Our 2 Kitchens

Here is a link to my friend Hannah and her friend Kristen's joint food blog. You can also access their blog through my list of friends and family under Hannah's name. There are a ton of great recipes here, and I intend to try out a bunch of them. If you're in the market for some new recipes, check it out!

http://our2kitchens.blogspot.com

Recipe

In light of my recent declaration to cook more, I am posting a recipe that is not only delicious, but it's easy and inexpensive, too.

Fettuccine Alfredo:

1/4 cup of butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, crushed (or you can use garlic powder.) You can also buy crushed garlic in jars for under $2 at the store. It's usually found in the produce section of the grocery store.
1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese ( you can also buy this pre-shredded already measured out in 1 1/2 cup bags. It's much cheaper than buying fresh and it tastes just as good. I've done it both ways.
1/4 cup freshly grated parsley

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly heating through until a thick sauce forms. Thin to desired consistency with more heavy cream or milk if desired. Stir in parsley and serve with fettuccine or your favorite pasta.


We've had this a few times now, and it's become a family favorite. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry I just serve it with some type of bread. But I serve it with salad, too. Also if you want, you can add broccoli and/or chicken to the actual pasta and sauce.

Please ignore the half eaten bread stick

Emma liked it...

...and Aidan too!

2010 Goals

I know it's a little late to be making New Year's resolutions, but that actually falls under one of the things I hope to work on this year...procrastination. I tend to put things off, and not just little things like laundry, dishes, and housework that can frankly wait and will always need to be done. But the big things, personal things, things of importance like faith, family, and self improvement. So, my hopes for 2010 are the following:

1. My Faith--something deeply personal and something easily pushed to the side and ignored when I stay too focused on the laundry, the dishes, and the housework. I remember when I first joined the church almost 14 years ago, I was much, much more diligent in my personal scripture study and prayer. I was eager and excited and wanted to know everything. I wasn't married, I didn't have kids or a house to run and when I wanted to read or pray, I did. Now with the demands of motherhood and wifedom I don't prioritize the way I used to, or need to. I don't make the time to cultivate my personal relationship with my faith and with my creator. I do the things that are "required" such as blessing the food at meals, family prayer at night and a Book of Mormon story before bed with the kids, but personally I am stagnant. So, this year I want to set a goal to read at least one chapter of scripture a day and say one personal prayer.

2. Patience--I don't have any. For the kids, for my husband, or for myself. I get easily frustrated and it affects everyone. I have been working on deep breathing and counting to ten and will continue to strive to not yell as much and be kinder and gentler to my family.

3. Weekly Date Night--The more kids we seem to have, the less time Matthew and I seem to spend one on one with each other. By the time all three kids are in bed, we are so exhausted that we seriously just fall into bed and pass out. I miss him. Our conversations, our jokes, our quiet moments of cuddling and watching T.V. We have been pretty good about going and doing something together every couple of weeks--we actually just spent the night in Phoenix this past weekend and it was really nice to get away. But we need to have one night a week that is just about us. My mom typically comes over every Wednesday to see the kids and give me a break so I can run errands, go to appointments, shop, or occasionally take a nap. She has graciously agreed to add evenings to Wednesdays so Matthew and I can go out together--to dinner, a cheap movie, or just to Barnes and Noble to browse (one of our favorite things to do.) I hope after the baby is born we are able to keep it up.

4. Cooking more and not just "heating" up a skillet meal or frying up hot dogs. I am rather obsessed with the food network and always see great recipes I want to try out. I am usually so wiped out by 5 pm that the last thing I want to do is make dinner, but the older my kids get the more I realize the importance of a good meal and time together around the dinner table. That is not to say I will never make hot dogs or kraft mac and cheese again, just not as frequently. I am learning that good food doesn't have to take a lot of time, cost a lot of money, or require tons of skill.

Here's hoping that I can tackle the procrastination so I can accomplish the rest :)

Ultrasound

This is a weird picture, I know...for some reason the baby was in a strange mermaid position. Despite that, the baby DOES have two legs, and ten fingers and ten toes and all organs functioning properly. The only mild complication that was detected was a low lying placenta that may or may not result in placenta previa the closer I get to delivering. I will go back at 30 weeks for another ultrasound to see if the placenta has moved higher, lower, or stayed the same. It is less than one centimeter from the cervix, and it needs to be one centimeter or higher above the cervix to avoid a problem. It could correct itself as my uterus continues to grow, or it could end up covering the cervix, which would mean a C-section. But, it isn't too much of a worry or concern at this point in the pregnancy.

