Happy New Year's Eve: Last 2013 Post

Happy New Year's Eve. Here is a picture of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA.  I tried to find a "free to use and share" picture of the Tower of the America's in San Antonio on NYE, but none were available. This is the next best thing, I think. Thank you to flickr user Michael Holden.

The holidays are always extra exhausting for me because we travel just about every Christmas. We spent a wonderful week in Lubbock, TX surrounded by family and friends, returning yesterday. I knew I wouldn’t feel like venturing out to the grocery store to buy a single thing. Instead, I placed an online order for groceries to be delivered to my house today. Lazy? Maybe. But not having to fight crowds is a plus in my book.

However… the only thing I frickin’ forgot were black-eyed peas. How can you ring in a new year without these crazy little beans? (Do you really think they bring you good luck?) All I know is that I don’t want to jinx it, so I better get some. Oh, and we don’t have champagne to toast with at midnight. So, I guess a trip to the store is in order, but at least I won’t be there but for very long.

Part of tonight's "big" festivities.

We also don't have party plans for the evening. I'd throw a party to see friends, but let's face it… that kind of stress coming home from a trip would likely kill me. I think we're probably going to have an intimate evening, filled with watching the TV countdowns and making homemade peanut butter cookies. Yes, we're officially old and have a kid. Yay, mid-30s. 

As for “Resolutions” for 2014 – I haven’t thought too much about this. Every year I resolve to do seemingly reasonable things. And every year, I don’t hold myself accountable to follow through. Nevertheless, I do think 2014 will be a defining year for both my husband and me based on events that happened in 2013. For us, 2013 had many twists and turns and I don’t foresee 2014 being much easier.

At the beginning of 2013, I didn’t resolve to do much aside from getting rid of pregnancy weight and organizing my house. Both were huge failures for me. I’m still the same weight as last year, I had to give up my gym membership because my husband lost his job (not that I used it consistently), and our poor, white-walled house chronically looks like Toy’s R Us took a giant dump on the floor.

Conclusion? While I do think the New Year is a fantastic time to renew or pursue personal goals, it’s important to make sure there is accountability for it. Perhaps this blog will be a nice platform for that. But either way, the goal setting process shouldn’t be saved for January – it should be ongoing. And that’s my point. I should be setting goals throughout the year to follow up on, and perhaps that’s my 2014 resolution. Though I must say that I like the idea of “starting clean” with month #1.

A toast for you!

Since we just got home yesterday, I can’t tell you what will be on our menu this week… because frankly, I haven’t thought about it yet. What I will tell you is that this week will be a “wing it” week, meaning I’ll figure out what I want to make about an hour before I make it.

Happy New Year to you all. Farewell 2013, bring on 2014!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Crafting

Menu Monday

 

As Christmas approaches, we start feeling the money crunch.  We have a set budget for presents this year, but I’ve been trying to be as frugal as possible “just in case” we overspend – I mean, c’mon, it is Christmas after all.  J It’s the time of year where I just want to buy ALL THE THINGS and give them to the fam. 

A friend of mine (thanks Lauren!) introduced me to the site Budget Bytes.  It has a lot of yummy recipes with a breakdown of what each meal, serving, and ingredient costs!  It’s pretty neat really, and some of the recipes are so simple I’m always like, “duh!  I should have thought to try that!”  I always over complicate things, even cooking!

This week I stole several recipes from this site to put on our menu.  I’m excited to try them.  I am also going to do some pantry-cleaning as well.  Here is our menu:

Sunday: Lasagna (I used turkey Italian sausage and whole wheat noodles – also, this added to my freezer stash)

Monday: Out (taking the kids Xmas shopping for Steve while he studies for his final)

Tuesday: Maple Meatballs w/ mashed potatoes (Abby’s favorite meal)

Wednesday: Quinoa Black Bean Tacos
Thursday: Bacon Pesto Pasta Bake
Friday: Falafel
Saturday: Crock Pot – something pulled from the freezer!

"Winter" in Tallahassee

Moving from Colorado had its fair share of culture shock, but I think the biggest oddity I experienced while living here are warm holidays.  The first Christmas we spent in Tallahassee it was 70 degrees.  We had the windows open.  I wore a tank top.  I probably got sunburned.

Despite my loathing of the hot weather down here, I will say Tallahassee an extremely family friendly town. There are always tons of events going on, especially at Christmastime.  One of my favorites is the Winter Festival that the city sponsors.  The first year we went, it snowed.  Well, they made it snow with snow machines anyway, but it was a nice effect considering we were so used to real White Christmases.  The festival includes a lighting ceremony where they light up all the grand oak trees downtown, followed by the annual Jingle Bell Run (a short & sweet 3K.  We haven’t participated since the kids arrived, but I think next year we will start back up) and then a parade, complete with Santa.  They dedicate one section of the downtown area to kids, appropriately dubbed “Candy Cane Lane” where they don the strip with animatronics and the local candy maker does a candy cane making display and all the kids get free (GIANT) candy canes.  The festival this year is on December 7 (tomorrow).  Festivities begin at 3, and the lighting ceremony starts at 6pm. 

