The Bryant Family: 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

All the Boys...

I was taking some 5 months pictures of Hudson and the boys wanted to join in! It turned out so cute :)

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Recipe of the Week...

Cuban-Style Grilled Chicken with Avocados and Mangoes

And YES... It's as good as it looks!

And YES... My kids eat it!

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 C Olive Oil

¾ C Orange Juice

1 T Grated Orange Peel

1 T Honey

1 T Soy Sauce

Chicken:

2 t Cumin Seeds

6 Cloves Minced Garlic

1 Large Serrano Chili (stemmed and minced)

½ t Salt

¾ C Olive Oil

3 T Orange Juice

3 T Lime Juice

6 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast Halves

2 Firm but Ripe Mangoes (cut into ½ in cubes)

2 Firm but Ripe Avocados (cut into ½ in cubes)

Directions:

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and salt and pepper to taste. Can be prepared 1 day in advance, covered and placed in refrigerator. Stir cumin seeds in medium skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Transfer seeds to bowl and add garlic, chili and salt. Mash with fork to form a thick paste. Heat olive oil and pour over paste. Stir and let cool for about 15 minutes. Whisk in orange and lime juice and place in 9x13 inch baking dish (or a ziplock bag). Add chicken and marinade for 1 to 3 hours in fridge. Dice mangoes and avocados into 1 inch cubes, combine and add 6 T of dressing to coat. Grill chicken on medium-high heat (about 5 minutes on each side). Cut chicken into 1/3 in strips. Place lettuce in bowl and coat with dressing. Mound on plates. Arrange one sliced chicken breast on each plate. Top with mangoes and avocados. Sprinkle with nuts. I original recipe called for cashews but I like to use sliced almonds. Enjoy!

Regarding the Kids:

I put everything on their plates in bite size pieces. They love guacamole but aren't as big of fans of plain avocado. That said, I give them lots of mango and chicken, along with 1 cube of avocado and if they want dessert, they have to eat it :) Nine times out of ten, once they try it, they love it. The same goes for almonds. Instead of giving them sliced almonds, I give them each 2 whole almonds and if they want dessert, they have to eat it :) Yesterday, Payton chewed up an almond and then spit it out on the floor. Then he was told to go get the dust buster to clean up his mess and when he came back there were 2 more almonds on his plate :) He ate them and proudly proclaimed, "I like almonds!" I have no problem bribing my children to try food that is good for them!

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Hudson Grew Again...

Things are Changing Quickly...

Sawyer is OFFICIALLY potty trained!

Now I just need to roll out the rugs :)

Hudson is now rolling over and sleeping without a paci (most of the time)!

Our yard is finally grown in and looking great!

Payton is getting so tall, hence the new longer shirts and shorts :)

And he has quite a sense of humor, hence the goofy pose!

Jonathan is loving life, minus missing us :)

And I am still tired :) but doing great!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Hudson is Growing...

We took the first pic the night Jonathan left in February. The second pic was today. Look how much he's grown!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hudson... 3 Months Old

Hudson's 3 months old now and doing all kinds of tricks. He loves to suck on his hands and fingers and even prefers them over his pacifier. Hopefully we can get rid of it all together in the next month of two. He sleeps anywhere from 4 to 7 hour stretches at night, which we're working to increase, and takes 3 to 4 naps during the day. He loves his brothers and is always entertained when they're in the room. He still LOVES to be on his belly, especially when he's sleeping. He smiles, talks and laughs constantly. He even joins in when his big brothers are carrying on in the car. Oh, joy for me :) He can hold his head up when he's laying on his belly and loves to sit in the bumbo seat for short periods of time. He has recently discovered the TV. Every time it's on he's drawn right to it. I've taken advantage a time or two when I needed a shower! Overall, he's such a joy and a very predictable baby :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Come... Let Us Compare

Wanice needs to send me some younger pictures of Jonathan because we're beginning to think Hudson looks a lot like him :)

Resurrection Buns

This morning we made Resurrection Buns.

Some of you have been asking for the recipe/directions so I thought I would just put up a link.

There are many ways to do it but what we used were the following:

1 Roll Grand's Jr Bisquits

Large Marshmallows

Equal Parts Cinnamon and Sugar

Melted Butter

I rolled each bisquit out flat and told the boys that this was the tomb where they placed Jesus. Then I had the boys roll the marshmallows in butter and place one on each bisquit. Then they sprinkled each one with cinnamon sugar and I explained that in Jewish culture they prepared Jesus' body for burial with oil (butter) and spices (cinnamon sugar) and then wrapped it in white blankets, or linen cloth. Then they pinched each bisquit closed as if they were closing the tomb. Then we flipped them over and placed them on a cold baking stone and baked them on 350 for 8-10 minutes. When we took them out I cut a slit in the top and asked the boys what happened. They were very quick to exclaim, "Jesus is GONE!" And all that was left was the white blankets (melted marshmallows). They enjoyed eating them, as did I! They were very tasty :)