Heirloom Chicken Noodle Soup

I love when you have a go-to recipe that has been passed down from someone special.  I have a few different recipes like this, but one of my favorites is my grandma's chicken noodle soup!
My grandma is an amazing cook and I always look forward to a meal at her house.  When she use to live on a farm, she would prepare dishes with ingredients made right out of her garden.  I loved it.  She no longer lives in the country but when I come visit her and sample some of her delicious food, it's almost like I'm a teenager again, back in the kitchen at the farm, enjoying something very familiar and comforting.
Now, the other thing that's awesome about this recipe, besides its nostalgia value, is it's simplicity.  I make it after I've made a chicken or turkey for dinner (I'll make stalk from the carcass) or I'll make it using chicken broth that I've bought at the grocery store.  It's versatile, you can use fat egg noodles like I do, or exchange those for rice or whatever noodle you prefer.  I will often use different types of vegetables in it as well, depending on what I have available (or what I want to use up) from my vegetable crisper in the fridge.

 photo source: http://www.soupchick.com/pots-tureens-bowls/



Heirloom Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

- Equal parts chicken broth and water (i.e. if you are using 2 cups of chicken broth, add 2 cups of water as   well) OR fill 3/4 of your soup pot full with your homemade chicken stalk

- 1/2 large onion (chopped)

- 1/4 cup celery (chopped)

- 2 medium carrots (chopped)

- 2 large garlic cloves (chopped)

- Chicken meat (you desired amount depending on how meaty you want your soup to be)

- Dash of savory

- 1/2 tsp of marjoram

- Dash of sage

- Dash of cumin

- Dash of coriander

- 2 Bay leaves

-1/2 Tsp of salt

- 2 Tbsps of Chicken OXO

- 1/4 pkg. of egg noodles (include more depending on how noodley you want your soup to be)

Instructions:
- In a large soup pot, add your broth and water (or stalk), onion, celery, and garlic - bring to a boil
- Add in all spices (keep adding to desired taste)
- Cut chicken into small, bite-sized pieces and add to broth along with carrots
- Add in noodles 10-20 minutes before serving
- Enjoy!It really is as simple as that!  I love to make this soup and put it into individual portioned containers and then freeze them; that way when I'm in a hurry to make my lunch I can just grab one and go.  If you end up making some of this soup I hope you love it as much as I do!!  I will update this post with a picture of it when I make some next week!

Celebrating with Cake and a CONTEST!

Happy April 28th!  This is a super special day to me because today is my baby girl's first birthday!!  Yes, I can't believe that an entire year has passed us by already.  It has gone by with incredible speed and looking back, yes, there have been some bad days, some tired days, and a lot of messy days but I wouldn't trade one day for anything in the world.  The amazing thing when you have children is that you almost get to re-experience the wonders of life; you discover what ice cream tastes like for the first time, feel grass in between your toes again, and believe in magic.  I love my kids so much and they bring so much joy into my life. 

Kate, I know you can't read this, but mommy loves you so very much.  You make my life so full of happiness and excitement.  I look forward to the many many years to come, being at your side, cheering you on.  I love you - happy first birthday, my sweet little girl!

We did already have Kate's big birthday party last weekend, however, we can't let her real birthday go by without doing a little something special.  So today we are having a small BBQ in her honor! 

We didn't actually have a birthday cake for her last weekend either (just a cupcake) so today I made her a very special cake from my all time favorite baking recipe book  - Baking From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

                                          

White Celebration Cake!

Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Buttercream:

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Finishing:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

2.For the Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3.Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

4.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

5.Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one-third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

6.Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

7.Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

8.Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

9.For the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

10.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

11.Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

12.To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

**STORING: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.

And there you have it, AMAZINGLY delicious cake that you can use for any important celebration!  I know the girls are going to love this cake and I hope to make it more often for our special occasions so that when they are older, they can look back at this recipe and want to recreate it themselves (maybe when they are celebrating their little one's first birthday! :)

LOL - do you think she liked it?!

NOW - don't go just yet!!  I have one more thing to cover!  I noticed this morning that I have hit a small milestone on my little blog.  I am happy to have 200 followers now!! 

