At only three years of age and in his first month of Primary, Noah has already memorized the scripture of the month and this month’s song. I’m just a wee bit proud.
And yes. . . that is sign language he is doing while he sings–not karate.
We didn’t get a whole ton of snow, but we did get a lot of wind. School didn’t get cancelled, but church did. We didn’t get to build a snowman, but we did get to go sledding. We didn’t do any shoveling, but our neighbor did with her new super-duper snow blower. So we did make some cookies and delivered them still warm and fresh. We didn’t go out much but we did have much fun.
P.S. Hunter and Noah aren’t dead. They are. . . “keeping warm!” And if you look close enough, you can see icicles on Denver’s eyebrows and eyelashes. He was a little bit cold.
Denver does!
His body decided, eight days into his amoxicillin, that it doesn’t like penicillin and this was the result. Poor Denver.
Lately, before we’ve even sat down to eat, Hunter has started telling me about how much he hates whatever it is that I’m making and that he’s not hungry and he doesn’t want to eat it. It is a bit frustrating to say the least, but I can just hear my mom saying we did the exact same thing to her and that Hunter’s kids will do the exact same thing to him some day (or rather his poor wife.) Anyway, this week I made Beef Lo Mein from a recipe featured in Family Fun magazine. And to my delight Hunter snarfed his up and asked for seconds! So, for all you parents out there who have children that think everything you make is “barfy”–try this one out. All three of my kids seemed to enjoy at least some part of the dish and dinner was a very pleasant experience for all of us. Happy eating!
Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
8 ounces of thin spaghetti, broken in half
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cups chopped broccoli
1-1/2 cups sliced onion
1 tbsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces sirloin tips, cut crosswise into thin strips
3 tbsp. beef broth
3 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
Stir the spaghetti into a pot of lightly salted boiling water and cook it according to the package directions. Drain the noodles well, then return them to the pot and toss them with the sesame oil.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and onion and cook, stirring often for three minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and continue stirring while the mixture cooks another 30 seconds. Add the sirloin and cook it, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink.
In a small bowl, mix the broth, soy sauce, brown sugar and oyster sauce. Add the soy sauce mixture and the pasta to the skillet and continue cooking, stirring often, for 1 to 2 minutes or until everything is heated through. Serve the lo mein hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Saturday was Hunter’s birthday. We celebrated with Breakfast Cake and presents in the morning. And then, went Duckpin Bowling in the afternoon with a few of Hunter’s friends from school. I think the party was a huge success and Hunter went home with more presents than he got for Christmas. (Ugh! I don’t know where to put them all.) Here’s a few pics–the only girl Hunter invited from school was Ashlin, the cute little blondie. To my surprise, she’s Hunter’s twin in every sense of the word and was driving me bonkers in the end with how much she and Hunter are alike. Guess that’s why they like each other–they speak the same language, literally. She even went so far as to tell her favorite Auntie (a young, cute single girl–like Hunter’s favorite Aunt Kak-Kak) that Hunter is her boyfriend. Anyway–Happy Birthday Hunter! Here’s to another year older and another year wiser and another year happy! We love you!
“. . .blew up a big balloon.
Ben Bertie Baker baked biscuits on the moon.
Ben Bertie Baker b-b-baked banana cake–
It tasted like bologna, what a big mistake! Whew!”
About a year ago, in preschool Hunter was learning the letter “B” and the sound it makes. Miss Melody made Banana Cake and taught them the above poem to help them remember the “B” sound. Hunter fell madly in love with the Banana Cake and begged Miss Melody for the recipe and the remaining 3/4 of the 9×13 cake. Of course, she gave in to both requests. Well, today she showed up at our front door with another pink banana cake and sang in her loudest voice (so all the neighbors could hear) “Happy Birthday” to Hunter. He was thrilled and I was reminded once again, of all the many reasons I love Miss Melody and her crazy ways. Number one reason–she loves my kids one-hundred percent.
Happy Birthday Hunter and thank you Miss Melody!
Tonight’s Dinner. . . very good!
1/3 cup Italian Salad dressing
1/3 cup salsa
4-1/2 tsp. lime juice
4-1/2 tsp. minced fresh cilantro or parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/4 tsp. grated lime peel
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (optional)
6 boneless lean pork loin chops
In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Pour 1/2 cup into a large resealable plastic bag; add the pork chops. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.
Drain and discard marinade from chops. Place on a broiler pan rack. Broil 4 in. from the heat for 7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Baste with reserved marinade.
When I was little, one of my favorite things to do (besides doing surgery on water balloons) was building waterfalls with dixie cups. We’d just sit at the kitchen table and poke holes in dixie cups and stack them up on other dixie cups and watch the water run from one cup to the next. So today I decided to share the joy of dixie cups and running water with Noah and Denver–who already love playing with water and are passionate about waterfalls. Definitely a winter blues buster–for those of you with kids that might be suffering from cabin fever.
With it being January and all, we’ve been eating lots of soup. Mark made a mean Split-Pea soup a few weeks ago to kick off the soup season and I’ve been doing my best to keep up ever since. So far I’ve got two great recipes to share. One I’ve had for several years, a recipe I was given as a gift from a Relief Society supervisor up at Ricks College. The other I just discovered today and was thrilled about, mostly because Mark gobbled his up and went for seconds and thirds which means it was pretty dang good. Here’s to good soup!
Broccoli Cheese Soup from Sister Hillier in Rexburg, ID
Dissolve 12 chicken bouillion cubes in 3 quarts water in a large saucepan. Add
1 onion finely chopped, 1 cup celery finely chopped and 1 large bag frozen broccoli. Cook until tender. (If you have kids like me, that won’t eat vegetables, I took the veggies and broth at this point and blended them up in the blender to get rid of the chunks of broccoli and disguise the veggies. But for everyone else, just move on to the next step of the recipe.) Melt 2-1/2 cubes margarine in a separate dish. Add 1-1/4 cups flour and blend to a smooth paste. Slowly add some of the broth to the paste until it has thinned out a bit. Pour paste into vegetable bouillion mixture and blend thoroughly. Add 1 large jar of cheeze whiz. Mix well over heat until smooth and thickened, stirring constantly.
Katelyn’s Black Bean Soup from “Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.”
1/3 cup chopped onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbsp. oil
2 15-1/2 oz. cans black beans, undrained
1 cup water
1 chicken bouillion cube
1/2 cup diced, cooked, smoked ham
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 dash, or more, cayenne pepper
1-2 drops, or more, Tabasco sauce (optional)
sour cream
And for you last minute people, like myself, who put off making dinner to the bitter end–here’s a delicious and very simple Breadstick recipe that requires very little rising time. And they would go great with either soup recipe!
Bread Sticks
1 Tbsp. yeast
1-1/2 cups scalded milk
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add milk, honey and salt. Gradually add flour until dough forms a ball. Turn onto floured board and knead lightly. Divide into sixteen balls. Roll into breadsticks the width of a cookie sheet. Brush with butter. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and sesame seeds (or fresh parmesan cheese, my new favorite thing in the world and garlic). Allow to raise 15-20 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
1. Saute onion and garlic in oil in saucepan.
2. Puree or mash contents of one can of black beans. Add to sauteed ingredients.
3. Combine all ingredients except sour cream in slow cooker.
4. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
5. Add dollop of sour cream to each individual bowl before serving.