Brining a turkey

Lets talk about brining a turkey!! (I know, its not Thanksgiving, its not even cold weather season anymore, even though this Texas weather has been throwing us off, but turkey is great all year around! And it was time for me to share our Thanksgiving turkey recipe, so deal with it and get hungry for turkey this Spring!) We did this for Thanksgiving this year and then smoked the turkey! It was amazing! I am usually not a big fan of turkey. I'm not sure if its the taste or what, but I usually go for the ham around the holidays. I like eating turkey with other meats like in a club sandwich, but by itself its not really my thing. However, after we did this recipe, it smelled so good that I actually liked eating it this year. We knew it was a winner after that and now we plan on doing our turkey this way from here on out. It stayed moist and was amazing as leftovers (which I'll give a great soup recipe that I did using left over turkey at the end of this blog!)

For starters, we used Damaris Phillip's brining recipe. She has a show on food network called Southern at Heart and her brining recipe was pretty simple and full of flavor!! Here it is:

1 cup fine salt
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 cloves smashed garlic
2 dried bay leaves
Freshly cracked black pepper
One 12-pound turkey

In a giant pot, bring to a boil the salt, molasses, sugar, worcestershire, garlic, bay leaves and pepper. Let it cool completely and then pour it over the turkey in a brining bag. Let it sit over night in the refrigerator.

Its looking good!

Then cook the turkey however you want. We smoked it following this recipe:

1 cup bourbon
5 cups apple wood chips

We soaked the wood chips in a combination of water and bourbon. Just put the wood chips in a bowl, pour in a cup of bourbon and then add water until all the chips are soaked. Let this soak overnight as well. The flavor that came from the bourbon was amazing!

Then when its time to smoke, set your smoker as high as it will go to heat up. Then right before you put your turkey in, turn the temperature to 225. Once you take the turkey our of the brine, pat it dry. Be sure to get in all the crevices. Then put some canola oil on him (I'm not sure why its a him and not a her, but lets go with it) and season with salt and pepper (or any special rub).

We have this awesome seasoning that a friend makes so we used a special rub. If you have something you love, then add that along with the salt and pepper right before smoking!

Put in smoker! You will want to smoke him for 5-6 hours depending on the size of your turkey. For a 12 pounder and good weather, it'll take 5-6 hours. If the weather is really cold, be sure to factor in more time for the cooking. You'll want the internal temp to be around 165. If you have questions about smoking and time, leave a comment and my husband, who is amazing at smoking can hopefully answer your question. Let it rest for 30 minutes before cutting into it.

This is your delicious end result. My kids and I could not get enough of this!

After Thanksgiving, we had a lot of leftovers, so I decided to make a soup. The smoky flavor from the turkey came out in the soup and just kicked it up 10 notches! It's definitely a great combination every year, a smoked turkey followed by smoked turkey soup. The recipe is all yours:

Smoked Turkey Soup

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

3 stalks celery, diced

6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

3-4 cups copped leftover turkey

1 cup rice

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, melt the butter with the olive oil. Sauté the onion and carrots (be sure to season with salt and pepper). (You could also add any other vegetable you have leftover from thanksgiving, i.e. bell peppers, squash, etc) Once the vegetables start to get soft, throw in the turkey and pour in the broth. Let it come to a boil, then add the rice (or noodles or nothing if you want to cut the carbs). Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. Taste it and decide if you need more salt and pepper. It'll depend on your turkey and broth, etc. So always taste check it. Then add about a cup of milk and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve with bread, crackers, croutons, pour over left over stuffing, eat it by itself...oh the many options!! 

You don't have to wait for Thanksgiving to brine and smoke a turkey. You don't even have to wait for left over turkey to make this soup, just get some store bought carved turkey in the deli section! These recipes are awesome all year around and a nice change to have now, so you don't have to wait for a fall/winter holiday. I hope you guys enjoy making these recipes as much as we enjoyed eating them! Until next time...

A long time ago...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....X turned 5! How is it that I have a 5 year old now?! Where did the time go? My dude loves everything from Star Wars, to video games, super heroes to legos! He is all boy, loves soccer, chocolate cake, ham and cheese sandwiches and school! So to celebrate this awesome, funny, amazing guy, we had a Star Wars themed birthday party.

And what better way to start out this blog and every birthday, than with a fun cake! This one, I did this time instead of having my sister in law do it. I loved it! 

