Roasted Pork Loins with Herbs de Provence, Pan Gravy, Mushroom Chestnut Cornbread Stuffing, Chicken Pot Pie Soup,

On the plate:  Roasted pork loins with herbs de provence, pan gravy, and mushroom, chestnut, and cornbread stuffing, and chicken pot pie soup

Soundtrack to cook to:  Maroon 5's Hands All Over

William is 3 months old!!  (Where has the time gone?!)
Here's his stats:
Weight:  16 lbs 3 oz
Eye color:  Blue
Hair:  Brown, and still sparse
Abilities and fun facts:  He's been in size 2 diapers for
2 weeks, he's no longer being swaddled and is sleeping in his
sleep sack.  (We swaddled Alexander until he was 6 months.  We're
SO happy to be done with swaddling.)  He can pretty much
hold up his own head and is starting to grab at things and bring
them to his mouth.  He's been going through a growth spurt
the past few days, which means that none of us are getting sleep
at the moment.    

And now it's time for dinner...

While I was chopping up the vegetables, I saw a little hand reach up
and grab a piece of celery.  Here's the little thief, caught celery-handed.
He loves to snack on vegetables - we really lucked out.

Joseph bought these beautiful pork tenderloins, and I wanted to make my chestnut cornbread stuffing to go with them.  Here's how our delectable meal panned out:

Slice up 5 celery stalks and 1 onion.  Saute in olive oil until
the onion is translucent.

Slice up 1 lb. of cremini mushrooms and toss into the pan with
the celery and onions.

Add the sauteed vegetables into a large mixing bowl along with
1 tbsp chopped sage leaves
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 beaten eggs
2 (14.5 oz) cans of chicken broth
1 large bottle of cooked chestnuts
1 large loaf of corn bread, crumbled into the mixture
Salt and pepper

Pour this mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake for
1 hour at 350 degrees F.
Absolutely delicious!!  You have the sweetness from the crunchy
corn bread and the chestnuts, and the savory from the salty chicken
broth and the fresh sage and thyme.  A beautiful balance of deliciousness
if you ask me.  :)

While the stuffing is cooking, pat the pork tenderloins dry,
and then season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence.

Then, sear both sides of the tenderloins in a cooking pan.
After both sides are seared, put the tenderloins on a greased
baking sheet and cook in the oven at 400 degrees F for 20 min.

With the yummy drippings in the cooking pan from the pork tenderloins,
 put 2 tbsp of butter, 2 tbsp of flour, and just enough chicken stock to coat
the bottom of the pan in order to make a delicious pan gravy
to top over the amazing pork tenderloins.  Whisk all of these together.
This meal will make you look like a 4 star chef!

Our beautiful Alexander

Oscar, Joseph, and Alexander, hanging out on
Alexander's bed.

Alexander, playing around with a Pinterest experiment
that I put together.

Alexander, using an eye dropper, to place different colored
vinegar into a pan of baking soda.  He had a blast!

William, playing on his play mat

Alexander, playing around

William Billiam, playing around as well!
He's sporting some of Alexander's clothes
that we used to love putting Alexander in.

Our happy little guy :)

Alexander, playing in the snow on our patio

Little handprints  :)

I've been doing my best to try and get out of a food rut and actually do some of these recipes that I've pinned from Pinterest.  I found a recipe the other day and was overjoyed to look in the refrigerator to find that I had all of the ingredients!  

For those of you who didn't know me when I was younger, I was quite the chubby child.  What can I say?  I loved snacking on candy bars and enjoyed any food with "cream of" in the title.  Needless to say, when I saw "Chicken Pot Pie Soup" on Pinterest, I had to check it out.  Thankfully, it's actually a very healthy recipe that isn't too high in calories but definitely high in yumminess.

Make a slurry by whisking 1/2 cup cold water with 1/4 cup flour.

In a Dutch oven, cook 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
that's been cut into small chunks and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add in:
3 large celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 oz sliced baby portobello mushrooms
3 sliced carrots
and saute the vegetables until they're cooked through.

I took 1 sheet of puff pastry, cut it into triangles, and coated
each piece with egg wash, salt and pepper.  Then, I baked them
for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.  They added a nice salty and savory
crunch to each bite of the creamy and soul-warming soup.

Here's my "Ode to Chicken Pot Pie."  A delicious and healthy
alternative that is still as rich and decadent as the original version.
A definite in the regular Franses family rotation.

With all of these delicious and savory dishes, I had to have something that was sweet as well.  Thus, I consulted my Pinterest page and found and incredibly easy and delicious dessert that was ready in no time.

Whisk together 1 box of instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
with 2 cups of skim milk.

Then, whisk in 1 box of chocolate fudge cake mix with the
pudding mixture.

Here's Alexander, licking the batter off of the spatula.  He
enjoyed it immensely.

Then, pour the mixture into a greased 11"x9" inch pan, top
with semisweet and white chocolate chips.  Bake for 30 minutes
at 350 degrees F.  The result is an incredibly moist, sweet,
and delicious chocolate cake that is SO easy to throw
together at the last moment. 

Alexander, sporting a chocolate mustache.  :)

Snowpocalypse 2013!!  On the weekend of February 9, 2013,
the Nemo storm threatened the entire East coast.  Alexander had
school on the 8th, when it was just starting to get bad.  Here's
Alexander in front of our porch as the storm was beginning.

"Hooray for snow!"  

Here's Alexander, sharing a cup of hot cocoa with me, while
I was holding William.

"Cheers!!"

Here's Joseph, holding William (who is hamming it up for the camera).

William's making a silly face.

The beautiful men in my life.

Alexander loves playing with William, and William lights up
every time he sees Alexander.

"Cheeeeeeeeese!"  I'm lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful men.

We got around 2 feet of snow, but thankfully, the following week had warm weather and a lot of the snow melted away.  Alexander was lucky enough to get taken out twice to go sledding (once with Joseph and once with my sister Kristen).  

While I was walking with Oscar, with William attached to me in the baby carrier, I visited Alexander and Kristen while they were sledding.

William in his winter gear in the baby carrier.

Alexander and Kristen, getting ready to go sledding.

Alexander sledding with Kristen

Alexander at school painting

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Here's Alexander opening up his Valentine's day gifts from us.
We got him two books about Valentine's day (I can never resist
getting him a good book), some Sesame Street socks, and a shirt
that looks like scrubs (you'll understand what I mean in the next
few pictures).

Alexander reading his card.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Rose by Lucille Colandro

We also got him Happy Valentine's Day, Little Critter by Mercer Mayer.
(I used to love those books as a kid.)

William, all dressed up for Valentine's day.
(Can you tell that I like this outfit on him?)

Dr. Alexander, drinking his morning milk and
getting ready for a tough day at the office.  LOL!

Here's Alexander, wearing the shirt that looks like
scrubs.  I just couldn't resist getting this shirt
when I saw it.  He's just like his daddy!

It's finally looking like winter in New England and it's been fun to play around in the snow.  Hopefully, as the groundhog predicted, we'll have an early spring.  Alexander's been going a little stir crazy being cooped up indoors, and thankfully our neighbors have been great about little playdates after the kids have gotten up from their naps.  I can't wait for spring!!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki