Best Soup EVER!!!

Last night I made the best soup of my life, Chicken Tortilla Soup! I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog, obviously! I saved this recipe several months ago, but last night was the first time I tried it...and it will not be the last!

I love simple, versatile recipes, and so does Pioneer Woman! I am constantly looking for recipes that I can start while Luca is taking his afternoon nap and I can finish up quickly and easily once he is awake (and lets face it, Im probably holding him)! This is one of those git er done while the baby sleeps recipes!

I baked the chicken breasts and shredded them.

Most good meals start just like this!!!

I cooked a whole chicken the other night and made broth from the bones.
So the broth I used in the soup was super duper good and super duper fresh!

You know its going to be a good dinner when these are the toppings!!
Cilantro, shredded cheese, avocado, corn tortilla strips.

It was truly beautiful, but who cares? It's all about the taste!!!!

It tasted like heaven!!!!

I kinda wish I hadn't put the left overs in the freezer! Im craving it already!

Spider Costume

When I found out this morning that I was going to be stuck in the house again all day, I decided I needed a project. I probably should have made my project cleaning out closets or scrubbing toilets, but I hate doing those sorts of things. I needed a project, but I needed one that I already had everything for.

Next month Santi has a day at preschool called "Ugly Bug Ball" where all the kids dress up as bugs. I started looking for ideas about a month ago and found a few for Santi to choose from. I was surprised he chose the spider because he hates spiders...I mean don't we all? Here is the site where I found the costume.

I was excited that he chose the spider because there were so few things we needed.
*black shirt
*3 pair mens black socks
*black ribbon
*felt
*stuffing
I had to buy Santi a black shirt for his Christmas program, so I already had that. I bought the socks at Dollar Tree a few weeks ago ($1 each). I bought the ribbon at Walmart ($1). The felt I had left over from a Christmas project I did 2 years ago, but felt is super cheap anyway. Instead of buying stuffing I ripped up an old pillow. So all in all, I spent $4, but had I needed to purchase everything I would have probably spent a total of $8. That is REALLY cheap for a costume!

Socks, shirt, felt.

Stuffed socks from an old pillow.

I sewed the socks closed so it would be easier to sew them on the shirt. Luca desperately tried to help by climbing on the table! He loved the sound of the sewing machine and would look up from his cars each time I started sewing!

Pinned each sock on.

I wish I could have used the machine for this part, but I had to hand stitch each sock on to the shirt.

The spiders marking that covers up where I attached the socks to the shirt. Then I sewed this on over the
socks (again, hand stitched) and sewed ribbon between the socks so they all move together (didn't get pics of those).

The finished product. He loved it!

The back.

Waiting for Papi to come downstairs. Obviously scaring people
is the very best part of dressing up as a spider!!!

I am really hoping that this still fits in October so he can wear it for Halloween too, but the way this kid grows I highly doubt it! Either way, it was a fun project and just what I needed for today!!

Now lets hope he doesn't have bad dreams about spiders tonight!!

Lasagna For Nasty Ice Day 6!

It's day 6 of nasty ice, gross! I had so much hope for today as the high was 45 and it rained all day, yet somehow the ice didn't all melt. How is that even possible? There was just too much ice. Now it's getting colder and everything that did melt may freeze over. This stuff needs to go away, it is not welcome here!!

Everything looked like it was going to melt once it started raining.

The ice was just too thick!

I needed something fun and new for dinner to get my mind off the nasty outside. Sadly I had to go to the store to get groceries, so for a couple hours leading up to dinner I had to be outside, which reminded me of how horrible outside was. Anyway, I saw a lasagna Pioneer Woman called "The Best Lasagna Ever". If she calls it the best I have to at least give it a try!!!

About a year ago I found a white chicken spinach lasagna that I love with all my heart! I make it all the time, probably too often. But I love it every time I make it! The best part is that the recipe is way too big, so I cut it in half and put one in the freezer and cook the other! WIN! Also, both boys love it and eat spinach! Win two! (I'm trying not to freak out, I went to add the link to the recipe and it is no longer there! I have made it enough times that Im hoping I can remember everything. I literally made it last week! Why is it gone? Ahhh!)

So tonight I decided to make Pioneer Womans best lasagna ever. I haven't ever made "regular" lasagna like this before because I thought it was too hard, would take too long, and in the end stouffers would be better, so why waste the time?! Well, this lasagna is almost a joke it so easy! And it's awesome!! I will be adding it to my list of regulars!

The meat sauce!

The lineup!

One for the oven, one for the freezer!

Cooked. Get in my belly!

Thank you Pioneer Woman for saving the freezing, ice, rain, grumpy mood Saturday! A good dinner and a few chocolate recee's hearts from the other day and Im feeling better already! I love food!

Day 4 Inside Calls for Homemade Reese's!

We are seriously going a little stir crazy around here! The ice is going on day 4! The roads are pretty clear during the middle of the day, but at night everything freezes over again. Both boys still have coughs, so we can't really go out anywhere.

Little stinker started the day out by doing a little climbing! He is afraid of nothing! And he actually has really good balance and rarely falls, although I see stitches in his future!

Quiet is NEVER good with Luca unless he is asleep! 

Next he stood up! Good grief! 

After a nap or two he tried on my rain boots, I think they fit!

Santi started the day with a little legos, but that only lasts while brother is napping.

The bush right outside of our front door froze solid. During the day the gutter thawed and immediately refroze on the bush. Throughout the day the bush got worse and worse. It got to the point where we literally couldn't open the front door. Somehow that made me feel more stir crazy and trapped inside. Auntie hacked and then sawed us free! Im ready for spring to say the very least!!!

