Menu Plan Monday

We've had our fill our turkey! It has been a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and I had such a great time celebrating and relaxing with family and friends. After Monday, we're taking a break from turkey or anything with chicken for that matter! Have a great week!

Monday: Turkey and rice soup
Tuesday: Steak Salad
Wednesday: Spaghetti Alla Carbona
Thursday: Beef Parmesan
Friday: Takeout :)

Turkey Ala King

Looking for a good leftover meal... look no further! This is delicious! 4 years ago, I would have never eaten something like this..I'm so picky that the white sauce look would have scared me! I've learned to trust Pete and I'm glad I tried this one! Pete went onto cooks.com and found a Chicken Ala King recipe. We doctored it a little to our liking, what an easy meal to make! We just enjoyed this for lunch and I came right on to share:)

2 cups of turkey, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
White sauce
Parsley for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

WHITE SAUCE:

Melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 2 tablespoons flour. Stir gradually, add 1 1/2 cups milk. Stir and cook until medium consistency.
Add cream of mushroom soup to white sauce.

In separate pan, saute celery and shallots. Add to sauce. Add diced turkey. Serve over toast.

source: cooks.com

SO Much Thanks

It's Thanksgiving morning and it's been a crazy one! We went over to our friends, The Brewer's house last night and I waited until this morning to make the apple pies. We got to see Nonni & Aunt Laura on skype already this morning and they got to witness the fight of Jack trying to steal Peter's breakfast and Pete having to break them up! While cooking our traditional cinnamon buns we always have on Thanksgiving morning, I also decide to make a batch of oyster crackers.  It's busy around here and I'm loving it! My Dad and Jan are coming over for cocktails and pies at noon, then we'll end over to Pam & Joe's for Thanksgiving dinner around 4. As I watch the boys enjoy their breakfast, I feel so blessed!

   

I am so thankful for so many things this morning!

1. FIRST and foremost, my boys! Pete, Peter & Jack. I thank God. Every. Day.  I truly feel there are no words to describe how much these three mean to me. They bless and fill my life so much. To my boys... THANK YOU :)

2. Our extended family. We are truly blessed with a wonderful support system. I have loved watching our parents transform into grandparents. My boys are blessed with three sets. They all bring something wonderful into our lives. Sisters, we have 4, who are there when we need them, are fun Aunts and great friends. Great brother-in-laws. Nieces and Nephews that have brought joy to our lives and who I love watching grow. To all our family... THANK YOU :)

3. Friends. I've got some great ones!  I have laughed so hard with all of them, prayed with them that a illness or scare will be OK, gotten giddy over pregnancy news, welcomed children into our lives and cried when a wonderful Mom lost her own wonderful Mother. I have the ones that I can call at 3am if needed and I hope they know they can always call me. To our my friends... THANK YOU :)

4. Our Troops. There are so many men, women and families who are sacrificing their holiday today, so we can enjoy ours. To all of you... THANK YOU :)

5. My home. We bought this and our famous last words... "We'll be here 5 years... max." We'll we've been here a little over 4, and we won''t be leaving here anytime soon. And, I've become OK like that. I am blessed to own our home, it may be small, and often times messy, but it has created so many wonderful memories for us. We have been blessed with great neighbors who have become friends.  To my three bedroom ranch... THANK YOU:)

6. Feels Like Home. My daycare. I get to laugh everyday because of the wonderful kids who come here daily. I get to dance, play, color and sing, everyday. I get to be with my boys. To all my fablous kids and parents who come through these doors... THANK YOU :)

7. My laptop. I know it seems kind of silly BUT...because of it, I can skype, blog, and do many other things with it. LOVE skype, we get to see and talk to family that don't live close by.  Blogging is great. I love writing my own and recording our family memories. Because of blogging, I have reconnected with people I went to high school with and meet others. To my Lenovo laptop.... THANK YOU :)

There is so much more I am thankful for, I could go on and on but those are the biggies. I just want the people in our lives to know how incredibly thankful we are for all of them. Tell the people in our lives you love them now, life is precious and you never know when it will be goodbye.

I have just put the pie in the oven, I look at the mess in the kitchen ready to be cleaned. Peter yells from the living room, "Momma, look, Buzz!" He has just seen Buzz Lightyear previewed in the opening credits of the parade and can't contain his excitement. My heart swells and I decided the mess can wait. I'm going to snuggle with my boys, be excited to see Buzz along with my son and count my all the wonderful blessings in our life. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Boston - Part 2

It seems like Christmas is starting earlier and earlier this year. Right  down the streer from Laura is The Christmas Place in Abington. It is open from the end of October through December. We went in the afternoon on Veterans Day and the place was hopping. We even saw Santa, though we weren't able to get a photo of him. You couldn't use your personal camera and the cheapest photo was $20... such a rip off!

When you first walked in they had this HUGE display of all playmobil set ups and train tracks running through it all! It was really neat, alot of effort went into setting this up!

Peter watches the train go by, this was his favorite part of the store!!

Auntie Laura and Jack

Peter liked walking through all the Christmas decorations.

The boys and I in front of one of the Christmas displays.

Jack liked all the lite up outside decorations. I wish I had taken a photo of all the pre-lite artifical Christmas trees they had on display that you could buy. I have never seen so many. They easily had over 100 in stock!

