Sleeping In

One of the things I like best about the weekend is sleeping in! Many of you have children so sleeping in is not an option. That is why I treasure the fact that I can still do this and savor every second. I love sleep - I like going to bed early, taking naps and sleeping in! Granted, I try not to sleep too late because I don't want to waste two free days but AB and I have been known to sleep the morning away on occasion. The luxury of sleeping in has ended in our house, and no we do not have a baby on the way. We have a kitten, a crazy kitten named Phoebe, who has figured out how to open the guest bedroom door. See, we put her in the guest room at night because of her aforementioned craziness, but with the help of this lovely football door knob she can get out. Side note: we referred to this house as the football house when we were house shopping and after three years we still haven't managed to get rid of all of the football paraphernalia.

This morning sweet, serene Tavia was cuddled up next to me when at roughly 6:30am Phoebe jumps into bed and attacks her thus starting Wrestle Mania! WWF continued on our bed for quite some time, all the while AB and I tried to ignore it and cling to the last minutes of rest. Phoebe finally felt the need to leave Tavia at peace, but decided to bring one of her toys into bed and grapple with it. Sleeping in was just not in the cards today :(

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day! So I'm not one to go all out for this Holiday, I especially like to avoid crowded restaurants and sappy love scenes. I do, however, think it is nice to show the one you are with a token of your love and appreciation. Last night I prepared a candle light dinner for my Valentine.

I made one of our favorite recipes, Giada De Laurentiis' Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina. For the recipe click here. I'll let you in on a little Megan variation, I like to use a 10 oz can of chicken breast meat (drained). When you sautee the chicken, it kind of shreds up and adds a nice flavor and texture to the casserole.

For dessert I made chocolate chip cookie hot fudge sundaes and they were yummy! I used Pillsbury ready to make dough, mushed three pieces of dough together to make one cookie then added ice cream and hot fudge. The key was to slightly underbake the cookies. Typing this is making me want to make one right now!

After dinner we snuggled up with our Furry Valentines to watch the Grammy Awards. What a nice night - what are you doing with your Valentine?

Two Evenings Out - Yes Two!

This weekend made me feel young again with not just one, but two evening outings! Friday evening I went out with a group of girlfriends to celebrate my friend Shonda's birthday. I know she will love the fact that I am using this picture ;)

Shonda made reservations for the Chef's Table at Brady Tavern. It was fun sitting in the kitchen watching all of the action, it felt like our own private party. Among all of the amazing gifts she received were these beauties from Glacier Confection. Do they not look amazing? It's hard to believe they are chocolates!

That happened to be my second dining experience at Brady Tavern and it did not disappoint. I highly recommend the Trout Dip and Mac & Cheese. Everyone enjoyed the food and the atmosphere - it was super fun to have a night out with the girls!

Last night AB and I went to dinner and a movie with a college friend of AB's, Stockton, and his wife Rhonda. They have a six year old daughter and three year old twin boys. Needless to say life is a little hectic for them and unfortunately we don't get together with them as often as we would like so last night was a special treat! We met up at Cheddar's for a yummy meal and good conversation then headed to the movie theatre to see The Fighter.

My average visitation to the movie theatre is once per year but this was my second movie within a month - a new record! I thought this was a great movie and not just because there was a lot of this ( although it did help).

The movie, based on a true story, is about two brothers with promising boxing careers. I don't want to give away too much but the older brother falls victim to crack toward the end of his career. I must say Christian Bale managed to be hot even while playing a crack head!

And did I mention there is a lot of this? Calvin Klein didn't choose him as an underwear model for no reason!

I actually love Mark Wahlberg, better known to my generation as Marky Mark. I think he's a very talented actor and those wash board abs are just the icing on the cake for me. Back in the day when I also loved me some NKOTB it was always rumored that he turned down an opportunity to be in the group. My twelve year old self thought that was such a dumb move, what was he thinking? He'll be nothing without them! Boy was my twelve year old self wrong! Calvin Klein and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch may have put his name out there, but lets not forget the movie that put his acting career on the map - Nicole 4 EVA!