In honour of this I want to have my very first give-away!!  When thinking about what I wanted to pass forward as a token of my appreciation I knew instantly what would go perfectly in co-ordination with today's post!

SO, I am giving away a brand new copy of the fabulous Ms. Dorie Greenspan's cookbook,

"Paris Sweets"!!!

 Here is a link to the amazon listing for the cookbook, if you want to check out reviews or details on it.  Today is April 28th, so I'll leave the contest open until 9am (mountain time) on May 6th - so about one week. 

To enter the contest, please just leave a comment in the comment section below.  If you pin this posting to one of your pinterest boards, you'll get two entries (PLEASE say in the comment section if you've pinned it AND a way that I can get a hold of you, should you win).

If you want to learn more about the amazing Ms. Dorie Greenspan and her recipe books, here is a link to her website.  Below are a few pics I found from other blogs who have made recipes out of this book (just to your senses tingling!!)

source: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/peace-offering/

source:http://bossacafez.blogspot.ca/2010/11/eclairs-au-cafe-coffee-eclairs.html

source:http://onceuponacookie.blogspot.ca/2008/05/little-fairy-opera-cakes.html

Meal Planning May

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, one way I am preparing myself for the return to work is by meal-planning. It seriously saves you so much time and money. I absolutely hate that feeling when you get home from work, you're starving, the kids are starving, and you are going from the pantry to the fridge and then back to the pantry, scratching your head and wondering what on Earth you are going to serve for dinner! Without meal-planning, I also run the risk of going to the grocery store every day. For some reason, when I go there, I'm just so concerned with getting in and out, I don't think past the moment and I never get more than I need for the dinner I will be preparing that evening. BUT...with my trusty list of preplanned meals, I can cut down on constantly going to the store and, if I'm being honest, the last minute pizza ordering that also often occurs when I'm not prepared! I thought I would share with you my meal plan for the month of May. I planned for 5 new meals per week with 2 days a week for left-overs. In reality, 5 meals for my family makes a lot of left-overs but I plan on packaging most of those into individual servings and freezing them. That way when I have to make my lunch the next day, I can just grab a pre-portioned meal and go!
I will also provide you with your weekly grocery list, but, please keep in mind that on the grocery list I am not including the staples that I'm thinking you would generally have in your home already (sugar, oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, spices, butter, etc.); please review the recipes before you go to the store so that you do not miss anything!

photo source: http://satoridesignforliving.com/2012/01/everyday-made-easy-meal-planning/

Here are the month's meals.  I have provided links to the recipes for each meal.  When there is no link (you will there's not suppose to be a link because the meal is not underlined in those cases), I am assuming that this is a general, everyone knows how to make it type meal.

The meal idea I am giving is for, in the most part, the main part of the meal, feel free to add your favorite side dishes.  When I include items like "garden salad" do what works best for you (add a bag of salad to your grocery list, make a salad from scratch, or replace it with your favorite rice, veggie, etc.).  Also note that some meals require some preparation the day before you plan on making it (for example, slow cooker recipes or marinating).

Week One Meals:

1. Meat loaf with garden salad

2.Garlic Parmesan Pork chops with noodles

3.Cobb salad

4.Crockpot Chicken tacos (**slow cooker recipe - requires morning time prep!)

5.Make your own Pizzas (this is basically using all your left over veggies and cheese from the above recipes and making a pizza out of them!)

source: http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/06/07/classic-cobb-salad-with-red-wine-lemon-vinaigrette/

Week Two Meals:

1.Chicken roll-ups with steamed veggies

2.Crock pot stew (**slow cooker recipe - requires morning time prep!)

3.Beef Burritos

4.Garlic bread spaghetti

5. Spinach, grilled chicken, feta, and craisin salad (just toss these items together and finish off with some raspberry vinegrette!)

                                

source: http://rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/braided-spaghetti-bread

Week Three Meals:

1.Slow cooker ribs with wild rice and steamed veggies(**slow cooker recipe - requires morning time prep!)