Enjoying a snack at Kringle Cafe.

We had a great time here. One last look of the train display from outside before we leave :)

Menu Plan Monday

WOO HOO!!! Another one of my favorite holidays this week!! THANKSGIVING!!!!  Trying to make some meals that are easy and/or nothing like turkey. Looking forward to leftovers on Friday!! What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Ribs & Rice
Wednesday: Pizza
Thursday: Cocktails & Pies at noon with Mame & Papa
               Turkey Dinner at 5pm with the Wescott Family
Friday: Leftovers!!!

Boston - Part 1

While Pete headed up to camp for hunting, the boys and I decided to go visit Laura for the long weekend! I left early afternoon on Thursday so that we arrived in time for dinner! We had such a great weekend and took so many photos that we'll have to break the trip up into a few posts. As soon as we got there, Peter was very excited to play with Dylan and his friend Will!

Auntie feeding Jack before he goes to sleep. 

In their jammie's :)

Lola, Jack, Dylan, & Peter

The next morning, while Laura headed off to work, I went to my bestie Cristina's house for a visit!! We had such a nice morning. It was her daughter Liliana's 2nd birthday, so we made cupcakes!

Happy Birthday Lily!!!

Can't believe I let Emilia use my camera, but I really wanted a photo of Cristina and I!!

Lily and Jack playing together :)

We managed to get all 4 kids together in one shot!

After we left Cristina's, we headed back to meet up with Laura, and Lola and headed over to The Christmas Place.... that's part two :)

Turkey Brine

4 years ago, right before Thanksgiving, I was shopping at Whole Foods and I found a Thanksgiving booklet. Inside it had a recipe for a Turkey Brine. I had never heard of it but went home and told Pete about it. We tried it and loved it! For the last 4 years, I have used a brine on my turkey. I lost the booklet before the next Thanksgiving so I had to find another but I remembered some of the ingredients from the first one and decided to make my own brine recipe. Brining a turkey helps produce a moist, flavorful, turkey. The brine works to infuse the meat with flavor, and helps the bird retain moisture. You can brine for a few hours or overnight, we have always done it overnight. We buy a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot to use and put it outside on our deck so it doesn't take up so much room in the fridge.  We then take the turkey out of the brine and onto the roasting pan an hour before we put it in the oven. Make sure to remove the giblets out of the bird before you brine.
One of my loyal followers remembered the picture above from last year's Thanksgiving post and asked me to post the recipe. Here it is :)

Turkey Brine Recipe

2 gallons water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
6 -8 peppercorns
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon thyme

Pete's Deer

WARNING: If you don't like hunting or dead animals...stop here.

It's that time of year again! On Friday, while the boys and I were down in Boston, Pete was up to camp and got a deer. A 3 point buck. He was pretty happy considering that he's been hunting since September and hadn't even seen a deer! In true tradition we take many photos before the deer cutting, here are a few.

Daddy and his boys. Peter was really excited to see "Daddy's buck" and Jack kept touching the antlers!

Momma's turn to get in the photo!

Peter trying to lift the deer.. he kept saying "heavy buck!"

 Jack standing all by himself!!!


family photo :)

Peter wanting to help Grampie cut!

Menu Plan Monday

Tis the season, where I say hello to hunting season and goodbye to my husband. He always has taken the 3rd week in November off to go hunting for the week. My father-in-law started doing it over 20 years ago and when Pete got older, he joined him. My mother-in-law starting taking the kids out to dinner every night that week and she still does it..I love it and think it's time to start the tradition with my own boys. I'm making it so that we might not go out to dinner every night, but we'll never eat at home that week! Pete got a deer on Friday, Venison might be on the menu next week!

Monday: Out to dinner with Bethany & Mackenna
Tuesday: Dinner at Nonni & Poppi's with Little Lo
Wednesday: Angelone's pizza with Mame & Papa!
Thurday:  Might meet up with Pete for dinner?
Friday: Olive Garden with Grammie!

Steak & Cheese Sandwiches

Looking for a good quick dinner? Here it is! Sunday night we decided for the Pat's game that we'd make these sandwiches. We've made our own for a few years now.  It is a quick, easy dinner!

 Cut up one green pepper and an onion. Saute in pan.

Grab some sandwich rolls at the store. We like to get Italian sandwich rolls at Corsetti's.

I bought shaved steak at the meat counter at Hannaford.  Add to pan when pepper and onions are tender. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper and seasoned salt to taste. Since I'm picky, I don't like cheese in my sandwich so I take some meat, pepper & onion before adding the cheese.  I then add shredded mozzarella cheese to the pan, so it's melts nicely with the steak.

 I forgot to take a photo of Pete's! My steak & cheese sandwich without the chese :)

November Photo Shoot

Sunday was the perfect fall day!! We went out to breakfast then headed home to enjoy the beautiful weather! We had wanted to plan tulips the Sunday before, but it snowed! Fast forward a week, and it was close to 60 degrees! Gotta love Maine! We Pete got the tulips while the boys and I played in the leaves! Halfway through, I ran in to get my camera! So glad I did... some of these might show up on our Christmas card!

He is getting old to fast :(

Love that you can see his two bottom only teeth :)

my boys :)

Peter loved playing in the leaves, we kept raking, then jumping!

Jack is always on the move!

warms my heart :)