Turkey Soup

So, in preparation for the new baby's arrival, I've been stockpiling food to have in those first few weeks.  I got a free turkey back in November as part of the grocery store's promotions for Thanksgiving.  We didn't celebrate Thanksgiving in town, but I wasn't passing up a FREE $17 turkey!  It sat in the freezer for a few weeks, until the other day when I decided it was taking up too much space.  I decided to make it for dinner last night, and use the leftovers for tonight for Turkey Enchilladas.  I also knew I wanted to make Turkey Soup.  So, I saved the carcass, found this recipe online and was successful in making 3 batches of Turkey Soup!

Review: I would have tried to get more meat off the bone before putting it in the stock pot.  I didn't have a fine metal mesh to strain the soup so I used the strainer from one of my pots and some cheese cloth.  I wanted to freeze the soup in plastic bags a la Jamie Lee Curtis.  I first put the bag in a large bowl, so that the pouring of the liquid wouldn't make the bag fall over, or if it did, it wouldn't make a mess.  I had to spoon some of the turkey and veggies into each bag, but I laid them flat in the freezer and can't wait to see how they turn out!

Buy Fabric To Make Something, Using A Sewing Machine

I think I did a great job with this task.  With the baby's room changing from green with monkeys for Josh to green and pink with butterflies, the old rocking chair cushions needed to be updated.

See this old video of the reveal of Josh's baby room?
http://silverfamilyil.blogspot.com/2009/05/extremem-makeover-nursery-addition.html
about 1:13 into the video you can see the old fabric.

Here's what the new one looks like.  I had originally picked out some butterfly fabric, but by the time I got back to the store to purchase it, they were sold out!

I started by  taking apart the old cushions to see what my Aunt Terri had done.  Basic straight stitches.  I traced the cushion twice, only to realize that it's not even on both sides.  Plus I traced with the old fabric on, which made it bigger...oh well, I finally got the two pieces similar enough sew three sides.  the complicated thing was adding the ribbons to tie to the chair.  I gave up trying to do a fabric tie and just added some ribbon, which I think is even better.  However, I sewed them to the inside! I had to open some stitches and put them back through the front.  I got the cushion in and sewed close as possible to the cushion.  I actually did two runs.  First, to close the square, and the second to make it tight, the cut out off the first so that I wouldn't have any overhang.  It's not perfect or great, but I'm not selling it or looking for awards - it fits the needs I have.

I was a bit more confident with the bottom cushion, and I made a few mistakes.  I sewed the the edges too close together (in attempt to make it tight, and forgot to leave room for the fabric to come down the sides.  I ended up having to trim the cushion foam to fit the fabric around the cushion.  I also didn't put the ribbon ties the same on both sides.  If you imagine the numbers 1 , 2 and 3 running down the sides of the cushion, then I sewed the ribbons on 1 and 2 on one side and 1 and 3 on the other side..oh well, I hope it will be ok.  Again, not perfect or winning any awards, but it should keep the cushion on the chair.

Weekend with Jared

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Austin.  Since we flew in to Dallas Friday night,we left Josh with Jared parents, borrowed their car and drove about 3 hour to Austin.  We had never been there before and enjoyed walking around downtown.   Our initial itinerary is in black, what we actually did is in red.

1. arrive and head for barbeque lunch at Lamberts.  We left later than expected, so we stopped for barbecue ont he way at Rudy's instead.  The food was good and hit the spot.  It's interesting how much football is a part of high school life in Texas...it was as if the whole town was there pre- game!

We arrived at the Hilton Austin before our room was ready, so we set off for our tour.

2.Check out this river boat tour.  A scenic tour of the city by boat, passing million dollar homes and breathtaking natural scenery.  Unfortunately, I misread the website and they closed up for the season at the end of October...we just walked around for a bit, saw the Occupy Austin camp and walked around it.  

By this time our room was ready and we went back to check in and freshen up before dinner

3. The Driskill - live music, historic hotel.  I figure we could have a drink here before dinner.  We enjoyed the pretzel sticks..Jared tried two local beers and I just had a Dr. Pepper.  We saw several members of a bridal party and the guests.  Looked like they must have been between the ceremony and reception.

On our walk to dinner, we walked down 6th street which was filled with several eclectic bars, mostly cheering on the Texas Longhorns.  There was a big Kansas State game that night. 

