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.