Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Reagan's Chicken Noodle Soup


I am in shock. Reagan asked if she could make dinner tonight, she wanted to make soup with a recipe she'd made up. Admittedly it was pretty much like every other chicken noodle soup recipe out there but she tweaked hers and added her own flair and O.M.G it worked, her chicken noodle soup is the best I've ever eaten I could have had 3 bowls of it.(Ben did) She's happy to share her recipe with you, but please remember she's only 6 and she didn't measure any of the seasonings, just threw in what looked about right and tasted it until it was perfecto.

Reagan's Chicken Noodle Soup... Serves 4
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3 Chicken Breasts
2 Potatoes... cut into small cubes
2 carrots... Cut into small cubes
3 C Chicken Broth
1 C Water
Lemon Pepper
Salt
Black Pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Egg Noodles

1) Season chicken breasts with lemon pepper and a little extra black pepper to add zing
2)Cook chicken breasts until no longer pink inside
3)Cut up chicken into cubes and set aside
4)Pour chicken broth and water into a large saucepan, stir in salt, pepper and poultry seasoning
5) Add chcken, potatoes and carrots to the broth and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 mins, add egg noodles and continue simmering for another 20 mins.

Be sure to taste and adjust seasonings to suit your palette

ENJOY !!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The difference between boys and girls


I'm the mommy to 2 girls and a boy, the girls are 18 and 6, the boy is smack dab in the middle at 12.

The last couple of weeks I've started on my Spring cleaning and have now finished all 3 kids rooms, the girls were the first to be done. In each one I found the typical girl stuff, make-up, hair pretties, magazines such as Seventeen and Teen People, Victoria had the usual teen girl stuff, dead flowers given from a date months ago, perfumes without the lids and a dozen different lotions, Reagan's room was full of stuffed toys, Littlest Pet Shop paraphernalia, tiny shoes belonging to Polly Pockets, and play make up... everything looked familiar and smelt as it should and then it was onto the 'Boy' room and Oh BOY !! The first thing that really hit me was the smell, I'm not even kidding, even a clean tween boy smells stinky, what is it with that ? I do remember reading an article a while back when Victoria was about 13, how Mother Nature bascally works her magic with the pheromones of a daughter making her smell disgusting to the father... interesting stuff huh ? So I'm wondering if the same works for the mothers of sons, because I'll tell you what, if a boy every approached me smelling like that when I was dating, I'd have sprinted in the opposite direction. I know he showers everyday, I know he uses deodorant and body spray and I know his clothes are always clean, so what the heck is the deal ? Before I could begin I had to open up a couple of windows, thank God it was a nice day.
Then I couldn't help but notice the other differences, I was finding things that I was totally oblivious to, things that looked like they belonged to something but what I have no clue. Instead of Polly Pocket shoes, I was finding miniature pedals, instead of little accessories belonging to plastic puppies I was finding teeny tiny wheels, there was no make up but these weird little metal and plastic things about 1 1/2 inches long, turned out they were mini screwdrivers for the mini pedals and mini wheels to make mini BMX bikes and skateboards.
There were no magazines with innocuous names like Seventeen but a magazine named Thrasher.. HELLO !! I had to make sure my son wasn't getting the big boys to buy his magazines, so I flipped through only to find pages and pages of skateboarders, BMX'ers, dirt bikers and other extreme sports. Everything just looked and smelt foreign.
When I was pregnant with Victoria I really thought she was going to be a he, I couldn't even imagine raising a girl, now I'm seeing that I am so better cut out for girls than boys, I understand what the girls are talking about, when Ben tells me how he just achieved a 360, just did a perfect kick flip or did a 6 stair downtown, I just nod my head, smile and add lots of encouraging sounds, making a mental note to research what he just said so that I can at least look like I know what he is talking about next time.
However the one good thing about stepping into the cave of the unknown this time was that I made a collection of treasures that I'd found and asked what each one was for and became educated. The next time I step on another of those damn plastic screwdriver thingies, I'll know it can go out in the garbage, because seriously you only need one screwdriver of each size, not a million. Thanks to Thrasher I now know that when he tells me he did a 6 step downtown, he'd better watch out and it had better be a Sunday when the govt buildings are closed and when he tells me he did a perfect 360 I can be totally 100% genuinely impressed because I know I sure as heck would never be able to launch myself and a skateboard up in the air and turn a full 360 degrees without falling in a huge heap and breaking every bone in my body.

