Quick update

Quick update...

We had a lot of life changes in the last few months. Rob graduated and got a new job in Massachusetts and we moved to Kingston within three weeks. I turn 30 in just about a month and a half, so some of these are not going to be completed...but I'll keep working on them! 

Jackie's 30 Before 30 List:

1. Visit a zoo in New York
2. Run a 5K
3. Hold my son’s hand as he walks by himself
4. Make a lasagna
5. Cheer on my husband as he receives his MBA
6. Visit the Met
7. Drink a Long Island Iced Tea on Long Island
8. Take a tour of the Brooklyn brewery
9. Walk on the beach in the Hamptons
10. Create a new blog to record memories
11. Try 30 new recipes and blog about each one (10/30 completed)
12. Eat real sushi
13. Watch all the Harry Potter movies again in order (1/8 completed)
14. Complete 100 consecutive push ups
15. Watch “Casablanca” and “Gone with the Wind”
16. Ride the carousel in Central Park
17. Ride the feris wheel at Coney Island
18. Try a wine from each of the 50 states (15/50 completed - CA, CT, GA, MA, MD, NC, NM, NH, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, VA, WA)
19. Complete a crossword puzzle
20. Take a tour of Fenway Park
21. Listen to all of Pearl Jam’s studio albums in entirety
22. See at least 3 more Broadway shows (Wicked, Book of Mormon, Once)
23. Complete 3 scrapbooks (2/3 completed)
24. Sample cupcakes from Sprinkles, Magnolias and Carlo’s bakeries (1/3 complete)
25. Ride on a motorcycle
26. Buy myself a pair of kickass heels
27. Try a spinning class
28. See a plastic surgeon about the age spot on my cheek
29. Go to dinner with all my siblings, just the 4 of us
30. Read/reread 3 novels from high school English class (1/3 Completed - A Separate Peace)

When You Smile, I Smile...

I continuously feel this way....but Matthew just keeps getting cuter, sweeter and funnier every single day. He makes me smile so much whenever I am with him, and I love weekends with no plans so we can enjoy him and his humor even more. This weekend, there were a couple of stand out moments.

My little boy making a MESS out of dinner

Saturday morning as I was getting Matthew's breakfast ready, he let out a big "toot" and started laughing. I think I rolled my eyes and said something like "oh nice" and Rob asked me "Do you feel like a princess?" because I like to joke around that being the only girl in the house makes me the princess. I think any mom of only boys knows that this is not the case :). Matthew proceeded to pretend to do more toots and continue to laugh about it. As I picked him up to put him in his high chair, he patted me on the back and said "good luck Mama." Where in the world does he come up with these things?! 

Ready to go outside!

On Sunday, we went to a street fair that was right up the street from us. It was really fun and a great way to spend a sunny June day. We walked around the fair and took a detour on the way home to a playground. Matthew, who was once scared of the swings and the big turtle there, was fearless. We spent over an hour swinging, climbing, jumping, sliding and playing. He was his adorable self, waving and saying "hi" and "bye" to people (and objects). At one point, I went over and gave Rob a hug and said "I love our life" as we watched Matthew play. At that exact moment, Matthew came running over, arms wide open and gave us a big hug, one arm around Rob and one around me. It was the sweetest thing.

I know there will be a time when him "tooting" and making an insane mess out of dinner won't be so cute. And as much as I don't want to admit it, there will probably come a time when he won't hug us out of the blue (especially in public), so I'm going to enjoy every second of it now while I can. Because Matthew, when you smile, I smile! 

(Thank you to Justin Bieber for the song lyric).

Recipe #11 - Avocado chicken salad!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it sounded great. I have made shredded chicken in the crock pot twice in the last couple weeks and decided to try it today. The original recipe didn't have measurements, and I would adjust them a bit next time. I would use an additional avocado and chop the cilantro a little finer, but for the first try - I was very impressed! You could make and shred the chicken another way, but this is a SUPER easy recipe.


Avocado Chicken Salad

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs 
• 1 medium onion quartered 
• 2 celery stalks 
• 2 cups of chicken broth 
• 1 avocado 
• juice of one lime
• 1 TBSP mayonaise
• 1/4 cup of cilantro 
• sprinkle of salt and pepper

Place the chicken, onion and celery in a crock pot. Cover with chicken broth and cook on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken and cool. Combine chicken, avocado, lime juice, mayo and cilantro and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Mix together to combine. I served on a multigrain sandwich thin and american cheese and a side salad. Definitely a great, easy and healthy summer recipe I would try again! (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures...) This amount of chicken made enough for four - five sandwiches. 

