Joc's Dish

Jocelyn is always on the hunt for new recipes and to my advantage, loves to share them. I asked her to guest post on The Crawford Clan with a recipe worth sharing to all my followers...all 7 of you:)

She works fulltime, styles herself like she's working for Rachel Zoe, and has a three year old. Seriously, how do you find the time to look for new recipes? She does the dirty work and my family doesn't mind!

(taken about this time last summer on an impromptu night out at our favorite bar, Delux...we need to schedule a GNO there stat)

Take it away Jocelyn....

The recipe was easy to prepare, healthy and quite filling (I could only do 1 taco!), we even had plenty for leftovers for lunch today too.

Spice-Rubbed Chicken & Vegetable Tacos with Chipotle Cream

The longest part of prepping was the cutting of the veggies, but the rub took no time at all. I served with grilled red skin potatoes (instead of rice). The chipotle cream is a little spicy, so might add a little less next time.

Definitely a keeper and would be good to make for a crowd. The only thing missing were the Corona’s!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chiles (about 2)
• 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon smoked hot Spanish paprika
• 2 1/4 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
• 1 red & orange bell pepper, seeded, cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick strips
• ½ onion cut up into strips
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, each halved horizontally
• Corn or Flour tortillas

Directions

Prepare barbecue (medium heat).

Whisk sour cream and chipotle chiles in small bowl; season with salt.

Stir brown sugar and next 5 ingredients in another small bowl to blend for spice rub.

Place zucchini and bell pepper on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with canola oil; toss to coat. Sprinkle spice rub over both sides of vegetables and chicken.

Place chicken and vegetables on barbecue. Grill until vegetables are tender and browned in spots and chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to work surface; cut chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick strips. Cut vegetables crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces. Place chicken and vegetables in large bowl; toss to blend.

Place chicken and vegetables and chipotle cream in tortillas.

Thanks for sharing and I hope people comment if they make this one!

XOXO

Aubrey

Weekend Schmorgishborg

Our weekend was busy, but great. Its actually my favorite kind of weekend. A schmogishborg of fun and chores. The kind where you are up and at 'em and can't believe what you've accomplished by noon!

(not to be confused with up and Adam, which is what I thought my mom was telling us growing up. I always thought, "who is Adam and why is he getting up so early?")

We checked a ton of things off the to do list. Things that had been lingering week after week, but also enjoyed some fun with friends and the kids.

We got to meet Tyler Windtberg on Friday and he is just adorable. He has beautiful blue eyes that I could just stare at all day and we love that our two boys are basically the same age.

Kristi and I have so many great memories from MSU and its probably a long shot but William and Tyler would make great fraternity brothers. I see ice luges and tailgates in their future!

Our summer planting is done, the bushes are trimmed,

the patio furniture is out and the cocktails were in hand. Cheers to our first happy hour of the season!

Ahhhhh, doesn't this look refreshing after a day of yard work?

Someone decided that the potting soil belonged in her pool.

And we enjoyed another summer favorite, grilled corn on the cob. I love it so much I've become a cob snob and really won't eat it any other way. Recipe here. We've never done the butter, just the grillin.

We treated ourselves to to a nice walk and ice cream after completing all our errands, going to church, yard work, grocery shopping, and various other miscellaneous to do's. This phantom walker is Lauren insisting on pushing her stroller. And I will also add that this girl RAN, yes RAN a half mile to get the ice cream and ran almost the entire way home. Crazy!

She has a new found obsession with Superman so we had to get her Superman ice cream.

And this guy is a SMILIN fool. It happens all the time and Billy witnessed his first little laugh last night too.

The coos are starting and more and more each day he is responding to you.

I love the way their little personalities start to unfold.

XOXO

Aubrey

Kid Swap

Emma and Lauren spent the entire day together on Wednesday because Emma's babysitter was out of town. Jocelyn only agreed to me taking Emma if she could help out and take Lauren for us. Done and done!

The day couldn't have gone better. And I mean that, the girls were a complete joy.

