What's to come?

There are some exciting new things happening with The Ox Mama lately and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Here are a few things to look out for in the near future:

1. The Ox Mama site may be down for a bit because we are transferring to a self-hosted site, to clean up the look, and to make things easier to access, share, and enjoy! I am so excited for this big move and I know it will do great things for this site!
2. We have some great small shops lined up that are going to share with us about their business AND provide you guys, my readers, with some great discounts! I can't wait to announce who those will be soon.
3. We will also be having our first giveaway soon! A wonderful company has provided me something to review and then another to give away to one of YOU! So all you new mama's will want to keep a look out for that one. This one's for you!
4. Lastly, I will be writing as a guest host for a few other bloggers this summer and I will announce those as soon as they are final.

Thanks for joining me on this wonderful journey!

Fajita Bowls : [Cooking With Toddlers #2]

For today's Cooking With Toddlers, I wanted to do something easy at first, that we have already done before together. But at the last minute, I changed my mind and chose something new to us. And I am SO glad I did. It was delicious and I am so excited to share it with you!

The funny thing is: Little Ox #1 is usually always so excited when he gets to cook with me. And he was at first, but part of the way through he gave up and decided he had better things to do. :) Which is always okay! I made sure to let him know whenever I moved on to a different task in the cooking process to see if he wanted to join back in though.

Taking a break to read on the step stool

Now on to the fun stuff!

Again all of BOLD, have your toddler help!

Chicken Fajita Bowls

Feeds two adults and a toddler with leftovers!

Ingredients:

• ·         2 Chicken breasts cut in small strips
• ·         Fajita Seasoning*
• ·         3 Bell Peppers, any color
• ·         ½ Yellow onion
• ·         1 Tbs Olive Oil
• ·         2 Cups (uncooked) of Brown Rice
• ·         1 can of Black Beans

*Homemade Fajita Seasoning:

• ·         Combine Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Paprika, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Cayenne Pepper seasonings all in a bowl. You can mess with the amount to match your taste.
• ·         This is a better option than most pre-packages ones because you can control the flavor (AND the amount of salt added!)

Directions:

Mix fajita seasonings in a small bowl

Cut the chicken into small strips (I cut and had these ready before my toddler woke up from his nap)

Heat up pan with olive oil and add 1 clove of garlic, if you prefer.

Pour chicken in a hot pan with the olive oil.

Pour (most of) seasoning evenly over the chicken as it starts to cook

Place cooked chicken in a bowl and set aside

Grab a somewhat dull knife and assist toddler with cutting strips, after you have cut out the insides of the bell pepper. Of course, you can do this by yourself, but I like to let him help because he is fascinated with knives at the moment, unfortunately! hah! Luckily, it is a good opportunity to teach him hand/eye skills and about the importance of safety in the kitchen.

Cut up onion in large strips

Have toddler toss all peppers and onions into a bowl.

Pour peppers and onions in a pan with a small amount of oil. Add the rest of the fajita seasoning to this if you saved some.

Cook and stir peppers and onions until they are soft but crispy

Add everything to one big pan to cook together. Add cilantro and lime juice for extra flavor, if wanted.

My toddler loved squeezing the lime into the pan.

While everything is cooking, cook rice and heat up black beans in a pan. We used minute brown rice because it is faster, but use what ever rice recipe works for you!

Put everything together and let your toddler maker their own bowl!

We set out extra fix-ins like:

• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Avocado
• Lime
• Cilantro
• Tortilla Chips (which my toddler and husband loved to scoop the dinner up with)
• Sour Cream
• Hot Sauce

ENJOY and have fun!

My inspiration for this meal came from HERE!

And just for fun :)

"I'M MAKING FAJITAS!"

One-Pot Chicken Chili Recipe

I have never been a fan of any kind of chili, but once my brother showed me this recipe that he learned in culinary school. I was hooked! I love everything about this chili! It is the perfect blend between spicy, creamy, and even sweet! And since so many people wanted to have the recipe - I decided to share it with you all!

I love anything that you can make in one pot! That's also why I love crock-pot meals. I am sure every other mama is with me on this one. The smaller amount of dishes to do, the better!

One-Pot Chicken Chili

*This recipe usually feeds 5 people with plenty leftover!

