Meal Plan Monday: Winter Edition

It’s finally cold (well, colder…this is El Paso, after all) and my body is winterizing, which means all I want is pasta, butter, cream, cookies and soup. I want my comfort foods!

Here’s what’s planned for dinner this week:

Chicken Pot Pie from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen

Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 6 to 8

One 10 3/4-ounce can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
One 10 3/4-ounce can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1 chicken, skinned, cooked, boned, and cubed
1 medium onion, diced
One 10-ounce package frozen green peas (or one 8-ounce can, drained)
3 carrots, sliced, cooked, and drained
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pastry for top and bottom
Butter to dot pastry

In a large saucepan, heat soups and milk. Stir in chicken, onion, peas, carrots, and salt and pepper. Cook until mixture boils. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour into a pastry-lined 13x9x2-inch pan. Cut pastry for top into strips. Lay over pie filling in a lattice style. Dot with butter. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

PASTRY**

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup Crisco shortening
Ice water

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of ice water over part of mixture. Gently toss with fork push to side of bowl. Repeat until all is moistened. Form into 2 balls. Flatten each on a lightly floured surface by pressing with edge of hand three times across in both directions. With a floured rolling pin, roll out on floured surface. Roll from center to edge until 1/8-inch thick.

**I skip the homemade pastry and use frozen pie shells instead.

From Real Simple magazine:

Eggplant Parmesan Rollatini

    4 tablespoons  olive oil

    2 large eggplants (about 3 pounds total), sliced lengthwise (about 16 slices)

    kosher salt and black pepper

    1 1/2 cups  marinara sauce

    2 large eggs

    1 15-ounce container ricotta

    2 teaspoons  dried oregano

    2 cups  grated mozzarella (8 ounces)

    1/2 cup grated Parmesan (1 1/2 ounces)

Heat oven to 450° F. Divide the oil between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Dividing evenly, arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the baking sheets and turn to coat in the oil; season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Bake the eggplant, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until soft and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes; let cool. Reduce heat to 400° F.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch or some other 3-quart baking dish, spread ½ cup of the marinara sauce. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, oregano, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Place about 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture on one end of a slice of eggplant, roll it up, and transfer it to the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining eggplant slices and ricotta mixture.Top the eggplant rolls with the remaining cup of marinara sauce and the remaining cup of mozzarella. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Bowtie Chicken Alfredo from The Pioneer Woman

Click here for the recipe with funny commentary and beautiful photos.

And, of course, something sweet! I’ll be making these lovelies for our MOPS meeting this week. Can’t wait to try them. Hope I’ll be able to share! 

Eggnog Doughnut Muffins

Click here for the recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod blog. This blog is quickly becoming my new favorite place to go for sweet treat ideas.

Enjoy!

Homemade Foaming Handsoap

I love fancy and sweet-smelling hand soap. It’s one of those little indulgences. The problem is they are a bit pricey (although, I usually only buy them on sale!) and for some reason they dry my hands out. So, when I saw a recipe for homemade foaming hand soap, I decided to give it a try. It’s super easy! And, as Bill would say, “practically free!”

 

Rinse out an empty bottle of hand soap – it must be one that has the special foaming pump. (Don’t ask me to explain the science behind the special foaming pump ‘cause I don’t know!) Then fill it 1/3 full with any type of hand soap. I use Ivory. Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled or purified water (optional – regular water works fine, too!). I use purified/distilled water only because our tap water is very “hard” here. Then add 5 drops of an essential oil of your choice (also optional). I've used Lavender and Lemon and buy it HERE. Put back on the cap and then gently roll the bottle (don’t shake) to combine.

Viola! Homemade hand soap!

And you can re-use the bottles several times.

Tis the Season

"How delightful," said Pooh, "to be so brand new."

The Advent season is once again upon us! The story of a less-than-ideal birth, a cherished baby, a Mother in awe trying to absorb it all, the promise fulfilled, a glorious message of hope…oh, joy! There’s always a huge celebration when a baby is born, how much more so when that baby is our promised Savior! I’m thankful we have the chance to celebrate that same birth, the turning point in our history, every year. I’m so in love with that little baby in a manger. 

It's also fun to reminisce about Christmas in the past, the ones that I shared with my own little babies. We got the ornament above when Grant was a newborn and I remember that precious time when I see it. Since both my kids were born in the fall, I spent two Christmases with little babies. It was such a wonderful time and gave me a new appreciate for the Christmas story.

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, here are a few resources for your advent adventure...

A beautiful Advent prayer: “May this entire Advent season bring us back to your manger, back to your cross, back to your empty tomb; and moving forward with you into your new creation story.

We started our Advent calendars yesterday; a fun tradition we started a few years ago. As we count the days to Christmas, the kids find fun stuff like candies and coins and little toys in their numbered pockets. My friend shared an idea for a Jesus-centered Advent calendar here. 

