10/4/12 - Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Today was my Friday at work, so yay for that! It’s still crazy cold here though, which kind of sucks. In fact, today a lot of the state was under a winter storm watch. WHAT?!? It’s barely October, and there are winter storm watches out already? Yeah, I’m guessing we’re in for a rough winter. We have an amazing, packed weekend ahead of us, and I’m excited about it. I know I’ll be exhausted and drained by the end of it, but I love when we’re busy and have a lot of different plans over the weekend.

I really don’t have much else to report on this week. Work and school are going well for all of us. Olivia’s teacher very proudly informed me that Olivia writes her name, “by far” better than all of the other kids today. That just made me so proud, I just love mom moments like that!

Other than that, it was just a pretty typical day. Tonight’s dinner was Mexican Chicken Lime Soup (which was a tad too spicy for the girls, so they had some little pasta bowls we keep on hand).

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 6 Minced Cloves of Garlic
• 6 Chicken Thighs, Cut into Pieces (I would probably shred it if I made this again)
• 2 Canned Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce
• 2 tbsp of Adobo Sauce from the Can
• 6 Cups of Chicken Broth
• ½ Cup Fresh Cilantro
• Juice of 2 Limes
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 Avocado
• Tortilla Chips

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook about 7 minutes. Increase the heat to high, push the garlic to one side of the pan, add the chicken and cook, stirring until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chiles and adobo sauce, then stir in the chicken broth. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, skimming any foam.
2. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pace 2 avocado slices in each bowl of soup, and top with tortilla chips.

This one actually turned out really good. Christian even said it tasted pretty authentic and really enjoyed it.

10/3/12 - Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

We had a pretty different morning today. Christian took Amelia to school because Olivia and I had some stuff to do!

After getting ready, Olivia and I were off to a very nerve-wracking appointment…her kindergarten screening! WHAT?!? How is it even possible? Granted, she doesn’t actually started kindergarten for another nearly 2 years, it’s still crazy. Apparently it’s Minnesota state law kids get screened for kindergarten readiness/early intervention needs before their 4th birthday. I was pretty nervous about it because Olivia still seems so young to me, and is so extremely shy around people she doesn’t know. I talked to her about the appointment a lot, hoping to psych her up for it. Unfortunately, it didn’t go great.

First, we met with a nurse for her hearing and sight testing. She flat out refused to do the hearing test – she was terrified of the headphones. I finally got her to participate by sitting next to her, and letting her “high-five” me when she heard the beeping (which, were the lamest high-fives ever). She made it through though, and no hearing issues. For the sight testing, they have her wear some glasses with one eye covered up. They have one of this vision screens on the wall, and have her sit at a little table with 4 letters on it. The nurse pointed at a letter, then asked her to find it on the table to see how small she could read. She was apprehensive about it, but she did complete the testing and passed. YAY, no glasses! Though, I didn’t need glasses until my late teens, so I wouldn’t be surprised if our kids don’t need them down the road.

Next up, we met with a teacher to “play some games”. This part, I KNEW would not go well. It required a lot of interaction with the teacher, and I knew that no matter how nice she might be, Olivia was not going to be interested at all. She tested Olivia’s ability to write (lines, circle, triangle), and because it was independent, she did great. She tested her ability to build a tower with 8 blocks, then “copy” a bridge that she built. Again, independent task, so she did well. Then, it went downhill. The teacher would show her an object (red bouncy ball, yellow car, etc.) and asked her to describe it. Olivia would do the basic – color. And have to be prompted to say anything else. She did a “complete this sentence” activity, which seemed WAY over her head to me. For one, she said “If brother is a boy, sister is a ____”, another as “a table is made of wood, a window is made of _____”. I just cannot see a 3 year old “filling in the blank”. The only one she got was big vs. little. There were a few other activities, but none of them went great. Basically, as I expected.

