Christmas Photoshoot At Home

My favorite picture from our "at home shoot"

We hired a professional photographer to take pictures of J. Our session would be a 6 month/Christmas photo shoot. When I booked the 3:30 appointment, the fact that J starts turning into a pumpkin at 4pm totally slipped my mushy mommy brain. While we were lucky enough to avoid a meltdown, Miss Prim still decided that she was NOT going to be all smiles for our photographer.

The day after our session, I came up with the idea of staging my own Christmas photo shoot for J. I own a pretty fancy camera (that I really have no idea how to use properly, but learning it is definitely on my to-do list) and I certainly have the time. So, I thought, why not have our own photo shoot and put something together for Daddy for Christmas? He needs stuff for his office!

I took to Pinterest once again....dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnnnn.

The original plan was to have J hold the wooden letters (one at a time) and get a total of five pictures. Those five pictures would then be arranged in a long frame to read I Love Dad. Cute, right?

Plan A materials

We worked on this project every single morning for the past week and I got tons of great pictures. However, only one or two of those great pictures include the wooden letters. I just could not get J to hold them still. When she finally did hold still AND look at the camera AND smile or laugh at the same time, the letters would be backwards, sideways or upside down. On to Plan B.

Plan B - pick a favorite picture and find a cute Daddy frame.

Now as I said earlier, I have a great camera but I am not a great photographer. I got the above picture through lots of trial and error.

Our "studio" consisted of the guest room, 2 boxes of Christmas lights and a package of clear hooks.

Our "studio"

Mini Command damage free hanging hooks and GE mini lights with white wire

These held all of the lights on the wall perfectly

I hung the lights, put J in her Christmas outfit, shut the lights and closed the curtains. The only lights were the Christmas lights.

I did play around with the settings on my camera and worked with a setting that automatically blurs the background a bit. But other than that, it was just trying different angles until I got a shot where her face wasn't too dark. Honestly, I wish I had more to say about how to take pictures but I've got nothing.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that it's another easy, crafty idea. It's inexpensive and really thoughtful - her daddy will love it!

Oh oh oh! And by the way, I JUST got our pictures from the photographer and they are stunning. Considering that J was in a mood, this photographer is amazing to have captured what she did. SO THRILLED!!!

5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Shop Locally This Year

"What does it mean to GoLo? When you GoLO, you're making a conscious choice to think "outside the box," avoid the malls and instead patronize the locally owned, locally operated businesses in Jacksonville's historic urban core neighborhoods. These local "Indie" stores play important roles in our communities. They help sustain appealing, compact, walkable neighborhoods, enshrine diversity and choice, and promote a vibrant local economy. 
Fortunately, going LO isn't hard. Because that's also where you'll find the city's best boutiques, restaurants and bars--not to mention communities with unique character, friendly faces and unparalleled style. Please support your Locally Owned, Locally Operated businesses. GoLO."

I used to think that shopping locally meant spending more. As I've stated a million times throughout this blog, I am a bargain junkie. I rarely shop full price and or without coupons. Therefore, while I would love to help support local business owners, I love saving even more. 

However, a recent visit to my local specialty toy store and children's clothing boutique has really changed my feelings on shopping locally. 

During my first visit to one of my local shops, I simply browsed and snapped some pictures of the toys that interested me. When I got home, I took the time to look up each toy on Amazon, eBay, and any other websites I could find to check out the store's markup. I was pleased to find that this particular store charges only what each toy is worth. No astronomical markups!

When I went back to the store earlier this week, the owner's mom gave me the most personal shopping experience that I have ever had, and it was amazing! She showed me age appropriate toys not only for J, but for the other children in our family for whom I was shopping and gave me her honest opinions on each. The shop has so many unique toys that you won't find in your local Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. which makes it easy to become overwhelmed. This is precisely why shopping locally is the way to go.  

Why Shop Locally?

1. You get a personalized shopping experience. 

2. Small boutiques are not going to be as crowded and crazy as large chain stores. 

3. You're supporting your neighbors and their families by helping keep them in business.

4. You are certain to find unique and high quality items that you will not find in the big chains.

5. Gift wrap. This may sound crazy, but there's something about having a gift wrapped that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. These days, many stores won't even give you boxes with your purchase anymore. Or, they'll give you a box but only if you pay extra for it. However, most of these mom and pop shops will not only give you a box, but they'll wrap it for you too. And I just love that about them. 

