Happy Mother's Day!

I have to admit that this year I have been a total slacker. It wasn't for lack of thinking of my mom and mom-in-law, but not having any idea what to get them that would be sufficient, and then being too busy being a mom myself, that got in the way.

Mom's are BUSY people when it comes down to it. And that is one of the things I am most grateful for. They sacrifice their time and often their childhood dreams of fame and fortune to have children and raise them.



My mom was no exception. She wanted to "dance her life away". Instead she became a teacher, and mother, then made sure her daughters felt her love of dance. But always encouraged us to do what WE loved and never forced her dreams on us.

My mom is a gentle person. Sweet in every way and I hope that somewhere in my fiery personality I learned some of her patience and kindness.

My mom bore 8 children and loves each and every single one of us as much as the next, but in very individual ways as well. She now has 19 grandchildren (and one on the way from me!) and I know she loves each and every one of them immensely!

I love my mom more today than ever before. Now that I am a mom myself I understand a bit of what she has gone through and I appologize for being so strongheaded and contentious at times. You really do NOT understand how much your mother loves you until you have children of your own.

Once when I was little, I told my mother that if all the moms of the world were apples on a tree, and I could pick ANY one I wanted, I would still pick her. And that is still true today.

I love you mommy! I love every moment I can have to see you and be with you. I hope you have a fabulous Mother's Day!



I am not sure what my mother in law's dreams were, but I know she had them. Again she made the choice to stay at home with her children and help them become who they wanted to become. She bore seven children and has always tried to show them that she loves them. I can't complain about her child raising, because she was part of helping Tyson become the man he is today -- the man that is so patient and kind, and currently letting my 3 year old "help" him make breakfast for mommy. ;)

She now has fifteen grandchildren with 2 on the way. I have a feeling those kids are the joy of her life.

I witnessed some of the immense sacrifice it was for her to not only take care of her children but of dad Ratliff when he got sick. It was a hard burden to bear, and she bore it with smiles and love. Trying to never let it detract from her duties as mother as well. She copes with a lot of stress, yet always tries to have a smile on. She is a strong woman.

I have always felt loved and welcomed by my mother in law. It is hard for us to be so far away and only see Tyson's family a few times a year at most. But we love her and all of them. I think the best thing I could do would be to let Tyson say a few words about his mom. So here he is:

I have nothing but the utmost love and respect for my mother. As Stacey said, she has dealt with a lot of heavy things over the years, and she has always done so with love and grace. And she has always made sure ours was a home of love and support.

She would sometimes leave little treats for us kids. I remember once when I was probably in first or second grade, I came home from school and found a brand new yellow jumprope waiting on my bed for me. I was so excited to have that yellow jumprope. I suspect it wasn't really the jumprope itself so much as having even that small token of love and affection.

Thank you for everything you do Mom. I love you more than words can say. Happy Mothers Day.

Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe

As promised here is the recipe I made. I found one online, then modified based on the ingredients I had.

Eggplant Parmigiana

1 medium to large eggplant
sea salt

1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 small to medium onion
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
1 large can crushed tomatoes (not the #10 large, but bigger than standard)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
1/2 bunch fresh parsley finley chopped
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs
2 Tbs. fresh parsley finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan (the dried/powder kind works best but you can use fresh grated if you want)

1 egg beaten with 2 Tbs water.

2 cups 5 cheese italian blend

Finely chopped fresh basil

Your favorite pasta

Phew, okay so that's the ingredients. I know the list is long, but bear with me, it really was pretty easy.

1) Wash and slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Spread out on paper towels and sprinkle both sides with sea salt to let them "sweat" some of their moisture. This allows them to hold up and the breading to stick better. Set aside.

2) Heat a medium saucepan then add olive oil and onion. Cook onion for 3-5 minutes, until partially translucent. Add fresh garlic (minced or pressed with a garlic press). Stir and let cook for about 30 seconds. Add cans of tomatoes, water, herbs, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and let simmer while you prepare everything else. Stir occasionally as the solids will sink to the bottom.

(finished product)

3) Heat the oven to 375.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the herbs, garlic salt and pamesan in a bowl, big enough and with shallow enough sides to lay and eggplant flat to coat. Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels, then dip in egg mixture then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Place eggplant on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Do them all and lay them in a single layer. Bake in oven 10 minutes on each side to get them crispy and slightly golden browned.

4) When the eggplant is done, lower heat to 350. In a baking dish first spread some sauce (I used about 1 standard ladle) on bottom then layer half the eggplant. Cover the eggplant with half the 5 cheese blend. Then do one more ladle of sauce and spread on top, then eggplant. Then since this is the top layer a little bit more sauce (not enough to fully cover) and the rest of the cheese. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil or lid (my baking dish has a lid so that is what I used) and bake 10 minutes more.

Once out of the oven sprinkle with fresh basil just before serving. (If basil gets too hot it will lose some of it's flavor and turn slightly bitter).

Serve with your favorite pasta and the extra sauce, and a little more fresh basil.

Using the fresh herbs and making my own sauce made all the difference in the world! Of course you can make this bigger if you want, I would just double it all and put it in a 9x13.





Even Tyson who doesn't like eggplant liked this one!

Becca's Actual Class

So I should clarify this class is a summer "camp" kinda to prep them for the full classes in the fall, and just have some fun with dance. So the girls do a little craft and then learn some dance moves and do a little dance related to the craft each week.

This week they were all princesses! Perfect!

Decorating and making her crown!

Cute Becca in her crown!

