October 30, 2011

Outside Temp: 56 F (and rising... We are having a Chinook, which is a warm wind that causes big temp changes... Snow is scheduled for tomorrow night and again Thursday and Friday)

What I cooked today:
Chicken Stock: I purchased two fryer chickens last week, since they were on sale, and I had the second one in the freezer until Friday, when I was planning on making another batch of stock.  Of course, Friday and Saturday were so busy, I didn't get it done.  So, I HAD to do something with the chicken today or risk loosing it!  So, I cut it up and tossed it in the crock pot for the last 10ish hours.  I saved back the breast and thighs for the chicken noodle soup tonight.  I'm getting pretty good at cutting apart a chicken and I'm beginning to wonder why I've been paying $3.50 a pound for chicken breast, when I can get the whole chicken for less, and still end up with 2 perfectly good breasts (not to mention some really awesome broth!)

Chicken Noodle Soup:  Since we played in the snow today (see below), we really needed a warm soup to come home to.  Nothing compares to homemade chicken noodle soup.  Sooooo easy!  The broth was mostly done by the time we were ready for dinner, so I simply sauteed some onions, carrots and celery for a few minutes, added about 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water.  Then I cut up and cooked the chicken breasts and thighs from the chicken from this morning, and tossed those into the pot and simmered for another 30-40 minutes.  During that time, I boiled up some egg noodles.  I dished the noodles into the bowls first, then added the soup, which keeps the noodles from over cooking.  Totally awesome!


Update:
Connor was complaining because he missed the snow the other day.  He was at practice and by the time he got home and ate dinner, it was dark.  Since he had school the next day, the snow was all melted before he got home.  Granted, I can completely understand why he was upset. 

So, we got up this morning with very little to do, and decided to have a picnic up in the mountains.  We packed a cooler with sandwich fixing's and a picnic basket with bread, granola bars, and Reese's peanut butter cups (oh yea) and jumped in the car and headed up into the mountains.

The first 30 minutes made me a little nervous, since it was in the mid 50's outside and there wasn't a lick of snow anywhere.  But as we got a little higher, I began to notice some snow in the shadows, around Belt Creek.  By the time we got up to the snow area, there was a small amount of snow on the ground.  We pulled off the road into the 'Recreation Area', which is code for Snowmobiles and cross country skiers.

The parking lot was covered in snow!  We simply pulled the car into a (snow covered) parking spot and jumped out.  The kids immediately began picking up snow and forming snowballs to throw at each other. 

Then we moved onto Snow Angels

Then, we decided to work on a snow man!!

And he turned out fine...
But, then Katie and Connor had to make a BIGGER one! Of course, by now the snow was really melting and we got a lot of dirt into our snowman, but that didn't matter.  I promised them that next time there should be more snow, less dirt.  :)
We finished off the snow trip with a short hike in the wood, which was awesome.  We saw tracks from a rabbit, and probably the wolf that was hunting the rabbit.  And the kids were bummed when I told them not to venture too far off the trail.  After seeing the size of the wolf tracks, we might want to bring some sort of firearm for protection next time!

After the snow trip, we headed into Belt for their 'OctoberFest and Halloween Carnival'.  The kids had fun in the haunted house and they played a few carnival games, but I think they were pooped from all the fresh air and fun!  I know I was!!!