~ The Crystal Dish ~

Saturday Mornings are the best. The days the kids sleep in, the days for morning snuggles, the mornings for morning cartoons together, the mornings for special breakfast requests because we have those extra moments together. Saturday mornings are the moments of endless possibilities. Saturday mornings are when anything is possible... Some Saturdays may be as simple as pancakes or waffles and then there will be some complex Saturdays with some homemade eggs Benedict and you know I can never refuse to put my own little twist on it so we've pretty much tried them all from traditional Benedict's to crab, shrimp, lobster, spinach, asparagus..... oh yea, we're talking about WAFFLES today... Sorry, I get a little carried away when I start thinking about Benedict and what goes into making that buttery succulent Hollandaise sauce... Thinking about it just makes my mouth water..... So for Waffles... Waffles are always so much fun to make. I have definitely been...

Ok, so I don't know about y'all but I love love love breakfast and everything it entails. Well, after a long week, I knew breakfast was just the answer my hubby needed. Breakfast seems to just bring everything together. If you've had a rough week, make breakfast! If you've had a rough day, make breakfast! Yes, the answer is always, Make Breakfast. So I wanted to try something a little fun. WE love those fast breakfasts on the go, but don't always want all those carby calories, so I wanted to find a low carb way to do it, but something that still tastes good and I came across this... A Low Carb McGriddle, which by the way, I'll be honest, the McDonalds Mcgriddle is actually one of my favorites. That savory with a little sweet... OMG!!!! Party in your mouth!!!! Jack kept coming into the kitchen as I whipped up this breakfast and I wouldn't spill the secret of what I was making. I didn't want to tell him. I wanted it to be a surprise and a surprise indeed...

It use to seem so natural when Jack would leave for work. I would say a prayer at night and pray for the safety of the officers he's with and all those on duty at night. Tonight was quite different. Two months ago when he took his new position, I was like, "Oh Yay! I'll get him every night now." Unless of course something big happens. Well that night was tonight.  The kids had just finished eating dinner tonight. Brooklyn had some make-up work to do for school and Nicholas I knew was tired already.  And Jonathan was playing with a Build-A-Bear saying it was my bestie's new baby.... "That's baby Forrest!" he would say and then he would wrap him in his Paw Patrol Blanket and give him a kiss on the head. I just love when he does pretend play... It's so cute.  It was a little after 8 o'clock when he received the call. There was an officer involved shooting, so Jack was to come in and assist the officers. I had never seen him get ready so ...

Day 8 of 365: Today was the kids first day back to school from Winter Break.  I would be lying if I said getting out of bed was super easy this morning. Since we returned from Hawaii, the kids sleep schedule has been a bit off, so last night I wanted to make sire we were all up in time, so I got a little OCD and setup multiple alarms. 6am rolled around this am and it was the ole, "Why are we up this early mom????" for the first 30 minutes. I guess the kids really were enjoying that beauty sleep they had been getting the past 3 weeks. Well, that time is over now kiddos!!! LOL Thank goodness I had the kids get their clothes ready last night cause getting dressed this morning was super easy and I even had some extra time to do breakfast requests. Brooklyn wanted an over easy egg with a side of apples, Nicholas wanted the homemade granola I made the other day and Jonathan spent the night at my parents last night so he had no requests for me this am and when I swung b...

Day 7 of 365: I could not agree with this quote more and I just love Ina Garten. I love watching her on show and yes someday, I will be going to The Hamptons, but until that day, I will daydream a bit....  Cooking is definitely one of my greatest gifts. I love cooking and love serving my family. No matter how crazy our day may be, I always find myself at almost a place of meditation while I'm in the kitchen cooking. I'm in my own world, in my own thoughts and it just comes natural.... with every stir of a spoon, every chop of a vegetable.... as I bring the tasting spoon first to my nostril to smell the essence of what I'm cooking and then to my mouth to indulge.... and today the indulgence was worth it.... Jack was pleasantly surprised when he got home and I had this meal ready when he walked through the door. And for a man who's pretty picky about vegetables, he devoured his bowl!!!!  Tonight was a night of savory indulgences.... a night of yumminess, ...

Day 6 of 365..... Well, since I missed posting this on Day 6, you're getting a two for one on Day 7!!!! So yesterday, I had no idea what to cook for dinner. It was a rainy Sunday, we were all cold. We had all stayed at grandma's house the night before because the low on Saturday night was in the 30's and the kids would have been freezing. So our wonderful rainy Sunday rolls around, our day to keep holy and my grandma, Brooklyn and I all attend mass together. It was a beautiful mass and since the Day of Epiphany just happened to fall on Sunday, Brooklyn was able to see the reenactment of the Three Kings bringing their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to baby Jesus. Brooklyn was so amazed to watch this. She thought it was the coolest thing to see at church and she sure did rub it in her Brother's face that he missed it. He was a little jealous, but we showed him the pictures.  After church service, we had lunch at grandmas and then the battle of the upstai...

Happy Saturday y'all!!!! Love Love Love my Saturday mornings. My time with Family. My mornings with Jack. Our Snuggles in bed with the kiddos as we watch Saturday morning cartoons. Saturday wine with mom and grandma. Saturdays are one of my favorite days of the week. It is our day that is always devoted to family. Saturdays have been about family since my grandma moved up here from the Bay Area and since we use to visit to the Bay Area on weekends. I love our Saturdays together. Our Saturdays of bonding and reconnecting after our week. No matter what happens during out week, Saturdays always bring us back together. Saturdays have grown. It started off just mom, grandma, me and Ashley, and it has grown by three children. They join our Saturdays every week. I mean, I dare not bring them, I would definitely get in trouble. Grandma loves her time with the great-grand babies. We're building tradition together. We're building memories and these are the memories that will sta...

Love.... Love Love Love.... The Secret is love. Love for everyone. Those who know me, I love all. I lead with my heart and when I cook...... it's the secret to my cooking. I love love love to cook and I put all of my heart into my cooking. Whether it's making a fancy Steak Oscar for Jack, or something as simple as today's lunch like "Breakfast for Lunch." My heart, my love goes into it all. Love. I feel like when you put your love into it, especially something like your cooking, the ones who you're sharing your cooking with get to almost taste the emotion that went into your cooking. It reminds me of that movie Simply Irresistible with Sarah Michelle Gellar. She's a chef and her emotions go into her cooking. That's how I feel when I cook. Even after a hard day, an easy day, whatever kind of day it may have been, all of my love will always go into my cooking.  Today is day of snuggling up together.... A day of movies and blankets and warmth. ...