Birthday Spectacular

If you're thinking about having your child's next birthday party at chuckEcheese's... rethink it! CHAOS pretty much sums it up! We did really have a good time, but for what we paid, we would have had a better value at Bounce You or Leapin' Lennie's Lagoon. Lesson learned for next year!

We celebrated Skyler's 4th and Jillian's 1st birthdays at chuckEcheese's on Sunday evening. Lots of family and friends came out. And despite the craziness caused from the incredible amount of children under the same roof, we had a good time. Skyer took off with his best bud Keagan and Jillian was content to roam (or waddle) around in a circular area. A garage sale is in order to make way for all the gifts we received--our children are so loved. Thank you to all who came out!

I've really slacked off in the kitchen. Last Tuesday I flew out to California on business and my poor children have had pizza almost every day since! I got in late Thursday, but was too tuckered to cook. Friday night Mike and I had leftovers so we could prep our house for my parent's visit. For those of you that don't know, my mother is an IMPECIBLE house keeper; she was able to keep her carpet white with three kids and a dog for 10+ years. It's spotless. Mine...not so much. I did make up for the lack of business in the kitchen. My mom and I made a Shrimp and Corn Chowder (hooray for leftovers because THAT is going to be soo good tomorrow with all the snow on the ground) and we followed that course with beef enchiladas and a big green salad. My chowder recipe is below (and don't let the ingredients list scare you off--it's fantastic if I may say so myself and it tastes better than it's namesake at Abuelo's):
Shrimp & Corn Chowder
1/2 c chopped onion
3 stalks celery, diced
2 Tablespoons butter
1 fresh poblano pepper
1 pint half and half (original recipe called for 3/4 qt heavy cream, but it's pretty rich already)
1 can cream of shrimp soup
1 qt milk (I use whole milk, but any kind will do)
1 can jalapenos or green chilies (jalapenos will give you more heat; the green chilies have a great flavor)
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 t black pepper
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1 can (15oz) cream corn
1 can whole kernel corn (I use the Mexicorn with peppers mixed in)
1/2 lb shrimp
STEP 1: In 2T butter, saute onion and celery until almost tender. Add in poblano pepper. Mix in cream, shrimp soup,a nd milk. Season with cayenne and black pepper. Bring to gentle boil.
STEP 2: Melt 1/2 cup butter in another saucepan and add in flour, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and gradually mix with whisk into cream mixture in larger pot. Cook and stir until well blended and thickened. (If it gets too thick, use water to thin out).
STEP 3: Add in corn and shrimp. Add jalapenos and/or green chilies and season to taste.
This recipe easily makes 8 servings.
*I've also found a few shakes of Old Bay seasoning goes well. This soup will taste better on day 2 so make sure you have enough for leftovers.

I share this recipe as Tulsa prepares for a blizzard. Keeping my fingers crossed that no one loses power during this storm! Looks like several of us will be working from home over the next few days. Stay warm!

Hello, World!

Gosh, time has flown since my last post. I promise I will be more dedicated to my blog this year.

To sum up the past month and a half, we've been BUSY! My 24th birthday came and went; Mike took me out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant where they gave me a shot instead of dessert...I wanted dessert! For Christmas, we spent time with my grandparents in western Kansas. My parents and brothers made the treck west as well. It was a lot of driving in a short amount of time, but it was good to spend it with family. Mike and I didn't make it to midnight on New Years, but we stayed up late the following night for some reason.

Skyler recently turned 4. His big birthday present from us this year was a bike. He also got a Lightning McQueen helmet to wear with it. He has grown up so much. I look back through pictures and wonder where the time has gone. This boy used to weigh 5 pounds; his head fit in the palm of my hand; his tiny fingers would clasp my pinky finger. Now this kid has an attitude! But he barrels me over with his sensitivity and heart too. He's the child that randomly stops what he is doing to tell me that he loves me or missed me or that he just wants to kiss me. I love this boy so much. And I wonder how there could possibly be room to love anyone else as much.

And then there is our daughter, Jillian. She will be turning 1 in a week. How this year has flown and how she has changed and grown. As was expected, I did not take near as many photos with her as I did with Skyler, and even with him I regret not taking more. Children change so fast; it's easy to blink and miss something. We will be celebrating both of their birthday's together next Sunday night at Chuck E Cheese's. For you Tulsan's with kids, feel free to come! Jillian will also be baptized after the noon mass on Sunday; something that should have been done months ago, but nonetheless it will be done soon! Hopefully co-Godfather's Tadd and Scott Schurwanz can make the drive down from Lawrence...they might have to miss a party...

I made a Chicken Tortialla soup for dinner tonight. I won't really have the opportunity to cook much this week, as I'll be visiting clients in California Tuesday-Thursday. What will my husband do you might ask? Well his wonderful and thoughtful wife has been thinking....my mother-in-law will be here but I don't want her to have to cook every night. I bought some Viola dinners from the frozen section and I'm going to make and freeze stuffed peppers tomorrow. I froze the leftover soup from tonight's dinner and I bought one of those complete Banquet dinners, chicken and biscuits I think. Tomorrow we're having lasagna, garlic bread, and a salad and Monday night will probably be something quick like leftovers seeing as I will probably spend a good portion of my night packing. I have to be up at 4am the following morning to make it to the airport! Eeks!

I promise to make up for my lack of cooking this week with some hopefully impressive appetizers that I'm serving after the Baptism but before the birthday party on Sunday. The menu?
Chicken Salad on Jalapeno Cornbread Toats
Seafood Stuffed Shells
Smokey Chipotle Hummus with pita and vegetables
Chicken Packages
Lemon Bars
Hopefully Mike can run to the grocery store for me while I'm gone :)

Until next time...