"One More" Time

"one more" in use in the bath

Matthew does and says the cutest things and he is learning so many new words every day. He is also learning how to wrap Mommy and Daddy right around those tiny little fingers of his. With one simple phrase....he can get pretty get much whatever he wants. That phrase is "one more". It works in many different situations, but the most common uses are at bath time, bed time and drop off in the morning. It started with saying it after one round of "Itsy Bitsy Spider". He puts his index finger to make the one sign and puts it near his mouth and quietly says "one more". We melt and sing it again...every time. I think the record has been five times singing it. For a while, this was the only time he used the "one more" trick. Then he learned if he said it after our nightly I love you/tickle routine, he would get more tickles. In the bath he loves to fill his blue bucket up from the running water and pour it over himself. Last week, I refilled the bath three times because it's just so darn cute when the bath has drained and he's sitting there with his empty bowl and he says "one more" and looks at the faucet. He got ten extra bath minutes from Daddy this week too using his "one more" trick. 


It comes in handy at storytime too. "One more" has worked in Matthew's favor and I think the record is eight stories at bedtime. Yesterday morning he climbed into bed with me in the morning and after one reading of "Baseball 1,2,3", we read it "one more" time twice. I have to say my favorite "one more" moments come when I drop him off at school. After I get his things settled and give a big hug and kiss, he walks away for a minute then comes running back shouting "one more" and we hug again...and usually again...and again...


I just can't help it...I will give in every time to those two tiny words coming out of that adorable little mouth!

"One More Time"

"Call Me Maybe" - 30 Before 30 List Update

So with less than six months until the big 3-0, I thought it was time to do a 30 Before 30 Update

Jackie's 30 Before 30 List:

1. Visit a zoo in New York
2. Run a 5K
3. Hold my son’s hand as he walks by himself
4. Make a lasagna
5. Cheer on my husband as he receives his MBA
6. Visit the Met
7. Drink a Long Island Iced Tea on Long Island
8. Take a tour of the Brooklyn brewery
9. Walk on the beach in the Hamptons
10. Create a new blog to record memories
11. Try 30 new recipes and blog about each one (10/30 completed)
12. Eat real sushi
13. Watch all the Harry Potter movies again in order (1/8 completed)
14. Complete 100 consecutive push ups
15. Watch “Casablanca” and “Gone with the Wind”
16. Ride the carousel in Central Park
17. Ride the feris wheel at Coney Island
18. Try a wine from each of the 50 states (9/50 completed - CA, CT, MA, NC, NY, OR, SC, VA, WA)
19. Complete a crossword puzzle
20. Take a tour of Fenway Park
21. Listen to all of Pearl Jam’s studio albums in entirety
22. See at least 3 more Broadway shows (2/3 completed - Wicked, Book of Mormon)
23. Complete 3 scrapbooks (2/3 completed)
24. Sample cupcakes from Sprinkles, Magnolias and Carlo’s bakeries (1/3 complete)
25. Ride on a motorcycle
26. Buy myself a pair of kickass heels
27. Try a spinning class
28. See a plastic surgeon about the age spot on my cheek
29. Go to dinner with all my siblings, just the 4 of us
30. Read/reread 3 novels from high school English class (1/3 Completed - A Separate Peace)

I still think the wine list will be the hardest to complete, but I've checked off a few cool things since my last update in January. 

#9 - Walk on the beach in the Hamptons

In January, I completed two scrapbooks. One for my best friend Danielle's wedding - which was in October of 2010. I also completed our Honeymoon album. I am happy with the way they come out and I'm currently working on the 2009 one. I'm a little behind!

In February for our 3 Year anniversary, Rob and I walked on the beach in the Hamptons and I even dipped my feet in!

#25 - Ride on a motorcycle

In April, during a wonderful visit to South Carolina, I took a motorcycle ride with Russ! It was pretty scary and we didn't even go that fast! It was fun and I'm glad I experienced it though!

In the next month, I will check off #5 and will have to make time for #7 too! I'm also up to 72 pushups, so #14 may be complete too.

If you want to join/help me in any list items,  Call Me, Maybe! 

It's Late on a February night...

<3 Love <3

February is one of my favorite months -and this one has been one of the best. February 2009 is still my favorite February though <3

I feel like this month has been a perfect mix of balancing fun dates with Rob and fun family time with both the boys. For Father's Day, I bought Rob tickets to Book of Mormon and the first show we could get was the first weekend in February. My parents came down and spent the day with Matthew and Rob and I went to the show and then dinner at Chez Jacqueline - (yay Groupon!). It was unseasonably warm for a February in New York, so we walked all over the city. It was very fun and wonderful to spend the whole day with Rob. The day also made us excited to take Matthew in for more trips to the city in the spring and summer!

