Yummy food

When I was first married, I would always use recipes to cook supper. Often there would be something that I didn't like with the food.....too salty...not salty enough.....too spicy....etc. John never uses a recipe....to an extent. For baking, he uses recipes as a guideline, but often tweaks things a little. He taught me how to cook without a recipe. Some things don't turn out quite how I want, but usually it turns out great. Here are a couple "no recipe" things we've made recently that were de-lic-ious.

Apple Crisp

some flour

some quick oats

some brown sugar

some apples
some margarine (melted - he didn't make it with melted margarine, but it would be better that way)
some cinnamon

1. peel and slice apples and put in a pan

2. mix flour, oats, and sugar together and sprinkle on top of apples

3. bake @ 350 for about an hour

4. eat with vanilla ice cream (of course)

 

It looks a little gross here.....I didn't think to take a picture until it was half-eaten...

Chicken Wings

We don't normally buy wings, but I got them for free when I spent a certain amount at Superstore...bonus!

1. prepare 3 separate "dipping" bowls 

         1st: 2 c. flour and sprinkle some garlic powder and salt or whatever spices you like in. mix

         2nd: eggs. beat. add some salt and pepper (or whatever seasonings you want)

         3rd: 1.5 c. flour, seasonings (I used garlic powder and some "garlic plus" spice mix, and of course salt....I love salt), 1 c. cornflakes (crushed), 1 c. saltines (crushed). mix.

2. get oil ready. We inherited a deep fryer, but you could fry them in a pot of oil, or just bake them (probably healthier, but not as crispy).

3. dip thawed chicken wings in the 3 bowls of stuff (1st, then 2nd, then 3rd), then place in hot oil. I did 10 at a time.

4. make sauce. I don't remember exactly how much of everything I put in, so you can just taste it or smell it to fit your liking. It's a sweet and sour type sauce.

about 1/2 c. ketchup

2 T lemon juice

2 T vinegar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. soy sauce

These measurements are all guesstimates. I just dumped stuff in straight from the bottles.....so they are probably a bit off. Just add as much or as little of each as you like. 

5. put cooked wings into a baking pan and cover them with the sauce. I put them in the oven for a little bit, just cause, but you don't need to. It just helped warm up the sauce a bit I guess.....I was improvising here. I only put them in for about 5 minutes at 350. 

6. Dig in. I made 20 wings. 

These were seriously delicious. John said they were the best wings he's ever had. I loved them too. The kids even loved them. Needless to say, they were gone in a few minutes. 

We watched "Julie & Julia" on Saturday night. I recommend it to any who have not seen it. It was really inspiring for both me and John to do what we love. John really wants to try some recipes out of Julia Child's cookbook now.....maybe recipes are useful sometimes......

Dance Class and Potty-training

Clever title, eh?

A couple things to share:

First, Brian has decided that the potty is cool, and goes pee on it whenever I tell him, and has even started telling me on his own when he needs to go. He even poos on the potty! This is very exciting for me because I thought the boys would be harder to train than Hadley. Elijah still has little interest so I'm just going to wait until he is more ready. I think I tried too early with Hadley, which resulted in a lot of frustration and it took a long time for her to be trained.

Second, we got to watch Hadley in her dance class this week. She was really fun to watch and definitely loves to dance.

Christmas Celebrations

I finally downloaded our Christmas pics, so here are a few highlights:

1. Skating/Hockey with the Turcatos (my Aunt Anne's family) in Taber on Christmas Eve
- Elijah was not a fan of the cold or wearing his gloves. Not a good combo
- Brian loved it
- Hadley skated (sort of) for the first time

Hadley playing hockey with uncle Mike and Gramma Freeze

Brian's sporting Hadley's 2007 snowpants......he doesn't seem to mind

The Brians

We were about to leave and Hadley was sad that she didn't get to go on the sled (pulled by a quad), so John asked my uncle for a ride. He's so nice. Hadley and Brian loved it. Elijah was not a fan so he didn't join the fun.

