Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I was sick a few weeks ago and being pregnant I am so limited on what I can take, so I had been using the most natural options (humidifier, netti pot and chicken noodle soup!)

I didn't want to have to mess with chicken bones so I made my own impromptu version... warning: this was a trial by error attempt but turned out great!

Here is what I used:

4 chicken breasts cubed
1/2 bag of baby carrots chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 a yellow onion diced
3 chives chopped
Small handful of cilantro chopped
2- 32 oz containers of chicken broth
Salt, pepper and italian seasoning to taste
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
8 cups of water
16 oz box of Galletti pasta (this is by Giada de Laurentiis and looked fun)

First, I put the chicken, minced garlic, chives and cilantro in a dutch oven with enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the pot.  I let all of that boil over high heat until the chicken was cooked, stirring occasionally.

Next, I reduced the heat to medium-high and added the onions.  I let that go until the onions were mostly translucent.

Then, I added the rest of the chicken broth and the carrots.  It returned to a boil and I let it simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

I added the celery and water (which I increased the amount of as I went because I wasn't happy with the original broth to vegetable/chicken ratio and didn't want the pasta to take up even more space).  I also added more salt, pepper and italian seasoning at this point as I did not want it to be bland with how much water I ended up adding.  I increased the temperature to medium-high again and waited for it to return to a boil.

I added the pasta and let it boil for 15 minutes.

Overall, I think it turned out great.  It was time consuming as it took about 30-45 minutes to prep everything and then probably 45-60 minutes to be completed once it started cooking in the dutch oven.  It was completely worth the wait though, as I had a bowl and a half once it was done and it was only 10 am :)

First Pregnancy Journey

Here I am, now less than three months from holding our first child, a baby boy, in my arms.  Pregnancy has been such an interesting experience.  I have been very lucky overall with no nausea or sickness and a fairly smooth ride, other than extreme fatigue in my first trimester.  However, nearly 30 pounds heavier and nearing the end, my pregnancy has recently taken a toll.  From swollen feet and ankles to my pelvis/low back recently locking up a lot to not sleeping well, I look forward to being as active as I previously was before pregnancy and just feeling normal again!  It is hard to complain at all though, as I know many others who have had much more difficult pregnancies.

Here are a few pictures of my journey (most of these were transferred from my phone so may be a little blurry):

We texted this picture to our families and asked them if they could skype when we made the announcement we were pregnant

This is approximately 18 weeks

Approximately 21 weeks~ I made this shirt to where to the marathon my husband did in November.  This was also the picture I used to 'announce' the pregnancy on Facebook.

21 weeks

End of 23 weeks

27 weeks~ with a friend that is approx 16 weeks (quite a difference I would say!)

Looking forward to the next few months.  The anticipation of when he will actually arrive, how long will labor take and how will we do as new parents continues to build inside me.  No matter what, my husband and I are very excited for this next life stage and can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy!

                                 

Recipe Review- Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

I came across this recipe on www.wearenotmartha.com and had to try them immediately.  I spent the next several hours making the buns and then quickly enjoyed one afterwards!

The recipe was easy to follow but definitely time consuming.  I kneaded the dough myself instead of doing it in the mixer. I followed the bloggers advice of adding more cinnamon and sugar before rolling the dough up.  The only thing I changed was that the frosting called for 1T of milk but it was not enough liquid to make the frosting so I ended up using 2T. (Then I made a second batch of the frosting as I did not think the first amount was enough).

The pumpkin cinnamon buns were very good.  The pumpkin flavor was subtle but added something just a little extra to the standard cinnamon bun.  I will make them again and recommend trying them for yourselves.  Thanks for posting this recipe www.wearenotmartha.com!

Wedding Detail Series: DIY decorations

**This post should have been posted the first week of October however my computer died.  It took a few weeks to determine that we could not repair mine and get a new one.  So here we go, nearly a month later :)

The final touches to personalize our wedding was an assortment of decorations.

First, the chapel (built in the early 20th century) had enough character that we did not feel that we needed to do much.  We weren't huge fans of the all wooden arched alter though and thought we could spruce it up a bit.  I found a picture in a magazine of this flower "curtain" that had hundreds of flowers strung on to string, or ribbon, and all hung side by side.  It was beautiful, unfortunately I was unable to find that picture to show you my inspiration and couldn't find anything like it online.  Anyways, when I showed it to the florist she said that piece alone would cost thousands of dollars.  Something we weren't willing to spend as the only other flowers we planned on having would be the bouquets.  We finally decided to do a version of the flower curtain with thicker ribbon and one flower at the end of each ribbon all strung at different lengths to give the illusion that it took up more space.

Before

During

After

The florist attached an ivory rose to the bottom of each ribbon, which was cut at different lengths.  She also made a loop at the top of the ribbon to fit over a pvc pipe that we had cut to the appropriate lengths and wrapped in the same ribbon.  It did not cover the entire walls of the alter but did give the overall effect we were looking for.

