My husband and I were in Las Vegas for five days, it was amazing to go from cold 40 degree weather here in the great northwest, to hot sunny 85 degree weather. It was a fun, relaxing vacation but like most, it went by so quickly. By the time we were packing up our bag it felt like there was no way our four night, five day trip was over already. Once we were on the plane we were both ready to see our girls and get back to our house.
Our daughters had a fun "sleep over vacation" at Nana & Papa's, they were very happy to spend Easter with my family. My brother, his girlfriend, my sister and my Grandparents all came to spend the holiday with my parents and our girls.
Things are pretty busy right now, I'm still trying to get back into a normal routine plus other exciting things like: preparing to register our oldest daughter for kindergarten, getting our youngest completely accident free throughout the night (which is going very well--both my kids are very sound sleepers), and getting caught up on laundry!
I have a few new recipes to post, hopefully I can get to that soon!
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!
<3 Nicole
Friday, April 29, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Awesome Snack
This is one of our favorite snacks and it's so simple!
Pepperoni Chips
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Line cookie sheet with foil and put oven safe cookie rack on cookie sheet.
Place turkey pepperoni or regular pepperoni in a single layer on the rack.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisp (watch closely so they don't burn). Remove and let cool. Store in air tight container for up to 4 days. *They never last that long in our house!
<3 Nicole
Pepperoni Chips
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Line cookie sheet with foil and put oven safe cookie rack on cookie sheet.
Place turkey pepperoni or regular pepperoni in a single layer on the rack.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisp (watch closely so they don't burn). Remove and let cool. Store in air tight container for up to 4 days. *They never last that long in our house!
<3 Nicole
Monday, April 11, 2011
Nicole's Chicken Cordon Bleu
This is a recipe I made up on my own, I didn't want to make the rolled up version of this yummy recipe, I like making things as simple as possible!
5 Chicken Tenders trimmed and cut in half
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Cook chicken pieces in olive oil, about two minutes per side, they don't have to be fully cooked. Spray a pan with cooking spray and place chicken pieces in it.
1 can of Cream of chicken soup
2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
Mix together. (If it were just my husband and I, I would have added more dijon, but it can get spicy so I decided 2 T was the right amount so my daughters would eat it.)
Pour sauce over the top of the chicken.
3-6 Slices of deli ham, chopped.
Sprinkle over the top of the chicken and sauce. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
1 Cup of shredded swiss cheese, or 4 slices of swiss cheese.
Top chicken with cheese and place back into the oven and cook for 5-10 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
We loved this recipe, I served it with Those Potatoes (at some point I will bring myself to share that recipe--it's a family recipe that is oh so good!) and broccoli.
<3 Nicole
5 Chicken Tenders trimmed and cut in half
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Cook chicken pieces in olive oil, about two minutes per side, they don't have to be fully cooked. Spray a pan with cooking spray and place chicken pieces in it.
1 can of Cream of chicken soup
2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
Mix together. (If it were just my husband and I, I would have added more dijon, but it can get spicy so I decided 2 T was the right amount so my daughters would eat it.)
Pour sauce over the top of the chicken.
3-6 Slices of deli ham, chopped.
Sprinkle over the top of the chicken and sauce. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
1 Cup of shredded swiss cheese, or 4 slices of swiss cheese.
Top chicken with cheese and place back into the oven and cook for 5-10 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
We loved this recipe, I served it with Those Potatoes (at some point I will bring myself to share that recipe--it's a family recipe that is oh so good!) and broccoli.
<3 Nicole
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
A trip down memory lane..
On Saturday we participated in our second annual MS Walk Northwest in Kitsap County. Luckily it wasn't raining and we completed our 3 miles in about 45-50 minutes. I was hoping we would be able to beat last years time of 40-45 minutes but I was in worse shape this year, but I am so proud of us. We raised $200 this year, last year we raised $150. I am so thankful to everybody who donated to our team!
After our walk we drove to Olympia, we had plans with family for the evening but we decided to grab lunch and head to the park since the sun was shining. The kids played and had a blast. We then drove out to my old neighborhood. I lived there from the time I was 8 years old until I was 20 when I got married and moved to South Carolina. My parents sold their house about a year after I moved away because they wanted to design and build a new home. We had a dog (she is about 15 years old now) named Yogi, she was a neighborhood dog. In the winter and during cold rainy nights she would sleep in the livingroom but for the most part she was just out roaming around the neighborhood. She had a dog BFF named Shadow who lived in the house across the cul-de-sac from us. When my parents moved they decided to leave Yogi with our neighbors, Shadow's owners because they knew she wouldn't do well in the city or without Shadow. Anyway, when we got to the old neighborhood I saw two signs in my old yard, "For Sale" and "For Rent", I knew this already and if we could, I'm pretty sure I could talk my husband into buying my old house, I love it so much, it's in a great area, great schools, lots of property.... but we already own a house and this market is just terrible for sellers right now. We also saw Yogi laying in the middle of the street. I got out of the car and walked up to her and was talking to her and petting her. It shocked me seeing how old she is but I felt like she remembered me, she was loving the attention. My youngest daughter and my husband got out of the car and she jumped up and hobbled off. She always was a big old chicken! It was good to see her and the old neighborhood, but it was hard seeing her so old and frail. It's not at all how I remember her. The last time I saw her was about 7 years ago though. I know my neighbors are taking amazing care of her and I know she has had a great life.
