Johnson Family Adventures

Ok so I was REALLY REALLY skeptical about this one. SOUR CREAM in pancakes? Really? Confession: I even made a batch of "regular" pancakes just in case...oh me of little faith in PW's recipes! Yummy. Light. Creamy - can't say I've ever said that about a pancake before. Delightfully different. Asked Chuck if we could have them again and he said a very hearty, "yes!"  There is more sour cream in the "batter" than there is flour. It is shocking how ... deep the flavor is. I did, May PW never know, make the mistake of getting Fat Free (EW!) sour cream. And while it is really good for FF (yes, it actually tastes good) I will definitely go with a bit more fat next time :) Weird looking batter -she says not to truly mix it all up....  Altho you cook them in butter so maybe the FF sour cream is the way to go.... love my skillet.... They kinda looked like weird puddles of goo.... My 1st attempt at turning them was ... well, as you can see...

A great test - Kraft vs. Pioneer Woman. What will the 2 yr old prefer??? Confession: I have never made homemade macaroni and cheese. Except out of the box, and if you count melting Velveeta and putting it over noodles. So today, I learned how to make simple, AMAZING macaroni and cheese.  8 cups of cheese. How could it be bad???? Cooking in the oven...in my amazing cast iron skillet...can I just tell you again how much I LOVE this skillet???? The verdict: every person at the table (minus Wyatt) wolfed it down. We all agreed it was ... delicious. Gooey. Cheesy. Saucy. Flavorful. What other yummy descriptors can I use??? hmmm... Wyatt, well, I think we simply need to develop those taste buds a bit :) Could be he was simply overwhelmed by birthday joy....Kraft is pretty good...but PW definitely takes the cake. or the cheese. Or whatever you want to call it. :)

Wyatt's birthday was FABULOUS!! We started out on Friday with a super fun day at the Enchanted Island Amusement Park in central Phx. We got to take Bryceson as well ( that's the wee guy we get to watch 3 days a week :) ) The kids got to ride lots of fun rides - all 3 of them tried cotton candy and all three of them hated it!! How funny is that!!?! But, they all 3 LOVED the churros :) (deep fried bread smothered in cinnamon & sugar). It was a great day - we were all exhausted and Wyatt enjoyed it so much  :) For his birthday, we had cinnamon rolls - funny, he enjoyed the fresh berries more. Then we got to open presents, and it was DELIGHTFUL. He has changed SO much since Christmas - he actually enjoyed ripping the paper and making fun sounds over each present...so so fun. Trucks...trucks are his thing. As well as anything from the movie Cars. Loves loves loves it :) Even went to sleep tonight with a Mater and Lightning McQueen. :)  Enjoy the pictures!! Chuck ...

 So PW's pot pie is amazing. It is the basic recipe (I understand this to be true from my limited understanding and experience with potpie, seeing as how I am a "yankee" to quote my husband.) Chicken, onion, celery, carrots, peas....in broth, with the glorious spice THYME. I never knew that I could love THYME. It tastes like Thanksgiving and leaves Charles and I with eyes rolling back in our heads dreaming of Turkey and stuffing...that is a good thing.  I actually never even LIKED pot pie...how uninformed I was of its amazing yumminess!!! The pie crust is truly "perfect." Flaky, yummy and relatively easy, considering this is only the, say 3rd, pie crust I've ever made in my life. And you can freeze them! YAY ... so now I have a whole extra pie crust just waiting in my freezer...dreaming of its day with pot pie. Already looking forward to that, and we have lots of leftovers :) Just wanted to show you my GORGEOUS cast iron skillet.... Oh, and b/c we lo...

 (The best part is at the very bottom so keep going :) ) This is our garden plot. We got it all ready last fall ~ Sept 15th I think, and planted lots of yummy things. It took 3.5 months for anything to grow. We got some amazing cilantro, one green bean plant (random) and finally some lettuce. I think the package said the gestation was a few weeks...not months. So anyways, we re trying again. Tilled up the earth today - such a beautiful thing to do. Watching the dirt turn over, taking out the rocks, any weeds...it is such a beautiful picture of how God works in our lives...turning over the dirt so He can plant life and life giving things inside of us! Hooray! our 1 random bean... I think, just maybe this is GARLIC!! I realize it is microscopic.... lettuce :) wonder if we'll ever be able to actually eat it :)  Savvy and I planted more cilantro...we love the fresh stuff! planting new cilantro Spinning with Daddy - so glad he loves to get in with them. Best of ...