PinkPetunias

An end to a great day, chicken pot pie (recipe)

Today was a really good day. Rob and Ellie got up while I slept in. Once I decided to get up, we had chocolate chip pancakes. Ellie helped and there were far too many chips in the mix. They were much more like dessert but, hey, she had fun. 

We played in her house box (that we made yesterday from a new dishwasher box), played with play-doh, did markers (that is what she calls coloring with markers), read some stories and finally took a little nap. After her nap, Rob watched football and Ellie and I went to Kid's day at Ladew Topiary Gardens. 

While we were there, she got to paint rocks, get a butterfly painted on her arm, ate candy, saw fish and frogs, danced and sang with a group of kids, colored a paper fish and did a little pretend fishing. After that, we went to the grocery store, where she got to pick out a balloon because momma refused to stand in line for 30 m-i-n-u-t-e-s for a balloon figure at Kid's day. Really, what toddler can wait that long? 

Anyhow, after we got home, she watched the last few minutes of the game with Rob while I made a chicken pot pie, recipe below. As soon as it was done, we ate dinner and then took a walk and pulled Ellie in her wagon. We came home and had ice cream cones and coffee and then did the whole bath/bedtime stories routine and she went right to sleep. 

I wish every Sunday could be this good. I hope you had a good one too.

Anyhow, here is the easiest recipe for the greatest comfort food, that is not a dessert. 

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 package of roll out pie crust
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1 and 3/4 cups of chicken broth (I use homemade but you can use can)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups of frozen soup veggies or fresh ones diced
2-3 cups of cooked chicken (I cook a whole chicken and use for 2 meals)
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Unroll one pie crust, place in glass or stone pie dish and poke 5 to 6 times with a fork. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.
4. Add onion and cook until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add flour and mix well.
6. Add chicken broth. (I try to use the broth from when I boiled the chicken. I usually add ground sage and bay leaves to the water.)
7. Add milk.
8. Add crushed up bouillon cubes.
9. Cook until bubbling and thickened.
10. Add veggies and chicken.
11. Pour into pie pan.
12. Unroll remaining crust and place on top of pie.
13. Trim and crimp the edges. 
14. Bake for 35 minutes. The top will be nice and browned and crisp. 
15. Set aside for 20-30 minutes to allow for the pie to set up a little. Trust me, it is too hot to eat anyway. I know some will try to immediately eat it and first, they will make a mess of the pie and second, they will burn the crap out their mouths.

Enjoy!

A little end of summer catching up, a trip to the bookstore and North Carolina

Here is a really sweet picture of Rob and Ellie as soon as we walked in the door from a trip to Barnes and Noble. The bag was immediately emptied out and they were on the floor reading. Rob did not even get his sunglasses off. I love that Ellie adores books. All those nights spent reading to her are really paying off. 

Rob, Ellie and I made it to Charlotte, NC to visit his cousin and her crazy family (love you tam).

On the way down Rob bought some beef jerky thinking Ellie would not like it and he could have it all to himself. He could not have been more wrong. Ellie and baby Daisy loved it. (above)

Yes, Tom, you can bribe a toddler with gifts. Very good move. (above)

Tammy sure knows how to get Ellie's attention...every girl loves a pedi! (above)

Ellie's very first time on a swing without a look of sheer terror on her face. (above)

Rob, Ellie, Colin and Sean (above)

Pool time with Seanie (above)

Ellie fell in LOVE with Colin. (above)

Crocs + no pants + camo hat + beef jerky = redneck!

Colin and Ellie hangin' on the porch while the men suit up for a game of golf. (above)

Ellie, Aunt Tammy and I went to the Birkdale Village fountains. (above)

Just a funny picture of Rob under a little kiddie table. (above)

Some funny potty pics from NC. Not sure why I took them, but I did so I will share them. Notice I am not in the pictures...not a coincidence. 

Sorry about Ellie's red eye but I am posting from a computer without the right software. I will correct later. (above)

Rob, Ellie and I hit some caverns on the way home. Ellie was a complete trooper. She enjoyed it so much she screamed AGAIN when the man turned the lights off in the cave. We had no idea it was a 45 minute tour when we decided to stop. (above)

A little end of summer catching up, St. Louis Trip

Time to do some summer posting catch up since the summer is, well, over. 