Ingredients:

·         4 Chicken Breasts

·         Salt and Pepper

·         1 Tbs Olive Oil

·         3 Cloves of garlic

·         5 Bell Peppers (any color, we usually get 2 green, 2 red, and 2 yellow

·         5 Jalapeño Peppers (Depending on how spicy you want)

·         2-3 Habanero Peppers (Again, depending on what spice level you want and how spicy the peppers you picked are)

·         1 yellow onion

·         3 Tbs of Paprika – Sometimes I play with this a little and put 2 Tbs of Paprika and 1 Tbs of Smoked or Hot Hungarian Paprika

·         3 Tbs of Chili Powder

·         2 Tbs of Cumin

·         6 Small (or 3 big) cans of Cream of Chicken Soup

·         6 Cans of White Kidney Beans

·         1 Bag of Sweet White Corn 

Directions:

Seed and chop all peppers and onions and place in large bowl. Turn on large stock pot to medium heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add garlic until soft and then add peppers and onions. Cook onions and peppers until they are sweating and clean and chop the chicken while you are waiting. Season the chicken with salt and pepper then add to cooking peppers. Stir continually to evenly cook chicken and add the paprika, chili powder, and cumin. Stir to coat everything in the spices. Once the chicken is cooked, add in the cans of soup. Stir together. Drain and rinse kidney beans in a colander then add to the pot. Cook everything together and once it has been cooking for about 5-10 minutes, add the corn. Wait about another 5 minutes and add water if necessary. Sometimes it may still be too thick, so water will help thin it out. If you do add water, cook another 10-15 minutes.

Add Avocado, Cheese, or your other favorite toppings! Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of the recipe!

Babies and Blogging

My husband is out for the night seeing one of his favorite bands, so I figured I would whip up a little post tonight.

One I my favorite times of the day is getting to chill with this little guy on my bed. I remember the times so fondly when Little Ox #1 was little and I would do that. I guess it is kind of a wonderful thing as the first and only child. Sometimes I feel guilty about not having that same kind of time with Little Ox #2. That's why, for at least a little while, while #1 is napping or has already gone to bed, I will sit on my bed with #2 and talk to him and play with him, just the two of us. 

It helps me to feel better knowing that he is able to get a little bit of one-on-one attention with mama! I remember with our first, peaceful nursing sessions - we could just stare at one another and "talk" the whole time. He had my full attention. Now, with #2, I am lucky if I can get through each nursing session without having to unlatch him to stop older brother from doing something crazy. So the alone time I get with him every now then is nice!

It is hard when my toddler wants my full attention when my baby needs it - and it is so hard when baby wants my full attention (or needs to be held, or fed, or rocked) when my toddler needs me! I love being needed by my boys, and I can feel guilty at times, but I know I am giving them both my best and loving them with all the I have.

I can't be the only one who feels like that when they have a second baby, right?!

At least this makes me feel a bit better. 

DIY Superhero Masks

A few weeks ago, I had a great thought! Since Little Ox #1 is loving EVERYTHING superheroes - instead of going out and buying a bunch of things, I decided we could make some things together!

And although, we couldn't really make these masks together, it was something that was fun for mom to make and he thinks they are so cool. So, a few weeks ago, I noticed that he started using anything and everything he could put on him head as an Ironman mask. It didn't really matter what it was. A box, a hat, a blanket, a helmet - as long as it went over his eyes in some way, he loved pretending he was Ironman. I thought to myself - I need to MAKE him some actual masks, so maybe my husband could wear his own hat for once instead of Little Ox #1 running around with it on backwards, pretending he was Ironman. The ones that he always sees at Target anyway were made out of cheap plastic and would get broken sooner or later.

Not to my surprise, Pinterest had so many DIY superhero masks, but most were made out of paper and I knew those would get ripped and then meltdowns would ensue.

However, I found a wonderful site that not only briefly told you how to make them, but she provided these awesome pattern printouts too! PLUS, they were made out of felt instead of paper. Here is her post on Cutesy Crafts!

I sewed mine together but you could easily use glue with the felt sheets or use paper if you don't mind that either. However, I would say that they were a beginners sewing project if you own a machine.

Another amazing thing about these is how much it costs to make them! I could have either bought the $20 cheapy Ironman mask from the store or spend less than $5 TOTAL on making 5 Marvel Superhero Masks!! Obviously, I chose the latter. Who wouldn't?!

What you need:
This will make 1 mask each of Ironman, Wolverine, Spiderman, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America.

