One dish chicken and potatoes

This is the easiest thing I've made in a while, and it's delicious!

Chicken, Potatoes, and green beans
Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:
4 Chicken breasts
1 bag frozen green beans
1.5 lbs red potatoes, cubed
1 packet Italian seasoning dressing mix
6 Tb butter, cubed

Directions:
1. place chicken in middle of a 9x13 dish. Place green beans on one side and potatoes on the other. sprinkle Italian seasoning on top and then place butter on top.
2. cover in foil and bake at 350 for one hour.

Skillet Chili Mac & Cheese

This is my favorite thing that I have made all year. If I could, I would eat this every day!

Skillet Chili Mac & cheese
Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tp garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1-15 oz can tomato sauce
1-6 oz can tomato paste
1-15 oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 Tb chili powder
2 tp cumin
1 tp paprika
1 tp dried cilantro
1/2 tp dried oregano flakes
2 c elbow macaroni, dry
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
toppings: shredded cheese, green onions, tortilla chips, hot sauce

Directions:
1. Add ground beef, onion, and garlic to a large skillet over medium heat. cook until no longer pink.
2. Add tomato sauce, paste, beans, broth and spices to the skillet. Bring to a boil then add macaroni noodles and place a lid on top. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat and add cheese, stirring until smooth. Let sit and thicken for 10 minutes before serving.

One Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta

Well, I haven't posted since November, this is ridiculous! I wasn't that great about posting regularly with just one child, and now I have two, it's gotten even worse. I'm going to do a bunch in a row tonight with recipes that I've been cooking up for dinner. Delicious!

One Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta
Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts or 3 small ones, diced
2 Tb olive oil
2 c raw or frozen veggies (I used peas, carrots, green beans)
1 Tb minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 small can cream of chicken soup and one can milk
2 c chicken broth
1/2 tp thyme
1 tp garlic powder
1/2 lb dry fettucine
1 cup shredded cheddar and 1/2 cup more for topping.

Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil in a large 4-5 qt pot.
2. Add in garlic and veggies. Sautee about five minutes.
3. Add chicken and cook until it is no longer pink.
4. Add in all other ingredients except cheese. Stir.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
6. Once pasta is cooked to your liking, remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and let it sit 5-10 minutes for sauce to thicken.

E's New Bedroom!

We are expecting baby number two in January! The ultrasounds indicated that this baby is going to be a little girl, just like E. Eventually, they will probably share a bedroom, but for now, with E such a light sleeper, we are going to give the nursery to the new baby and give E the guest bedroom. 

I wanted it to function as a guest bedroom as well until the last possible minute so in order to accomplish that I've left the bed in there for now. I'm going to move the crib in next week and let E start sleeping in there to get used to it. 

The first thing I did was paint. I always forget to take before pictures, but you have to imagine that the walls were a light brownish pink, not as bad as I'm describing but not very pretty. I painted a light blue with white ceiling to make the room look lighter (there is only one window.)

Next I took the doors off of the closet. They were the accordion doors that come out into the room. They took up a lot of space when they were open, and E couldn't get them open herself. I found baskets at the dollar store and labeled them for her clothes. She loves going in there now and picking clothes out in the morning!

Next I added a corner book area. It was a really awkward space, and not enough room for any furniture, so I used drawer dividers (also from the dollar store) and screwed them into the wall.

I also made the curtains and am working on a quilt for E to go in the room. If you want to read more about that, you can see them on my other blog, here.

Sweet Potato Soup

I know, another post about food, and again, no pictures! I promise to try and do better, but this time, it's not my fault. My server where we store the pictures is down, so I can't post about E's new bedroom, which was what I was going to do today. Instead, I'm going to talk about my new favorite fall soup. I made this last night from the all recipes website, and it was so good, my husband had seconds!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup lentils (the original recipe says red, but i just had regular lentils and it was fine)
1/4 tp powdered ginger
1/2 tp black pepper
1/2 tp cumin
1/2 tp chili powder
1/2 tp paprika
4 cups veggie broth (I used chicken bouillon cubes and cut out the 1 tp salt original recipe called for)

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Place the chopped veggies and apple in the pot and cook about 10 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Stir in lentils and all seasonings, including broth. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Then puree with an immersion blender or blend in batches in your blender.

Veggie Fried Rice...or why Pinterest is driving me crazy!

As stated before, I really love Pinterest. I use it all the time to find ideas for dinners for the family, not to mention kid crafts, decorating ideas, and anything else you could think of. However, the reason why I continue to post recipes here is because occasionally, a recipe I love on Pinterest suddenly disappears. You click on the picture you diligently filed away for future use, and the recipe attached to it is gone!

That happened to me today, unfortunately, it happened before I posted the recipe here. And even worse, it was one that P actually liked! Luckily, thanks to the power of google, i was able to find the original post here. What a relief! This is turning into one of our regular meals, meaning I'll make it at least once or twice a year.

Vegetarian Quinoa "Fried Rice"

Ingredients:
2 TB olive oil, divided
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tp minced garlic
1 small onion, diced
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
3 carrots, peeled and grated
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 tp ginger powder
3 TB soy sauce
sriracha, for serving

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over low heat. Add eggs and fry until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side, flipping only once. Let cool before dicing into small pieces.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring often, until onions become translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Add zucchini. Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add corn, peas, carrots and quinoa. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.

Add ginger and soy sauce, and gently toss to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Stir in eggs.

