Happily Ever Mock

Mushroom Garlic Chicken

There’s nothing better than a one skillet meal.  Especially when it tastes like this one!

Ingredients:

  • 8 pieces of chicken (I used a mixture of breasts and thighs
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 2 Cups of Chicken Broth
  • 2 TBS minced garlic
  • 1 ts red pepper flakes
  • 1 ts fresh or dried Rosemary
  •  olive oil
  • 16 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
  • 2/3 cup of diced green onions
  • 4 TBS butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • about 3 TBS fresh chopped parsley to top
  • (optional…but trust me you will want it for the sauce) A baguette for dipping

1.  Slice or pound chicken to about 1 inch thickness and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides, set aside

2. In a small bowl combine chicken broth, garlic, red pepper, green onions and rosemary.  Mix well and set aside.

3. Heat oven to 375 degrees

4. In a large deep (oven safe) skillet heat about 3 TBS olive oil.  Cook mushrooms over medium-high heat. Cook until well browned then remove to a large dish. Keep warm.

5. Add another 2 TBS of olive oil to skillet and brown on both sides for 3 minutes.  (I did this 4 pieces at a time as to not crowd the skillet) Remove to large dish with mushrooms and keep warm. (You will continue cooking chicken in the oven)

6. Reduce skillet heat to medium and add the chicken broth mixture.  Stir vigorously while scraping the bottom of the pan for any stuck browned pieces.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

7. Remove skillet from heat and add in the butter and the cream.

8. Add the chicken and mushrooms back in and mix.

9. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

10. Top with parsley and serve.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did! I was soaking my baguette in the sauce it was so good!

 

Friday Happenings- There’s a chance there’s tomato sauce in my hair

Happy Friday all! I am thanking God for Friday more than usual today, as this week has been crazy!

Just to give you a taste, I had my hair freshly colored yesterday. I came home to no nap, full toddler meltdown mode while I was trying to make dinner. I was making my favorite Hearty Bolognese sauce and putting out toddler fires left and right.  I went to open a can of crushed tomatoes and our can opener missed several sections along the edges.  So there I was going over and over the same spots to no avail. Toddler screaming as my blood starts to boil with hatred toward the can opener… So finally I tried to puncture it myself, splashing tomato sauce everywhere…including my brand new hairdo!  Awesome. As you might know, one way to keep your color looking intact after a dye job is to go a few days before washing it again. I rinsed the tomato sauce off with water, but there’s a chance it’s still in my hair.  In other news, we need a new can opener.

Since my mishap yesterday, I have been binge eating this delicious coffee cake. You definitely need to try it! It’s the perfect Fall treat to pair with coffee.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/2 Cups Flour
  • 1/2 Cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and Flour 9×13 baking dish. Mix dry ingredients first and add in wet ingredients.  Spread into pan.  It will seem thin, but don’t worry, it puffs up.

For the Topping:

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 cup melted butter (cooled)
  • confectioners sugar for dusting

Mix dry ingredients then add in butter.  Crumble over cake mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes turning pan halfway through. Cool and dust with confectioners sugar.

So if you need me this weekend, I will be bingeing on this coffee cake and shopping the June and January Fall drop! We are in it for all the twirl skirts and cardigans!! To get 15% off your first order follow this link! The drop starts at 9pm EST so set your alarms! Things go quickly!

Have a happy weekend folks!

Hallieisms- September 2017

I swear as this kid ages she just gets funnier and funnier! I have a whole new hilarious batch of Hallieisms coming at you tonight!

If I recall something from a while ago she’ll tell me “You have a good remembery Mom!”

Christopher has a few songs that he’ll sing to Hallie before bed. One of the her favorites is Time after Time. One night before bed he told her to go give me a hug and a kiss. She jumped at me nearly knocking me off the bed. When I pointed this out to her she starts Singing “If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, Time after Time!”

She calls mashed potatoes  “Smashed potatoes”- she’s not wrong…

One day before Preschool I told her she was getting too big and to stop growing up. Her response was ” I have to grow up mom! Preschool is waiting for me!”

She named a sheep at her friends house “Friendless”…

One day my father in law had been working in the garage. He had been filling up some piece of machinery with gas and must have gotten some on himself because when he came in he asked Christopher and I if we could smell the gas on him. Hallie responded with “oh sorry! That was me! I tooted in your room!”

Christopher has the tendency to call bad drivers “Bub bub”. Hallie has started to catch on to this as we were driving the other day and there was a crazy driver weaving in and out of lanes. I said “Gosh this guy is crazy! He’s going to hurt someone!” First Hallie responds with “Don’t worry Mom, I’ll Spit on him!” I laugh it off and then the guy cuts me off! I am sure I probably muttered an expletive, and Hallie yells “BUB BUB! STOP IT!”

