Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

401. Healthy dinners
402. Long baths
403. Out of control laughter
404. Opportunities to serve
405. Genesis
406. Getting things done early
407. New piano student
408. Caleb's happy shrieks
409. My mom teaching me to sew when I was growing up

Caleb - 10 Months Old

Caleb loves to crawl around with Sleeping Beauty's head in his mouth.

Here we are another month gone.  Caleb entered the double digits in month age last week.  This month has been has been fun but I've found myself very tired at the end of the day (even more so than past months).  I think Caleb has just reached the point where he is into everything so I'm constantly chasing him.

Sleeping: Caleb is still sleeping through the night and taking 2 naps.  He went through a week where his afternoon nap was a little short but he seems to be back to normal now.

Eating: I think that Caleb is officially eating more table food than Grace these days.  And on top of that he is still nursing 4 times a day.  The only food that he doesn't like so far is canned green beans.  I can't blame him because I won't eat them myself but Grace likes them.  He looks at them like I am trying to poison him.

Signs/Speech: Last month I mentioned that Caleb has been doing the sign for "more".  I think this month I can say his first official word is more.  He says mo when he signs more.  He also has been pretty consistent about saying Mama to me.  I have tried to teach him the sign for "all done" but he hasn't picked up on it yet.

Milestones: Caleb has been trying really hard to let go and stand on his own this month.  He will do it for a split second but no longer.  You can tell he really wants to though.  He also loves pushing the chairs around the kitchen and walking behind them while holding on.  And finally, his new skill is climbing the stairs.  I've had to train myself to shut the gate after finding him halfway up the stairs once and all the way at the top another time.

Other: A few other random things I wanted to mention.  First of all I am glad that we've figured out how to successfully leave Caleb in the nursery at church.  As long as I feed him before dropping him off he is fine.  Previously I'd been waiting to feed him until the end of church (because that's when he normally eats) but for some reason he just wants to eat right away.  I think it is more of a comfort thing than a hunger thing.

Caleb has also gotten really good at following Grace around.  I think I am pretty used to hearing Grace screaming, "Caleb -NOOOOO."  He just loves to be involved in whatever Grace is doing and play with whatever toys she's playing with.

Finally, Caleb loves being held upside down by his ankles.  I think he'd be happy if we just carried him around like that all the time.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for....

395. 3 day weekend
396. The funny things that Grace says
397. No colds in the house this week
398. More trips to the park in January (can't get over this one!)
399. Good naps from Grace
400. Internet shopping and free shipping

Thankful Thursday

385. Second trip to the park in January
386. Third trip to the park in January
387. Walk and chatting time with Erin T.
388. God given passion and discipline to stick with my Bible reading plan
389. New recipe for Peanut Butter cake
390. Free carousel rides at the mall
391. Sunshine
392. Naps
393. Just having a sore throat and so far not a full blown cold
394. Date night

Our Cow, Frank (well at least 1/4 of him)

This December Matt and I decided to buy a split side of beef to fill our new deep freezer with.  This is not a completely foreign concept to me since my parents used to do this.  My dad has a friend who raises grass-fed beef that embraces the spirit of organic even though they aren't certified.  We figured we could get good quality, local, grass-fed beef by buying from them.  It's been great to have ground beef on hand and amazing steaks and roasts too.  After eating this high quality of meat I doubt I'll go back to grocery store stuff. And of course we had to name our cow and we named him Frank.  So, now we often talking about eating Frank for dinner.

Meet Frank, from Grazin' Acres....



My next meat adventure might just be looking into local chickens.

What is Grace saying 2...

Another post with a few cute things Grace has been saying (I kind of skipped a few months of remembering to write things down so I just wanted to get this posted)....

• "I'm going to give my heart to Dora and Jesus." (looks like we're going to have to talk about idolatry) Sept. '11
• "Jesus is going to take my heart away." (sounds good to me) Sept. '11
• "I love laughing." Sept. '11
• "The doctor is running again." (After seeing someone running with headphones on.  She actually referred to running people as doctors several times before I realized she was seeing the headphones as stethoscopes.) Oct. '11
• Me: Do you want chicken nuggets? G: No. Me: Do you want a cheeseburger? G: No. Me: What do you want? G: I just want fries. (At McDonald's) Oct. '11
• "That's a neat idea. Going to the park." Oct. '11
• "Dear God, thank you for mommy, daddy, Caleb, Grace, mommy, daddy, Caleb and Grace. And thank you for food. PRAISE THE LORD!" (Maybe Graces best dinner prayer ever). December '11
• "I'm going to marry Jesus in June" (That's fine by me). January '12

Freezer Cooking Recipe: Fajitas

This is a super easy and super yummy recipe.  It's great because you don't have to do any cooking before you freeze it.  The cooking happens on the day you eat it but everything is ready to go.  Freeze 2 batches at once and you have a couple of meals ready to go.

Freezer Fajita (Single Recipe)

3 or 4 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup lime juice
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 onions

Slice the meat into thin stips and put in freezer bag with lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper.

Cut onions and bell peppers and put in freezer bag.

To serve: Thaw 2 bags, saute meat and vegetables in olive oil.  Serve in tortillas with cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

379. New Year's Eve date with Matt at our house watching Harry Potter
380. A very blessed 2011
381. New beginnings and goals
382. Day watching Livi (love it when she and Grace get to play together)
383. Going to the park in January!
384. Some revamped organization of my pantry and baking goods

Freezer Cooking Recipe: Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

A long time ago I promised I would post some of my favorite freezer cooking recipes so here is one for you.  I'll give instructions on eating it the day you prepared it and freezing it.  Since this is a double recipe you can make one to eat and one to freeze or just split the recipe in half and only make one. The foundation of this recipe came from onceamonthmom.com but I changed it a ton.

Chicken Enchilada Lasagna (Double Recipe - Rectangular Pans)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cooked and shredded (or 4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded)
• 4 cups Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 3 cans cream of celery soup (use 2 for single recipe)
• 1.5 cups sour cream
• 7 ounces diced green chilies
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 3 cans black beans (use 1 for single recipe)
• 16 oz. frozen corn
• 12 medium flour tortillas

Directions:

In a bowl, mix soups, sour cream, chiles, and cumin.
In a 9 x 13 baking dish, layer lasagna-style: tortilla, soup mixture, chicken, beans, corn, cheese.
Repeat 2 more times
Bake uncovered, at 425F for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and enchiladas are heated through.

Freezing Directions:

After preparing, do not bake. Instead, seal, label, and freeze. To serve: Thaw in fridge (I find thawing for 48 hours is best) then bake as directed above.

Servings: 6