We started off with breakfast and Emma was a little shy to start, but you could tell she just needed a little time so we let the girls play on their own till Emma was settled. Which by the way, didn't take long.

We did a couple of crafts, practiced our numbers, made jello, played hide and seek (my favorite part of the day)

(I love that Gipper is in the back ground of this picture)

and even snuck in a walk. And I know you are all jealous of this sweet pink raincoat. I found it in my mom's closet and it matched perfectly with the girls:)

It was so fun to watch them interact all day, listen to the funny things they say and see the difference in their ages. Emma is such a sweet girl. On our walk she would have held my hand the entire time, where Lauren is running ahead to explore. Emma seems to take her time with things like she is enjoying and taking it all in. And Lauren is moving so fast you're surprised she remembered when she recounts the activity later that day.

They seem to be a perfect fit.

Much to Jocelyn's surprise, I even got both Emma and Lauren to nap...thanks to Grandma Mary, who said "stop asking them if they want to nap, and TELL them." It worked.

It was a long day, but very fulfilling. It was nice to be at my mom's away from my own laundry and cleaning and able to be completely present in the entire day with these two beautiful toddlers.

When we got home I said to Lauren, "you make life so awesome"....she replied, "I like rice cakes."

Thank you for letting us have Emma for the day and thank you Grandma Mary for helping me with all three kids.

XOXO

Aubrey

I'm no Barefoot Contessa {I}

I think that may be an understatement. I don't love to cook, I like to cook. I have weeks where I'm all about finding a few new recipes to try and other weeks where I struggle to come up with enough meals from my own repitoire. And a lot of comes from finding the time to search, plan and shop...its time consuming. And with two kids, I need to be super organized so I can go without them when Billy is home and hope to God I don't have to run out again with them.

But last week was one of those weeks where I was all about looking for a few new recipes, digging out some oldies but goodies, and actually enjoying the grocery shopping process. But I'll tell ya, this weeks planning was no picnic (no pun intended).

I thought I'd share last week's menu with you because I love when my friends (mostly Jocelyn, and thank you!) share their newly found favs with me. I love finding healthy, easy, and crowd pleasing recipes.

Monday: Well Dressed Salmon Courtesy of Rachael Ray

We actually won't be making this at our house any longer because Billy came to the realization that he hates salmon, but I love it. Easy and delish...served with a salad and wild rice

Tuesday: Pasta with Spicy Sun-Dried-Tomato Cream Sauce Courtesy of Jocelyn P.

I don't have the link for this one...

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 cup whipping cream

1 7.25-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 pound penne pasta

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 to 1 cup frozen peas

1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms

Directions:

Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes, cream, red peppers, peas, mushrooms, and crushed red pepper; simmer over medium heat 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup basil and simmer 1 minute longer.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add sauce, cheese and 1/2 cup basil and toss to coat. Add enough reserved cooking liquid to pasta to moisten if dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Wednesday: Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing Courtesy of Cooking Light

Served with a baguette

Thanks for recommending this one Joc....we loved it and will make this again!

Thursday: Vinaigrette-Marinate Sirloin with Spicy Guacamole courtesy of the detroit free press

served with Orzo Salad with Spicy Buttermilk Dressing courtesy of Cooking Light

Friday: Springtime Chicken Pizza Courtesy of Jocelyn P.

Ingredients:

• 1 prebaked pizza crust (12 inch diameter) (I used a boboli)

• 1/3 cup pizza sauce

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

• 1/3 cup roasted red peppers, drained, blotted dry, cut into strips

• 2/3 cup goat (chèvre) cheese, cut up

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475ºF. Place pizza crust on greased 12 inch pizza pan. Spread pizza sauce evenly on crust. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Scatter chicken and red pepper over Parmesan cheese. Arrange red pepper on top and scatter goat cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes until crust is crisp and golden.

Cuts into 8 wedges.

Happy Friday

My little's are asleep and my book is calling...but I wanted to say Happy Friday. Enjoy your weekends and much love to all the mom's out there, especially mine.

You are the strongest person I know and have showed that even more so these last few months. You are always there to listen, talk, laugh and cry. Thank you for everything you do for us. We love you so much!