Doing the Princess walk/walking on her toes. She did SO good with this. Other things not so much, she needs practice, but hey, she's 3 and it was her FIRST class! I thought they all did great!

Princess dance in a circle.

Doing her arms!

She had so much fun and I can't wait to see her improve! The parents can only go to the first class of the month, so I will get to see her next month and see how she improved!

Becca's First Dance Class

I know I am very behind. But I HAD to post these pics! Becca starts her first dance class this morning and I am in AWE of how grown up she looks!

Up on her toes, she knows how Ballerinas dance!

Mom showed her to point her toe in front and raise her arm, this is what she did. LOVE!

My favorite of all! She was doing the position then right before Tyson took the pic arched her back, tipped her head back. Do I have a natural or what?

Now let's see how she does following the teacher's instructions! Either way she will love it and she sure looks cute!

Still Using up that Cabbage!

So I still have a head and a half of cabbage, and I'm thinking other than just steaming it as a side, what can I do? I thought of cole slaw, but Tyson doesn't like cole slaw much...so then I thought, but he DOES eat it if it is on a pulled pork sandwich! Perfect!

This is the pulled pork recipe I used:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 (4 pound) shoulder butt roast
1 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 large onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Put oil in bottom of crock pot first. Then the pork and pour the rest of the ingredients (combined) on top. Cook low heat 6-8 hours. Pull pork out, take out bone and shred with fork. Add the juices from the crock pot back into it. I also added about another cup or two of BBQ sauce to thicken it and give it more BBQ flavor.


This makes a ton! But we just saved half in the fridge for leftovers later in the week, and froze the rest for later use.

Then stick it on a bun top with cole slaw! Here's the cole slaw I made!



KFC Style Cole Slaw

1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 cups finely chopped cabbage
1/2 cup grated carrots

Mix sauce ingredients first. Add cole slaw and carrots. Let it sit in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

I halved this recipe and added a touch more sugar.



Then I served it with sweet potato fries (also left over from Bountiful Baskets).


Okay, so here is what we did with our cabbage part 2!

It was all super super yummy!

Cabbage Recipe

So...in our bountiful baskets this week we got 2 heads of cabbage! That's a lot for a family of 3! So I had to plan dinners that use up cabbage. Tonight we had one of them, and I thought I'd share! Chinese Chicken Salad (I halfed the recipe for my family)
1 head cabbage diced into 1/2 inch peices (it falls apart into squares)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed (I grill them on my george forman grill with a little seasoning salt and ginger powder on them!)
3 green onions finely chopped
4 Tbs. sesame seeds toasted
4 Tbs. slivered almonds toasted
1 3 oz package ramen noodles
1 10 oz. package frozen petite peas - thawed

Prepare all ingredients. To toast almonds and sesame seeds put them in a pan and put them under the broiler. Watch them carefully! Put everything in a large bowl. Mix with dressing.

Dressing:
2 T. sugar
Soup seasoning mix from chicken ramen noodles
2 T. vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
splash of sesame seed oil

Let it all sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before serving! This is GREAT for a crowd. A great option for a salad to bring to a potluck that isn't potato, pasta or plain old green salad.
Tonight we served it with Pina Coladas. But it would be great with some pot stickers or egg rolls on the side too! I hope you like it! Enjoy!

Crazy Catch-up in One Post: March Vacation

Tevan and Ris's Wedding! We were so thrilled to go down to celebrate Tevan and Ris getting married! I have TONS more pics, but I just picked mostly ones of my family because this post is huge as it is!

First out of the temple! So pretty! You too Tevan. ;) With the bridesmaids and all the girls! The Ratliff family! Our family with the new married couple...still so strange to me that Tevan is married! Yeah, this shot was my idea...I LOVE it! Becca was SO tired and wouldn't smile, but this is the best family pic we got... St George temple covered in the tree branches. I kinda love shots like this... Almost all the Ratliff girls, minus Reginah. Cool fish centerpeices (with Galen in the background). The pregnant sisters in law! Me and Sami! Becca was SO funny! She LOVED the dancing but would NOT dance with daddy. She wanted a different prince. All the boy cousins wouldn't dance with her and she got SO SO sad. I have never seen her so heartbroken. So Uncle Taron stepped up to the plate and that made her night! Cupcakes and cake pops! A girl's dream! Sweet Becca and Ris! Cutting the...er...cupcake. ;) I love that they did this! And I kinda love Ris's face in this shot. The first dance...SO in love! The wall of cranes! The sisters-in-law (we missed Aimee!). Becca with the bouquet. Tyson's cousin's little girl actually caught it, but let Becca play with it for a while. It was very sweet. Sparkler send off! Congrats you two we love you to peices!

It was SO much fun to be in St. George and be part of the wedding and see the Ratliff family! DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

Becca and I traveled on to Grandma's after the wedding. While we were at Grandma's we decided to head over to Disneyland. We were SO sad daddy couldn't come, but had a blast with Grandma and my brother's family.

Walking in with her cousins and Aunt and Uncle. Dumbo! Meeting Rapunzel! Her favorite princess! She was SO shy about it! Look at that shy smile! I know my girl, she couldn't have been happier!

Toon town with the cousins! Beautiful girl! Casey Jr. with Grandma B. Meeting more princesses. In all she met Snow White, Rapunzel, Ariel, Belle and Tiana! It was a sucessful trip! Love this shot of her trying to pull the sword out! Goodnight Disneyland! It was SO much fun! Enjoying the California Sun! Enjoying the pool and sun in g-ma's backyard. Look how bright it is! Loving it!