Happy 22nd Birthday Kiko!!

I just had a birthday! I turned 22 years old. July 29th was my birthday. And where was I? At the "Happiest Place on Earth" Disneyland!! We didn't go there purposely for my birthday. We went so they could meet up with their family and such and it just so happened to overlap my birthday. Lucky me :) Phlyicia couldn't come with us, boo. But we had so much fun! Take a look...

Me and Kona on my birthday.

Me wearing the silly birthday hat, of course :)

MATER!!! I love him!!!

Got to "meet him" on my birthday :)

Kai and Sammy and Me.

Me and Kona with Lightning McQueen and Mater.

The Fam Bam :)

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

Batman Birthday Cakes

Long time no post. Sorry! We've been busy :)
Kona just turned 3 years old. What a big boy! And I got to make 3 birthday cakes for him. Yup... 3 cakes! Since he had a Batman Birthday, I made Batman cakes. You likee?? The gray one was a chocolate/yellow marble cake. The blue one was a blue and yellow layered cake. And the cupcake cakes were blue colored white cake and yellow cake cupcakes. I baked and decorated all of these. So fun! I was so excited when his mom told me she wanted me to make the cakes for his birthday party. These turned out so cool (I think) and they were a hit at the parties! Hooray and phew :)

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

CROCK POT KALUA PIG AND CABBAGE

This Saturday, I am having a luau with my church. It's going to be great. My first luau since leaving Hawaii. Fun! And since I'm "The Hawaiian," I'm in charge of all of the Hawaiian foods. Lucky me :) But seriously, I'm excited. I will be making Kalua Pig and Cabbage, Chicken Long Rice, Shoyu Chicken, Potato Macaroni Salad, Rice (nice and sticky,) and Haupia. Yummmmm. However, I have never actually made any of these before. Well, I can make rice actually, but that's it. My family made them, or we went out to eat at Hawaiian restaurants. Young's Fish Market is my favorite! The most delicious Hawaiian food. I'm getting so hungry/home sick just thinking about it.


Ok, back to why we are here. So, since I've never cooked any of this before, I knew I had to try out all of these recipes before the actual luau to make sure they'd be tasty. I wouldn't want to show up to the party with a whole bunch of inedible food. No thank you. Only 'ono (delicious) food allowed. So first up, Kalua Pig and Cabbage. My absolute favorite. I found this amazing recipe for Crock Pot Kalua Pig and Cabbage here. I was so excited to find this recipe. You know my love for Crock Pots. This recipe is so legit. It tastes like I dug an imu (hole in the ground used as an oven,) placed the pig on some rocks, and cooked it. (That's how you kalua something btw.) You can't even tell the difference. A-MA-ZING! I jumped up and down I was so excited about it. Haha. I really did. And it's so easy to do. Here's the recipe.


Crock Pot Kalua Pig and Cabbage

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 2 lb. Pork butt or shoulder
• 2 Tbsp Concentrated Mesquite Liquid Smoke
• 2 Tbsp Kosher, Rock, or Hawaiian Salt
• Small Head of Cabbage
• Water

What to Do:

1. Place pork into the crock pot.
2. Pour the liquid smoke and sprinkle salt over it.
3. Fill the crock pot with water to cover the pork completely.
4. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours. (Or on LOW for 8-10 hours)
5. Pork should fall apart when stuck with a fork. Remove pork from the crock pot and shred using forks. Remove bones, if any.
6. Cut cabbage into large chunks and place in the crock pot, with all the liquid.
7. Put the pork back into the crock pot and cook on HIGH until cabbage is done to your liking. (For me it was 30 minutes.)
8. Serve Kalua Pig and Cabbage over hot white rice. Enjoy!

Before I Go:

I am so happy that I tried this recipe. It is so super easy and tastes so good. Even better, the kids loved it! Sammy said she remembers eating it in Hawaii. Sammy doesn't really like cabbage, but she loved this cabbage. Haha. I hope you try out this recipe. If you do, please let me know, I'd love to hear from you. It tastes like home to me. I can picture myself eating outside on the beach, surrounded by my family. :) Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

Boys, Cars, and a BIG Backyard!