Ok, well that's it for today!
<3 Nicole
After our walk we drove to Olympia, we had plans with family for the evening but we decided to grab lunch and head to the park since the sun was shining. The kids played and had a blast. We then drove out to my old neighborhood. I lived there from the time I was 8 years old until I was 20 when I got married and moved to South Carolina. My parents sold their house about a year after I moved away because they wanted to design and build a new home. We had a dog (she is about 15 years old now) named Yogi, she was a neighborhood dog. In the winter and during cold rainy nights she would sleep in the livingroom but for the most part she was just out roaming around the neighborhood. She had a dog BFF named Shadow who lived in the house across the cul-de-sac from us. When my parents moved they decided to leave Yogi with our neighbors, Shadow's owners because they knew she wouldn't do well in the city or without Shadow. Anyway, when we got to the old neighborhood I saw two signs in my old yard, "For Sale" and "For Rent", I knew this already and if we could, I'm pretty sure I could talk my husband into buying my old house, I love it so much, it's in a great area, great schools, lots of property.... but we already own a house and this market is just terrible for sellers right now. We also saw Yogi laying in the middle of the street. I got out of the car and walked up to her and was talking to her and petting her. It shocked me seeing how old she is but I felt like she remembered me, she was loving the attention. My youngest daughter and my husband got out of the car and she jumped up and hobbled off. She always was a big old chicken! It was good to see her and the old neighborhood, but it was hard seeing her so old and frail. It's not at all how I remember her. The last time I saw her was about 7 years ago though. I know my neighbors are taking amazing care of her and I know she has had a great life.
Ok, well that's it for today!
<3 Nicole
Friday, April 1, 2011
Signs of Spring
The last couple of days we have had breaks in the rain and we have gone on some fun nature walks after dinner. Since the wetland trails are so close to us that is where we have gone recently. It is so beautiful there, when we are walking the trails I actually forget how much I hate the town that I live in! My favorite time of year to go there is in the summer when all the animals are out. I love seeing the baby ducks and geese. I got a few pictures from our nature walk yesterday evening and I thought I would share.
The entrance gate to the trails.
Walking through the swamp.
Evidence of beavers. I wanted to stay there all night until I saw them work!
The pretty trails.
There were tons of red winged black birds and they were all singing. It was so fun to watch them.
We brought bread to feed the geese but they were too far away. Luckily my camera has amazing zoom in capabilities!
My girls love running.
The beautiful Hood Canal from the wetlands.
My girls.
The entrance gate to the trails.
Walking through the swamp.
Evidence of beavers. I wanted to stay there all night until I saw them work!
The pretty trails.
There were tons of red winged black birds and they were all singing. It was so fun to watch them.
We brought bread to feed the geese but they were too far away. Luckily my camera has amazing zoom in capabilities!
My girls love running.
The beautiful Hood Canal from the wetlands.
My girls.
I made bread and it actually turned out like bread!
Last night I made a big Cobb salad for us for dinner, my kids are amazing like that, they love veggies and salad! I decided I would try to make a loaf of bread since I have never really experimented with making bread. I found a great recipe on one of my favorite blogs "For the Love of Cooking", and I decided to try it. The only difference was I do not have a bread machine, so I just kneaded the dough for a little while, and then sprayed a bowl with cooking spray, put the dough ball in the bowl and covered it with a towel for an hour. After the hour I took it out, kneaded it again on a floured surface and continued on with the directions. Here is the recipe CrustyItalianBread
Crusty Italian Bread
2/3 cup of warm water
3/4 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 cups of flour
1 1/8 tsp yeast
cornmeal
egg
Put water, olive oil, salt, brown sugar, flour and yeast into bowl or bread machine in that order. Mix (on dough setting) or with mixer until well blended.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll dough into a rectangle then roll up jelly roll style and pinch the seam closed. Place loaf onto a cornmeal sprinkled baking pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat egg and brush over loaf. Carefully slice a long single cut down the center of the loaf.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
*My loaf was smaller and kind of dense, but to my surprise it smelled like fresh bread and it tasted like fresh bread. I am looking forward to trying more bread recipes in the future, it was very fun and not overwhelming like I thought it would be!
Crusty Italian Bread
2/3 cup of warm water
3/4 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 cups of flour
1 1/8 tsp yeast
cornmeal
egg
Put water, olive oil, salt, brown sugar, flour and yeast into bowl or bread machine in that order. Mix (on dough setting) or with mixer until well blended.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll dough into a rectangle then roll up jelly roll style and pinch the seam closed. Place loaf onto a cornmeal sprinkled baking pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat egg and brush over loaf. Carefully slice a long single cut down the center of the loaf.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
*My loaf was smaller and kind of dense, but to my surprise it smelled like fresh bread and it tasted like fresh bread. I am looking forward to trying more bread recipes in the future, it was very fun and not overwhelming like I thought it would be!
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