Never ending.

We worked so long and hard on remodeling this house, you can see all the progress blog posts here, but when we moved in there were still a number of things that still needed to be finished. We kinda have been on a break since moving in LOL, we did have a lot going on over the last 7 months, so it is not exactly like we have been lazy slackers.

Today we crossed a few things off the list...not everything went as planned though. Of course, why would anything go as planned.
See this...this is me not getting a medicine cabinet, grrr. Jason didn't want to mess with cutting the vent pipe and moving it over and all that doing that would entail, I agreed since we don't plan to be here forever. Guess I will have to live without a medicine cabinet for the next 5 years.

Before running to the store to get a mirror and return the medicine cabinet, Jason finally got the access panel to the furnace covered. Looks much better than the giant whole that used to be there LOL. Still need to finish painting some trim though.

Bug came out in this get up, calling herself Mojo Jojo LOL. I love netflix, sort of...so many old shows the kiddos are getting to see that have been long gone. Silly silly girl

Jericho and O.J. did a little snuggling. This cat is so patient...not a peep out of him, and he wasn't even whipping his tail like he was annoyed. After about 15 minutes he got up and walked off.

Jericho and Xander had a rough brother kind of day today. They were fighting and not sharing, and just being PITA's. So Jericho and I spent some time on the couch cuddled up.

The girls put on a little puppet show for us. Jericho was actually quite pleased and was enthralled for a good 20 minutes. Thanks girls...great idea!

Tonight's dinner, another "Skinny"...and yummy, one from Gina's page. The girls are back in a really picky phase, so annoying...but that usually means more yummy left overs for me :) Chicken pot pie soup. The boys liked it...everyone of course LOVED the Skinny...and so easy Garlic cheddar biscuits.

For the soup I used my crock pot...the original recipe is not a crock pot one. It came out great, but if you want to make it stove top instead you can find Gina's recipe here. 1 1/2 cups will cost you around 254 calories and 2 grams of fat.


Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour (to make gluten-free use 2 tbsp cornstarch instead)
1 cup water
4 cups fat free milk
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/2 medium chopped onion
8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms (we used a whole carton...love mushrooms)
2 chicken bouillons
fresh ground pepper
pinch of thyme
10 oz frozen classic mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn...we added extra maybe about 15oz)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small
16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast (we used thighs...I prefer them over breasts in most things, it is so much more soft and juicy...I find breast to often be drier with a little less flavor and it really is not a HUGE difference in cals and fat between the two)

Directions:

In a medium bowl create a slurry with 1/2 cup of the water and 1/4 cup of flour. Whisk until well blended, and set aside.

Put celery, onion, mushrooms, frozen veggies and potatoes into the crock pot, place chicken on top.

Add milk, 1/2 cup water and the bouillons to the crock pot. Add in slurry and stir well.

Cover cook on low for 4-5 hours. Last 30 minutes remove lid. It is a little thin, soupy, and that helped it thicken just a bit. Shred or break up chicken and serve.

The biscuits...1 will run you about 97 calories and 4 grams of fat.

 Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced -Divided
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 cups Heart Smart Bisquick
3.5 oz shredded reduced fat sharp Cheddar cheese
2/3 cup fat free milk

 Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt butter in a small frying pan, add half the garlic and saute on low heat about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and add parsley.

In a large bowl, combine biscuit mix, cheddar cheese, and remaining garlic.
Stir in milk and mix (do not over mix).
Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls (1.5 oz each) onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Brush or drizzle biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom.

After dinner Jason, with a little help from his two side kicks, got back to work in the master bathroom.

The boys helped him put up some new dry wall. They love getting to help their Dad.

Looks pretty good. Going to need to get some more storage, shelf, cabinet ideas going in here.

While the boys were working in the bathroom, Haddie decided to make our bed. She is a keeper LOL! To be honest I never make my bed...and I don't make my kids make theirs either. Guess it is just not a big deal to me. Hayden likes to make beds, should I pay her if she truly enjoys doing it? Is letting her make beds payment enough?? LOL

Jericho...anything to stall bedtime...Dad can you fix my car, for the 900th time today, please?

The kids decided to have a sleep over tonight. The girls slept in the boys top bunk. I hope this does not become an every day thing, they took an extra 40 minutes to quiet down and go to sleep. And that was only after Jason promised Xan he would put his sleeping body up on the top bunk with the girls when we headed to bed. Which he did...Xander woke up for a moment around 5am and yelled out happily that he was up on the top bunk.

Last thing finished for the day. We replaced the old...and ugly blonde wood and brass, ceiling fan with this new one. Well, new to us. Someone was selling it on Craigslist, but when we got there they ended up just giving it to us. Unexpected, and nice! Score. It is a little small, and Jason needs to remove the bar that drops it lower, but it is 100 times better than what was there before. Today was a productive day...too bad the house projects seem to be never ending Hahaha.