Soups

All of this frigid weather puts me in the mood for soup so I thought I would share a couple of good soup recipes with you.

The first one is a recipe from my mom and is one of my all time favorites. It has so much flavor!

Italian Sausage Soup
Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 lbs Italian Sausage (I actually use pork sausage because I don't like Italian)
1/2 C. chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 16 oz. can Italian style tomatoes
3 14 oz. cans beef broth
1 1/2 C. red wine
1 Tbsp Basil
1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium zucchini, peeled and diced
1 1/2 C. small pasta
Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
In sauce pan brown the meat then drain.
Add onions and garlic and cook until tender.
Add tomatoes, beef broth, wine, basil, pepper and zucchini. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add pasta then cover and simmer for 20 more minutes
Serve topped with Parmesan cheese

The end result - delicious!

I pulled the next recipe off the package of Reames egg noodles. Reames egg noodles are the closest thing I've found to homemade and I was not disappointed with this recipe.

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 16 oz package Reames Egg Noodles
4 cups sliced carrots
1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless cooked chicken breasts, cut into cubes
7 cups water
3 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon granules (I used 3 cubes)
1 1/2 cups sliced celery
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk, divided

Preparation:
In a large pot, add chicken, water, parsley, thyme, pepper, bouillon and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add noodles, carrots, celery and onion; return to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until done.
Meanwhile, in a liquid-tight container, combine 1 cup of milk and flour; shake well until smooth. Add to noodle mixture with remaining 3 cups milk. Continue cooking over medium heat until thickened and heated through.

I took this picture from the Reames website. Mine looked a lot creamier and thicker than this.

Stay warm everyone!!

2010 Year End Recap Part II

We are two months into the new year and I am FINALLY getting around to posting the rest of my 2010 year end recap. Forgive me for the slowness! I think I left off with Thanksgiving/Christmas with my family. After that I took another part of the CPA exam and in December I found out I passed two of the three parts I've taken thus far so it's nice to know I'm half way there!

December is always a crazy month with shopping, Holiday parties, etc. so I decided to take a break from studying and I'm thankful I did because I would not have been able to fit it in with everything else. I'm also thankful I was able to enjoy the Holiday season without stressing about the test. I kicked off my study break by hosting an Ornament Exchange. I invited my girlfriends from work and added Katie and Addie to the mix. Of course I didn't take any pictures but lucky for me Katie did and she also posted about it on her blog so you can check it our here.

Santa dropped off one of his reindeer to help us make it through the craziness of the Holiday season. Isn't she a cutie? And I wonder why she pees on our carpet :)

This was our year to spend Christmas with AB's family. His family starts the celebrating on Christmas Eve and they leave Christmas Day for Santa but this year the girls had so many gifts they were the only ones to do any opening on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun watching them open all their gifts. This picture makes me laugh because AB's mom is really tickled about something. I'm not sure what she is laughing at but I thought it was a fun pic.

AB and his brother trying to act like they are having fun. AB is kind of a Scrooge when it comes to the Holidays but we still love him :)


Here is a sweet picture of Lilly with her Mimi & Papa showing off her new granddaughter bracelet. What a special gift!

We bought the same Adirondack chairs for the girls that we did for Jude. I think they liked them just as much. Score for Uncle Andy & Aunt Megan!

Andy and I got to help play Santa this year. It was so much fun! I helped Shawnna put together a Barbie house and Andy wrote the note from Santa. Here is Lilly with her Barbie house. Santa also brought her an outdoor pool for her Barbies and this closet for all of her Sandie Doll clothes. Sandie and Barbie are going to be living large after Santa's visit!

This is my favorite picture...you can just see the pure bliss in her eyes. At one point while all the adults were eating and she was playing with her new Barbie house we overheard her say it was the best Christmas ever! So cute considering she's only had four, ha ha :)

This is the best picture I was able to take of both girls, at least they are both sort of looking at the camera. Aren't their matching dresses cute?

We never could have imagined that this would have been our last Christmas with AB's dad. We are so very thankful that the entire family was able to be together and we will savor every precious memory!