4.  dinner at Bess bistro.  I admit it caught my eye because it is supposedly owned by Sandra Bullock, but it looks good too!  We had a good meal here; unfortunately because I am writing this almost a month later, I don't remember exactly what we ate.  Jared had some scallops, I had a Croque Monsieur (which was not what I was remembering) and the Mac & Cheese. 

5. Catch an improv show at Esther's Follies.  We walked here after dinner to help our food digest, but didn't arrive until 8:15.  Since the show started at 8pm, and another at 10, we decided to call it a night and just go back to our hotel room.  

6. On Sunday for Brunch, I thought we could check out the highball for a Jazz Brunch.  Instead we went to the Old Pecan St. Cafe since it was within walking distance.  I LOVED the french toast and Jared tried the breakfast tacos, since we were advised by Jodi's boyfriend to do this morning.

7.  We could then walk it off through the Botanic Gardens, we do get a reciprocal admission - FREE!  We wanted to try out a segway tour before we left but weren't allowed to participate since I am pregnant.  Oh, well I guess we'll just go home.  Our trip home took longer than expected because of an accident that caused traffic to go super slow for 4 miles...Jared was luckily able to listen to football games on the radio.  

8. if we want on the way home, we can pick up cupcakes at the Quack Bakery.  totally forgot to stop here...I was just anxious to see Josh...he rewarded me with a big scream and ran to give me a hug when we got home.  

Make A Recipe I Find On A Blog

I was kind of at an impass last week trying to menu plan.  I found this recipe when Googling and found a new blog I like to read too!

Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole

Credit: Jimmy Dean, via Diary of a Stay at Home Mom blog1 pkg. (26 ounces) frozen shredding hash brown potatoes

1 pkg. Jimmy Dean® Hearty Original Sausage Crumbles, found near the pre-packaged deli meats

1 cup (4 ounces) shredding mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredding Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained, found in the produce area

6 green onions, sliced, Note: this wasn't quite enough, so I used the whole bunch

12 eggs

1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 ground black pepper 

my ingredients

Directions

1. Spray a 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Layer 1/2 of the potato on the bottom of slow cooker. Note: I used the wrong kind of potatoes, AND they were still frozen together...next time I would use the shredding hash brown potatoes, as indicated in the instructions

2. Top with half of the sausage, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, sun dried tomatoes and green onion.

Repeat layering.

3. Beat eggs, milk and pepper in large bowl with a wire whisk until well blended. 

this picture is included because I don't think I've ever used so many eggs at once!

4. Pour evenly over potato-sausage mixture.

5. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours or on high setting for 3-4 hours or until eggs are set. 

Finished!

Review: I set this on low at 11 the night before, figuring we'd wake up around 7, and we did. It burned a little though...i guess if I make it again, it probably has to be a brunch thing that I start at 7am and eat around 11. Also, I'd probably put some more salt in the eggs than I did this time...not sure when I can make it again though...

**since i also photo documented this, I get to mark off two items from my list!

Wedding Video on DVD

well Jared did this for me as an 8th wedding anniversary, but I am going to mark it off since it is complete.  We watched the video..perhaps I should transcribe my vows.  I'm not sure I am following everything!

10 Restaurants #3

Wednesday was our 8th wedding anniversary, so on Saturday night, my parents came over, and we checked out Seasons 52 in Schaumburg.  Jared insists we went here in Orlando a few years ago.  The mini desserts sound familiar, but I am going to count this as a new one nonetheless.

I made a reservation on open table about a month before.  We had driven by it and Jared had said we should go there for our anniversary.  So I hopped on the app on my phone and made the reservation...being sure to note that it would be our anniversary.

We arrived just before 7pm and the parking lot was full...thank goodness for complimentary valet service!

We checked in for our reservation, but since we were a little early, they gave us a pager and we waited for a bit.  We were quickly seated in the dining room and given an anniversary card!  It was very generic, but I appreciated the gesture.  Our waiter Eric came over and congratulated us on our anniversary, asking how many years it was.

Since I'm pregnant, I couldn't order anything to drink, but Jared enjoyed a glass of the Anna's Merlot.  He later had a second!

