A friend asked me to post the recipe for a chicken swiss ring I made for a shower recently, and my Mom’s nacho casserole. I cant claim the chicken ring recipe as my own though. I picked it up at a Pampered Chef party about 8 years ago. But it still tastes YUMMO The nacho recipe is an OLD one I think she got from a friend named Mary Mott in Washington state in the 70’s.

Chicken Swiss Ring

2-3 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts.

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp seasoning salt

2 cups shredded swiss cheese

2 tubes of cresent rolls

1 1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup dijon mustard

1/2 cup parsley chopped finely ( I used italian flat leaf, but I think any would be ok as long as its fresh and not dried)

1 roma tomato

Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt and saute in olive oil  until done. Lay aside to cool. When chicken is cool shred with two forks.

In a bowl mix together mayo, mustard, and parsley. Set aside 1/2 of it. Mix cheese (reserving about 1/4 cup) chicken and 1/2 of mayo mixture together.

On a pizza stone (or a cookie sheet you have covered with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray) lay out cresent rolls in a circle wide end to end creating a circle with the narrow ends pointing out. (it will look like a sunshine ) With a spoon lay filling along the inside edge. DONT overfill it. Fold points over the filling, pressing along the inside edge to seal it. In the openings that are left by the points place a slice of roma tomato. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top and bake in an oven preheated to 350 until the ring is browned all over and the cheese is bubbly.

Serve with the reserved mustard sauce.

Nacho Casserole

1 lb hamburger meat browned and drained

1 large can refried beans

1 can chopped mild green chiles

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 small jar of salsa (we use mild.. but use what yall like)

2 cups sour cream

1 tomato diced

2 green onions chopped

black olives sliced

In a baking dish layer in this order

beans

hamburger

cheese

salsa

diced chiles

Bake at 375 until the cheese is bubbling in the middle. Top with sour cream, tomatos, green onions, and olives. Serve with tortilla chips.

I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and happy New Year. Our plans are pretty sedate. We plan to stay at home and party with Dick Clark. We went shopping this morning and the menu looks like

coctail weenies in BBQ sauce

chili cheese dip and chips

pepperoni and cheese stuffed breadsticks

Strawberries and butter cookies to dip in Nutella

Pickles and Olives

Carrott sticks and ranch dip

Not very nutritious, but its a party so I wont worry to much.

The girls each got a movie for christmas so I think we will watch Hairspray and Nanny Diaries early in the evening and then lay out the spread to watch the New Year come in. Our neighborhood is BIG on fireworks so it should be a LOUD one. Watching Paisley be entertained by the fireworks ought to be fun.

Also, after watching a Good Morning America special on Champagne, sparkling wine and people prefering cheap bubbly to the expensive stuff (christal or Dom at $167 a bottle or Asti Spumante at $3.99) I  picked up a little bubbly for Steven and I to ring the new year in with. We dont usually drink much so a little wont hurt. Especially on New Years Eve!

As far as resolutions this year I dont have very many. The usual ones, lose weight, connect more as a family, commit random acts of kindness come to mind. But Im thinking more specific resolutions this year.

1. Attend Sunday School. Our church is HUGE and we sometimes feel a little disconnected with a lot of the people there… kind of like we dont fit anywhere. A couple weeks ago our minister mentioned that a way to find a “place to belong” is to attend and get plugged into a Sunday School class. So we plan to kick things into gear an hour earlier on Sundays and get plugged in. Not to mention the Sunday School hour is when a lot of bible teaching happens for the little kids. You know, the Noah’s Ark and Moses stories. I feel like we have kind of missed the boat on that with the girls.

2. Limit eating out. I have several things that I would like to save for this year.. one being a trip home to Alaska, and in looking back at our weekly check registers I find that we are eating out WAY to much. Spending a TON of money on eating out when I had something I could have fixed at home. Its just so easy to just grab a Mcmeal or go out to beat boredom on a friday night. My plan is to limit us to one fast food night and one sit down meal in a two week period. I think that is reasonable and will provide me with two breaks. We also have a coupon book that has a LOT of BOGO specials that my Aunt gave us for christmas that we can utilize that will save a lot of money too.

3. Exercize. I hate it. I really do. But I HAVE to get out and move more. I am thinking seriously about getting Steven and I a membership at the local wellness center. It isnt that much money and I think that if I had a place that I was PAYING to go work out I’d be more motivated. It can also be something that we do together. Now that Thing One is old enough to babysit alone at the house (only with my parents right next door though) we can go and work out and leave the girls at home. Thats a better “date night” than going and eating something bad for us.

What are resolving to do this year???

The rest of this week has been pretty good. My cousin took a few days off for the holidays so we havent had Emma Grace for over a week. While it has been a nice break, I am missing her!