At the reception hall, they had set up all of the tables, chairs, white linen tablecloths and the tulle/lighting around the dance floor.  We then put all of the green and brown overlays on the tables, set up the centerpieces, set out the heart folded napkins and cookie favors and hung curtains in the arch way of the entrance.

Before

After: Daytime

After: Nighttime (looking opposite direction)

Outside Entrance: Before

Outside Entrance: Curtains Hanging

One of our favorite additions was our clothesline of photos.  Again, we wanted to make our wedding and reception feel as intimate as possible.  The other way we incorporated this was by having a photo of every one of our guests on the clothesline.  We had a clothesline that was specific for my guests and one for my husbands', however some people did overlap on both :)  

Picture of each of the letters in our names with corks to hang on the clothesline.

Below the picture clothesline, sat a table with pictures dedicated to our parents and grandparents wedding photos.

  The chapel was so quaint, the reception hall looked beautiful all lit up at night and we received so many compliments on the way that everything was decorated that it made all of our work worth it!

Wedding Detail Series: DIY Entrance Tables and Centerpieces

Our theme was wine, so for our table numbers we collected wine bottles and removed the labels.  We then made our own labels with each table number and the names of the guests at that table.  We set them up in and around  two wine crates at the table before you entered the reception room.

At each table, we had a picture frame with the coordinating table number and names associated with that table. We wanted our wedding to feel intimate despite there being 113 people in attendance.  One way for us to initiate that was to put random facts (named Food for Thought) about the people at each table on the framed table numbers. ***On a side note, we wanted each table to be slightly unique.  We went to Goodwill several times over a few months, purchasing different frames (all in the same wood tone), 5x7 for the tables and 8x10 for the instructional pieces.  We also purchased various vases in different shapes and sizes to put as the centerpieces at each table (see below).

People really seemed to enjoy this part.  It was fun to share if they knew everyone at the table and learned a little about others if they didn't know someone at their table.  We received a lot of positive feedback about this detail.

The centerpieces on the table with the table numbers, was a glass vase (in various shapes and sizes) filled with corks we had collected over the previous year (as well some donated from friends and family) and a candle.  We ended up with thousands of corks!  We did not use them all for the centerpieces and are still trying to repurpose them (see other cork projects under the Completed Projects tab).  Surrounding the centerpiece was a vine wreath and grapes (in green and purple, in a variety of sizes dispersed throughout the tables).

The last piece at each table was our favors.  We made (yes we homemade hundreds of heart-shaped cookies a few days before our wedding) Swedish Ginger Snap cookies, Pepparkakor, using my husband's family recipe.  We purchased the bags they are in online and then made Thank You labels with our wedding date.  We also folded the napkins in a heart shape to coordinate with the cookies.  Again, yes we folded and ironed the napkins into the heart shapes...our caterer was going to charge us extra, per napkin to do this so we decided we could... :)  How we had time for anything else that week, I don't know!

Also at the front entrance was a table for sign-in.  We knew we would never look at a traditional guest book.  So, we decided to do a wedding guest quilt.  We had guests sign a square of fabric (which we pre-cut) with a fabric marker.  We made the center of our quilt as an example to display using pieces we had some of our family and friends do beforehand.

We printed our logo and wedding date on transfer paper and ironed it on to our center piece of fabric.  From there we arranged and sewed together our squares of fabric (with a lot of help and direction from my mother-in-law~ Thanks Kathy!).

On that table with our wedding guest quilt sample, we had a basket for blank pieces of fabric, a basket to put the signed pieces of fabric and fabric pens.  Otherwise, the table was decorated with a canvas of one of our engagement photos sitting on a winecrate which covered the projector displaying our slideshow on a screen behind the table.

Whew! That was a lot of information!  As I write all of this, I am again shocked that we put in this much time and effort.  However, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  We loved the way everything turned out and had so many compliments on the details we put in!

Project details:

Wine bottles~ Collected by us, friends and family; labels stripped

Wine bottle labels~ Blank labels purchased at Office Depot and then created and printed by us at home

Crates~ Free from liquor stores, just by asking

Corks~ Collected by us, friends and family

Picture frames~ Purchased at Goodwill for $.97-1.50 each

Paper for frames~ Purchased at PaperSource

Background paper in instructional frames~ Purchased from World Market

Vases~ Purchased at Goodwill for $1-2.97 each

Vine wreaths~ Purchased at Ikea on sale for $2 each

Fake grapes~ Borrowed from a friend, I think purchased from Hobby Lobby on sale

Candles~ Purchased from Ikea for $9.99 for a 5 pack of multi-sizes

Cookies~ Homemade

Favor bags~ Purchased online from www.clearbags.com $10 for 200 bags 

Favor labels~ Blanks labels purchased from Office Depot and then created and printed by us at home
Fabric for wedding guest quilt~ Hobby Lobby
Transfer paper for iron on logo~ Hobby Lobby