We've been in our new house precisely one week ...

And ...

After multiple trips back to the old house ...

To clean ...

To haul more loads ...

To take old appliances to the dump ...

To shovel the walks and huge driveway ...

I have unpacked ...

Precisely ...

Wait for it ...

NO boxes at the new house.

It's been a doozy of a week.  Two snow storms, poor planning, sick kids and general character building bad luck made this move excruciatingly memorable.

But, on the bright side, we have a new house.  It is as if this house was built for our family.  I can't explain it because it's just a normal, 1978 house.  It just suits us.  The rest of the family feels it, too.  It is home.

So, we'll eventually unpack.  I'll keep you posted ...

Quote for the day ...

We're moving ... it is snowing ... it is Winnie (my sweet nephew's) 5th birthday ... I'm tired ... that sums it up until I have more time.  But, here's a quote to ponder:

“A keen sense of humor helps us to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected, and outlast the unbearable”.......Billy Graham

Have a lovely day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Curried Lentils

We had this on Sunday night for dinner over rice topped with plain yogurt.  It's not my kids favorite but it is healthy and the grown-ups love it.  I doubled the recipe and it made a ton.  I used frozen, halved cherry tomatoes from my garden and frozen kale from my garden.  Mmmmmmm!

1 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
2 small carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery rib, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced fine
4 cups chicken broth or 4 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 -2 tablespoon curry powder (as per your taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup half-and-half
10 ounces frozen kale, thawed (optional)

Directions:

Combine everything except the tomatoes, dairy, and spinach in the crockpot. Cook on low 8-10 hours.
30 minutes before serving, remove the bay leaves, add the tomatoes. Stir in the half-and-half, and the spinach if using. Cook another 30 minutes. Serve hot with rice or couscous.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/crockpot-curried-lentils-412751?oc=linkback

Eli Dancing

This is for you, Mom!  

Herb Roasted Turkey Soup

This isn't really a recipe ... it's a process.  I think most of my cooking is a process.  I cook this to get that to make into this to serve with that so there are leftovers for this ... and so on.

I took the bones from last weeks Herb Roasted Turkey (yum, yum, yum) and made stock.  I added all of the frozen scraps from celery, onions and carrots plus added some extra of each.  Then I tossed in a few bay leaves, salt and pepper and let it "stew", if you will.  I then poured it into clean ice cream buckets (my big pitcher I keep stock in is packed) and stuck it in the refrigerator.  I used some of the broth to make chili to send to South Dakota with Mike.  It was gooood chili and at least ensured they'd have one night when they weren't eating pizza or cold cereal.

Then, last night,  I took the rest and added every frozen veggie from my garden I could find ... Corn, squash, peas, carrots and kale.  This with left-over, diced turkey and alphabet noodles made a mighty fine soup.  Oh, and I don't "love" the flavor of turkey  broth so I always add some chicken bouillon cubes so it tastes more chicken-y.  See it's a process not a recipe.  The funny thing about my family is they will eat any form of soup without hesitation.  We love soup!

Breakfast in Bed ... a new trend ...

... I've officially become a maid.  Going up and down the stairs serving the lords and ladies their breakfast in bed.  When the boys returned home and learned of the girls "royal treatment" in their absence, they were a bit put out in that they slept on their Granpa's floor and ate cold cereal for 3 days.  There are rumors they even ate cold cereal one night for dinner but this has not been definitively confirmed or denied.  So, on Friday morning, the girls and I served them breakfast in bed with the agreement that we will not be eating sugary cereal or donuts again for a very long time ... at least until birthday month in April when 4 children will get to chose the menu for the day.

 Ben

Jacob

 Timmy

On a completely unrelated note, I found Winston, Lily and Lizzy huddling under Uncle John's shirt playing on his iPhone under the picnic table.  I guess it was both cold and bright so this was their mini-impromtu-screening room.  Cuties!

Simple Seasame Noodles

On Thursday, in honor of the boys return, I made an Asian Roasted Turkey and these Sesame Noodles.  The turkey was fine, not great, still working on a better recipe BUT the noodles were to diiiiiiie for!  I made them at 3:00 and put them in a warm crockpot until dance was over at 6:30 ... the benefit of this was the noodles absorbed all of the liquid and the garlic slowly softened and sweetened ... really good.  Next time I'd like to add diced chicken and some Asian veggies for a meal in one dish.

The recipe is courtesy of The Pioneer Woman whose website is http://thepioneerwoman.com ... she's a doll ... just love her!  The recipe is:

Simple Sesame Noodles

Ingredients

• 12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained
• ¼ cups Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil
• ½ teaspoons Hot Chili Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

Preparation Instructions

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.
Serve in a bowl with chopsticks. Yummy!

Slow Cooked Fried Chicken

I took the recipe from "A Year of Slow Cooking" for CrockPot Fried Chicken and altered it a bit to suit  our needs.  First of all, I wanted to cook it slowly in the oven so I could use a huge, disposable tin pan that would spread all of the drumsticks apart without touching so they would all get evenly crispy.  A big cookie sheet would have worked, too.  I was able to fit 18 drumsticks on the pan.  Even with Mike and the 3 boys gone we only had 5 drumsticks left so it was a definite hit.  I sprinkled a little more salt on them as well.  I think my Seasoning Salt has lost some of it's saltiness.  Is that possible?  Does salt go bad?  Lot's wife went BAD and was turned to salt but can GOOD salt go bad.

