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Broccoli Chicken Casserole

2012
01.13

This was a hit! :) We ate this on my “carb day” so I wasn’t cheating. ;) Qade liked it so much that he said, “We should have this for lunch!” Since he often takes issue with the lunch options that I give him, ha ha!! Ella, loved the stuffing part of it too and signed “more please” over and over till I was concerned that I wouldn’t actually get a bite. ;)

It’s an easy meal, and goes together in no time! Nice for a busy week night or a lazy weekend, either way. ;) We had some chopped cucumber for a side and some celery with Almond butter after. The boys LOVE celery with almond or peanut butter, just love it! And they’re pretty nuts about cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and any fresh fruit.

So here’s the casserole. Try it sometime, it’s yummy!

Broccoli Chicken Casserole:

1 1/2 c. water
1 pkg (6 oz) Chicken Stuffing mix
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I cheated and used one 12.whatever oz can of chicken breast)
1 c. frozen broccoli florets, thawed (I didn’t thaw them first, ha)
1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup, undiluted (I actually had this, surprise surprise, but you could use the “cream of something” soup here instead)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a small saucepan, bring water to boil. Stir in stuffing mix. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5 min.

Meanwhile, layer chicken and broccoli in a greased 11x7x2″ baking dish. Top with soup. Fluff stuffing with a fork; spoon over soup. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350* for 30-35 min or until heated through. (6 servings)

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Zucchini Crescent Pie

2012
01.09

I have made this with and without the crescent, and it’s wonderful both ways!! My men all love zucchini, and with the cheese and ham this recipe is a HUGE hit! When I made it sans crust I added an extra egg for stability sake, but I don’t know that it was really necessary. Stuart ate the leftovers for breakfast, and oh, the leftovers are better without the crust. :) BUT we only had one slice for left overs because this was such a hit, so if your kids are veggie lovers like mine, or even if they are not, they might like this one!

Zucchini Crescent Pie:

1 package (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, cubed (I think I’ll use a little less the next time, but butter is yummy)
2 t minced fresh parsley (I didn’t have this, not eve dried, but didn’t miss it)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t dried oregano
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 c cubed fully cooked ham (I used deli ham sliced up and I didn’t mind the ham flavor at all, ha!)
1 medium Roma tomato, thinly sliced (I omitted this too, but let me know how you like it if you use it!)

1) Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in 9″ greased pie plate w/ points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust; seal seams and perforations. Bake at 375* for 5-8 min or until lightly browned.

2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender’ stir in seasonings. Spoon into crust. Combine eggs, cheese and ham; pour over zucchini mixture. Top w/ tomato slices.

3) Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 min before cutting. (6 servings)

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Some Observations

2012
01.07

If you’re trying to cut dairy out of your diet, you probably shouldn’t plan meals that are chock full of butter and cheese. Just sayin’. :)

Almond milk is not so yummy in my coffee. :( I’m going to try to doctor it up with some honey and vanilla, but on it’s own it’s not very inspiring.

I’ve been having the dizzies for a couple of days. I really hate it when this happens because I feel so limited in what I can do. Ya know, if you can’t walk straight and keep running into walls, it makes it difficult to get through chores. I’m going to take some Sudafed after breakfast. That often helps since it’s generally a congestion thing with me. Although I’ve had a migraine kind of “lurking” in the wings too. Think I’ll take it a little easy today.

I designed some appointment cards for a couple of OB offices to use. They have a photo of a newborn that I took on one side with all of the office information and appointment time/date stuff on the back. They arrived from the printer this week and they look so awesome that I just want to keep them all! Ha ha! :) Hopefully this will generate some more Newborn bookings for us though since every preggo lady will be getting “next appointment” cards when they go.

I’m making yogurt today for the first time in quite awhile. Stu has asked for yo-cheese a few times, and the lads would like to have some I know. Just because I’m on a dairy fast doesn’t mean everyone else hast to be, right?

After 10 minutes (or maybe more!) of very vigorous stirring with the aid of a large spoon and a butter knife, and several slimy fingers later, I finally have my no-stir almond butter ready to spread and serve. Kind of ironic, no? ;)

Tomorrow is my carb-day. If I wake up and weigh less than I did today I’ll probably be moderate. If I’m not, I’ll likely go hog-wild, ha ha! Either way I’d like pancakes to make up SOME part of my day. ;)

So I lost 2 pounds this week. Which is typical for me on this diet. I feel like I should lose more considering how much “work” it is to go carbless. BUT I only did the Kettle Bell twice, so I should be happy I lost at all, ha ha! And I can deal with a 2 lb a week loss, it’s more likely to keep off that way.