Here are pictures of my May trip to St. Louis with Ellie.

We are not at my parents house 5 minutes and my dad already has her on the riding mower. This would be a frequent activity for the next few days. (above)


A little gardening with Pa Pa. (above)

it didn't take long to figure out why Ellie wanted to sit on Great Grandma Buckley's lap so much. She had treats stashed in her side table and Ellie had free access to them.(above)

Ellie and LaLa going for a walk. (above)  

Ellie and her Aunt Leslie (above)

Ellie chalking the driveway. (above)

Ellie's early morning walk with Pa Pa. (above)

Golfing at 6 am with LaLa on the driveway...my mother would kill me if I posted the pic of her in her PJs so you only get to see Ellie in her's. (above)
 

Me, Ellie and my dad before we head to the airport for our return home. (above)

Ellie sound asleep on the plane. (above) 

Party Planning

I have two parties for which I have to start planning. Yes, two!

Ellie is turning two this October and I keep trying to come up with some kind of theme that she would like and that translates into a nice party for kids and adults. She has a few books that she adores but the one that I think could really turn out cute for the kids is Miss Spider's Tea Party: The Counting Book. It has great colors and the idea of bugs and flowers would appeal to both girls and boys. I also think having a little 'tea party' would be pretty simple to do. What do you think? Any ideas? I did a google search and I see they have party-ware that can be ordered but I would prefer to come up with my own decorations. Ideas please!

The other party is for Rob's 40th birthday. I cannot believe he is going to be 40. I really do not think he looks 40. Is that because he really does not look 40 or do I prefer not to admit that I look 37? Who knows but he is still a hottie to me. :) Anyhow, he will be 40 in November and since it is a big one, I have to get planning now. I do know that he loves any reason for a big party so now that we have a great reason for a big one, I need to try and make it really big.

Planning should be really fun but wow, the work is going to be tough. I have a hard enough time keeping up now. Oh well, both Ellie and Rob are worth it!

It was a Happy Father's Day

I hope you all had a nice Father's Day. I know we did.

 
Rob and Ellie
(His sister Krissie took the pic when she was in town a few weeks ago.)

Rob's dad and Aunt Theresa came over for dinner. Thankfully we did not have any rain...what a shocker! I grilled a beef tenderloin with potatoes and onions on the grill. We had corn on the cob and a great salad. I thought you might all like the recipe so here it is.

Mexican Chopped Salad (picture by Aunt Theresa)

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 c. lime juice (approximately 3 limes)
1/8 c. orange juice (approximately 2 oranges)
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 shallot, finely diced

Salad:
2 heads of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 large yellow bell peppers, diced
1 red onion, diced
2 large firm but ripe avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions
Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and set aside for a couple of hours.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce and cilantro so it is evenly mixed. Spoon out into a shallow serving bowl. Take the remaining ingredients and place on the salad separately. I did mine in rows across the salad but you could layer it or put the ingredients in mounds. Who knows. Just do what looks good.  

Drizzle the salad dressing over the entire salad.

How cute is this picture? (picture by Aunt Theresa)

After the huge meal we had a great pie for dessert. Thanks to Carrie over at Dixie Mango for the idea! Based on her post, I would call it Poor Man's Margarita Pie. It was so yummy!

I used a small box of lime jello (even though the jello site says there is margarita flavored jello, I could not find if after going to three - yes, I said three - stores) and instead of using just water, I used 1/2 cup of Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix and 1/2 a cup of water. I also topped it with spray whipped cream ('cause that is how I roll - I couldn't help but say that). It really was great.

Catching up

So Jen commented on my last post and basically asked me where I have been lately. To Jen and anyone else that keeps up with me, here is where I have been and what I have been doing.

One day last week I played hooky from work. I picked up Ellie and met the hubbie for some strawberry picking. While we knew the incredible amount of rain fall we have had pretty much killed any chance of big, gorgeous berries but we thought the act of going and picking would be fun for Ellie. We did not get a whole lot because it was really sunny and Ellie is really fair. Even with 55 SPF sunblock and a hat, she was still getting too pink for my liking.