As for the gender of the baby...that we have decided to make a surprise. Matthew really wanted to wait until the baby was born, and so that is what we are doing. So,despite his use of "he" when referring to the baby, the sex is still undetermined. I guess it looks like we'll just have to wait and see whose poll answers were right :)

Alphabet Book

This is my "homemade" alphabet book. I got the idea from my sister in law, Amanda, who made something similar for our niece Cambria for Christmas. It's a relatively easy, inexpensive, and fun way to introduce and teach your kids the alphabet. Aidan and Emma have really enjoyed looking at it and Aidan has almost all of his letters memorized--although I can't in good conscience take the credit for that, he's been in pre-school since the end of August. But, for Emma it's a head start on next year when she starts pre-school. If anyone is interested, the website can be found here Project Alphabet. I also made a numbers book, which can also be found on the project alphabet website.

Birthdays, Rashes, and Christmas

The beginning of the month started out with us celebrating both Aidan and Parker's birthdays. Aidan turned four and Parker turned one! We had a joint birthday party (where I didn't get any pictures of the kids opening their presents or blowing out the candles. I was too busy videoing.) Matthew however, did get some not so flattering ones of me, one of which I posted :) The only redeeming factor is my ADORABLE new little niece Jocelyn. Then, mid-way through December, amongst colds, ear infections, and coughs, we had a chicken pox scare. Emma turned up one night with spots covering her from head to toe. We assumed they were chicken pox because they looked just like them. However, when we took her to the doctor we found out that it was not in fact the chicken pox, but an allergic reaction to something she either touched, ate, or breathed in...very specific, I know. We still don't know what caused it, but after about a week the spots went away. And most recently, we celebrated Christmas with our families. Santa was good to us all this year, and we most certainly can't complain. Aside from the gifts we received, we were actually all healthy this year. Something I was very grateful for! We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas and will have a safe, happy, and healthy new year!

Polar Express

Aidan and Emma with Mrs. Claus.

The kids playing in the Polar Room.

Daddy and Parker!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

On the train!!!

Eating their cookies.

Aidan anxiously awaiting his turn with Santa.

Emma with her bell...Santa gives every child a bell, just like in the story.

Exhausted baby. Within in seconds of the picture being taken, he was out for the count.

Old habits die hard. My New England upbringing came rushing back to me, as I scraped the snow off the car.

I have had a few friends take their kids up to Williams, AZ to ride the Polar Express in years past. I was very excited that this year my kids were old enough to go (and hopefully remember the experience.) The only date left when I went to book my tickets just happened to be Aidan's birthday. I thought it couldn't be more perfect to celebrate Aidan and his special day, than by taking him to ride on a train. He is rather obsessed with them. We left Saturday morning the 28th at about 11:00 am, got to Williams around 3:30 pm, checked into our hotel, went to a restaurant, where we let the kids get their OWN meals (we typically have them share because it's a waste of money otherwise--no one ever finishes.) But, Aidan really, really wanted the spagetti and Emma really, really wanted the mac & cheese, so I gave in. And to my surprise they both finished every bite! After that we headed to the train station to get our tickets. We then spent the next hour walking around looking at the lights, browsing the gift shop, and playing in the Polar Room with Mrs. Claus, and writing our letters to Santa. It was a bit stressful at times trying to keep my eyes on all three kids at once (we didn't bring the stroller this trip) but the kids were well behaved, especially in the car, and that made it easier overall.

The train ride was AWESOME. We had hot chocolate and cookies, had the Polar Express story read to us, saw the lights and the houses of the "North Pole" out our windows, met Santa, and sang Christmas Carols. Aidan and Emma participated, listened, and were over the moon that they got to shake Santa's hand. After the train ride, we went back to the hotel and crashed. We got home Sunday around 3:00 pm and had naps and down time. I really, really loved the trip and want to make it a yearly tradition.