Better in Bulk - Family photographer with a large family

Boys, Boys, Boys! Wordless Wednesday

Lolli — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:13:56 +0000

KitKat, my oldest, is in love with two very cute brothers….and yesterday, they added another little boy to their family. She couldn’t be more thrilled.

This afternoon, we took a little trip to the hospital, just me, KitKat, and a camera.

For more inspiring photos, check: High Impact Mom, The Bonafide Life, Shanamama, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Mom Blog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories.

Linked up to Wordful Wednesday, Wordish Wednesday, and Wordless Wednesdays all over.

Are you playing along with Wordless or Wordful Wednesday today? Link up!
Want to grab my button?

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Meal Makeover

Lolli — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:27:55 +0000

This is an old favorite recipe of mine that underwent a “meal makeover” with the Meal Makeover Moms Janice and Liz, making it not only easy and tasty, but healthy, too! I won a meal makeover consultation a month or two ago, and I had a blast chatting with Janice and Liz on the phone in April as we discussed some of my recipes that might need a little healthy boost. This ended up being the recipe that stood out the most.

I made the new and improved Chicken Cordon Bleu for my family last week, and everyone loved it, even my teen who normally doesn’t like the swiss cheese-ham combo on her chicken. She asked for seconds and then had some for lunch the next day. Score!

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu

5.0 from 3 reviews

Recipe type: main dish

Author: Meal Makeover Moms

Serves: 6-8

The flavor of this dish shines thanks to the Holland House cooking wine. Our families enjoy this saucy dish with brown rice and steamed broccoli florets on the side. You could also serve it with whole grain noodles and just about any other veggie: peas, asparagus, carrots … you name it.

Ingredients

½ cup all-purpose flour plus 3 tablespoons, divided
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 x 3-inch strips (32 total)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
½ cup Holland House Cooking Wine
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon celery seed
1½ cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup all-natural chicken broth
6 ounces diced spiral or honey-baked ham (1 cup)
2 ounces low-fat Swiss cheese, chopped or shredded (about ½ cup)

Instructions

Place ½ cup of the flour, the pepper, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. Toss the chicken in the flour mixture until each piece is well coated.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and repeat with 1 more tablespoon oil and the remaining chicken. Adjust the heat to medium if the chicken browns too quickly. Remove the chicken to a plate when done.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, the remaining 3 tablespoons of flour, the basil, paprika, and celery seed and whisk constantly until smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk the cooking wine into the flour mixture until well incorporated and the wine has cooked off a bit, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and broth until well combined. Raise the heat and bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer and stir gently until the mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir the chicken and ham into the milk mixture and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat, stir in the cheese until it melts, and serve on individual plates with your favorite vegetable and whole grain starch.

Notes

Nutrition Information per Serving: 340calories, 13g fat (3.0g saturated), 590mg sodium, 13g carbohydrate, 0g fiber, 37g protein, 15% calcium

Janice and Liz also made a video of the recipe for those of you who do well with visual cues.

A huge thank you to the Meal Makeover Moms for everything!

Sneak Peek at Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE: “Fergus Shares a Legend”

Lolli — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:21:03 +0000

I’m getting more and more excited about my upcoming trip to LA for the premiere of Disney/Pixar’s newest movie BRAVE. I love this new clip that was just released over the weekend:

BRAVE arrives in theaters everywhere on June 22nd! Where will YOU be on June 22? I’ll be taking my kids to see Brave, for sure!

“Like” BRAVE on Facebook: Facebook.com/PixarBrave

Our Recipe for the Perfect Grilled Meat – Just “Cross Your Fingers!”

Lolli — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:06 +0000

I asked my husband, lovingly referred to as CandyMan in these parts, to share the story of how we learned how to grill the most delicious meats on the block.

“It doesn’t take a master chef to grill a good steak.” ~CandyMan

When Lolli and I got married, neither one of us was an amazing chef. I had worked in Richmond’s LeMaire restaurant in the Jefferson Hotel with a great head chef, but I never touched the grill.

We spent the first few years of marriage eating a lot of dry hamburgers, flavorless steaks and many other meat-challenged meals looking for the elusive magic recipe or grilling technique.

As luck would have it, shortly after moving into our current house, we became friends with someone who is not a chef, not professionally trained in France, not even a restaurant worker. He is simply a man from Argentina who knows his meats and his grill, and he shared with us the simple truths of fool-proof, great grilling.

Our friend taught us the “secret” of dry rub grilling. He had his own special blend of spices, and as soon as we could, we tried it on our own grill.

The secret: To make meat taste great, all you need is seasoned salt and any kind of spice you like.