We also lit the Hope candle in our Advent candle wreath today. For more info on how to put together an Advent candle wreath, click here.

And thanks to the suggestion of my musically inclined friend, I’ve been listening to these Christmas tunes all week.

Regardless of what craziness this holiday season brings (and there will be craziness!), I pray we all have a peace “that transcends all understand.” 

All About Grant

My sweet boy turns 5 years old today! I know they’re growing up, but somehow, it still surprises me. And since he’s my baby, his birthdays are always a little bittersweet for me. But I sure love the little boy he’s turning into. He brightens my day with his sweet spirit, numerous cuddles and funny jokes. He has the sweetest heart that I’ve ever seen. He’s so sweet, in fact, that sometimes I think he was switched at birth and somehow we took home the wrong baby. He seems too sweet to belong to us and that we accidentally took home Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s baby home. Well, if that’s the case, I’m not giving him back now!

As silly as it might sound, sometimes I feel like I’m running out of time with these kids. They are growing so fast and declaring their space and independence, sometimes to my relief and sometimes to my sorrow, and our roles and interactions are always changing. I see the future coming at me at a whirlwind speed. I wish I could bottle them, like a jar of pickles, and take them out when I’m ready. Unfortunately, life doesn’t give us that option.

I especially feel these “growing pains” with Grant. As Sienna grows, there will be more tea parties, shopping, weddings and babies, etc. to help us grow together and continue to cement our bond. I think it’s different with boys. As the Bible says, “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:31) It’s biblical and it’s absolutely the right thing. There’s no way I want to raise a dependent Mama’s boy. Still, my heart breaks a little because I know these awesome snuggles and cuddles that I get from Grant now are numbered and the giant clock of time is ticking away.

We have this very sweet exchange. I’ll be tucking him into bed and cuddling with him and I’ll say, “I’m going to miss you when you grow up.”

He’ll say, “I know, but I have to grow up.”

I’ll say, “Yes, you do.”

Then he’ll say, “I’ll still love you.”

And I say back, “I know.”

All of that is true. And I can take some comfort in that fact.

So, in honor of Grant’s 5^th Birthday, here are 5 fun facts about Grant…

1) He is SUCH a boy! Besides being fearless, he’s interested in all boy stuff…trucks, tractors, trains, etc.

2) He loves Chinese food. He and Daddy have special lunch dates at the “panda restaurant.”

3) He wants to be a crossing guard and “a builder” when he grows up. Here he is training to be a crossing guard.

4) He loves Ninjago Legos. Here he is with an early birthday present. He doesn’t seem the least bit excited, right?

5) He loves school. He’s learning his alphabet and how to write. He’s even learning cursive. It’s a lot…as he tells me after school, “my brain is full!”

Happy Birthday, Grant!! We love you and we can't wait to see how you continue to grow and amaze us this year!

All About Grant

My sweet boy turns 5 years old today! I know they’re growing up, but somehow, it still surprises me. And since he’s my baby, his birthdays are always a little bittersweet for me. But I sure love the little boy he’s turning into. He brightens my day with his sweet spirit, numerous cuddles and funny jokes. He has the sweetest heart that I’ve ever seen. He’s so sweet, in fact, that sometimes I think he was switched at birth and somehow we took home the wrong baby. He seems too sweet to belong to us and that we accidentally took home Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s baby home. Well, if that’s the case, I’m not giving him back now!

As silly as it might sound, sometimes I feel like I’m running out of time with these kids. They are growing so fast and declaring their space and independence, sometimes to my relief and sometimes to my sorrow, and our roles and interactions are always changing. I see the future coming at me at a whirlwind speed. I wish I could bottle them, like a jar of pickles, and take them out when I’m ready. Unfortunately, life doesn’t give us that option.

I especially feel these “growing pains” with Grant. As Sienna grows, there will be more tea parties, shopping, weddings and babies, etc. to help us grow together and continue to cement our bond. I think it’s different with boys. As the Bible says, “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:31) It’s biblical and it’s absolutely the right thing. There’s no way I want to raise a dependent Mama’s boy. Still, my heart breaks a little because I know these awesome snuggles and cuddles that I get from Grant now are numbered and the giant clock of time is ticking away.

We have this very sweet exchange. I’ll be tucking him into bed and cuddling with him and I’ll say, “I’m going to miss you when you grow up.”

He’ll say, “I know, but I have to grow up.”

I’ll say, “Yes, you do.”

Then he’ll say, “I’ll still love you.”

And I say back, “I know.”

All of that is true. And I can take some comfort in that fact.

So, in honor of Grant’s 5^th Birthday, here are 5 fun facts about Grant…

1) He is SUCH a boy! Besides being fearless, he’s interested in all boy stuff…trucks, tractors, trains, etc.