In the end, she needed a score of 16 to pass. She had exactly 16. The teacher did say it was obvious Olivia COULD do more, but wasn’t comfortable and it was affecting her scores. I’m bummed that she didn’t work up to her potential, but relieved she passed and happy the teacher recognized her potential.

We stopped in to McDonald’s for breakfast, then I dropped her off at school. Work of course flew by since I missed half the day, so that felt good. The evening was pretty standard…dinner, playtime, baths and bed. Christian did end up meeting a friend at the bar down the street for a couple beers after the girls went down. I say, he’s crazy on a work night!

Tonight’s dinner was Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes, with fruit on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1 Can of Reduced Fat Biscuits
• 1 Chicken Breast, poached and diced
• 1 10.5oz Can of Reduced-Fat Cream of Chicken Soup
• 2/3 Cup of Shredded Low-Fat Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Cup of Frozen Mixed Veggies
• 1 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Separate biscuits and place each in a cup of highly greased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing dough up the sides to edge of the cup (I made them bigger, in 6 cup pans).
2. Combine chicken, soup, veggies, cheese, onion powder, parsley and pepper in a bowl, and mix well.
3. Spoon mixture into prepared biscuit cups, and bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Note: I would recommend using a light colored pan, vs. dark, because I think the dark makes the biscuits cook too fast along the side. This is another good, family-friendly meal - as long as you can find some veggies your kids will eat.

10/2/12 - Taco Tuesday!

Well, the most exciting thing to happen for a while was actually being on time for work for a change this morning! Woot, woot! Let’s hope this is a new trend! Just need to get my butt out of bed in the morning, and I’d be golden! I should try that trick about putting your alarm clock across the room…

Today was actually a pretty quiet day. I don’t really have anything to report on, so I’m pretty lame. I will say, Amelia slept straight through the night last night, never made a peep, so maybe she was just tired and actually wanted to go to bed. Maybe I’m not so evil after all!

Tonight’s dinner was Tacos. Nothing new or out of the ordinary, but a family favorite for us, and definitely a staple in our house (and, PS, Amelia’s bowl was bone dry!).

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Turkey (we always use turkey, it’s healthier and the girls actually like it better)
• Package of Low-Sodium Taco Seasoning
• Lettuce, Shredded
• Tomatoes, Chopped
• Shredded Cheese
• Tortillas (corn for me, flour for the family) 

Side:

• Rice a Roni (went the easy route) – cooked according to the less fat preparation instructions.

Directions:

1. I think everyone knows how to make tacos! Brown the turkey and add in the seasoning. Prepare all of the toppings. Heat the tortillas, stovetop on a gridle. For the girls, I warm their tortillas, add in meat, cheese and tomato and press it on the griddle so the insides don’t fall out.

Note: We pretty much always have a jar of homemade salsa verde on hand, and definitely make it on taco nights if we don’t. It’s cheap to make, delicious and Christian uses it on pretty much EVERYTHING.

Salsa:

• 10-12 Tomatillos
• 10-12 Jalapeños
• 1-2 Chopped Cloves of Garlic
• A Few Onion Slices
• Dash of Salt
• Handful of Fresh Cilantro

Directions:

1. Wash the veggies and cut the tips off of the peppers.
2. Boil the tomatillos, peppers, garlic and onion in a small amount of water.
3. Mix all ingredients, plus the water (but, not TOO much) in a blender, and mix well. We ALMOST puree it. 

10/1/12 - Cheesy Potatoes & Smoked Sausage

IT’S OCTOBER!!!!!! OMG, who can seriously believe that?!

As shocking as it is, I’m actually really excited about it. Not super excited about WINTER, but this is seriously the best time of year. I’m so ready to welcome fall and experience these next few months. We have a month of fall festivities, birthday parties and Halloween coming up. Thanksgiving and the Holiday season kickoff next month. And then, of course, Christmas galore. The most wonderful time of year. When October hits, my mood just seems to naturally heighten now. I love it!

