May 3, 2010

Car trips and Taco Pie

Yesterday we went out of town to attend a baby blessing.

The two-hour trip was blessedly uneventful, outside of Jacob losing his breakfast. But since we have long been accustomed to car-sick prone children, I have mastered the ancient Chinese art of "Chuck Food" which consists of very sophisticated moves like: Grab, Leap, Turn Around, Hold, Catch, and let's not forget Bum Pointed At On-coming Traffic. That one always gets the most attention.

So we always bring along a puke bucket. After the initial geyser I was able to catch the rest.


You know it's bad when a normal, if not vital conversation before you go anywhere further than 30 miles from home sounds like this,

"Honey, did you grab the puke bucket?"

"No, I thought you did. Don't forget it!"

"Do you think this bowl will be big enough?"

"Just grab the old ice cream bucket. That way we can just throw it away when we're done. And don't forget the plastic bags for it... and bring extra wipes and hand sanitizer!"

When Savannah was little she managed to score herself more than one new outfit while we were out and about in the car. I even missed watching one of my brother-in-laws get married because she had doused herself and everything within six inches of her in regurgitated breakfast.

And that was more than you ever wanted to know about us.

Moving on then.

Poor Alayna. Once lunch was over she just had to loosen her dress around the waist and take a quick snooze. I wore a stretchy skirt and a sweater just for this occasion.

So much good food, so little stomach space.


My kids simply adore their cousins, especially Savannah. When it was time to go she literally broke down into a puddle of sobbing salt water.

Of course, when she goes from the overly-energetic one in the middle,



to this peacefully snoring little girl,


it was obvious she had played hard.

And now, I would just like to take this moment to publicly announce that I MUST be doing at least ONE thing right in my life, as evidenced by when I handed Jacob the bag of goldfish he promptly announced, "Hey mom wook! It wooks juss wike da tempo!" Translation: "Hey mom look! It looks just like the temple!"


*sniff* I'm so proud!

 Hey... hey Jacob!! Give me back that camera young man! No more pictures!

"But mom! I need to take a picture of Joseph!"




"Smile mommy!"


Whew! Sorry you had to see that. Close-ups are always so... close up. You know?

And now, for an abrupt change in subject.

I was preparing dinner the other day and when I pulled out the cheese, well how does the saying go? A picture is worth a thousand words?


Sneaky little monkeys aren't they! And I would like to invite you all to a fondue party! I'll totally provide the cheese!

No? Fine, I'll just show you what I used it for. I know it has been a couple weeks since I posted a recipe so, enjoy! And try not to think about half eaten cheese blocks. Just sayin'.

I made this for the missionaries once and they ate about three to four helpings each. Polished that pan. I think one might have started to like the pan clean if I hadn't beaten him to it.

What? I only got one helping!

Terrific Taco Biscuit Pie

10oz can Hungry Jack refrigerated flaky biscuit (I can never find that so I just use a 14 oz can of Pillsbury refrigerated flaky biscuit and use all but two of the biscuits)
1 lb. hamburger
15 oz. can kidney beans, undrained
1.25 oz. envelope taco seasoning mix
2 cups shredded cheddar OR Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 1/2 cup shredded lettuce (or more if desired)
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (or more if desired)
1 cup crushed corn chips (optional) (I will sometimes just keep the chips as a side)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 casserole dish. Arrange biscuit dough around pan and press to form a crust. Brown beef and drain. Stir on beans and taco seasoning mix. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat. Spoon meat mixture into crust. Bake 12-15 minutes.


Immediately top with half the cheese all the corn chips. Layer lettuce, tomatoes, and rest of cheese.


Cut into squares, top with sour cream and enjoy!

20 super cool people speak:

ldsjaneite said...

That cheese looks so good--bite marks and all. Does that say something about me?

I love the road trip pictures. And the puke stories always make me smile, too.

I guess this says two somethings about me.

the fowlers said...

the puke buckets! my mom took a stack of ice cream buckets with us everywhere. one trip we had three puking and two threatening to puke all at the same time.
i love that we aren't the only ones.

Mama Smith said...

I don't remember having to take "puke" buckets when we traveled with all you kids...They must have gotten their sensitive stomachs from the HEINER side of the family...(smile)We did have a "porta-pottie" in the van...cause your dad didn't like making "stops" when we traveled...Most of our trips were 10-12 hour trips...Your dad was a very SMART MAN...(smile)

Kristina P. said...