2) He loves Chinese food. He and Daddy have special lunch dates at the “panda restaurant.”

3) He wants to be a crossing guard and “a builder” when he grows up. Here he is training to be a crossing guard.

4) He loves Ninjago Legos. Here he is with an early birthday present. He doesn’t seem the least bit excited, right?

5) He loves school. He’s learning his alphabet and how to write. He’s even learning cursive. It’s a lot…as he tells me after school, “my brain is full!”

Happy Birthday, Grant!! We love you and we can't wait to see how you continue to grow and amaze us this year!

In The News: Ideals, Mothering, Exhuastion and More!

Just stopping in to share some random news articles and blog posts that have caused me to stop and ponder things. Especially, as the to-do lists mount in my life and the endless running these past few weeks, combined with some rather sad news stories, I’ve been drawn to some interesting discussions on ideals, balance, mothering, slowing down, etc. It’s interesting how we seek out what we feel lacking in our own life.

I know it’s a lot of reading but I hope you’ll take the time to read one or two – or all – of these articles. I promise there are nuggets of wisdom and blessings buried in all of this! 

“Exhaustion is not a status symbol”

As a somewhat-former workaholic and as someone currently trying to find balance between productivity and family time, this article resonated with me on so many levels. The article includes great advice about feedback and boundaries in the workplace. But it also puts into words something I felt and subconsciously knew but never fully recognized until recently: “‘Crazy-busy’ is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us.”  I was guilty of that during my late college years and early professional life. Productivity feels really good but it’s also a way to numb and hide from the harsher realities of life, almost like a drug.

The main source of my exhaustion now? Mothering!!

“Why the Battle for Joy is Really Worth It”

We’ve all been here. A very relatable story about rushing, losing our cool and having to take a hard look at what our priorities are and how our actions reflect it.

"What do I want my children to remember — my joy in clean floors, made beds and ironed shirts — or my joy of the Lord? You will be most remembered — by what brought you most joy."

And more on Motherhood…

"I get to be the one"

My friend Martha wrote a beautiful post about mothering. It came to me on “one of those days” and was such a blessing to me. In fact, it might be one of the best posts on motherhood that I’ve ever read. “I know that even when it gets hard, when I stop and take a breath this motherhood thing smacks so very much more of undeserved privilege than hardship.”

And, sometimes, you just have to laugh...

My copy of “A Year of Biblical Womanhood” by Rachel Evan Held just arrived in the mail and I am so excited to read it. The absurdity of it, of course, is hilarious. It’s so far from our current thinking and culture. I’m sure there were many applicable lessons learned. God blesses those who “seek earnestly,” right?! Although some might be taken back by such a discussion, but I think she sums it up best: "They thought I was making fun of the Bible, when I was really trying to honor the Bible by having more honest conversations about how we interpret and apply it. I'm hoping that when people read the book, they see that." I can’t wait to dive in! Take a moment to click through her slideshow of photos. I was giggling the entire time.

Life is crazy. Here’s to hoping we all find the balance and encouragement we need for today.

Comfort Food for Fall

I haven’t been keeping up with my blog as much as I would like because things have been so busy lately. I honestly have no idea how professional bloggers are able to blog every.single.day. The thought amazes me.

I do want to take a minute to tell you about some awesome new recipes I’ve tried lately. Believe me, you’ll thank me for these yummies! Combined, they make the perfect fall dinner.

To start, I used Picky Palate’s Pesto Ranch Chicken with Rachael Ray’s Roasted Potatoes and Pepper recipes as my guide. I switched a few things up though.

First, on the chicken recipe, I bought a package of chicken breasts and a package of chicken thighs and separated/split the meat between two freezer storage bags. I also bought two prepackaged pesto sauces (in the refrigerated section at the store) for each bag of chicken. Basically, I was planning to double the recipe. In the freezer bags, I poured one package of pesto over each bag of chicken. Instead of using a ranch dip package, I made this homemade ranch dip recipe and split it between the two bags of chicken. I’m trying to move away from prepackaged ranch dips to save money and save us from a slew of preservatives. Plus, this tastes SO MUCH better!

Then, I put both bags of chicken in the freezer to use at a later time, like on a crazy hectic Monday! I put one bag of chicken in the fridge the night before, and in the morning, pop the chicken into the crockpot and let it cook on low all day. Then, you only have to cook the potatoes in the evening. (And I still have the other bag of chicken in the freezer for another night. Score!)

Last but not least, for dessert, I suggest Peanut Butter Nutella Apple Nachos. The only change I would suggest is to add a tablespoon (or two!) of peanut butter to the Nutella before you warm it up. 

Look! My kids are eating fruit without a fight! 

 

Enjoy!!