Who needs all those fancy toys when your little one will have just as much fun, if not more, with a good ol' cardboard box. Since we just finished moving we have a whole garage full so Chris busted one out and made Penelope a little hideout. 
Later that evening he got a little more creative... 
This will surely bring hours of entertainment.
Later that evening he got a little more creative... 
This will surely bring hours of entertainment. On another note Penelope brought me her diaper, wipes and cream twice yesterday after she went pee in her diaper. I think someone is about ready for some potty training!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I made my first turkey ever! I was kinda worried that I would ruin it especially after I couldn't find the plastic baggy with all the icky stuff inside the turkey and everyone kept insisting it was in there. Chris and I searched and searched and couldn't find it anywhere! I thought for sure I was going to cook the turkey and we were going to find it once we cut it up. It really wasn't there though! I would have been so mad if I was planning to use that stuff for my stuffing or gravy. Here is Penelope in her apron helping me prepare our Thanksgiving dinner.
Here is a picture of my tasty bird.
I also made mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and this yummy sourdough and wild mushroom stuffing. 
Here is a picture of my tasty bird.
I also made mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and this yummy sourdough and wild mushroom stuffing. 
Daddy's Plate 
Mommy's Plate 
Baby Girl's Plate 
We have so much leftovers!
We have so much leftovers! It was a great holiday and I am so thankful for my awesome husband and little girl. I am also thankful for the rest of my family and friends and for Chris recovering well from surgery so he can finally start doing some things around the house that need to get done! ;) Chris says he is thankful for his beautiful family and Penelope is thankful for Yo Gabba Gabba, Calliou and food. God is good!
Tonight I made a German meal for dinner! I took some pork chops out of the freezer to thaw and decided to try making something different with them instead of just plain ol' pan fried chops. While thinking about what I was going to make I remembered our trip down from Alaska. We stopped at a German restaurant while we were driving through Canada and Chris had ordered Pork Schnitzel and Spaetzel. I remember we both thought it was really tasty . I looked up a recipe for Spaetzle and found this one on Food Networks website. Spaetzle is a type of egg noodle/dumpling. It was really fun to make from scratch. Making the dough and then pressing it through a slotted spoon into hot water and watching it become something edible. It was messy though and half way through I broke my slotted spoon and had to improvise with a butter knife. My spoon was plastic okay! Unfortunately I do not have a well stocked kitchen which is a pity because I love to cook. Maybe I will ask Santa for some kitchen tools. The Schnitzel was my recipe I came up with on the fly. The chops I had were bone-in so I had to trim all the bone off then I flattened the pork cutlets as thin as I could with the bottom of a measuring cup "Dear Santa, please give me a meat pounder for Christmas." I then dipped the cutlets in a mixture of flour and season salt. Then they were dipped in a mixture of egg and milk and finally breadcrumbs. I sprinkled some Paprika on the cutlets and fried in olive oil. I made a sour cream sauce with chicken broth, sour cream and a little dill pickle juice to pour over the top of the Schnitzel. Everything came out really good. Penelope even had seconds! 
Chris and I made some clay today and had some fun with Penelope. I found a recipe for the clay that called for 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of salt and 1 tbs of vegetable oil. We didn't have vegetable oil so we substituted olive oil and ended up using more then 1 tablespoon. Our homemade clay was expensive and healthy. ;) We used 3/8 cup of hot water with a tablespoon of paprika mixed in to color the clay. It was suppose to be orange but it looked more like peanut butter. The recipe said you could make other colors by adding beet juice for pink and turmeric for yellow or I am sure you can get creative with your pantry and come up with some more colors. Here is Penelope mixing up the clay. 
Here is the finished product after Chris got his hands dirty and mixed it up really good. 
Penelope having fun with clay...
After we were finished I put our clay in an air tight container and popped it in the fridge so Penelope can enjoy herself again later.
Here is the finished product after Chris got his hands dirty and mixed it up really good. 
Penelope having fun with clay...
After we were finished I put our clay in an air tight container and popped it in the fridge so Penelope can enjoy herself again later.
Penelope and I had another play date at the park today. The playground was more age appropriate then the last one so I let her explore on her own.