On day 4 of being iced in we needed more than just the normal lego spaceship or movie, so we decided to make the essentials, homemade reese's! They are sooooooo good!! I make them and keep them in the freezer and pull out 1 or 2 or 7 when I need some chocolate! They really do taste like the real thing, and I LOVE them and they make me (and other people) very happy!!! I roll the peanut butter part thinner than the recipe says and use a smaller cookie cutter, so it makes more than 20, a lot more!

It's supposed to snow again tomorrow! I was made for the southern warmth!! Go away already! At least we have lots and lots of reese's!!

Stuck Inside, Day Three!

Nolan finally had to go back to work, but we are still stuck inside! The boys still have colds, so playing outside is out of the question. So what do you do on day three of being stuck inside? We are a bit stir crazy and too many movies have been watched in the last two days. We had to find something crafty to do. We decided to feed the birds! All their food is frozen after all!

Waiting for the birds to find the seeds is the hardest part!
Now, what are we going to do for the rest of the day? It's only 11! Oh my!! Heres to hoping we aren't stuck home tomorrow too!!!

Ice Days

It isn't often that we have snow in Franklin and if we ever do, everything is gone by 10 AM. One thing we do have more often, but still only every few years, is ice. Yesterday and today pretty much the entirety of the Nashville area was closed because of ice. If you looked outside it looked like we had beautiful snow, but it literally did not snow 1 single flake, all ice! Snow is one thing, but unless you have chains on your tires ice isn't drivable! We were all very excited that Papi got to stay home yesterday AND today. To top it all off, Auntie, Tish, and Jenny Pants came over when the sun was out and the roads were somewhat drivable and they accidentally got iced in! We had a big huge slumber party. The boys had a blast!!!

Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice!

Both boys have nasty colds, but since we don't get snow or ice very often, we had to go out a few times to play. Yesterday it sleeted most of the day, so playing wasn't that fun, we just got soaked. Today everything was covered in inches of thick ice, but the sun was out, so we all bundled up with several layers and went sledding on the tiny hill out back.

It may have been worth going outside just to see Luca wear his dragon hat and scarf!

In TN you have to hurry and take pictures in the snow or ice because if you wait it
will be gone in a matter of minutes! Shockingly this ice has lasted 48 hours and counting!

Family walk in the ice!

Anyone who knows Santi knows that he is the most cautious child on the planet. He climbs nothing, never has! He has probably swung on a swing 2 times in his life, he hates it! He is safe in almost all situations, so I knew there was no way in the world he would go sledding, I didn't even try and get him to. Nolan started pushing him on the neighbors plastic rocking horse, turns out it's a great sled!! Santi had something to hold on to and sit on. We started out slow by going down the driveway, then made our way to the hill once Santi felt comfortable. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!! Sledding is not just for kids! We didn't stay out too long because of the coughs, but we did long enough to have a blast! And I'm SO proud of Santi for sledding!

He had a BLAST!

Best "sled" ever!!!

Brothers being pulled home in the sled, all bundled up!

We came back inside to eat fresh bread right out of the oven for lunch and make chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Come to find out, you can still make cookies even if you are out of butter! We REALLY wanted cookies, but didn't have butter, and going to the store was out of the question. I had margarine and cream cheese, so we used a little of both. The cookies were a little albino looking, but tasted really good. If you really want cookies, nothing will stop you!!!

They looked odd, but were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum!
Also, I may have doubled the amount of chocolate chips, shhhh! 

There are few things more fun than playing in the snow with your Papi!

Happy ice days!

Comfort Food For Freezing Days

It is freezing here in Franklin today, and I mean FREEZING! When I got up this morning it was 16 degrees and I think the high was somewhere around 25! There is cold and then there is painful cold, today was painful cold! My 3 year old who is almost always hot was actually cold today! All day long I kept hearing him say "it's freezing"!

There are a few sure fire ways to warm up the house and people inside it, drink tea and cook!

Peruvian peach tea in a mug from my favorite coffee shop ever
 that happens to be at the warm warm beach!

So, for dinner I tried something new. I tried a comfort food that was sure to warm us up, Chicken Fried Steak. It wasn't just any chicken fried steak; it was Pioneer Woman's chicken fried steak. I think I have yet to make anything of hers that I didn't just love. She is amazing and one of my cooking heroes! She loves butter, cilantro, chocolate, and plain ole' good food! She often puts odd foods together, but man, they always turn out wonderful. One of my all time favorite meals is one of her odd recipes, Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork, TO DIE FOR!!!!! But that's for another day; tonight I made chicken fried steak. I really like trying new things when Nolan is home so that he can watch the kids (i.e. keep Luca from climbing on top of everything) and I can actually think in the kitchen. Cooking alone is a luxury that I don't often have, but I take advantage of when I can!

Ree's recipe called for 3 lbs. of meat. I thought that sounded like a lot, so I got about half that, good thing because it made tons (come to find out, its a recipe for 8)!

Chicken fried steak must be served with mashed potatoes. We are all warm and  full!

Im not a huge gracy person, but the gravy may have been the best part!

Tonight we are supposed to get between 3 & 5 inches of snow. In Franklin that normally means we will get a light dusting. Here's to hoping tomorrow isn't just another cold day, but a real live snow day!!!

Preschoolers Know How To Party

I was so excited to go to Santi's preschool Valentines party yesterday! And Santi was thrilled that I got to sit with him in his classroom! The party consisted of eating cupcakes, making a heart shaped sun catcher, and handing out Valentine cards. At one point Santi leaned over and said "Mama, this is the greatest party EVER!" Bless him, it was adorable! He is still at the age where it takes very little to impress him. Oh to be 3 again!

Cupcakes are a BIG deal, especially the icing!!

Heart sun catcher!

Me and my little Valentine! It was such fun being in Santi's space and having him
show me what he does at school!

Happy love day!