The holiday season

This year was the first year Keegan really understood what Christmas was about. Santa, fun family activities, presents, christmas trees and christmas movies.

Pole Train (AKA Polar Express) remains the favorite movie. He is always asking to watch it and knows most of the words to it.

Having a child who gets so excited about the holidays truly makes it even better for the parents. We had such a wonderful time watching Christmas through his prespective. I cannot wait until next year.

Helping Daddy cut down the tree

He wanted you to see how huge his tree was!

He even wrapped his present to Daddy all by himself. I swear all I did was hand him tape!

We made footsteps in baby powder from the fireplace to the mound of presents. The green ones are from Santa!

When Keegan woke up and saw the footprints he was speechless.

The boys opening their stockings

I didn't get to take many pictures of them opening presents. I was having way too much fun just watching them enjoy themselves.

One of my favorite Christmas decorations, our front door. I had already taken the wreath down by the time I remember to take pics of the outside though.

We had such a wonderful time from begining to end. How many days til Christmas '11?!?!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin

The pork loin came out so juice and tender with this recipe I was really surprised. We didn't even need a knife. The herbs really complimented the meat and bacon without over powering it. And really, what doesn't taste better with bacon right?!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin






Ingredients



Pork Loin

Fresh garlic

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Oregano

Fresh Sage

Kosher Salt

Olive Oil

Pepper

7-8 slices of  bacon





Chop all herbs.
Put all herbs in a bowl and add about 1T of salt and 1T of pepper. Add enough olive oil to make a paste.

Slather the loin on all sides with paste.

Wrap slices of bacon around the outside of the loin, tucking edges underneath.

Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for an hour and a half. Remove foil and bake an additional half hour. I ended up putting the broiler on the last few minutes to really crisp up the bacon.

Catch up Time Again

How does time get away from us so fast. The last time I posted I was getting ready for Keegan's 4th birthday party. He seemed to turn 4 so fast. And that last month and a half has gone by fast too. So I will do my best to try and catch you up. And we'll throw a few recipes in there too of course!

Let's start with Keegan's birthday party. He picked out the invitations all by himself, so essentially he picked the theme. One of his favorite things - trains. I had a great time making his cake.

But he might have had a better time eating his own personal cake.

And after his party we took him to visit the Weinermobile!

Tractor Playgroup

Last week, a local John Deere company was kind enough to let our mommy group invade their store. They let the kids play on all the tractors, and even had balloons for all of them. The boys had a blast!

Pumpkin Waffles

Perfect for a cool Halloween morning. They have the yummy creaminest of pumpkin bread, but nice and fluffy like a waffle should be. This recipe makes a TON of waffles. So if you're not having an army for breakfast, you could probably get away with halfing the recipe. You can also put your leftover canned pumpkin in a ziploc bag, flatten it, and freeze it for later use to avoid waste.


Ingredients


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups milk
4 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions

Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, salt, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, and egg yolks. Whip the egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form.

Stir the flour mixture and 1/4 cup melted butter to the pumpkin mixture, stirring just to combine. Use a whisk or rubber spatula to fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter, stirring gently until incorporated. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions.

Pumpkin Patch Trip

Every year we go to River K Pumpkin Patch. The owners are friends of ours, and they always have a great setup for everyone to experience.  They have a corn maze, hay rides, lots of things for the kids to see and play with, and of course a huge area filled with pumpkins to choose.  The boys had a great time. They each picked their own pumpkin. And we're planning on carving on Thursday so they'll be fresh and spooky for Halloween.

White chicken Enchiladas

I'm going to go ahead and blame football for getting so behind this time ;) Okay, well not just football, I've had alot of weddings going on lately and not alot of new recipes being made. It's alot easier to go back to the old mindless standby's when you're exhausted. Well this is one of them. But it's oh so good. I'm  not really a fan of red enchiladas. I don't like the sauce. But these white ones are a whole different story.  Cream cheese sauce and flour tortillas make a wonderful texture. Feel free to add more spices if you like more kick to your enchiladas. The green chilies in the recipes don't add much at all. They're so good, that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of them while they're warm and gooey, so you'll have to make due with a leftovers pictures

Chicken Enchiladas



Ingredients

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers, drained

1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

12 7-inch flour tortillas or 6-inch corn tortillas

1 10.75-ounce can reduced-fat condensed cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

1 8-ounce carton light dairy sour cream

1 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (3 ounces)

2 tablespoons slivered almonds





Directions



1. In a medium skillet cook the 1/4 cup almonds and the onion in hot butter over medium heat until onion is tender and nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the canned green chile peppers; reserve remaining peppers for sauce.



2. In a medium bowl stir together cream cheese, the 1 tablespoon milk, and the cumin; add nut mixture and chicken. Stir until combined. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla near an edge; roll up. Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a greased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Set aside.



3. For sauce, in a medium bowl combine the reserved chile peppers, the soup, sour cream, and the 1 cup milk. Pour evenly over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil. Sprinkle enchiladas with cheese and the 2 tablespoons almonds. Return to oven; bake about 5 minutes more or until cheese melts. Makes 6 servings.