She even went down the slide by herself for the first time, over and over and over again.
She had so much fun she didn't even notice the other little ones there.
She even went down the slide by herself for the first time, over and over and over again.
She had so much fun she didn't even notice the other little ones there.
The other day I joined a Bakersfield playdate group on Meetup and today Penelope and I attended our first one. We met several other moms and their kids at the park and made a fall craft. Penelope had so much fun she was very upset when we had to leave. Here is a picture of her swinging away and another with the craft we made. I am excited to finally get Penelope out to play with other little ones and to meet other stay at home moms in the neighborhood. 
So I don't have a green thumb whatsoever. I am horrible with flowers and plants and have a hard time keeping them alive. It's a miracle my pepper garden did so well. I guess the fact that the plants were outside and Chris kept reminding me when they needed to be watered helped. One of the things on my list of things I would like to do is maintain a garden. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs you name it. I thought I was on my way in Washington but then we had to move...We are renting right now so I am stuck with looking after the lovely cactus in our backyard. Actually I don't even have to do that, the landlord pays for a gardener to come by once a week. *sigh* Anyway...almost a month ago Chris came home with this pretty Orchid he found while grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. My first thought was "ooohhh, what a sweetie". My second thought was "hope it wasn't expensive because it's going to be dead in a couple of days". I know I shouldn't be so negative! Well going on almost a month later here is that same Orchid doing great. I am so proud of myself! I've been keeping it near the kitchen window and watering it very little every couple of days. If it makes it another week I think I am going to transfer it to a prettier pot and add some more soil." It will die for sure then".
Last night for dinner I made some yummy Orange Beef. It came out really good and I got to use my new Wok, that my mom got me, for the first time.
About 1 pound of beef sliced into strips ( I used sirloin cause it was on sale at Albertsons for super cheap!)
1/3 Cup of White Sugar
1/3 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbs of freshly squeezed Orange Juice
1 Tsp of Salt
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup of Corn Starch
Orange Zest ( I grated one orange and used that.)
Ginger
Minced Garlic
Red Chili Flakes
1 Cup of Oil (I used Canola)
The first thing you need to do is dry your beef strips out on a paper towel. Put them in the fridge and let them dry out for about 30 minutes. In a bowl mix together the sugar, apple cider vinegar, orange juice, salt and soy sauce. Heat your oil in a pan, or you can ask your mom to buy you a neat red wok from Marshall's! Marshall's always has nice kitchen stuff cheap. Coat beef with cornstarch and fry until crispy and remove from pan. Drain all the oil from the pan except for about a tablespoon. Add the orange zest, ginger and garlic. Just kinda guess on the amount of spices depending on what you like. Add the sauce you mixed earlier and bring to a boil then lower heat and cook until thick and syrupy. It took my sauce about 5 minutes and I stirred it constantly. Add the beef and red chili flakes to taste (we like ours spicy) and stir to coat. Serve with white rice. Trust me this stuff is good!
About 1 pound of beef sliced into strips ( I used sirloin cause it was on sale at Albertsons for super cheap!)
1/3 Cup of White Sugar
1/3 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbs of freshly squeezed Orange Juice
1 Tsp of Salt
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup of Corn Starch
Orange Zest ( I grated one orange and used that.)
Ginger
Minced Garlic
Red Chili Flakes
1 Cup of Oil (I used Canola)
The first thing you need to do is dry your beef strips out on a paper towel. Put them in the fridge and let them dry out for about 30 minutes. In a bowl mix together the sugar, apple cider vinegar, orange juice, salt and soy sauce. Heat your oil in a pan, or you can ask your mom to buy you a neat red wok from Marshall's! Marshall's always has nice kitchen stuff cheap. Coat beef with cornstarch and fry until crispy and remove from pan. Drain all the oil from the pan except for about a tablespoon. Add the orange zest, ginger and garlic. Just kinda guess on the amount of spices depending on what you like. Add the sauce you mixed earlier and bring to a boil then lower heat and cook until thick and syrupy. It took my sauce about 5 minutes and I stirred it constantly. Add the beef and red chili flakes to taste (we like ours spicy) and stir to coat. Serve with white rice. Trust me this stuff is good!