Toodle-oo

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Other stuff

2012
01.06

A few days ago I was reading my reolutions posts from LAST year, and totally cracking up. Is it bad that you laugh hysterically over your own writing? ;) Anyway, some of the chuckles stemmed from my own word usage, and other chuckles from the resolutions themselves. Did you know that I resolved to make my bed every day??? Ha! I totally forgot about that! I wonder how long it lasted. ;) Now, honestly, I should make my bed every day, and am working toward that end, but since it’s hidden from sight upstairs where only Stu or I ever go, it’s low on the priority list… especially in the course of my busy mornings. So yes, that one was an epic fail. Maybe someday I’ll conquer it. ;) Ha! Till then you can just know that I’m a closet slob and my bed may or may not be made on any given day.

Still, new leaves are good to turn over. That’s why I create resolutions throughout the year. One thing I would like to accomplish this year is to get some photo books printed of our life since marriage. Because everything photo related has gone digital, we have hardly any “hard copy” photos. I’d like to be able to pull out a book, sit down with the kids and tell them stories of where we first lived, and people when knew when, and so on. So that will be an ongoing project for me because that’s 7 years worth of photos to sort through. Wow… that’ll be a job. But I’m going to break it up so it won’t be ALL in one book, ha! Smaller projects are better.

I’m resolving to read more this year too. I read something generally every day, but most often I reach for one of the tried and true Austin books or Anne books, and I’ve read them all MULTIPLE times. I finally figured out the reason for this. I know what is going to happen! See, if I pick up a new book, I have a very hard time putting it down till it’s done. And while I’m a fast reader, I still don’t have that much time in a given day to devote to devouring a new story. So I end up reaching for the ones I already know, to pass the time while I scarf down my lunch, and I know I can put it down because I already know what’s going to happen. :) Funny, huh? But this year I want to read more, and not just novels, I want to read some of the books I have on parenting, and kid years and so on. I have a kindle now, so there’s no excuse! I’ll simply HAVE to live in suspense on some books, and that can be fun too. ;)

Along with the reading theme I want to be more focused in my scripture reading. I’ve kind of been all over the place with that one. I always gravitate to the Psalms, and then hop around to some different NT books. This year, I’ve picked up the “One Year Bible” again. It’s nice because it breaks it all up for me, AND I get a daily installment of Psalms and Proverbs too. :) But I didn’t start at the beginning on “January 1″ I put my bookmark in June 1 instead, and am going to go on from there. :) I’m reading through parts of Samuel and the stories of David, and it’s very interesting. What a life he lived and not all happy, harp-playing, sheep tending was it. My heart hurts for David a lot more this time around as I read about him mourning for his rebel son Absalom. There are so many amazingly dramatic stories in the OT that I know I have often just kind of read over without much thought as tot he real people behind them. Anyway, so that’s how I’m going to spend my moments with my first cuppa this year. :)

Getting up before the kids is always a goal, but I begin to despair of that one. Qade is an EARLY riser. Like up before the sun kind of early riser. He usually is good about playing for a few minutes alone, before he wakes up Myles. They they typically play pretty well together for a little while. So that gives me some time even if I don’t make it downstairs before their eyeballs open. Still… I’m brainstorming ways to get them to sleep longer. If you have any suggestions, fire them away. Staying up later doesn’t work by the way, we’ve seen that one. They love to stay up, but get up just as early and are VERY cranky the next day. ;)

I also have kind of vague goals, like doing more projects with the kids, and activities with them that require more thinking and problem solving. Those I’m planning to implement into our “school time” once we start that back up on Monday. We’ll see how it all works out. You know I’m not a “project” mom so it’ll be a test for me. Still, I have some ideas that I think I can carry off, and my MIL gave me a book for Christmas that is just packed with ideas of things to do with preschoolers! So that’s on my reading list, and then to-do list. ;)

There you have it in a rough round-a-bout way. My 2012 resolutions. More or less. ;)

Category About Me |

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Photogenic Me

2012
01.05

I resolve to be in FRONT of the camera more often.

