Playing Catch Up

Sunday after church we took our annual "family" pictures in front of the tree. This year we dressed up in our holiday attire a week earlier than usual (meaning there were no gifts under the tree yet so it didn't look as nice.) since we will not be going to church next week. We also have the tree in a corner, squeezed between the couches, making it impossible for us all to fit. Needless to say pictures did not go as planned. I did come away with these though. It's something.

On Sunday I make a turkey. I had gotten two around Thanksgiving just to have and we decided to use one. I hadn't cooked one in years. There is certainly room for improvement but overall it went well. After dinner I went mid-evil on that bird. (It reminded me of the time my dad and I went to a mid-evil tournament in Vegas and they gave us a cornish game hen and no utensils.) 

 

Yes that is an iron on the ground. It's the kid's craft iron and I haven't gotten around to putting it away. Don't hate.

I got off just about ever scrap of meat. The kids watched in horror. We don't eat full birds around here. We only eat boneless, skinless breasts LOL! It was a learning experience for them, that's for sure.

Monday I got to try a recipe with the leftovers that I have been dying to try. Here is the blog I got the recipe from. (click here)

Wild Rice Soup

¼ cup butter
1 med. onion
¼ cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup diced ham or chicken
½ cup finely shredded carrots
½ tsp. salt
pepper to taste

(Instead of wild and white rice I made up a cup of this blend. It is my favorite rice out there. FYI~I had Jessica Lundberg in my foods class in junior high. That is why I originally tried it. I remember her bringing in a stuffed/plush rice. She taught us all the different parts and the whole process of growing and harvesting rice. Anyway if you can find this, it's delicious.)

Directions: Sauté onion in butter. (I added the carrots and celery to the butter also. Celery isn't in the recipe but I wanted it in the soup.)  Blend in flour and cook for 5 minutes. (I didn't keep the flour in for 5 minutes. I had already sautéed for about that long.) Stir in broth slowly and cook to a simmer, stirring. (I whisked my broth in so there would be no flour chunks.) Add ham, rice, carrots, and salt and pepper. (I used turkey of course and sliced my carrots instead of shredding them but they were already added by this point.) Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

I love simple recipes like this with really normal ingredients that I almost always have. Since the meat was already cooked and shredded this went together so fast. Paul and I like it. The kids didn't. It tastes just like Thanksgiving in a bowl. I know this is going to sound really stupid but I was hoping it would taste more like a different meal but it didn't. I am officially burnt out on turkey. The other bird will be in our freezer for quite a while longer. If you like Thanksgiving dinner...a lot, this might be the soup for you. I'd like to try it again with chicken like it says and see how that works. It will be a while though. 

On Monday Dec. 13th for family home evening and our activity we went shopping for an angel that Emma adopted through the junior high.  We hope that what we did will help some little girl have a better Christmas.

Monday morning I went visiting teaching. See how lazy I am getting? I used the card background for the gift tag on the Bath and Body works anti-bacterial soaps we gave them.

And then I used it again the next day! The kids didn't seem to notice. 

Last night we wrapped a few gifts as a family. It was a little tricky finding things to put in boxes so it wouldn't ruin the surprise. Of course Marius joined us. He loves playing with the rolls of paper.

This stinkin' cat still thinks my quilts are for him. Oh the nerve.

Last night was pack meeting. Andrew earned his art belt loop but had to take in a piece of art he created. He took this picture of his favorite ornament. He was so proud of it. We got it printed as an 8x10 to display. It looked great. 

I am slowly but surely working on Christmas cards. I had envisioned something like this (what I consider to be classy and elegant LOL!) but at the last minute changed things up. 

The new card has a lot more pictures (all ones that have been posted here) and is very...plain. No frills, no embellishments, no pretty paper. It's just white with red text. I'll post the updated version after they have been mailed. I'm not sure I made the right choice but my parents said they would like more pictures so that's what I went with.

Tonight Emma has Young Women's at the church. She is going to be sewing together a pillowcase. I can't decided if I am going to go help or not. Probably not. I don't think she wants me there. She cautioned me that something could happen to my machine LOL! Since she will be away we had to do something very fast and simple tonight. I am going to wrap up a chocolate orange for each of them and let them open that. 

I'm still lazy when it comes to making cards. This was a freebie Christmas card from Weeds and Wildflowers that I put some paper and text on. I thought it was gorgeous though. We woke up to snow so it was absolutely perfect.