A Tradition Continues

This year was the 15th Valentine's Day that Todd and I have celebrated together. Whoa! Since our first one, we have marked the occasion with a heart-shaped pizza from Bilbos.  This year was no exception.  Todd, the kids and I enjoyed a delicious and casual dinner together. I am so blessed!

Freezer Meals

In my quest to get as much prepared as possible before the unknown of a new baby arrives in our life, I spent the weekend making freezer meals.  I had some ideas about what I was going to make going into it, but tracking down the recipes, making a coded spreadsheet shopping list (yes, I am that anal!), looking at sales and clipping coupons at Meijer and Target took me a lot longer than I anticipated.  Then three hours of shopping later (perhaps going out on the first Saturday after the polar vortex was not the best idea???), unpacking all the groceries, sorting them into their various recipes, chopping all the veggies (thank you, US figure skating championships for the entertainment while chopping!), and Saturday was done.  I cooked all morning yesterday and then took a break to go in and conduct some training at work all afternoon, and then assembled burritos in front of the Golden Globes. Relaxing weekend? Nope. Satisfyingly productive? Yes!

Here is what I made:

Last-Minute Lasagna: made a double batch, one for the freezer and one for dinner this week.

Italian Turkey Soup: made a double batch, both for the freezer.

Chicken, Bean and Cheese Burritos: doubled the bean/cheese/salsa amounts and cooked a family pack of chicken thighs in the crockpot and had enough filling for 24 burritos.

One Skillet White Bean & Sausage Stew: made a double batch, one for the freezer and one for dinner this week.

Quesadilla Casserole: made a double batch, one for the freezer and one for dinner this week.

This site has a lot of crockpot recipes for the freezer.  I prepped single batches of the Sausage & Peppers and the Teryaki Pork Chops for the freezer.

Snow Ice Cream!

Yesterday and today have been snow days for me and the kids!  Michigan is in the midst of a "polar vortex," which means LOTS of snow, air temps below zero with wind chills of -36! Brr. So needless to say, even though all three of us love to play outside in the snow, that was just toooooo cold to go outside.  We have been having fun doing art projects, baking, and playing Uno.  However, all three of us were getting more than a little stir crazy this afternoon.  The internet to the rescue! I decided that we should try out this recipe for snow ice cream. 

As you can see, we have plenty of the main ingredient right out of the back door!

Here are all the ingredients: big bowl of fresh snow, 2 cups milk or cream (we did a mix of 1/2 percent milk and half & half creamer), 2 Tblsp vanilla extract (we used yummy Mexican vanilla), 1 cup sugar, 2 adorable and eager helpers. :)

Just mix everything together, and you're done! Easy-peasy, and yummy!

My taste-testers approved. I had to double check them and have some myself though. 

 Bonus photo of my sweet boy.

Wonderfully Lowkey Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving holiday was absolutely wonderful.  It was very, very relaxed and mellow, which are rare characteristics of my life these days!  This year was our "small Thanksgiving" year, where Stu, Erin, Dan's brother Tom and his family are all celebrating with other sides of their families.  My mom and dad were visiting Steve and Joanna in California.  So it was just the four of us Fowles who headed over to Dan and Nancy's for Thanksgiving dinner.  Nathan was so excited to celebrate that he talked Grandma into letting him come over for the whole day. :)

Natalie, Todd and I headed over after Nat's nap, and we settled in for a delicious meal.

Natalie's still working on her spoon technique. :)

It was 60 degrees on Thanksgiving in Michigan! Crazy. Nathan took advantage of the weather by playing outside.

Kiddos

YUM. Yes, I like cranberries. A lot.

The whole gang!

Ribfest

The first weekend in August is one of my favorite weekends in Kalamazoo--Ribfest!  It has become something of an annual tradition to meet Hillary and Jeff there for an early dinner on Saturday afternoon.  This way we avoid the cover charge that starts at 4:00 and the kiddos are in good moods.  Lara and Ted have also been joining in on the fun for the last two years.

This year's weather was hot and muggy, but we didn't let that stop us!  We decided to eat some Texas brisket from Cowboy's BBQ, and it didn't disappoint!  Graham was very intrigued by what Nathan was doing, and Natalie was very intrigued by what Graham was doing, which was pretty darn cute!

Graham 

Apparently the stroller makes an excellent race track for matchbox cars.

