what to say? what to do? and who knew?

it's rainy and cold out today, so what better way to spend the time than updating my blog!?! of course it's only good if i can actually come up with things to write about...stupid blogger's block seems to have struck me again. but alas, i refuse to let that stop me...so take that as a warning that this may end up being very rambling. 

 

sunday's chicken broth attempt

since the last blog entry ended with me simmering the chicken broth on the stove, i figured that i would start this one showing off the finished broth in three stages. first is the picture above: showing all the veggies, water, and chicken after simmering for a couple hours. the house really smelled good from the cooking...well, i thought it did! next is the picture below: showing the broth separated from the chicken and veggies. i later removed the skin and bones from the chicken and shredded it into pieces to be used in other dishes that call for pre-cooked chicken.

 
 

the separated broth and cooked pieces 

finally, after letting the broth set up and cool overnight in the fridge i separated it into quart size mason jars for easier freezing. of course, before putting the broth into the jars i had to skim the fat that had collected on the top...that was a first for me! it wasn't so bad though...i just used a big spoon to skim it off the top, plus i poured the broth through a strainer before putting it into the jars. i ended up filling 4 quart size jars with the broth and then promptly stuck them in the freezer since i won't be making soup until next week at the earliest. to me...the broth looks very pretty in color and smells good, too...time will tell how it tastes though since i didn't even sample it!

 

the finished broth...jarred & ready to freeze

sunday was also the day that i decided to make banana bread and although i didn't get it started until after 7:30pm, i did get it made up and baked! i used the recipe from the joy of cooking, omitting the lemon zest and optional dried fruit and nuts. i have found that making bread (or anything in a loaf pan) in my oven can be very tricky...the last time i tried, the outer edges were burnt and the middle wasn't set! needless to say, that kinda turned me off from making bread or pound cake for quite awhile...but time had gone by and i thought i would give it another try. this time i altered the cooking time, placed aluminum foil around the edges of the pan covering the bread edges (leaving a hole open in the middle), and used a metal pan rather than glass. in the end, it all worked out great and the bread was perfect! stephen and i have been the only ones to enjoy the bread...he really likes it! so the recipe is a keeper and i now know how to make bread in my oven!

 

yum, banana bread!

now, back to monday...which was a surprisingly good day considering that it was monday! after the chicken and the broth was taken care of, i took care of a little housework...vacuuming and washing a load of laundry (i'm trying to do a load of laundry everyday so that i'm not overwhelmed with piles of dirty clothes every few days). after that i got the dough together for ginger cookies (cutting the recipe in half for the first time ever) and let it chill before shaping and baking a couple hours later. the recipe, from my mother in law, is a favorite at Thanksgiving/Christmas time and i normally get 8+ dozen cookies from one batch, i didn't need that many cookies this time so that's why i cut the recipe in half. luke thought it would be nice for me to make the cookies for stephen to take with him to his scout meeting since the speaker they were going to hear is very fond of them! and i was happy to oblige...although it did feel slightly odd making them after the holidays! 

 

ginger cookies, yes, there's one missing...i had to sample my work!

and now for dinner...chicken enchiladas...a recipe that i will more than likely not make again without some changes. i'm thinking that maybe i should stick with italian/pasta casserole type dishes, rather than mexican/tortilla type ones. they were not the best tasting and the corn tortillas were hard to work with and kept falling apart on me. in hindsight, i could have heated the tortillas up more to better soften them and i could have pureed the sauce more to make it more liquidy. in the end, it was enough for dinner for one night and a lesson learned for me.

 
 

underneath all that cheese lay the chicken enchiladas 

now that i have rambled on for long enough, i will bring this to a close...after a few more words and a couple pics! no more baking until this weekend and tonight's dinner will be a super easy mix of frozen fish, roasted potatoes, and frozen california style veggies...jordan is very excited about dinner tonight since these are all her favorite foods! more crocheting of the afghan and maybe a couple other quick projects to work on so i'll concentrate on those things. thought i would end by again saying that i'm really loving this project...i'm much happier than i have been in quite a while. my house is still a mess on most days, but that doesn't bother me so much since i am coming to full terms with the fact that i'm an awful housekeeper! and here's a couple pics to close out this entry.

 

why must they make toys so small?

that picture is of the doll shoe that i vacuumed up and then had to dig out of the dust/dirt canister...it is as small as my fingernail so that was fun to look for. and the final pic is of jordan in a pair of her pj pants...just wanted to show that she does like them! pay no attention to the messy counters in the background...it's simply proof of my shotty housekeeping skills!

 

she was moving her hair, not hiding her face!