The night before preschool she told me “Sorry I growed up!” – it’s okay baby I forgive you…just slow down!


On a cloudy day she told me “The sun is playing hide and seek”

The morning of my migration from Blogger to WordPress I informed Christopher “It’s Migration day!” Hallie hugged me and said “Merry Christmas Mom” -in all fairness it did feel a bit like Christmas.

This is how my animal loving girl  justifies eating animals “We’re eating Mean chickens!” or “That was a mean pig”- looking at her bacon

I was making dinner and Hallie exclaims “Oh good tacos! Princesses love tacos!”- I had to have some fun with this one!


Watching Trolls and One of the characters says “Stupid” Hallie gasps! “Mom! They can’t say Stupid!” You’re right baby. She continues “They Can’t say stupid and they can’t say shit!” – oops! And the parenting award goes to me!

We have a mini Aussie, Stella. One thing about the breed is they generally dock their tails. One day She told Stella “Someday when you get bigger you’ll grow a tail like Bach” -My father in laws German Shepherd Poodle Mix.

“Mom what are Firemen for?” They save people who are in trouble. If they didn’t do it, who else would? “Mom! Wonder Woman can! She’s a Super Hero!”

I just love how funny this age is! It counteracts the “Threenager Moments!” What funny things have your kids been saying?

Shop Share- Piggy Paint

Nail Polish is a staple when you have a little girl! Especially when that little girl is Princess obsessed and insists on always being dressed to the nines. That’s why I am so glad we found Piggy Paint!

Piggy Paint is a water based nail polish made with all natural as mud ingredients free of the chemicals found in most polishes.  It is odor free, dries quickly and is perfectly safe for even the tiniest pinkies and piggies.  Hallie just adores all of the fun colors, and I love that I don’t have to worry about what is going on my daughters nails. Especially at a young age when everything went in her mouth! Hallie’s favorite colors right now are Shimmy Shimmy Pop and Glamour Girl!

Piggy Paint also has a beautiful line of polishes for women, called Sophi. These polishes are made up of the same safe materials, comes in a variety of elegant and fun colors and my husband’s favorite perk, it is odor free! I can paint my nails while we binge watch our favorite Netflix shows without having to hear about the smell! It’s really a win win!! 

Right now I am digging Incogni”toe” and FEETured Attraction for Fall!

Both lines of polish are amazing, natural and completely cost effective To learn more about Piggy Paint and Sophi, visit them on Facebook, Instagram or on their webpage!

Farewell Summer-Bring on Fall

With today being Labor day, and hopefully the last day we have in the 90’s this year, I thought it would be fun to give a little farewell salute to summer with a little recap of the fun we have had!

Hallie and I spent plenty of time outside on the days that dipped below 100 degrees. Indulging in picnics and splashing in the pool!

Mommy and Hallie both celebrated our birthdays-my 30th and her 3rd.

To see more click here

We went to Galveston to celebrate Mother’s Day with my Mother in Law

We went to Florida to move forward with our Big Frog Franchise!

We celebrated the 4th of July with plenty of S’mores and Fun outside!

And of course Hallie got her very own big girl bed!

This Summer was one for the books! Though I am ready to bring on cooler temps, sweaters soups and pumpkin everything, we made some fun memories that will last a lifetime!

Happy Fall y’all!

Back to School Style

Week one of preschool is in the books! Hallie had such a blast making new friends and spreading those independent wings of hers just a little bit. In fact when I picked her up yesterday she sobbed because she was having so much fun she didn’t want to leave! Sweet brave girl! So as we gear up for our 2nd full week of preschool, I am sharing some of our Back To School Style Favorites.

one/two/three/four/five/six/seven

Hallie picked out her backpack and lunchbox. Horses and unicorns are the new obsession over here! I absolutely love how versatile the June and January Twirl Skirts are! Looking forward for their release Friday, September 8th! We are planning on stocking up on Striped and Solid twirls as well as their adorable Cardigans! To get 15% off of your first order, be sure to use our referral code!

Happy Shopping!

Hallie’s First Day of Preschool

I woke up yesterday morning a nervous wreck, because how could my baby possibly be old enough to leave me and go off to school? But alas the time came, and we pulled up to the school  with zero hesitations from Miss Hallie Anne.

She was so excited to see her teachers and play with her friends she could hardly contain her elation.  So much so that she awoke at the early hour of 4am to ask me if it was time for school yet.

Once we had a few more hours of sleep, had a fun owl shaped nutella breakfast treat (THANKS PINTEREST) and snapped a few photos it was time for school! Despite what the sign says, she told me on the way there she was most excited to drink from the water fountain!