Support your neighbors this year and try shopping locally. Your community will thank you for it!

Chicken Pot Pie

Mmmmm.....comfort food. 

This is a great recipe because you can pretty much use what you already have in your fridge or freezer. I had celery and carrots that weren't looking so pretty anymore, so this is what I came up with. 

I don't always measure things out but I think I kept pretty good track with this one. 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut up with my new favorite tool - Pampered Chef's Professional Shears
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 onion (I never chop these by hand. I use my amazing manual food processor)
• Salt and pepper
• Two frozen, deep dish pie crusts (because I absolutely hate making pie crust from scratch). I took them out of the freezer just before I started cooking and they were perfectly defrosted by the time I was ready to use them.
• 1 1/3 cups chicken broth
• 1 stick of butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

You can add whatever floats your boat - peas, potatoes, corn, whatever. I prefer to stick to plain old onion, carrots and celery. 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Chop everything up. Season chicken pieces with some salt and pepper.
• Add butter (1 Tbsp at a time - I think I used about 4-5 Tbsp) to 12" executive skillet  until melted. 
• Sautee onion, carrot, celery and chicken in butter until cooked (add more butter if necessary).
• Once the chicken is fully cooked, move the mixture into one of the pie crusts using a scoop 'n drain.
• I put the pie on a baking sheet just in case anything bubbles out while cooking.  

• In the same skillet, make a rue (this is 5 Tbsp butter plus 1/3 cup flour and whisk into a clumpy mess. See top left picture)
• Add chicken broth and milk to the rue (top right)
• Whisk over medium heat until nice and thick (bottom left)
• Pour the thickened mixture over the chicken mixture in the crust. You may not use all of it - I had some left over that I discarded (bottom right)

• Take the second pie crust and loosen the edges. Drop it on top of the filled crust and let it sit there for a minute or two. I think the heat from the bottom crust will help loosen the top just enough so it falls right out. 

• Using pre-made pie crusts doesn't yield you the most beautiful of creations, but it works. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crust together. 
• Put in the oven for 30 minutes. 
• When it's done, let it sit for 5-10 minutes (my husband couldn't wait and cut into it before I even had a chance to take a picture of the finished product!!! I was putting J to bed. But you get the gist.)

Enjoy!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

NOT that I'm trying to rush is because I hate the commercialization of Christmas just as much as the next guy. Note to retailers: Christmas trees before Thanksgiving is bad enough. But up with the school supplies in September? Come on now. However, it doesn't bother me this year because it's the first Christmas in years that actually feels like Christmas to me.

I grew up in a family of Christmas-a-holics. My grandma and my dad were all about it. And it was just a magical time. I remember Christmas as a kid. Our Christmas tree was always in the den - a live tree that my dad would chop down and then leave outside on the deck for a day or to so that it could settle. Waiting for the tree to settle was the worst because I was so anxious to get it set up. And even that seemed to take forever. Daddy had to get it trimmed to just the right height, into the stand, and then put the big colored lights on it. Then, and only then, did my brother and I get to decorate it. And it was thrilling. 

The rest of the time between the tree set-up and Christmas morning was my favorite (Christmas morning, believe it or not, was a little sad because that meant it was all over until the next year). My dad donned his goofy Santa hat everywhere we went, Christmas music was always playing and the house was decorated. I remember Christmas shopping, watching the classic shows and movies on tv, and just feeling like it was Christmas. I wish I could adequately describe the feeling. And Christmas morning? Forget about it. 

The double doors to the den would be closed with a stocking hanging on each door knob. That only meant one thing - SANTA CAME! I remember always being the first one up; slowly opening the left door, taking extra precautions to ensure it didn't creak, and turning on the light switch. The Christmas tree lit up and the lights hitting the wrapping paper and bows on all of the presents made it so much brighter. It was magical. 