• 8 Felt Sheets
• Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Green, Black, Cream, & Gray
• Feel Free to get another black one if you want batman, we chose not to make him. 
• 3/4 Inch Elastic
• One package should work for this. We had extra in our home, un-packaged, so I am not positive on how many you would need.

That's it! And it should cost you less than $5 for all the supplies!

What to do:

• Buy Supplies listed above
• Go to Cutesy Crafts and print her amazing pattern templates!
• Cut 2 of each pattern in the right color
• Cut 1 of all accessories (hulk's hair, thor's helmet...)
• Cut eye holes
• Sew together the doubles of the same mask (This is so they aren't flimsy)
• Sew accessories on top
• Measure elastic to child's head and sew elastic on back

Pretty basic! If you have any questions, post in the comments below and I will respond!

Enjoy! I know my superhero boy did!

P.S. If you want to see my finished Hulk mask - Check out this post from last week!

*(I will add an updated picture to this post as soon as my toddler tells me where he's hidden it) ;)

The Wonders of Kindness

This week, I read something amazing that made me decide to change the way that I was parenting my children. Specifically, my 2 year old.

The way I was doing it before wasn't the way I chose to do it, nor was it the way I had always pictured. I got caught up in noticing how often my child was misbehaving and not enough on how he wasn't. I caught myself being a mom that I didn't want to be.

Two-year-olds can be so difficult at times. I'm sure that every age is difficult (and perhaps even more difficult than twos) but I was struggling with how I responded to him when he was misbehaving. I noticed myself getting angry with him when he would get angry, frustrated when he was frustrated, and loud when he was loud. I would tell myself, "how is he supposed to know that I am upset with his behavior if I don't show him that I am mad"?

Then God showed me something I needed to hear. Something that I have been wanting to hear, to remind me of who I wanted to be as his mom and a child of God.

If you haven't heard of the blog called "Mundane Faithfulness" I suggest you visit it and check it out.

I happened upon a post by Blythe Hunt called "Kindness Matters" on their website and something stuck out to me in a beautiful "God-planned" way.

"Anger does not beget heart change; it begets shame. Yelling does not beget understanding; it begets hurt. Harsh words do not beget love; they beget humiliation. Intimidation does not beget kindness; it begets fear. Only kindness begets kindness; kindness begets love."

WOW. That insert changed me and I felt God speaking to me and telling me that this is why the last 2 weeks with my 2 year old have been so hard. I am so thankful that I stumbled upon this post and took the time to read it because it spoke to my heart in ways that I can't put into words.

The thing that is even more amazing is what happened the next day (and every day since I read this). I woke up the next morning committed to this statement. I would not get angry with Josiah. I will not yell at him and I will not use harsh words. No matter what.

When Josiah got up and started misbehaving: yelling, throwing things, hitting things... I was not going to use anything other than kindness. I could not believe the day that we had. It was AMAZING the effect that kindness had on him that day. After struggling with him every day for a week, all I needed to do was show him more kindness and love.

Isn't it amazing how Jesus love us so unconditionally. How we disobey Him and His Word, yet he loves us and shows us kindness continually, no matter what?! Every day, I pray with Josiah that we will remember to love one another like Jesus does to act more like Jesus every day.

How did I ever think anger was going to work anyway? Young children are such imitators, that when I treated him with kindness, love, and patience, he showed me the same in return.

“The Book of Romans tells us that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. I want to love with a kindness that nurtures a hard heart to desire to be soft. God is the only one able to transform someone else’s heart, but if I live a life submitted to Him, then His love will be reflected through me.

 — Kara Tippetts, Big Love

@ http://www.mundanefaithfulness.com/home/2015/3/11/kindness-matters

Breakfast "Muffins" : [Cooking with Toddlers #1]

I am excited to be sharing with you my first post in the new "Cooking With Toddlers" mini-series that I will be doing for the next couple weeks. Be sure to check back next Monday for the second post in this series.

This weeks post and recipe is for Breakfast "Muffins"! Some things I love about this recipe are: 

1. It was very toddler friendly - in terms of cooking AND eating
2. It was easy to sneak in healthy options without changing the taste much
3. Hand held for on the go - which can be very useful when you are running two kids around to appointments and play dates!
4. They are freezable and can be refrigerated for multiple meals!

If the recipe doesn't seem specific enough it is only because this can be manipulated in MANY ways to make it your own way that will fit the lifestyle and needs of your family. Toddler help will be in BOLD.