              

 

 

 

 

 

When we arrived I asked Hallie if she knew where her backpack went.  She looked down at all the storage bins for the backpacks found her name and said “Here this one says Hallie”, tossed her backpack in and ran inside. First off, I had no idea she could recognize her name and secondly I actually had to call her back to give us hugs and kisses.  She is such a brave girl and though I was sad to see her go and felt like I was missing a limb all day, I was so proud of her!

         

If it weren’t for the fact that the first week of school the kids have early release, I am not sure I would have made it until it was time to pick her up! Finally the time came and I was embarrassingly the first Mom there! At first I just peeked in at her, and she was doing so good! Playing nicely and she even listened when the teachers called all the kids over for a last story before pickup, and was the first kid on the carpet!

When she saw me she beamed and that hug you guys, made the whole time apart worth it! I think it was the best hug she has ever given me.  The first thing she told me was that she learned there was no running inside. Only outside.  Then she told me about how she played with orange play-doh “Tia Joyce’s favorite color” and how she shared a toy dog with her friend Kylie.  It was so sweet hearing her talk all about her friends and what she learned. I even got to hear the cutest rendition of “the itsy bitsy spider” from her music class. But the best anecdote I got from her day was that water fountain she was so excited to drink from “squirted me right in the face!”

I am just so thankful for the teachers and staff at Hallie’s school.  She had such a great day and just can’t wait to go back Thursday!

Now enjoy some more photos of Hallie thanks to Purple Moments Photography!

Hello WordPress

Hi Friends! Welcome to my new domain! I am so glad you followed me here! I appreciate your patience as I navigate this new page. There is definitely a learning curve and some growing pains associated with the switch, but I am so glad that I did it! I love the clean look of my new page and I can’t wait to finish customizing it to make it more user friendly! That being said if anyone has any tips for me about managing Word Press, they would be greatly appreciated!

I am so excited for all our new journeys and that you get to follow along right here! Hallie starts preschool tomorrow! Yes! Can you believe it? So if you check back tomorrow I will have a slew of school photos for you, along with a lot of blubbering about how my baby can’t possibly be old enough to spend the whole day away from me. (And by whole day I only mean a couple of hours)  Here is a fun little sneak peek!

It’s going to be exciting you guys! Thanks for following along!

Life Lately- Beginnings

Beginnings.  I feel like a lot of things are in the beginning stages right now. Summer is melting into Fall, my favorite time of year, and we have so many important changes happening here in the Mock House.

For those of you that don’t know Christopher and I are opening our own T-shirt shop in the next few months. A lot of preparation has gone into getting things just right, and we can’t wait for things to be up and running.

Aside from that Hallie is back to ballet class, but now she gets to go all by herself.  Her Mommy and Me days are over which is so bittersweet.  But she is just oh so happy to be in class with all her friends and hearing her squeals and giggles from outside the closed door just warms my heart.

 

 

Last night we had meet the teacher.  It went great! Hallie immediately went into the classroom and started playing with all the toys and the other kids.  We are lucky to have our longtime pal Bowen in her class as well as her new friend Kylie from ballet, so I don’t have to worry about her feeling scared or lonely.  Her teachers were so nice and look as if they have plenty of experience which put my mind a little more at ease. Hallie is fiercely independent and is frustrated easily. We have been starting to have more temper tantrums recently, so I am happy to know these teachers have likely seen it all!
I am kicking myself for not getting a photo of Hallie with her teachers, but I was so distracted asking questions and getting to know the teachers and other families. I will be sure to flood you with school photos next week however, so stay tuned!

To add to all the newness, HappilyEverMock is making some HUGE changes.  Starting next week, you can find us over at our new very own domain: www.happilyevermock.com  This is such a big exciting change for us, and I hope you will continue to follow along!

Shop Share- Ben the Rooster Christmas Cards

Hi Friends! If you have been reading for a while, you know all about Ben the Rooster and how much we love his post cards and how great they have been for Hallie’s vocabulary and enthusiasm for learning!

Another amazing thing about Ben the Rooster is his stationary shop! When you purchase from the shop, 50% of the profits are used to help support under-resourced classrooms, how amazing is that?
Right now Ben has a really cool option for your kids to design their own holiday cards to send to family and friends! Hallie and I just tried it and it was super fun!

First Ben sends a postcard with the instructions and the canvas for your child to decorate.

Hallie chose to draw a snowman. So I helped her by drawing an example on scrap paper and letting her practice on scrap paper herself.  When she was ready, she finished on the paper canvas provided by Ben.

 

 

Once your child is done decorating their card, you just send them back to Ben in the pre-addressed and stamped envelope provided by Ben himself, and wait for your designs to come back! We can hardly wait to send out cards to Hallie’s loved ones this holiday season! Be sure to check back here closer to the holidays to see how amazing our cards turned out!

To learn more about Ben and the amazing activity opportunities he has for kids, check out his website or Instagram page!