The magic of Christmas started to dwindle after my grandma died, and even more so after my dad died. The past four Christmases have just been ordinary holidays - and I use the term holiday very loosely here. They have consisted of just trying to figure out what shit to buy which people. I became a gift card giver and an "I'll just stick this is a sparkly bag with some red and green tissue paper" wrapper. Those two things are completely acceptable to most people, but not to a family of Christmas-a-holics. I had always put so much thought into finding the perfect gift for each person on my list.

And every year I chose a theme for my wrapping paper and ribbons. Sometimes (actually most of the time) it was red and gold, other times green and silver, and I think once I went with blue, but that didn't feel Christmassy enough for me. And then it all stopped. I bought whatever dollar store wrapping paper and those boring stick on bows if I was actually wrapping and not bagging it. It was just something I had to do that time of year. 

But this year is different. Now that J is here, I feel like Christmas is magical again. I love going to the stores and seeing the glittering Christmas decorations. Christmas music is on before Halloween? That's totally fine this year says the girl who is walking through Michael's singing Frosty the Snowman to my 6 month old. I love telling her about Santa and I'm debating Elf on a Shelf in the years to come.

Once again, I am on a mission to find the perfect gifts - I LOVE giving presents and watching people open them. I really do believe that it's better to give than to receive - I haven't decided on a wrapping paper theme yet, but I may try gold and navy if I can find it. Otherwise I'll go with my trusty red and gold.

I really believe that this will be the best Christmas in a very long time, and I can't wait.

The magic is back!!!

Turkey Meatloaf

I have a real issue with meatloaf. I just don't think that any meat should be in the shape of a loaf. Gross. 

However, my mom made us a delicious turkey meatloaf when I came home from the hospital with Baby J and I have been making it ever since (although I still shudder when I dump it into the pan). 

This is a quick and easy dinner to make and the leftovers are yummy as well. So I figured I would share this one with you (I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but it's just a meatloaf covered in a red sauce).

Ingredients:

Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

3/4 cups crushed Ritz crackers

1/2 cup milk

1 onion (finely diced) 

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cloves minced garlic (I just use a scoop from a jar)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease loaf pan

2. Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients together (mixing by hand is the grossest but best way to do this - and since I had my hands in it, I have no pictures of the process).

3. Pour into the loaf pan and pat into a loaf

4. Bake meatloaf in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. 

5. After 30 minutes, remove the meatloaf from the oven and drain whatever juices are in the pan. 

6. Pour sauce over the meatloaf and return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes. 

My favorite sides to serve with this are green beans and mashed potatoes. Yum!

Enjoy!

When in Rome...

I've been on a roll with trying new recipes lately, and while I was checking out BlueStar's All Star Chefs, I came across Michael Symon's Butter Fried Chicken. Literally, everything about this recipe sounded amazing: Butter. Fried. Chicken. There's just not much more to say.

Growing up I had been to Florida so many times (always Disney or Miami). But despite the fact that Florida is south, I never actually considered it to be "the south". However, Florida seems to be the only state where the farther north you are, the deeper you are in the south. We are currently about an hour or so away from Georgia, so yeah. We are in the south.

Anyway, one of the foods I see everywhere down here, aside from barbecue, is fried chicken. As a new southerner, I feel that it is my duty to learn how to make fried chicken. I'm also buttering up my husband with delicious meals. He needs to see how much we need a jewel tone BlueStar range. Although today I'm really feeling this sapphire stove. I may have to leave the final decision up to my designer because it's going to be a tough decision. Both the topaz and the sapphire will look AMAZING!

Bluestar Jewel Tone Range in Sapphire

Bluestar Jewel Tone Range in Topaz

Seriously - I'm feeling like this may be the most difficult decision that I will have to make in our new house. My husband is team sapphire. It looks like our designer will have to have the final say.

And without further ado, onto the fried chicken!

