Soooo big

I just absolutely could not seem to get over how big she looks this week....when did this happen?!

Bathroom progress

I've had some requests on how our master re-do is coming along so thought I'd post a small update...slowly but surely, it's starting to look as wonderful as we had envisioned!

Travertine shower...all of our travertine was cut into 9 X 18's (by SJ himself!) and is set into a "subway" style

Tub filler with quartz stack-stone surround

New WHITE Kohler soaker tub

Travertine subway floor, meet stack stone surround

Wondering why we didn't finish the back section?? SJ is building built-ins for extra storage that will be integrated into the tub surround....a little like this:

Photo from Pinterest, via houzz.com (great site if you love anything "home", btw!)

Seventeen months?

With every month that passes, it's still hard for me to believe how grown-up she's getting. It also gets harder and harder to remember how tiny and helpless she was, just seventeen months ago. After a rather stressful and chaotic December and January, she is why we continue on....praying, loving, and trying to take in every single memory. We love you, sweet Clairebear!

{What We're Eating}

PFC's Knock-Off Lettuce Wraps
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (boiled and chopped finely)
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 inch nob fresh ginger, peeled & minced
3 green onions, chopped
8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
10-12 large outer lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon  peanut butter
1/2 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons chili sauce (I use Siracha which is HOT!!)
dash salt and pepper

In large skillet with 1 tsp sesame or olive oil, warm cooked chicken with minced onion, ginger and garlic powder until onions are transparent. For sauce, blend sesame oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, salt & pepper and chili sauce (either in the blender or with a hand-held mixer). Add green onions, peanuts and water chestnuts to chicken mixture, then pour sauce over entire mixture and cook for 5-10 minutes on low-medium, until all ingredients are warmed through. Serve in lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Snow Sorrow

Claire was so excited about the snow this week...while pointing out the window, she says "nooo, noooo?" (we're working on "ssss"). We couldn't wait to put on our snow suits and play! It was unfortunate that within five minutes, she fell on her face, then had a hard time enjoying the rest of the "snow" experience...maybe our next outing will have a better outcome. Not really sure how I ended up capturing this on my camera, but believe it or not, here it is...the poor girl's first face plant. Once again, I swear I only took two photos before I scooped her up and kissed that sweet, tearful face!

{Wonder what Lucy is doing over there...}

{Hey Mom, aren't I cute in my snow suit??!!}

{Oh, geez...wasn't expecting that...}

{This stuff is COLD!}

{Moommmmyyyyy!}

While I'm at it....

While I'm trying to cut down on preservatives, chemicals and fake sugar in my house, why not make my own coffee creamer? Yes, I hate to admit it, but we're coffee creamer people...the sweeter the better! I was so excited when I saw some recipes for making your own, and here's what I came up with:

Vanilla Cream
1 can Fat-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 cups milk (any kind'll do!)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Nut
1 can Fat-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a glass jar (I made a half recipe of each flavor so they would fit in my jars!) and shake it like you mean it. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The possibilities are endless!

P.S: Did you know that sweetened condensed milk is simply milk and sugar??

 My kind of ingredient list!

What We're Seasoning

With some Pinterest inspiration, I decided that I wanted to start making my own "packet" seasonings...I use dry onion soup mix, ranch and italian dressing mix and taco seasoning A LOT, especially in the winter with crock-pot recipes. Once I started reading about some of the ingredients chemicals that are in those packets, I was all for it. Starting with four canning jars (with lids), here are the recipes:

Onion Soup Mix
2/3 cup dried, minched or chopped onion
3 tsp. parsley flakes
2 tsp. onion
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp celery salt
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper


Ranch Dressing
5 Tbsp dried minced onions
7 tsp parsley flakes
4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Italian Dressing

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1 Tbsp onion powder

2 Tbsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp ground thyme

1/2 tsp celery seed

Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp sea salt
**This is for a "mild" seasoning, so to make it "hot" add 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper**

Put all ingredients into each jar and give them a good shake!
2 Tbsp seasoning = one packet

Slowly but surely

Painting, check. Cement board, check. Mudding and taping, check. Shower pan mortared, plumbing perfected and tiling started, check, check and check.

 

Sew-sweet

I've been on a sewing kick lately, as I've perfected my ruffling technique on my machine...(wowza, that sounds so dorky!)  Here are some photos of my adorable baby latest masterpiece. Don't mind the droopy eyes and runny nose, a cold bug attacked our household last week.

Christmas catch-up

With the craziness of the holidays, I'm just getting around to a "holdiays" post! We are extremely blessed with friends and family that love us dearly, and this holiday season was a true blessing. Claire had fun (mainly with the wrapping paper and chasing her cousins around) at all of our Christmas celebrations, and we had some great quality family time with SJ having the whole week between Christmas and New Years off. We made progress on the bathroom...only a minor plumbing mishap that required some professional expertise, but we are now well on our way to a February 1st completion date!

The Mishel Dental crew