Epic Fail

So...I made promises to blog consistently a week and a half ago...for anyone who isn't brand new to this blog, then I'm sure you've noticed.  Epic fail.  I broke my promise to my parents, and I'm not really all that sad about it (I love you though!).  I do feel sad that I didn't find time to blog in a week and a half, but I've just been busy.  No more promises: I'll blog when I blog, and hopefully it will be more frequent, but I can't always guarantee it. :) 

The following are some highlights of the past week and a half...

We found this tool set on Craig's List for a great deal two weekends ago.  It came with a bunch of tools and this tool bench.  Johnny loves it! 

 

(Apparently it is not okay if I try to touch his tool bench.  Threat received.)

Super Bowl Sunday - John had to work, so it was just John and me.  I made spicy chicken drumsticks from scratch (recipe in future blog post) and baked football cupcakes.  Johnny ended up falling asleep about 30 seconds before kick-off and took his nap for pretty much the entire game.  I sort of watched the game as I did other stuff around the house, but wasn't really into it.  I was rooting for the New Orleans Saints, only because I felt like New Orleans as a city needed something uplifting like a Super Bowl victory.  Really, I wouldn't have cared who won in the end, but I was happy how it turned out.  The best part of the Super Bowl was after the game when Drew Brees was standing with his little boy and crying.  Hands down best moment - it was really neat to see him share that special moment with his son. :)

 

(Yummy!)

 

(Johnny devoured his cupcake in about 3 seconds.)

Last week we tried a different chicken pot pie recipe than the one we tried back in December.  I wanted something with a bit more crust and a little more traditional.  This one was a lot more work than the other one, since it was from scratch (we didn't use a purchased crust like the recipe called for but rather made a crust from scratch).  I liked this recipe; my only suggestion would be to skip the onions because they seem to be too overpowering for the entire dish.

 

Crust for Pot Pie

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 t salt

2/3 cup shortening

8 T ice water

1. Mix 2 cups flour and salt with vegetable shortening.  Mix in 6-8 T ice water and stir until mixture forms a ball.  Divide ball in half.

2.  Using a rolling pin, roll one of the balls to fit the bottom and sides of 11 x 7 inch baking dish.  Roll out the other 1/2 of dough to form top crust.

3. Use this pie crust as directed for pot pie. 

Chicken Pot Pie

1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces, skinned

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

1 to 1 1/2 cups milk

3 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped (I'd skip this)

1 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (such as broccoli, carrots, and cauliflowers), thawed

1 T chopped fresh parsley or 1 t dried parsley

1/2 t dried thyme

1 (9-inch) pie crust, at room temperature (or make your own)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1.  Combine chicken, broth, salt and pepper in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover; simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F).

2.  Remove chicken and let cool.  Pour remaining chicken broth mixture into large measuring cup.  let stand; spoon off fat.  Add enough milk to broth mixture to equal 2 1/2 cups.  Remove chicken from bones and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

3.  Melt butter in same saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and celery; cook and stir 3 minutes.  Stir in flour until well blended.  Gradually stir in broth mixture.  Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils.  Add chicken, vegetables, parsley and thyme.  Pour into deep 1 1/2 -quart casserole.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Roll out crust 1 inch larger than diameter of casserole on lightly floured surface.  Cut slits in crust to vent; place on top of casserole.  Roll edges and cut away extra dough; flute edges.  If desired, reroll scraps to cut into decorative designs; place on crust.  Brush with egg.  Bake about 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

{Recipe from Favorite Brand Name Recipes: Best of the Best Chicken, p. 38}

This is my little grumpy boy one night before bedtime.  He was grumpy and not in the mood to have his picture taken.  But I did it anyway. :)

 

(Look at that adorable kid!)

Now, this next piece of information may make some of you squeamish, but if my husband can look at them without flinching and talk about them as if they are completely normal, then I don't really think it is that big of a deal. :)  Since we have been trying to live a more eco-friendly and natural lifestyle (making own laundry detergent, own deodorant, using vinegar & baking soda to clean, eating organic, switching to cloth paper towels, etc.), I have decided to extend that to other areas of our life as well.  Unfortunately when we had Johnny, we were too intimidated to use cloth diapers, but with our next child, we plan to use cloth diapers.  Disposable diapers are one of the leading contributors to landfills and they will be there for the next several thousand years.  This is also true for feminine hygiene products - disposable pads and tampons and the like.  I haven't really been feeling too great about contributing to this problem every month (and I'm not too hip on the irritants like bleach and chlorine that are in disposable diapers & feminine products), so I decided to research eco-friendly options.  

There are options like a Diva Cup, but I honestly didn't feel too comfortable with that option.  Instead, I felt drawn toward mama cloth - basically a reusable and washable cloth version of pads.  You can get them with wings, without wings, with velcro or snaps, for heavier periods, for lighter periods, organic fabric or regular fabric, all different designs.  After researching about mama cloth, hearing wonderful reviews from lots of other moms who use them, and knowing my own preferences, I decided to purchase some of them.  I ended up purchasing six of them from an etsy shop - Naturally Hip - and I felt good buying them from her since she is a mom who makes them handmade at home.  Once I learn to use my sewing machine at any sort of reasonable level, I hope to make my own mama cloth, but for now these are affordable and I'm saving tons of money in the long run by ditching the disposables.  :)

  

(Brand new & looking beautiful! :))

Valentine's Day was a really good day. :)  We went to mass in the morning and Johnny was a total brat, but he didn't care because he got a balloon from someone at the church (gee, thanks for rewarding my son who was misbehaving)!