Tools:

• 12 inch skillet
• Skillet splatter screen
• Large serving platter layered with paper towels 
• Tongs
• Measuring cups
• Batter bowls 
• Cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature (I used salted because that's what I had)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces (I bought packages of thighs and legs, both on the bone with skin)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup of your favorite hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot Wings sauce)
• 3 garlic cloves peeled and mashed (I grabbed a heaping Tbsp of minced garlic from a jar)
• 1 small bundle of fresh thyme (I used dried thyme instead of fresh)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground cracker crumbs (I used Ritz - the buttery cracker adds better flavor than a saltine)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• Canola oil (for frying)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, whip together (I used a rubber spatula for this) butter and maple syrup. Season with some salt (to taste). Place in a piping bag and set aside. **I don't have a piping bag. I put this in a large ziplock bag and cut off one corner when I was ready**

   

   Butter and syrup in a ziplock bag. Just cut off the tip when you're ready to pipe it under the skin

2. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, hot sauce, garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Lay out the chicken pieces and loosen (but do not remove) the skin. Pipe the compound butter under the skin of the chicken. Then press the skin back down slightly. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and add to the buttermilk marinade. Let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours. **I am such a bonehead and totally forgot about this step. Mine only marinated for about an hour and I left it out on the counter so that I could skip step 4**
   
4. Remove chicken from the fridge and let sit for about 30 minutes to take the chill off. In the meantime, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat (I don't have a cast iron skillet. I used a regular non-stick skillet instead and it worked just fine).
5. Mix together the flour, cracker crumbs and paprika. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and dredge in the flour. Be sure to shake off excess flour mixture. Then dip again into the buttermilk and again into the flour mixture to coat. ***After coating four thighs, I had to add more flour and crackers***
   
6. Add a good inch or two of oil to the skillet and heat to 360 degrees (I kept it on low-med heat) for a shallow pan fry. When all of the chicken has been coated, lay it in a single layer, skin side down and cook until golden brown on all sides. Remove to a cooking rack to drain and then serve!
   

   

   I made the mistake of cooking the first batch on med-high heat which cooked the outside really fast but not the inside. I cooked the second batch on low-med heat and it came out perfect.

   
   

I'm not sure if this recipe constitutes as authentic southern fried chicken, but it was delicious nevertheless! The hot sauce was not overpowering and it added a really nice flavor! I served with mashed potatoes and broccoli slaw.

Enjoy!

Baby Footprint Plaque

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I can pin all day long but when it comes to actually making something? Well, that usually just results in a mess in the kitchen and a whole lot of money wasted at the craft store. 

This time, however, I decided to try something relatively simple and it actually turned out pretty cute! **Note: I do not have a single artistic/creative/crafty bone in my body so it actually turned out amazingly well by my standards.**

I wanted to make something for my husband for Christmas. I figured that something for his office from Baby J would be really sweet. So we headed [aimlessly] to Michael's. I ended up with two ceramic plaques and some acrylic paint (the smaller plaque was going to maybe be a Baby's First Christmas ornament).

The idea was to have my daughter's hand and footprints on the larger plaque and just a handprint on the smaller one. Who knew that a 6 month old would decide not to unclench her fist for an art project? So the smaller plaque didn't work out, and we had to improvise on the larger one. 

For prep, I had a bowl of warm water and a washcloth ready to wash the paint off of her feet (I didn't use soap). I also squirted some paint onto a piece of cardboard to make life easier. 

Ceramic plaques and acrylic paint

I did a few practice runs on paper and I'm glad I did. First I tried finger paints. I figured, they're kid friendly and there's a lot of it. It was the worst. It was way too runny and made her foot slide all over the paper and the cardboard. 

Next I tried a giant ink pad. This made perfect footprints on paper, but you could barely see them on the cardboard. 

The last thing I tried (based on a Michael's employee recommendation) was acrylic paint. I was told that it would work best for making hand/footprints and it would wash off easily. I got Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt. 

Martha Stewart acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt

We tested out the acrylic paint on cardboard and it came out great! 

J sat in her Bumbo on the kitchen table and I used the sponge brush to paint her feet. As soon as her footprint was on the plaque I immediately wiped them off with the washcloth. All of the paint came right off. 

One foot with the paint and the other after just having been wiped off

So, of course the footprint came out perfectly on the cardboard, but not on the plaque. I actually used a q-tip and touched it up in a few spots. 

She wiggled her feet as soon as they touched the ceramic so it's not perfect, but I'm still happy with how it came out.

Turns out, the finished product will not be hung in Daddy's office. I just couldn't resist making it so girly! I actually thought about going over the feet in glue and dumping glitter on them, but I showed some restraint. 

