It's been a while! This year has been super busy. G. has returned to school and is working on his history degree. It's not easy with a full time job and a busy calling in our ward, but he's doing amazing. So far he has a 4.0! I'm really proud of him.
Miss S. is turning two tomorrow. She's currently obsessed with all things Mickey Mouse, although she says she'd like an Elmo present too. Really, I think she's most excited about cupcakes and spending time with family. She's so smart, I definitely need to keep up with her. She knows her capital letters and can almost count to 20, although she usually skips 15 and 16. Today it's snowing! This is the first time it's snowed this year and she was interested in the snowflakes for a few minutes before deciding that snow is cold!
As for me, I'm working on Home Economics projects. This year I want to focus on cooking and sewing for my family and possibly gardening again. Last year's garden gave me a dozen strawberries, two small peppers and a lot of basil and cilantro. I'm thinking that the light areas on our patio are best suited for herbs. I enjoyed having the fresh cilantro especially for Tex Mex food, my favorite.
Here are a few of the projects I've been working on:
These are the infamous hot air balloons in our master bath. Note that in the bottom left hand corner the pattern is disrupted. Also, the one right under the water faucet is upside down. I like character in a house, but this was really too much to handle! So I looked for solutions about what to do with it. I ended up deciding to use some appliance epoxy spray paint. I learned a few things with this project. First, appliance epoxy will not come out of your hair. I ended up cutting off a few inches because of this discovery. Second, the spray paint formula is kind of sticky when it lands on the floor and your clothes. Overall though, it's holding up fairly well after a month or so. I will end up replacing the water valve when I'm finished with the tub itself. For a four dollar can of paint though, I'm quite happy not to think about the balloons!
I also conquered one of my biggest fears: Raw chicken! I found whole chickens for around eighty cents a pound and decided that it was time to get over it! I used the engagement chicken recipie from Glamour's 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know, with a few modifications. Basically, you start by rinsing the chicken inside and out and removing the organs. This was definitely NOT my favorite thing to do. After it's dried, you get the awful raw chicken smell out of your hands by pricking a few holes in two fresh lemons. You then put the lemons into the dry cavity of the chicken and roast at 350 degrees with the back up for 15 minutes. Then, after 15 minutes, you flip over the chicken and roast for 18-20 minutes per pound of chicken. I added some squeezed lemon juice and herbs de provence over the chicken before roasting. It tasted great and let me make some homemade chicken stock the next day.
This morning it was time for homemade breakfast. I am normally a cereal girl. Cold cereal or maybe some microwaved oatmeal if I feel like 'cooking.' This morning though, I made crust-less spinach quiche with fresh spinach. It was pretty good! Even S. who will not eat anything green for any reason what so ever, ate a piece and a half! Quiche with sneaky vegetables may become a regular thing around here!
To make the Quiche:
4 whole large eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese, I used some left over mexican blend we got on sale, but Swiss would be better!
4 cups fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Now it's time to steam your spinach. Put about 2 tablespoons of water in a pot with a lid and cook on medium low heat for about 5 minutes.
Beat your eggs and mix in the cheese.
layer your spinach on the bottom of a 9 inch casserole dish or pie pan and pour the egg mixture over the spinach
Bake for 35 minutes and enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment