Jack at One

-I can't believe Jack is going to be 4 in two weeks. Right now he is acting more like a one year old. He is having a meltdown because it's Parker's turn to pick what they watch on On-Demand TV. Lovely.
- I want new kitchen cabinets soooooo badly. I'm hoping to get an estimate soon. I would just like to know if it is even financially possible.
- I've fallen off the exercise wagon a little bit and I'm anxious to get back on.
- I also want to scrapbook.
- Dawn came over and helped me organize my kitchen. It is so nice to open a cabinet and actally be able to see what is in there without moving 10 things. I still need more cabinets though.
- She also helped me with the sunroom. It looks awesome!
- Soon, we will tackle the closets.
- Jack knocked the hot iron off the ironing table which landed right-side down and now there is an iron shaped burn mark in the carpet. I wasn't too terribly upset because it was downstairs and the carpet is already stained and gross. I'm just glad it didn't land on him.
- Jack may not live to be 4.
- He's driving me and Parker NUTS today.
- Is winter almost over?
- I keep seeing adorable summer clothes popping up in the stores but I cannot buy any because I MUST lose weight before summer. And during the summer. And after the summer. And probably next year this time I will still be trying to lose weight.
- I finally found a pair of tennis shoes I like but my cheap took over and I couldn't make myself buy them. Now I'm regretting it.

Links

I haven't forgotten that I have a blog. I'm just busy, busy right now. Working on some of those new year's resolutions!
Here are some links to blogs I enjoy. You can visit them when nothing is happening on mine!

http://www.karenrussell.typepad.com/
http://laylekoncar.typepad.com/
http://heidiswapp.typepad.com/
http://jeanettes.typepad.com/a_passion_for_scrapbookin/

Frustration

- As I mentioned before, one of my resolutions is to lose weight. Well, for the past 3 weeks I have tried to watch my portions, limit snacking, exercise and only have fast food once per week. And guess how much weight I've lost!? NONE. ZERO. NADA. Talk about disappointing. Obviously I need to step it up a lot. Normally I would be eating fast food about 3 times a week (sometimes more), doing no true exercise and snacking a lot. I'm going to keep going and maybe the weight will start falling off. And no, I'm not cheating on any of the food part. I've even started forcing myself to drink Coke Zero and Diet Coke.

New Pages

I actually did scrap a few quick pages over Christmas break. Since Jack will be 4 next month, I figured it was high time I did a page of his 3rd birthday. I have a hard time scrapbooking birthday pictures because I have so many and I usually want to do a whole book but I want it to be really special which takes time which I never seem to have enough of so then I just don't do anything with the pictures.
This one makes me long for warm weather.
And this is a piece called "Glitter Butterfly" by one of my favorite artists.

Oldies but Goodies

I haven't shown any scrapbook layouts for a while. Mostly because I haven't scrapbooked for a while. These are some favorites from the past.

White Chili from Michelle

Yippee! My friend Michelle (who is always a great source of family-friendly recipes) has one to share she writes:

I love the recipe/blog idea. Here’s my contribution. My family loves it and won’t even touch red chili anymore.

White Chili

1 bag of boneless, skinless chicken breast—boiled & shredded
1 white onion
1 T. garlic powder
2 T. vegetable oil
4 15 oz. cans of northern beans—drained & rinsed
2 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
4 4 oz. cans of green chili’s
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups sour cream
1 cup heavy cream

In a large pot, sauté onion, garlic powder and cooked chicken in vegetable oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add all other ingredients except for sour and heavy cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 30 minutes. Stir in sour and heavy cream. Enjoy! This recipe also freezes well.

Meatloaf

Meatloaf
1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 egg
1 cup crushed corn flakes
¼ cup ketchup
2 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Mix all ingredients together. Dump into a greased pan.
Shape into a loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I know everyone probably has a meatloaf recipe but this one is my mom's and it is so easy and so good. Sometimes I use crackers instead of corn flakes. Sometimes I add garlic. Sometimes I make it into 4 little loaves. Use your imagination! (Well, don't get too crazy--no anchovies or anything.)

