Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Disclaimer
I hope you read these posts late at night. That's when I get time to write them and you know what can happen to the sense of humor...
Joy in Chicken Nuggets
Whenever I can find ways to make good food for my family in an easier or faster way it makes me really happy. That is why I cook all of my ground beef after getting it home from the store. Then I separate it in small portions and freeze it. It really is amazing how much time it saves to be able to go to the freeze, pull out a bag of meat and add it to whatever dish I am making for dinner. I love it when I think to do this with chicken pieces too.
Because of this search for efficiency I sometimes take time to make several meals at once and put them in the fridge. I don't try to knock myself out or anything, but making lasagna or meatloaf while I am already cooking the meat goes a long way as far as stocking the freezer goes.
However, there are those days when there isn't time to cook a frozen meatloaf (mostly because I forget to take something out of the freezer the night before...I guess that will be something I need to work on). So I need some fast meals that don't skimp on goodness. I love having homemade burritos in the freezer. I have made both Elise's (my gourmet sister-in-law) yummy recipe and chicken enchilladas as burritos. But no matter how great a recipe there often comes a time for something new.
That day was today.
So along with the lasagna, meatloaf, and bags of cooked hamburger and chicken I also made homemade chicken nuggets. I had made them once before a long long time ago (almost in a galaxy far far away...afterall it was in college) and I remember them being so yummy. They still are! And so easy to make! It's wonderful that with a morning worth of work we had nuggets for lunch and lasgna for dinner and more leftover.
So today I am happy with a freezer stocked with food. (Let me know if you ever want to come over for dinner, I might even remember to take something out of the freezer the night before.)
Because of this search for efficiency I sometimes take time to make several meals at once and put them in the fridge. I don't try to knock myself out or anything, but making lasagna or meatloaf while I am already cooking the meat goes a long way as far as stocking the freezer goes.
However, there are those days when there isn't time to cook a frozen meatloaf (mostly because I forget to take something out of the freezer the night before...I guess that will be something I need to work on). So I need some fast meals that don't skimp on goodness. I love having homemade burritos in the freezer. I have made both Elise's (my gourmet sister-in-law) yummy recipe and chicken enchilladas as burritos. But no matter how great a recipe there often comes a time for something new.
That day was today.
So along with the lasagna, meatloaf, and bags of cooked hamburger and chicken I also made homemade chicken nuggets. I had made them once before a long long time ago (almost in a galaxy far far away...afterall it was in college) and I remember them being so yummy. They still are! And so easy to make! It's wonderful that with a morning worth of work we had nuggets for lunch and lasgna for dinner and more leftover.
So today I am happy with a freezer stocked with food. (Let me know if you ever want to come over for dinner, I might even remember to take something out of the freezer the night before.)
A Crazy Day
So we got up this morning and headed off on our vaction to Disneyland. But we forgot our tickets and had to go back to get them, but of course half way there everyone had to have a potty break and by the time that was all said and done we missed the plane, but thats ok because...April Fools! Ha! Ha! Had to get one last joke in today.
Our April Fools started with getting Allie ready for crazy hair day at school. She said that all she wanted to do was not brush her hair and that would be "craazy hair!"
When Allie got back early from school the girls got into the April Fools spirit. They would run around saying silly things and then immeadiately yelling April Fools. Anna called Daddy and left him a message about a cat we found that mom said we could keep...and without much of a pause for a reaction she revealed the joke and laughed. When Allie talked to her Dad the list of April Fools jokes continued consecutively for several minutes, "Dad, we're not really here, April Fools! Dad, we found a dog and mom said we could keep it, April Fools! Dad, we saw a car upside down, April Fools!" Then Jennie repeated some of the same ones too.
At lunch I pulled my mom's classic "grape juice." After taking a sip Allie made a face and excalimed, "Purple water?" Oh, it can be so fun to say, "April Fools!"
After discovering that it really was water, not grape juice Jenny still would not drink it. Anna thought it was cool that it still made her mouth turn purple like grape juice does.
Shanna helped Anna and I pull together a spontaneous surprise at dinner time. The table was set with random utinsels, funny containers for cups, and upside down plates which covered April Fools notes that Anna made.
We all had fun trying to eat applesauce with a melon baller or icecream scoop. The meal (and the joke) was complete with a pitcher of "water" which was actually invisable Kool-aid. Everyone thought that was pretty funny after the water for lunch...after all, drink that was suppose to taste like fruit was really water and drink that looked like water really tasted like fruit.
We hope you all had a fun April Fools day too. And that's no joke!
Our April Fools started with getting Allie ready for crazy hair day at school. She said that all she wanted to do was not brush her hair and that would be "craazy hair!" When Allie got back early from school the girls got into the April Fools spirit. They would run around saying silly things and then immeadiately yelling April Fools. Anna called Daddy and left him a message about a cat we found that mom said we could keep...and without much of a pause for a reaction she revealed the joke and laughed. When Allie talked to her Dad the list of April Fools jokes continued consecutively for several minutes, "Dad, we're not really here, April Fools! Dad, we found a dog and mom said we could keep it, April Fools! Dad, we saw a car upside down, April Fools!" Then Jennie repeated some of the same ones too.