This morning when we left the house, it was 40˚F outside. The next thing I know it, it's a beautiful 70˚F day! Outside we go of course! Kai and Kona love riding around the backyard in their big cars. And they are such good drivers. Seriously. They can steer, reverse, all that good stuff. Haha. Here are some pictures I took on my phone of them today :)

And here's a video of them driving. They are so cute!

I wish everyday could be like this. Sun shining. Perfect weather.

(But I do like a little snow every once in a while. Hehe. Just saying.)

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

Sammy's First Ice Skating Competition

This past Saturday, Sammy participated in her first ever ice skating competition. And guess what... she won two 1st Place medals! How awesome is that?! We were all so proud of her. But no one was as proud and happy as Sammy :)

Here are some pictures of Sammy out on the ice. Isn't she so cute!

She did a routine to "My Girl" by The Temptations.

Sammy sitting atop her ZUCA bag with a bouquet of flowers.

Oh yeah! First Place!

Kiko, Sammy, and Phylicia.

2 Nannies :)

Sammy can't wait for her next ice skating competition. And neither can we. Haha.

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

Weight Loss Journey by Phylicia

So I have not yet "weighed in" (get it?) about our weight loss journey. Well, in a riveting turn of events, I am signing up for Weight Watchers today?! My boss wanted me to do it so that the whole family would be part of it and so that we could both help her. The fact that she even suggested it for me tells me i need it! I guess! To be honest, I don't know if my program has even been working for me because I'm not following my rules as well as I should. Also, I feel like I don't know what I'm eating! So maybe Weight Watchers is the place for me because I'll be accountable for what I'm eating! I'm nervous because I feel like I'm not strict enough to sit down and calculate points all the time! I'm going to try it because I think my body needs it! So, I will do better to let you know how this journey is going! Summer body here I come! Here we go!

Missed my kids!

                    

          I miss my kids when I'm away :( ! 

Here's a little note I got from Sammy when i left!

Translation: I love you have a safe trip to Minnesota! Love my girl!

 

    Good to be back after a fun relaxing vacation with my other nanny and my kids! :)
                                                                                -Phylicia

Kalahari Waterpark Mini Vacation

[All photos taken from the Kalahari Resorts Website]

[I wasn't going to get my camera wet! Hehe.]

This past weekend we visited the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, OH. It has an indoor and outdoor waterpark. According to the website, it's "America's Largest Indoor Waterpark". Cool. Of course, it being Spring in Ohio, only the indoor waterpark was open. Perfect. We had so much fun. We went there to celebrate Sammy's 6th Birthday. Phylicia was on a trip (which I'm sure she'd love to tell you all about, right Phylicia? haha) so it was only me (Kiko - just one nanny) who went with the family. I didn't take any pictures however because I did not feel like bringing any electronics into the waterpark. Haha. So I sadly have no cute wet baby pictures to show any of you (sorry Phylicia.)

Kalahari is set up so well. There is a nice kids area with small slides and swings, with water only a foot deep. The boys stayed there all day. Up and down. Up and down. There was also a wave pool. Sammy loved that. But what she really loved was the indoor/outdoor hot tub. Yes. Sammy girl LOVES hot tubs. :) You have to be six years old and over to go in. So Sammy luckily just made the cut. Poor Kai Kai, no hot tubbing for him. And of course there were a lot of great grown-up rides. The parents and I took turns going on some with each other. They were really fun.

Besides the waterpark, the resort was so cool. There is a HUGE arcade/game room with over 100 games. The kids loved that! We played this motorcycle game non-stop. Sammy, Kona, and I on one bike. Kai and AJ (their dad) on the other. Race. Race. Race. Kona loved playing Fruit Ninja on a big TV. It was like a little dream for that boy. Sammy kept hitting the jackpot on all those spin the wheel games. We ended up with about two thousand tickets. Which sure did take a while to cash in for prizes. Haha.