Thing One came home from her Mom’s yesterday. She seemed to have had a good time, although I think she was ready to come home. That always makes me feel good when she is ready to come home to us She got an atomic hair straightener for one of her gifts. It is already making me nervous. Its one of those super industrial strength wet to straight ones? I can just see her setting herself, or the house on fire. I think I might make her store the thing in MY bathroom, so that I can be sure that it gets turned off after use. She got some other nice things too.

Yesterday I went and used my christmas money at Bath & Body Works. Since I love a bubble bath just about more than anything THAT was a perfect gift for me. They were having a HUGE HUGE clearance sale and I bought 10 items for $35!  I smell so good today! ( Steven says I smell like a fruit salad) I bought bath gells and lotions in Pearberry, Coco Cabana, Enchanted Orchid, and Pear Blossom. As well as some Night Blooming Jasmine body creme. mmm mmm They also had thier anti bacterials on sale 4 for $10 so I picked up some of those too. I love to have them in the bathrooms. My favorite scent. Honeysuckle unfortunatly wasnt part of the sale. But I got some of that as a stocking stuffer, So I am all set for some time now in the bath and body area! YAY.

 We also ran through the SuperWalmart in the big town where we had gone to shop. They had christmas stuff on 50% off. I didnt really see much that I couldnt live without. But I did pick up a BIG 4 wick candle for *ahem* $2.53 Cant beat that! I also got us some butter cookies.. you know the little danish ones that come in decorative tins? I love love love those. They are YUMMO dipped in coffee.. In fact I think I may go brew some of the specialty flavored coffee I got for Christmas and have some cookies for breakfast!

Last night the girls went to my Cousin’s house next door to stay the night so Steven and I used the first coupon out of a whole book of local coupons that my Aunt gave us for Christmas. I was craving Pizza. So we  indulged in Super cheesy peperoni pizza at Pizza Hut. I know GASP! I dont usually like to go to the chain Pizza places since we have a localy owned place that has good pizza.. but sometimes you gotta indulge your cravings. We did however have to wait over an HOUR for our pie. UGH! I was STARVING by the time it came. But luckily Steven and I were able to chat and people watch and we didnt mind TO much. I just know that this small town needs another Hut!

Today I plan to hang out here and take down the tree. I already took down all the other holiday decorations. But the tree was so pretty this year, and I wasnt feeling crowded by it yet… so I left it up a few extra days. I will however get it down this weekend, since I always like to start the new year with a fresh clean house.

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. We enjoyed a great day together. It started WAYY early though.

Christmas eve we went over to my parents house to grill chicken and watch Ratatouille.  The girls ran around the house and were generally really wound up. My Dad unfortunatly waited tooo long to eat dinner and has some problems with his blood sugar. He totally bottomed out to test below 60. (wich is BAD) So we had to hurry and get his numbers up. He is managing his diabetes really really well. But every once in a great while it gets away from him. Once we got his numbers up in the 100’s  I felt a lot better and he crashed out asleep. I guess crashing like that takes a lot out of you.  We watched the movie with him snoring away in his recliner

After the movie we took the girls home and they went to bed in RECORD time. They were both sleeping by 10:30! So I went ahead and “let Santa Claus in” and he filled stockings, enjoyed his cookies and sweet tea and went on his merry way by about 11:45. At which time Paisley, who must have been disturbed by eight tiny reindeer hooves. Began to bark. Waking Thing Two.

ugh.

Steven and I who had gone to bed were shaken awake by the VERY excited Thing Two, who by this time was screaming. “Santa came Santa came!” Feeling like a JERK I sent her back to bed muttering something about rules about only opening gifts after daylight.

Needless to say Thing Two spent a restless night KNOWING that Santa had already come and left her presents. I think she was likely awake every hour on the hour asking if it was “time” yet.

By 7 am I finally caved and let her wake her sister and I shook Steven awake.
We opened presents from Santa and the girls opened thier gifts from us before we called and my parents were ready for us to come over and open gifts and have breakfast.

I got some nice things. I had been needing a deep saute pan with a lid and my parents got me that as well as some cash to go to the big after christmas sale at Bath and Body works with. I got a coke calendar as well as a Grey’s Anatomy one. I also got some socks and some traditional treats like pistachio nuts, specialty coffee and a manicure set. Steven got a new digital camera from my parents as well as some socks and his share of treats. The girls got tooo many things!

My Aunt Cindy made us a nice breakfast of ham and bacon quiche and cinnamon rolls. before we all headed to different beds to nap.

Later in the afternoon I made some little snacks to share.. shrimp cocktail. summer sausage and cheese, a veggie tray and some sweets. At 4  Thing One’s Mom came to take her to celebrate with her family. Its always hard to send her off at Christmas, but at least we have it arranged so Thing One is at everyone’s traditional celebration. I sure miss her at Christmas dinner though. She will be gone until friday at 4pm. UGH I miss her when she is gone.

