Soundtrack to cook to:*NSync's No Strings Attached. Truly a classic!! And yes...I did know all of the dance moves....and yes, I did them all as I was cooking. :)
Pasalubong!! That's Tagalog for "gifts" that Filipinos typically give to their family members after they've gone on a trip somewhere. I love that there's a term for that. :)
My mom recently visited the Philippines for a high school reunion, to spend time with her mother, and to visit with family members. While she was there, she collected some pasalubongs from family members and got a few treats for our family as well.
Thanks Mom, Tita Elvie, Tito Raul, Rebbo, Joan, Mikko, Mama Domy, and Tita Cherry for the delightful pasalubongs!! We enjoyed everything greatly, and the boys will look very dapper in their clothes as soon as the weather gets warmer.
But of course...out of all of the pasalubongs that we received, the boys' favorite gift of all was:
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| The empty box!!!! Our boys managed to squeeze themselves into the box that my Mom had shipped the goodies in. Of course, as soon as they both figured out that they could fit in the box, some scrapping followed. |
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| Alex was desperately trying to smile for the camera...but his emotions got the best of him. This picture totally cracks me up! |
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| The following day was much better and they both managed to take a moment to smile for the camera. Unfortunately, the box exploded shortly after that. |
Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into small chunks
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme ( or 1/2 t. dried)
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (but we prefer a more lemony tangy taste, so I use the juice of 1 lemon)
- Fresh ground black pepper and salt, to taste
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| Brown the chicken (since they're small chunks, it will take about 8 minutes). Then, put in the onions, celery, carrots, and thyme and cook for another 8-10 minutes. (I didn't have carrots at the time, so the soup went without it.) Pour in the 6 cups of chicken broth and let simmer for 20 minutes. |
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| While the soup is cooking, in a separate mixing bowl, beat the two eggs. Then, slowly whisk in the lemon juice. After that, take a small ladle full of the soup and slowly whisk the soup into the egg mixture. *(This is called tempering. Its purpose is so that the warm soup gets incorporated slowly into the egg mixture. Then the eggs are acclimated to that temperature, so that when you put the egg mixture into the whole pot of soup, you won't end up with scrambled egg chunks in your soup. Rather, you'll end up with a nice, creamy, rich, and smooth texture.) Finally, you can slowly mix the tempered egg mixture and cooked rice into your pot of soup. |
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| Mmm-mm-mmm!!! A delicious, healthy, soul-warming bowl of creamy and tangy chicken and rice soup. I loved this recipe because there wasn't any heavy cream, butter, or an excessive amount of egg yolks (one recipe had 8 egg yolks in the soup!!) involved. It's a lighter version of the authentic dish and it is simply delicious! So much that we didn't have any leftovers for the next day! (That's when you KNOW it's good!) |
We try our best to get out and do things when Joseph is home on the weekends. This weekend, since it was cold and we didn't want to battle with the crowds at the museums, we decided to go to the store Making Meaning in Dedham. Alex has made a candle and decorated a cake at this place before.
On this particular day, Alex decided that he wanted to try his hand at making his own soap. He picked out a few stamps, chose his signature scent (bubble gum and snicker doodle soap), and decided on the colors of soap chunks that he wanted to add in. Then, we went back to our table and got to work.
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| Alex was using little cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the soap sheets to place in his mold. |
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| Alex, cutting out shapes into the soap sheets. |
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| He chose airplanes, elephants, and the letters A and W. He also found two little robots made out of soap and put those on the top of his soap molds. |
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| William and I played together with some crayons while we watched Alex create. |
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| We're pretty silly. :) |
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| He loves seeing himself. |
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| Joseph, overseeing the operation. |
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| Ta-daaa!!! If you look to the left, you'll see Alex's two soap molds that were topped with robots. We have yet to use the soap, but they look pretty cool. |
That next day, Alex had two birthday parties to go to. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Coincidentally, they were two birthday parties for two sets of twins! One set was our former neighbors, the Hearnes, and the other set of twins were two girls from Alex's daycare. We were very busy that day but Alex had a lot of fun.
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| Joseph and William at My Gym for Lucy and Sanders' birthday party. |
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| The birthday crew at Lucy and Sanders' birthday party. Can you find Alex? :) |
In the beginning of March, Oscar had his yearly wellness check up. So, I brought him with me to drop off the boys, took him for a walk at Larz Anderson Park, and then took him for his check up. It was a slightly chilly day, but it was absolutely beautiful outside.
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| At Larz Anderson Park. The pond was frozen over. |
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| Oscar, all bundled up for his walk. Once the temperature gets below 60 degrees outside, Oscar starts to shiver. |
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| Larz Anderson is one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been to. Love it here. |
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| Hey ladies!! |
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| This is William saying, "Uh-raaayyyyy!" ("Hooray!") |
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| The boys playing at the water table. William is finally tall enough to be able to play a little bit. |
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| Alex and Wiliam checking out the "Peep" statue. |
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| Alex using a light to write on a wall. It was pretty cool! |
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| Our little pilot and co-pilot. |
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| Alex was quite tickled by this guy singing "Old MacDonald," but William was absolutely creeped out by him and refused to walk near him. |
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| Alex playing the steel drum. |
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| Alex, rocking a fabulous head dress. |
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| William, operating heavy machinery. Watch out, everyone! |
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| This is some very serious work. |
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| Alex wanted to get in on the action. |
William being silly.
Sippy cup time!
Alex and William at our Music Together class.
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| Whenever William sees himself in a mirror, he makes this face. We were having some fun together. |
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| Alex and I, snuggling together with our best "snuggle" faces. |
We love to snuggle.
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| I walked into William's room one morning to find that he had taken my old Cabbage Patch Doll and completely ripped apart her diaper. (That diaper was over 20 years old!) He was very proud of himself for doing so... did I mention that he ripped it apart with his teeth and was spitting out the cotton?? :-p |
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| The boys on the snuggle couch before bed time. |
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| William discovered Alex's eyes. He kept saying, "Eyyyyyyye." |
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| Thankfully, William was very gentle and Alex was very patient. It was really quite sweet. |
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| Our boys driving their imaginary cars. |
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| And of course...this one was a boat and they just had to be in it together. |
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| Our sweeties, taking a ride in their pirate ship. :) |
Our William Billiam was VERY proud of himself when
he transitioned from the Doc Brown sippy cups to the
toddler sippy cups with a straw.
he transitioned from the Doc Brown sippy cups to the
toddler sippy cups with a straw.
He chewed apart the first straw, but still loved it, nonetheless.
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| Alex, patronizing me for a picture. |
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| His "GQ" look. |
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| He was very proud of himself for wearing his "fancy clothes" as he calls them. |
Love and kisses,
Nikki
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