Food, Family & Fun

The past four days were so awesome. Trying at times (especially the part about not going to work and sharing a 900 square foot house with my two kids, all their freaking toys, and all their attitude), but definitely awesome

FOOD (or Carbs, Carbs, Everywhere)

For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to my Sister-In-Law's in-law's house, if that makes any sense. My husband's family all gathered there as well and it turned out really nice. Especially because I didn't have to cook OR clean! Although I didn't cook for Thanksgiving, I ended up cooking (and eating!) a whole lot of meals these past four days for just my family.

Mushroom bread pudding

Creamy apple pie with pecan crumble topping (my favorite pie...ever!)

Ginger-soy chicken. The ginger flavor comes from ginger preserves which is an unusual but fun ingredient.

My favorite recipe for homemade, from-scratch pancakes. I seriously haven't purchased pancake mix in four years.

Breakfast Quiche. I had two homemade pie doughs from the crust I made for my apple pie. I didn't want them to go the usual route of being forgotten about and thrown away 3 months later. So, this morning, I threw together a "whatever is in the fridge" quiche. The filling: fresh parmesan cheese, half a ball of fresh mozarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes (nuked in the microwave then pan-fried for a perfect crispy outside), onions, and garlic. Help: I still have one pie dough left!

Delicious one-pot pasta. I got this from Pinterest. Basically it's pasta, broccoli, garlic, and parmesan cheese all cooked in one big pot. Almost no dishes. And yummy.

Chicken with cream sauce. I took a Julia Child recipe and ran with it. I didn't like her method- I know, right, who am I to criticize Julia Child?!  Oh. The. Nerve.

I can't tell you how many times I scrubbed the entire surface of my kitchen counters and sink. I can't tell you how many dirty dishes I washed. I can't tell you how many times I had to pour Ryan one more handful of Cheerios to keep him happy while I was occupied. I CAN tell you how extremely DRY my hands are right now. I feel like reptile lady. But I LOVE to cook. This weekend was cooking therapy for me.

FAMILY & FUN

On Saturday we celebrated a friend's birthday party at a nearby public pool. I supervised Jacob while I also entertained Ryan in the pool. Ryan LOVED the water. He's always loved taking baths and, to him, the pool was one gigantic bathtub in which to splash.

Jacob really wanted to float down the lazy river so I decided to buck up and get wet. I'm not a fan of swimming or being wet or being cold so I tried my darndest to stay on the sidelines. I wasn't sure how Ryan would do in the lazy river. There were no other babies in that area of the pool. But it turned out I had no reason to worry. He's just like his big brother and loves water. I bounced along the lazy river with Ryan as Jacob hung on to floaties. Jacob grabbed Ryan's hand and the two of them giggled and splashed as we all went around and around.

Because Ryan's still little, there aren't many things the two of them can really do together. It was a special treat to see my two boys have so much fun together. I'm always worried that being nearly 4 years apart in age, the boys won't be that close as they grow up. They are proving me wrong nearly every day.

This morning Ryan started to crawl! It was more like an army crawl but it got the job done. He managed to get his knees under his body a couple times. He's been good at maneuvering around on the floor for a long time now, this was just the first time he did so in a typical "pre-crawl" method. I love that he can reach for toys on his own now. I hate that I have to start cleaning the floors more often now. I also have to be extra vigilant about removing all power cords from his reach when I leave a room. He is obsessed with power cords and, admittedly, when I'm really busy I'll give him one to fling around just because it's a sure-fire way to keep him occupied. But I definitely don't want him to have one when I'm not watching. Yikes!

Ready to see Santa!

Today, we took Jacob and Ryan to see Santa at the mall. Jacob was so excited. I kept reminding my husband and myself that we have to enjoy every ounce of his excitement. This age is pretty much as exciting and magical as Christmas gets. I was harshly reminded of this fact as we stood in line to see Santa and the pre-teen behind us was giving her mom major attitude for having to sit on Santa's lap. The pre-teen was so obnoxious I almost clocked her with my diaper bag. She kept saying that Santa wasn't real and the man in the red suit was a creepy pedophile dressed in costume. SERIOUSLY. I know we've probably all thought that at one point but you can't SAY IT. IN FRONT OF CHILDREN. AT THE MALL!

