really quick

A few things I want to remember:

Wes has been experimenting with words lately, he will use big words in sentences where they don't belong, and say whole statements that don't make sense. I have been wanting to blog about it but I can never remember what he says because it is usually nonsense. Last night while we were eating dinner this is what he said;

"Chicago, shorty, chocolate, troy, Jello!!"

Mae loves baths, they are probably her favorite thing. Whenever she gets dressed, has a diaper change, puts pajamas on or even takes shoes or socks off she thinks is bath time. She is always asking "Ba? ba?"

This morning Wes and Mae played together for about an hour, running from room to room hiding in closets and giggling. I heard them from the other room playing Ring Around the Rosie together over and over. Wes was told me they were playing Rosie Pockets, and they were having so much fun together, it makes me happy.

another recipe

Since most of our things are packed away, most importantly, all my tools and supplies to make or create, I have been cooking for fun. I need some kind of creative outlet and I do have my favorite cook books so I have been making new things all week. This week I made Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup, Beef Teriyaki, Chinese Chicken Salad, and Huevos Rancheros. They were all really good but this Beef Teriyaki was by far my favorite, it was super fast and easy and it reminds me of the Mongolian Beef from PF Chang's, which is our favorite.

Beef Teriyaki

2 lbs top blade steak or flank steak sliced thin (the deli will slice it for you, I wish I would have remembered this)
Ground black pepper
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 T mirin, sherry or white wine
2 t cornstarch (which I left out because I didn't have any)
2 t grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove minced
1/8 t red pepper flakes
2 scallions sliced thin

1. Pat steak with paper towel and season with pepper. Heat 1 T of oil in skillet over med-hi until just smoking. Brown half of steak on both sides about 5 min total. Transfer steak to clean bowl. Repeat with remaining T oil and remaining steak.

2. While steak cooks, whisk soy sauce, sugar, mirin, cornstarch, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes together. Add sauce to skillet, return to med-hi heat and simmer, sraping up any browned bits, until thickened, about 2 min.

3. Add steak and any accumulated juices to skillet and continue to simmer until steak is heated through and sauce has thickened, about 1 min. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with scallions. Serve with sesame seeds and rice.

This recipe was great, the only thing I would add next time is steamed veggies.

Just Hangin Out

Pretty much all we do is lounge around the house, at least it feels like it because we don't have a couch. So we are always laying on our mattress on the floor or just laying on the floor. We really don't have many of our things here and the weather is still a little chilly to be outside a lot. We have to be creative and find fun things to do.

A few days ago John and I were in our room and Mae came running in and said "Hide" and then ran into our bathroom and closed the door. We didn't know she even knew that word or what it meant.

Tonight John found a package of coffee filters and gave them to Wes, they ended up rolling them all up and having a snowball fight. Wes and Mae were running around screaming and giggling while John threw snowballs at them. Wes yelled out "This is a snowball episode!"

We had a practice easter egg hunt with Wes so he would know what to do at our ward Easter party, I think he is really going to love it. I told Wes the story about Jesus being resurrected and when he woke up he asked if we could talk about Jesus some more, it really made me smile.

family fun

Mel and Jason came for a surprise visit last weekend and we loved spending time with them. We took a day to go to temple square and the kids had fun seeing the temple and statues and especially the fountains and snow. We miss living closer to them. Wes asked me if we could drive to California and go to Grandpas house to play with Dallin, I told him it was too far, he said fine, I will drive myself.

Best Soup Ever!

