Weekend at the Cabin

Our neighbors invited us up to their cabin this weekend, we had a great time sledding, playing games, talking, and tripling our caloric intake.  Thanks for such a great weekend!

The kids in a TV trance.

 

A little chess in the morning.  Good times.

Sledding: 1

Sledding: 2

Norah LOVED the whole thing

Sledding: 3  My personal favorite, this is probably worth clicking on so you can see all the details.

She survived it.

Sledding: 4  Aiden was not a huge fan of the snow in his face.

Sledding: 5  Notice his facial expression, it never changes

Sledding: 6  She was seriously hard core

Sledding: 7  Aren't those boys adorable. 

This is really how most of the time was spent.  All the men trying to fix the snowmobiles. 

Valentines

 

J'adore Valentines Day.  Here is ours in a series of pictures:

Preschool Parties:

Candlelight Valentine's Breakfast 

(chocolate chip pancakes and whipping cream):

 Making Love Houses for family night:

Our Night:

Okay, I have to go into a little more detail here. Landon and I went to our Stake Valentine's Dance on Saturday night and had a fantastic time.  We had a blast dancing all night and hanging out with our friends.  So, Monday night came and we stayed in.  We got all our favorite treats (see the bottom picture of the mess) and watched a movie after the kids went to bed.  And Landon got me the best gift ever.  He brought me cheap grocery store flowers and said that with the money he would have spent on roses we get to go to a cheese tasting class at Caputos Deli instead.  I would much rather eat my gift than look at it for two days before it wilts.  I'm so excited.

 

Happy Valentines Day

Aiden came up to me and complained that he had a rock in his nose.  So I figured he had a really hard booger up there.  So I got a tissue and asked him to blow and out came... an actual rock. 

Have a happy valentines day.  And may there be no rocks up your noses.

My hand.

Landon left Sunday night for Idaho.  On Monday morning I dragged myself out of bed to face the next 36 hours with just me and the kids.  I admit that I'm a complete baby when Landon is gone.  I don't do well.  Anyway, I was digging some dried out brownies out of the pan when the butter knife I was wielding slipped and landed directly in my palm.  Pretty deeply into my palm.  I immediately grabbed my hand and went into the bathroom.  I called Landon and broke down.  I don't like blood, I don't like pain, I don't like not having Landon at home.  So, I may or may not have been hysterical.  I got off the phone because Landon wasn't much medical help.  I called my mom who was also out of town.  She called my dad who drove over. 

At that point I heard a knock on my door and found my neighbor.  She told me that Landon had called her and said I probably wasn't thinking straight. So true.  She also brought me some extra strength tylenol.  Much appreciated.

Anyway, after that, my dad got here, put us all in the car and drove me to the clinic.  An hour later I walked out with three stitches.  Not bad.  And for those of you who haven't had stitches in a long time, it wasn't my favorite.  The numbing shots were painful, and then they scrubbed out the wound.  It makes my stomach roll just thinking of it. 

After we got home my wonderful dad did all the dishes, swept the floor, and later that day brought us food for dinner and dinner the next day.  He wins all points.

Oh Boy

He's a sweet boy.  Really.  But some days are harder than others.  So Aiden was in the bathroom playing in the water.  I warned him once that he couldn't do that. He came back a few minutes later and started playing in the water again.  So I scolded him and moved him into the hallway and went back to getting ready. A few minutes later I heard Aiden's little voice, a bit hesitantly saying, "you're stupid".  I looked over to see him pointing his plastic gun straight at me.  I got threatened with a gun by my own child.

Later that day he ran into my room yelling, "come look at Annie's hair!".  I ran into the bathroom to see one lone curl on the bathroom floor.  So sad.  But, I'm no idiot, I know that Annie doesn't have the wherewithal to cut her own hair.  I had to interrogate Aiden until he admitted that it was him that cut Annie's hair.  Strike two. 

Fortunately for him, he never struck out.  On the contrary, he made good.  A day later we were at the dinosaur museum and he said the words every mother dreams of hearing: "Mommy, I will do anything you want me to do."  Seriously, it was completely unsolicited.  It was wonderful.  To top it all off, he drew me this picture. 

How can you not love a kid like that?

Bed Head

Best morning hair ever.

Jungle January, Some Thoughts

Jungle January was a two-fold mission: eat vegetarian, and don't spend money.  The vegetarian eating wasn't a problem. I discovered some good recipes, I didn't miss preparing raw meat, all in all, it was fine.  And we ate meat most weekends when we were at other people's houses.

But, the not spending money, it was a little rough.  The first week was fine, it was nice to not have any pressure to spend.  But the second week was worse.  I wanted to spend money on anything. An oil change, a butter dish.  It didn't matter, I just wanted to buy something.  I was seriously embarrassed. I felt like one of those compulsive spenders on a talk show. 