Right when I was about to turn around and tell her to shut her pimply pie-hole, her mother did the job for me. Thank goodness because I would have been less loving than her mother. And I probably would have used a swear word. Especially if Jacob had overheard anything.

Turns out, however, Ryan agrees with her.

Nope. Ryan does not like the creepy pedophile dressed in costume.

(forgive me sweet Santa man, I know you really are NOT a pedophile)

 

Ryan showed signs of PTSD from the experience for the rest of the day. "Hey kids, look at those cool lights in the shape of a Santa!"

 

 

Ryan: "NOOOOOOO!!!!!"



Friday Favorite Things {4}

Busy, crazy week.

Lots of teething tears.

And stuffy noses.

Planning fails.

And loss of sleep.

But sweet, simple moments too.

Ones worth lingering in a little bit longer...

Sad little soul made a wee bit happier.

Apples from Papa are good.

Teething, not so much.

Afternoon of science.

Amazement at breads ability to absorb.

Toy joy.

The noise of this one drives me crazy.

Her obvious delight at having figured it out means she gets to keep it.

Friday evening coloring extravaganza.

Accompanied by heart felt conversation.

Time well spent.

New songs discovered.

I love how music can bring such calm and cheerfulness to the heart.

And the moments without picture proof...

Throwing rocks in the river as the sun slowly announces day's end.

And a little stops, sighs and leans in close:

"It's boo-ti-ful."

A baby pulling herself near to lay her head on my back and snuggle close.

A knock on the door which I open to find a gift offered up.

A dirty pine cone from their pine cone garden.

A return to the table to thank me for a meal I thought was a miserable fail.

Savory Mushroom Bread Pudding

To celebrate our friend's wedding the other year, we visited a winery in Osooyoos, Canada. When the waiter appeared at our table to ask if we were ready to order, my two-year-old Jacob loudly exclaimed to him, "we want the duck!" Jacob didn't sit at the table for much longer and I remember chasing him around the mini bell tower amidst freezing gusts of wind.

 

Somehow, I eventually wrangled him back to the table for just long enough to scarf down my meal. I don't even remember the main course. My meal was completely overshadowed by an incredible mushroom bread pudding.

When we got back to Washington, I was determined to recreate the dish. I reviewed several recipes but none of them looked just right. So I combined some of them to create a close-enough rendition. I thought of this recipe today because it's the perfect dish for Thanksgiving. It's got the texture of everyone's beloved stuffing, but it's so much richer. If you don't mention the mushrooms, I'm sure you can even get the kids to try it!

Mushroom Bread Pudding

1 loaf french bread

1 lb cremini mushrooms, diced

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot

3 Tbs butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups half and half

4 eggs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Salt & pepper

 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

 

2. Slice bread into cubes. Place on baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 7-10 minutes until slighty crunchy or golden brown. (or you can use stale bread)

 

3. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.

 

4. Add mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until most of the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes.

 

5. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.

 

6. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add half-and-half and mix to combine. Then season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in mushrooms and bread cubes and mix until well coated.

 

7. Place everything into a buttered baking dish. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Apple Pork Chops With Hard Cider

I played around in the kitchen today. The results were delicious. I combined a bunch of things that I love into one dish: pork chops, bacon(!), apples, and hard apple cider(!). The dish is not novel or genius, in fact, I'm pretty sure it's been done in many variations. But pork chops can be tricky because they dry out and lose flavor so easily. I finally mastered how to cook them!

And seriously, how can you go wrong with any dish that has both bacon AND alcohol?

So, based on my experience, here's the deal with juicy pork chops: (1) You have to buy bone-in chops. The bones are annoying to cut around and take away valuable meat space BUT that's the key to juiciness! (2) Sprinkle the chops with salt and let them warm to room temperature before you cook them. (3) If you're pan-frying the pork, make sure the pan is super hot first. (4) Don't overcook. The USDA recently lowered the required internal temperature of pork to 145 degrees. When it reaches this temp, it's done! (5) Wrap pork in bacon!

Ok, honestly, I don't know if the bacon really does anything. But it's delicious.

Apple Pork Chops With Hard Cider

2-4 bone-in pork chops (unless the chops are huge, one hungry person will probably want two chops)
8-12 bacon slices
1/2 cup sliced onions
1 apple, sliced thin
2 Tbs butter
12 oz bottle of hard apple cider (you can also use regular apple cider)
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
Salt & pepper

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Make sure pan is SUPER hot before you add the pork so that bacon will cook all the way.

2. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. Wrap each chop with 2-3 slices of bacon, depending on size of chop. Secure bacon with toothpicks.

3. Place pork chops in hot pan. Cook 4 minutes each side, until bacon is brown and pork chops reach an internal temperature of 145. Remove pork from pan and set aside.

4. Wipe out the pan and add the butter. When the butter has melted add in the onions and the apple slices and cook until the onions are dark brown and carmelized.

5. Add one bottle of hard apple cider and lower the temperature slightly. Add the worchestershire sauce. Let the hard apple cider reduce for about 3-5 minutes, then add the pork chops into the pan. Cook for a couple minutes, until the pork chops are nice and hot once again.

The hard apple cider sauce was probably my favorite part. Although the meat, wrapped in more meat, was also pretty good.

"Oh, Your Love"

I love Christa Wells' music.

I especially love this song.

So when given a chance to submit our picture to be used in the video, I was more than happy to!

You'll find me and the girls hanging out around the 2:05 mark in the video!

Oh, Your Love

I know that you knew

You raised us to leave you

Raised us to run with a torch in our hands

I know that you knew 

What your love would do

Sent us out sailors with the wind at our backs

I know that you gave

Without keeping record

Except to be certain you had nothing left

I know that you gave

Til it hurt though you never

Admitted anything but the joy and gladness

Ooh, your love always carried us

I know that you followed us

Late in the darkness

Pulled up the blankets, covered us in prayer

I know that you followed

Our paths to independence

With a great deal of patience and a little bit of fear

But ooh, your love always carried us

I know that you see us 

The way we were back then

You can't let go, you can't really let us go

But I hope that you see how

You took those little children

To the light that leads us all to our true home

And ooh, your love always carries us

Ooh, your love will always carry us

I know that you knew what your love would do

Like what you hear?

Consider backing Christa's new album!

For more information, go here!

Twinkies

That is all.

The Red Carpet {BFIAR}

The week before last we 'rowed' The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin.

What was the story about?

Piper: At the hotel the man pushes the carpet out. It keeps rolling on the road. It goes all over town. The police officers try to get it and put it in jail.

Taitum: It goes to the ferry!!

Piper: The Duke thinks that's nice of them. They drive back to the city. The Duke tells all his friends.

What was your favorite part?

Piper: When they make a new part for the hotel.

Taitum: When the carpet goes to the ferry!

We pulled out our Little People town, set it up and added a red carpet!

Piper quite enjoyed creating a tangled maze of red carpet ribbon through her town!

Even our littlest student enjoyed this activity!

We learned about police officers.

We used many of the printables from Homeschool Creations' Police Printable Pack.

Taitum surprised me with how well she did with the pre-writing trace pages I gave her!

She also completed a police officer's colors book and proved that she knows most of her colors now!

Both girls did the How Many Fingerprints? booklet by adding the right number of fingerprints to each page.

Piper did a few of the printables from The Red Carpet printables, also at Homeschool Creations.

She did a sign scavenger hunt where she had to find various signs in the illustrations of the book.

She also completed a maze and a copywork sheet.

Then, of course, we had to BECOME police officers ourselves!

I printed off a hat and badge for each gal and let them have some fun pretending!

In the story, the carpet causes a vendor to overturn his pretzel cart.

Delightful Learning provided me with the idea of trying some pretzels for ourselves so one day we headed out for an extra special snack at the mall!

Neither girl was overly fond of their pretzel but it was a fun morning out nonetheless!

The girls learned some new vocabulary: arrest, statue, dock and hoarse.

For the most part, learning new vocabulary has been their own doing!

With each book we read they hear new words and inquire as to their meaning!

I love their inquisitiveness and it makes it far easier for me to decide which words we should concentrate on!

We also talked about hotels and what the purpose of them is.

We discussed what police officers do and when to call 911.

WE even talked about why cows wear bells around their necks after the girls noticed one in the illustrations!

I have to say, as much fun as the actvities are, so much learning happens simply from their questions and interest. They notice things and wonder about things I never would and it always leads to really interesting conversations! As a result, they are learning far more then I could have imagined!