 
 
All little girls should have a pair of strawberry pants for their first time strawberry picking.
 
After we rode in the rickety truck back to the stand, we got snowballs and sat under a pavillion and relaxed while Ellie made a complete mess of herself and her clothes. I wish I had a picture to share but nope, the camera was in the car (with the strawberries that got completely cooked and were worthless).

On our way back home from strawberry picking we hit our local library. It is only about two years old so it is really nice. We picked out some great books for Ellie and she got to play with two little kids that were there. When did libraries become so loud? What? You say they are still quite? Huh. It was pretty loud in there with the three kids playing in the play area. I guess Ellie has not learned the concept of inside voice yet. What can you expect from a 20 month old?

Over the weekend, Ellie played in her little pool with the hose and Maggie. I love little girls with ruffle butt bathing suits!

 
 
 

Let's see. What else have we done since the last post? Potty training but that is a post all by itself.

Yesterday I took Ellie to meet a friend of mine for dinner and WOW, was she impossible! Climbing on the table, screaming, asking for choc-ate (chocolate), sticking her hands in my water, hitting, throwing things and pulling all of the sugar packets out of the holder and throwing them on the floor. I had to take her outside and have a little talk with her. She was fine after that but I knew I was on borrowed time so we high-tailed it out of there within 15 mintues.

I asked a co-worker about Ellie's behavior and she said it happened to her son at around the same age. She said "welcome to the terrible twos." I thought Ellie was already in them. Apparently not. My co-worker said she only attempts to take her son out every few months to see if he has outgrown it. He turns three soon and he is still not out of it. Yikes!

In crafty news, I have almost completed attachting the binding to Ellie's peekaboo quilt. My friend Trish gave me a few charm packs before Ellie was born and I am just now finishing it up. I am a pathetic procrastinator! Anyhow, it is made with Moda's Peek A Boo line. 

  
Update: This is a sample of the fabrics used, not the actual quilt. Sorry for the confusion. :)

Anyhow, I am sorry it has been so long since I posted. Sometimes I just get wrapped up in my life.

Wonderful weekend, lots to share

Ellie decided it was fun to ask her momma "doin'?" over and over and over and over. We were making peanut butter cookies and while I was scooping the dough out onto the cookie sheets she kept asking "doin'?" each time I dropped dough on the sheet. That is twelve times per sheet and we did three sheets of cookies! As annoying as I make it sound, it really was quite cute and when you turned the question around and asked "What are you doing, Ellie?" she looked perplexed, said "ummm" while looking around. She was thinking very hard. A few times she would answer but most times she just asked "doin'?"

In more Ellie news, my little bug did not wet a single diaper on Saturday and only one on Sunday! Yippy for Ellie.

I did get some sewing time in this weekend. I managed to make and attach the binding strip for a peek-a-boo quilt I started before Ellie was born. While watching movies, I was able to get a quarter of the back of the binding sewn. It looks very cute. I will post pics as soon as I finish later this week.

I also made Ellie another every day little blanket with butterfly fabric. I still need to complete the quilting around the big butterflies but I hope to have that done this week too.

I also got to spend time watching a few movies this weekend. Friday, Rob and I watched Frost Nixon and Saturday my friend Tammy came over for steaks on the grill and we watched Taken. Sunday Rob, Ellie and I barbequed some chicken and after she went to bed, we watched Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Can I tell you I cried for the last 30 minutes? Good thing Rob fell asleep because I was really crying. Not your little tear down the cheek but a half-of-a-box-of-tissues kind of crying. If I was not a mom, I would have just thought "good movie, good premise" but since I was a mom, it was sad to see all that Benjamin had to give up. Good movie. If you have not seen it, do. You get a fair amount of Brad looking Bradly but that is not the reason to see this one.

Spring is here...

At least for those on this side of the world. What a wonderful time of year. I want to take Ellie and Rob to DC to see the cherry blossums in a couple of weeks, maybe take a blanket and a picnic lunch. I think that would be a wonderful way to spend the day. Don't you?