2. A visit from Santa (aka Grampa Santa) at John's parent's house.

3. Nativity and Star Birthday cake at my parent's house
- Elijah was not a fan of dressing up like a shepherd so he is MIA once again

They were so reverent. Brian almost sat there the whole time. I was impressed.

4. Christmas morning at our house

 

John (aka Santa's helper) made this cute little giraffe for Hadley. He carved it and the plan was to have Grampa Santa give it to Hadley on Christmas Eve, but I forgot about it and left it safely hidden at home, so Grampa Santa just told Hadley to look for it in her stocking...whoops.....

Cute Nativity for Kids

I found this linked on a blog yesterday and because we don't have a nativity, I figured we could whip it up. Hadley had fun colouring it for the first little while, but it took FOREVER to colour everything. She coloured baby Jesus (notice the brown face). I tried hard to just let her colour it how she wanted......after all, it's for the kids, right?

The instructions call for 13 toilet paper rolls, but I tend to throw those away.....so I didn't have 13 just lying around, so I just printed it out on cardstock and then cut it out and stapled it together instead of using glue. I did use a paper towel roll for the nativity though, because it doesn't work really without something to staple it to.

Anyway, here it is. We may have to make it again next year.....the angel is already missing a wing.....why do kids like to rip paper so much? Or is it just my kids? They rip everything! Books....especially with the lift-a-flaps....and most recently, my piano music that I'm supposed to play in church tomorrow......oh well...luckily someone invented tape.

Hadley's B-day

Hadley's birthday was on the 8th. I was thinking about doing a "real" party for her, but she doesn't really have any little friends yet, besides her cousins. We were at my parent's house because John has been working in Raymond with his brother Dan, so Dan just brought his 2 oldest daughters with him to Raymond and we had a party all day. Hadley wanted it to be a My little pony party and requested a "Toola Roola" pinata, a "Rainbow Dash" cake, and a "Starsong" pin-the-tail on the pony. I put my artistic abilities to work......or lack thereof......and threw this little shin-dig together. They had lots of fun!

 

 

Don't laugh too hard....

 

Santa Lives!

 Make a video from Santa for your kids. Hadley thought this was so cool. Enjoy!

Here's the one I made for Hadley

Or you can make your own here.

5 years

We've been married now for 5 years! Craziness. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but then when I think of all that's happened since then, I'm surprised that it's ONLY been 5 years.

1. We've moved 11 times....with a bunch of mini moves mixed in there

2. We've lived in 2 provinces and 3 states

3. We've had 3 children

Loads of fun. But, now we're somewhat settled and will probably be staying here for a few more years.

I love John so much and am amazed at how well two people can get along. I love our life.

Extreme Makeover: John edition

 

Want some free Christmas gifts?

I started a review/giveaway blog a few months ago with my "Cute Like Me" business partner (sounds so official....). It is super fun, but lately our number of entries into the giveaways has depleted. This has its benefits though for those who enter.....more chances to win! There is a giveaway ending tonight for your choice of T-shirt from Crazy Dog Tees. Currently there are 24 comments.....not very many..... SO, if you want to win some stuff, go enter. Even if you are my sister.....or mom....you can still win......

Check it out HERE

Christmas List Collage

The other day Hadley wanted to do a "craft". She wanted to do one with me....hmmm. After giving a few suggestions, I came up with the perfect idea. She loves cutting and gluing, and she has been talking A LOT lately about what she wants for her birthday and Christmas. So, naturally, this is what I came up with.

Step 1: Draw a large outline of a Christmas Tree, complete with star.
Step 2: Gather flyers and magazines
Step 3: Cut out what you want for Chrismas

Step 4: Glue to the Tree - or put around the tree if you run out of room (we both did....I guess we're a little greedy....)

Here's mine - I don't really know what I ACTUALLY want for Christmas....but here are some things on my eventual wishlist....or things that I like....not that I would mind getting all these things.....especially the new laptop - ours is dying!

When I showed John my masterpiece, he said "why do you want that ugly green sweater"....

Anyway, it's not the most beautiful craft in the world, but it may keep your child busy and then you can get rid of all the Christmas flyers that have been overtaking your house!