But, that wore off after a few days, and I'm much happier with my current state of things.  When we were in school, we were so good at not spending money.  We were good at finding free things and were just happy living on less.  But, we started getting a paycheck and made less of an effort to live on less.  So it was fun to go back to our old ways last month. 

We had some great free dates (moonlight snowshoeing, candlelit dinners after the kids went to bed). I found some great free kids activities (downtown library, grandma's house) and as it turns out, you don't have to eat out in order to eat.  Another plus was that we made some good plans for the house.  Instead of making off the cuff decisions (and quick trips to Home Depot) we spent time making a cohesive plan for what we want in the house.  So now we have a color palette for paint (so I don't make the same mistake I did in the kitchen), a plan for the basement, and some prioritized repairs.  It was nice to take a month off so that we could spend the time and energy making plans instead of being impulsive. 

Vegetarians: Week last

Menu
Monday: Tortillas de Papas
Tuesday: Vegetarian Chili with Cornbread
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Ratatouille on Polenta
Friday: German Pancakes
Saturday: Potatoe Cheese Soup
Sunday: Vegetarian Thai Curry, Teriyaki Stir Fry

Tortillas de Papas
http://clumbsycookie.blogspot.com/2008/07/champions-tortilla-de-papas.html

This was good.  I love hash browns and I love eggs, so this was a good fit.   This was a great "I haven't been to the store this week" meal.  The woman I lived with in France would add thyme to a dish that was pretty much the same as this.   I'm going to try that next time.

8 small red potatoes, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
8 eggs
oil

Saute the potatoes and onion in a hot skillet until tender.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs.  Add the potatoes and onion and pour the mixture back into the hot skillet (I used a ten inch skillet with two inch sides).  Turn down to medium.  Cook until the bottom is set and a little brown.  Invert the egg mixture onto a plate (gooey side down) then slide back into the skillet.  You are essentially just flipping the thing.  Once it is cooked through, cut into wedges and enjoy.  I'm not ashamed to say that I ate it with ketchup.


Vegetarian Chili
This was really, really good.  All the veggies made it so that I didn't miss the meat at all.  Yum. 

2 cans tomatoes with chilis
2 cans black beans
1 bell pepper, diced
3 onions, diced
1 zucchini, diced
3 T chili powder
1 1/2 T cumin
1 T garlic powder

German Pancakes
Christensen Family Favorite
I didn't want to cook dinner, and we all love this.  I served them with fresh lime, blueberries, and maple syrup.  So good. 

4 T butter
8 eggs
1 C flour
1 C milk

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Put the butter in a 9x13 pan and melt it in the oven.  Whisk together the flour and milk until all the lumps are out.  Beat the eggs and add them to the milk mixture.  Pour the mixture into the hot pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and puffy. 


Potato Cheese Soup
From my Aunt Janette

Yum.  Cheesy, creamy goodness.  This was the first time I have cooked with Velveeta, I have never figured out how they can call that stuff food.  But I looked at all the ingredients and they were all more or less recognizable. 

5 C potatoes
1/2 C onion
1 C celery
1 C carots
3 C water
3 chicken bouillion cubes
1/4 C butter
1/2 C flour
4 C milk
8 oz. Velveeta

Cut all the vegetables into small chunks.  BOil the vegetables in the water with bouillon cubes about 10 minutes, until just tender.  In a separate pan, melt the butter, whisk in the flour and add the milk.  Add the milk mixture to the vegetables.  Stir in the Velveeta until melted. 


Vegetarian Thai Curry
From http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetarianthairecipes/r/pumpkincurry.htm

Pretty good.  The curry sauce smelled so good, but the vegetable mixture was a little weird.  Next time I would use regular potatos in place of the squash and sweet potatoes.  
 
3 C butternut Squash
1 small sweet potato
1-2 medium carrots
1 bell pepper
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 can chick peas, drained

CURRY SAUCE
3-4 cloves garlic
2 t Thai chili paste
1 can coconut milk
3 T lime juice
2 1/2 T soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
juice of 1 medium orange
1/2 t turmeric
1 T rice or apple cider vinegar
1 T coriander
1 T cumin
1 t fennel seed
1/3 purple onion, sliced

Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor. Blend until smooth.  Yum.  Cut all the vegetables into 3/4 inch chunks.  Place the squash, potato, carrots, and pepper into a skillet.  Cover with the curry sauce and simmer until vegetables are tender.  Add the tomatoes and chick peas.  Heat through.  Serve over Jasmin rice. 


Teriyaki Sauce

I grew up eating this all the time.  There was always a bottle of it in the fridge to put on leftover rice or use as a marinade for chicken.  Delicious. 

 

1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C sugar
1 t chili powder
2 T honey
1 T vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/2 t ginger powder

Mix all the ingredients in a pot.  Bring to a boil. 
Add about half a cup of this to 1/2 cup chicken broth and pour over frozen stir fry vegetables.