After she left we sat down to dinner. My Mom made a prime rib and we had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and rolls. It was delicious.

After dinner we sat down to watch Pirates of the Caribean 3 At Worlds End. It was exciting to say the least.

With Thing One gone of course Thing Two spent the night with my parents and Steven and I went home to bed kind of early. I did call Alaska and talk with my cousins, my Aunt and my sister. They were all missed greatly, but at least we were able to call and talk as long as we wanted.

All in all it was a wonderful day.

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

From our family to yours.. we hope you have a wonderful Christmas.. taking time to experience the Wonder and Magic of a most perfect gift.

Look what my In-laws got for Steven and I for Christmas.

You are jealous… I know you are.

IN thier defence though. They DID buy my kids a Wii. Yeah. A Wii.. I was FLOORED. And that thing is down right FUN. We love it. I cant wait to get some more games for it.

Last night The Thing’s and I worked on a project for my Mother’s christmas present from them. I always try to find something that they can make her and have it come just from them. The gifts dont always come out looking prefect.. but my Mom loves them. This year they are making these.

You start them by wrapping a balloon with string and then painting it with glue. Thing Two of course chose PINK balloons. After she made her little ornaments. I hung them on a wire hanger with clothespins to dry…  this is what THAT looked like.

I held them up for her to see before I hung them in the laundry room to dry. She died laughing. I mean screaming laughing. Belly grabbing litterally rolling on the floor dying laughing. It took me several moments to get out of her what they heck was so funny. “Mommy. I made Nana some BOOBS for Christmas.”

After looking at them from her vantage? Whatdya know. She did.

Since this was our first year in our new home I was really excited to decorate for Christmas. Actually I was thinking about it wayyy back when we were moving in here in March. This WAS my parent’s home before it was ours.  I was sort of nervous about making changes and trying to make it our very own.. even with them living next door and in thier own NEW house it was tempting for me to fall into putting things where my mom put them.. in fact the tree is exactly where they would have put it when it was thier living room! But old habits are hard to break.. that spot just seems where a tree should go.

 ANYWAY. lets get started on the tour!

We’ve had this wreath for a long time.. it hung on our door our first christmas. Its looking a little faded.. but I cant bear to part with it.

I found the neat glitter words at Wally’s. (for $.97!) I didnt get pictures of them all.. but I have WISH, DREAM, NOEL, and JOY. I like them but WOW do they shed.. we have all been walking around with glitter on us. even paisley. On the little table between the loveseat and the recliner I have two wirey glittery reindeer, but I couldnt get the camera to take a good shot of them.. also a dollartree purchase! love that place.

This is what we did with the island in the kitchen.. basically what I’d have done if I had a mantle. I REALLY want an electric fireplace in the den.. but until then, this did pretty good.

I love how this turned out. Red is my favorite color, so christmas is a good holiday for me!

This is the centerpiece that I made in our coke pitcher. It’s becoming a tradition for every holiday. I just change out the colors of the flowers and the theme of the ribbon. That way no matter what holiday it is, it still goes with my kitchen decor!

Steven’s parents got us this nativity a couple of years ago and I just love it.We fully inteded to put another tree up in the den, but never got around to it. I do have a bitty little tree on a side table, but its not very photogenic now that Thing Two has rearranged the ornaments half a hundred times.

 We have lights on the outside too.. but they look LAME in the daylight.. so I will wait until it gets dusky out and go take some shots so you can see my handywork with a staplegun whooo hoooooooooooooo

I am a little hum buggy this evening. It wont last for long, but I cant help but feel a little let down. Today, I was looking for a little Christmas miracle… or at the very least a little magic.

Today I went to see Dr. Baby.

I already “knew” we were’nt pregnant. Well I assumed. I had a cat scan last week and after blood work the tech went ahead and ran the test without saying anything… and well.. they usually suit you up in a superman suit if you are expecting. So I was quite sure that we were a negatory again this cycle.. even though it was like litterally the longest cycle EVER.

But still… somewhere I kept telling myself. Its christmas. Anything can happen at christmas time. mmmm apparently not so much. So, when we failed yet another pregnancy test I wasnt THAT disapointed. SO no christmas miracle. It would have made SUCH a great story.. everyone around the tree christmas morning and giving my parents a sonogram in a teeny tiny frame or a pair of teeny tiny booties SIGH… where was I??