Maybe if I do this enough times it will end up looking more Pinterest perfect. But until then, I'm just happy that I completed a project. 

Overall, this was a really easy project to make and a super cute Christmas gift for baby's grandparents. 

Or you can do the footprints in red/green and make a really sweet Baby's First Christmas decoration for the house. 

Bottom line is, if I can do this project then ANYONE can do this project!

The total cost of the project:

Plaque:           $3.99

Paint:              $1.99

Flowers:         $4.99

Jewel design: $3.99

Sponge:         $0.49

Total: $15.49 (before coupon)

Chicken Lemon Soup

It's autumn back in New England which means that I probably would have already made this soup a dozen times or so. 

After moving in Florida, I actually felt sad when I thought it would be hot all the time because I wouldn't be able to make this soup. It's so delicious and it is my husband's favorite. So you can imagine my excitement when the temperatures down here have dipped into the upper 50s. It's super easy to make, so here is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (I put crinkle cut carrots in mine this time because they're what was in the fridge).
• 2 Tbsp butter (I find I always end up needing more)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cans low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup cooked chicken (I buy whatever is on sale, cook it and throw it in here. I've also used a rotisserie chicken when in a hurry as well as leftovers)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp white wine (optional - and I think I've only added this once or twice)
• Lemon pepper seasoning to taste

Directions:

• In a large pot, sauté carrot, onion and celery in butter until tender (picture 1 - top left) 
• Stir in flour until blended (should be thick and clumpy; picture 2 - top right)
• Slowly stir in broth
• Add rice (oh yeah I forgot about that. I never add rice anymore), chicken, salt, pepper and garlic (picture 3 - bottom left). I also dump in tons of lemon pepper seasoning here. This is a soup that my husband and I both like with a lot of extra added flavor. So I typically load up.
• Bring to boil
• Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for around 15 minutes (sometimes it goes longer if I'm busy doing something else. If this happens, just make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir.)
• Reduce heat to low and add milk, lemon juice and wine (if using). Cook 5-10 minutes more and serve (picture 4 - bottom right).

Chicken Lemon Soup

I've doubled and tripled this recipe and have made it so many times that I rarely measure anything out. Even the veggies - I think I did 1/2 an onion, 2 celery stalks and a handful or two of carrots. 

It's a hearty, creamy soup that everyone will love. I would have let Baby J try it out but I put way too much lemon pepper seasoning in there. Maybe next time I'll stick to the actual recipe so she could try it. 

Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Stir-Fry

This yummy meal has been added to our rotation!

Note: This lo-mein type recipe makes A LOT of food. We had leftovers for almost a full week.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium red bell pepper
• 1 package sliced white mushrooms
• 4 green onions
• 3-4 large chicken breasts (off the bone, skin removed)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 3 Tbsp Asian seasoning mix, divided
• 12 oz uncooked angel hair pasta, broken into thirds (I actually used a little more)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 garlic cloves (or a spoonful of minced garlic from a jar)
• 3 cups fresh broccoli florets

Directions:

• Wash and chop red bell pepper and green onions. Set aside.
• Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces and mix with 1 Tbsp of canola oil and 2 Tbsp Asian seasoning. 
• Heat remaining oil in  a non-stick skillet or wok (I have the Pampered Chef stir-fry skillet which I LOVE!) over medium-high heat until simmering. Add chicken and cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken and set aside.
• Add pasta to the skillet and toast until brown. Stir and turn gently, and watch very carefully.
• Push pasta to one side of the skillet. Add stock, peanut butter, soy sauce, and garlic. Stir until peanut butter is incorporated. Mix pasta into sauce.
• Add bell pepper, green onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and remaining 1 Tbsp Asian seasoning. Stir together.
• Cover and bring to a boil (I added more pasta so it was hard to tell when boiling so I just cooked until the mushrooms and broccoli were done).
• Stir in chicken and cook until heated through. Toss together and serve!

*The next time I make this, I may try adding some garlic chili sauce or crushed red pepper to spice it up since we enjoy spicy foods in our house. I'm not sure how it would taste especially with the peanut flavor, but I would add it in with the stock, peanut butter, soy sauce and garlic.