Spanish Rice

My sis gave me this recipe and I have used it a number of times already.  I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time with the boxed Spanish rice... you know - sticking to the bottom of the pan, salty, mushy.  Well, here is the answer to your Spanish rice woes!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1.2 cups uncooked white rice (we used brown)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chunky salsa

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until tender, about 5 min

2. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often.  When rice begins to brown stir in chicken broth and salsa.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 min, until liquid has been absorbed.

Yummy!  We have served it with fish tacos, turkey taco salad and burritos!

** recipe from allrecipes.com**

Baby Projects!

Well, here I am at 30 weeks...I know I haven't posted any preggo pictures.  No reason, just haven't.

 A little story before I get to the project. I had been looking for a piece of old, reclaimed wood for a project in my kitchen for months.  We found this really cool lumber yard when we were in Santa Fe for Thanksgiving. I found exactly what I had been looking for and was so excited...until I asked the price.  Can you believe they wanted $500 for a piece of wood?!?!  Well, no amount of smiles and smooches could convince Matt that it was worth it, or myself for that matter.  So plan B.  Kenny and Emily had just taken down a portion of their fence and offered it to us, yes for free, even though they knew what the going rate was. Over Christmas, the Poladians kindly brought me back two fence planks in their ski bag!  Wonder what TSA thought of that? The end of my long story...the fence posts worked out perfectly for my kitchen collage AND I was left with two more piece to use for something fun - all for $0.

I figured a picture was necessary.  Props to my talented uncle for the drawing of the skis.  You should come see it..the detail is amazing!  Thanks Uncle Tom!  Love you!

And now..the baby room project.  We can only do so much to the peanuts room since we don't know what it is.  But this project was quick and gender neutral.  I wanted to use the wood and create a "shelf" for over the changing table/dresser to put diapers, lotion, wipes, etc in.  

Matt always loves when my ideas involve his drill.  Here he is with the famous piece of wood drilling some holes.

And this is our finished project.  We found the rest of the materials at Lowe's.  Two hanging baskets from the garden section and 4 knobs from the hardware section.  The whole thing totaled about $20.  Love it!

Just pictures the dresser with a changing pad and sweet baby laying on it.  I'm thinking to do something fun with the name over the top...once we find out what it is!!  Only 9.5 weeks until my due date :)  

Matt still thinks girl..you?

Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple

Well, we made it round trip to New York City in just 5 days, and apparently missed the wettest weekend in California's recent history. The other coast had fabulous weather, perfect for all of the walking we did.

Here are some highlights of our trip--all of which we highly recommend to anyone planning a visit to New York.  Thanks to many of our friends who offered these suggestions to us as we were planning!

Sightseeing
At the suggestion of our good friend, and native New Yorker, Aggie Lathrop, we took the Gray Line Bus tour throughout Manhattan.  Although we stuck out as true tourists, it was the best way to see the city in just a few days.  We hopped off at the places that peaked our interest: SoHo, Greenwhich Village, Ground Zero, Battery Park (where we took a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty), Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Central Park.  We skipped the tops of the tallest buildings - you know the Empire State Building and Top of the Rock - and instead enjoyed the view from Stephen's roof.  He is one of my oldest friends...he loves to be described this way.

Central Park is a must visit in this city.  To me it is like the eye of the storm - craziness all around it but inside you forget the hustle and bustle of the city streets. We enjoyed a nice stroll with Matt's friend from college, Joanna and her husband Andy. 

Dining

New York City is known for its food, and boy did we partake.  We wanted to sample the best of everything this city is famous for.  And if you do the same, don't try to count calories instead count the number of miles you walked that day and eat up!

Burgers: There's a little spot in the lobby of the Le Parker Meridien Hotel in midtown called "Burger Joint."  They serve a true no-frills burger, very refreshing. We got two recommendations on this one and didn't think we could pass it up

Milkshakes: Shake Shack near Times Square had the most amazing milkshakes and custard we've ever tasted.  Try the special black/white milkshake with peanut butter syrup.  Tastes like a Reese's PB cup (my absolute favorite).  We're also told they have pretty good In-N-Out style burgers and fun crimpy fries.

Bagels: We had a number of bagels. They're all about the same, but Ess-A-Bagel had the best bagels and lox sandwich (Matt is a smoked salmon lover).  Service is traditional New York--no smiles, just good food.

Small Bites: It's a tie between The Modern (midtown) and Ssam Bar (East Village), both recommendations from Stephen.  They feature unique cuisine on small plates so you can taste a lot without getting full, well not really, you still end up full.

Pizza: You can't go to New York without tasting a NY-Style pizza pie.  We ventured into Brooklyn to Grimaldi's Pizzaria (right under the Brooklyn Bridge).  They did a special half cheese / half cheeseless just for me! And yes - pizza is still delicious without the cheese. Instead of the subway we walked back over the Brooklyn bridge in the misty rain.  The Statue of Liberty was off in the haze and while it wasn't the prettiest day, it was still a pretty cool walk. Bonus: the walk back across the Bridge helped burn a few of those calories.

Chocolate: Max Brenner. Amazing. So themed - the attention to detail was great.  We had half of a chocolate pizza with marshmallow one one slice and peanut butter on the other. And of course - milk to drink.

Matt's Favorite: Mesa Grill.  Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay doesn't disappoint at his signature restaurant near Union Square. A little spendy, but well worth it (just like my Matthew).

Jenny's Favorite: Virgil's BBQ (Times Square). The chef traveled all over the US tasting different smoking techniques for their ribs, chicken, and beef.  I'd say they pretty much hit the jackpot--some of the best pork ribs I've tried (except for yours Mom!).  I just love some good old fashioned down home cookin.  Thanks to Andrew G. for this recommendation.

Shows
What would a trip to New York be without a little Broadway?  We saw three shows in 5 days, each one a little different from the other.

STOMP: This one is an off-Broadway performance in a little theatre near the East Village.  The entire show features music-making using the most unconventional instruments: pots, pans, trash cans, inner tubes, pipes, and buckets.  No vocals--just music.  So unique and so much fun to watch.

Jersey Boys: The story of Franky Valli and the Four Seasons.  We didn't realize how many hit songs were originally performed by those guys, and the cast does an incredible job of recreating the great sounds from the 60s.  Unfortunately, the language was a little strong.  If they clean it up, it would be a great family show.

The Phantom of the Opera: There's a reason it's the longest-playing musical in Broadway history.  A truly memorable story, beautifully designed stage and costumes, and voices that knocked our socks off.  We still have those songs running through our minds.  Matt hummed the score the entire subway ride back to our hotel. I love him!

Well, that about sums up our babymoon/anniversary trip to New York.  We couldn't imagine it being any more perfect and loved our time together as a family of 2 (+1).

It is still a Mystery

Well, at this point in my pregnancy we could be announcing to you that we are having a sweet baby girl or boy, but we can't. Because we don't know.  We are still glad we made this decision, even though many of you disagree with us!  The anticipation has been fun and totally opposite of our usual MO - making a plan and being prepared.  So we are preparing in different ways.  Getting creative with decor, practicing self control in the baby clothing section and staring at my growing belly in utter amazement of what is growing inside.  Just this week we could see my belly move from the outside while the peanut moved around on the inside.  Crazy and amazing!

24 weeks down and 109 days to go... keep those gender guesses coming - we enjoy it!

Group 10 in Arrowhead!

We took our small group to Arrowhead for the weekend last month and had a great time!  We started the weekend off right with this amazing breakfast!  

The Snowballs and the Tafts hit it out of the park with this one!  I don't have the official recipe, but I'll try to explain it.  They took a loaf of Artisan bread from Trader Joe's and cut a hole in the middle.  Then placed the bread in a pan, cracked and egg into it the hole and let it cook - then flip it.  You can also scramble the egg before putting it into the pan.  The egg/bread was put on a baking sheet and topped with a piece of cheese (Swiss I believe).  Baked until the cheese melted.  Put on a plate and topped with a light arugula salad with bacon bits.  DELICIOUS!!

There was a big chunk of ice on the driveway, which was perfect for skating.  Well, not really..but Mac sure did try!

One big happy family!

and we might be a little silly too!

She's adding an arrow!

Melissa is going to have another baby!  We are so excited and can't wait to meet our niece/nephew in September.  God is blessings us in big and fun ways!

An afternoon at the Farmer's Market

When we started talking about a shower for our sweet friend Kristin the first thing that came to mind was a Farmer's Market.  Kristin was the first person I knew to get a canvas bag for her groceries, so it seemed fitting to me! The planning crew had such a great time gathering items to make this shower come together.  

Our table was simple ... daffodils in milk jars with bags of farmer's market pretzels.  Each bag had an idea for something fun to do with the pretzels.  (I found this idea in Martha Stewart - oh Martha!)

Grow Baby Grow!  Kristin has been on bed rest for a good portion of her pregnancy - so this has been our prayer for her and the sweet baby girl growing inside!  

The drink station. 

Mason jar mugs with straws, BURLAP (oh how I love burlap), twine and yarn! 

Some of my favorite decorating items :)

This was our table!  I loved how it came out.  Fresh produce canvas bag with produce coming out the top, galvanized watering cans with heather, crates, burlap (of course), baby food jars as votive candle holders and a "Come and Get it" sign.

My sister found this idea on a website and it added such a fun touch.  Each set of silverware was wrapped in a napkin with a radish and some twine.  We used a lot of twine that day!

Melissa had the idea for a flower station for a shower we threw a couple of years ago, but it didn't work out. It was the perfect idea for a parting gift to go along with our theme.  We were super excited to make it happen for this shower!  Here is what we got:  

- 8 bunches of different flowers (from the local Farmer's Market of course)

- seed packets (sweet peas) to tie up the bunch with

- newspaper from our hometown to wrap with

- a sign "Furst's Flowers"

-BURLAP!!

And there you have it!  Your very own flower stand and a great take away.  Each guest came and picked a bunch to wrap up and take home.

The game: "What's for lunch?" 

Guests had to guess what was in each jar of baby food.  The ground rules were you could look and smell but you couldn't taste!  Believe it or not - our guest of honor got them all right!  Confirmation that she is ready to take on this mom thing!

Our menu!

- cucumber cups filled with a shrimp mixture

- caprese salad skewers

- chicken pesto pasta salad

- fresh fruit

- fresh bread

and for dessert ... individual blueberry cobblers

This is Katie! I changed her diapers and now she is a beautiful high school freshman.  

Funny how that happens...

The girls!  The Momma-to-be is second from the right.  Kristin and Melissa were in the same first grade class when we moved to Oak Park.  They became friends and then our parents became friends and now 25 years later they are family! 

The planning crew, the Momma-to-be, the Grandma-to-be, and one very cute little boy who was along for the ride.

- Melissa, Kristin and I - 

Grade school friends to Mommas with babies!