Right, christmas magic. So I lay naked and cold in the stirrups listening to some canned version of “Grandma Got run over by a Reindeer” and read all the literature about counting baby kicks and eating the right amount of veggies while you are pregnant… while I waited for Dr Baby to come in and when he did… he was wearing a santa hat with his “how the grinch stole christmas” scrubs. He handed me a baby pink candy cane with a baby blue bow tied on it and said “Merry Christmas, Whats up?” I wanted to grab it and shove it down his happy little elf looking throat.

Normally I love love love Dr Baby. He is the first Dr. that didnt make me feel that because I am fat I dont deserve the same consideration that a thin woman does. He didnt come back with, “lose 50 lbs and then we’ll talk”. He gave me hope for the first time in a long long time.

But today? Ugh. His cheerful little self was the last thing I wanted.

We talked about what chlomid would do for me.. or could do to me.. and that he really thinks that according to my blood work that the metformin will do its job should we dramatically up the dose now that I have gotten a little more used to it.

So I guess what I was looking for was something dramatic. Like here you are. A real honest to goodness fertility drug (not a diabetes drug that may or may not encourage me to ovulate) THIS will make you get pregnant. I wanted pixie dust.. not some more wait and see what will happen.

In the end I left with another month wasted with birth control to reset my cycle (4 pills a day for 4 days 3 for 3 days 2 for 2 days 1 a day until the end of the pack) then 1500 mg a day metformin for 3 mos. Then back to Dr. Baby unless my period doesnt come back again a month after the cycle that gets jump started with the birth control.  We are also sopposed to use the ovulation predictors and only baby dance on the positive days.. wich makes Steve-o WAYYYY cranky. Wich pretty much doesnt matter since he is cranky ANYWAY since he just found out today that he HAS HAS HAS to switch to boxers. He knew it was coming, but its here now.  He is whining. and crrrrranky about it. But he will have to get over it. A small change in his life will be a slight inconvenience to all the drugs I am taking!

there. I feel better. All vented out. slightly less humbuggy…

*** Before I get flamed by other infertiles who have been through WAY WAY WAY more than we have or by people who have no children or just by anyone who feels like flaming me for whining. I recognize that I am blessed. TOTALLY. I get it. I have two awesome kids. GREAT amazing wonderful girls whom I love beyond what you with the matches could imagine. I just feel whiney today. I got let down. Sorry. Its my blog. Go read the new york times if you want roses and flowers ****

 Still in the midst of baking and shopping and cards and ahhhh. I love the holidays. I am feeing MUCH MUCH better today. Thankfully it looks like this cold might just pass on by and be just that, unlike years past when I should have been addmitted to the hospital christmas day for double pneumonia. YAY!!

The wonderful LISA gave a recipe for christmas candy the other day. I have to admit. I was skeptical. It called for saltines as a major ingredient. I am NOT a fan of them. After a really really rough pregnancy and *ahem* sending whole regiments of them to sleep with the fishes as they say I am not to hot on them.. but curiosity finally got the better of me and I had a stick of butter to use up from thanksgiving (yeah yeah.. it was on the edge of “OK” but it got boiled down with sugar so it was alright.) so I made it. OH MY GOODNESS. I found a way to make homemade almond roca.. without any almonds. wierd. I know. but you gotta try it. 

Lisa’s OH MY GOD weirdo Christmas Candy

this is her recipe  cut in half wich is all I am allowed to make at one time.

20 or so saltines

1/2 cup butter (real butter dont be rediculus and use margarine)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

whatever nuts you like

Preheat oven to 325. Cover a cookie sheet with alumnium foil and spray with pam. (for real. dont forget this part) Lay out the saltines in a single layer. (wipe the weird look off your face.. just keep going) In a sauce pan boil the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes. Pour the mixture over the crackers and smooth out with the back of a spoon. DONT lick the spoon. That thing is HOT as molten lava. You WILL say words the children shouldnt hear.And, Dont ask me how I know that. Place pan in oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and spinkle evenly with chocolate chips.They will melt SUPER fast. With the back of your spoon smooth them out until they cover the toffee mixture. Again dont lick the spoon.. its still really really hot.  sprinkle with nuts and place in the freezer until hardened.. break into pieces.  YUMMMMO!

SO, last night Steven and the kids were watching something on food network and they showed some montage of Hershey holiday cookies and Steve jumps up off the couch screaming at me to come in the den from the kitchen

“BABY! COME IN HERE RIGHT NOW!!! uhhhh do what??? I came running thinking Caitlin had puked up all that saltines candy she ate… but he was totally beside himself.

SOMEONE STOLE YOUR COOKIE RECIPE!!!!!!!! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE COPYRIGHTED IT!!!!!”

he was totally freaking out over peanutbutter cookies with hershey kisses in the middle

you know kissmass cookies, the famous hershey’s recipe for like 20 years. thats on the back of tons of hershey’s kisses bags and on the website….

he thought it was my original idea.

what faith my man has in me!