At lunch I pulled my mom's classic "grape juice." After taking a sip Allie made a face and excalimed, "Purple water?" Oh, it can be so fun to say, "April Fools!"
After discovering that it really was water, not grape juice Jenny still would not drink it. Anna thought it was cool that it still made her mouth turn purple like grape juice does.Shanna helped Anna and I pull together a spontaneous surprise at dinner time. The table was set with random utinsels, funny containers for cups, and upside down plates which covered April Fools notes that Anna made.
We all had fun trying to eat applesauce with a melon baller or icecream scoop. The meal (and the joke) was complete with a pitcher of "water" which was actually invisable Kool-aid. Everyone thought that was pretty funny after the water for lunch...after all, drink that was suppose to taste like fruit was really water and drink that looked like water really tasted like fruit.
We hope you all had a fun April Fools day too. And that's no joke!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Go Green!
Oh no, we are not talking about the environment here. Just the coolest color ever. And one of the great holidays of the year: St. Patrick's Day!
We celebrated this year with green eggs & ham with green milk for breakfast. It was a little humorous that the kids would eat all of that, but they drew the line when it came to green honey butter on their toast. They eat butter and honey on their toast all the time, but today they would not eat another bite because they didn't like it even have they took a taste.
For dinner we turned our kitchen into a restaurant (something the kids have liked doing recently). Tonight it became Mahoney's Cafe in honor of my Grandparents. Everyone got to order their choice of green foods such as mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, artichoke, limeade, green grapes, pickles and corned beef (which wasn't green).
We celebrated this year with green eggs & ham with green milk for breakfast. It was a little humorous that the kids would eat all of that, but they drew the line when it came to green honey butter on their toast. They eat butter and honey on their toast all the time, but today they would not eat another bite because they didn't like it even have they took a taste.
For dinner we turned our kitchen into a restaurant (something the kids have liked doing recently). Tonight it became Mahoney's Cafe in honor of my Grandparents. Everyone got to order their choice of green foods such as mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, artichoke, limeade, green grapes, pickles and corned beef (which wasn't green).
The big 4!
Jennie was so excited for her birthday. It was about 2 months beforehand that she decided she wanted a dog cake and she talked about it everyday..."My birthday is February 21st and I will be 4!" "My birthday is February 21st and everyone will get me presents." "My bithday is soon and I am going to have a dog cake." etc. etc. In fact she was so excited that we decided to make her a count down chain so she would know how many days until the big day. Everyday she faithfully went to the chain, first thing after she got up, to remove a link (or two).
Allie and Anna caught her excitement and spent the whole afternoon making crowns and necklaces and other things to wear for the party out of paper. The party was still a whole month away. In fact, Anna was very disappointed when her paper flip flops tore the first time she tried them on.
Finally the big day came. The dog cake was ready. There were presents wrapped. There was even a party planned. All of Jennie's family came to our house bringing her pick of bubblegum ice cream. (Yum! It reminds me of Snelgroves!) Grandma and Grandpa Rebarchik came too.
We each made our own pizza for dinner and Jennie opened presents while they cooked. Although it was hard to beat her excitedly ripping through her presents, I have to say the climax of the party for me was her blowing out the candles and getting to eat the pink bubblegum ice cream she picked out.
Happy Birthday Jennie!
(click here for more pictures)
Allie and Anna caught her excitement and spent the whole afternoon making crowns and necklaces and other things to wear for the party out of paper. The party was still a whole month away. In fact, Anna was very disappointed when her paper flip flops tore the first time she tried them on.
Finally the big day came. The dog cake was ready. There were presents wrapped. There was even a party planned. All of Jennie's family came to our house bringing her pick of bubblegum ice cream. (Yum! It reminds me of Snelgroves!) Grandma and Grandpa Rebarchik came too.
We each made our own pizza for dinner and Jennie opened presents while they cooked. Although it was hard to beat her excitedly ripping through her presents, I have to say the climax of the party for me was her blowing out the candles and getting to eat the pink bubblegum ice cream she picked out.
Happy Birthday Jennie!
(click here for more pictures)
A Few Favorite Photos
Walking across Lake Geneva on our way to see the ice sculpture competition which is held there the beginning of February every year. This year we got there when people were stilling working on their sculptures. It is amazing what people can do with a big pile of snow. (click here for more pictures)
Anna and Jennie enjoyed going to swimming lessons even though it was during the coldest part of the winter. They are becoming quite the cute little fish.
We had a fun valentine's day trip to Nauvoo which included a chance to swim, a trip to the fudge shop, making candles and rope, getting bricks and horseshoe nail rings. On the way home we stopped at a yummy all-you-can-eat steak buffet called Sirloin Stockade. (click here for more pictures)
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