Chicken Noodle Soup

RECIPE #1 From Tracy (my sister) This is sooooooo good. The trick is to use a small bag of frozen noodles. You don't pre-cook them. Just throw the whole bag in. They are kind of thick and chewy--almost like dumplings! The first time I made this Parker ate 3 bowls and told me that Tracy should send this recipe to Rachael Ray. Now that is a 5 star rating!

Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery (or skip the celery and add 1 tsp--or more-- of celery salt)
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
1/2 pound chopped cooked chicken breast (I used the meat from a rotisserie chicken--the whole chicken)
1 1/2 cups egg noodles (I used a small bag of Reames frozen noodles)
1 cup sliced carrots (or use a cup--or more--of frozen carrots)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion and celery in butter until just tender, 5 minutes. ( I sauteed my veggies for quite a while because I wanted them VERY tender.) If you use frozen carrots, go ahead and sautee them but dont' worry about them getting tender. They will soften up while you boil your soup. Pour in chicken and vegetable broths and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.

This is so easy and it probably doesn't sound like a "knock-your-socks-off" recipe, but trust me, it is. It's about 100x better than Campbells and not much harder.

Recipe Exchange

Don't you get sick of cooking the same meals over and over and over? Don't you get bored with them? Well, I'm looking for some new, yummy, EASY recipes to share. I will start posting some of my favorites and if you have a killer one that you would like me to share with whomever actually reads my blog, I will post it. Just e-mail me your favorites at saraforeman@insightbb.com. I'm anxious to see if anyone will actually do it and to see what we get!

yada, yada, yada

- I call this picture, "The Power of Legos". Anything that can make my boys sit down and play nicely for any length of time is might powerful in my book. Legos are so totally worth the mess they make and the expense.
- It drives me nuts when I see people at the car wash when there is snow on the ground. I mean, what is the point?
- I bought a scale. Scary.
- I have managed to resist the after-Christmas sales. I don't need anymore Christmas decor even if they are practically giving adorable stuff away.
- I thought the 2 week Christmas vacation was going to seem really long and that Parker would get bored, but it has flown by. He has been completely happy to play with the 429 toys he got and is in no big hurry to return to school. I'm not eager for him to go back either.
- I'm using a Reliv' product called Slimplicity to boost my weight loss effort. I will report on how I do with it.
- I sure do love Target.
- Tracy scooped up a bunch of "cuffless" long-sleeved shirts for Parker at Gymboree for a steal. You would be surprised at how hard it is to find nice cuffless shirts. (It's one of Parker's little quirks.)
- I didn't think I was all that particular about tennis shoes until I started looking for a new pair. If I am going to make that investment, I want to really like them, but I haven't found a pair that makes me want them yet.
- I'm not buying any new clothes until I lose weight. Except for the XXL sweater that I bought at Target the other day. I'm not exagerating.
- On the subject of weight--I know that I am not the largest person around but I am 30 pounds overweight. That's not my number, that is the medical number. I have soooo much empathy for people who have lost control over their weight. It is so easy to say, "just lose weight", but there is so much more to weight issues than food itself. I eat when I am upset or stressed which upsets me more then I eat more, and it just goes on and on. Even though I know I'm a stress eater, I can't seem to stop myself when I am having a bad day. Weird. However, I am sick of complaining about my appearance, my energy level, my comfort, etc. So it is time to take control!
- I have eaten two chocolates in the past hour.
- Time to get on the eliptical machine!
- I bought 4 bottles of Bloody Mary mix while we were in St. Louis. YUM!
- I'm sure that will last us about 2 years.
- I still need to take down the Christmas decorations but I can't get motivated.
- I'm addicted to Tetris on my phone. LOVE that game.
- How about Brittney Spears? What a mess. Isn't there someone around her who could just take her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her? How about an intervention. I'm glad she lost her kids. Let's hope that's a final wake-up call. I doubt it, but for most people it would be. Who would have thought that K-Fed would be the responsible parent between the two of them!? Why do I care about any of this? I don't but if you turn on the TV or stand in line at Walmart, it's plastered all over the place. Plus, as a mother, I can't imagine behaving in a way that would make me an unfit parent.
- The "bowling game" that Jack HAD to have for Christmas which I couldn't find anywhere and had to order from Target which was $20 and $10 for shipping is now in ample supply at Target on clearance for 9.99. I would buy one and take it back but you really can't do that with a gift that Santa brought.
Have a great day!