The link provided for the ribs is only for the sauce used in this recipe, so use this sauce recipe on your ribs and put into slow cooker on low for 8 hours)

2.Roasted sausage, potatoes and peppers

3.Homemade chicken noodle soup

4.Grilled chicken burgers and fries

5.Grilled chicken greek salad with couscous (I will blog the recipe for this in the coming days and refresh this post with the link to the recipe!)

                                        

source: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/

Week Four Meals:

1. Buffalo chicken salad

2.Pork kabobs with BBQ grilled veggies (low fat!(**requires morning time prep for marinating!)

3.Slow cooker jambalaya (**slow cooker recipe - requires morning time prep!)

4.Subs with raw veggies and dip

5.Potroast with garden salad and buns

source: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/08/filipino-bbq-skewers-3-ww-pts.html

Here are the grocery lists.  I suggest copying and pasting them into a word document as required!

Week One:

- 1 pound ground beef

- 4 pork chops

- 8 chicken breasts
- 2 avocados
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 1 white onion
- 1 lemon

- 2 garlic bulb

- 1 green bell pepper

- 1 lemon

- salad

- 3 egg
- sour cream
- 1 - 8 oz pkg of cream cheese (**optional to add to the crock pot chicken tacos!)

- 1 - 8 oz can of diced tomatoes

- red wine vinegar

- agave syrup

- 1 pkg. taco seasoning

- 1 jar of your favorite salsa

- Tortilla chips

- 3/4 cup of (shredded) Parmesan cheese - next week required a 1/4 cup of Parmesan as well so you could buy it now and store until then!

- large pkg. of favorite cheese (cheddar, jack, mozza, etc.) - this should be enough cheese for the chicken tacos, cobb salad, and the make your own pizza

- 1 cup of bread crumbs

- pizza dough (prepare or pre-made dough)

- soft or hard taco shells or tortillas

- package of noodles

Week Two:

- 1 - 8 oz pkg of cream cheese
- 3 cups of cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 1 medium pkg. of mozza cheese
- 1 small container of feta cheese
- 1/4 cup of (shredded) Parmesan (if not bought in the previous week)
- 2 pkgs of refrigerated crescent roll dough
- 1 frozen bread dough
- broccoli florets
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce (you may have some left from last week)
- 1 med. white onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 garlic bulb (you may have some left from last week)
- 1 pkg of craisins
- bag of baby spinach leaves
- salad
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 1 can of spaghetti sauce
- 1 pkg of taco seasoning
- 1 pkg of spaghetti noodles
- 1 bottle of raspberry vinegrette
- 4 chicken breasts
- 3 pounds of beef stew meat
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 pkg of Italian sausage (optional for the spaghetti bread)

Week Three:
- 1 pkg of pork ribs
- 1 pkg of Italian sausage
- 8 chicken breasts (depending on how many grilled chicken burgers you need! Remember you need chicken for the soup, greek salad, and the chicken burgers!)
- 2 garlic bulb
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 cucumber
- 2-3 tomatoes
- 2 large white onion
- 2 red onion (for grilled chicken burgers and the greek salad)
- 3 celery stalks
- 2 carrots
- 1 lemon
- fresh rosemary
- 2 Tbsp of (shredded) Parmesan
- 1 large container of feta cheese
- 1 medium pkg of Monterrey jack cheese (for grilled chicken burgers)
- dijon mustard
- cornstarch
- wild rice
- frozen or fresh veggies for steaming
- chicken stock (homemade or bought)
- 1 pkg of egg noodles
- 1 box of couscous
- 1 pkg of burger buns (for the grilled chicken burgers)
- Fries (homemade or premade)

Week Four:
- 1 romaine lettuce
- 6 celery stalks
- 3 tomatoes (for the buffalo chicken salad and the subs)
- 1 yellow and green zucchini
- mushrooms
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 red onion
- potatoes
- carrots
- 2 white onions
- raw veggies of your choice (to dip!)
- salad
- 1/2 cup of blue cheese
- 4 slices of bacon
- 4 chicken breasts (for the jambalaya and the buffalo chicken salad)
- 2 1/2 pounds of pork meat
- 1 pound of sausage
- 1 pound of shrimp
- 1 beef roast (your choice of size)
- fresh deli meats
- 1 jar of your favorite hot sauce
- 1 jar of veggie dip
- 1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 pkg of long grained rice
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- Cajun spice mix
- sub buns
- dinner rolls (to go with pot roast)