Valentine's Day 2012

For Valentine's Day, for the 9th year in a row, we celebrated with dinner at Friendly's. I understand that Friendly's is not the most traditional "romantic" Valentine's Day restaurant, but our tradition started in 2004, after we celebrated Valentine's Day the night before at a fancy restaurant. We figured that all the other restaurants would be crowded on Valentine's Day night and we had no wait at Friendly's :). We decided to make it a tradition, and this year we brought Matthew with us too. He sat in the highchair like a big boy, ate off the kids menu and even got a balloon when we left. I'm so lucky to have had two handsome dates on Valentine's Day!

Brrrr!

To celebrate our third anniversary, we took the day off to spend together. We drove out to the "East End", hit up two vineyards, had lunch in East Hampton and even walked on the beach (I was able to check another item off my "30 Before 30 list"). We picked Matthew up and went for a family dinner to Cheesecake Factory. Matthew wore his tuxedo shirt and it was adorable! He was very well behaved and we had a nice dinner. It was the perfect anniversary!! Rob also made a slideshow of photos for me...needless to say, lots of tears were shed<3.

3 Year Anniversary

I've loved this month, and there is lots to look forward to in the coming months too! Life is SO good! :)

PS - very few people will understand the title of this post but a big shout out to the Becky Make Believe boys :)

Three New (unrelated) Recipes!

I've made a few blog-worthy recipes recently but haven't had a chance to write about them...so here goes!January 28th I made Sausage and Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding for dinner. I served it with a side salad, and it was a perfect dinner. 

It was easy, very yummy and a good basic recipe that can easily be adapted for breakfast, brunch or dinner! I even made it for brunch the next weekend when my parents came down and used ham instead of sausage and served with homefries and fruit salad. Came out just as good! :)


Sausage and Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding
1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk 

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
8 slices day-old French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup apple juice
4 ounces turkey Italian sausage
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add bread; toss gently to coat. Let bread mixture stand 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add juice; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove casings from sausage. Crumble sausage into pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
Add sausage mixture and cheese to bread mixture; stir well to combine. Spoon into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.


February 11 - I made "California Style" Potato Skins
I planned a "date night in" for Rob for Valentine's Day and as an appetizer, I made potato skins. The recipe came from an insert from a past issue of The Food Network Magazine that was football themed. Each team had a potato skin recipe, and Rob chose the San Diego Chargers - but I changed it to "california style" and made a few changes. Here is my take, which made 8 which was more than enough for both us: 


"California Style" Potato Skins
2 all purpose potatoes 

melted butter or butter spread
Mrs Dash or other seasoning (or just use salt and pepper)
shredded cheddar cheese
quacamole 
sprouts
shredded monterey jack cheese


Pierce potatoes and cook in 350 degree oven for about an hour. Let cool, quarter lengthwise and spoon out the potatoes, leaving a 1/4 inch shell. Brush both sides of skins with butter and season with seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake with the skins up for 15 minutes in 450 degree oven. Take skins out, flip over and sprinkle each with cheddar cheese and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove form oven and top with guacamole, sprouts and monterey jack cheese. Enjoy! 

Burgers, onion rings and beer! 

After the appetizer, we had porterhouse (our new favorite!) bacon cheddar burgers and homemade onion rings with brownie sundaes for dessert! We also got our hands on a bottle of Dogfish Head's Faithfull Ale which they made to celebrate Pearl Jam's 20th Anniversary. After Matthew went to bed, we had a yummy dinner and started watching Season 1 of "The League."  














And last night, I made a very good, very healthy and fairly easy weeknight meal of Two Bean Soup. I made a few modifications, below is my version. I used escarole instead of kale, because that's all they had at the grocery store. I also used kidney beans instead of black beans and didn't drain them. The extra bean juice added flavor to the soup. I also had this for lunch today and it was even better today once the flavors had a chance to blend together. Matthew loves beans and enjoyed when I picked some out of the soup to give to him!

· Olive oil
· 1 medium sized onion chopped
· 1/2 cup chopped carrot
· 1/2 cup chopped celery
· 2 garlic cloves, minced
· 4 cups low sodium chicken broth – divided
· About 1 bunch escarole
· 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
· 1 can kidney beans (undrained)
· 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
· Mrs Dash seasoning
Heat oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Stir in 3 cups broth and escarole. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Place half of cannellini beans and remaining 1 cup broth in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Add pureed bean mixture, remaining cannellini beans, kidny beans, and pepper to soup. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in seasoning.

Yum, Yum and Yum. :)