I have to give my husband props for this one. I made the cake, but he was in charge of the decorating. He found a pumpkin decorating kit online, and hence...Darth Cake was born.

Every Star Wars party needs some stormtroopers as well. Stormtrooper cupcakes at your service.

Look at these cute little guys! I love the marshmallow stormtrooper army. 

Black chips and salsa were a delicious salty treat to go with all the sweets. I also had pretzel sticks which I dipped in blue and green coating to make little pretzel light sabers. They were totally yummy and legit!

Light Saber bubbles....perfect for the coming spring!

A very happy daddy who loves Star Wars even more than his son.

 His sister had a blast at the park.

And so did this awesome birthday boy!!

Love!

Back to the food! Fruit sabers and strawberries with a delicious fruit dip.

And then we put it all together!

We were able to have the party at the park, but it was a tad windy. He had to blow out his candles on the ground, with the picnic table blocking some of the wind. We celebrated by doing a redo that night at home. :)

All in all, I think that this boy had a wonderful birthday! He played hard with his friends, ran all over the park and had some of his favorite: chocolate cake. I am so blessed to call this little guy mine!! Happy Birthday X! I hope you had a wonderful day. May the force be with you.

San Antonio

Its always nice to get away from kids, chores and being responsible. Sometimes when my husband has conferences, I tag along for fun and to do, well...nothing. I love it. I sleep in, I nap, read, or go sight seeing. This time, it was San Antonio!

I've been there before, but it was years ago and I don't really remember much of it. So it was like it was my first time all over again! The best part about this whole trip, aside from spending some quality time with my husband was THE FOOD! I love to eat. I am a picky eater, but I LOVE eating what I like. :) I don't remember all the places we went, but I do have some awesome pictures from some of the places. Next time I travel, I'll keep a journal, take pictures of all the food, and share. For now, these following pictures were of the best food we had while there!!

First, we have to start with one of the best pictures...the Alamo. It was beautiful and full of history. And you know...Remember and all. :)

The wax museum was across the street and since my son is so into super heroes, I had to take this picture for him. Avengers! Assemble!

The couple selfie because I just love this guy so much. I know, this is kind of mushy, keep scrolling.

 This was a delicious restaurant called Michelino's. It was an Italian restaurant on the riverwalk and was very good. This was the meat and cheese platter. It was pretty tasty!

I also had the minestrone soup. It was some of the best soup I have EVER had. So good!!

Philip had the seafood salad which he said was awesome!!

This was the view from Michelino's. It was Friday night, so the riverwalk was full of people. But a beautiful view!

We had some yummy Bar-b-que at County Line. The bread here was so good that I took some back to the hotel and had it for breakfast!!! 

This was probably one of my favorite places. Boudro's. We actually had a simple soup and salad, but it was OMG delicious!!! There was herbed goat cheese on this salad and a great vinaigrette. And the tortilla soup I had was so good, I almost wanted to ask for another bowl!

And last but not least, my all time favorite was Acenar. We had lunch here and it was SO good! I wanted to keep going back, but we decided to try other things. Next time we go, this will definitely be one of my first stops. And no, there is no food in this picture, but it was taken in the restaurant. The food here was so awesome, that when I got the food, I just started eating. It wasn't until I was half way done I realized I didn't take a picture. Oh well, just another reason I need to make this place a priority next time. 

We had a wonderful, relaxing trip and I am glad I got to get away with my sweetheart. I can't wait for our next adventure. But, I was sure happy to get back to my circus!! Until next time. 

A schedule to get things done...

A couple of years ago I wrote about our schedule and how I managed to keep our house clean, take care of my kids and stay sane at the same time. I had a good system that fit our family, but I was also adding another baby into the mix. I remember writing that I would inevitably, be changing it up. Sure enough, I did! My kids got older, our life got a little bit more hectic and then both started school. So what was once a great system for us has changed. Today, I get to share with you how we get everything done these days.