Seriously we just got done eating this Tortilla Soup and it always makes us so happy. I got the recipe last fall and we make it about once a month. It is sooo good. It is probably John's favorite meal that I make and while we were eating I got these two comments "Mom, your a good mom" and "I have the best wife". Wes had seconds and John had thirds. The recipe came from my favorite series of cook books from cooks illustrated, every recipe turns out very good, if you don't have any of these books go buy one NOW, I got all of mine used on Amazon so they were a great deal. Ok, here is the recipe:

Quick Tortilla Soup

5 sprigs fresh oregano
5 sprigs fresh cilantro plus 1/2 cup roughly chopped leaves
4 medium cloves garlic slightly crushed
2 dried New Mexico red chiles, stemmed, cracked open to remove seeds (in the mexican food area)
7 cups chicken broth (4 cans) (I have used canned and boillon and both are good)
1 1/2 pounds bone in chicken thighs, skin removed and trimmed of excess fat (I have used boneless too, its faster)
hot pepper sauce (sometimes I leave out)
1 bag tortilla chips
1 small red onion diced fine (I usually leave out)
2 medium avocados diced
2 ripe medium tomatoes diced
1 lime cut into wedges (the best part!)

1. Tie together oregano sprigs and cilantro stems with kitchen twine. Place the garlic cloves and dried chiles in a large dutch oven over med-hi heat. Cook stirring frequently, until the garlic begins to darken and is aromatic, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat for 30 seconds to cool it down. Return the pan to the heat and add the bundled herbs, broth, and chicken thighs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 40 min.
2. Remove the chicken from the broth and use two forks to remove the meat from the bone and shred into thin strands. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl; return the broth to the pan over low heat to keep warm. Add the shredded chicken and season with salt and hot pepper sauce to taste. (it usually doesn't need salt, esp if you used bouillon).
3. To serve, gently crumble a small handful of chips into individual bowls and divide the broth evenly among them. Serve the chopped cilantro leaves, onion, avocados, tomatoes, and lime wedges at the table. (We also like shredded cheese).

I didn't have time to take a picture but this one looks similar

Update

I took this picture the day before we left California. Wes and Mae somehow got a tub of butter and escaped into the living room. When I found them the couches, chairs, carpet, dog and phone were covered in butter! How did Wes get such an idea... later that night he told me that Chip and Dale spread butter on the roof and Donald Duck fell off and it was really funny.

So we decided last week that we needed to be in Utah for some work projects for John, so by the end of the week we had moved again. The projects that we originally went to California for were wrapping up and new projects in Utah needed more attention so we are back. We were staying with my parents while we were in California which was so much fun, I miss having their company and help with the kids, only having to cook every other week, and seeing my sisters. :(

On a good note, things here have really fallen into place and we have already been able to accomplish many of the things on our list that were top priority. We are renting a condo and have mattresses on the floor, a folding table and chairs and a few major kitchen items. I was really craving something homemade so I managed to bake cookies tonight with what I could find in our storage bin of cooking items, they really hit the spot. We will be packing up again in about a month and heading to Chicago in April for the summer, at least we will be staying for a while and I can unpack and get settled in. This is the sixth nursery Wes has been in since he started and he will be in at least two or three more before the end of the year, it is one of his favorite parts of the week. I'm so glad that my kids can adapt easily with all this moving around, because I am starting to really look forward to finding a house and getting permanent.

Wes has been so sweet and obedient lately. Just a few weeks ago I wasn't sure I could handle him anymore and he has completely turned around, a serious answer to prayer. I will have to write more on this later. Mae on the other hand has gotten just a tiny bit more feisty and I think I may have to start disciplining her, ahh.

So for the next few weeks we are looking forward to house hunting, spending time with family and friends, looking forward to visits from our parents, Neal's blessing, Wes' birthday, Conference and Easter. I'm excited.

Paint and Cookies

We found some inexpensive wooden trucks and let Wes paint them however he wanted. All Wes needs is a paintbrush or some playdoh and he is happy. Or some dirt, sand, worms, and water. Anyway, he really had fun painting and Mae was playing Peek-a-Boo while she watched. Here is another shot of Wes helping me make Valentines cookies, he also loves to help in the kitchen. It makes me happy when my kids do art projects.

Also if you look closely you can see that Wes is wearing my Grandma's Holiday apron, which he put on under his armpits and looked like a grass skirt on him, I can remember my Grandma wearing this apron while she baked in her kitchen. Wes was really good about getting me an apron every time I started to bake something, it was cute.