We ordered the garlic chicken flatbread, the arugula and mixed greens salads, and the scallops and filet for dinner.  The flatbread was so good, it was gone in a couple of minutes...Jared enjoyed his arugula salad - it had a truffle dressing on it.  I ordered the mixed greens salad since it had a white balsamic dressing...I was kind of curious about that...it was just a bit lighter than a regular balsamic...in retrospect I could have passed on the salad and saved more room for the desserts. I didn't finish my salad.

The filet was done perfectly and the mushrooms were delicious!  Some of the carrots were undercooked but most were soft.  And the garlic mashed potatoes were heavenly!  Jared said the scallops were so good, they melted!  Neither of us really ate our asparagus.

We had four of the mini indulgences: Chocolate peanut butter, pumpkin pie, carrot cake, and key lime pie.  All were delicious and 2 were complimentary for our anniversary!  They were the perfect size, just a taste.  We also had some coffee which was great too...wish I could have drank more...I had no more room in my belly!

The room was dark, but lit in just the right places.  It seemed a lot of couples came there, with friends...perhaps next time we can revisit with some friends

Room Updates: Lighting Fixtures in Guest & Blue Room

Guest Room with no light fixture

now, with the ceiling fan Jared and his dad installed in June.

 Blue Room before decluttering and no light fixture

now with the matching ceiling fan...and a few other changes you'll get the full reveal later.

Powder Room Update

 

Pink walls

pink toilet

a much better color

we removed the towel bar and have hung a towel ring. most importantly the toilet is no longer white!

we also painted the formerly pink laundry room doors back to their original white.

Blue Room

We've decided not to paint the Blue Room.  Surprisingly enough, the bedspread we found for Josh's big boy room coordinates perfectly!

Tulips

Well, I must not have remembered correctly that Jared had planted tulips in the front bed because last week they started popping up in beautiful purples and pinks.

DIY revamp

The furniture we got from my grandparents was in great condition, it just needed some updating. I really wanted to paint it white, but Jared didn't think it would look very good.  And thinking about how many drawers there are, it would have taken forever, not to mention the sanding beforehand that I would have had to have done.  So we compromised and spray painted the pulls silver.  I'm not sure they'll stay like that, I kind of think I would have liked oil rubbed bronze instead, but we'll see what Jared's parents think when they come in about a week.  (We didn't stain the furniture, the lightening just wasn't ideal. I think I took some of the pictures at night and some in the day) The before pictures of the wood are more true to the color of the wood, a yellow oaky color.

 

10 Restaurants #2

I checked out the Long Grove Cafe on Thursday.  Since Jared was out of town the whole week, my week was very long.  I had to wait a little while until my server came, I sat on the patio and enjoyed the Tilapia fish.  I don't remember much else since I never finished this post.  I doubt I'd ever return since I wasn't completely won over, but perhaps that was my mood for the day more than the food or the restaurant.

house pictures

House before pictures from before we moved in, or shortly there after.
House May 2011
we still have a long list of things we want to do, and I should probably clean up a little bit too, huh?

5am

since Jared's out of town this week, I am going to attempt to get up at 5AM again.  seeing as it is already 11pm, that's not likely.

me time

why is it when i sneak a little window shopping after gymboree and Josh falls asleep in the stroller instead of in the car, he wakes up when I try to transfer him from the car to the crib?  normally he transfers really well.  Is the difference that I picked him out of the other side of the car (since I am driving hubby's car), that it was later than I normally transfer him, or that he was truly rested?  Naps are the only time I can get some things done at the speed at which I used to before the baby was born.  Normally, I am not as productive as I would like but I am almost always more productive during naps than the rest of the day.  Today though, I have decided to let him play by himself while I brought the laptop down.  He's actually doing pretty well, not needing me to entertain him.  (of course before I was finished writing that sentence, he pulled down a basket of CDs, wii remotes, and DVDs.)  How much watching/interacting is required at this almost 2 years old age? How much is neglect?  Jared has asked me why I don't get down and play with him, though often I do.  I always felt that I wanted my children to be independent, primarily so they wouldn't cling to me so I could not feel guilty about leaving, but also because I want them to grow to be independent self assured children and adults.  I know that Josh loves me, and I think he does better in groups than other kids his age.  I guess I feel that more structured activities are a better use of my time.  I know he needs unstructured play too, but I guess I prefer him to have that on his own.  I mean, when am I supposed to have "me" time?

coloring book

I bought the book, but now i need to start coloring.  Should I use markers or crayons?

p90x

so, we slumped off on this.  hopefully we can start up again.

