The Peterson Family

The Peterson Family

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Catch up

So, this last month I've been trying to domesticate myself a little more. I've learned how to make applesauce, which really isn't hard at all, but I've never done it and I was never really a big fan of the stuff, but I do have an apple tree and I figured my kids eat it all the time, so I've made a bunch of applesauce, and go along with that I also learned how to can it. I also got on the grape juice train, mostly because I had a few pounds of them sitting around and I didn't want them to go to waste. They are much more of a process than the apples, and the payout isn't fabulous, but it made me feel plenty accomplished, enough that I went out bought8 more lbs of grapes and did it again. I'm kinda starting to wish I had grape vines, maybe one day.

On the family front, Jameson is gettig better and better at standing by himself, but he's also had this other problem, and I can't decide what I think is causing it yet, but every once in a while he projectile vomits, which is so not a happy mommy moment. He obviously doesn't really get what's going on, so it just scares him, and I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning it up, don't worry, I do anyways. I best get used to it because I'm getting this close to doing the cloth diapering thing too. I'll let you know how that works out. Jackson is doing great, he's trying to stand, not quick as good as his brother, but he will get there. Lastly, Tyson, he's back to school and working full time. It's hard and I don't see enough of him anymore, but this to shall pass, and in the meantime I'm just happy that I have a wonderful guy willing to do whatever he needs to to support us.

We are also looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I so need it.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Jameson

He's the older of my twins, by a whopping minute. He was also a pound smaller than his brother at birth and up until recently he'd actually caught up and was bigger. That being said in the last little while his brother has gotten way bigger than him (well "way" might be a little dramatic, but it seems that way to me.) Jameson is a total mama's boy, sometimes enough to drive me a little crazy, but he's also smart. He's always beating his brother in gross motor skills (Jackson's smart too, just more with fine motor skills). He was the first to crawl, then crawling up the stairs and tonight he was going down them.

My little guys have been afraid of going down the stairs, but tonight Jameson was feeling adventurous, to his own detriment a little bit, and he kind of rolled down the stairs, don't worry, they are soft and there are only 4 of them, and really he only rolled down 2. Anyways, I've been trying to teach him how to go down the stairs, feet first, for a while now, but tonight, he got it. I rolled him around so his feet were on the first stair and kind of pulled him down on his tummy. I only did it once to help him get down, and then I turned to play with his brother and the next thing I knew Jameson was halfway up the stairs, only going halfway to start and then he's go down the 2 or 3 he'd crawled up and he repeated this till he made it all the way too the top. I could just see him thinking, it was such an amazing thing to watch him go slowly and placing his feet just right so he wouldn't fall (he really doesn't like to fall) he finally got to the top and he layed on his tummy to go down, but was facing the wrong direction and was pushing himself across the floor, he just couldn't figure out the part about turning around, so I'd help him and he'd go down, he tried to go down a few different ways, just thinking so methodically. I was amazed. It seems like such a simple thing, but for my babies who were preemies, this was such an accomplishment! It seems so silly, but it is was such a proud moment for me. I love my little Jameson and his big personality and determination when he's trying to figure things out. It's so silly that these little things just make my day, and it seems so small, but it is everything to me. I love you Jameson!

Renovated Kitchen and Family Room

My new Kitchen, We are still putting a few things together (hence the sander on the counter), but this is the gist. If you look in the bottom left corner you will see the wood floor we had to put in to match the rest of the floor in the dining area, eventually we will get them refinished and they'll be all pretty, but for now, hey I've got a floor, and I'm happy! Not to mention all the new lighting and power outlets, I think my old kitchen had 2 outlets, and 2 very ineffective lights, now I have 7! and one in the pantry!

The other side of the kitchen, the pantry is new, now all I need is the cash to get the fridge I really want, and well, we have temporary countertops, I hope to replace them next year, there's that dang, pesky issue of having to pay bills, but it's ok, I've gotten really good at making due, and I can still have parties, which is really all I wanted to do anyways!

Half of the new family room, complete with my little guys toys struned all over the place. There used to be a window where the door is.

And here is the other half, it has these nifty little cubby holes I can hide things in, well once we get doors on them we can in the meantime all my nieces and nephews just think I have an awesome tunnel they can play in. You'll also notice the outlet in the middle of the wall, this is what we also refer to as wishful thinking- maybe one day put up a flat screen, so I can have some more room, and the huge thing at the end will go the way of the world, in the meantime, hey it works, and it is high-def :)

Looking down from the kitchen/dining room into the family room, we made the window sill extra wide so when our guys get a little bigger we can put stools up to it and they can have a little desk/table to color on or snack on. In the meantime, I can put my other little things on it. And see that chair, I've had it since before my little guys were born, but it was stuck in a corner of their room and never really got used. It is now one of my favorite places to sit, and read a book, or cuddle with my little guys, or even just take a short cat nap. It's so comfy!

So that's where it's at for now, we are so excited for all the space and the help we've received from family at friends, and a very special shout out to my dad who did so much work, it's like he lived here for 2 and a half months!

Mom's Birthday Dinner


My mom's birthday was Saturday, so we had all the family over to my "new" house for dinner on Sunday, and after posting on facebook what we had I was asked for some recipes. As a side note, for the cake, read all the instructions first.


Chicken Parmesan for 6

6 pcs -Chicken (white meat, approx 4 oz per peice, so you can cut breasts into more than serving)
1.5-3 c -Bread Crumbs (I use Italian style, you can use whatever and add some italian spices to it)
1.5 c -Flour
2 -Eggs
As needed -Butter
As needed -Parmesan
6 slices- Mozzerella 12 oz. -Tomato sauce
TT-Garlic powder (approx. 1/2-1t.)
TT-Basil (approx 1/2-1 t.)
TT- Onion powder (or dried onions (1 T), or diced fresh onions (2 T))
TT- Salt & Pepper


1-Heat butter in a saute pan till its bubbly and a little brown
2- Heat oven to 350 F.
3- Salt and pepper the chicken , then dredge in flour, eggs, and bread crumbs, and brown on each side in saute pan, set aside.
4- Heat Tomato sauce in saucepan, add garlic powder, basil, salt & pepper. Cook for 10 minutes or so just so that the tomato sauce thickens.
5- Spoon sauce over chicken breasts, and sprinkle with parmesan.
6- Bake for 30 minutes.
7- Place slices of mozzerella on top of each piece and put in oven for additional 10 minutes to melt the cheese.
8- Enjoy!


Squash-


Squash (any semi hard squash- butternut, crookneck, etc, not zucchini)
Zesty Italian Dressing Parmesan (the cheap stuff)
Water


1-Peel and dice squash- remove seeds.
2- Toss with dressing and let sit for a few hours to marinate.
3- Heat up saute pan and add squash, most of the marinade and a little water, cover pan.
4- Stir occassionally and cook till the liquid is pretty much all gone and squash is beginning to brown. Sprinkle with parmesan and cook just a few more minutes.


Tomato Basil Soup for 6


So here's the thing, I'm a big cheat, I can totally make this from scratch, but it takes a lot longer and I'm all about the quick fix these days. I've also discovered this taste pretty much exactly the same. My brother came over for dinner yesterday and he literally just chowed down on this the majority of the time. Also, I served this with pesto croutons as a garnish.


2 cans Condensed Tomato Soup
Milk
Cream
TT- Granulated Onion
TT-Basil (fresh or dried)
TT-Garlic (granualted, minced, however you want, I think the granulated works best though)
TT- Salt & Pepper
1-2 -Diced Tomatoes (canned for fresh, but if fresh, blanch and remove peels, then dice)


1- Pour condensed soup into sauce pan, and add 1 can of milk (doesn't matter what kind really), and 1/2 can milk and 1/2 can cream. (When I say can, you are using the condensed soup can)
2- Add Basil, garlic, onion, and s&p. Stir to makes sure it is really mixed in.
3- Heat to boiling, then turn heat down to low and let simmer for however long you want to, just so that the flavors mix, add diced tomatoes 10 minutes or so before you are done.


Coconut Cream Cake- Stolen from Emeril, Side note this is sooooo not healthy, but seriously probably my favorite cake on the planet, these days anyways.


2 c. - Sugar 1/2 c. Butter- softened
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil ( I use Canola oil, any non strong flavored oil I'm sure would work)
5- Large Eggs, separated
2 C- AP Flour
1 t.- Baking Soda
1/2 c. Ground Pecans (I actually go for the chopped, I like having the little pecan pieces in the cake)
1 c. -Buttermilk
1 c. Unsweetened Coconut (I bought one and then grated it, and I'm sure if you don't want to put forth the effort, and really who can blame you, you can probably just use the sweetened shredded stuff at the store, but I'd use the stuff that is still pretty moist)


1- Heat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour 3 8in round pans (or I use 2 9in rounds)
2- Cream the butter and then add the sugar, a little at a time so it mixes in well
3- Add oil in a steady stream while still mixing (either in stand mixer or with a hand mixer)
4- Add egg yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5- Sift flour and baking soda together, stir in chopped pecans.
6- Alternately add buttermilk and flour mix by thirds into batter. Fold in coconut.
7- In a separate bowl beat (make sure you wash the beaters, because if you have any fat on them, i.e. butter, or yolks, your whites won't stiffen) egg whites to stiff, (meaning when you pull the beaters out the tips don't fall over. Fold into batter by thirds.
8- Bake for 25- 30 minutes, should spring back when touched.
9- Cool (don't freak out if the middle falls, it's fine, it's also a pretty dense cake, it will still taste fantastic)


Now for the best part, the frosting, and yes you really do need this much powdered sugar.


8 oz. -Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 c. Butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/2 lbs Powdered Sugar, sifted
1 t. Vanilla Extract
2 T milk
1 c. -Pecan pieces (again I just chop them, and food processor works great, but sift out the really powdery stuff)


1- Beat cream cheese till fluffy, add butter and mix till it's uniform
2- Add powdered sugar 1/2-1c at a time, till it's all been added in. (I actually sift it while adding it to the cream cheese mix)
3- Add vanilla and milk, mix.
4- Fold in pecan pieces.


Putting the cake together


1- Now you are going to put down the first layer of cake, frost it, thin, but not too thin, repeat till all layers are stacked
2- Frost the sides of the cake, then the top.
Your cake is essentially done, but I like to make it a little prettier, so I take 8 oz sweetened coconut and toast it (you can do this in a toaster oven) and stir occasionally so that it gets equally toasted. Let it dry, then after you've frosted the cake, fill your hand (clean hands) and pat the coconut onto the sides of the cake followed by the the top. You now have a pretty and yummy cake.