Another one of my favorite events at this time of year is Elf Night at Dorothy B. Oven Park.  Every year they light up the park, and you can drive and walk through a fantastic light display.  We never attended on Elf Night until Abby came, because it is geared towards kids, and well, we weren’t really into that before we had our own!  They almost always provide some sort of treat like cookies, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider.  Lots of people are dressed up as fun characters; gingerbread man, snowman, toy soldier, and of course, SANTA!  We have gone the past two years, and we are hoping to go again this year.  Last year it even rained, but we went anyway!  They also made it “snow” last year – with bubbles.  I think that was Abby’s favorite part.  Elf Night this year is on Thursday December 19 at 5:30pm.

So, Tallahassee friends, what is your favorite family friendly holiday event this month?  We’re always looking for fun things to do with the kids!

Menu Monday

So, Jes and I are trying to revamp how are posting on this blog. The way we initially had it set up, it was pretty taxing on our time and we found ourselves skipping out on posts because things just got so busy. But we are committed to making this blog a success.

Since it's the beginning of December, we're doing themes each week. This week, our theme is Winter Fun. I personally don't have a fun winter menu, but I want to share with you a memory I have before I post my menu for the week.

I grew up in Lubbock, Texas. And despite the fact it's in Texas, it does get all four seasons. Every year, I battled driving in snow and ice. It would be cold. And the fact it's on top of a plateau, you'll get 70 mph winds that will knock you down.

As a kid, I remember vividly playing in the snow drifts next to our house all afternoon. I would build a whole snowman family and there was still snow leftover to play with. When it was time to come inside, I always loved it when the house smelled like vegetable or sometimes beef stew. We'd have that with a big piece of crusty french bread. It was the best, warming dinner on a cold winter's night. Truth be told, some days I miss Lubbock so much that it hurts. My family is there, some of my oldest friends are there, I miss the weather, I miss football games, I miss being around farmers and rednecks (ok… sometimes), and I know the schools (my daughter is almost pre-K age and I am nervous of the schools here). But I find that most of the time I miss Lubbock as much as I do, it's around fall and winter. Maybe it's just the fact I miss experiencing 4 seasons. But, I'm sure it's more than that. It's the fond memories I have during winter with my family.

If you're looking for a fabulous vegetable soup recipe, check out Ellie Krieger's Tuscan Vegetable Soup recipe on the Food Network's website.

Monday - Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
Tuesday - Crock Pot Pork Chops over Rice
Wednesday - Parmesan Chicken and Potatoes
Thursday - Out
Friday - Beef Stroganoff and Peas
Saturday - Freezer leftover meal (Cheesy chicken casserole)

Happy Holiday's Y'all!

Thanksgiving Tuesday

Its Thanksgiving week.  We are travelling to visit my mom in Wisconsin on Thursday.  We are flying out of Jacksonville instead of Tallahassee (cost difference of about $200/ticket!) so we are heading out tomorrow night.

Due to all the travel, I don’t have a weekly menu to share.  However, tonight the kids and I are attending a Soup Potluck with some church folk.  So I am going to share with you one of my favorite soup recipes.  Broccoli Cheese!

I craved Broccoli Cheese soup all.the.time when I was pregnant with Will. I know it’s a pretty popular soup too.  But what I hate is when you get the restaurant soups, they are all usually overly salty, or made with super processed velveeta type cheese. 

I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook I have.  I have made one small modification, but otherwise I pretty much follow it exactly.  It does not have a lot of salt (unless you use canned broth – which I like to use my own), and you can use vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.  I bet if you really wanted, you could try using coconut or almond milk to make it vegan even (omitting the cheese).  Which, someone should try and let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped broccoli (you can use frozen)

1 carrot, shredded

1 can (14.5oz – just under 2 cups) broth (chicken or vegetable)

3 TBSP flour (this is my alteration – original recipe uses 2.  We like it thicker)

¼ cup cold water

1 cup half and half

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Add broth, vegetables, and salt & pepper to pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook 6-8 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.  Meanwhile, mix flour & water in a small bowl.  Once vegetables are cooked tender, add flour mixture to pot, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute.  Reduce heat and add half and half.  DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.  Cook until hot.  Once hot, add cheese gradually, stirring until melted & mixed completely.  Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday

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Since I didn't do Wordless Wednesday, I'm doing a Throwback Thursday!

Here is Uncle James and Grammy meeting Sydney Jade for the first time. November 27, 2010.