Bushes

Trimmed the bushes by the garage this weekend too!  had a little snafu when I cut through the extension cord with the hedge trimmer, but they look great, don't you think.

Lights

family room lights, #16 1/3 done.  love these swing arm lamps more each time I walk by!

Blood Donation #1

I did my first of three donations that I want to make on my list here.  I did it through the American Red Cross since that's where I donated through in December.  I think next time I'll go through Lifesource since they have centers and it should be easier to schedule an appointment next time

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pizza dough

I totally forgot this was on my list!  I made the dough with a recipe from when we got our pizza stone

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

3 tablespoons sugar.  

Dissolve powdered yeast in lukewarm water and let stand 10-15 minutes.  in a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and olive oil.  knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes or until smooth, elastic, and not sticky.  if necessary add additional flour to the dough while kneading  gather dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.  cover with a damp cloth and set aside for one hour, or until dough has double in size.  punch down and let dough rise again for 15 minutes or more.  roll out the dough to form a circle, and place onto pre-heated baking stone which has been sprinkled with corn meal.  now the pizza dough is ready for all the trimmings.

instead of using it to make pizza, I doubled the recipe and made calzones and Stromboli from real simple magazine.  Each gave us a little heartburn.  I would change the recipes to this to make them a bit healthier.

1. I would try using whole wheat flour
2. for the calzones, I just used parchment paper instead of oiling the baking sheet.  I did use it to brush the calzones before cooking.
3. we only used about a cup of mozzarella cheese - I don't know how more would have fit!  However, I could tell that more would have tasted cheesier.
4. Jared chose to dip the calzones in the marinara sauce.  I declined.
5. for the Stromboli, again, I just used parchment paper.
6. I would have used less salami and provolone, but more spinach.  I am not a fan of spinach, so I tend to use less than recipes call for, which I did.  next time I would try to use the full 4 cups.

Playdate with Gabe

we've hosted a couple of playdates already this year and have a few more coming up.  But in order to cross this off the list, here's the link.
http://silverfamilyil.blogspot.com/2011/01/playdate-with-gabe.html

p90x: one week done

well, I'm doing the lean series of workouts.  the first couple of days of the workouts were tough and I was sore! but then things got better.  if I miss a workout in the morning, I make it up that night.  that's why I work out in the morning.  if i plan to workout in the evening and my day gets away from me, I won't get it done and I'll be behind.
Ab ripper x is the toughest.  my abs hurt mostly where my incision from my c-section was.  that's almost 2 years later.  I think the scar tissue is tough there.  but I'll work through it.

10 Restaurants: #1

1 Down. We checked out Francesca's Tavola with Andy & Lori.
didn't take any notes but we were served quickly and the food was good.  http://www.miafrancesca.com/static.asp?path=3115,3246

P90x:

tonight we finished the fit test and took the before pictures.  workouts start Tuesday...

mommom and poppop

http://silverfamilyil.blogspot.com/2011/01/florida-part-4.html

cardboard boxes

this wasn't really fair, as someone picked these up before the end of the year and I forgot to update the list. I did post these on freecycle.org and plan to use it more this year too. this one was a gimme.

101 things in 1001 days

101 things in 1001 Days Start 1/1/2011 End: 9/28/2013

For the Sake of Being a Responsible Adult

1. Get A New Passport For Everyone In The Family
2. Get Up At 5:00 Am Every M- F For One Month
3. Learn How To Change The Oil On My Car
4. Learn How To Drive Stick Shift
5. Read 10 New ("Grown-Up") Books
6. Update My Will

For the Sake of the House

7. Put Bead Board Somewhere
8. Buy/Commission A Piece Of Art
9. DIY Revamp A Piece Of Furniture
10. New Carpeting For House
11. New Refrigerator – Save First Then Buy, No Financing
12. Paint Our Bedroom
13. paint the powder room cream and laundry room doors white
14. Paint The Blue Room
15. Plant Tulips In The Front Bed
16. Put In Lighting Fixtures In The Guest Room, Blue Room And Family Room
17. Scan Pre-Digital Photos
18. Take Pictures Of The Whole House, As If For A Magazine Cover
19. Trim The Bushes By The Garage
20. Purge every room of the house (get rid of average 100 items per Room)
21. Have an organized and usable office
22. finish planting garden and map out what plants are where