There was also mini golf, a jungle gym-ish play area, bowling, and so much more. Yummy treats. Ice cream, cotton candy, Krispy Kremes, caramel apples galore. The restaurants had such yummy food. (Not good for the weight loss competition, but hey, I was on a vacation, right?) We stayed there from Friday to Monday. I even got to leave on Sunday morning to go to church for Easter, and I was able to make it back for lunch. It's only a 75 minute drive from our house. Awesome. All in all I'd say we had a wonderful vacation. The only thing missing was Phylicia. Next time. I'm sure there'll be one :)

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

Nanny Craft: Button Decorations

Hello! I'm here with 2nannies first Nanny Craft! Many more to follow so don't worry! The kids all had a ton of fun with this one and as you can see from the final product they turned out beautifully and sticks really nicely to the window.

Here's What You Need:
Buttons
Contact Paper
Coloring Book pages (Optional)

Here's What You Do:
Cut a chunk of contact paper. Separate it so you have two separate sticky pieces on one sticky piece arrange buttons how you would like them to look. If you would like to create a particular picture, slide a coloring page under one of your "stickys" and use the page as a template to design a picture. My kids chose to freestyle and do their own thing!When you are finished creating your button design, apply the other sticky paper on top of the button sticky! Press firmly to remove air bubbles! I used tape to stick creations to the sliding glass window. You can also hole punch it and hang somewhere with string or ribbon!

Sammy's lovely art!

More button work!

Rainbow Cake: Happy 6th Birthday Sammy!!

Today Sammy turned six years old. She wanted me to make her a rainbow cake. So I googled "rainbow cake" and I found many different ways to do it. I showed Sammy all of the pictures and this is the method she liked best. Thank goodness because it's certainly a lot easier than layering cakes and all that jazz. Here are some photos from my process. I just used white cake mix and A LOT of food coloring. Haha.

I used two boxes of White Cake mix. Then separated them into six bowls, food-colored them (yeah, that's a term!), and just dumped them into the 9X13 pan at random spots. Here's what it looked like. A work of art, I think!

This is what it looked like after baking in the oven. I sliced off the top so the top would be even and flat for decorating. Isn't that a pretty cake inside?! So cool!

Then I used TONS of frosting and A LOT of food coloring to decorate her cake. I used three jars of white confetti funfetti frosting and food coloring to make pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple frosting. I put them in ziplock bags to pipe them on. I've never really decorated a cake before. Haha. But I did my best!

Then Sammy came and drew on two hearts and helped me frost the sides of the cake. And violá... a rainbow cake fit for a six year old! Beautiful!

Happy Birthday Sammy!!

I can't believe you are six years old!

Please leave any questions or comments below. Happy birthdays and rainbow-caking! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

SUGAR COOKIES

We decorated cookies with the kids yesterday. What fun! :)

Before I show you all the pictures (taken on my phone by the way,) I'll show you the recipe. I found it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Great website with a ton of recipes! You should go check it out. I just changed a couple things. I didn't add almond extract (Sammy's allergic) and I didn't add lemon zest (we didn't have any lemons.) So if you want to see the original recipe click here. Here is the recipe that I used.

Sugar Cookies

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened to cool room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add two cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix. Add remaining flour and mix until flour is incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth.
3. Dust a counter with powdered sugar or flour and roll the dough to desired thickness. 1/4 inch works well. Cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will not be brown. Don't over bake them.
4. Cool completely before frosting.

Before I Go:

I didn't cut them into shapes. I just spooned them onto the cookie sheets. I made little cookies with half the dough and one giant cookie with the rest of the dough. The giant cookie took approximately 15 minutes. I kept checking the oven to make sure that it fully cooked and didn't over bake. And it turned out perfectly. The kids laughed at seeing such a big cookie. These cookies are excellent for frosting. They are so soft that they melt in your mouth. They aren't that sweet, so they aren't "stand alone" sugar cookies to me. But they are perfect with frosting on top. We used Confetti Funfetti frosting because Sammy's not allergic to it. It has no milk. I split it up and added food coloring as shown below. Blue, green, and yellow. We had five types of sprinkles. The confetti sprinkles that came with the frosting, along with a set of four different sprinkles (Carnival sprinkles, star mix, sequins, and dinosaurs) I bought at Sur La Table (LOVE that store!) They had so much fun decorating their own cookies. Sammy quickly ate hers. Kai kept adding more sprinkles. Kona just liked decorating it. He didn't actually eat his, haha. Silly boy. Here are some pictures from our adventures in cookie decorating. Sammy (age 5), Kai (age 4), Kona (age 2).