I did leave work a little early today to do some grocery shopping. Then, I was super excited to get started on my new cooking plan, and started if off with a bang! Christian was off to dinner, drinks and football with his friend from work though, which kind of bummed me out. I guess he isn’t as excited about my new adventure as I am…

Amelia would not eat her dinner for anything. She refused to take a bite. I threatened her with being sent to bed, asking her if she wanted to eat, or wanted to go to bed. I got her to take two good bites, and the third time she looked at me and said “Mom, I’ll just go to bed”. So, I cleaned her off, brought her in the room, sang her our songs and put her to bed. She went right down, no fight, no argument, no fuss. Olivia and I finished dinner, watched a few videos together, and then she was off to bed, ending another day.

Tonight’s dinner was Cheesy Potatoes and Smoked Sausage.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Idaho Potatoes
• 4 tbsp of Butter
• 4 tbsp Flour
• 2 Cups Milk
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Pepper
• ½ lb Velveeta
• ½ Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 lb Smoked Sausage (I used a Jennie-O turkey link)
• 1/8 tsp Paprika

Directions:

1. Wash and peel potatoes. Boil until tender, and dice.
2. Brown the sausage until heated and cooked through.
3. Mix the butter, flour, milk, salt and pepper together and heat over medium heat until blended well. Place the potatoes and sausage in a greased casserole dish, and pour the sauce mixture over it.
4. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the mixture, and then the paprika on top of the cheese.
5. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown on top.

I really liked this one. I would definitely make it again, it's a good, filling, family-friendly meal.   

9/30/12

Today was a GORGEOUS day! We definitely had to take advantage and get out of the house. So, we made our way to my old “hood”, on Como Lake, to a children’s music festival they were holding. I read about it earlier this week, and it was completely free, so we certainly had to take advantage of it! Olivia’s BFF, Bella, and her dad joined us, so the girls were pretty excited about that!

They had 5 different, fun kids acts perform, a “Crazy Hair” stand, face painting and all kinds of fun for the girls. Of course, diva Olivia, refused to get her hair done, and could barely be talked into face painting. Oh, my boring child. They had a lot of fun dancing and acting goofy together, so it was definitely worth the trip.

We picked them up some lunch so they could eat on the way home and nap when we got here…and, they took some nice, long naps! Meanwhile, I had a roast cooking in the crockpot all day long…YUM! Bella and her parents stopped back over for dinner and some playtime to end the day. Sad to see another weekend come to an end…

Here are some pictures from the festival. I didn’t have my camera (which, is like a knife to the heart when I realize I’ve left the house without it), so phone pics will have to do.

9/29/12

Today was a fairly busy day. Christian had to work, so the girls and I spent the day together. We had breakfast and hung out for a while. Then, were off to do a little shopping at Target. By the time we got home, it was time for lunch and naps.

I got my workout in and some relaxing time, then had to get ready for today’s festivities. Once Christian was home and ready, the girls were up and we were off to a 5th birthday party for my cousin’s little girl, Nattie. The party was super fun and unique…she had it at a little dance studio, where the instructor took all the kids through some little games and activities. Not REALLY dance, but music related. It was really fun. The girls were pretty shy about the whole thing…it’s an unfortunate downfall of them taking so long to warm up to people they aren’t really familiar with. They really didn’t want to participate, even when I was with them. Hopefully they both grow out of that shyness as they get older.

Our evening was pretty low key. We had dinner and relaxed for a while after the party. Christian and I were pretty tired, so we didn’t do much after the girls went to bed. Just a pretty low key night, which is never a bad thing.

Here are some pics from the party…

9/28/12

Well, I’m finally over that hump, and hopefully back on track. For this morning’s weigh in, I was down 3lbs, for a total of 36.6 to date. I only have to lose ½ a pound this upcoming week to reach my next big goal…FINGERS CROSSED!!! It feels good to finally see a significant drop again. I can’t wait until I get to the point of really just maintaining my weight, and I can stop stressing so much! Be happier, healthier and feeling better about myself. Getting there, slowly but surely!