XOXO

Aubrey

Little Miss Stylish

Lauren is becoming more and more interested in what she is wearing, not wearing and accessorizing with. Most days when I pick something out, she just wears it. But some days she insists on wearing a dress or "I wanna be naked, mom." But mostly, no matter what I say....she picks out her shoes. A girl after my own heart:)

And here she is accessorizing me...her sunglasses, her necklaces and her hat. "Mom, you so pretty"...and look at that face!

At grandma Mary's last week she "needed" to wear all these necklaces for our walk. A few other walkers told her how cute she was and then gave me that look like "you've got your hands full"...yep, I do, but I wouldn't trade it. Aloha Lauren!

I started working out again to help lose the baby weight and I have a partner, of course! She has her leotard on and was lifting 5 lb weights right along with me. Looks like Lauren got her tickets to the gun show. I love watching her attempt the moves along with the video, and when I was doing push ups she was trying to, but just said "mom, I can't do it."

She knows what she wants, when she wants it...who could she have got that from?

XOXO

Aubrey

Sean, you've been blogged.

Sean has anxiously been waiting for an appearance on The Crawford Clan, and while there was a sneak peak with Easter, we voted and he gets an entire post to himself!

We made the drive to Kalamazoo this past weekend to celebrate Sean's graduation from Western Michigan University. We are so proud of him and all of his accomplishments.

Those cords are for service men and women and Sean wore them proudly.

I could go on and on about how much Lauren loved swimming in the hotel pool and because of all that energy burned she passed out at the graduation dinner...giving Billy and I (and everyone else) a peaceful dinner....but then was up till 11pm because she got a second wind. Pay now or pay later, as Billy said. Or I could tell ya how awesome William was for the drive, the ceremony, and the dinner, but I won't. This is all about you, Sean!

We enjoyed dinner with some of Sean's friends and their families and hope to see these guys again this summer, because they were a blast! I think a part of me just liked hearing all their college stories because for those few hours I was back in college too, minus the jager bombs!

And Sunday we did go to Bell's Brewery...well, not the actual brewery, but their general store for shopping and their restaurant for some beers and lunch.

Cheers! The food was great and the beer...well, you know that was good too!

This was Sean's kick a$$ purchase at the general store.

Watch out ladies, because this guy is educated, employed and obviously very stylish!

Congrats Sean! We are so excited you are moving home!

XOXO

The Crawford's

My last Easter post...I promise!

We had a busy week and I didn't get around to finding the time to post yet again about Easter. But I have to because this is the real deal. The actual celebration.

Aunt Cara and Uncle Brandon flew in for Easter weekend specifically to meet William, and of course spend some quality time with their favorite niece too!!

We dyed more eggs...

And made special Easter cupcakes on Good Friday...

Saturday was the day we celebrated Easter with the Crawfords and spent most of the day outside because of the nice weather. Lauren ran around the backyard like this all afternoon. She just loves being outside...rain or shine. She jumps in puddles, climbs, slides, runs, and explores. If she isn't saying "one more time" about something, its "let's do again."

And I love smiling sleeping babies. He was such a trooper all weekend, but who wouldn't love the attention!

And no offense to the other uncles, but she is in L-O-V-E with Uncle Brandon! She followed him everywhere on Saturday, built a couch fort, and sat on his lap. She got her fix!

The only bad part of the weekend was Aunt Cara getting a stiff neck. We all felt so bad for her...and I'm sorry if you don't want this picture posted, but don't worry, not many people read this blog.

And here is another family photo...believe it or not, William is the one messing it up:)

And Easter Sunday we spent at Grandma Mary's with Uncle PJ and Uncle Sean. Lauren loved seeing this picture of her upside down.

William must really not like his picture being taken.

Really, it seemed that when the camera was clicking, he was crying.

It was a busy weekend going back and forth from Royal Oak to Grosse Pointe, but we wouldn't trade it. There are those moments when we are wishing we could linger in pajamas or catch up things around the house, but these are the weekends that make memories. This is life and we celebrate holiday weekends BIG!

XOXO

Aubrey