It’s actually pretty sad and pathetic how few photos I have of me from this year. It’s very few. Not that I want a whole library full of pictures of me, but I do want pictures of me with the kids, and me with Stu, and me just doing things I do.

With the stuff that’s been going on with Heather, and other stories like hers, I realize that those snap shots are important. The “big” photo opportunities are important too, and I’m working on getting together with another photographer for some great family photos hopefully in the next month or 2. But besides those, I want there to be photos of me playing with the kids, or doing projects with them. Me in the picnic shots and whatever else we do together.

I know that since I’m the “photographer” it naturally falls to me to take pictures and document things. BUT I confess that I’ve often used that as a “good reason” not to be in front of the camera because…. well, pictures don’t lie, like I mentioned before. I’m not perfectly pleased with myself so I don’t want to see those photos. I’ve realized though that it’s just selfish to think that way. What if something did happen to me, and my kids were left with no tangible memories because I was too self-conscious to have pictures taken of me?

So this year I resolve to make sure I’m IN more photos. I’m also resolving to take along my point and shoot camera, which sometimes it drives me crazy to use, and capture more candid snapshot memories. Because I realize I’ve missed a lot of those this year due to the fact that I didn’t want to “lug” my big camera wherever. No more excuses this time!

I’m going to be in photos. Even if I look like this:
photo

Ha ha ha ha ha!! :D

Category About Me |

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Heather

2012
01.04

I logged on to facebook today to upload a photo of a hat, and noticed at the top of my news feed, an urgent prayer request from Kevin Burrill. Heather is in surgery right now for the third time on the tumor in her brain. Heather went to the ER last night with a non-lifethreatening hemorrhage in her head, and the ct scan that they did revealed that the tumor that had been removed shortly before Christmas was back and was nearly the same size as before. I’m going to copy the update from Kevin into the post, but please pray with me for this family. It seems quite clear that Heather’s time is going to be very short on this earth. I’m so thankful that I have the confidence that I will see her again! She will be comforted in the arms of Jesus, but those of us left behind will miss her, and her sweet little boys will never have any memory of their mom. That breaks my heart, but the silver lining is that they will not have the memory of her battle with cancer either. Please pray that Heather can have the health she needs for the family to move back to New Brunswick where Kevin’s family is, and that they will have some more sweet times together. Also pray with me that God would take her gently and she would not have to suffer through much pain in the end.

Thanks friends!

Here is Kevin’s update:
UPDATE: Last night around 9:00pm Heather had a medium sized hemorrhage of a blood vessel in her tumor. It’s serious, but not life threatening. As a result we went into emerg. around 2:00am (once it became clear something was wrong). Her CT scan revealed not only the hemorrhage, but a fully regrown tumor, back to 7cm in diameter – as big as it was before her first surgery. I believe God allowed this manageable hemorrhage to bring us into the hospital earlier than we would normally have gone in so we could discover the tumor’s size again and take action sooner rather than later. So it’s now 100% clear that we are dealing with an incredibly fast growing tumor (there was uncertainty about this after her second surgery). Our goal and prayer request is that her 3rd surgery (now being scheduled) will relieve enough pressure for her to have another 3-4 week window of decent health to travel to New Brunswick where we can settle and rest with home care until the end, if it is Gods will to supply this.
Also, God arranged for us to have the believing surgeon who did her first surgery again. He is a strong christian and encouraged me to keep my thoughts captive for Christ and to remember the hope we have of Heaven. We had a good 20 min. conversation – not normal for a neurosurgeon on their schedule. He was taking care to minister to me. He said that he saw our name on his phone messages this morning and that he and his wife stopped to pray for Heather and I and the boys before he came into work. He also mentioned that our other neuro-surgeon commented on how steady we seemed through this all (credit to God’s grace), and he was able to encourage me that if I stay strong in the faith others around are noticing! Praise God for signs of goodness amid hardships! He is the perfect provider of peace! Thank you for praying, all. I will update through this 3rd surgery process as previously done, so you can all pray specific requests.