Now that both of my kids are in school, I have some more down time for me to get things done. But I also have more school activities than before that keep me going. Another big thing happened as well....my kids quit napping!! Yes, both of them!! I finally gave up and called it quits because it was more complicated during nap time than it was with them just skipping. My daughter was never a big day time sleeper. Even as a newborn, she stayed awake a lot and went to bed early sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. She loved being a part of things and staying wide awake. I would put her down for at least one nap a day, but most of the time she would just play in her crib. I was ok with that! Both of my kids would go to nap and just read books and play in their beds for a couple hours. I loved it because it gave me the much needed down time that I looked forward to each day. Then around 2 1/2, our daughter got a big girl bed. She did well with just playing in her room quietly, but then we potty trained. It seemed even if she went to the bathroom before nap time, during nap time, it was constant, "I need to go tee tee!" or "I need to go poo poo!" or "I need a drink of water!" which eventually turned back into "I need to go tee tee!" Seriously!! I got up more and went up and down the stairs during that time than any other time during the day! And how can you tell a little girl who is potty training that she really doesn't need to go? Eventually we got that kink worked out, but by then I had given up. Now we do quiet times during the day for an hour or so, where they go upstairs together and play quietly.

Needless to say, given all of that, I lost my down time which I needed to stay grounded. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids!!! I love them to the moon and back and so much more. They are my joy and everything, but oh my goodness do I sometimes need space! We are together ALOT! So here is what I finally came up with that is working for us now.

Monday: they go to school. then in the afternoon we do general clean up like dishes, a quick vacuum, and dusting.
Tuesday: this day has become our cleaning day! This is where the bulk of the work gets done. Laundry, cleaning bathrooms, general pick up and cleaning the kitchen. I also do yard work and other little things that need to get done around the house this day.
Wednesday: School, then in the afternoon, we pick up stuff, put things away, and keep the kitchen cleaned. In the Spring and Fall this night was reserved for soccer practice. So the majority of the afternoon is making sure everything's cleaned, put away, in order so we can eat, O can get a quick bath so everyone is ready for soccer practice. (My husbands the coach, so we all usually go)
Thursday: usually we do a play group in the morning, then we run errands if they need to be done that afternoon, and do a general clean up. Basically, general clean up means keeping things put in their place. I also let the kids run loose in the play rooms this day. I let them make whatever messes they want! We can always clean it up the next day. Hey, they need to be able to be kids and have some freedom. So we just try to keep all stuff put away and toys out of all the other rooms except the play room where they are free to destroy.
Friday: School in the morning, then in the afternoon, I do any laundry from the week, vacuum (we have two dogs, vacuuming is necessary twice a week!), sweeping, getting everything cleaned up and put away for the weekend, like school crafts, lunch boxes, back packs, shoes, soccer stuff, etc. This stuff can kind of get set aside because its used or looked at daily, so it doesn't get put away right then.

A couple side notes. I still treat being a stay at home mom like a job. I start when they get up or when we have to leave for school and I am off by 7 for sure. Most days its sooner. Other than cleaning after I cook...a little, I dedicate the evenings to them. Soon it'll be to help with homework or take them to a practice. But right now, its for snuggles, reading and a little downtime. On Monday and Wednesday while the kids are at school, I come home and take some time for me. Its usually a couple hours that I get to read, work out or watch a tv show uninterrupted. Fridays, the kids are in school for half days, so I usually do things around their school until they're out like go to Barnes and Noble and read! I love this quiet time. I think its essential for every stay at home parent to take some time for themselves. It gives you a sense of freedom and helps you remember what you like. Sometimes I think we can get lost in what are kids want to do, house work, their hobbies, etc., that we forget to do something we love. So while they're in school, I take advantage of it. I still love to run errands with my kids. We go to the grocery store and pretty much every other errand we need to run together. I save errands for that time! All of this makes sure that our weekends are free for whatever. And once a month is my deep clean day where I clean out cabinets, go through old toys and their closets, etc. Whichever day or days I need for this, I just make it happen.

Lately, our weekends consist of soccer, birthday parties, church and any errand the husband wants to run. We like to go to the park to play, walk our dogs, ride bikes or just have a day where we have family time inside and play games or watch movies (well the hubby and I do) and the kids just play and have fun. This is another time when I let them play with whatever. Get all the toys out, color and leave the pages out so we can look at them over and over...and over. Play playdoh and make a mess (I do clean this one up right away so I can make sure they put it away so it doesn't dry out), she gets all her barbies and princess out and he gets all his super heroes out and they usually end up in the others room since they always play together. Sunday night or, as a part of general clean up Monday afternoon, we can clean it ALL up together. And they do help with that. My kids have been awesome at chores and helping me out.

My kids will bring laundry to the laundry room, put their dishes in the sink and dishwasher when I help them know when the dishes are clean, they pick up their rooms, they clean the play room, put their school stuff away (we have a school station at our house where all designated backpacks and school papers and crafts go. More on that another time). They help me cook, bring in groceries, put them away and so much more. So doing the general pick up daily doesn't take long because we all know where things go.