Combine in a gallon sized ziploc bag:

1/2 cup flour
2 T Seasoned Salt
1 T basil
1 T oregano
2 t onion powder
2 t paprika
1 t pepper
*Note to self: ADD MORE SALT

Mix well then add drumsticks and shake to coat.

Spread on greased baking sheet and drizzle 1/2 cup butter over drumsticks.

Bake at 275 degrees for 6-8 hours.

The leftovers were wonderful.

I used my crockpot this day to attempt CrockPot Potato Wedges but they were NOT good.  I think all of the salt that should have been on the chicken ended up in these potatoes.  It was as if they absorbed salt ... Anna loved them but the rest of us did not.  I'll try them again another day.

Breakfast in bed for the Three Princesses

In keeping with the celebration, um, I mean sorrow, over the boys being gone the little girls requested breakfast in bed.

 Rachel

 Lizzy

Anna

Mary is home today and was also served breakfast in bed but I spared her 16-year-old-girl-pride and didn't photograph the event.  Eli was awake before them all and devoured his donut while enjoying The Backyardigans.

Suuuuure you're in South Dakota ...

So many options ... Larry, Moe, Curly ... The Three Musketeers ... Uno, Dos, Tres ... Tim, Ben and Jake ... that's it!

Mike sent a few pictures to prove he took the boys to South Dakota and not Vegas or the beach or something ... look at my 3 little boys ... they are sooooo big!  And, I miss them very much.  Not only because I'm doing their chores (you should see my dishpan hands!) but because they are awesome and fun to have around!

I'm not sure what Jacob is doing here ... hiding his identity ... fighting off Ninjas?

The girls and I are salving our wounds over not getting to go on a mini-stressful-vacation by doing lots of girly stuff.  Without the noisy boys ... oh, there's a name "The Noisy Boys" ... the girls slept for over 12 hours last night!  I had driven back and forth to Ridgeview TWICE before they woke up (Luke "pulled a Joe" ... his words not mine ... and forgot his CLOTHES!  He wore his gym clothes to school so needed his dress-code clothes.  I bet you were startled there for a minute!)  I stopped at the store and bought them a lovely, sugar-packed breakfast complete with girly, heart napkins.  They were happy.

After sugar-ing them up we picked up the house and headed to Old Town to get the van cleaned.  As the poor souls who monthly de-louse our van worked, we walked around Old Town, ate lunch and visited the candy store.  We then went to the Dollar Store to get supplies for a "spa night".  New nail polish, bubble bath, scubbies and so on all for less than $15.  Not bad!  And, that's where we are now ... the girls are giggling away in the tub and I am typing.  

This is particularly monumental because in the entire year we've been in this house we've never used the fancy-schmancy super-tub in the master bedroom.  It has carpet next to it and from experience we know that lots of kids and bathroom carpet is BAD so we just have used the shower that has tile near it.  Earlier today I scrubbed and vented this giant tub for the girls.  A party spa night before going to a normal house with a normal tub.  Not that I'm complaining because, again from experience, I know that a big fancy tub means lots of cleaning and maintenance which is not for me.

I'm off to play manicurist and hair stylist!  Au revoire!  (French seems appropriate at the moment.)

Celebrating Presidents Day ... A Little Early

Mike has taken the three younger boys, Ben, Jacob and Timothy, to South Dakota to visit his Dad this week.  This kind of throws a wrench in school but I won't be deterred ... I decided that Mike can take the boys to Mount Rushmore where they can learn about the Presidents while the littles and I study them at home.  We'll only focus on Washington and Lincoln but it should be fun.  (I do realize Presidents Day is a week or more away but humor me ... I'll be moving that week.)

One of the warm memories I have from my Grandmother Singer was her telling us about Presidents Day when she was growing up. It was similar to the 4th of July back then.  There were parades and they had the day off of school.  And it wasn't just a day off to sit around or catch up on sleep!  Instead the entire day was filled with people reading famous speeches and patriotic songs.  Oh, how far our nation has fallen.  It makes me so sad.  Our kid's school still takes Presidents Day off but most schools have substituted it for Martin Luther King Day.  While Martin Luther King Jr. may have done great things I think he pales in comparison to George Washington during the Revolutionary War and beyond as well as Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.  At the very least schools should remember all of these men.  Now, I will step off of my soap box.

I'm still working on menu plans for the week.  The little girls especially feel like I should cater to their menu whims since the boys got to go on a mini-vacation and will most likely be eating pizza and hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I'm not so sure but I am making Crockpot Fried Chicken tonight to fulfill  my menu whim!  If it turns out well I'll post the recipe tomorrow!

Parting Fire Pit

We celebrated the Super Bowl with a fire pit.  It will be one of our last fire pits in this house which is a little sad.  This house has it's issues but it has a monster, awesome backyard!

We were joined by Michaela, Gracie and Paul who didn't think burning random trash from our dump pile was odd at all!