished the 1st as well. Today was one of those days where I was so thankful for writing things down. The girls turn 6 months today which means its the start of solids in the Harvey Home. Goodness I’m so thankful for all the posts I wrote on baby food but most importanly Introducing Solids and a 4 hour feeding schedule with solids. Our girls are on a 4 hour schedule and have been since they were 3 months old. With 3 children under 2 years old the move to a 4 hour schedule quickly was not only out of sanity but our girls were just honestly ready and not hungry anymore at 3 hours. As a refresher here is their current (non solid) schedule:

6AM – Wake and Eat 7 oz
8–10AM – Nap
10AM – Eat 7oz
12PM-2PM – Nap
2PM- Eat 7oz
4PM-6PM – Nap
6PM- Eat 7oz
In bed by 6:30PM

And here will be their revised schedule starting tomorrow. We will start with introducing the morning solid feeding and then after about 2 weeks or so will add one afternoon solid feeding and then finally the last afternoon feeding.

6AM Wake him up and Eat – 7 oz bottle
7AM – baby food (usually 1 fruit and 1 veggie)
9-10AM – nap
10AM Eat – 7 oz bottle
11AM baby food
12PM-2PM – nap
2PM Eat – 7 oz bottle
3PM – baby food
4 –6PM – nap
6PM Bath, Bottle, Bed – 7 oz bottle

Lastly, the actual order of solid foods. Some recommendations include starting with cereal then fruits then orange and yellow veggies then green veggies then meats. Others recommend doing all veggies first then fruits. I do some alternating and I plan to skip cereal this time around. Jude didn’t love it and I’d rather give them some fruits and veggies over a cereal.

Here’s our order of solids to start with the girls. I’ll be adding in how they react as we try each!

Carrots
Bananas
Butternut Squash
Apples
Peas
Pears

Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies

Posted on March 28, 2016 by annettelharvey

And what family get together would be complete without an assortment of desserts. So not only did we enjoy Kyle’s family’s famous Nut Butter balls at our Easter dinner yesterday but I also decided to make a new dessert as well. Chocolate and peanut butter candies in a blondie, topped with vanilla ice cream. What more could you need?! Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar
10 tablespoons butter, softened
3 large eggs, whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
9-12 Reese’s 6oz peanut butter eggs (usually individually wrapped)
1 bag peanut butter M&Ms

Instructions

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 9×13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled lightly with flour.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add in eggs and vanilla and blend until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Pour into the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.
Press 1/2 the dough into the pan (coat your hands with flour and spread with your hands if needed).
Cut the Reese’s eggs into small chunks and lay them on top of the dough.
Place the remaining cookie dough on top of the Reese’s by dropping in spoonfuls.
Gently press the peanut butter M&Ms on top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. When done, the bars will look puffy and the edges will be golden brown. The dough should still be soft in the center as it will finish cooking a bit while cooling.
Allow bars to cool. Eat while warm with ice cream! Heavenly!

Original recipe available HERE.

From our family to yours.. Happy Easter!

Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole

Posted on March 28, 2016 by annettelharvey

Well yesterday was a success- a successful Easter dinner with the family. We kept it easy and the stress low and I think we all ended the night happy and full 🙂 With help from my parents and my MIL we had a Honey Baked ham, green bean casserole, salad and then these tasty (I think so at least! 🙂 ) mashed potatoes. I wanted a side that I could do some of the prep work ahead of time and then finish as we got closer to eating time. These potatoes were not only tasty but super super easy. One thing to note – grocery stores aren’t open on Easter 🙂 So we made this without the sour cream- I’m assuming it would be even better with it but we were just fine without it too!

Ingredients:

5 lb russet potatoes
1/2 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 cup sour cream
2 cups cheddar cheese, divided
2.8 oz jar real bacon pieces (or 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)
4 green onions, sliced thin
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions:

Peel and chop potatoes, place into a large stockpot.
Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Test a larger piece by piercing with a fork to make sure they’re cooked through and tender. Remove pot from heat, drain potatoes and place back in pot.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smash potatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, it’s ok if there are still chunks.
Stir in butter and cubed cream cheese. Keep stirring until completely melted.
Add in sour cream, 1 1/2 cups cheddar, 3 sliced green onions, salt, and bacon pieces (reserve 1/4 cup bacon pieces for topping).
Spread into a greased 3 quart baking dish.
Sprinkle remaining cheddar, bacon pieces, and sliced green onion over top.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through.

Original post available HERE.