So there you go!  Meals planned for the entire month, complete with weekly grocery lists to make all of the meals!  Easy peasy! 
Again, I would really suggest to you to review the recipes before going shopping to make sure that I have not missed anything you may not have in your home.  I know everyone has different staples so, please double check.  Also, some items you may be able to buy in the earlier weeks if it means buying in bulk and  saving some money!
I seriously hope that this helps you out as much as it does me!  If you plan on using this meal plan, please let me know how it went!!
Happy eating! :)

Making Stuff Happen!

In 5 short days I will be returning to my full time job and completing my year-long maternity leave.  I'm feeling so conflicted about this (as do most moms who are on the verge of returning back to their old grind after an extended time off)!
Our family is going to be going through so many changes with my return to work.  Going from a stay-at-home mom - colouring non-stop and watching the Disney channel, buying my groceries in the middle of the day, and avoiding traffic at all costs - to waking up at 5am, getting the kids to our new dayhome, dealing with rush hour traffic and downtown parking...oiy!  The best I can do is hope that we survive and prepare myself as much as I can.
It's ironic that with going back to work, I will be bringing in less money than being on maternity leave.  I will now have to start paying for a dayhome ($1,500 a month!), parking, more gas, etc.  Yes, it's not cheap to go back to work but it's something I have to do.
To prepare myself and my family, I need to focus on 3 major areas.  My first focus is my budget.  As I mentioned with all my new expenses I will be bringing in less money per month so I need to address this and make some changes.  I started off with a budget sheet and wrote down all my income versus expenses.  You can find a great free printable at Sissy Print to record everything you need to track.  I then found an excellent free printable for some cash budget envelopes  at Today's Nest, which I really like because, for myself, when dealing with cash I'm less likely to go over budget (I guess it's a visual thing)!

With that in order and all organized I then looked to another aspect of going back to work that will make things easier if I plan ahead...dinner time.  I absolutely hate that feeling of getting home at 5:30pm, everyone is starving and we have no idea what to make for dinner!  Meal planning...it saves you so much time and money (less implusive pizza buying and daily trips to the grocery store).  I started pinning supper ideas a while ago and then, with the help of another awesome free printable from Design Finch I can write down what we are going to have for dinner for a month at a time AND include a weekly shopping list!  I don't know how I would survive without this!

The third thing I needed to focus on is cleaning and home organization.  Design Finch has some awesome free printables for this, as does Blooming Homestead.  Spending a few moments to write down your to-do list will really pay off in the end.  You can find tons of different ideas on Pinterest that allow you to do small things, daily, to keep on top of the mess.  Check out this one, for example, from Organizing Made Fun, which shows you how to keep your home sparkling, while cleaning for only 15-20 minutes every day.

For me these were the main things that I wanted to focus on to make the transition a bit easier.  It's still going to be tough leaving my girls every day and I'm not looking forward to getting back into the grind.  I'm hoping that everything goes smoothly and choosing to be positive about it!  I am thankful that I have so many things to look forward too over the next year, which really makes going back a lot easier as well!

If you have any tips you'd like to share about being more organized and preparing to go back to work after a long period off, I'd LOVE to hear them!! :)

How does your Garden Grow...

Yesterday I started a new project - something that I've always dreamt of doing.  Lack of knowledge, time, and space has always prevented me from actually going through with this little plan but I figured it's now or never so I took the plunge. 

I went with my girls to a local garden centre, picked out several seed packages - after some research into which varieties were best for my climate - soil, and some cute Martha Stewart gardening tools (okay, so the tools were purchased on a whim but they are turquoise and brown and very fabulous looking).

Very excitedly, we came home and laid out our new treasures in front of us.  I had seen on pinterest a few weeks back that you can save your empty toilet paper rolls and use them as seedling cups (click HERE to see the article), so I also had a big bag of cardboard rolls.  Apparently they can go right into the soil when you're ready to transplant them into your actual garden and the cardboard is biodegradable.