Lara and Ted.  Lara has completely charmed both Nathan and Graham--good thing Ted married her before N or G could make their move! :)

Zoo Mob Thanksgiving 2010

This year we had our annual Zoo Mob Thanksgiving celebration a week later than we usually do, as several people couldn't be there during the traditional Saturday after Thanksgiving date. It was a small group this year, but it was kind of nice. It's my favorite holiday of the year!

Nathan and Uncle Joey

Food prep has begun.

Joey invented a new drink, called the "Turkey Sandwich." Only Joey, Jen and Dustin were brave enough to try it!

Step 1: Shotgun a beer.

Step 2: Take a shot of Wild Turkey 101.

Step 3: Sip your second beer.

Joey, Toby and Andy relaxing before dinner.

Jen reading Nathan one of his latest literary obsessions: "Once Upon A Potty."

Nathan and Joey are good buddies.

Nathan was nice enough to share his trucks with Aunt Allison.

The feast!!! Just looking at this picture makes me hungry again.

Family photo 2010

It is dangerous to be the only one to take an after dinner nap.

My Signature Summer Dish

This summer Suzanne and I split a weekly farm share from Avalon Farms. Every Thursday we got a batch of freshly picked veggies and fruit, whatever was in season that week. It was a fun surprise to open the cooler and see what we got! Although, I could have done without the several weeks that we received large quantities of beets. We've been doing a lot of traveling on the weekends this summer. In fact, there was only one weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day that all three of us were in Kalamazoo for the entire weekend. Whew! So having the farm share come on a Thursday was a bit inconvenient, and I'm hoping to find one next summer that comes earlier in the week.

However, all of these social engagements have provided ample opportunity for me to bring a dish to pass, and my go-to dish has been black bean, corn and tomato salad, made with veggies from my weekly share. I combined Rachel Ray's recipe with one that a friend gave me, and it is pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself! :)



Jess' Black Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 ears of fresh corn
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 of a red onion chopped (or some green onions, or a white onion, it just depended on what was in the share that week)
1/2 pint (or more, depending on your mood) grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp hot sauce (I use Frank's b/c we always have some on hand)
1 lemon or lime, juiced (I cheated and used the already squeezed lemon juice!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Remove corn from cobs and sautee with butter until cooked.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Enjoy!

Zoo Mob Thanksgiving 2009

On Saturday we hosted the 11th annual Zoo Mob Thanksgiving (the eighth year that it's been at our house). This is one of my favorite days of the year! All of the Zoo Mob members who are in Kalamazoo for Thanksgiving all come over for a big potluck Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after the official holiday. Prior to the event, Todd coordinates who is bringing what via email, and we typically get all of the traditional turkey day dishes plus some extras. Todd smokes delicious meats, I am in charge of house prep and clean-up, and everyone else pitches in with food, drink and shennanigans.

Joey supervising the smoker and enjoying some beautiful sunshine.


Todd and Joey

Jen and Anne getting the tour of Nathan's kitchen.

The whole crew at dinner!

Dig in!

Nathan's first ZMT

Relaxing after the feast.

Jess, Katie and Anne

Andy relaxing on the couch

Apples!

Today was a classic fall day--overcast and cool with sprinkles interspersed with sunshine. After Nathan woke up from his morning nap, he, Todd, Deuce and I all piled into the Jeep and headed over to Verhage Fruit Farms to do some apple picking. This is one of my favorite activities to do in the fall, really celebrating the fact that I live in a place with four seasons.

We picked empire and johnny apples, Deuce met lots of people, Nathan enjoyed slurping on an apple, and of course we had to stop for some cider and donuts to cap off the trip. It sprinkled a little bit, but all in all we got really lucky with the weather. It was a fun family outing.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the orchard, as my camera batteries died as soon as I turned on the camera. Never fear, dear readers, I made Nathan pose with his apples when we got home!

Daddy found Nathan a baby-sized apple that N thought was just right! (Check out the cute giraffe shirt from Uncle Stuart and Aunt Erin)

Look at those two bottom teeth! The top ones are really close to breaking through.

This picture just made me laugh--talk about a baby on a mission to grab that apple!

I made some apple crisp with part of my harvest. Next on the menu--homemade applesauce!

On an unrelated note, I thought I'd share my other project of the day--defrosting enough milk for Nathan to drink while I am in Texas Monday-Thursday. Pretty impressive quantity, and amazing to think that I made all that milk!