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Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken

2012
01.04

The dish from the other night WAS a hit! :) I found it on THIS blog and pinned it, and will be making it again. She actually has 2 versions with just slightly different ingredients. I chose this one because it used evaporated milk rather than cream cheese, but I’ll be giving the other one a try sometime too. I actually only used the “frame” of the recipe as I made quite a few substitutions and changes, ha! I didn’t have white wine, so I used a cup of chicken broth instead. I accidentally used the entire can of milk when making the gravy and I really only was supposed to use half. Someone wasn’t paying attention! So our gravy was pretty thick and creamy, but it was still delicious!!! I also forgot to pick up green onions so I just chopped up some white ones. Oh, and I had 2 cartons of fresh chopped mushrooms (because someone was REALLY not paying attention) so I just tossed them all in. I like mushrooms. It all works. :) The next time I make this I’m just going to add the milk/cornstarch to the crockpot for the last 15 min of cooking rather than dirty an extra pan for the gravy.

I meant to make some jasmine rice for the men-folk to eat it over, not me I’m cutting down carbs remember, but I forgot about the rice till it was too late to start it. Ha! The gravy was thick enough that it didn’t really need rice this time around. I served it with steamed fresh broccoli and uh… sweet potatoes, with celery and Almond Butter for desert. :) The lads slurped it all up, and I didn’t get any complaints! That in my book is a successful dinner!

Give this a try sometime, it’s yummy!!

Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken:

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
3 boneless,skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 3/4 tsp chicken bouillon granuales
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 water
1 can evaporated milk (5oz)
5 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Combine salt, pepper and paprika in small bowl; sprinkle over chicken

2. Layer chicken, mushrooms, green onions and bouillon in a 4 1/2-quart slow-cooker. Pour wine, water over top. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or 5-6 hours on low. Transfer chiken and vegtables to platter; cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Combine evaportaed milk and corn strach in small pan, stir until smooth. Add 2 cups of cooking liquid from slow-cooker; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute or until thick, stiring constantly. Serve over chicken.

I served this over brocolli rice.

Category Recipes |

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Cyberlife

2012
01.03

I resolve to stop living a cyber-life and really live my REAL life! :)

This is the resolution that has kicked me off of facebook for the month of January. It takes a month to make a habit, and I’m trying, with this resolution, to make a habit of being more in the moment with my kids, hubby, and house, instead of frittering away the time online “pretending” to be important to all those people out there. :)

Now before you get your girdle in a twist, I know that some of you are my friends on facebook and would argue that I am important. :) Thanks!! I know who you are, don’t worry. I just need this time as a refocus for moi.

I took steps in Dec to whittle down my friends list by over half, and you know what? that helped a lot! My news feed wasn’t that long, and I didn’t feel like I had as much to “do” when I visited facebook-land. I also “hid” all of the pages that I like so that they don’t show up as well.

Too often over the last year I have used facebook as an escape. I’ve used it as a way to connect with people, yes, but more often, I used it to “get away” from things that I really needed to be doing here and now. I will always say that FB has it’s place, because the truth is I don’t get out much. I don’t have friends close by, and I do need some “connections” outside of my hubby and kids. Still, I was plugged in enough to realize that it had gotten out of control for me.

Now you have the mental picture of me hunched over a laptop in a dark corner for 13 hours a day. Ha ha! No, it wasn’t like that… not quite… I sat by a sunny window. ;) Just kidding! Still, I know that for me, I was spending way too much time plugged into cyberspace and not enough time dealing with my kids and the other responsibilities surrounding me. In fact, I started to resent some of those responsibilities because I felt like I never had enough time for them. The reason for that? I was pinning or following threads in a facebook group all afternoon and it left me rushed and stressed out. Not good.

So that’s what the lack of FB is all about this month. I plan, of course, to let it back in a little bit after I’ve made the deconnection. :) I want to live my real life. You can’t really make memories in cyberspace, it just doesn’t work. Meanwhile, my kids are a hoot, and I love living real life with them, and my Man!

P.S. I am updating my biz fan page on FB so you might see some activity there, but I am completely avoiding my personal page and my groups. :) See ya in Feb!

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This’n that

2012
01.02

Why is it that when I cut up banana and put in neatly in a bowl for Ella, she chucks it all over the floor, but when I am eating one of my own she continually begs for “more please?”

I expect that my yarn supply with be seriously dipped into this month since I’m using crochet as my fall back for Facebook time. :) Ha! Probably I won’t get through enough in Stuart’s opinion though. Still, he has so much patience with my “projects.”

It makes me nervous to use the pressure cooker. But the beans come out tasting so yummy that I brave it anyway! Ha!