For Money's sake

23. Become A Mary Kay Sales Director
24. Cloth Diaper Second Baby
25. Have A No Spend Month
26. Make And Use Homemade Cleaning Products To Clean The House
27. Pay Off (Both) Cars, So We Have No Car Payment
28. Sell (Baby Clothes, Purses, Jewelry) On EBay, Craigslist
29. Stick To The Budget

For 100% selfish reasons

30. Get A Facial
31. Get A Massage
32. Have My Teeth Whitened

For Health's Sake

33. Run An Entire 5K
34. Complete An 8K (Shamrock Shuffle April)
35. Complete A 10K
36. Run the Hot Chocolate Run (November)
37. Complete P90X
38. Complete A Monthly Breast Exam For 6 Months In A Row
39. Improve My Posture
40. Plant An Herb Garden
41. Reach Four New "Tens-Places" In My Weight
42. Take My Vitamin Every Day For A Month
43. Do 10 pull-ups consecutively
44. play a game of volleyball

For Spiritual Growth

45. Begin And Maintain A Gratitude Journal
46. Read The Weekly Torah Portion For 3 Months In A Row

For the Sake of my Marriage

47. Go On A 10 Year Anniversary Trip With Jared
48. Renew our Marriage Vows
49. Put Wedding Video On DVD
50. Have 20 "dates" with Jared
51. Take A Weekend Vacation (48 Hours) With Jared, No Kids

For the love of Family

52. Create Traditions For Birthdays, Fourth Of July, Thanksgiving, Fall Time, Hanukkah, And Other Holidays
53. Have Josh Meet Mommom And Poppop
54. Host A Play Date For Josh

For others

55. Compliment A Stranger Once A Week
56. Donate Blood At Least Three Times
57. Donate Cardboard Boxes
58. Donate Food To The Food Pantry
59. Send A Handwritten Note Of Cheer/Thanks To Someone Once A Month
60. Send Birthday And Holiday Gifts Ahead Of Time
61. Take Dinner To A Friend Who Has Just Had A Baby

For the sake of making things

62. Bake A Cake From Scratch
63. Buy Fabric To Make Something, Using A Sewing Machine
64. Have A Repertoire Of 15 Meals I Can Do By Heart
65. Make A Recipe I Find On A Blog
66. Make Monogrammed Drinking Glasses With Paint And Bake Pens
67. Make My Own Pizza Dough
68. Make Turkey Soup Or Chicken Stock From The Carcass
69. Photo-Document A Recipe From Start To Finish

For fun

70. Buy Something On Etsy
71. Eat At 10 New Restaurants In Northwest Suburbs and write a review
72. Go On A Hot Air Balloon Ride
73. Go Through A Corn Maze
74. Go To 10 Different Museums
75. Go To The Kentucky Derby With A Great Hat
76. Host A Dinner Party For 10 Adults
77. Host A Summer Sunday Brunch
78. Meet At Least 2 More WAHMs and 2 More SAHMs
79. Photo A Day project
80. Scuba Diving
81. See An SEC Football Game
82. Take A Sailing Lesson
83. Take An Alaskan Cruise
84. Take An Extended Family Trip With Silvers
85. Take An Extended-Family Trip To Disney World With Firestones
86. Take Family To (Muskegon County) Michigan For A Family Vacation
87. Visit An Art Gallery
88. Visit New Orleans
89. Go on the Frank Lloyd Wright Tour
90. Visit Quebec
91. Visit Sara In California With Jared And Josh
92. White Water Rafting
93. Win A Contest From A Blog
94. Go for afternoon tea at a lovely hotel with my mom and/or sister
95. Shoot a gun at the shooting range.
96. Buy a coloring book and color every page

For the list

97. Write A Letter To Myself On Day 1 To Be Opened On Day 1001
98. Blog About Each Task As It Is Completed (Pink Mom Blog) (Done)
99. Donate $5 For Every Task Not Completed
100. Make a new list of 101 Things by the time my 1001 days are done
101. Inspire One Person To Make A List Of Their Own