Food, Recipes, Date Night, and a Family Date

Do you remember when I blogged about making my first pot roast?

And how grown up it made me feel?

Well,

I had another one of those moments again.

I have been curious to try a whole chicken in the crockpot.

It's so much cheaper to cook a whole one than to buy chicken breasts.

And I wanted to make my own stock with the bones.

And then one day I was at Trader Joe's and I ran into a friend, and she said she cooks a whole one all the time,  and that it really is super easy.

So with the her encouragement, and following along with this blog post, I did it!

 And yup, it was SO easy!
And SO yummy.
So now I must be even more grown up than I was before.
And that night I made chicken stock and put it in mason jars in my freezer.
And then when I went to get them I realized the jars had all cracked! And I had to throw it all away.  I was able to salvage what I needed to make some yummy enchilada sauce though.

 I used this recipe I found on pinterest and it was so easy and SO much better than using canned sauce!!!

I also made granola for the first time. SO easy! And so good.  I don't know why I've never done this before but I will from now on.  I hate all the added stuff that is in store bought granola and this made my house smell so good while baking it.  I used this recipe I found on pinterest.  But I used coconut oil instead of canola and I like coconut, so I added a little extra to ours.  When it had cooled, I added in raisins, cacao nibs, and white chocolate chips.

So with my chicken from the crockpot, one morning while the girls ran amok and entertained themselves, I made four trays of enchiladas with my homemade sauce.  We ate two already, gave one away, and I've got one saved in my freezer for a rainy day!

 I was so busy in the kitchen that I told the girls they could dress themselves that day, and they wanted to wear their favorite pink summer sun dresses.  I said fine, but it was raining and they had to layer up so they wore them with long sleeved shirts, leggings, boots and hoodies.  Nice eh?

 Random picture from a lazy morning and all three of em are playing with their technology.  Mr. Hass finally got an iphone so he let Claire play games on his old droid.  And I think Hannah must have been using his ipad.  These kids.

 If you follow me on instagram, then you already know that I've had Christmas packed up and put away since the 26th! 
It always feels SO good to get it all down and clean the house and get all the new toys put away.  I'm such a neat freak that I feel like I just can't breathe in my house until that is done.

 My Mom and Dad bought us a food processor for Christmas, but we've had our eye on this NINJA whole kitchen system, which basically includes a food processor, awesome blender, dough hook, alternate blades, and single size portion bowls for smoothie making.
So we were able to return the gift from mom and dad and use some Christmas money from Mr. H's mom to get this fun set.  I've already made cookie dough with the dough hook and bowl, and several smoothies and it works so good.  WAY better than the regular old blender I used to have.  I love it.

 I also love my new Keurig which I gifted to me, love me, one day while I was out and about before Christmas.  I've wanted one for years, but didn't want it on my counter because we don't have much counter top space.  But there have been many afternoons when I have wanted just one cup of hot coffee, but didn't want to brew a whole pot, and so I figured we would get a lot of use out of this.  Plus the new mini Keurig really isn't very big and I don't mind it on my countertop one bit!

On Thursday night I picked up the babysitter and Mr. H and I had dinner at Ra.

 My Mom told me that my Papa used to say "Half a cup of sake, make you feel real wacky." 
That made me smile.
My Papa was always saying funny things like that.
And now whenever I drink sake I will think of his saying and smile.
After a great dinner we went to the movies and saw This is 40.

It was good, and we laughed, but it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.  I thought it was slow in parts and I was wishing that we stuck with my original choice and saw Les Mis.  Ah well, Mr. H owes me two movie dates both of my choice now!

On Friday, we got going and ready to leave the house to go see the Disney Princesses on Ice with those tickets that St. Nick left us.

 The girls both wore new outfits from their Aunt Glenda and Uncle Dave that they opened up at Grandma's house on Christmas Day.  I thought they both looked so cute and so grown up.

The show was a short drive away from our house, and at such a small and family friendly venue.  It was so fun to realize that our girls are both old enough to do this kind of thing with now!

As soon as we got inside, the girls eyes were just all over the place. Everywhere you looked they had princess memorabalia for sale that was flashing, and singing, and you could tell that these two little princesses were just in heaven.

 One of the first things they spotted was this booth selling rainbow snow cones inside of a cup with the Princess of your choice on it and a fancy straw.  In the picture above Claire was screaming out to her sister, "Hannah!! Hannah!!! LOOK!!!!"
So, um, yeah, of course we had to spend $12 each on two rainbow snow cones in a princess cup.  
Then we made our way to our seats and I couldn't believe how great they were.  The girls could see perfectly and we were in the seventh row up from the stage.