BREAKFAST "MUFFINS"

2 potatoes shredded fine (I used 1 and by the time I crisped them up and then cooked the eggs they pretty much disintegrated)

6 eggs (scrambled, seasoned with a pinch of seasoning salt and garlic salt, pepper, and 1/2 tbs of paprika)

1 cup spinach

1/2 cup halved grap tomatoes

Cooked breakfast meat

1/4 of milk (we used almond milk, feel free to use any kind - it was just for thinning)

*Cheese would also be a good addition, but I am not having dairy at the moment so we omitted those

Coconut Oil for greasing

First, I peeled and shredded the potatoes myself and then I let my toddler season the shredded potatoes with salt and pepper. I chose do shred them very fine because I felt like they would hold together better.

Grease up the muffin tins with coconut oil and place shredded potatoes throughout muffin tins evenly.

 Crack all eggs in bowl. I let my 2 year old do all the cracking and surprisingly I only had to pull out two shell pieces after he cracked all eggs in the bowl. This is very fun for them and it helps boost their confidence when they are able to help with more than stirring.

Mix all eggs together with a fork. Encourage them along the way and be specific with your encouragements. They process compliments better when you are specific. For instance, instead saying "good stirring!", try saying "I like the way you are stirring the eggs in a circle".

Measure out milk and pour in with the eggs and stir.

 Add seasonings and mix well

Add veggies to a hot skillet to cook down. This is a good area to have your toddler choose what they want inside of their muffins. If you want to choose the veggies, then pick 4 of your favorite choices and let your toddler choose 2 out of the 4 to put in. This gives them a say in what they are eating (even though you provided the choices). 

Add cooked breakfast meat to heat. While the veggies are cooking down, put the potatoes in the oven until tips are crispy and take out to add the egg mixture over.

Pour veggie/meat mixture to the bowl with the eggs.

Pour the egg mixture over the half cooked potatoes. Who cares if they spill some? Have them help wipe up the mess afterwards!

Cook in the oven at 375 until eggs are cooked through

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite things to cook with your toddler? 

A Little Bit of Life

I meant to have a fun post up today but I spent most of the precious "both kids are napping" time working on updating my About Page. Check it out if you get a moment! :)

Just a little bit about my week:

Something that has been extra fun lately is the progression of Little Ox #2's personality! This is one of my favorite stages! They are moving out of the newborn phase a little bit and becoming more aware of their surroundings. I say this a lot but I can't stress the fact enough that Nolan loves watching his older brother! One of my favorite things since having #2 is watching #1 morph into an amazing older brother. He is so gentle, loving, and protective of his little brother. He loves showing him off to other people and loves having someone to make laugh. Josiah was SO excited this week when I dressed them up in the same outfit.

Little Ox #2 loves his baths! It took Josiah a few months before we were able to do his baths without any screaming along the way. Since Nolan's second bath ever, he has been like this. It is one of his favorite things ever!

Little Ox #1 has been fascinated with everything associated with breastfeeding. Here is a sweet little shot of him "feeding" his baby that we got him before #2 was born. He tries to nurse his baby and pump any time he can. It is so sweet and funny how aware of his surroundings he is!

Another great thing that happened this week was somewhat of a sleep milestone for Nolan! He has slept mostly through the night for a month or so now, but the other day while I was working out, I laid him in his crib with his pacifier while he sleepy, thinking I could get a few minutes of the workout in before he started crying, needing to be held. However, I went to check on him 10 minutes later and he had fallen asleep, on his own, unswaddled, in his CRIB! This is amazing because usually the ONLY way we can get him to sleep is swaddled, in his swing, usually with white noise. I was so surprised! We decided that night to see if he would sleep in his crib all night like he does in his swing. So that night, we swaddled him, sleepy, and laid him in his crib with white noise and he was out in 10 minutes, no crying, and he slept until almost 4:30am! Woohoo! 

This week Josiah and I made superhero masks too! If you didn't know already, he LOVES superheroes and tries to use anything as his superhero props. So I found an amazing DIY on Pinterest and I sewed some up for him. Look out for a new post soon on how I made them!

Another woohoo moment is that I finished every one of my workouts this week! Once you get on a roll it is hard to stop. You start actually WANTING to work out 

Lastly, I am so excited to be starting some research on putting together a marriage workshop. Marriage is so important and I am so passionate about making my marriage the absolute best it can possibly be. Being a CFLE is so exciting because I am able to help others and share with them my passion about making a marriage thrive and helping it enrich your life!