Today was a pretty low key day, a pretty standard end to the week. My mom had plans in the city tonight, so she dropped the girls off to me at work to save some time. Everyone was pretty excited to visit with them for a little bit, and they just love visiting my work (I’m sure, all of the attention they get has nothing to do with it…), and it was nice not having to stop and pick them up, just be able to go straight home…

Once home, we loaded up in the wagon and took a stroll around the neighborhood. The weather was great, and all of the leaves are turning into the most amazing colors, so we went on a little nature mission to collect a bunch of leaves. The girls were pretty excited and thought all of the colors were pretty cool. It was a good end to the day.

Christian picked up some take out on his way home, and we spent a little family time together. After the girls went to bed, I spent the evening finalizing our October meal plan. I’m so excited for my new adventures in cooking to start! It’s going to be nice to get some more variety and get back into REALLY cooking (it’s been a LONG time). Life should be a little less chaotic too, since I basically have my weekly shopping list ready to go too. My goal is to also keep up on the dishes and cleaning at the same time, so hopefully our lives will be much less chaotic and much more organized as a result of my efforts.

I plan on sharing my meals/recipes, so my blog might take a little shift in content for a while. We’ll see how it goes…

Here are some pictures from our nature walk today.

9/27/12

Well, I’ve gotten myself all off track again, and haven’t blogged for a while. In going back to fill in the blanks, I honestly have no clue what we did this day. Apparently, nothing too interesting, so today I just share a picture. Tonight, before bed, Olivia built herself a little fort in the living room, climbed in and watched her before-bed-video. What a kid…

9/26/12

Another day down. No headache today, so that’s a plus! We had a Taco Pot Luck lunch at work today, and I made the responsible decision to skip it. I knew that if I limited myself to a healthy portion, I would still be hungry. Otherwise, I would eat way too much, get off track and then be upset with myself. Plus, all of the desserts looked to die for. SO, I decided to just not even put myself in that situation, and skip it all together. YAY, so proud of myself. LOL.

After work, I picked up the girls and we made our way home. They darted right down to the play room, and I got started on dinner. We had a pretty relaxing night tonight…just the usual eat, play, bedtime routine. Nothing too exciting to report today. I’m making good progress on my recipes for October…I have a few soups, some casseroles, different meats. I’m excited!

Today, while the girls were playing downstairs, they came across their swimsuits that were waiting to be packed away. They came up in them and thought it was HILARIOUS, and they were ready to go swimming. Poor girls, it’s far too cold for that. If I hadn’t been in the middle of cooking, I would have filled the tub up for them to swim. They got over it though – but wore them right up to bedtime. Goofy girls.

9/25/12

I woke up this morning with another headache. Ugh. I did drag myself out of bed though, and after some medicine and a nice warm shower, I started feeling a little bit better, and throughout the day I finally got rid of it.

The girls were excited to start another week of school. Amelia was so cute this morning (I seriously cannot believe how much more she talks day by day)…I was joking with her while I was getting her ready, trying to convince her that her blankie was mine. She was insistent that it was certainly NOT mine, and when I asked her where mine was she got SO concerned and felt so bad for me. She just kept saying “Mommy, I don’t know. Where is your blankie? Don’t you have a blankie?” She’s so sweet. Her teacher told me she was pretty funny at school too. She asked her teacher for some water, and when she came back with a cup for her, she told her “Oh, I don’t want water anymore, Miss Eva. You can dump it out now”. LOL, thanks child.

Once we got home, I fired up the grill for Christian, and we made dinner. The girls and I colored for a while…they made me some “flower and leaf” pictures with their dobbers. They thought it was SUPER cool, so that was a pretty fun distraction. I swear, they just get more fun, entertaining and smart every day, it’s amazing.

After I got Amelia down for bed, I did my workout and relaxed for a while. I feel like this new workout is finally starting to pay off. I’m hoping I get some great results this week to make up for the last two disappointing weigh in’s!

Here is a shot of the girls, drawing me their masterpieces!