 The show was really cute, and we all had a great time.  I think Mr. Hass and I spent half the time looking at the girls and then smiling at each other and sharing in their joy.  So much fun to see.  And the ice skaters who performed were really very good.  We got to see all kinds of neat tricks.  I think I was most impressed with how well the alligator from The Princess and the Frog was able to still skate and do tricks in his big puffy costume.  And also the horse Maximus from Tangled! There were two people inside that costume and I couldn't believe how well those four legs were able to move around on that ice.  It was a good time.

On the way home we picked up an early dinner from a favorite place of mine, The Mediteranean Kitchen.  I love Greek food, and the owners of this place are so nice.  She sent us home with free bahklavah and extra pita bread.  I told Mr. Hass that I think she might be the recipient of my next #26acts or Random Kindness!

Well, I'm off to try to finish up my book.
I'm reading The Glass Castle and I can not put it down.
Peace out.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.

xo

Christmas Medley...

It's been a while since I've sat down and gone through any of my pictures.

First off I'll say that I am darn happy to see January rapidly approaching on my calendar.

:)

On Claire's last school day before winter break they had moms morning at her school.  It was on my work day but I was able to move a few clients around so that I could go. It's fun to get to do things one on one with the girls.  I think Claire really enjoyed it.

On December 23rd, we face timed with Mr. H's mom while the girls opened their gift from her.

They each got a dream lite and they were SO excited about it.  These are hot items right now for kids.  They were thrilled.
And then since we had plans of opening our family gifts all the next night so that our Christmas morning isn't super rushed, we told the girls they could each choose two more gifts that night on the 23rd.

 Hannah opened a Hello Kitty Diary and a jewelry making kit.

 Claire opened up new Tangled pajamas, leggings, and a microphone. (She got a sing along microphone from us and one from Uncle Dusty and Aunt Karen, and in Claire's opinion, she could never have enough microphones.  The girl is obsessed with music and singing and dancing.)

On Christmas Eve Mr. Hass had to work.  But he got home early at 3pm and we exchanged gifts with each other and the kids.

 I recently spotted a Lisa Leonard necklace that I was drooling over and was so surprised to find out that Mr. H and the girls got it for me.  It says each of their names and I just love it.

 After that we checked to find out Santa's whereabouts.  I believe he was in Uruguay at that time.

 Hannah had set a wrapped gift to Mr. H and I under the tree and we were not to open it until Christmas Eve.  It was a darling hand print wreath that she made in school and she was ever so proud to gift us with it.  She made a sweet card to go along with it that said "I  love you mom and dad". 

 She also brought home some reindeer food from school to sprinkle on the lawn and help guide the reindeer to our house.

 And Claire made a magic key in preschool for Santa to let himself in the front door.

 So we sprinkled the reindeer food...

 and left a key out for Santa...

and then waited for my parents and siblings to arrive for our Christmas Eve dinner.
While waiting the girls babysitter and her family stopped by with gifts for the girls which they were SO excited about.

 I didn't get one picture of our delicious meal, but we had a feast.
My parents brought a honey baked ham, homemade mac n cheese, and PW's potatoes au grautin dish that was fabulous.  And I made brussel sprouts, salad, tamales (from TJ's) and beans.  

  Took this panoramic with my iphone.  Relaxing on the couch after dinner watching Polar Express.

 Then it was time to leave out milk, cookies, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

I've learned that Christmas (the whole month leading up to) and Christmas Eve sure is A LOT of work for grown ups.
I'm not real sure that I like that very much.

 But eventually, Mr. Hass and I made our way to bed and woke to Hannah and Claire in our ears at 6:45am shouting "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!!!"

 and the hashbrown/egg/sausage casserole I set up the night before was done, so indeed it was Christmas.

 The girls were SO thrilled to see that Santa had come.
They discovered tickets for our whole family from Santa to see Disney Princesses on Ice (which we saw today and all loved-more to come on that soon), and they each got a FunTab which they are calling their Ipads.  :)

By 8am we were in the car headed to my parents house for breakfast and more presents.
I didn't even take one picture at my parents this year.  I guess I was just trying to enjoy the morning and take it all in.
Then we came home for showers and prepped to head out to Yorba Linda for more presents and dinner at my Grandma's house.

 I tried to get a family shot before we left.  The girls wanted to hold their Christmas crafts that they both made.  The blue one that Claire is holding was our gift she made at school, but she ripped it open as soon as she got home and has been saying it is hers and not ours.  So we just rolled with that. ;)

 And a pic without props, must include Claire's tongue sticking out.
I try...

 The weather was chilly but Grandma had a warm heater set up on the patio outside and it was very enjoyable.

As always my Grandma entertains effortlessly.  We had another big beautiful and delicious feast of ham, prime rib, salad, potatoes, baked beans, creamed spinach, and so many desserts I just couldn't choose.  It was fun.  After dinner a few of us went for a boat ride on the lake to look at all the pretty lights.

It was a busy and very full few days.
But my heart is full, and that's a good feeling.