 

(Our new kitchen island is behind Johnny - better pictures to come soon!)

Johnny gave his best friend Gator a lot of loving on Valentine's Day too. :)  It was really cute.  And yes, we do plan to cut Johnny's curls soon - they are getting to be a little long.  :( 

 

(He was making Gator do acrobatics)

John was an amazing husband and surprised me with a bunch of little gifts!  I was genuinely surprised and I thought it was cute how romantic John was being for me yesterday. :)  He brought me a Starbucks Caramel Latte home, a rose, a Valentine's Starbucks mug, a really sweet card, Burt's Bees chapsticks, some candy, a rainbow assortment of Sharpie markers, and some cool pens (I love school supplies - my husband knows me so well!). 

 

(I love my husband.)

John has given me lots of cards and love letters throughout our years together.  I have them compiled in scrapbooks from our dating and engagement years.  Yesterday he gave me another really sweet card to add to my scrapbooks.  The card itself said:

For My Wonderful Wife

"You are the best part of the best years of my life."

If someone were to ask me

what a perfect day would be,

I wouldn't think of places 

that have lovely sights to see,

I wouldn't wish for sunny skies

or special things to do,

For I'd just want to have a day

that I could spend with you...

And if someone were to ask me

what would make a perfect life,

I'd simply say, "I have that," 

for I have you for my wife.

Happy Valentine's Day 

with all my love

What John wrote in the card was even sweeter:

To my best friend,

I love you with all of my heart.  You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I don't know where my life would be without you in it, but I know that there would be a void that only you could fill.  You are so beautiful, so smart, and so incredibly amazing.  You truly are the love of my life.  I can't wait to spend forever with you.  

Love, John

Sweet, huh?  I love my husband! :)  

Here is what the envelope to the card said:

 

(He's a dork, but I love him. :))

These were the Valentine's themed window clings we put on our patio window (I really didn't do all that much decorating for the holiday this year, which is kind of lame, but I just never really found the time):

 

Unfortunately, John got called into work at the last minute.  He left at 3pm so he could work from 4-8pm and didn't get home until after 8:30pm.  He initially was supposed to work during that time, but at his work, if you are calling in sick, then you have to find someone to switch shifts or take your shift for you.  A girl called in sick at the last minute on Saturday and John took her shift and the agreement was that they would just switch shifts rather than John taking her shift and her losing out on hours.  It was all nice and dandy until the girl called in sick on Valentine's Day too, only an hour before the shift started.  Needless to say, there was no one to fill that position, so John felt obligated to take it.  He felt really bad that he had to go into work on Valentine's Day, especially when we had plans to make dinner together.  It totally wasn't his fault and I wasn't upset or anything - a little disappointed, yes, but not upset.  I was aggravated with the girl, not my wonderful husband. 

For dinner, we had a pork roast in the slow cooker all day, and then we shredded it and cooked it with BBQ sauce.  This is what we normally do for BBQ pork sandwiches, but this time we used the shredded BBQ pork on pizza instead.  This BBQ Pork pizza was the first thing I ever cooked for John - it was back when we were dating and he loved it!  The saying that the "quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is incredibly true. :)  On that date, I made a BBQ Pork pizza with jalapenos, a spinach salad with honey mustard dressing, chocolate covered strawberries, and sparkling cider (the most random and eclectic menu, I realize).  I remember chopping up a jalapeno and having my eyes burned out of my skull when I accidentally touched my eyes.  I decided to recreate this meal for Valentine's Day - I succeeded with the pizza, but we bought the wrong chocolate for our fondue pot, so we weren't able to make chocolate covered strawberries (I was pretty bummed about that).  We'll probably do them later this week.  

Here is the finished pizza (my half doesn't have jalapenos - I don't do spicy) - very tasty, though a little odd-shaped:

  

 

BBQ Pork & Jalapeno Pizza

1. Cook a boneless shoulder pork roast (with all fat trimmed beforehand) in the slow cooker by itself for 5 - 6 hours on HIGH or 8 - 10 hrs on LOW .  Take out of slow cooker, shred, drain liquid out of slow cooker, return to slow cooker, add 1/2 bottle of favorite BBQ sauce to cover, and sprinkle a little brown sugar on top.  Cook on HIGH for 1 hr or LOW 2 hrs. 

2.  At this point, you could use the BBQ pork for sandwiches (this is what we usually do - Johnny's favorite dinner).  For this though, you'll use enough to cover the pizza and put leftovers in the fridge for pork sandwiches as leftovers. :)

3.  Make a homemade pizza crust (we have one we really like, but I'll share that in another blog post) or buy one of the pre-made pizza crusts.

4.  Layer the BBQ shredded pork on the pizza crust. 

5.  Follow with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

6.  Top with sliced jalapenos (I recommend removing the seeds from the jalapeno before slicing - most of the heat is in the seeds).

7.  Bake for the normal time for your pizza crust recipe.

8. Enjoy!

***  

That was the past week and a half in an abridged version.  Again, I apologize for the lapse in blogging on my part.  I will try to do better.  :)  I hope everyone had a wonderful Super Bowl/Valentine's Day/President's Day!! Love to all!