I hope this post helps some people to know that they can have fun, time to themselves, time to spare and still have a clean house. Make a schedule that fits you and be flexible with it because life can throw you a curve ball at anytime and your day will be thrown off (like O is home today because she has pink eye. That kind of threw my Wednesday out the window. But its ok, because I have all day tomorrow and Friday afternoon to get back on track). But most importantly take time to spend with your kids. I get to play with them almost every day after 5 and all weekend because I prioritize and can plan my day where everything gets done. I love being a stay at home mom. I love making the house chores and my kids lives an essential part of what I do daily. I like knowing what my day is going to consist of and the things I'll need to get done. It took some practice, but it was well worth it to get so much time dedicated to my two awesome kids and my husband....yes we still date and thats part of what those chore free, stress free weekends are for. Until next time...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Love

I know it has been awhile since I last blogged, but after O's birthday, it seemed we had something every weekend through the new year. We had a wonderful end of 2015! We had a fun Thanksgiving with family, we hosted a beautiful Thanksgiving at our house with more family, saw Santa Clause, had fun class parties and then the kids were off for the holidays!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are probably my favorite holidays. And even though they are sometimes crazy, long and a lot of here and there, I still look forward to them every year. This year I had fun making things for other people and picking out gifts we knew would be perfect.

For starters, Happy Thanksgiving:

The kids had school parties and programs! We brought some delicious snowman cupcakes to O's class party.

She also got to play Mary in their Christmas card:

She didn't seem to like being Mary even though she bragged about it for weeks!! And pay no attention to the fact that she's about to drop baby Jesus. :/

Xander got to be wiseman #2 and had a line in his play: "I bring frankincense."

He loved it and wanted to be wiseman #2 all throughout Christmas. Including going to our nativity set and saying, "Now which one am I again?"

As for the projects I worked on, here are some of them. I love making peg people! So for my mother in law, I made a nativity set:

I made a back drop too (not pictured). I think it turned out well.

For my sweet daughter, I made her some princesses and a couple of princes too. 

Prince Charming, Cinderella, Ariel, Prince Eric, Aurora, Jasmine, Anna and Elsa

And for a fun stocking stuffer for my husband, I made him some Harry Potter ones:

Hagrid, Luna, Neville, Harry, Hermione, and Ron

No holiday is complete without cookies. And since there was kind of a Star Wars obsession going on in our house this season, we had to throw in some Star Wars cookies in with the Christmas ones. 

And per tradition, we needed Christmas jammies! This year the theme was Super Heroes. Is anyone surprised? Really? :) 

My Wonder Woman and The Flash

And since I brought up the whole Star Wars thing, of course we were there opening night. And as a surprise to my husband, I dressed up. (Star Wars is really his thing. Not mine. But I wanted to go at least once. He's been three times. I thought he would get a kick out of me dressing up since it would be the last thing he would expect that I do.)

He was excited!! Can you tell?

Can you believe that Christmas Eve was so warm that this is what we did that day??

My husband got a Star Wars Lego Millennium Falcon. (He's been hunting one and I found it on eBay!) And notice our little photo bomber in the back?

Christmas Eve evening, my husband and I did our tradition, which was watch Love Actually and Four Christmases while we play Santa. This year O got a doll house and X got Disney Infinity the Star Wars starter pack. Once again, surprised about the Star Wars? 

And even though, we have this awesome house, I had to get her a little pink Batman to go with it. I spy....pink Batman.

Christmas Eve: done playing Santa, finishing our second movie, tired, but excited for the morning! 

CHRISTMAS MORNING IS HERE!!!

This photo pretty much sums up our kids and this awesome day!

We paused for a selfie!

After all was said and done we attended 7 Christmases! This was with my family, extended family, his family part 1, our little family at home, his extended family, his family part 2 and my dad. It was magical, exciting, fun, and we are so blessed! But this is how I felt when I did the math and realized within a week and a half, when all was said and done, we would have been to 7 get togethers!

This is my, "ok....here we go" face!

So Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is put away, a happy new year was celebrated and now we are back into the swing of things. The kids started school today, Philip's back out there working and I am back to my usual routine. Its nice to have a schedule and be back on it. Now to start planning a birthday party for an almost 5 year old!! I hope you all had great holidays and until next time...