Supplies are ready:

Ready to decorate sugar cookies

Five types of sprinkles

Blue, green and yellow frosting

Let's decorate!

Finished products :)

Sammy

Kai

Kona

Wait... Take a few bites, add more sprinkles...

A little more... Yes! Hooray! SPRINKLES!!!

I made a GIANT cookie!

And a little "mini-me" cookie.

Yum.

Please leave any questions or comments below. Happy cookie-ing! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

KATNISS-APPROVED PUFFY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Here is another recipe from The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. This recipe is called Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits. In Chapter 6 of The Hunger Games, Katniss orders this dish along with a side of goose liver in her Capitol living quarters. I just posted a recipe for Katniss's Favorite Lamb Stew with Dried Plums. I made these biscuits to eat with the stew. Such a simple recipe for tasty biscuits.

Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits

All You Need is (LOVE):

• 3 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 425˚ F.
2. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Using fingertips, rub chilled butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir until evenly moistened.
4. Using 1/4 cup of dough for each biscuit, drop biscuits onto a well-greased baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using a spoon, flatten top of each biscuit. Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm.

Before I Go:

This is just a really simple and easy buttermilk biscuit recipe. So give it a try. It is so tasty with strawberry jam. Yum! They also go well with stews and chili. Please leave any comments or questions below. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

KATNISS'S FAVORITE LAMB STEW WITH DRIED PLUMS

The Hunger Games movie finally arrived in theaters this past weekend. Hooray!!! So in honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to cook Katniss's favorite dish from the Capitol. Lamb Stew with Dried Plums. In Chapter 9 of The Hunger Games, when Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss in her interview, "What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Katniss honestly answers, "The lamb stew." So there you go. I found this recipe in The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. You should definitely check out this cookbook. It is truly amazing. Thank you Emily Baines. There are more than 150 recipes inspired by The Hunger Games Trilogy. I am so excited just thinking about it. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is my favorite book ever. Here's what the cookbook looks like. So cool, right? I know!

Katniss's Favorite Lamb Stew with Dried Plums

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 5 lbs of lamb fillet, shoulder or leg, cut into 2" pieces
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 3 cups diced carrots
• 1 cups diced zucchini
• 1 1/2 cups diced celery
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 5 cups dried plums
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cups ginger ale

What to Do:

1. Place lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan and brown the meat, working in batches if you have to.
3. Remove lamb to a side plate. Pour off fat, leaving 1/4 cup in the pan.  Add the garlic and onion and sauté until the onion becomes golden. Deglaze frying pan with the 1/2 cup water, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pan to stir up all of the tasty bits of meat and onion.  Cook to reduce liquid slightly, then remove from heat.
4. Place the lamb and garlic-onion mixture in a large stockpot. Add beef stock and sugars, stirring until sugars are dissolved.  Bring mixture to a boil, cover, reduce to low heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Add the vegetables, dried plums, herbs, and ginger ale to the pot. Simmer for 30-45 minuted, or until meat and vegetables pierce easily with a fork.

Before I Go:

The recipe in the cookbook calls for 5 pounds of lamb and yields 8-10 servings. Due to the fact that I was cooking for three kids and two nannies, I just used one pound of lamb. Therefore, I only made a quarter of the recipe I just showed you. But I halved the amount of beef stock instead of quartering it so that it would be more stew-ish. I also did not add in any herbs. This stew is very rich. The plums give it great taste, but also make it very sweet. Serving with rice helps decrease the impact of this rich Capitol stew. I also made one other thing from the cookbook to go along with it. Shown in the picture above are Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits. They are extremely delicious as well.

Curious as to what the inside of this cookbook looks like? Take a peek at this stew recipe by clicking on the images below. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe and how it turns out for you. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it looks. It's actually fairly easy if you follow the steps. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Oh, and have you read The Hunger Games Trilogy? Do you absolutely love it? I sure do! I got Phylicia hooked on the books as well. If you have not read them, read them now. Before you make the stew. Get hooked too! Haha. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