I found out that I had to start a few of my seeds indoors and a few of my seeds outdoors, after some reading and some very good advice from a domestic guru at Schnitzel and Boo.  So, after putting the baby down for her nap (nightmare trying to work with dirt and minuscule seeds when a one year old is climbing all over everything!) we got started.

The in-door seeds that we started were zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and thyme.  To start later, outside, we have strawberries, carrots, garlic, peas, dill, green onions, and potatoes.  Now, I'm the farthest thing you can be from an expert so I hope this is right - I guess we'll see with time! :)

We got all our seeds into the cardboard cups, marked them and put them inside on our lovely Ikea seed table.  First thing this morning my daughter ran downstairs to check out the "baby seeds" and she was pretty disappointed to find nothing more than our wet seedling cups just sitting there.  I assured her with some time and sun and love they would be growing soon (inside I thought to myself, "I hope!").

Seeing that this is my first garden and that it is becoming a family affair (the mister is going to build me a 8 foot by 4 foot raised garden bed) I will post updates on how it is making out.  What would success look like to me with this little project?  Well, right now, I hoping that the seeds actually grow and to be able to transplant them outside; I would love to see something - anything - out in terms of actual veggies so that the girls can see how a seed turns into real food!  I think, most definitely, the time we spend together, having fun working outside on our project will be a major win as well!

**Such a nice day yesterday we had some fun in the playhouse too - yes, when I go down the slide it's a scary sight!! :)

Milk and Cookies First Birthday

In a few short days, my baby is turning one!  I can't believe it.  This past year has gone by with alarming quickness and now, before I know it, my baby isn't so much of a baby anymore!
We ended up having to have her birthday party this past weekend because my mother-in-law would be away during her real birthday.  Also, since I will be going back to work next week (boo-urns), it was nice to get the big festivities out of the way before my first day back - cut down on the chaos!

I, as most pinners do, have a crazy obsession with Pinterest and therefore started there to chose a birthday party theme.  There are so many great ideas on this amazing website but as soon as I saw some Milk & Cookies party pics I knew this was the winner!

So started a few weeks in advance and made nine different types of cookies; my goal was to make ten different batches but by the ninth one I was done!  Sugar cookies (family recipe), gingersnaps (family recipe), coconut macaroons (Joy of Baking), chocolate chip (family recipe), oatmeal raisin (Aristocrafty), Oreo pops (Hip Hip Horray Blog), minty s'more cookies (Tip Junky), pinwheels (from Schnitzel and boo), and chocolate chip cookiedough cheesecake bars (Brady's Baking) were on the menu.  I also prepared a milk bar that offered skim, 1%, 2%, and homogenized milk, along with chocolate, rolo, and strawberry syrups for flavoring.

For decor I tried to keep things as INEXPENSIVE as possible!  For the table I used a tablecloth I already had and then went to the Dollar Store and got the thin pink and white plastic table covers , which I taped to the front and laid along the back of the table.  I bought the pink sparkly O,N,E from Walmart for $2 each.  I used different platters I already owned and then for the Oreo pops, I bought some foam and covered it with paper and ribbon.  I place it on top of a coffee cup and voila - a cake pop stand!  I also went to Home Depot and bought some ceramic tiles (the edge pieces) and made them into my cookie markers - they work perfectly with a dry erase marker!

For the milk bar I went to IKEA and bought six large glass bottles for $2.99 each.  I used some ribbon and chalk decals from Uppercase Living to decorate.  The smaller milk bottles I purchased on-line and simply added a ribbon to make them pop.  The amazing paper straws (they did not get mushy at all in the milk) were purchased from an Etsy shop called Hey Yo Yo.  I also used a large chalk decal for the milk bar sign, which I put on board I bought from Home Depot for $6.

Here's a picture of me with the birthday girl!  We ended up just have one cupcake for her to smash into, rather than a full cake.  There were so many cookies I'm glad I decided not to add more sweets in the end.  She had an awesome time and we were so happy to spend the afternoon with family that we do not always get to see. 

Happy birthday Miss Kate, I love you more than I can say.  You are such a sweetie and I'm so very proud to call myself your mom.  xxoo