Where Oh Where Have My Little Girls Gone?

Okay,

this wasn't taken that long ago.
At least in my mind, it wasn't.

What happened?
Where did the time go?
Where did my sweet little girls go?

This was taken the Spring of 2004
We are talking two 6 year olds and one 7 year old.

Now they are all practically women!
Okay, I'm not going to rush things...on their way to little women,
beautiful, accomplished, kind young women
Two 12 year olds and one 14 year old

My three beauties vanquishing the enemy

Same three beauties growing up on me.

One proud daddy enjoying the fruits of his labor

"Surfing" in California

Oh how time flies.
How do you stop time, smell the flowers and relish each moment?

I'm going to wipe my eyes now.
As always thanks for visiting.

summer eats

Interested in a new, tropical, summer meal
that is fresh and healthy?

Well I have just the recipe for you.

chicken with coconut sauce



This is definitely one of our Brookes Family go-to meals

Here is what you'll need:

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (not non-fat)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( I like to use strips)
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 jalapeno chiles
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
cooked white rice (or brown)

1. In small saucepan, bring coconut milk to gentle simmer: cook until thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat grill to high; oil grates. Rub chicken all over with oil; season generously with salt and pepper.
Place chicken and jalapenos on grill; cover. Cook turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and jalapenos are blackened all over, 12-16 minutes.

3. Transfer chicken to platter; keep warm. Peel skin off jalapeno, remove ribs and seeds; transfer to blender. Add reduced coconut milk, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend on high speed until smooth.

4. Slice chicken and place over or next to rice. Spoon coconut sauce over the top. Serve with lime wedges for added drama.

Voila!

I paired mine with an easy caesar salad in a bag (soccer night).
Delish!

What is one of your go-to meals for this summer?

I'd love to hear about it.
As usual, thanks for visiting.

Summer List Check Off

In May I posted a
"25 Things To Do This Summer"

We have been working hard trying to tackle just those things.

Some things we've checked off...
others, well, we are still working on.

One of the things we did do was

4. Use the Ice Cream maker that we've owned for 2 years now
and have yet to use

Why, I ask, had we not gotten our ice cream maker out sooner?

Actually we have had it out, just failed to put the ingredients in it and turn it on.

Now we know.

Easy peasy...

All we needed was:

Heavy Whipping Cream


Whole Milk


Vanilla


Sugar



How's that for 5 ingredients or less?

Oh, and don't forget your ice cream maker!

Turn it on for 30 minutes and voila!
Summer treat ready to eat.

You can even get tricky and make gourmet flavors like:
coffee
peaches & cream
eggnog
mint chip
butter pecan
fresh strawberry
...and more

Check out this summer treat, Homemade Popsicles

Tell me what summer treats you have made this season?

As always, thanks for visiting

Masquerade Masks...Summer Projects Continue

More homemade ingenuity.

Hand Crafted Masquerade Masks

My oldest daughter and her friend decided to plan
and host a summer Masquerade party for the up and coming High Schoolers.
(I know, how much fun does that sound?)

These two hip and chic teens organized and planned it all:
games
food
prizes (and they were good ones)
decorations
invites
...the whole shebang.

And the two hostess' even gave the twin
rising middle schoolers a courtesy invite.
Can you say, sisterly love?
Boy, were they excited.

Well, immediately the twins went into "mask mode".
And in the typical Brookes fashion, one trip to the
craft store and the mask making project had begun.

Here are their creations:

We used swirly scrapbook gem stickers
and some colorful feathers...

I love their creations

Tess did not like the "funky" nose...
So she cut it out. Not bad, actually.

Homer didn't think so, either.

Which is when we knew we had to bedazzle him.
What do you think?

As always, thanks for visiting...

Sync It

How do you organize your family events?

Call me slow on the uptake but I just discovered
the greatest tool since DVR.

GOOGLE CALENDAR


This little guy allows you to coordinate multiple events,
various family members and many team sports.

I'm telling you...this is great.

I have a new position on my daughters travel soccer team
which has opened up great opportunities
for me with regards to
my once meticulous
organizational skills.

I had to pull out the big guns with this bad boy.

If you don't have a solid, working calendar to organize your busy life,
please let me recommend you look into Google Calendar.

I'm even able to sync my calendar to all the parents on the team, as well as
send reminders to the players...not to mention my own children.
And we can't forget syncing to our iphones...

Check it out!

As always, thanks for visiting.
Oh, but before you go, tell me how you keep it all together?