This warm snap that we’ve been having is tricking my brain into thinking that spring is “just around the corner.” The spring-cleaning bug has bitten, and I feel like I need to clean and freshen every room, which is a very strange state of mind for me. I don’t usually feel like that even when it IS spring. ;) The downside is that winter is bound to kick in sometime, and that will be really depressing.

Slow cooker mushroom chicken is assembled in the crockpot and if it’s a winner, which I’m hoping it will be, I’ll be posting the recipe for you too! :)

We now have 10 gallons of milk in our house and I am a happy camper! Six in the freezer and four in the fridge. One of my biggest insecurities living out in the boonies is that we’ll “run out” of milk. I don’t know why, but I just feel like if I’m not able to give my kids milk every day they will starve or something, ha ha! It’s weird, I know, and we do have a Dollar General in our “town” now so I should be able to get milk from there in a worse case scenario, but still… I like to be prepared. ;)

The boys found some bird feathers from who knows where, yuck, and I watched out the window as they held some in each hand and jumped off the retaining wall over and over trying to fly! They make me smile! :D

Well De Bella has found her temper. :( She’s reached that stage where the communication barrier becomes an issue. She has several “signs” and uses them well. She likes to tell me “all done” after about 2 bites of the baby food that we’re trying to use up! ;) However, occasionally she has decided that she does NOT want to use her signs and would rather scream for 50 minutes for her cup than say “please.” Whew! That’s tough on mommy and daddy. Hopefully her little stubborn streak can be nipped a bit through consistency.

It just struck me on my walk today that this summer will mark 10 years since I first met my Love, Stuart! Wow!

Today Ella gave me a first kiss! :) She saw Qade plant a peck on my cheek so she walked right up and did a “pop” with her lips right on my other cheek! Heart meltage right there! Awwwww!!

Tomorrow I will post my next resolution. :) You all might have noticed, or not, already that I’m not on Facebook…. tune in for that one.

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Pictures do not lie

2012
01.01

And it’s because of that I am resolved to loose the last of the pesky weight that I’ve been toting around for no good reason. :)

Last year I had a weight loss resolution as well, and no wonder since I was only 3 months post baby. So hard to believe! Ella’s getting so big! And even though I didn’t complete that resolution, I did manage to loose the baby weight. And I learned a few things in the process about how my body “likes” to lose the extra flab. I can’t just do it all at once. It goes in spurts. I lose some, then plateau and maintain for awhile before I can lose again.

This is a revelation to me because, fortunately, I have not had to struggle with weight issues my whole life. It’s a relatively new concept to me, so the learning curve is a little tight. (snicker) I do have a lot of respect for people who DO struggle with weight as a continual thing. I think that pressure is difficult and it’s hard to see progress. Which is why looking at where I’ve come from can be helpful.

Because I saw some pictures that I happened to be in (which is a rare occurrence any more) over Christmas break, and the only thing I could think was, “YUCK!” And I realized that mirrors really can lie. Because mirrors sometimes show you the you you want to see. (How many times can YOU use “you” in a sentence?) We all have a mental perception of ourselves and sometimes you can really truly not see the real you. That’s why the anorexic person will be emaciated and look in the mirror and see a fat person. It’s mental.

Anyway, mirrors may lie, but pictures do not. And when I saw “those” pictures I realized that the muffin top has GOT to go, and the rest of the poundage that I just do not need! So I have resolved to get a good jump on it in January. Now that I realize I most likely can not lose it all at once and be done with it forever, I’m taking it a bit at a time. Divide and conquer!!!

I will do my low-carb thing for January (by the way I have lost 2 lbs in the last 2 days by just cutting out carbs… no exercise yet, even!!) and then in Feb I will maintain whatever I have ended up losing. In March…. we’ll see what happens in Jan first. ;)

I’ve made some modifications to the “slow-carb” diet that I lost weight on last year. I am including fruit, which was forbidden on that one, but cutting out dairy. Apparently dairy can be a big weight-loss killer. Who knew? And that’s going to be difficult for me because I’m totally in a dairy loving rut! Still I’ll save all that yummy yogurt and sour cream for February. I’m even doing something I consider radical and that is to have almond milk in my coffee…. I have never tasted the stuff before, so this will be an adventure! ;)

Anyway, wish me luck, I will be starting my kettle bell/ball crunch exercise routine up again tomorrow. Can’t wait to be the new me in a month! Ha ha!

More resolutions coming your way…. stay tuned!

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