The first time we tried this on our own, we mixed up some seasoned salt, Italian Seasoning, Montreal Steak seasoning, and a few other random spices. We didn’t know if it would be as good as our friend’s cooking, so we called our spice mixture “Cross Your Fingers.”

It ended up being a perfect blend, but we didn’t write down a recipe for it.

I pull out a piece of foil, then take my ribs, chicken, steak, or whatever I am grilling and place it on the foil. Then I baste the meat lightly in vegetable oil and sprinkle it with salt and spices.

I flip the meat over and baste the other side and sprinkle it again with seasoned salt and whatever spices I am using. I close up the foil so that the meat is completely wrapped and sealed. I then put the sealed foil on the grill and cook until it is about half way done. Then, I pull it out of the foil and throw it right on the grill to just singe it with the flames a little bit (Lolli’s favorite step).

Since that time, we have seen over and over again that all you need to do is baste your meat, lightly sprinkle with seasoned salt and then add your choice of spices. Cross your fingers or not, you’ll get a fantastic flavor every time.

And the best part about grilling for us (besides the savory meats)? Sharing the food with our friends, of course!

These are just some of the reasons why Grilling is my Happiness. Besides all of the tasty food, tell me what you love about grilling. One of my lucky readers who answers below will win a $25 Sears Gift Card!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sears. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Project 365 (Week 20)

Lolli — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:45:23 +0000

This last week was more exciting than usual at home. My mother in law was here for the week (and to celebrate the birthday she shares with AJ). Nana and I had adventures almost every day, including the adventure of another hernia surgery for Candyman, a trip to the Smithsonian, and the development of caterpillars to crysallys.

Here’s a peek at our week, as seen from Instagram:

What have you been up to this week?

I’m Heading Back to CA for Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE and CARS LAND Opening #BraveCarsLandEvent

Lolli — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:36:14 +0000

Yes, the title IS quite a mouthful. I simply couldn’t figure out how to pack so much awesomeness into one small line.

I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such an amazing year of travel. Oh! The places I’ve seen! We’re not even halfway through 2012, and already I’ve been to New York City twice, Florida once, and – in a few weeks – I’ll be taking my third trip to California, my home state.

I’m ecstatic to announce that I will be joining 24 other bloggers for an amazing (and packed) 4 days of adventure, movies, friends, and fun. Here’s a sneak peek at what I get to experience in Los Angeles…

We will be attending the red carpet premiere of Disney/Pixar’s newest movie BRAVE at the Dolby Theater (Yes, I will be walking the red carpet at the same theater where the Academy Awards are held) as well as interviewing Kelly Macdonald (voice of “Merida”), Kevin McKidd (voice of “Lord MacGuffin”) and Director Mark Andrews and Producer Katherine Sarafian. We will also be screening the upcoming movie PEOPLE LIKE US with a Q&A from Director Alex Kurtzman as well as seeing a sneak peek of Tim Burton’s new movie FRANKENWEENIE.

If all the movie and press day excitement weren’t enough, we’ll also be spending time at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure parks, where we’ll be experiencing the new Cars Land, 12 acres of fun with new three attractions, and so much more.

Add to all of that excitement is the fact that I get to see some of my favorite people (especially a few of the bloggers who were on the Florida Disney World trip with me last month). Stay tuned here, at 5 Minutes for Mom, and by following the hashtag #BraveCarsLandEvent as I gear up for the trip and then as I set off on my adventure to California in just a few weeks.

Disclosure: Disney/Pixar is sponsoring my travel, accommodations and activities during the #BraveCarsLandEvent in June. As always, thoughts, opinions, and excitement are my own.

An Avengers Birthday

Lolli — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:46:52 +0000

AJ turned 7 years old today! I can’t believe my baby is 7!

As is our tradition, he woke up early this morning and opened his presents before the majority of the family left for school.

On the eve of his birthday, AJ watched Iron Man for the first time. It was perfect timing, because his aunt and uncle had sent him two Avengers action figures. He couldn’t be more thrilled with his new Iron Man and Captain America action figures, and he’s already scheming about building a shelf in his room for his new (and hopefully expanding) Avengers collection.

His present from me was a butterfly garden and a jar full of caterpillars and caterpillar food. Yes, that’s what he wanted this year. So far, Iron Man is more exciting than the caterpillars…

Now I’m thinking of convincing him to change his birthday party theme to the Avengers instead of monkeys. Have any great Avengers party ideas?

Being a Kid for a Day #YesMemory – Give Me Your Best Shot #PSF

Lolli — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:32:37 +0000

It seems like ages ago that I got back from my trip to San Jose to visit YesVideo’s headquarters, but it really wasn’t that long ago. “Real life” tends to envelop me and make those glorious days of travel seem to be more distant than they really are.