You could totally use the Perfect Brownie Pan to cut that casserole! It looks delicious.

And you are adorable!

Writing Without Periods! said...

Okay, you had me with Taco Pie. This looks wonderful...and your children are so cute. Happy Monday.
Mary

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

OK, I have the perfect barf-catcher for ya! It's so awesome it will fit in your purse or jockey box.

Taco Pie.......sounds heavenly. I know what I'm fixin' for dinner tonight. Oh, wait, it's just me. Hubby is still in Canada and I'm an empty-nester.....uh, what are you fixin' for dinner?

My day is complete. I've read another of Serene's or I mean
Sca-reme's epic journey of motherhood. It's all about the barf.

Cheeseboy said...

It REALLY does look like the temple though!

I feel badly for you and your family's car sickness related illnesses.

amber_mtmc said...

We went on a quick trip last weekend which turned into a barfing fiasco. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the puke from our kids was NOT car sickness, it was a stomach bug. Since we didn't realize this until we got to our destination, we ended up infecting my whole family, who in turn infected their friends, who infected their friends, and, well, you get the picture.

Needless to say, our family was SO glad we came.

Lisa said...

Agghhh! The puking! I had almost forgotten those delightful journeys. One of my favorites was on the freeway, driving to the Atlanta airport, pouring rain, rental car, 2 year old toddler puking up McDonalds Happy Meal, pulling off the side of the road, semis blowing past at 90 MPH, throwing muddy water all over us, getting a fresh outfit out of our luggage, flipping the chunks off the old outfit, changing the boy inside the trunk, getting back in and laughing our freakin' guts out! Good times. Thanks for the memories!

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Oh man Kristina! That would be perfect!

And Tauna, I'm going to get "Scareme" bejewelwed onto my jeans.

Susan Anderson said...

I was lucky. My kids only got sick on reaaallly curvy drives. And I was an ace with the throw-up bowl (our family name for puke bucket), too.

Your close-up looks great, by the way!

=)

Mike and Adrianne said...

Thank heavens we haven't had to deal witha lot of puking in the car. That would just make trips awful!

The recipe looks delicious!

Saimi said...

The taco pie looks delish! I'm gonna have to remember that one.
Man after reading your post about the barfing and then all the comments, I'm feeling really grateful my kids were never pukers!

Thanks for your comment today on my post, I appreciate it.

Scrappy Girl said...

This post cracked me up...why? Because first you give us all those wonderful images of BARF and then end with a recipe for a TACO dish...lol. I luv ya.

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Ha ha ha! I was wondering when someone was going to say something about that!

Pitterle Postings said...

oh yeah, we have all had our share of puke in the car. I found something that really helps, and now I NEVER leave home without it. I use olive oil (turn your hand over and use the middle as a small bowl)(probably only about 1 teaspoon) add two or three drops of pepperment oil. Spread the whole thing on the child's stomach. They will smell like a candy cane. We don't know why it works, but it is good for kids of all ages and helps settle the stomach. A whole bottle of pepperment oil is about $6.00. Let me know if it works for you. Also, we use diaper wipes and ziplock bags to clean up. It is throw away, we carry lots in the car, and the smell can disappear quickly. (another reason the peppermint oil is amazing). Good luck and I hope you have better trips! We now go all over the United States with our trusty bottle!

Anonymous said...

Your recipe looks yummy! I'm so glad my kids aren't the only ones who get car sick! We carry gallon sized zip lock bags just for the occasion and we've gotten so good at knowing when the kids are gonna hurl, we don't even have to stop! We just slow down enough to drop the "goodie bag" off at a gas station garbage can....

Charlotte said...

We are major puke bucketers here! Once I made the rule (for the older kids) that if you missed a bucket/toilet you cleaned it yourself, the incidence of puke everywhere went down drastically.

I thought that was how cheese came naturally. Everyone's doesn't look like that?

Teachinfourth said...

Mouse infestation perhaps?

Oh well, at least they didn't cut the cheese...

Carrie said...

you are HOT! I once found an entire block of cheese under my nightstand. been there for days. don't ask for any details, please...

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