cookies in a jar, catastrophe, and casserole

the cat was away this week, so we started the week off with a haircut for the little boy blue. if i'm honest, i'll tell you that i wanted to puke when i saw how much she chopped off. i think i'm okay with it now, but i still don't like to talk about it. i know, i'm weird, but my mantra post-cut was "he is a boy" and "it is still curly." those two phrases got me through the week.

later on in the week, we met some friends at lupe tortilla for dinner. it's a great restaurant with a huge sand pit filled with toys for the little ones. everything was fine until miss e got her foot run over by one of the roller coaster cars. she was screaming. bro was crying. i was trying to pay the check, carry two kids to the car, and maintain sanity. you would have thought her leg was falling off. i had a plan to keep the sand out of my car, trying to nix those potential ant beds, but with two screaming kids, that plan went out the window very quickly.

we made it home in one piece, and as you can see here, miss e is fine. we spent some of our week assembling cookies in a jar for emma's upcoming birthday. this is what is simmering in the background. it's crock pot chicken taco chili. it was delish, super easy, and made a ton. i highly recommend!

i had an eager little helper in the kitchen.

i just love when she wears her apron.

they were a bit messy for sure, but emma had a blast filling and dumping. it was sorta like a sandbox in the kitchen. if you plan to make these, i nixed the m&m's and traded them for more chocolate chips.

later that weekend, i made a new breakfast casserole....

It was delish! And we ate the leftovers all week. Both of my kids gobbled it up too. And, at around 100 calories a square and chocked full of veggies, you just can't beat it. Here's the recipe...

Paleo Breakfast Casserole

12 eggs

1 yellow squash, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

8 strips of bacon (I cooked that on parchment in the oven at 350.)

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. oregano

a little chopped fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350. Beat eggs. Add veggies. Add the bacon, crumbled. Add the spices. Pour into a greased 13X9 casserole dish. Bake for about 45 minutes. Cut into 12 squares.

I may skip the bacon next time. It was kinda hard to taste it all mixed in. Maybe I'll just serve it on the side?

You could add other veggies too....enjoy!