Serve immediately, drizzled with Sriracha, if desired.

Wow am I behind!

I have far too many things to post about. My last post was about the letter B for E's collection and I'm already done with C and D! Not to mention my baby turned one and is almost walking!  So, a quick recap of the last month.

E turned one. We had a birthday part for her over Easter weekend with my parents, P's parents, and P's brother and sister. Here are some pictures from the party and Easter!

We also got nice pictures taken of her at JC Penny, here are my favorites.

Next, in my ongoing effort to put more art up in the house, I made two new pieces.

The first covers up our really ugly doorbell and thermostat:

The second is a magnetic scrabble board for your wall!

Both of these ideas were from pinterest. You know that bumper sticker that says "I do what the voices in my head tell me to?" Mine should read, "I do what the pictures on Pinterest tell me to."

In other crafty news I made little finger puppets for E's friends for her birthday:

and for my friend's birthday I made a shopping bag that folds up in your purse. I had to learn how to make a french seam, which is a very useful skill!

Ok, I think that's all the news that's fit to print.  Oh, I'm probably not going to be as crafty for the next 8 weeks because I'm taking an online logic course through Coursera. I tried one other course before, but it require reading a book a week for 8 weeks and I just didn't have enough time. This one is a little tricky so far, similar to a course I took in college but that was ten years ago now and I am rusty. The courses are free though and very well done in case you're interested!

B is for Banana

Moving on in the alphabet, here we have a Bodacious B. 

This is my second attempt and making B, the first one will be seen later as the letter P. It didn't go so well.

I finished this yesterday and it has already spent a considerable amount of time in E's mouth.

Two down, 24 letters to go. Sometimes I worry by the time I've finished she won't need them anymore!

11 Months

E has grown so fast. I'm a little late for the 11 month post, and I'm already thinking about the fact that she is going to be one year old in 10 days! Backing up to 11 months though, I have pictures to share!

She loves swimming, she can go under water, jump in, do a back float and swim from person to person for about a foot by herself!

E finally got her first tooth! It happened just a couple of days before she turned 11 month, and now she has two perfect little bottom teeth. So far, she has only bitten me twice.

She is very comfortable pulling herself up onto anything now, and getting back down.

E hanging out at the library before story time!

She loves being pulled around the yard in the sled.

Grandma came to visit. E had a playmate just for her for 4 days!

Table Runner

I saw a pattern for a 10 minute table runner. It seemed like a fun, quick project and I wanted something to decorate our table in the kitchen. I tried making it yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised that it really took only 10 minutes!  I think I will add some buttons to the end for a little bit of extra flair, but other than that, it's all done!

A is for apple!

Ok, even though Evelyn is only 10 1/2 months old I wanted to start working on her alphabet. I like putting a little bit of structure in our days and giving her different things to play with and think about.  I decided to make magnetic letters for her to play with.  I just finished the first one yesterday and she's already playing with it.

It helps that I put it on the dishwasher and she already loves the dishwasher.  I plan to put different pieces of paper under the magnet with images of things that start with the letter A.  Either that or just let her play. She's figured out that it's a magnet and can stick to certain things, but she hasn't quite figured out how to do it successfully each time.

10 Months!

 Well, my baby girl has hit double digits. She's getting old! She is crawling now, she can climb up stairs, and she is starting to think about pulling herself up. She has so much more energy and enthusiasm about everything. 

9 Months!

Ok, so this is actually only a couple of days after E turned nine months, instead of a month and a couple of days!  E is nine months old now, she has had quite a busy month!  We went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, a 12 hour drive.  We split it up into 2 six hour drives two days in a row, but still, it was a lot for a little baby!  She did awesome though, she's such a trooper.  She now says Mama, Dada, itty (kitty) and hi.  Sometimes I can even get her to wave when she says hi, it's so cute!  Here are some pictures of us on our adventures this last month!

E got her first tree!

She learned how to drive!

E is a cheerleader now for the packers, sorry Bills!

Our first snow!

9 Months old today, not that she'll let you see the sign.

8 Months!

Somehow I completely forgot about my 8 month post for E, so here it is to be shortly followed by the 9 month post!

E turned 8 months old!  During that time she went on her first mini-vacation to St. Joseph.  The end of October and it was 70 degrees in Michigan!

E touching sand for the first time ever!

She also had her first Halloween.  Since she doesn't eat candy yet we just went to our neighbors houses offering them candy and showing off our adorable baby in her adorable costume.

What?  A giraffe eating a giraffe!?

E also said her first word, Mama!  Unfortunately, she only likes to say it when she is crying and mad.  Here are some pics taken right on 8 months. At least I remembered to do that part!

Christmas Time!

I love Christmas.  I'm sure everyone does, but this year it is especially exciting for me, since it is E's first Christmas.  One of my favorite things to do is to decorate the house.  I don't have a ton of decorations, but we always get a tree and we always hang up the Christmas cards we get from other people.  I really enjoy those cards, especially the ones with our friends kids on them, it's crazy how quickly they grow!

This tree is mainly decorated with the ornaments that P got growing up, one for every Christmas from birth until now.  His latest one we got together, it says new home 2011.  How sweet is that?  The Christmas tree skirt I made myself.  I think next year I'm going to get more lights for the tree, but other than that, it's perfect.

Here is E hanging out at the tree!

This is just a ribbon with a D hook attached to one end.  I have one on either side of the doorway and they are already both full!  I'll have to start another one, maybe on the kitchen cupboards.