I left my memory card with all of my pictures with YesVideo (on purpose) when I flew back home, so even though these photos were not taken this week, I thought it would be ok to share them now, since I just got a few of them yesterday (these are a combination of photos from my camera and from other members of our group, which included Drew from BenSpark.com, Kim from Mommycosm.com, Dwan from MommaDJane.com, and Stephanie from QueenScarlett.com, among several YesVideo employees more than happy to sacrifice some of their day to entertain us).

Here are a few fun shots from our lunch trip to Dave and Busters, where – I’m proud to say – I totally blew everyone away with my horse racing skills. Ok, maybe I DID find out after the fact that not everyone had two balls like I did…

We really did feel like kids playing games all day. Everyone totally got into the role! I love how Drew was video taping himself while driving (I’m just hoping he doesn’t do that in a real car…).

Gotta love the expressions here!

Stephanie and I got in the photo booth together….

…And came back with this very silly picture of what our baby would look like. Ha!

Despite all of the tickets that these ladies collected, no one came close to my stash. Yes, I AM a rock star.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

To play Give Me Your Best Photo Story Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign the link list:
<center><a href="http://betterinbulk.net/tag/give-me-your-best-shot" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://mychaosmybliss.com" target="_blank"></a><br/>Hosted by <a href="http://mychaosmybliss.com/" target="_blank">Cecily</a> and <a href="http://www.betterinbulk.net" target="_blank">Lolli</a> <p/></center>

Disclosure: I am a YesVideo ambassador and receive compensation for my time and involvement with them. I also received an expense-paid trip to California earlier this month to visit their headquarters. All thoughts are my own.

10 Travel Photography Tips

Lolli — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:08:57 +0000

It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that photography and traveling are two of my favorite things. Since I’ve had a chance to play tourist in my own area, as well as take several trips already this year, I have had plenty of chances to remind myself of my un-written rules about travel photography.

10 Tips for Capturing Great Travel Photos

Carry your camera with you whenever you go out. Remember – sometimes it’s ok to be a cellphonographer, too. Cell phone photos can be a great supplement to the rest of your vacation photos, and often provide a fun and unique view of the trip.
Include people in your photos. Landscapes, buildings, and monuments are wonderful, but don’t forget to add your fellow travellers in at least some of the shots. People shots will enhance your memories and add personality to the photos.

Carry plenty of extra (charged) batteries. Remember that you will probably be taking many more pictures on the road than you would at home, so be prepared with back up batteries. When you get back to the hotel (or home base) every night, make sure to fully charge them for the next day’s events.
Have extra memory cards on hand. This tip is especially important if you won’t be near a computer to upload photos each day. It’s worth it to buy an extra card or two so that you don’t run the risk of missing out on photos due to a full memory card.
Try different perspectives – include a variety of horizontal and vertical shots. Focus on the unexpected. Sometimes what seem like the most ordinary scenes will tell more about your trip than the standard tourist shots.
Turn off the flash. Many locations (especially museums) don’t allow flash, so it’s good to be prepared and know how to handle low light photography.
Be your own tripod. Whether you’re dealing with low light situations or shots utilizing a long zoom, be sure to brace your camera to avoid camera shake. (this is another case where those indoor photography tips can come in handy).
Hand your camera to someone else every once in a while. Have you ever returned from a trip only to discover that YOU were not in any of the photos? Yeah, that happens to me all the time…
If there’s ever a question about whether you should take a shot or not, always err on the “take it” side. Don’t hesitate. Digital photos are free, and it’s better to have a bunch of silly shots than to miss capturing an adventure altogether.
Take a ton of pictures. You can always go back later and delete the bad shots, but you can rarely go back and get a shot you missed because you hesitated.

Summer is on it’s way, and with the season comes many opportunities to go on vacation or take short day trips around town. Use these tips to make the most of your vacation photos. Once you’re home, how wonderful would it be to make a DVD of your travel photos and videos with YesVideo?

What are your favorite things to photograph when you are traveling?

Disclosure: I am a YesVideo ambassador and receive compensation for my time and involvement with them. All photo tips and opinions are my own.

Note: I am now selling a handful of my photos on Picha, and you can actually purchase each of these photos along with others (new photos added daily) for as little as a dollar. I’d love for you to check them out!

Smithsonian National Zoological Park – #WW

Lolli — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:06:13 +0000

A few weeks ago, when my brother and sister in law were in town, we spent a day at the National Zoo in nearby Washington DC. The day was perfect, the animals cooperated, and we had a blast.

And there were 9 very tired Franklins at the end of the day.

What are your favorite animals to visit when you go to the zoo?

Linked up to Wordful Wednesday, Wordish Wednesday, and Wordless Wednesdays all over.

Are you playing along with Wordless or Wordful Wednesday today? Link up!
Want to grab my button?