The cost of some new air deodorizer ? $6
The cost of a new curtain rod ? $4
The cost of a new blanket ? $20
The cost of Thrasher magazine ? Priceless... I now know what my son is talking about and we can really communicate until he becomes a full fledged teen that is and forgets that to communicate we have to use words, not grunts.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day 2010



So what have you done today or in the last year to become more earth friendly ?

Personally for us as a family we have tried to cut down on all things disposable, no more paper napkins, paper plates, plastic cups or plastic baggies, we are now a cloth family. Not only is it good for the earth to stop filling up the land fills therefore, needing more space to throw our junk but it's good for the pocket book too, no more throwing our money out with the garbage literally.

This morning Reagan asked, just like last year, "Shouldn't everyday be Earth Day ?" and again I responded with "Yes Reagan, it should."
Last year she was home with me and so we got to do some fun projects, this year she is in school, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do something, she ran around finding all the recyclables for me to load up and take with me when I pick her up from school and then we'll run out to the recycling plant.
She also asked if she could have one of the reusable lunch kits I made yesterday to add to the store, I told her I needed it for the store to which she responded "But Mommy, wouldn't this be the perfect day to start using one ?" Can't argue with that logic can you ?
So off she went with her new handy dandy lunch kit and I'm here sewing up a storm adding more to the store as I go along for all of you out there in Cyber Land who are also looking at ways to 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Today in recognition of Earth Day all Clothespin bags are on sale at the reduced price of $10 and for one day only all of the Reusable Lunch Kits will be on sale for $15
If there is a print you would like but isn't available right now just convo me, and we'll work something out.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters, give them to your sons
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns

Today Reagan made her first batch of Hot Cross Buns, once they were baked and dripping with ooey gooey goodness we went around delivering them to friends and neighbors (legend tells us that sharing Hot Cross Buns on good Friday brings both good health and happiness for the next year to the recipient and the gift giver) Personally I think anytime we bake and share food with our friends and loved ones we get immediate gratification which is always heart healthy and who wouldn't feel loved after being gifted some wonderful yummy food ? (especially when baked by a 6 y/o :-) )

She measured


She rolled




She kneaded


She waited patiently for her dough to rise


She changed her outfit and then rolled buns


She glazed and baked


If you would like to make your own, we used this recipe posted over at http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/04/honey-soaked-hot-cross-buns.html. The honey makes a wonderful change from cane sugar.

Honey-soaked hot cross buns, from my mom
Ingredients for buns:
1 package of dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water plus 2 tablespoons of water
3/4 cup of milk
½ cup of butter (one stick)
2 tablespoons of honey, plus more for glazing
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
3 eggs
2/3 cup raisins or currants
4 cups of flour (plus more if dough is too wet)

Ingredients for frosting:
1 cup confectioner sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of honey

Method:
Combine dry yeast and 1/4 cup warm water.
Warm over low the milk, butter, salt and 2 tablespoons of honey until the butter has melted. (Do not let it come to a boil!) Add to yeast mixture.

Whisk in cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs into the mixture. Add 2/3 cup raisins and slowly add the flour, one cup at a time.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for five minutes until the dough is smooth and resilient.

Let rise covered in greased bowl until double.Then punch down the dough and divide into 24 balls and place, sides touching, in a greased and floured 13x9x2 pan and let rise again. With a sharp knife, cut crosses into each bun.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Glaze with honey (as much or as little as you like) and bake five minutes more. Meanwhile, stir together the confectioner sugar, the honey and the two tablespoons of water to make the frosting. When you take the buns out of the oven, cool for 10 minutes, then cross each bun with the frosting

Thursday, April 1, 2010

April Fools Day

We may not have gotten him soaked (that time) but his reaction was priceless.(Look up on the top left hand corner of the door) Ben we love you :-)

Google Analytical

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